Manga-ka: Riosuke Yasui
Publisher: Project H
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: August 2011

Synopsis: “Fed up with how the world is being run, Ryuubi decides to do something about it. She is determined to rule it herself! And her first step towards world domination is to enlist a strategist into her camp. But the minute she rinds said strategist, Takaaki, she seems to become preoccupied with making as many heirs with him as possible! Indeed for Takaaki, there isn’t much strategizing to be done, more like sexual servitude, as world domination seems to have taken a beat to Ryuubi’s carnal cravings. On the other hand, Kan’u and Chouhi, Ryuubi’s sisters-in-arms are truly intent on their duties. They plan to “help out” Ryuubi as much as they can in case their ruler fails to produce an heir! And as if things couldn’t get any steamier, Takaaki’s childhood friend Motoko suddenly realizes that she has the hots for him as well. It seems there’s no rest of the hapless strategist. Indeed, this “version” of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is something you’ve never seen before!”

The back cover’s rather thorough walk through of Shocking Pink!‘s plot makes it pretty clear that intrigue and cleverly withheld plot developments aren’t what this story is all about. As the first title released under DMP’s new hentai imprint, Project-H, we know it’s not the plot we’re going into Shocking Pink! For. Offering all the cover gives up and then some, if you like what you see on the book’s (uncensored) outsides then there’s a good chance you’ll favour its contents as well. Warning: Book and review contains 18+ only material!

For all the synopsis’ transparency, it was the plot that actually got me really curious about Shocking Pink!- reincarnated Romance of the Three Kingdoms characters in porn form? How was that going to work? Turns out it works about as far as getting the characters together, no more or less better then any of the old classics would’ve – long-lost childhood friend, a runaway looking for a place to stay, distant cousin, half-sister, surprise fiance, etc. etc. So why not the reincarnation of a general seeking out fellow reincarnations to build up a long-lost empire? Once the confident and very forward Ryuubi enters Takaaki’s life, the plot basically goes out the window share for a few moments where we need to be reminded just how dedicated all the girls are to their ’cause’.

I liked Takaaki as the main character, irrelevant as he really is amidst the harem of woman now surrounding him. He’s a little snarky and is often inflicted with momentary bouts of sane disbelief. A little personality definitely goes a long way compared to the faceless, ‘imagine-you’re-me!’ male leads that populate a lot of hentai. Brief situational concerns aside, Takaaki of course doesn’t have any issue with the continuous sex now afforded to him, except for maybe that it happens a little too frequently (a breather won’t kill anyone). When the going gets good, and going good for him it often does, he’s prepared to reciprocate in full making these scenes good two way streets, as it were, even if the ‘camera’ stays expectantly rooted on the girls’ reactions specifically.

The sex itself is pretty vanilla, keeping itself interesting with a variety of different poses and angles. Mostly the hook factor is just sex, sex and more sex. At about 250 pages, you get your porn’s worth. There’s just enough talking to show that it isn’t all these people do, just mostly. Along with Ryuubi, you have her initially two-person entourage. All three girls have their own somewhat unique personalities – be it the confident Ryuubi, strong girl Unchou or shy girl Chouhi, and the story takes just enough time to have each sex scene come about differently to play on their quirks and attitudes. An entertaining late edition to their strange little group is a young woman they find dressed as a horse on the street (yes, that’s what I typed). Her sullen, flat expression combined with her slightly more forward nature makes her one of the book’s more notable participants.

The book’s final chapters take the focus to Takaaki’s childhood friend (there she is) who must now defeat Ryuubi and her girls to lay claim to Takaaki. A four on four fight in a boxing ring does the trick, but of course none of the fights really play out in the way anyone expects. This is especially true when a boy-girl set of little twins get ‘involved’ (including with each other in the book’s one semi non-consensual scene). Then there’s the inclusion of said-childhood friend’s older sister who sports an eye-patch, an attitude and a perfect boyfriend all her own. Adding extra amusement to it all is the book’s extras’ section which includes detailed biographies and back-stories for each female character that never made it into the story itself.

The art style is attractive and professional looking with a style I could easily see depicting a more-ages-friendly high school comedy if not for the tell-tale chest baggage. If you like breasts large, then Shocking Pink! is for you (with the actual cover giving you a not-so-sneaky peek). When the story shifts near the end to some out-of-bed action, the art style keeps up with good fight scenes however brief. The inking is consistently sharp while the screen-toning makes every inch of flesh look nice and grippably plump. Just about everything here is uncensored also, so no invisible penises, though you will see that amusing teeny tiny black bar on genitals that covers absolutely nothing.

Digital Manga is giving their Project H books more attention than I had expected they would, going back to the larger trim sizes their boys’ love titles used to have. Shocking Pink! also has four full-colour pages at the beginning that wastes no time reminding you why it’s explicitly rated. There’s a reason their Project-H logo is a face with blood gushing from his nose (but so eloquently). Sound effects for every blush, goosh, slurp and ‘kulch’ are translated and typeset next to the original sound effect. It can make the sex scenes look a tad crowded but with everything going everywhere anyway, it hardly stands out.

I can hardly imagine a better sort of title to start their hentai imprint off with than Shocking Pink!. It’s got an assortment of girls, a guy with an actual personality, uncensored artwork, entertaining comedy and a very high sex-to-plot ratio. It was silly and fun. If you’re not out looking for porn – be it for entertainment or otherwise – then you best avoid this one to the best of your ability. But, if you fall in the other category of ‘yes please!’, then be sure to buy yourself a copy and enjoy.

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Book provided by Digital Manga for review purposes
Uncensored book cover available to see on the Project-H website

Manga-ka: Mitsuru Adachi
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “The arrival of a new year brings Ko’s last shot at Koshien closer at hand, but Akane Takigawa and her striking resemblance to Wakaba cause Ko’s heart to stir. Meanwhile, something happens to make Azuma and Aoba grow closer. Young feelings wax and wane in Ko’s third year of high school. To top it off, the Seishu baseball team gets a new coach?!”

This new volume of Cross Game arrives at the perfect time of year (though one could easily argue that any time of year is perfect for another stirring volume of Mitsuru’s Adachi baseball-driven character drama). With events spanning from early January to mid-February, the snow has begun to melt, the summer Koshien tournament is around the corner and love is undeniably in the air.

In volume five I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about the introduction of Akane, Ko’s new neighbour who bears a striking resemblance to the late Wakaba. It’s been cinched for me now that I love the direction she’s taking the story. Wakaba’s memory has always been something that drives everyone forward and simultaneously holds them back. Akane’s appearance invokes all the same memories but acts as a catalyst for moving people forward.

Akaishi’s feelings of love for Wakaba, for example, are stirred when he sees Akane yet his respect and care for Ko leads him to act as a sort of cupid for the two. It’s sweet but sad. Even Aoba comments that he’s throwing away what could be his ‘second chance’. Ko and Akane begin to grow closer (actual dates! …sort of?) and Azuma surprised me by openly expressing he has romantic feelings for Aoba. One of my favourite moments of the book is when Azuma consciously chooses not to correct an assumption Aoba made, one that works in his favour. It’s a move that while not really callous in nature, was an act just dishonest enough to emphasis the changing dynamics of everyone’s relationship. Everyone is so selfless in this series that this tiny detail sticks out and means a lot as a result. Even Aoba herself begins doing little things for Azuma that shows a careful balance of politeness and careful ‘testing-the-water’ responses to his confession.

On top of it all the casual nuance of Ko and Aoba’s reactions to the slow romantic evolution around them leaves me eager to finally see them open up to one another, while still also loving every moment of this slow burn. Their relationship maintains such an endearing combination of care, snarky teasing and silent understanding that I never seem to stop smiling when the two share page-time.

As everyone’s minds continously waver back to Akane, it occurs to me that a twist like this in another creator’s hands would be ripe for assumption – is Akane a long-lost twin to Wakaba? Is Akane ‘actually’ Wakaba? In Cross Game, I don’t entertain these notions past them coming to mind for but a moment. The series does such an amazing job of showing everyday life as a beautiful thing in it’s subtleties and it’s surprises. Akane is simply (but quite brilliantly) another one of those coincidences that makes life so interesting and I have no expectations, or want, of a giant plot-circling revelation. Mitsuru Adachi also casually slips in scenes of characters discussing Akane’s past just enough to quell any looming sense of mystery that might distract from the events happening now.

Adding a bit of kick to the story is a brief run-in with the rival baseball team who continues to garner a reputation for some underhanded recruitment methods. Aoba also takes a blow during practice that puts her in the hospital for some time. It preludes a scene where Ko and Akane discuss Aoba’s feelings towards being unable to participate in official baseball games because of her gender. “She’s extremely frustrated. Because she can’t play baseball… and because her absence doesn’t affect the team.” Everyone on their team knows that Aoba’s absence weighs on them for different reasons all the same, but that her determination, hard work and devotion ends her no where further than the bench is difficult to see. While I’d love to see an upset that allows her to take the pitcher’s mound herself, the skill synchronicity between her and Ko is being so well developed that it might almost be enough to sate us all one day (at least a little).

At two volumes a release in Viz Media’s omnibus editions, we’ve only got two volumes left until the end of Cross Game. I’m already feeling a foreboding sadness at it’s inevitable end but I’ve little doubt that future re-reads will prove nearly just as relaxing and satisfying as it is the first time through. Volume six really set a different tone for the story, not a shocking change, but one as intuitive and poignant as the character interaction itself. I can’t wait to see all these stirring emotions collide with the tension of the baseball season with their gloves on hand and hearts on sleeve.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

Author: Daisuke Sato
Manga-ka: Shouji Sato
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: January 2012

Synopsis: “Takashi and his fellow students join up with a band of survivors who have barricaded themselves inside a local mall. Though the shopping center seems a well-stocked place to hide from the undead lurking outside, the policewoman in charge is having a hard time maintaining peace within. The group from Fujimi High would rather not get involved in a power struggle and tries to stay under the radar until they are ready to set off again. But with so many attractive, buxom girls among the students, it may be nearly impossible to avoid unwanted attention of the worst kind…”

I had some apprehension going into Highschool of the Dead. From the art and the write-up, I assumed that the manga was going to be little more than a mix of tits, ass, and gore. While those are indeed the three main ingredients in this volume, the manga has enough going for it that I enjoyed it anyway.

The series follows a small group of high school students (as well as the school nurse and an elementary school kid) as they try and survive a zombie apocalypse. When this volume starts the group has found shelter at a shopping mall, but other people are already holed up there and tensions between the survivors are strained. The only thing keeping the peace is Asami, a rookie traffic cop. Unfortunately, Asami isn’t the most intimidating authority figure: she cries a lot and can barely keep everyone from panicking. When one of the survivors tries to rape Marikawa, the school nurse, the kids realize that the mall isn’t as safe as they thought it was. The group is left to decide whether to get involved and help Asami or to get out of there before everything goes to hell.

What I love about the zombie genre is that it is a genre of ideas. Zombies can symbolize anything you want them to: consumerism, race, religion, mortality. HotD doesn’t cover any ground that zombie grandaddy Romero hasn’t covered repeatedly, but it does set up some good moral dilemmas. At one point in the story a character talks about how the characters always refer to the undead as ‘them’ because it’s easier to fight ‘things’ than humans. But at this point in the series the characters are in danger of dehumanizing even other human beings for the sake of survival. They’ve gone beyond ‘us vs. the zombies,’ and are now veering towards ‘us vs. everyone else.’

But it’s one thing to talk about having such a cold-hearted philosophy, it’s another to live it. When an old lady at the mall falls ill, some members of the group leave the building to get medicine for her. This is one of the best parts of the book and also the only section with any zombies (which is a good thing: zombies are best when they’re not overused). The zombie attack is well staged, but it’s robbed of some tension by the fact that there’s an obvious red shirt in the group.

There are five high school kids in the main cast, plus the nurse, the elementary kid, Asami and all the minor characters at the mall. With such a large cast list some of the main characters don’t get to do a lot in this volume: there are two high school girls who could be totally interchangeable (at least in this volume) as all they do is stand around and scowl. Also, the ‘leader’ of the group, Takashi, is so bland I have to keep reminding myself he’s in this series. There are some characters that are different and interesting though. The two seemingly ‘weakest’ members of the group, Marikawa the nurse and Alice the elementary-school kid, prove to have skills that may make them more likely to survive than the ‘strong’ characters.

And then there’s Kouta. Kouta is an overweight high school boy with a gun fetish. He’s not only knowledgeable about weaponry but human nature: he always knows exactly what to say to keep the group functioning. But Kouta has a dark side, a ruthless streak that allows him to do whatever he thinks is necessary to protect his friends. Kouta almost seems to enjoy the zombie apocalypse as it gives him an excuse to act on his darker impulses. Kouta’s a really interesting character and the best thing in this manga.

The art in this book is not a style I enjoy, but it’s more restrained than I was expecting so that’s something. While the artist clearly put a lot of thought into the various size and shapes of the girls’ boobs and how they move, it’s not as gratuitous as it could be. I guess the girls’ character designs are supposed to be sexy, but I just found them pointy and weird and not very attractive. If the idea of a woman with breasts bigger than her head turns you on, then you’ll probably have a more favourable opinion of the art. I actually liked the design of most of the minor characters more, as they weren’t so overly stylized.

The artist does a great job with the zombies, though the gory scenes look very different from the rest of the manga. The gore looks gritty and realistic while everything else is drawn in a sharp, clean style. I would have liked to see a little more integration between the two art styles.

I was a little wary when I saw the price for Highschool of the Dead: $13.99 USD and $15.50 Canadian. I got my copy from Yen Press, but if I was buying it in a store I’d be unsure about spending so much for such a short volume – it’s barely over 160 pages. Compare that to a volume of The Betrayal Knows My Name, also from Yen Press, which costs five dollars more but is almost three times as long. But I was entertained while I was reading Highschool of the Dead and the story moved along at a quick clip, so even with the higher price tag I’d be tempted to pick up the next volume. Highschool of the Dead isn’t a great manga, but it’s a good read if you’re looking for something gruesome and more than a little bit lurid.

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: Hotaru Odagiri
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Welcomed into the arms of the Giou clan and the Zweilt, Yuki reaches out to his comrades even as he is drawn into their war with the darkness. But the demonic Duras continue to spread their malevolence around Yuki, and the members of his new family are not impervious either, as one of their own vanishes without a trace and yet another is cornered by a sudden ambush. In the Zweilt, Yuki may well have found the long-sought-after place he belongs, but the enemy seems intent on stealing it out of his grasp forever. And when the shadowy figure of “Reiga,” the nemesis of the Giou, finally steps into the light, will Yuki find himself utterly alone, crushed by the weight of the truth?”

They say there are only so many types of stories, and one of them has to be ‘pretty people with super powers fight bad guys for fate of the world.’ The Betrayal Knows My Name not only follows this basic plot, it also has all the tropes you usually see in battle shojo manga: beautiful boys and girls, lots of destiny talk, plenty of fights and even more angst. While it’s not going to replace CLAMP’s X as the flagship title for the genre, it has its own strengths and charms that make it an enjoyable series.

Yuki Giou was an orphan who had no one in the world until his mysterious older brother, Takashiro, found him. Takashiro revealed that their family has been fighting demons, called the ‘Duras,’ for generations. He brings Yuki to the family mansion to meet the rest of the clan, all of whom have special powers. While most of the clan welcome Yuki with open arms, some of them still hold grudges over what happened in a previous life. This makes things slightly awkward for Yuki who doesn’t remember his past life at all.

Yuki is the typical pure shojo hero, big on heart but short on brains. He likes everyone he meets, is kind even to jerks, and just wants to be everyone’s friend. There are a lot of naive, sweet main characters in manga, but Yuki is less annoying than most. It helps that the manga-ka shows why Yuki is the way he is. Having grown up without a family, Yuki is delighted to have a group of people who not only love him but need him (he’s the healer for their group and his very presence makes them stronger). Yuki really loves his new found family, but part of that love comes out of a desperate need to belong.

As well as having a long title, TBKMN also has a big cast. While Yuki may be the main character, in this volume he only gets marginally more page time than anyone else. A lot of volume two focuses on Shuusei and Hotsuma, two members of the Zweilt who have a very close relationship both on and off the battlefield (they’re also the pretty boys on the cover of this volume). Personality-wise the two are total opposites: Hotsuma is quick-tempered while Shuusei is grounded and reserved. Both of them harbour deep angst over their pasts, but while Hotsuma lashes out, Shuusei bottles it up inside, something that has repercussions in this volume. I really like Shuusei. His character reminds me of folks I know in real life, the kind of people who listen to everyone else’s problems while keeping their own demons secret.

Hotsuma and Shuusei’s bond is tested when a string of strange events come to the attention of the Zweilt: teenage boys across the city are disappearing and high school girls are falling into comas. Could there be a connection? Is a Duras behind it? Just as the cast starts to investigate, Shuusei disappears. Hotsuma and the others must figure out what’s going on before they lose Shuusei forever.

That’s just the main plotline in this volume. Aside from a lot of nice character moments, we also learn the identity of the big bad and meet more of the good guys. All of it is well paced and even the action scenes help move the story along and develop the characters.

As much as I like all the characters, I think the manga-ka should cap the cast list or else I will start to forget people. She had a chance to thin the herd in this volume when it seemed like she was actually going to kill a main character. This made me happy for several reasons: 1. It would have shown that the bad guys were actually a threat, 2. By killing a sympathetic character the rest of the characters would have had a chance to develop in new and interesting ways, and 3. It would have reduced a large cast by one. The manga-ka even drew what would have been a very effective death scene…if the character had actually died! Instead he survives and gets to keep fighting. I like the character, and for that I’m glad he’s still around, but I think not killing him off was a missed opportunity.
While I’m talking about the characters and their relationships, I want to talk about Luka and Yuki. Luka is a Duras who switched over to the good guys’ side. He is wholly devoted to Yuki, something that leaves the teenager happy but confused. Why does this stranger care for him so much? And what exactly happened between them in Yuki’s previous life? Even after two giant volumes of manga, their relationship is moving as fast as a glacier. I actually like the slow pace here as it suits the characters.

Yuki has strong feelings for Luka but having lived a sheltered life he doesn’t know how to deal with them. Plus, he’s not sure if Luka actually likes him or if he’s just with him because of an oath he swore in a previous lifetime. Yuki may be in doubt, but it’s clear to everyone else that Luka loves him. Luka however tells the rest of the cast that he doesn’t want to rush Yuki into anything; in fact, if Yuki never returned his feelings at all, Luka claims he’d be fine with that too. He says he just wants Yuki to be happy, and it seems like he’s telling the truth. It’s such a relief to see a male love interest that is not dominating and controlling, who doesn’t stalk the person they like or try to keep them from caring about anyone else.

The art for the series is soooo pretty, but it’s not an empty prettiness. The manga-ka has a good eye for layouts, and while she doesn’t do anything really different or inventive, she knows how to effectively lay out a sequence. This is especially useful for the action scenes.

This volume has some weak points: there’s a minor character who gets a lot of build-up but no satisfying resolution, and the big reveal of the main bad guy’s identity was obvious from page one of the series. Also, the manga-ka keeps teasing the reader with tidbits about what happened in Yuki’s previous life but holds back on the details. I hope that in the next volume the manga-ka just tells us what went down.

Yen Press is doing a really nice job with the series and I’m glad it’s being translated into English. I just wish that I didn’t have to wait until April to see what happens next!

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: kakifly
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “As the second school term begins, so do preparations for the upcoming school festival! The Pop Music Club starts working on some fresh lyrics as they tune up their act for their live show. But the third-year girls find themselves practising for a performance of another kind when Ritsu and Mio are selected to play the lead roles in their class production of Romeo and Juliet! With the rest of the girls tied up in play rehearsal, Azusa spends her afternoons alone in the clubroom … Will the show be ready to go on?!”

The synopsis for this volume is a bit misleading. While the themes it raises are present for the entire book, the plot surrounding the play is actually resolved very quickly. The rest of the volume is concerned mainly with the older girls of K-ON! as they face their imminent graduation and the challenges of getting into university.

While I have seen the first season of the K-ON! anime, this was my first time reading the manga. As a result, I found myself facing confusion early on as I wasn’t quite sure which order to properly read the panels. They are presented on the page as eight panels equally spaced in two columns. At first, I thought I was meant to read them horizontally however after a couple of pages I realized I had to read vertically. This confusion was added to by the opening colour section which is not done in the four-panel style and so is read from left-to-right and from top-to-bottom, as occurs in traditional manga. I’m not sure if the fault lies with Yen Press or with the original Japanese publication, but I personally would have liked the two columns to have had extra space between them, to make it easier to understand just how to read them, as has been done for other similar releases.

There were a few other flaws in this volume. At times, I felt as though material was missing, as events such as concerts would be skipped over and the transition between the end of one storyline and the next was not always the clearest. While this may be due to the strips being put together in a collection, rather than appearing separately in serialization, the effect is still a bit off-putting to a reader.

One main event of the story that did not appear much was, surprisingly, the actual music played by the band. The concert mentioned in the synopsis is over in a page. This may not necessarily be as much of a negative as it first appears though. Manga that deals with musical performance often falls a bit short when it tries to write out songs, especially given that J-Pop songs often have lyrics that quite frankly don’t make much sense.

One of the shining features of this volume is the inclusion of the colour pages, which let the art style really shine. This is especially true of the large panel at the beginning of each section, containing art that stands by itself, apart from the main comics. One panel featuring Mugi in front of a Christmas tree in particular made me stop and stare for a minute, before continuing on reading. Colour pages are always a treat in manga and one that I am glad to be seeing more and more of.

It’s hard to say much else about K-ON!‘s story. It meanders and is filled with moments that make you smile. There are not too many laugh out loud moments in this volume but it is still a very fun ride. When talking about K-ON!, it is difficult not to compare the series to Azumanga Daioh. Both series are four-panel gag manga, and both focus on high school girls. The main characters are also really quite similar, enough that it’s impossible to believe that kakifly was not inspired by Azumanga somehow, either directly or indirectly. And while K-ON! is not Azumanga‘s equal, it is certainly a decent successor and fans of one should enjoy the other (just don’t expect too much actual music involved in this one!). Also, the move to follow the girls into university does set it apart from its predecessor and has me very interested to see where things go, more than I expected to be when I picked up volume four.

That said, it is a bit unclear how exactly the series is going to continue, as there are two on-going continuations currently being published in Japan, one featuring the girls in university and the other featuring the younger cast members trying to keep the high school club alive. But given that there is no indication from Yen Press that this is the final volume, I have no doubt we shall see more in the future.

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: Bisco Hatori
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Tamaki’s father and grandmother, the heads of the powerful Suoh Corp., are behind the Host Club’s suspension and the plan for Haruhi to be shipped off abroad. Now the Host Club members must pull out all the stops to save their beloved leader from his family’s infighting.”

We’ve arrived at the penultimate volume of Ouran High School Host Club – you’d think it was the end reading it though. It feels like all the stops were pulled out for this amazing climax. The romance, the friendship, the favours of acquaintances, the company power plays, the family struggles, medical breakthroughs and a race against the clock. No volume of manga I read throughout this entire year had me as giddy and tight gripped on the pages as this one.

Most impressive about this seventeenth book was how cinematic the pacing was. It brings everything together in a way that’s paced to get the utmost reaction from it’s readers and it darn well works! For those who’ve seen the anime, take the racing drama of the final episode and then multiple that by the dozens of additional plot points building over the span of the manga series. I would love to see an OVA based on this series’ end, and the layout of these pages read like a fantastic storyboard.

There are a slew of secondary characters brought in at just the right moment to aid the leads and show their appreciation. These scenes are heart-warming as well as nostalgic, especially with the manga being released over so many years in English. It’s fun seeing the story reach back to use some of it’s many character resources, and their individual resources in turn. Brief as these moments are, it’s great seeing these prior characters get some time to shine and remind us they haven’t been forgotten.

One of this book’s biggest triumphs, however, is probably that Bisco Hatori made me feel sympathy for Tamaki’s Grandmother, a feat I was skeptical could ever be possible. For all her actions, plotting and alliances, everything collapses around her here. All cards are on the table, all plots and purposes finally revealed – and it’s actually a surprise who gets the shortest end of the stick. His Grandmother is hit with the worst case scenario when it comes to her goals. Underhanded as some of her methods were, seeing someone’s hard work pulled out from under them like a rug, leaving them down on the ground, isn’t easy to watch.

Of course that’s not to say I didn’t still feel a lot of resentment and anger towards her, with the same being said for Tamaki’s Father as well. Well-intended as some of their actions were – be it for their company’s survival, a matter of pride or a skewed sense of family obligation – there’s no excuse for all the games they played and those they manipulated into playing them. The threats, the blackmail, the shutting down of the host club – Tamaki may have the love and patience to see past it but most others certainly don’t. One of the best individual moments is where a particular character reacts passionately to the situation, screaming out loud what so many characters and readers are thinking but don’t have the chance to say. It’s not who you’d expect either which makes it all the more effective.

Leave it to Haruhi to be the level-headed one amidst all the emotional and financial upheaval though. As things beyond her control erupt around them, inner monologue on her part does a great job showing her progression as a character. While outwardly it seems like she may not have changed that much, that in itself speaks a lot about how internal her changes have been, especially as someone who is always very into herself emotionally. The progression feels very believable. It leads up to a crescendo of actions that we know she wouldn’t have done when this all started. Bisco Hatori plays on this fact by having Haruhi dress like she did when introduced way back in volume one. Perhaps what impressed me most, however,was how much I believed her being in love with Tamaki. It’s something that I saw coming as an eventuality but was convinced there was no way it could be handled in a way so as to be believed. I was proven wrong!

Speaking of progression, Bisco Hatori’s artwork has come so far. It always hits me when I open a new volume and get a few pages in. It’s really cleaned up and solidified and this same kind of effective storytelling couldn’t have been done with the way it was drawn before. I love staring at all the artwork, from the way screen toning is darker but delicately used transparently over line art for hair and outfits, to how tidy the panel layouts have become while maintaining their original energetic charm. I really hope we see newer works from her after Viz Media’s run of Ouran is complete.

With so much happening in this book, it’s a wonder there’s another volume coming. I have trouble imagining it topping this one. Still, after all the excitement here, it’ll be great having a last volume to finish tying up any loose ends, few that honestly remain, and winding us down. Besides, who reading this series could read that final page and then handle thinking there’s no reactionary events coming? The opening pages of volume eighteen will be much anticipated indeed. The last volume of Ouran High School Host Club comes out in June 2012.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

Author: Ryukishio7
Manga-ka: Karin Suzuragi
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Rena has taken extreme measures to protect her and her father’s happiness, but such drastic actions have terrible consequences. When her friends learn of her crimes, they feel no revulsion toward Rena, but rather a sense of regret that they hadn’t been able to help her and avert this tragedy. But even if they had sensed Rena’s desperation, would her classmates’ pity have transformed itself from sentiment into action?”

Higurashi isn’t a series for everyone. It deals in extremes – when it’s not over-the-top gruesome, it’s cavity inducing cute. The two things might seem at odds, but the manga uses these disparate elements to play up each other. The violent scenes become that much more unsettling when committed by cute, wide-eyed characters and previously innocent scenes become less cute and more creepy as the series goes on.

Another thing that makes Higurashi hard to get into is the strange format. The series is made up of several independent arcs, each of them stand alone while at the same time contributing to a larger picture. In general each arc covers the same stretch of time (the summer of 1983) and place (Hinamizawa, a small rural town) but each time events play out differently. In one arc a character might be a crazed killer, where’s in another arc they are the detective, while in yet another arc they’re a victim. The ‘Atonement Arc’ is one of my favourites. It takes the two driving forces in the series- friendship and paranoia- and pits them head to head. As to be expected in this series, the results aren’t pretty.

I also like this arc because it puts the spotlight on one of my favourite characters, Rena Ryuga. Rena seems like a happy-go-lucky girl obsessed with cute things, but when a couple of yakuza threaten her father she proves to be a lot tougher than her energetic persona lets on. Rena decides that if she’s going to get her normal life back, she has to take care of things herself and does so in typically gory Higurashi fashion. Then, just when Rena thinks that she has everything under control, her friends stumble upon her in the middle of a crime scene.

Friendship isn’t a unique theme when it comes to anime and manga – it feels like every other series extols the power of friendship and how it can save the world. Higurashi manages to take a well worn topic and put a unique spin on it. Being a friend to someone is not always easy – sometimes the people you love do horrible things, or sometimes you might let down a friend when they need you the most. A lot of series only focus on the positive aspects of friendship and not the responsibilities. Higurashi explores both sides of it. There’s a huge chunk of the book where one character takes the rest of the main cast to task for failing to help a friend. It’s a tough segment to read as it’s hard to see likeable characters get raked over the coals, no matter how justified the accusations. But following that is the most heart warming moment in the whole series, when the cast not only forgives Rena for her crimes but asks her to forgive them for not being there for her (it says something about the series that its sweetest moment is a group of kids agreeing to cover-up a double homicide). While the situations in Higurashi might be extreme (very few people will ever need help chopping up and hiding a body), the sentiments at its heart are still relatable.

The art reflects the extreme nature of the series. It can do the cute easily enough, but when the story takes a crazy turn the art is right there with it, amping up the surreal and gruesome atmosphere. One place where the art is super effective is the scene where Rena explains herself to her friends. It’s a pretty simple scene with a lot of talking. In lesser hands it could have just been a lot of text on the page with little impact, but the artist makes this a tense and dynamic scene. As Rena goes on she gets more and more worked up – her hair flies around, her expressions become more and more manic. There are speed lines in every other panel. It might look gratuitous and over-the-top while flipping through the book, but I think it does a really good job at capturing Rena’s state of mind. The artist also makes effective use of splash pages, using them to capture both despair and hope.

The second-half of the volume delves deeper into the mysterious history of Hinamizawa. One thing I like about the series is that every arc offers its own, far-out there explanations for what’s going on in the town: It’s aliens! No, it’s an ancient god! No, it’s the local crime family! No it’s…well, you get the idea. In this arc Rena starts to investigate the town’s history, but as she does she becomes paranoid that her research has made her a target for murder. While there’s clearly something weird going on, it’s hard to tell how much of it is for real and how much is in Rena’s head. This series is full of twists and turns, as well as its fair shares of unreliable narrators. Often times the characters themselves don’t even know what is real or not, making it that much harder for the people at home to solve the mystery. I personally like this extra layer of intrigue. It also makes for an interesting re-read after you’ve gathered clues and have a firmer idea of what’s going on.

Higurashi is a puzzle manga. Like a puzzle, the individual pieces don’t always give you a clear picture, but the more you piece together the more satisfying it is. I personally really like mysteries (and don’t mind either extreme violence or cuteness) and I really like this series, but if you want to read a more grounded manga with diffident answers and a clear reality, then you might want to read something else.

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: Q Hayashida
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2011

Synopsis: “Caiman and Nikaido return to the Hole, where Doc and Kasukabe manage to cure Nikaido of her deadly fungal affliction, but a prowler outside Central Hospital is watching and waiting for an opportunity to steal her away. Fujita returns to the Hole to finally kill Caiman himself. He gets close when he’s recruited for a baseball match between Central Hospital and Hole Peace Hospital, but his plans change when he spots an old friend. Meanwhile, in the Sorcerer’s dimension, a little accident transforms Noi into a hideous monster. It’s up to Shin to stop her before she kills everyone.”

Dorohedoro remains a wonderful mixture of delightful humour and ultra violence. It’s one of the best series of the past year and more fans need to be checking out. The franchise continues to counter your expectations as the entire cast indulges in a game of baseball, gives use insight into Shin and Noi’s pasts, and divulges more revelations as we learn about Caiman and Nikaido‘s respective ties to the Sorceror‘s realm. Meanwhile, horrible things continue to occur to Ebisu… or rather because of Ebisu in this volume.

Nikaido and Caiman’s fixation on food continues with several scenes set in restaurants. Most of the cast partakes in some form of eating throughout, whether it’s a delicious recipe to save Noi from killing them all, or a giant cockroach doing the unpleasant things one would expect of him. The series grounds itself in everyday events, making the chaos and horrific events seem mundane in the context of the Hole’s society. Caiman and co. fight for survival, but it’s more of an everyday occurrence, and the villains are never quite as evil as one would expect.

Ebisu in particular comes across as more of a spoiled, ditzy teenage girl, though perhaps that’s more of a sign of her continued magical brain damage. This element of the series comes to the forefront as we learn the sinister yet sympathetic origin of Shin and why he employs a hammer. His familiarity with the Hole becomes clear in this volume also, and his origin is a haunting tale straight out of any revenge manga, yet balanced by softer moments with Noi later on. Well, as soft as you can get with a woman who accidentally gets transformed into a horrifying monster.

The baseball game continues the strange breakdown of manga genres in Dorohedoro, which already squeezes in those food manga elements (I’m always hungry after reading it, even with the gore, because those Gyoza dumplings sound good!). With Ebisu and Fujita undertaking a sinister scheme to kill Caiman by joining the opposing team, the series fails yet again to take itself seriously. Like the previous boxing chapter, it still takes the baseball game quite seriously, with Fujita getting distracted from his mission and his and Ebisu’s status as a threat decidedly tossed aside. I continue to enjoy how Hayashida handles her female characters too, with Nikaido’s baseball skills just being a part of who she is. Ebisu continues her strange mixture of cute, evil and awful as she takes on the role of a baseball mascot.

Meanwhile, more mysteries of the series are solved. We get answers about Caiman, the Black Powder and more – yet they’re not quite what we expect, or aren’t as important as what they once seemed. More questions emerge about the characters’ past and relationships, as Hayashida creates a fun, engrossing read. One would of expected her to stretch these elements out, yet instead she deftly balances them and builds upon them, giving me a good feeling we’ll continue to enjoy this series throughout it’s run.

Currently it’s exceeded past ten volumes in Japan. I hope fans will support Viz Media’s edition, which has been solicited through to volume six, so we can continue to enjoy this mixture of food, gore and friendship. The publisher’s presentation continues to be solid. Though there are no colour pages as there were in the previous three volumes, the paper is still above average, thick and white. French flaps add a bit of class to the presentation. Combined with the larger SigIkki trim, it’s an excellent presentation and value, providing a better view of the detailed artwork and priced at just a dollar or two more than the majority of current manga releases.

Q Hayashida’s art continues to astound. Every page is Richard Scary-esque in it’s detail, as the cast scampers about the rundown Hole or explore the Sorceror’s realm, teaming with background characters and objects. The details never become overwhelming, instead presenting themselves in a balanced fashion that adds to the series’ mood and themes.

The excessive strangeness of Dorohedoro combined with the slice of life elements makes for a great experience, a definite break from the usual package of manga tropes. It’ll defy your expectations. Miss Hayashida, we hope you continuing your excellent batting average!

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Soul Reaper captain Shinji Hirako has uncovered Aizen’s betrayal, but it may be too late. As some of the Soul Society’s greatest Soul Reapers transform into Hollows, it will be up to Kisuke Urahara to save them. And back in the present time, the grand battle between the Thirteen Court Guard Companies and the remaining Espada finally begins!”

Fight, fight and fight some more! The newest big battle is finally underway with Shinigami versus Hollow. It’s a bout to protect the world from soul-sucking disaster at the hands of the conniving Aizen who has mastered evil smirks and betrayal alike. Ichigo and co are still duking it out in the Hollow world to save Orihime while angst and desperation abounds in the finale to Urahara’s flashback about the events that initially set everything into motion.

I really love how Kubo Tite continues to infuse his long battle sequences with humour. It’s really one of the big saving graces of Bleach. They’re not enough to ruin the tone amidst the greater scheme of things but make for refreshing pauses in the tension. In this volume, Yumichika (as seen on the cover) gets the most entertaining chapter that offers just such a break in the serious-business vibe permeating the rest of the book. In the last few chapters, he faces off against an equally egotistical individual who sports a hilarious character design. The two banter back and forth on who is the ugly one in one screamer fit after another, stress veins and insults abound. On the one serious side of the fight, this battle is the first time in a while we get to see Yumichika fight closer to his full potential utilizing the powers he keeps hidden from his teammates.

Scenes like this make me miss having more time to spend with the Shinigami characters we were introduced to earlier on, not to mention the main cast. Where’s Uryuu? Where’s Hanatorou? Bring back my favourites out of your cast of dozens upon dozens, Kubo! I’m glad this is likely the first of many such character-focused chapters we’ll see in upcoming volumes. Sure it means the battle will likely go on and on and on, but I don’t mind the way it’s broken up by giving individual characters the chance to strut their stuff.

This volume also finishes up the flashback arc to Urahara’s past and the ‘creation’ of the hollowfied Shinigaimi who were training Ichigo prior to his journey to Hueco Mundo. Major sympathies to Urahara for the events that transpired. His whole world collapses around him, and it’s all the more potent because of how well Kubo Tite built up the camaraderie between the Captains and their squads in volumes prior. It’s also impressive to see just how far back Aizen’s betrayal went – that guy’s been pulling the strings for a long, long time. I felt like this information could’ve been shared by Urahara sooner though – wouldn’t it have been nice for everyone to know the inevitable (second!) betrayal was coming? It shows either a lack of aid on Urahara’s part or simply no foresight to what was going to happen this far in as the story was written.

Back in the Hollow’s world, all the remaining players are conveniently healed up, hyped and ready to go. The path has been cleared for Ichigo to go round two with Ulquiorra who still holds Orihime hostage. While I’m interested in seeing how each of the current big events plays out, having them both separate is really splitting up the series. The lead characters of the story are being left behind to clean up the unresolved mess of Hueco Mundo while the now much more important stuff takes place elsewhere. You gotta catch up, guys! I really want to see everything and everyone mesh back together.

While reading Bleach, I’m consistently impressed by the work done by Viz Media’s staff to replace the sound effects with English equivalents. They do an amazing job of taking out the old ones and replacing them with visual and verbal equivalents – it looks great! You’d never know they weren’t originally there unless you already knew.

And so another volume of Bleach and another bout of testosterone and supernatural abilities comes to an end. There isn’t a whole lot new you can say for each volume but fans of the series will appreciate another solid addition to the story mixing plot, powers and unique individuals. Here’s hoping we see more of these elements collide in the next volume so the ball can really get rolling on super fight number… something.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures

There are no shortage of ‘Best Of’ lists this time of year. While I like popping around to different peoples’ sites and seeing what they thought, it’s a bit of a frustration that I can’t seem to write one myself. How people choose a solid list containing five or ten favourites, from across different genres and subject matters, is just something I can’t seem to muster the brain power for. Not enough conviction I suppose? There’s just so much to love!

But I can’t overlook the perfect chance to look back at all the great titles a year had to offer and 2011 had some really fantastic ones. So then where is this going, oh rambling one, you ask? My semi-traditional equivalent to the yearly best of – the random Lissa’s favourites and best-ofs list! Which really just means you get a lot more titles broken into a lot more categories so I can remain a lot more loving to a lot more series. And in some cases not so loving… From the Best Release Quality to the Favourite Fan Service and even to the most Gag Worthy – here are a bunch of my favourite titles from 2011!

Best Release Quality

While we’re not getting the same amount of individual volumes of manga as years’ past, the quality of releases keeps getting better. This year I was really impressed with Yen Press‘s work on A Bride’s Story which was a hardcover book sporting a beautiful full-colour, matte finish cover slip. It compliments the work perfectly!

Another nice hardcover book was Wandering Son which was released by Fantagraphics. The book was also printed at a larger than normal size making for a book that’s a bit tricky to fit on the shelf but really enjoyable to read.

Viz Media‘s softcover omnibus of CLAMP’s X series was also a treat with lots of full-colour, glossy pages inside. The series is also released in its original visual format for the first time in English.

Best Boys’ Love

My boys’ love buying was a bit smaller than usual this year as much of Digital Manga’s attentions shifted to digital releases and I began running into a lot of supply issues trying to buy physical copies from them (a definite downer of 2011!). Of the titles I did read though, two really stood out. The number one was Only Serious About You (Vol.01) – a really charming story that felt like Future Lovers meets Bunny Drop. The art was nice and the story so sweet and romantic, even with things remaining mostly platonic in this introductory volume.

Another boys’ love title that I loved was Rabbit Man, Tiger Man. I couldn’t resist the visual contrast between the small, cute doctor and the tall, scary yakuza! The story itself was a lot funnier than I expected and I was entertained by every page. The English adaptation stood out to me as being really good too, I loved some of the word choices. I really hope the rest of the series gets licensed.

Favourite Fan Service

While neither are new series to this year, the continuing Black Butler (Yen Press) and XXXHolic (Del Rey) win again for best fan service (the kind that appeals to me)! The suedo-romantic(?) tension between it’s lead male characters and the gorgeous clothing design and dark inking make them immediate must owns, complete with the occasional squeals and swoons. XXXHolic has been a more consistent wow factor volume after volume so it’ll be bittersweet seeing it end early this new year.

Best Second Chances

Re-releases, omnibus and new editions have became a fairly regular occurrence and the chance to revisit something missed is great. This year I was pleasantly surprised by Seven Sea‘s Blood Alone (Vol.01), an omnibus edition of the original first three volumes. It’s a great vampire story that steers clear of most tropes and focuses more on a subtle but poignant relationship between a young girl and her protector.

One of my favourite series of 2011 was Full Metal Alchemist. Though it’s been coming out for a number of years, I’d only just started reading it thanks to borrowing a friends’ copies. Viz Media celebrated the last volume of the series coming out by releasing a box set of the entire thing – all twenty-seven volumes! It’s a fantastic value. I highly recommend it, while also suggesting you avoid the omnibus editions which only cover the first nine volumes then stop.

Digital Manga‘s continuing editions of Kizuna have been great as well. In 2011 we finally got to the point in the omnibus editions where the original English edition by BeBeautiful had stopped. New content! I love that we have a second chance to purchase it, and now the whole thing at that!

Best (Worst?) Good-Byes

While 2011 saw some great series start, it also saw some of my favourites come to an end. The biggest and saddest goodbye goes to Vertical Inc‘s edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. This is one of my favourite manga series of all time and to finish reading the last volume was a sad experience indeed. It’s such a fun series and Black Jack himself is an amazing character. I’ve no doubt I’ll be re-reading it again and again.

Viz Media’s English edition of Full Metal Alchemist also came to an end. The pain of it ending was dampened by how I’d read the whole thing within a month leading up to it and because the ending was so, so good. I’m also thankful we got to read the entire story. I wish I could say the same for things such as Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo and Shinobi Life which we’ve had to say farewell to early because of Tokyopop’s shutdown. That wasn’t an easy goodbye in itself either – so unfortunate!

Top Can’t-Look-Away-Titles

Like watching a train-wreck and being unable to look away (as they say…?), sometimes there are those titles that are just dark, depressing and sort of scary. Bleak as they may be, the emotional rollar-coasting of reading them makes every page turn worth it. Vertical delivered two series that fit the description, both by Usamaru Furuya. Lychee Light Club is a one-shot with plenty of violence, sex and crazy, crazy people. I read it, loved it and honestly may never read it again. It’s just one of those kind of titles, you know? My signed copy sits proudly on the shelf.

Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human has been an experience as well. It’s more grim and dark than violent and shocking but I’m definitely in for the whole messy journey. I look forward to seeing how it finishes in 2012 with volume three what was started in 2011 with volumes one and two.

Getting to meet Usamaru Furuya and hear him interviewed at TCAF 2012 was also a big highlight of the year for me. Hopefully in 2012 I’ll be able to meet an idol with fewer than twenty minutes of self-psyching to work up the nerve to say hello – it could happen, right?

Most Long Awaited

Of all the English manga titles and trends started in 2011, I think it’ll be most known for bringing about two of the most long-awaited manga series of all time – Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon and Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Kodansha Comics released the two volume prequel series, Sailor V, and the first two volumes of Sailor Moon – both are must haves for the magical-girl fans out there! Talk about a trip down nostalgia lane too. While Sailor Moon is one of the most well-known manga titles, Vertical Inc took the honour of releasing one of the very first. The company released both omnibus volumes of Princess Knight in 2011 so you can now buy the whole thing – prepare to enjoy!

As a big CLAMP fan, I was also thrilled to finally get the first volume of their new Gate 7 in my hands. With the title first announced years ago by Dark Horse, it’s been a much longer wait than any anticipated.

Hidden Gems of 2011

Two titles published by Digital Manga that I really enjoyed were Replica and Countdown 7 Days. Both are by Kemuri Karakara and are series it’s tricky to really nail down genre-wise. They’re very shonen in nature but more character-oriented with really nice artwork, less focus on stuff like fighting and ‘The power of friendship!’. Sort of like… D.Grayman, Arata the Legend, and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles – to name a few that come to mind first.

I really enjoyed both the series so far – great art, fun characters and some interesting stories. I heard little mention of either from the manga blogosphere or social media outlets though but I hope a lot of readers still got to check them out. I’m sure a lot of readers out where would enjoy them. Volume one of each were released in 2011 and I’m eager for the follow-ups in 2012.

Must-Own One-Shots

I love a good one-shot! When done well they’re a really satisfying experience, having either a nice collection of short stories or one solid piece planned for a one-go read. They’re also the easiest thing to suggest to new readers – short but sweet, without the commitment of multi-volume series. Of the one-shots published in 2011, my favourites were Natsume Ono’s Tesoro (Viz Media) and Taniguchi Jiro ‘s A Zoo in Winter (Ponent Mon). I’ve read works by both the artist’s before but these easily became my favourites of each. Both are high quality releases and have stories full of sincerity and compelling human drama – I highly recommend both!

Top Tear-Jerkers

I don’t consider myself quick to tears but sometimes a volume of manga manages to get me there. Goes to show you should always be ready with a hanky or two because you never know what tears a story may bring. Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 17) was such a fun, high-energy and very satisfying read that I found myself tearing up from joy. That was a new one for me. I enjoyed it so much, seeing how far the series and characters have come. You can bet the last volume, due out in June 2012, will be one hard to say good-bye to.

My feelings were similar reading the last volume of Genkaku Picasso, also released by Viz Media. Picasso’s growth and acceptance of his new friends and their support for him was so touching. I never thought it’d be a series that would move me that much but, by the end of volume three, I was definitely wiping at my eyes to be able to see the pages.

Lastly, when it came to just downright heart-breakingly sad, Stargazing Dog from NBM Publishing won hands down. What made me cry wasn’t even always the sad parts, sometimes it was those bittersweet moments that predate them. It was no surprise to me that a book about the love and loyalty of a pet dog would be an emotional trip though. It’s a great read but definitely have your tissues ready for this one.

Yay-For-More-Coming Titles

We saw series start and end in 2011 but many others were just trekking their way through with more to come. My top-wanted series (because goodness knows there’re dozens of ‘em) that began in years past and have continued through 2011 and onward to 2012 are Kamisama Kiss, Bunny Drop, 20th Century Boys, Pokemon Adventures and The Tyrant Falls in Love. Saying good-bye to a year comes with a lot of good-byes in general but at least there are none for these yet!

Alas-Only-One Titles

Some continuing titles however, made their way through 2011 with unfortunately minimal appearances. A number of my favourite series only had one volume released over the entire year. While the books were great, the long wait is always tough. I’ve got my fingers crossed for more of Kaze Hikaru, Yotsuba&!, Berserk and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in 2012.

Most Redeemed

Along with the series that I already loved going into 2011, I also went into the year with a few series I was on the fence about. With several volumes of each throughout the year though, I was made a believer! While they each had some rough starts – be it too predictable, too slow or just painfully sexist, 2011 was a redeeming year for Rumiko Takahashi’s Rin-Ne (Viz Media), Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica (Vertical) and Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman (Viz Media). Now I’ll be spending 2012 eagerly awaiting every new volume of these three.

Top I’m-Not-Sure-Why Reads

Most people have these kinds of reads – the ones where you really like them but you’re not really sure why. I went into 2011 not able to pinpoint why I love Viz Media’s Toriko and Kodansha Comics’ Air Gear so much and a year later I’m still not sure why. Both had several volumes out in 2011 and still the answer eludes me. One thing I do know though is I love Toriko more for the story, less for the art, and with Air Gear it’s the opposite. I guess as long as I still love reading them, it’s okay that 2011 held tight to their secrets!

Could’ve-Done-Withouts

Enjoyable as many reads were this year, there were some that I could have done without. They weren’t bad, per say, but I was left feeling so underwhelmed upon finishing that I felt my time and money could have been much better spent elsewhere. Blood Blockade Battlefront (Dark Horse), Drifters (Dark Horse) and Drops of God (Vertical) were all series newly started in 2011. While I usually give a series two volumes to impress, I think I’ll leave any future copies of these ones on the shelves for other more interested readers. Not necessarily bad, just not for me.

Most Gag Worthy

Alas where there is good and meh, there is also just outright bad. Thankfully I didn’t read too many stinkers this year but yikes, did the bad ever stand out when they did show themselves. While I don’t often regret reading a book, I got to that point with Ai Ore! (Vol. 01). With some of the most hateable characters I’ve ever read in a manga title, and the end of this first volume nearly earned the title a chuck at the wall. Why, Viz Media? Why?! Digital Manga’s The Beautiful Skies of Houou High was pretty bad also, but erred on the side of just being painful to read and falling short of being rage-inducing.

… and that’s it folks! My thanks to all the manga publishers, local retailers, fellow manga supporters and of course manga creators for a great 2011!

So it’s that time of year again. Yes, the “everyone makes lists about the best/worst things of the year.” And you know what? I love it. Yes, love it. And so, I decided to put together my own list of my top five best manga of 2011.

To be eligible for this list, all a series had to do was have one book this year that I have read. Some (most actually) began in earlier years but they were the titles I looked forward to reading the most in these last twelve months. And so, without further ado, here are my top picks of the year.

5. Codename: Sailor V by Naoko Takeuchi (Kodansha Comics)

I will admit, nostalgia goggles are on pretty tight for this one, though from what I’ve read online about this series, I’m not alone. Along with the re-release of Sailor Moon (which likely could have made the list, if the two released volumes weren’t still sitting in my to-be-read pile), 2011 saw the first English release of the series which started it all, Codename Sailor V, featuring Aino Minako, aka Sailor Venus, in her early adventures. This series is just a really fun read and also interesting from a storytelling perspective as you can see the parts of the world that we know and love from Sailor Moon really start to come together. And it doesn’t hurt that the book itself is a lovely release, complete with colour pictures which I think really show how great the series’ art is.

4. Gunslinger Girl by Yu Aida (Yen Press)

This one I’ve talked about here before (in my last review, actually) so I’ll be brief. I love this series and could not be happier to see it finally getting released again. The world here is just so beautiful and unnerving and thought-provoking, which are three things I love in a story, manga or otherwise.

3. Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino (Viz Media)

I often describe Vampire Knight as my guilty pleasure manga (and anime, for the record). While it definitely is a guilty pleasure, I also think it’s a very well put together series as well, which is what puts it above more “quality” series like Gunslinger Girl. It is full of melodrama but this is melodrama done to perfection, that always has at least a ring of truth. It makes you laugh and cry with the characters – in particular my beloved Zero, who is just an incredibly interesting and well-developed character. I also really love the world that the manga has created for its vampires to exist in and the volumes released this year have really begin to delve into it more. Of course, there is the epic love triangle that also contains one of the most intense (and sometimes homoerotic) rivalries I’ve ever seen. While I was initially worried that the series might be dragging as it started an entirely new arc, I have thankfully been proven wrong and am eagerly anticipating the story continuing in 2012.

2. Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga (Viz Media)

I first encountered Ooku last year when I wrote a review for it for the now defunct Manga Life (you can read the review for vol 3 on my blog, here) and the series was my pick for best series of 2010. The political intrigue of this story is just incredible and, like Gunslinger Girl, also very thought-provoking as it plays with gender issues. The art also is beautiful (though admittedly it can be difficult at times to tell some characters apart) and the story is wonderfully epic, giving an alternate history to the entire Tokugawa shogunate period. I personally love the archaic language which I became used to after reading a volume or two, though I do see why some would have issues with it. Still, the story is good enough to overcome the few flaws it has and makes it a solid runner-up for 2011.

And my pick for best manga of 2011 is …

1. Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita (Yen Press)

I was introduced to this series first through the anime, which aired in Japan over the summer. I was immediately in love. The series is just so different from anything else I’ve read, as it shows the challenges of a single man suddenly being thrown into a “father” role for the illegitimate daughter of his late grandfather. Yes, the blood relationship is as complicated as it sounds but what comes out is one of the most feelgood stories I have ever watched or read. Every moment that I am experiencing Bunny Drop I am smiling and just having a great time, and that’s really something that’s a bit too rare in today’s entertainment. This series also features fantastic art and writing, which includes some of the best portrayals of children in fiction that I have ever seen. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone who likes kids, whether or not they are a manga fan. It’s just that good.

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So that’s my top five. All great series that I love reading and highly recommend. I also would like to take a moment to name two runners-up who are only not on the list because they did not have new volumes come out this year. The first is NANA, which is sadly on indefinite hiatus due to Ai Yazawa’s health issues. This is definitely one of my favourite series period and I am heartbroken at the idea there’s a chance it will never be finished. I wish Ai Yazawa all the best in her recovery because losing her as a mangaka would be a truly terrible thing.

My second sadly missed series is Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, by my favourite mangaka, Yuu Watase. I am a big fan of hers, particular of the original Fushigi Yuugi series, and I constantly look to see if there is a new volume of this being released … and sadly am often disappointed. However, it looks as though volume ten has been released in Japan, so hopefully it will soon get released in English and this series can be a contender for a proper place on next year’s list. (Editor’s note: Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Vol. 10) is due out from Viz Media in September 2012!)

Finally, just in case anyone is interested, the worst manga I read this year was March Story. I also reviewed it for Manga Life and you can read that review (for vol 1) here but needless to say, while it did have wonderful art, the story was just really unoriginal and not at all compelling. But I definitely read much more good than bad this year and have high hopes for 2012.

Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “As the seeds of love begin to bloom in her heart, Kobato’s attentions are diverted from giving solace to strangers and filling up her magic bottle in order to finally earn her mysterious wish! Now it seems all Kobato has eyes for the dour Fujimoto-kun and putting a smile on his face. With this turn of events, Kobato is fighting to save Yomogi Kindergarten more than ever before, all at the expense of her magic bottle. But as time runs out for her quest, is Kobato unwittingly endangering her wish, her life, and the lives of Ioryogi and his erstwhile allies (read: cronies) by choosing to follow her heart?”

It continues to be a flaw of these shorter length volumes of Kobato that we don’t feel we’re getting a lot of substance per book. Fortunately this particular volume hits that quality over quantity sweet spot, delivering on some much anticipated history behind the main characters. We’ve been following Kobato and Ioryogi on their path for five books and finally we’re seeing where it all began.

Continuing their trend of weaving some really complicated story lines, CLAMP’s reveal of who/what Kobato is makes for a somewhat confusing read but still proves a lot more linear and simplistic than some other existences (TRC clones anyone?). I really loved getting more substance behind the leads, especially Ioryogi for whom we’re teased with only partial views of his full humanoid form throughout the whole book. I’ve long since learned to suspect nothing is coincidence with CLAMP though, so the brief looks of Ioryogi cool mullet-sporting true self has me looking at another grumpy-faced mullet-owner with suspicion in a universe where a ‘version’ of someone exists in every world.

Even though this other particular development isn’t new, I’m still surprised at just how much this series connects to Wish. CLAMP loves their crossovers but with the addition of angels, continued appearances from Kohaku and now overlapping character job descriptions, Kobato definitely works like a tighter partner to Wish than just casual cameos, more similar to the ties between Angelic Layer and Chobits.

Kohaku’s presence did have one flaw though, nailing home how little I care for Kobato’s cast. I found myself charmed by the short scenes Kohaku inhabits and, though still entertained, found myself still feeling pretty ambivalent to the others. The back story has helped yet the overhanging feeling that this story was originally intended to be a more shallow, episodic series remains. It feels like CLAMP is trying to build up repoire with these characters but unfortunately it’s just not clicking. This is especially true for the growing romance between Kobato and Fujimoto for which I feel little more than ‘meh’ about.

Sweet, fluffy and occasionally funny as Kobato can be, it definitely feels like it’s wandering on an aimless track. The magic bottle is brought up a lot but is it really that relevant? The fact it’s only got a couple star bits in it is disturbing if you believe CLAMP is going to keep the story going long enough to fill it up – it’s already dragging way too much as is. I never thought the kindergarten story would last this long either. It’s still made next to no real steps forward either. It’s no wonder this volume is strong with its focus on back story when the present day events are going at a snail’s pace. Some things have begun to develop though so with history in hand and Kobato on the move, I’m hopeful that volume six has even more to offer.

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

The Coast is a local free paper published weekly here in my home-city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s “independent and locally owned”, publishing every thing from local news, editorials, reviews and entertainment schedules, not to mention a bevy of ads that I love for always letting me know about fun local businesses I wouldn’t otherwise discover.

Recently I began writing reviews for the paper and my first was published in this week’s edition. The Coast is available to read digitally with its full print layout online and in blog-like format, where you can directly read my review of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight. Writing in the shorter format has been a great exercise and I’m eager to share more of my favourite titles with fellow Haligonians.

Fellow Kuriousity writer, Shannon Fay, has been writing and reviewing for The Coast for a couple years now. Her reviews have recommended plenty of great manga titles to our local comic-loving populous. You can read her reviews online at The Coast’s website as well:

GoGo Monster
Solanin
Saturn Apartments (Vol. 01)
Black Blizzard
Peepo Choo (Vol.01)
Not Love But Delicious Food Makes Me So Happy!
A Drunken Dream
No Touching At All
La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room
A Bride’s Story(Vol. 01)

Bakuman and Wandering Son also made her picks for Top 11 Books of 2011.

From now on I’ll be doing occasional round up of reviews by Shannon and I as they’re published in The Coast. If you’re in the Halifax area, I hope you pick up copies of the print edition and enjoy all the local literary flavour!

Author: Masashiro Totsuka
Manga-ka: Aguri Igarashi
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Up-and-coming TV personality Ryouko Toda is an ambitious young woman who’s willing to use any means necessary to claw her way to the top. For Ryouko, image is key, but it’s tough for this cutthroat celebrity to maintain her cool on-screen persona when she’s forced to appear alongside ditzy costar Erina Sawamiya on Burnish Academy, where silly, simple Erina manges to best Ryouko in every single sport! To defeat Erina in sports and in the ratings game, Ryouko must call upon her skills not as an actress, but as a master of the kendo ring!”

It’s been awhile since I checked into the cast of Bamboo Blade. This later volume in the series continues its fun mix of slapstick comedy, realistic sports and deadpan characters. As the primary cast and Kojiro do their best to continue improving at Kendo, the story shifts onto some new characters, with much of the volume satirizing the idol system that Japanese pop-culture centers on.

Using the plot line of having a TV studio film Kojiro’s kendo team as an excuse, Totsuka shifts the storyline onto cutesy idols, Erina and Ryouko, stars of a childrens’ TV show focused on competitions between the cast members. While Erina is genuinely a sweet, innocent girl, Ryouko’s glamorous appearance is merely a façade, leading to some of the best scenes of the book. You’ll delight in how awful she manages to be, taking her rivalries a little too far, as the duo does a wonderful send up of the shallow world of celebrities and the particular oddities surrounding it in Japan. This makes for a fun point to jump into, with the scenes involving Kojiro’s group continuing the antics you’d expect from them, but introducing new characters and situations that allow newer readers to latch onto the franchise. While Totsuka does hint the series is winding down from his point of view, this volume still felt very fresh, and I appreciated getting to know some new nut balls who, like most of the cast, probably shouldn‘t be allowed to wield heavy wooden blades at each other.

Totsuka and Igarashi have solidly placed Bamboo Blade in the real world, yet are very flexible with the sitcom elements in both writing and art. The SD cuteness is expected and well done, but you’ll stay for the oddball characters. Particularly funny was a scene where Kojiro and his fellow coach friend realize how odd it is for two adult men to constantly be meeting each other for dinner. Priceless interactions such as these make for a rewarding book, elevating it above the usual “colour coded cute girls” fare shonen and seinen manga publishers have been dumping on the globe for the past decade. Nowhere else will you find a heroine as creepy as MiyaMiya, with her two-faced personality as lovey-dovey girlfriend with Dan, and hard as nails gangster girl with everyone else. Tough girls are a stereotype in manga nowadays, but in her past she was an outright Bancho, and would of fit in quite well with the cast of Cromartie High School.

Igarashi’s art continues to be stellar, with this later volume showing a shift to even tighter layouts during fight scenes and hilarious caricatures. The scenes where the idol Ryouko Toda takes out her frustrations against her manager are extremely competent as she beats him down, yet it’s simultaneously comical given the circumstances and their respective dialogue. Where Igarashi really excels, however, is the diversity of her character designs. She nails the mandatory cute girls, but also manages to explore a variety of older men and women alongside some more surreal elements. When a character from the spinoff Bamboo Blade B meets the guys her college friends have set them up with, you’ll experience the same horrific revulsion as she did thanks to Igarashi’s art depicting the horrors of trendy Japanese men.

Yen Press’s presentation is what one generally expects from them. They’ve opted to include colour pages, a good indicator of the series popularity this late in the game, and use thicker paper that manga fans have come to expect as the norm in North America. The screen tone heavy artwork is very sharp, reproduced well with lots of notes where needed. They have maintained their odd standard of both romanizing and translating sound effect under the original Japanese sound effects, yet it remains a minor element and doesn’t intrude upon the readers experiences. Translation notes are included at the end of the volume, alongside a short bonus comic and lengthy notes from the series writer. A notable change to Yen’s packaging is the inclusion of a small blurb promoting their apps for digital manga, a nice way of letting fans know about their growing online presence.

One hopes Yen Press will option to license the Bamboo Blade B spinoff referenced in this volume. The older characters, around or at college age, who appeared on the Kendo themed TV series together were a welcome addition. It’d be great to get to know them better. I’ve happily purchased the SAVE edition of the anime series from Funimation, and plan to watch it soon to take in more of these fun characters and see how it transitions to that format. Yen Press picked an excellent franchise with Bamboo Blade, one that I expect should have a fun ending given the tone thus far.

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Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: Rei Toma
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage… and a mysterious power!”

When a ‘red-hair’ Princess is forced to marry the Prince from a neighbouring country in a bout of political play, Nakaba finds herself in unwelcoming territory of her country’s opposing nation. With her dependable friend and servant, Loki, at her side, Nakaba must maintain her native-country pride and survive. Determined as she may be, however, her efforts to stand firm are marred by a story that pits her against genre-trope odds to disappointing result.

Fantastical settings, political intrigue, a fiery red-head, her pretty-boy attendant and a dash of magical foreshadowing – Dawn of the Arcana had a lot going for it when I started. Unfortunately it’s flaws became all too apparent with a level of predictability that felt suffocating for even the earliest attempts at character development. Nakaba already seems destined to get with the Prince, with the last couple pages of the book really setting her clear on the path. Sure he’s a selfish, arrogant and controlling guy on the outside, but inside there’s an inkling of sad-faced emotion that surely we know Nakaba will find. Alas, where does this leave Loki? Loyal, strong and kind, Loki is Nakaba’s guardian and best friend. He loves her dearly, evident by action over words, and has cared for her since she was young. He’s good looking, cunning and entirely self-sacrificing for her – naturally by shoujo story reasoning, he doesn’t have a chance. It’d be fantastic to break the ‘nice guys finish last’ trend for a change.

As a series where the romance already looks like a key element, these issues I had with the story were detrimental to my enjoyment. So many times my mind reeled with ‘why, why, why?!’ reading through the scenes. Then there’s the lead, Princess Nakaba. Nakaba is a strong character for much of the story – standing up for herself and Loki – but other times I couldn’t understand why for any reason past plot development and fan-service that her resolve crumbled before us. One scene in particular stood out where the Prince attempts to force himself on her. She resists and threatens him with a dagger. Once he grabs onto her and forces a kiss, suddenly she melts like pudding. Was his kiss just so darn good that she had to succumb? Would she have let him do what he liked had a certain someone not shown up and interrupted?

Other plot points are developing to give the story some girth and my fingers are crossed these play out to good effect. Loki seems to be pulling strings to set in motion internal events that go past just protecting Nakaba. Flashbacks to the duo’s past paints a bleak picture for the involvement this kingdom had in old affairs that changed their lives forever. I especially liked the potency of a scene where the King is confronted by his own memories at the sight of Nakaba’s familar clothing. There’s also the hinted at “mysterious power” that pops up briefly from time to time, simply a foreshadow now but we assume soon to be much more.

The artwork is a winning feature of the purchase though. A quick flip through was all the prompt I needed to buy it in the first place. You can tell right away that the creator is an experienced artist. Her character designs and the consistency of their rendering is always sharp and attractive. I loved how each of the characters looked, bringing a wonderful look of fantasy and culture to the story. The panels are also very clean, free of clutter and neatly laid out. It makes following the story very simple. The only real downside is it lacks the more organic feel of a more creatively utilized layout. Reading at the back of the book that Rei Toma is fairly new to manga, and comes to it as a character designer, said a lot for the pros and cons of her comic work.

Further evidence to the fact was the finishing where it looks clear Dawn of the Arcana is a manga of the modern age. The majority of the text bubbles look computer generated using an ellipse tool, making them perfectly round. Few of these bubbles are contained or cropped to their specific panels which leaves them sitting atop of every page instead of being more carefully integrated into them. This is one of the visual cues I often see differ between manga and mainstream American comics, and it looks very stiff in a manga where bubbles are typically drawn in as a part of the artwork.

Dawn of the Arcana is a pretty book with a winning concept – there could never be enough fantasy-based manga series for my liking! It’s too bad that the execution is stiff and predictable, and that contributing factors made me feel little to no sympathy for any character but Loki and only occasionally Nakaba. I’ll be back for volume two based on the eye candy but my fingers are crossed for some more agreeable substance.

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Book bought from Strange Adventures