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Review Archive

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

Backlog at MangaJouhou

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, September 6, 2008

… aka, more boys’ love reviews for you by me! Manga Jouhou recently made a lengthy addition of reviews to their forum, including thirteen I’d written for them that’ve been waiting in the wings. So, if you’re interested, you can pop over there and take a read! A bunch of goods, bads and ‘what the hell was that?’s to be had.

Love Recipe (Vol. 01)
Love Recipe (Vol. 02)
Can’t Win With You! (Vol. 03)
Necratoholic
Waru
Love Training
Dash
Sweet Admiration
The Devil’s Secret (pictured above)
Love is Like a Hurricane (Vol. 05)
Selfish Mermaid (Vol. 01)
Hero Heel (Vol. 02)
The Reformed (not boys’ love, just to mix it up a tad)

Also, today marked my 200th written manga review since I first sat down to write one back in March 2007! My first review was for 801Media’s release of Ichigenme, volume one, for Bent Magazine. A random milestone that makes me wonder how many I’d have if I’d begun writing them years ago! I hope atleast one of them has proven to be entertaining or useful for readers :)

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Review: Air Gear (Vol. 09)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Friday, September 5, 2008

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Manga-ka: Oh!Great
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2008Synopsis: “The last phase of the ultimate battle between the underdog Kogarasumaru and the fearsome Behemoth has begun – and it’s up to Ikki and Agito to seal the deal and achieve Air Treck glory. All Ikki wants is to be the greatest Air Treck rider ever – but for Agito, the battle is personal. Could it be that the key to victory lies in Agito’s past?”

The fight between teams Kogarasumaru and Behmoth continues here in volume nine of Air Gear, with everything coming down to Ikki and Agito facing the Regalia-wielding, Akira. Blades are flashing and adrenaline pumping in this do-or-die fight previous volumes have led up to.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Air Gear, Del Rey

Review: Kamen Tantei (Vol. 04)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, September 4, 2008

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Manga-ka: Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: September 2007

Synopsis: “While investigating a murder at a mountain lodge, an argument erupts between our two young detectives – one that proves to have alarming results when each calls to Suzuki for help. Later, it’s a time of change as Haruka prepares to start college, leaving Masato behind to run the Mystery Novels Club by himself. But with our duo separated, what future is in store for the Masked Detective?”

Volume four marks the end of Matsuri Akino’s Kamen Tantei. Though completion of any series you enjoy is always a bit sad, I was relieved that this short series ended before it had a chance to be cut, or infinitely suspended, by Tokyopop. Wonderment to me then when I realized this final volume had actually been out for almost a year and I never knew! Shame on me. The book itself surprised me too, upon reading, becoming quite random in its execution and taking the plot in a slightly different direction. Instead of just being a couple of oddly desensitized teenagers solving murder mysteries, much of this volume focuses on the mysterious Taro Suzuki and the truth behind his existence. Problem being for my review is that it’s hard to talk much about it without ruining the surprise!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Tokyopop

Review: Delivery Cupid

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, September 3, 2008

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Manga-ka: Saki Okuse
Publisher: Boysenberry
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “Tsubasa is half human, half angel. Determined to become a full angel, he needs to earn love points match-making as a cupid and his big chance’s arrived: he is given a mission that should be easy to complete. But problems arise when he goes to see his target, an evil manga named Norimasa who uses women for money. Although Tsubasa is able to shoot an arrow at Norisama, he accidently pokes himself with the other arrow!”

Delivery Cupid is a collection of boys’ love short stories, many of which following a fantasy vein of cupids and love arrows. The title story is about a young half-angel named Tsubasa, who seeks to earn full angel status by bringing love to humans through a little cupid magic. Things take a twist however when he’s accidentally given a top-ranking assignment, finding himself face to face with a womanizing sex-fiend out for a good time and profit. But when an accident with an arrow leaves them both love-struck, it doesn’t look like Tsubasa is going to get his angel wings after all!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi

Review: Fairy Cube (Vol. 02)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, September 2, 2008

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Manga-ka: Kaori Yuki
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: August 2008

Synopsis: “Ian and Rin used to just see spirits. Now Ian is one. Using the Fairy Cubes, Ian must figure out how to stop the lizard-spirit Tokage from taking over his life and destroying any chance he has of resurrection. Tokage has troubles of his own when he gets involved with the Gotoh Group, conspiratorial fairies aiming at world domination.”

As if contending with Tokage for his body, and Rin’s safety, wasn’t enough, now a global organization called the Gotoh Group aims to take over the world and return it to a state suitable for fairies, and fairies alone. Tokage continues to ruin what’s left of Ian’s life, taking his evil nature out on Rin and Ian’s father, and while Ian’s determination is strong as ever, his new body seems a little less than up to the task.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Viz Media

Review: Oh My God! (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Monday, September 1, 2008

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Manga-ka: Natsuho Shino
Publisher: Deux
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “Yuto is a typical high school student who family just so happens to have had a long line of sorcerers as members. While in the family storage shed, he accidentally awakens a god who was sealed in a sword hundreds of years ago. Now, if only his mysterious god could remember who he is! Yuto names this extremely good-lucking spirit, Jade. Stuck with an amnesic god who’s strangely attached to him, Yuto begins a clamorous life of high school, adventure and attraction.”

Yuto comes from a family with a past history of powerful sorcerers within the bloodline. Unfortunately, these days no one in his family possesses any such powers and they make money scamming people into thinking they do, by performing consultations and handing out charms. One day, during cleaning, Yuto finds an old sword in the storage shed and accidentally releases from it a god with no name and no memory.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Deux Press

Review: Red

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, August 31, 2008

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Manga-ka: Sanae Rokuya
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: June 2008

Synopsis: “Yasuharu, unwilling to assume the responsibility of successor to the throne, escapes from the castle and assumes a peaceful, anonymous life. But can one really escape his fate? One day, he saves the life of a foreigner named Jiei. Asked why he has come to this land, the foreigner places a hand on Yasuharu’s throat and whispers, “I have come to kill you.””

Red is the story of a runaway Prince named Yasuharu. Unable to handle the pressure of taking the throne, he hides away in town trying to live an anonymous life. Protecting his secret is a law officer who was once a guard in Yasuharu’s palace, and a young man that the Prince took into his home after first running away. Things are disrupted one day when Yasuharu saves a foreigner named Jiei, a man who is actually (and openly) an assassin there to kill him.

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

Review: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Vol. 05)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, August 31, 2008

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Author: Eiji Otsuka
Manga-ka: Housui Yamazaki
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: November 2007

Synopsis: “The corpses that are Kurosagi’s client base usually died not too long ago, for reasons that gruesomely obvious. But when the ominous Mr. Nire returns with a modern-day mummification series, what they’re gonna do is go back… way back, as the kids kick Egyptian Old Kingdom school! Then, travel from the past into the future of death, as they uncover the cold business behind some cryonic frozen heads!”

In this fifth volume of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, the team continues to find corpses in some of the most unlikely places. First, a deceased elderly man leads the group to a desolated town that fell victim to a serial-murderer years ago, and after that they have to deal with a new find discovered in a sarcophagus.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Dark Horse, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Review: A Strange and Mystifying Story (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Friday, August 29, 2008

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Manga-ka: Tsuta Suzki
Publisher: DMP
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: June 2008

Synopsis: “Akio Yamane’s ancestors have died young for generations, and he despises the cursed lineage his family has given him. Then one day, Akio falls ill! But when he unknowingly summons a protector god, a man with long ears and a tail appears before him, completely naked!”

A Strange and Mystifying Story is suitably named. Akio’s family has been cursed for many generations and everyone eventually dies from different incurable diseases. With his Grandfather’s passing, Akio becomes the last living member in the family but soon falls ill himself. Lonely and upset, Akio heeds his Grandfather’s last words and finds an old tooth hidden inside an incense stand. Out from the tooth came a great wolf-demon who tells his new master he has been serving his family for generations and can cure his disease if Akio should wish it of him.

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

Review: Skip Beat! (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 28, 2008

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Manga-ka: Yoshiki Nakamura
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: July 2006

Synopsis: “Kyoko knows she’s not plain and uninteresting, no matter what Sho says. With the help of a little makeover, Kyoko’s ready to exact her revenge. But first she needs to land an audition, and she sets her sights on the agency where Sho’s lead rival works. Her persistence pays off, but her broken heart turns out to be a disadvantage. Kyoko has lost the will to love anybody, let alone fans she’s never met. Can the agency see past this problem to Kyoko’s true star potential?”

Skip Beat, volume one, begins the story of Kyoko, a small-town girl who follows her childhood friend to Tokyo as support on his road to fame. While her friend, Sho, steadily reaches his goal of success and popularity, Kyoko discovers that she was asked to tag along as a housemaid over any sort of emotional or romantic support. Heartbroken and angered, Kyoko decides to get vengeance on Sho in the only way she thinks would really hurt him: become a celebrity and become more popular than him.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Skip Beat, Viz Media