One Piece 6 by Eiichiro Oda: B+

April 22, 2009 by 8 Comments

From the back cover:
Luffy’s pirates thought they were just stopping in for a quick bite… but now Luffy’s been made a busboy on Baratie, the oceangoing restaurant, and it turns out some of the worst-mannered pirates on the Grand Line are just dying for a meal.

Always one to look on the bright side, Luffy sets his sights on Sanji, the smart-talking, skirt-chasing assistant chef of the Baratie, as the Merry Go’s new cook. But it’ll take more than a vicious pirate battle and a little sweet talking from Nami to convince him to leave the Baratie and join Luffy’s team. His oath to feed any and all pirates in need keeps getting in the way. The question is: what do you do when the very same pirates you just fed now want to serve you up for dinner?

Review:
Is this the part people meant when they assured me it would soon get really good? There’s so much good stuff here I need to make a list!

1. We get some fun, ominous hints about the Grand Line from someone who’s actually been there.

2. Don Krieg, the leader of a pirate armada of 50 crews, is introduced. He’s got some specialized weaponry, but aside from that, he’s not silly and cartoonish like the other villains we’ve seen so far.

3. Turns out the head chef of the oceangoing restaurant is a famed pirate who sailed the Grand Line and kept a log book.

4. Hawk-Eye is awesome! He’s a master swordsman who took down Don Krieg’s ship with just his sword. Zolo’s been looking for him so that he could challenge him for the title of greatest swordsman, so they have a great fight and Zolo loses spectacularly. Still, Hawk-Eye sees potential in him and tells him to live and keep improving and come see him again someday.

5. Nami steals the Merry Go! I’m sure she’ll come back, but I like this anyway. Plus, I think we may be starting to see an inkling of her past.

6. Sanji, the cook that Luffy wants to join the crew, is kind of annoying but with the powerful kick he displayed at the end of the volume, could it be that he’s the head chef’s son and that’s why he doesn’t want to leave the oceangoing restaurant?

So, there were awesome fights, some character revelations, some hints about the future, and even one nice bit of continuity when Luffy referenced a character we haven’t seen since volume one. If it stays this good, I’d be happy.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,

One Piece 5 by Eiichiro Oda: B-

April 21, 2009 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Once upon a time, Usopp was just a local boy with a talent for tall tales. Everyone in his little seaside village knew him as the joker who claimed to be a pirate captain and woke people up in the mornings by shouting “Pirates are coming!” But then real pirates landed on the beach…

Now Usopp’s village is under attack by the Black Cat Pirates, one of the most legendary and feared crews on the high seas. And three young would-be pirates have joined him in defending the village: Nami the thief, Zoro the swordsman, and Luffy, the straw-hatted pirate captain with incredible rubber powers. Usopp is about to find out how an imaginary pirate stands up to the real thing… and what it means to be a real pirate. His neighbors will never believe this in a million years…

Review:
The beginning and ending of this volume are pretty typical shounen fare. Luffy and friends continue to fight the Black Cat Pirates, culminating in a fairly cool fight between Luffy and the pirates’ captain. Unfortunately, with the cartoonish art and villains, it never approaches the realm of a truly badass battle like one might relish in other series. In the ending of the volume, the crew has come to an oceangoing restaurant in search of a cook, and there’s a lot of random fighting amongst chefs and naval officers and it’s all sort of crazy at this point.

The middle, though, had some really good moments. For one thing, the rich girl who was to’ve been the victim of the pirates’ plot is so grateful to our heroes that she gives them a really swanky boat. It’s just like leveling up in an RPG or something! For another, Usopp shows some surprising maturity. He’s long been known as a liar in the village and habitually declared “the pirates are coming!” even when it wasn’t true. Now, rather than brag about his bravery in helping to repel real pirates, he wants the villagers to go on thinking of him as a liar so that their peace of mind won’t be compromised. After he leaves, his little band of followers carries on his “the pirates are coming!” tradition. I think I actually got a little verklempt!

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,

Click 3 by Youngran Lee: B-

April 21, 2009 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
Joonha, the transgender headcase, and Taehyun, the hotshot rich kid, are actually becoming buddies—so much so that they even team up to take down a card shark at the casino Taehyun’s family runs. Is the friendship about to turn into something… more?

Meanwhile, figures from Joonha’s past keep popping up—and stirring up real trouble. His old friend Jinhoo, now a star piano player, is back in Seoul and not going anywhere. And former nice girl Heewon: is she really as nasty as she acts, or is it all a front? Could she be the reason why brainy Jihan suddenly isn’t wearing his glasses anymore?

Review:
I’m not sure what it is about Click that makes it so addictive. I think perhaps the emphasis on character relationships over anything else is partly responsible, because the plot itself is pretty much just day-to-day things, even though what passes for day-to-day in Taehyun’s life is his stepfather accusing him of being gay, plotting business takeovers, winning at high stakes poker games, et cetera.

Also, now that the mechanics of Joonha’s gender change are out of the way, the uncertainty of the other characters regarding her true gender is pretty interesting. Taehyun’s definitely attracted to her, but unable to really convince himself she’s a girl. Heewon, despite Joonha telling her outright that she’s a girl (though she made up a story about having been a girl all along) is in denial and insists to her friend that Joonha’s a guy. And Jinhoo is completely clueless, though the volume ends with a cliffhanger in which he seems poised to find out (or to at least spot Joonha in a girl’s uniform).

I also love the wordless reunion between Jinhoo and Joonha and the fact that when Joonha tells Taehyun she’s starting to like him, she doesn’t mean romantically (at least, I don’t think so), but rather means that she wants to be like him, a cool badass kind of guy. I can almost like Joonha now, but her nasty personality emerges once again when confronted with Jinhoo’s girlfriend. I also can’t stand Heewon, with her profanity, violence, and propensity for ordering people around like they’re her servants.

I think of a B- as meaning, “I enjoy this despite its flaws,” which fits Click pretty well.

Filed Under: Gender Hijinks, Manhwa Tagged With: ,

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa: B

April 21, 2009 by 13 Comments

Ehwa and her mother, a young widow, live in the village of Namwon. Ehwa’s mother runs a tavern and bawdy local fellows often attempt to convince her to go to bed with them. When seven-year-old Ehwa overhears a couple of villagers insinuating that her mother is loose, she begins to wonder about the differences between men and women.

As the years go by, Ehwa matures. She sees firsthand how a man’s attentions bring out liveliness in her mother, and meets two local boys that catch her eye. Chung-Myung, a monk in training, returns her feelings but chooses his religious vocation over pursuing a relationship. Sunoo, a refined and educated boy, is polite to Ehwa but leaves town without a backward glance.

Stories of first love can be poignant and affecting if done right, but The Color of Earth unfortunately fails in this regard. The problem is that instead of dealing with Ehwa’s growing emotional maturity, the focus is almost exclusively on sexual maturity. From practically the first page, more time is spent on charting landmarks of sexual discovery—oftentimes rather crudely—than on any other aspect of Ehwa and her life.

Women are consistently compared to flowers throughout the book, and not in a way that is complimentary. A woman’s burgeoning sexuality is likened unto the bloom of a flower, and comparisons are made between the way a flower waits for a butterfly to alight upon it and the way a woman waits for a man to bestow his attentions upon her. Sometimes this metaphor is used well, though, as when Chung-Myung uses the camellia—a flower that blooms only in the winter and therefore never sees a butterfly—to make Ehwa see that it would be better if she didn’t care for him, as he must devote himself to his training.

There are two warring styles in evidence in the art, which features realistically drawn landscapes but almost cartoonish people. While this style works well for the cuter and/or cruder moments, ultimately it bears some of the responsibility for why the story lacks emotional resonance. It’s difficult to take Ehwa’s feelings for Chung-Myung seriously when he always looks so bumbling and childish.

The story does have its good points, the relationship between Ehwa and her mother chief among them. The volume’s final pages also ratchet up the drama, which may bode well for the second and third books of the trilogy. As it stands, though, this first installment is a bit of a disappointment.

The Color of Water and The Color of Heaven, volumes two and three in the trilogy, will be released in June and September 2009, respectively.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Historical Fiction, Manhwa Tagged With:

Silver Diamond 4 by Shiho Sugiura: A-

April 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

When some mysterious visitors from another world suddenly appeared in his garden, Rakan learned that he possesses the valuable skills of a sanome—someone with the ability to make plants grow—and that he originally came from the other world himself. After spending several volumes getting to know his houseguests, Rakan has decided to return with them to their blighted and desolate point of origin. There, he’s mistaken for the prince, his older brother, by bandits who aim to capture him.

The plot of Silver Diamond moves at a leisurely pace—most of this volume involves the group of bandits and their hopelessness—but is still a pleasure to read because the characters are so great. They’re warm and funny and easy to root for. When Rakan steps up at the end of the volume and declares his intention to make the world green again, one is actually proud of him. He seems to be on the verge of collecting a motley group of followers, and the parallels with my favorite manga, Basara, in which a kind-hearted revolutionary leader strives to make a withered world bloom again, are not lost on me.

One other nice tidbit is that the translation retains the Japanese name order of the characters, which means that when Rakan’s protectors finally start addressing each other by their first names, the moment retains its proper significance. Though the packaging—now both floppier and thinner—may bear signs of cost-cutting measures, the material within is as good as ever.

Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Boys' Love, Fantasy, Manga, Shoujo Tagged With:

You Will Drown in Love by Hinako Takanaga: B+

April 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Part companion volume to You Will Fall in Love and part sequel, You Will Drown in Love gives Reiichiro’s perspective of events as he reconnects with his long-lost best friend, Haru, and learns of Haru’s relationship with his younger brother, Tsukasa. After Haru rejects his confession of love, Reiichiro talks it over with his employee, Jinnai, who’s been giving him advice on a variety of topics ever since Reiichiro came on board as the manager of the fabric store where they both work. When Jinnai tells Reiichiro he loves him, both men must overcome some of their own bad habits if they’re going to be able to make a relationship work.

You Will Drown in Love is the kind of sequel that enriches rather than cheapens the original. Although Jinnai does not appear at all in You Will Fall in Love, by dovetailing the two storylines together, his friendship with Reiichiro is allowed to grow while the events of the first book play out and develop into love when Reiichiro’s involvement in the tale of Haru and Tsukasa comes to a close. As a result, he didn’t feel like an afterthought, but rather as someone whose opinions informed Reiichiro’s actions in the earlier work.

Like the first story, this is one of the more romantic boys’ love stories I’ve read, free from outside obstacles to the relationship or angst that makes no sense. The problems Reiichiro and Jinnai face arise because of their natures—Reiichiro is both naïve and sensitive while Jinnai uses humor as a defense—and are far more difficult to conquer than a mere lusty rival. My one real complaint is that Reiichiro’s naïveté is overdone to the point of unbelievability—what grown man would utter a sentence like, “Guys don’t normally kiss each other, right?” I do, however, adore his final line of the volume, which I will not spoil.

With its emphasis on communication and trust, this boys’ love romance is a cut above the rest.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Boys' Love, Manga Tagged With: ,

Bleach 26 by Tite Kubo: B

April 18, 2009 by 5 Comments

From the back cover:
Ichigo and all his friends are training like mad, spurred on by the looming threat of Aizen’s wicked plans. But while Uryuu and Chad increase their powers, Orihime finds out that she has to sit out the coming fight, leaving her friends without her protection. And Ichigo, despite his intensive training with the Vizards, can’t control his Hollowfied self long enough to battle. With the war against the Arrancars ramping up, can the team afford to have two fighters on the sidelines?

Review:
Aside from some mercifully brief “comedy,” this is a very strong volume. We actually see each member of the main cast as they are working on increasing their powers—Chad is battling with Renji, Uryuu (seems like ages since we’ve seen him!) and his dad finish their fight, Ichigo is working on extending the length of time he can remain Hollowfied, and Orihime is determined to fight even after being cautioned that she may not be cut out for combat. I particularly love Orihime’s determination and the fact that Rukia decides to help train her. The scene where a bunch of powerful folk are intimidated by her is pretty great, too!

The villains and their plot are still rather hokey, but since the focus is squarely on the characters, that doesn’t matter much. There’s a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about how some device has a hitherto-unmentioned ability to produce an Arrancar or something, and so a new, child-like opponent is introduced who is kind of neat. Also, the last few chapters are pretty great, since nearly everybody ends up in peril of some kind.

So, yeah. The plotting and the comedy are not really doing much of anything for me, but mild-mannered characters growing the determination to fight and Ichigo showing signs of genuine badassitude offer enough entertainment value to make up the difference.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen, Supernatural Tagged With: ,

Crimson Hero 10 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

April 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The six members of the Crimson Field High School girls’ volleyball team have come a long way and are now participating in the Newcomers’ Tournament, an important stepping stone to their ultimate goal, the Spring Tournament. They win their first two rounds handily, but are faced with a tough opponent for the third round. Meanwhile, Nobara and Yushin are still keeping their feelings for each other a secret.

Even though I am far from athletic myself, there is something about sports manga that I adore. Crimson Hero does particularly well at giving each teammate a moment to shine and in recent volumes, each of the supporting girls has improved her skills in some way or another. The matches are also a lot of fun and easy to follow. Frankly, I wish there were more of them.

I’m a little frustrated on the romance front, though. Nobara has liked Yushin for a long time, and was firm about this even when she realized that another boy, Haibuki, had feelings for her. Now, when Yushin has finally reciprocated, Nobara’s suddenly starting to be affected by Haibuki, thinking things like, “These days your smile messes with my heart.” I was really hoping this series wouldn’t go down this road; the fact that it seems poised to do so is disappointing.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica by Emily Salzfass et al.: C+

April 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The beginning of Battlestar Galactica’s third season found the majority of what’s left of humanity living on New Caprica, a planet that had seemed like their salvation until the Cylons arrived and the occupation began. Some people joined resistance groups while others collaborated with the enemy to protect themselves and their families. Eventually, they were rescued, though no one lived happily ever after. With the exception of one story taking place during the occupation, the focus of Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica is the effect the experiences of New Caprica have upon the survivors even after the planet is left behind.

“Teacher’s Pet,” story by Emily Salzfass and art by Chrissy Delk, takes place during the occupation. Former president Laura Roslin is working as a teacher and many of her lessons serve as a celebration of the history and culture of the now-destroyed colonies. The Cylons get wind of her curriculum and aren’t at all happy, but Roslin refuses to back down, even as she confronts the possibility that one of her students may be the informant.

Though the climactic moments are a little muddled, “Teacher’s Pet” is the best in the volume. Its tone is appropriately grim and there are moments where character voices seem spot on. One line from Roslin, “I’m a big girl; I can handle risk,” perfectly evokes her calm yet steely resolve. The art is not as successful as the writing, however. Characters are usually recognizable even though they don’t look like much like the actors that portray them (the Eights bear no resemblance to Grace Park, for example) but there was one random schlubby guy that I kept seeing in the resistance meetings that I couldn’t identify. I kept wondering who he was until he finally made an expression I recognized. Who was this mystery man? Chief Tyrol. Hardly a minor character.

“Shelf Life,” story by Richard Hatch (the actor who plays the story’s protagonist) and art by Christopher Schons, is set immediately after the colonists have been rescued from New Caprica. Vice President Tom Zarek is temporarily in control of the government and seeks to exact punishment on collaborators by creating small cells of trusted individuals who will try and execute them. These events do play out in the television series, but here we see more of Zarek’s perspective as well as how his decisions impact his oldest friend.

Some of the dialogue is a little cheesy (“When will we humans ever grow up?”) but the story isn’t bad. I appreciate that some small details from the show are included, such as Chief Tyrol’s tendency to be the last to cast his vote during the trials. Like “Teacher’s Pet,” however, the artist fails to capture many of the actors’ likenesses. For some time I thought they’d got the members of Galactica’s cell (The Circle) wrong because I couldn’t tell two female characters apart. Too, every scene has the same sort of dingy grey look to it, even those taking place on Colonial One (the President’s ship), which has a cleaner and brighter interior than a battlestar.

I found “Visitation,” story by Mike Wellman and art by Anthony Wu, to be the weakest of the three stories. While on New Caprica, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace was held captive by a Cylon and made to believe that her ovaries had been used to create a daughter. She becomes attached to the girl only to run into her actual mother after the evacuation from the planet. Now she encounters the girl again, living in unsavory conditions, and absconds with her.

My objection to the story isn’t that the events are implausible—the show certainly went to the “Starbuck is mentally unstable, does something crazy, and treats those who care about her like crap” well often enough—but because it’s simply a retread of the kind of thing we’ve seen before on the show quite a few times already. “Visitation” also had the strangest art of the lot. I understand an artist wanting to pursue their individual style and all that, but when I’m staring in puzzlement at an unidentifiable, weird-looking, block-headed dude who is then addressed as Helo, played by the undeniably hunky Tahmoh Penikett, then there is a problem.

The bottom line: If you’re a BSG fan who’s missing the show already, you could do worse. I found it kind of nice to revisit these characters at an arguably simpler time.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Graphic Novel, Media Tie-In, Sci-Fi Tagged With: ,

Goong: The Royal Palace 4 by Park SoHee: A-

April 13, 2009 by 2 Comments

A promise between their grandfathers leads to the wedding of regular girl Chae-Kyung to the crown prince, Shin. Their relationship was antagonistic at first, but Chae-Kyung eventually realizes she’s fallen for the mercurial prince while formerly friendless Shin gets a taste of what it feels like to have someone always by his side.

In this volume, the thawing of relations between the married couple continues while unforeseen political enemies grow in power. By wrangling to have a posthumous honor bestowed upon her late husband, Shin’s aunt earns a place for herself in the palace with the power to make Chae-Kyung’s life miserable. Both the romantic and political aspects to the story are interesting, and I’m continually impressed with Park SoHee’s ability to make a simple conversation between two people such a riveting thing.

Particularly worthy of praise is the development of Shin’s cousin, Yul. When initially introduced, Yul was a sympathetic character, a former royal grandson who lost his title, his home, and his fiancée to Shin upon the death of his father. The gradual revelation of his sly manipulation of Chae-Kyung has been well done, throwing new light on all of their prior, seemingly innocent, interactions.

One minor flaw the series possesses is the unattractive artwork that crops up during comedic moments. Most of the time the art is very pretty, though, and it’s true that these ugly episodes are occurring less frequently as the series progresses. I also wasn’t keen on the gag occurring at the end of the volume.

With its engaging characters, (generally) attractive art, and political intrigue, Goong has me pretty well hooked. How long ‘til volume five?

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Manhwa Tagged With:
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