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Review Archive

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


Review: Black Sun Silver Moon (Vol. 07)


Manga-ka: Tomo Maeda
Publisher: GoComi
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2008

Synopsis: “Shikimi remains trapped within his body, tormented by the memories of those he’s killed. His own memories of Taki lend him the strength to survive… but is it enough to overcome the demons when Taki finally fulfills his promises?”

Everything comes full circle here in the seventh, and final, volume of Black Sun Silver Moon as readers are pulled back to the bloody confrontation of the previous book, all in preparation for a page-heavy instalment that manages to leave few questions unanswered.

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Review: You Will Fall in Love


Manga-ka: Hinako Takanaga
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: December 2008

Synopsis: “Painful, heartbreaking memories suddenly surface for Haru when he agrees to fill in as teacher for the high school archery club. In his youth, Haru was a brilliant archer who competed for the national championship. But uncontrollable urges for a male rival forced him to give up on his archery dream and run away from his true feelings. Now that he’s back in the bow-and-arrow game, Haru becomes drawn to the brother of his long-lost love – and he must find out if his desire has taken on a new, seductive aim…”

In his high school days, Haru Mochizuki was a national competition class archer with a bright future in the sport. Suddenly he drops the sport he once loved so much, graduating and leaving his school without explanation. Unbeknownst to others, Haru had fallen in love with his best friend and rival, and those feelings made archery impossible to concentrate on, and in his fear of failure, he quit. A few years later he returns to the school as a substitute teacher, only to again become drawn to the beauty of the sport and swept up in the passion of one archer in particular, the younger brother of his first love.

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Review: B.Ichi (Vol. 02)


Manga-ka: Atsushi Ohkubo
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis: “Shotaro continues his search for Emine in the I.C. Prefecture. But a careless comment sends him on the run from an angry kappa. Meanwhile, Mana is eager to enter the Robot Fight Tournament — sponsored by the “Happy Factory” — and get another commendation, but Yohei senses there’s something far more sinister than the tournament going on at the Fear Factory . . . That doesn’t stop him from building a powerful battle robot that’s guaranteed to take home the prize. Just when Mana is confident of her victory, the Fear Robot itself steps into the arena — with NoFix the King of Spin at the helm!”

B.Ichi continues to throw characters around a little freely and it’s easy to get mixed up the who, what, where and whys, but various key plot points throughout the volume help to ground readers with the important stuff. Several chapters also begin with short summaries of what’s happened up ‘til now to make sure you know enough to understand what’s going on, which though convenient, does suggest that the artist knows their story is a little on the confusing side.

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Review: The Color of Water


Manhwa-ga: Kim Dong Hwa
Publisher: First Second
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: June 2009

Synopsis: “When Ehwa goes to the town festival, she meets a handsome young wrestler named Duksam who’s eager to catch her eye. After he wins the festival wrestling championship, he and Ehwa begin to meet, sneaking spare moments to be together. But a shadow falls on their romance when Master Cho sends Duksam away and asks for Ehwa’s hand in marriage himself It is then that Ehwa discovers the pain of heartbreak – and that love is always complicated. In the tradition of My Antonia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , from the pen of the renowned Korean manwha creator Kim Dong Hwa, comes a trilogy about a girl coming of age, set in the vibrant, beautiful landscape of pastoral Korea.”

Following The Color of Earth, The Color of Water resumes the story of Ehwa: a young girl coming of age in years-ago Korea, as she lives with her widowed Mother. The bulk of the story is now, more than ever,  the search for a husband to fulfill them, and with the notion being all the more focused here in the second installment, it’s beginning to feel more sexist than it is sweet.

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Review: Train*Train (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Eiki Eiki
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: April 2009

Synopsis: “Welcome to Minami-Kitazawa Station, where the trains run strictly on time, customer service is an important priority, and the staff is entirely made up of super good-looking guys! That’s the environment 18-year-old Asahi Saruta gets dropped in the middle of when he finds himself assigned there. Asahi’s goal is to one day become a train operator like his father, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he’d have to deal with a group of strange co-workers like this. Even though Asahi may have been chosen more for his cuteness-factor than his job skills, can he rise to the challenge, or will the day-to-day mayhem of working in a train station cause him to reevaluate his career path altogether?!”

Cross together one-part pretty boys with two parts transit system and a dash of host club vibes and you have yourself Minami-Kitazawa: a train station where the young men running it aim to please and fangirls are more than happy to indulge in the attention. Customer satisfaction is the name of the game, even if they use some unique tactics to achieve it. Train*Train’s brand of comedy may not be for everyone, but if the plot strikes a chord of curiousity for you, than it’s well worth a read.

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Review: Princess Princess +


Manga-ka: Mikiyo Tsuda
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: April 2008

Synopsis: “Fujimori Academy students Kiriya Matsuoka and Tomoe Izumi have been chosen as this year’s princesses, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to bring them up to speed. Enter former princesses Kouno, Shihoudani and Yutaka for a bit of princess training! Although Matsuoka and Izumi seem willing and able to take over the job of dressing up as girls and cheering at school events, they’re not exactly what you’d call “friends.” Can President Sakamoto and the ex-princesses convince Matsuoka and Izumi to bond for the sake of the school? Or will it take more than a common experience to bring two very different people together?”

A sequel to Mikiyo Tsuda’s series, Princess Princess, Princess Princess + introduces two new characters to the mix: kind and honest, plus financially well off, Tomoe Izumi, and the financially troubled and sensitive introvert, Kiriya Matsuoka. Entering their first year as students at the Fujimori Academy, the pair have accepted the positions of school Princesses for the year, hand-chosen as two who will dress up in girls’ clothes and provide moral support and shining smiles for all at the all-boys’ school.

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Review: Alice on Deadlines (Vol. 03)


Manga-ka: Shiro Ihara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “Poor Alice’s trouble seems to know no bounds when she has to deal with a shinigami worse than Lapan… (Is that even possible??) And she has a run-in with the king of the shinigami. Some days it doesn’t pay to be a girl trapped in the body of a skeleton…”

Take a perverted guy and turn him into a girl. Then turn some of his friends/comrades into girls as well and let them loose on the world. While they proceed to do inappropriate things to each other, blow stuff up, cry, whine and act completely obnoxious, they also try to tell a complicated story of deceit and betrayal. The dark and ominous company of Shinigami threatens to make this story interesting, but there’s little to no reason to fear that could ever actually happen.

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Review: World of Quest (Vol. 02)


World of Quest (Vol. 02) – Jason Tkruse
Published by Yen Press

This one was quite a treat to read. With every page in full color, and done in a delightfully cartoony style, I was smiling with every turn of the page. For a book pushed toward a younger audience, I have to admit that the story is full of interesting little twists and is absolutely full of imagination. The characters are interesting and I actually laughed out loud at some points.

The story follows the path of a legendary warrior known as Quest, along with the boy prince known as Nestor. Nestor is, as expected of a boy prince, quite full of himself and constantly complaining. Quest begrudges the need to protect him, but unfortunately he hasn’t got much of a choice in the matter.

During their travels through the terrible Forest of EDJ, an old friend of Quest’s joins them. With the griffon named Graer, they face a number of twists and turns with the Snarls before the prince finds out what his dagger is for. Unfortunately, almost immediately after figuring it out, they are attacked by the apparent leader of the villainous group that has been chasing them. The outcome of it is not good for our heros, and this chapter of the story ends off on quite the cliffhanger.

The next one is sure to be quite the read! (Editor’s Note: As of February 2009, World of Quest has been cancelled.)

Review written April 13, 2009 by Gizmo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes


Review: Cynical Orange (Vol. 06)


Cynical Orange (Vol. 06) – JiUn Yun
Published by Yen Press

Walking down the bumpy path of being Ma-Ha’s girl has gained the cynically sweet, and dazzlingly beautiful, Hye-Min some friends, but it has also gained her a few enemies. Bora won’t hesitate to take her delusional broken heart out on the poor girl, and does so every chance she gets. While grade school antics drive Hye-Min to the brink, the once magical oasis, her oppa’s cafe piper, threatens to fall apart while she’s not even paying attention.

Volume five had me geared up for a new beginning and a change in the story, but six has me wondering how much filler we’re going to suffer through before that happens. Yun JiUn has this weird theme thing happening with the last few volumes I don’t remember happening before. It’s somewhat distracting as it feels like she’s more focused on keeping with the obscure fairy tale theme then progressing the story.

Few things of substance happen in this issue which feels more like an in depth flash back into the Hye-Min + Ma-Ha phenomenon then an actual volume from the series. Somewhat like a ‘the best of’ release of your favourite TV show, you want it because you’re a devote fan but part of you knows waiting for the box set would be better. There is, however, an amusing few pages from the author at the end, some of which was a bit too culture-based for me to understand but entertained me anyway.

With fingers crossed I softly whisper, tell me more about shin-bi, and pray if the next volume is to be another ‘best of’ compilation it can at least be from his point of view.

Review written April 14, 2009 by Marsha Reid
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes


Review: Hey, Class President! (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Kaori Monchi
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: March 2009

Synopsis: “A present needs a running mate – and just like that, Kokusai appoints Chiga to be his vice-president! How did a slowpoke upperclassman like Kokusai win an election, anyway?! Sure he does seem to have an almost uncanny ability to attract stalkers, peeping toms and other degenerates, but Kokusai’s so helpless he can barely take care of himself, let alone a student body. It quickly becomes clear that Chiga’s major vice-president duty will be to keep Kokusai out of harm’s way, but is he up to the task? Furthermore, will all the time they have to spend together in student government cause Chiga himself to fall under Kokusai’s spell?”

Kokusai, soft-spoken and hardworking, is student-council president and he chooses the more stoic, keep-to-himself, Chiga as his vice-president. Far from only having their schoolwork to worry about however, Chiga and Kokusai must first overcome the irresistible allure of Kokusai to gropers on the train, perverts and stalkers.

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