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Review Archive

To see a list of reviews in alphabetical order, please see our review index.

Review: Pokemon Adventures (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, August 23, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Author: Hidenori Kusaka
Manga-ka: Mato
Publisher: Viz Kids
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: June 2009

Synopsis: “Red doesn’t just want to train Pokemon, he wants to be their friend too. Bulbasaur and Poliwhirl seem game. But independent Pikachu won’t be so easy to win over! And watch out for Team Rocket, Red… They only want to be your enemy!”

Red has always loved Pokemon, creatures with remarkable powers who come in nearly every shape and size. After an accident turns out beneficial for him, Red sets out on the adventure he’s always dreamed of: to see and capture every Pokemon in the world! With his Pokemon-friends and partners at his side, and a sparky new addition to their team who is notably far less apt to cooperate, the group leaves their home of Pallet Town to traverse the big wide world and live all there is to experience about the multitude of Pokemon out there.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Pokemon Adventures, Viz Media

Review: Suggestive Eyes

Posted by Shannon Fay on Saturday, August 22, 2009

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Momoko Tenzen
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2009

Synopsis: “Megumu Okazaki is a well-liked college grad student, still reeling over a recent break-up. When younger classmate, Hisashi Kina, catches Megumu on the rebound, one thing leads to another – and to bed. Now, the two of them are involved in a relationship together that’s a little less-than-defined. Megumu has no interest in continuing to sleep with someone he doesn’t love, but for Hisashi, real feelings are definitely involved. To complicate the situation, Megumu’s not sure he’s truly put his past love behind him. How can Megumu understand his own feelings for Hisashi, or even be fair to him, when his heart is being pulled in so many different directions?”

This manga takes very little time to set things up. Within a few pages you’re right in the middle of Megumu and Hisashi’s problematic (but not dysfunctional) relationship. Eventually the manga does flashback to show how these two got together, but I liked how it started with them as an established couple.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, June, Manga

Review: Gankutsuou – The Count of Monte Cristco (Vol. 01)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Friday, August 21, 2009

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Mahiro Maeda, Yuri Ariwara
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2008

Synopsis: “To those who betrayed me, who stole everything from me, I will give death and despair unto death. Your wives and children, your loyal followers, one by one they will fall to my charms.”

While vacationing on the moon, Albert, a young Parisian nobleman, meets The Count of Monte Cristo, a fabulously rich aristocrat from the far reaches of the galaxy. Fascinated by the count’s sophistication and intelligence, Albert is unaware of the older man’s dark purpose: to enact revenge for a terrible act of betrayal committed against him twenty-five years ago. Soon, all of Paris, including Albert’s own mother and father, will feel the terror of the count’s vengeance. Read more…

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Del Rey, Manga

Review: Pluto (Vol. 04)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 20, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2009

Synopsis: “The seven great robots of the world are being destroyed one after the other, and the former members of the politically charged Bora Survey Group are also being targeted. Could Professor Tenma, the man who created the Japanese boy robot Atom, hold the key to finding the killer and his motive? The latest developments in the investigation send shock waves throughout the world in this masterful work of science fiction and suspense.”

Urasawa has begun shaping the story more and more away from the linearity of the original Astro Boy, but these are all welcome changes in exchange for the exuberant amounts of depth and potency brought to each and every scene of Pluto.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka, Viz Media

Review: Yotsuba&! (Vol. 06)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: September 2009

Synopsis: “Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiike, Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiiike!! Didja know the wheels of a bike go round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and roun — oh, Yotsuba’s getting dizzy…whoooooa…”

Yotsuba’s Father sums up the key reason that readers adore Yotsuba&!: “I love the way she reacts to stuff like this.” And well you should, Kowai (well, most of the time anyway). In this volume the rambunctious little girl gets her first bike, and as if she couldn’t already explore the world well enough on two feet, wait until you see her on two wheels. After what easily felt like forever, the next and long awaited volume of Yotsuba&! is finally in the hands of English readers!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Kiyohiko Azuma, Manga, Yen Press

Review: Ballad of a Shinigami (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Author: K-Ske Hasegawa
Manga-ka: Asuka Izumi
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2009

Synopsis: “Shinigamis are usually thought of as dark and scary, but not Momo. She’s the beautiful and sympathetic messenger of death who helps people transition to the other side, prevents others from ending their own lives, and carries messages from the dead to the living. Based on the Japanese light novel series that later became an anime, Ballad of a Shinigami is a collection of stories about people coming to terms with death that alternately sad, funny, and heart-warming.”

The first book to win me over to a purchase after reading a short sampler in CMX’s recent SDCC sampler, Ballad of a Shinigami is a collection of episodic chapters that are all strung together with the appearance of a mysterious Shinigami fully clad in white. Instead of leading humans towards death, she subtly steers them back on the road to life.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: CMX, Manga

Review: Skip Beat! (Vol. 18)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Tuesday, August 18, 2009

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Yoshiki Nakamura
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2009

Synopsis: “Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he’s casting her out now that he’s famous! Kyoko won’t suffer in silence–she’s going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz! Kyoko hasn’t had a Love Me Section job in a while, and this newest assignment is pushing her limits. She’s now the personal assistant to Koo Hizuri, a Japanese actor turned Hollywood star, and everyone knows how assistants are treated in Hollywood! Can Kyoko see past Koo’s meanness, or will his nastiness just make her demons worse?!”

A character in the TV show ‘Slings and Arrows’ once argued that only smart people can be great actors. I’m willing to bet that the manga-ka of Skip Beat would agree with her. The cast of Skip Beat might not be mensa members, but they are smart enough to take a good hard look at themselves before trying to be someone else.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Shoujo Beat, Skip Beat, Viz Media

Review: With the Light (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 17, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Keiko Tobe
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: September 2007

Synopsis: “Born during the sunrise, the Azumas’ newborn son is named Hikaru, which means “light”. But during one play date, his mother notices that her son is slightly different from the other children. In the alternately heart-warming and bittersweet tale, a young mother tries to cope with both the overwhelming discovery of her child’s autism and the trials of raising him while keeping her family together. This is a story that resonates not only for those whose families have been affected by autism, but also for all past, present, and future parents.”

Newlyweds and expectant parents, a couple sees a bright future ahead when their first child is born. However it soon becomes evident that their child, Hikaru, isn’t progressing as others his age do. Between bouncing between doctors and dealing with the stressful rift it creates in their lives, their journey coping with Hikaru’s diagnosis of autism begins in this first volume of the most educational and heart-warming series in Yen Press’s library of titles.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Review: Days of Cool Idols

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, August 16, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Mizuki Watanabe
Publisher: GoComi
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2009

Synopsis: “Talentless, shy Tsubasa has just been accepted to the prestigious Seiko Academy. Right away, he gets mixed up with the most popular kids in school – and the entertainment world! Forced to join the pop idol group RINXS, Tsubasa finds himself stuck in a cross-dressing comedy of kidnapping, blackmail and mistaken identity.”

Days of Cool Idols is a one-shot story about a young boy trying to start new life for himself at a new school. When he finds himself among the school’s elite and being asked to perform a great favour to both them, the entertainment industry and all its fans, he begins to believe he may’ve finally found a place where he belongs, even if the book itself struggles with that particular point.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: GoComi, Manga

Review: I”s (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, August 15, 2009

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Masakazu Katsura
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2005

Synopsis: “Shy Ichitaka has a crush on his high school classmate Iori, but ever since she posed for semi-provocative swimsuit photos in a magazine, she’s had a lot of sleazy guys hitting on her. Ichitaka’s afraid to make his feelings known for fear Iori will think he’s just another creep.”

High school’s never easy and certainly not bound to get any easier when you’re bikini-clad self becomes the talk of the class after a magazine spread. But the real focus of I”s are the trials of Ichitaka, perhaps those not different from any other young man his age but still ones no less frustrating.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Viz Media