Two Will Come 2 by Kyungok Kang: A-

February 13, 2009 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
A mysterious “auntie” has just told Jina her family’s chilling secret. Jina is marked for violent death—and her killer is going to be one of two people very close to her. Meanwhile, her schoolmate Jaesuk is determined to make his feelings for Jina known, even if it means exposing his own shady past. But then a nighttime rendezvous with Jaesuk leads to a shocking scene right in the family kitchen… and Jina learns that her two worlds are about to become irrevocably intertwined.

Review:
One of the things I like best about Two Will Come is its continuity. A couple of things happen in this volume that reference or build upon small moments from the first volume, and one must pay attention to be able to catch the subtlety because Kang doesn’t point out, “Hey! Remember that time Lloyd talked about a girl from his past? Well, do ya?” She just lets you put things together on your own. Similarly, I’m quite sure now that the figure I saw skulking in a car in volume one was indeed Jina’s aunt.

This volume is a lot more action-packed than the first. Jina has the worst day ever, as she learns about the family curse and then, in quick succession, survives one attempt on her life, learns all about her boyfriend’s duplicity, and then survives a second murderous attack. Her reaction to learning about the curse is well done, prompting many lovely two-page spreads and thoughtful soliloquies like this one:

Layer after layer… If you keep peeling away the shells, all sorts of hypocrisy and truth you never imagined lay themselves bare before you.

After the second attempt upon Jina’s life, her cousin and his friend, Lloyd, take her on a road trip for a bit, where they meet with a fellow who had, thirty years ago, been compelled by the curse to murder his wife and who has since devoted his life to researching its origins. The encounter ends up heartening Jina and she ends the volume determined not to let the curse defeat her. It’s all very interesting, but I do have to wonder why this fellow is not in jail. It looks like there were witnesses to his act and everything. With everything else fitting together so well, this unanswered question is quite jarring.

In addition to all of the main plot advancement going on, there’s also some development on a couple of subplots. All in all, the story feels very balanced and purposeful, two qualities I greatly appreciate.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manhwa, Supernatural Tagged With:

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors 1 by Nari Kusakawa: A-

February 12, 2009 by 2 Comments

From the back cover:
On the island of Opal live the world’s most colorful birds. The birds have attracted a school for aspiring “Palettes”—wizards who have the ability to borrow color from one object and paint its qualities on to another. Young Cello has the potential to be a great Palette, but she just can’t seem to control her power. As the end of freshman year approaches she’s on the verge of failing, so she’s going to need all the help her bird Yoyo can provide.

Review:
This is the story of Cello, a sixteen-year-old studying to be a Palette, or artisan with the power to control colors. It seems like a silly skill to have, but the volume shows different ways in which it can be useful. Cello is smart and aces the written assignments, but her practical abilities need work: she has the unique ability to manipulate color from a distance, but not the fine control required to craft the fine goods that fetch high prices from outsiders. Her problems with control result in her being splattered with color pretty frequently, requiring multiple visits to the infirmary to see the young school doctor, Dr. Guell.

In the chapters that follow, she and Guell foil two separate attempts to steal the village’s precious birds and also supply some fun for some little girls’ birthday. It’s true that these adventures are episodic, but they really don’t feel that way because they’re not pointless. In the wrong hands, I’d dislike the chapter with the random little girls, but Kusakawa uses it to reveal details about Guell’s background as well as to illustrate what a kind person Cello is.

I also like that romance is not the focus of the story. Cello has definite goals that she’s working towards and acquiring a boyfriend is not among them. That said, there are a few subtle moments that hint that she and Guell are starting to at least admire and appreciate one another.

What I love most, however, is Yoyo, Cello’s bird. I love Koh from Silver Diamond because he talks and is amusing, but a lot of Yoyo’s cuteness is because he is silent. He’s clearly intelligent, but must get his point across mutely. One of the most endearing things he does is kick Cello (cutely, I swear) every time she thinks or says something self-pitying or overly self-critical. I heart him.

Kusakawa’s distinctive artistic style is the same here as in Two Flowers for the Dragon, and I find it quite appealing, though the evolution of Dr. Guell’s appearance between the beginning and end of the volume is pretty major. It’s interesting how different the settings are for the two stories—Two Flowers is set in an oasis in the middle of a desert, while Palette takes place on a semi-tropical island, complete with palm trees and lush vegetation. Also, I really, really love the covers to this series. So much, in fact, that I’m gonna have to link to them. There’s an online preview at that site as well, if your curiosity is at all piqued.

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors is published by CMX. Four volumes have been released so far, with the fifth due on February 18, 2009. The series recently ended serialization in Japan and is complete at six volumes.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Two Will Come 1 by Kyungok Kang: B+

February 12, 2009 by 1 Comment

Book description:
Ordinary high school girl Jina discovers that she is heir to a terrible legacy handed down from her family’s sinister history. Long ago, her ancestors killed a magical serpent known as an Imugi, believing that it would bring them good luck. Unfortunately, the creature cursed them as it died, decreeing that one family member of each generation for that day forth will be killed by two people closely acquainted with that person. In this day and age, no one wants to believe in such outmoded superstitions, but one of Jina’s relatives has been murdered without fail in every generation. Now, Jina has been informed that she will be next to die…

Review:
Two Will Come is a suspenseful manhwa series involving a family curse that dooms one member of each generation to be killed by two people they know whose identities are unknown. This first volume sets up the story and introduces Jina, her friends, and her family. Not a great deal actually happens, aside from Jina acquiring a boyfriend who is, unbeknownst to her, a liar and a jerk. Jina’s also in the dark about her supposed fate, and the volume ends just as her aunt is about to tell her what happened to the previous generation’s victim.

Despite the lack of action, the volume is still entertaining. There are quite a lot of characters to get to know and their personalities and relationships are clearly established throughout the volume. A few subplots are brewing, too, primarily the mystery of the motives of Jina’s new boyfriend. There are some other things that I think might later be important, but I’m not sure, like the shadowy figure sitting in a car outside Jina’s house. Was that supposed to be her cousin or aunt watching out for her or someone with nefarious intentions? I’m not even sure whether I should spend brain cells remembering it for future reference.

Kang’s art has a retro feel, with eyes reminiscent of ’70s shojo but fashions and postures that remind me more of something from the early ’90s like Please Save My Earth. Though I’d describe most of the panels as “light,” with plenty of white space, Kang does employ black backgrounds, too, usually in more suspenseful scenes or in the several between-chapter drawings that depict Jina with two unknown hands reaching out to grab or touch her. All of the characters are easy to tell apart, even obscure family members, which is important when introducing so many characters at once.

After a volume of getting to know everyone, it seems the story will really kick into motion next volume. I’m looking forward to it.

Two Will Come is a four-volume series published by NETCOMICS. Volumes one and two were produced in print editions, but the whole series can also be found online for only $0.20 per chapter.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manhwa, Supernatural Tagged With:

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot: C+

February 11, 2009 by 2 Comments

From the front flap:
It’s Mia’s senior year, and things seem great. She aced her senior project, got accepted to her dream college(s), and has her birthday gala coming up… not to mention prom, graduation, and Genovia’s first-ever elections.

What’s not to love about her life? Well…
* Her senior project? It’s a romance novel she secretly wrote, and no one wants to publish it.
* Prince Phillipe’s campaign in the Genovian elections isn’t going well, thanks to her totally loathsome cousin René, who decided to run against him.
* Her boyfriend, J.P., is so sweet and seemingly perfect. But is he the one?
* And her first love, Michael, is back from Japan… and back in her life.

With Genovia’s and her own future hanging in the balance, Mia’s got some decisions to make. Which college? Which guy? How can she choose? Especially when what she decides might determine not just the next four years, but… forever!

Review:
Nearly two years have passed since the events of Princess Mia, and now it’s just a week until graduation. Mia has spent the intervening time working on a steamy romance novel for her senior project, but has lied to her friends, telling them it’s about Genovian olive oil processing. She’s also lied about various other things, as well, including hiding the fact that she got accepted into quite a few prestigious colleges.

I found the first half of the book to be very annoying, as Mia’s constant justifications of why she can’t just come out and tell people things are quite frustrating. She says stuff like, “I course I couldn’t tell Tina the truth—that my senior project is not a history of Genovian olive oil processing but in reality a romance novel, because it has sex scenes, and she’ll wonder how I researched them.” Both K and I were confused as to why this was a problem, since Tina is a big romance novel fan. My theory was that Mia thought Tina would realize she had broken their “let’s lose our virginity on prom night” deal and had already had sex with J.P., thus providing insights for her novel. It turns out, though, that the big mystery of how she researched them is… by reading copious amounts of romance novels. She and J.P. have evidently not gotten beyond first base in two years of dating. (!)

The second half is a bit better, though. Michael returns and J.P. finally shows his true colors. Both Mia and Lilly have grown up, too, so are able to patch things up. Does Mia realize how much she is to blame for all that went wrong, like I’d hoped? Not really, but she does at least have a decent conversation with Michael about how she screwed everything up. Mostly, her failings are attributed to her immaturity at the time rather than to any lingering personality issues, like chronic indecision.

I also like that she’s very responsible about sex and subsequently firm in her convictions that she could say no if she wasn’t ready. I just wish she weren’t prone to declaring “I suck!” when being equally firm and reasonable about the nature of the publishing contract for her romance novel (the excerpts of which are laughably bad, by the way). She’s well within her rights to want the book to be considered on its own merits, but still feels bad for refusing a lucrative offer J.P. wrangles purely on the basis of her celebrity status.

Anyway, the ending is satisfying, with various important conversations finally transpiring and loose ends wrapped up. It even gets a little amusing: my favorite line is, “Hey, quit sniffing me a minute.” Ultimately, however, my primary emotion is relief that I can now go a very long time without reading anything by Meg Cabot.

Filed Under: Books, YA Tagged With:

Three in Love 1-2 by Shioko Mizuki: C-

February 9, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The title and back cover descriptions for this series are misleading, making it seem like the “three-person relationship” is one in which any one person has romantic feelings for the other two. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Instead, two girls—Machiru, a chronic overachiever, and Hanakago, an earnest first year—are both in love with the same spacey boy. Also, each girl has an additional guy who’s in love with her, forming a kind of love phalanx.

Instead of being an intriguing story about an unconventional relationship, Three in Love is really just bland. Volume two in particular is full of stock scenarios like a group trip to the pool and the school cultural festival. Also, it’s hard to like Machiru when she brags about her “unmatched brains” then does inexplicably ridiculous things like agreeing to sleep with the boy who likes her if he scores higher than she does on exams.

As for the art, in Shioko Mizuki’s own words, it “sucks a lot!!” In one of her author talk sections she mentions that it was her first time drawing with a pen and she was using poor quality ink and rusty nibs, which might explain what Erin adeptly described as art that “looks as if it was drawn in ballpoint pen.” Asymmetrical faces also abound while backgrounds are practically nonexistent.

With so many better options to choose from, don’t waste your time on this one.

Three in Love is published by Go! Comi. Two out of a total of five volumes have been released so far.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With:

Slam Dunk 2 by Takehiko Inoue: B+

February 9, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Volume two of Slam Dunk sure has been a long time coming! When we left off in volume one, hot-headed Sakuragi had grown frustrated with fundamentals training and quit the team. We pick up the story with Sakuragi regretting his decision, and he soon returns to practice after quickly polishing off a thug who’d been spoiling for a fight.

Although Sakuragi is still as clueless and boastful as before, he’s slightly less annoying than he used to be because he is starting to become interested in the sport more for its own sake than as a way to secure Haruko’s affections. Like a good shonen hero, his rate of improvement exceeds everyone’s expectations and he manages to impress the coach during an intra-team practice match despite needing to learn a special lesson about the value of teamwork.

The supporting cast gets a little more attention in this volume, most notably Assistant Captain Kogure and the team manager, Ayako, though they’re mostly relegated to reacting to the actions of others’ and/or calling out the names of moves like “Fly swatter!” The intra-team match is the highlight of the volume, giving readers an idea of how cool an actual game will be once the story advances that far. I’m personally looking forward to it!

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With: , ,

The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer: C

February 8, 2009 by Leave a Comment

From the back cover:
Bad things aren’t supposed to happen to good people. But somewhere between home and the softball field, 16-year-old Jody Chapman’s younger brother disappeared, and now the family is falling apart. Her parents hardly speak to each other, her younger sister is angry and bitter, and Jody’s friends, always so important to her, are slowly slipping away. It seems that all anyone can do is wait. Wait—for Michael to walk in the door. Wait—to stop missing him. Wait—to stop waiting. When a private detective can’t uncover a single clue about Michael’s disappearance, Jody’s urgent need to find him drives her to make a last desperate attempt to hold her family together.

Review:
Having mostly enjoyed Life As We Knew It, I decided to check out something else by Pfeffer. The subject matter is different but the general idea of a family in crisis still remains. I don’t think Pfeffer handled it as well in this earlier book, however.

The major issue is the terrible dialogue. Though the back cover promises “honest dialogue,” in reality it is anything but. I think the problem is that there is seldom any indication of tone or delivery. It’s just ____ said, ____ replied, ____ declared. Even when a character is supposed to be having an outburst, the text doesn’t bring the idea across. Here’s an example:

“I hate all of you. You’re all crazy and I hate you all, and I wish you’d all just leave me alone and die.”

Not even one exclamation mark in all of that? I can’t help but read it in the blandest possible monotone.

The dialogue problems really undercut anything else that Pfeffer might’ve achieved. For all I know, this is an accurate portrayal of the kind of upheaval a family goes through after a child goes missing—oft-repeated hopeful speculation and empty promises giving way to tantrums and irrational blame games—but it just doesn’t seem genuine.

Filed Under: Books, YA Tagged With:

Hissing 1 by Kang EunYoung: C-

February 6, 2009 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Da-Eh, an aspiring manhwa artist who lives with her father and her little brother, comes across Sun-Nam, a softie whose ultimate goal is simply to become a “tough guy.” Whenever these two meet, trouble follows. Meanwhile, Ta-Jun, the hottest guy in town, finds himself drawn to the one girl that his killer smile does not work on—Da-Eh. With their complicated family history hanging on their shoulders, watch how these three teenagers find their way out into the world!

Review:
I was hoping to like Hissing, since I’m on tap to review later volumes for Manga Recon and procured the earlier ones so I could write an informed review, but I really just don’t. There are so many things wrong with it and only one thing that is even kind of done right.

1. 75% of the guys look like they are from some alien planet where all males are blond and have voluminous lashes, naturally tinted eyelids, and luscious lips. This includes a kid who is about ten or so.

2. Too many characters are introduced too quickly. Just Da-Eh, her friend, her family, and the two supposed love interests are enough to begin with, and then suddenly one of the love interests develops two really annoying brothers who serve no real purpose but to torment him and us with their presence.

3. The storytelling is very disjointed. There’ll be two pages of something, then it’ll suddenly switch to something else, then something else again. For two-thirds of the book there’s no plot, just Da-Eh randomly encountering the same couple of guys over and over, until one of them suddenly realizes, “Hey, didn’t I use to have another sibling or something? I wonder where that kid went.” Thankfully, this area shows at least a little potential by the end of the volume.

4. The characters are fond of making random cryptic remarks, like, “I might get punished by God” and “I thought this might be the second.” I have absolutely no idea what that second quote means.

5. Nobody on the production team understands the difference between “then” and “than.” They also spell “jeez” like “gees,” which conjures images of large migratory waterfowl.

The only facet that’s actually marginally interesting is Da-Eh’s ambition to be a manhwa artist, a dream she shares with her childhood friend (see #1 above for a physical description). Their trip to a manhwa goods shop to buy screentone is the highlight of the book.

The first three volumes of Hissing were published by Ice Kunion but the license was then acquired by Yen Press, who has released the fourth and fifth volumes so far. The sixth and final volume will be available on March 24, 2009.

Filed Under: Manhwa Tagged With:

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka: A+

February 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment

In the Astro Boy story “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” available in the third volume of Dark Horse’s edition of the Astro Boy manga, a power-hungry sultan creates a robot named Pluto and gives him instructions to destroy seven other powerful robots that could challenge Pluto’s claim to the title of King of the Robots. Pluto dutifully carries out his orders but bears no personal animosity for his opponents. The story is notable because Pluto and the other robots are highly sympathetic characters, though some are more fleshed out than others.

In this reimagining of “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” Naoki Urasawa is, in many ways, adhering closely to the original story, though he adds new layers and provides additional background for some of the robots that get less attention in Tezuka’s version. Where the original presents the story from the perspective of Astro Boy and addresses the question of what attributes really make a robot great, Urasawa’s approach is more like a sci-fi mystery novel. His protagonist is Gesicht (Gerhardt in the original), a highly-advanced robot detective with sensors that allow him to make Holmesian pronouncements about crime scene details. He’s investigating two cases with striking similarities: the killing of a much-beloved robot named Mont Blanc and the murder of a human involved with a movement to preserve the existing robot laws. The evidence seems to indicate a robot culprit is responsible for both deaths, even though robots are forbidden to harm humans, so Gesicht pays a visit to the last robot known to have violated this prohibition. It’s there that he first hears the name Pluto and learns that he himself might be a target.

The result of Urasawa’s story tweaks is nothing short of amazing. I am by no means a fast reader, but with an almost cinematic feel for scene and pace, the pages of Pluto just fly by. This isn’t a story that gets bogged down by its own weight. Even when Urasawa takes the time to flesh out a character—as in the touching tale of North No. 2, a robot formerly used in war who gradually becomes indispensable to a crotchety composer—the momentum doesn’t suffer. Urasawa extends this humanizing treatment to robots with more machine-like visages, as well. There’s one memorable sequence where, as the wife of a police bot receives news of her husband’s death, Urasawa devotes three panels to a close-up of her face, acknowledging the presence of the grief that she is facially incapable of expressing.

Urasawa’s seemingly limitless arsenal of character designs is on full display in Pluto, though the percentage of people with huge noses is still higher than normally occurs in nature. Like Monster, Pluto is set in Germany, so it’s a bit like coming home to see the Düsseldorf tag on a scene. It’s a futuristic Düsseldorf, though, with multi-tiered highway systems and seamlessly integrated bits of swanky new gadgetry.

The packaging itself is quite nice, with an innovative spine design, larger trim size, satin finish, French flaps, and color pages. And though Viz isn’t responsible for the title font and the way the “U” looks just like Pluto’s horns from the original story, it’s still really cool.

While it’s not necessary to have read “The Greatest Robot on Earth” to enjoy and understand Pluto, I still recommend doing so. It makes Urasawa’s achievement all the more impressive to see what he started from and, without it, you might miss out on some of the impact of various scenes. Seriously, I got geekbumps at least twice.

Pluto is still ongoing in Japan with six volumes released so far. In English, it’s licensed by Viz.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Sci-Fi, Seinen Tagged With: , , ,

Astro Boy 3 by Osamu Tezuka: A-

February 5, 2009 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
A timeless comics and animation classic, Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy is still going strong half a century after its creation, winning over readers of all ages with its combination of action, wit, and humanity. In the novel-length “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” a wealthy sultan creates a giant robot to become the ruler of all other robots on Earth. But in order for that to happen, he must defeat the seven most powerful robots in the world, including Astro Boy, who must have his horsepower raised from 100,000 to 1,000,000 to face the challenge! And Astro’s sister, Uran, also flies in to lend a helping hand! Plus, in “Mad Machine,” a scientist invents a device that causes other machines to go berserk, and Astro Boy must save the day!

Review:
Well, I can certainly see why someone would want to create a series elaborating on “The Greatest Robot on Earth.” There’s a lot going on and some surprisingly sympathetic robots. In his introduction, Tezuka says that he created this story during a period (1964-1965) when he was really enjoying his work. I think it shows, since even though there are still robot battles and dastardly caped villains, the potential to say something about the plight of robots isn’t squandered as it has been in other stories.

Once upon a time, there was a sultan who was ousted from power and exiled from his land. Still ambitious, he hired a roboticist to create a robot, Pluto, that would defeat other powerful robots and declare itself king of the robots, allowing the sultan to get his vicarious power fix. Pluto polishes off his first opponent in short order, but by the time he’s met the second, his personality is starting to come through. “I have no hatred of you but my master has ordered me to destroy you and I must obey him,” he says, before engaging in one of the cooler robot battles in the series so far.

Pluto also encounters Astro’s sister Uran when she tries to trick him by impersonating Astro, and actually strikes up a friendship with her, inquiring about how she’s doing and even allowing her to plaster his chest with some of her favorite stickers (my very favorite panel in this volume). His opponents are pretty sympathetic, too. The one that sticks out in my mind is Epsilon, who worked with and was beloved by children. Even when he was defeated, there’s a neat panel of his hands still clutching a kid who’d wandered too near the duel.

Throughout the story, Doctor Ochanomizu keeps telling Astro that the truly great robot is not the one with the most horsepower but rather the one who helps people. Pluto’s attempts to achieve greatness through fighting will never succeed, but when Astro boy finally convinces him to help avert a volcanic explosion, at that point, Pluto really has achieved greatness. It’s kind of deep, actually. Pluto’s whole character arc is surpisingly touching.

To say that I’m really looking forward to seeing what Naoki Urasawa does with this concept would be a profound understatement.

Filed Under: Manga, Sci-Fi, Shounen Tagged With: ,
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