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Review Archive

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


Review: Croquis Pop (Vol. 02)


Author: KwangHyn Seo
Manhwa-ga: JinHo Ko
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: June 2008

Synopsis: “As the studio erupts in chaoe over Ho Go’s new comic, one of his former students – Ga In – appears at the door! Da-Il, who ends up sharing his room with boss’s former protege, wakes p in the middle of the night to find his guest in the grip of a huge monster! Under attack himself, Da-Il is thrown into a stragic story from Ga-In’s past, where discovers that Mu-Huk can’t always save him and even superpowers have their limits.”

A lot more of the story’s key elements made much more sense to me here in the second volume of Croquis Pop. While the manhwa-ga, Ho Go, and his students make a fuss over his new comic starring themselves. the group are greeted with a surprise guest, an old student named Ga-In. It’s into the past of Ga-In that Da-Il finds himself next, the ‘Dead Zone’ which reflects the strong emotions of a person manifested into a place. Or atleast that seems to be the simpliest way I can figure it, much more concise than my confuddled thoughts after finishing the first book.

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Review: Red Angel (Vol. 02)


Manga-ka: Makoto Tateno
Publisher: DMP
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: September 2008

Synopsis: “Innocent Mika is puzzled by the number of people approaching her and willingly offering themselves up as prey! On her question for answers, she stumbles upon a mysterious silver shop and soon discovers that Lucifier himself may have a hand in the madness. With her twin persona Eru guiding her from deep within, Mika must slowly a untangle a web of secret alliances, street violence and bloodletting… but her hazy memories may rise to the surface and interfere with her true calling.”

Volume two of Red Angel takes a significantly different turn than its predecessor. What was once a somber tale of vampires living their lives among humans, spirals into a disarray of lost memories, fallen angels and tormented souls.

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Review: You’re So Cool! (Vol. 03)


Manhwa-ga: YoungHee Lee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: January 2008

Synopsis: “When Seung-Ha’s jealousy threatens to make everyone miserable, Nan-Woo gets fed up with his attitde, and their standoff affects the school athletic meet… for the worse! Then a run-in with a contentious member of Nan-Woo’s family leads to a series of tests to see if Seung-Ha is worthy of being her boyfriend! Is being perfect really not good enough?!”

Though the thin veil seperating their boyfriend and girlfriend status has fallen, nothing can change the tooth-and-nail attitude that rages between Nan-Woo and the seemingly perfect to everyone else, Seung-Ha. Unable to cope with his jealously over Nan-Woo’s shared attention, Seung-Ha makes the lives of fellow students a living nightmare as Nan-Woo angrily tries to apologize for something she doesn’t even know happened. But even when all is said and done, nothing sets up the potential for more disaster than the inevitable confrontation of Seung-Ha with Nan-Woo’s family.

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Review: Togainu no Chi (Vol. 01)


Author: Nitro+ Chiral
Manga-ka: Chayamachi Suguro
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: January 2008

Synopsis: “The Igura: a deadly battle game where players stake their lives in the ruined city of Toshima. In a post-apocalyptic Japan where the underworld rules the day, Akira is placed in jail for murder. He’s given a chance at freedom if he can win the game. Whether he finds victory, death, or even love, he will be in for the fight of his life! Based on the ground-breaking bishonen game!”

Togainu no Chi is a manga based off a Japanese-released video game of the same name. Those who’ve heard, or played, the game before, will recognize it as a Nitro+ Chiral boys’ love title that didn’t go easy on the violence and stylishly attractive men. Unfortunately to some, and the benefit of others, though two different versions of manga adaptations exist for this game, neither have focus on the man-on-man portions of the game. So, as one of the two, this version Tokyopop chose to release falls in category as yet another gritty action story set in yet another apocalyptic future.

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Review: Goong (Vol. 03)


Manhwa-ga: Park SoHee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “ChaeKyung and Shin return to their separate quarters at the palace, but the crown princess can’t shake the feelings aroused by her new husband. Try as she might, there’s no denying it — she’s completely fallen for him! When ChaeKyung lets a confession slips, she braces herself for the prince’s rejection. Instead, he doesn’t even acknowledge her! Though the suspense is killing ChaeKyung, does she really want to know what Shin has to say?”

Shin the man-beast is still at it, working his royal charms, if only to drive Chae Kyung crazy! The more something makes her happy, the more he wants to ruin it for her. He seems to have some kind of insane complex where if he can’t have something, he doesn’t want anyone else to have it, even if it’s something as simple as happiness. He’s still growing as a man, and being subjected to a girl like Chae is definitely changing the way he looks at things.

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Review: Future Lovers (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Saika Kunieda
Publisher: Deux Press
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: September 2008

Synopsis: “Kento Kumagaya wishes for the simple things in life: to have a happy family with the ideal housewife, loving kids, and kind grandparents all living together, happily ever after. Fate, however, has other plans. Enter Akira Kazuki, a smart, beautiful and unrestrained gay man who shatter’s Kento’s dream with a single night of wild and passionate homosexual sex. This is a romantic, sweet and funny story between two different people (in more ways than one) who unexpectedly find the same future together.”

Let me start by saying I found the two leads of this story to be really likeable and they make for a cute couple. The story begins with Kento Kumagaya seeking solace in the bottom of a glass after some rough waters with his girlfriend. What ends up comforting him however is Akira Kazuki, who after a few drinks, gets them both to his apartment for a passionate one-nighter.

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Review: Higurashi When They Cry (Vol. 01)


Author: Ryukishi07
Manga-ka: Karin Suzuragi
Publisher: Yen
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “Keiichi has just moved to a seemingly peaceful new town. He’s making friends and enjoying his life until one day he learns of a grisly murder that took place in the little village. His friends won’t give him any details which only adds to Keiichi’s uneasiness. After learning at the town’s annual festival that a death has occurred on that night every year for the past four years, Keiichi is drawn into a web of intrigue…”

This is probably one of the more interesting series that I’ve happened across. I’ve had this volume in my possession for a while but I just haven’t known how to approach writing a review for it. It isn’t a result of not enjoying the series. Quite the contrary! I actually am very fond of Higurashi. It’s another of those series where I had seen pictures of it before I ever knew it existed. I wasn’t really sure what to think until I actually got the opportunity to read it.

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Review: White Brand


Manga-ka: Youka Nitta
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: December 2008

Synopsis: “Keshiki and Izuru were best friends as little kids. But when a heartbreaking family tragedy changes Keshiki’s world forever, he pushes away all of the wonderful things that used to fill his carefree days with joy… including the confused and hurt Izuru. Many years later, the two boys find that they’re students at the same school. Has time healed Keshiki’s wounds, or does he need a helping hand to lead him out of the darkness and into the light of friendship?”

Best known for her multiple volume series, Haru wo Daiteita (and recent art scandal), Youka Nitta puts together a collection of short stories here in White Brand. Ranging from a fear of dirty things to a couple of mind readers uprooting an artistic scam, there’s plenty here for readers to sink their teeth into, both with interest and scrutiny.

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Review: breath (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Chifumi Ochi
Publisher: Yaoi Generation
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: December 2008

Synopsis: “Stopping by his favorite bar in Tokyo’s gay district, Yanagi picks up an attractive man, and the two spend a passionate night together. The next morning, however, the stranger proclaims that what they did makes him sick and then bolts from the room. With the weight of confusion and frustration crushing him, Yanagi thinks he’ll never see the man again… until he finds out it’s his good friend’s twin brother, Arata. Even when confronted, Arata refuses to accept what happened that drunken night, so an angry Yanagi comes up with a plan to make Arata his sex slave as punishment… “

Marking the first book released by the fledging, Yaoi Generation, the story of breath begins in a pretty straight-forward manner. Guy goes to bar to find a date for the night, meets an attractive man, takes him to a hotel, gives him a night of pleasure he’ll never forget… and is then is bombarded with insults, slurs and regretful exclamations the following morning. Now what’s a guy to do?

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Review: Nightmare Inspector (Vol. 05)


Manga-ka: Shin Mishiba
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: December 2008

Synopsis: “The Darkness: Dreams on the menu in this volume: a woman struggling with her appearance and another trapped in darkness, a man with a sinister childhood secret, a cocoon that is more than mere silk, a delusional dream with no happy ending, a man unable to let go of past regrets, and a child’s imagination that is not as innocent as it seems. Hiruko will rid you of your darkest visions… for a price.”

This fifth volume of Nightmare Inspector offered up some of the eeriest stories in the series’ run thus far. While I’ve found previous ‘episodes’ to be a little creepy, or offer up some entertaining surprises, a couple stories in this book had me enjoyably unnerved.

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