Blade of the Immortal 1 by Hiroaki Samura: A

December 9, 2008 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan, has been cursed with immortality. To rid himself of this curse and end his life of misery, he must slay one thousand evil men!

His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents’ killers.

His quest ends only after he has spilled the blood of a thousand!

Review:
Wow. I had no idea something could be beautiful and gross at the same time.

Blade of the Immortal is the story of Manji, a samurai who became a criminal when he killed the lord he’d been serving after learning of his corruption. As the story opens, he has been granted immortality (originally to keep him from running off and getting himself killed and abandoning his insane sister) and has struck a bargain with the nun responsible—he will make up for killing good people on the orders of the corrupt lord by killing one thousand bad ones. When he achieves that goal, the immortality will be lifted.

Into his life comes Rin, a teenager who witnessed the death of her father at the hands of a group of swordsmen who seek to abolish all other sword schools but theirs. She asks Manji to help her get her revenge and, after grumbling that it’s hard to rely on another’s definition of a “bad guy,” he agrees. This leads to a fascinating moonlit meeting with one of the men responsible for the murder. Atmospheric and engrossing, this segment features one of the strangest villains I’ve ever seen.

The art is amazing, alternating between traditionally inked panels and ones that I believe are done in pencil. The inked panels occasionally remind me of the art in Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, at least in terms of how shadow is achieved with cross-hatching rather than screentone. The pencil illustrations are especially good, which is disconcerting when what you’re looking at is a guy getting his head sliced into quarters (a recurring theme in these opening chapters). My only complaint is that, because of the way the panels were flipped for publication, Manji’s missing eye kept switching sides, but that’s hardly Samura’s fault.

The story is riveting enough that the gore didn’t really bother me much. I like the characters, too, and find Manji to be especially charismatic. An interview with Samura was included in which he described his hero, and I’m just gonna use his words here.

On the character side, in the protagonist Manji I’ve drawn a totally straight, unvarnished version of my own ideal hero—a person who never reveals his or her own weaknesses to others but who, at the same time, is not as unassailably powerful as he or she may seem.

He does things like kill a bunch of guys and then walk back into town carrying his own leg. If that’s not badass, then I don’t know what is.

Despite my protestations about not liking icky things, I can’t deny that these bloodthirsty seinen epics have a real appeal. I’m definitely going to be reading more Blade of the Immortal.

Filed Under: Historical Fiction, Manga, Seinen Tagged With:

Shinobi Life 1 by Shoko Conami: B+

December 8, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Well, it’s happened again. I receive a review copy for a title with a premise that makes me expect the worst, only to end up liking it a great deal. Not only that, I’m willing to spend my own money to obtain subsequent volumes! It’s all an evil plot.

Beni Fujiwara is the daughter of a rich and powerful man, and has grown accustomed to being kidnapped. She even gives pointers to her captors and would like nothing more than for her father to be publicly blamed for her death. One afternoon, as she is being held at knifepoint atop a tall building, a ninja from the past falls from the sky, knocks her off the building, and manages to stop their fall before they hit the ground. He believes she is Beni-Hime, the princess he is charged with protecting, and takes up duties as her bodyguard.

That doesn’t sound very promising, but it’s actually surprisingly good. Beni is strong-willed and capable, looking and acting more mature than the typical shojo heroine. Kagetora, the ninja, is old-fashioned and very concerned with honor, propriety, and class differences. I like how their relationship develops and also appreciate that Beni’s motivations for not admitting her true identity are thoroughly addressed.

Another thing I particularly like about Shinobi Life is the dialogue. Characters say what should be said at critical moments, but they also say it in a way that feels utterly natural, thanks to the excellent English adaptation by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

I do get a bit of a LuvLuv vibe from this title, owing to Beni’s character design as well as some semi-naughty humor, so it’s possible it’ll turn smutty at some point. Can’t say as I’ll mind terribly.

Five volumes have been published in Japan so far and TOKYOPOP seems to be releasing a new volume every four months. The second is due in March 2009.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With:

Bogle 1-2 by Shino Taira and Yuko Ichiju: C

December 8, 2008 by Leave a Comment

When Asuka’s brother lands his dream job as a detective, he and his sister relocate from Okinawa to Yokohama. Asuka begins attending a private high school where the principal secretly finances “the chivalrous burglars rocking the world, Bogle.” Bogle consists of a pair of good-looking boys (and their faculty advisor) who specialize in retrieving precious items for their clients. The school administrators know all about Asuka’s scandalous past as a cat burglar, and draft her to join the clandestine group.

For the next two volumes, the members of Bogle accept and fulfill commissions, often interacting with their clients in civilian guise as well so that we can all see how happy the person was to get back their prized music box. The cases, like the characters, are all exceedingly boring. Supposedly, Bogle confounds police with their “brilliant strategies,” but those seem to consist of breaking into a building equipped with silly code names, matching outfits, and an arsenal of awkward poses. Seriously, in one panel Asuka seems poised to topple over and one of her male compatriots looks like he has to pee.

One glance is enough to know that the artist, Yuko Ichiju, is influenced by CLAMP. All of the female characters have an approximation of the “CLAMP eye” prevalent in earlier works like Cardcaptor Sakura, the boys have the disproportionately broad shoulders, and Asuka’s new friend has Hokuto Sumeragi’s hair. Ichiju also seems inordinately fond of knitted brows; someone’s sporting them on practically every page.

I do have to wonder how this one got licensed. It’s hard to imagining anyone clamoring for Bogle.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With:

Papillon 1 by Miwa Ueda: B+

December 7, 2008 by Leave a Comment

When I was in the sixth grade, a particular series of books was very popular. It focused on a pair of blonde twin sisters, the older of whom was kind and thoughtful while the younger was selfish and scheming. Most of the time, the good twin allowed her conniving sibling to have her way, but when it came to a certain boy, she drew the line. Their names were Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and the series was named after the school they attended, Sweet Valley High.

I mention this because the initial setup for Papillon is pretty similar. Ageha, a shy and bespectacled nobody, and her younger sister Hana, the most popular girl in school, are blonde twins who were raised by different relatives. The only person Ageha feels understands her is a boy named Ryûsei, and when Hana sees them growing closer she moves in to snag Ryûsei for herself. With some encouragement from a decidedly unorthodox guidance counselor, Ageha makes an effort to shed her meek persona and win Ryûsei back. (Her name means “butterfly.” Get it?)

While the concept may not be new, Hana and Ageha’s relationship is still fascinating. Somehow, the masterfully manipulative way in which Hana competes against her sister is more credible for occurring between siblings and hints at all kinds of intriguing psychological baggage. The relationship gives the character depth, as it seems she must have some deeper motivation for her actions than your garden variety Mean Girl. Similarly, Ageha’s powerlessness in the face of her sister’s devious ways also rings true. In the back of the book, Ueda-sensei thanks some relationship therapists for their input and advice; I’d say it definitely paid off.

Unfortunately, Ryûsei is not as well developed. He’s a typical adolescent boy: good-hearted in general but vulnerable when a pretty girl turns on the charm. Arguably, though, he was never meant to be more than a bone of contention between the girls and a catalyst for Ageha’s metamorphosis. The most vivid supporting character is actually Kanda, Ageha’s chubby pal, who betrays her friend when she sees an opportunity to gain attention from the more popular students, a classic maneuver among status-conscious high school girls.

While the term “soap opera” would certainly apply to Papillon, it also offers an insightful look at the relationships between girls. For that alone, this title is one that I will be following with interest.

Papillon is published by Del Rey. Five volumes have been released in Japan so far while the second English release is due in late January 2009.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Case Closed 1 by Gosho Aoyama: B-

December 2, 2008 by 5 Comments

From the back cover:
Precocious high school student Jimmy Kudo uses his keen powers of observation and astute intuition to solve mysteries that have left law enforcement officials baffled. Hot on the trail of a suspect, Jimmy is accosted from behind and fed a strange chemical which physically transforms him into a grade schooler! Taking on the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, he attempts to track down the people who did this to him. But until he finds a cure for his bizarre condition, Jimmy continues to help the police solve their toughest cases.

Review:
After reviewing and enjoying two later volumes of this series for Manga Recon, I wanted to go back and start the series properly. Luckily, this is another of those lengthy Viz series that my local library seems poised to carry in its entirety. I should state up front that, although it bugs me that Viz is using dub names for many of the characters, I’m not familiar with their original Japanese names, so I’ll probably just keep using what Viz is using because it’s easier.

Some things are different from later on in the series. Rachel doesn’t have that weird triangle of hair poking out of her head yet—instead her hair resembles camel humps—and the cast of characters is smaller. Conan/Jimmy doesn’t start out with all of his gadgets in tow, but he quickly develops the “solve the mystery, knock out the inane detective, and use the handy bow-tie voice modulator gadget to relay the solution” method that is still in play twenty-five volumes later.

While the cases here were okay (with one shockingly geyser-like beheaded victim), I think the problem is that I can see now that nothing really changes in this series. The characters are likewise okay, but I don’t have any special liking for any of them, and it’s clear things will simply continue on in their episodic fashion. I will probably continue reading a bit longer, if for nothing else than to see how the characters who’re around in those later volumes got introduced, but I’ve now got doubts as to whether this’ll be a series I’m into for the long haul.

Filed Under: Manga, Mystery, Shounen Tagged With:

One Piece 1 by Eiichiro Oda: B+

December 1, 2008 by 7 Comments

From the back cover:
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer “Red-Haired” Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the fruit of the Gum-Gum Tree and gained the power to stretch like rubber… at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure… one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

Review:
Influenced by praise of this series, particularly from Connie, I decided that I ought to check it out. This aim was facilitated by the fact that my local library carries One Piece (and several other lengthy Shonen Jump series), so I could do my investigatin’ for free!

I couldn’t really get into it at first, particularly as the art style is really cartoony. I thought about starting a gaping maw (a mouth open so wide that molars are visible) tally box, but it would’ve gone over 200, easily. Gradually, though, the story grew on me and I found myself quite enjoying it by the end.

I really like the protagonist, Luffy. In the first chapter, he’s a rather annoying kid who has as his role model a pirate called Shanks. Shanks teaches him a lesson about what it means to be a good man, and throughout the rest of the volume, the teenage/adult Luffy proves by his actions that he has taken the lesson to heart. Sure, he’s reckless and rash, as any shounen hero must be, but he’s also quite mellow and takes things as they come.

It’s also pretty funny, in a goofy way that appeals to me. For example, the first line spoken by the main villain of the volume, a megalomaniacal naval captain, is “I’m so great!” I also cracked up at this exchange between Luffy and his new friend, who is explaining how he came to be affiliated with a cruel female pirate:

Koby: I’ll never forget that fateful day. I just wanted to go fishing and I boarded a pirate ship by mistake. That was two years ago. In exchange for my life, I’ve been working as their cabin boy.

Luffy: You’re kinda clumsy and dumb!

By the end of the volume, I was definitely wanting more. In fact, I’ll probably be picking up the second volume from the library tomorrow.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,

Cat Street 1 (Japanese) by Yoko Kamio: B+

November 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

Book description:
Keito Aoyama was a child star until the age of nine, when she froze up on stage in front of a live audience. The incident ended her career, and she’s spent the past seven years a recluse, spending most of the time in her room and socializing with no one. An encounter with an eccentric principal leads her to El Liston, a school for kids who haven’t fit in at other high schools. Could this be what Keito needs to begin truly living again?

Review:
This series is interesting, but since this volume was mostly set up, probably much of the good stuff is yet to come.

Keito is very socially awkward to start with, and ends up insulting a couple of people and running away from them, just like she’s essentially been running away from life for seven years. She’s a sympathetic character, kind of complex and difficult, but her search for direction is compelling. She encounters a former grade school classmate and the fact that he’s still striving for his childhood dream makes her question what it is that she really wants to do. Though she’s initially reluctant to attend such a “weird facility,” she eventually decides to give El Liston a try.

The El Liston setting is pretty neat. Most of the kids there are doing independent study of some kind, though there are teachers on hand to help when needed. The students are free to pursue their interests, be they computer programming or fashion design. The students that Keito meets are already shaping up to be unique and interesting characters and I look forward to seeing Keito flourish in that environment. Of particular note is Kouichi, a manga character who actually looks Asian!

Too, I like that the focus is on Keito’s search for a purpose in life and not on romance. To be sure, there are a few prospects in that regard, but her thoughts are running more toward self-improvement than smooching. Cat Street definitely has the potential to be something great, and I’ll be continuing with it.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With:

Very! Very! Sweet 2 by JiSang Shin and Geo: B

November 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Tsuyoshi, sent from Japan to Korea by his grandfather in order to discover his roots, has begun attending school with his neighbor, the tomboyish Be-Ri. When Tsuyoshi’s uncle asks Be-Ri to look after him, she finds herself doing things like showing him the way home after school and abandoning her own lunch when it occurs to her that he might be eating his in the classroom all alone. Gradually, they get to know each other better and she realizes that Tsuyoshi isn’t the selfish jerk she took him for.

Of the main characters, it was Tsuyoshi who needed the most fleshing out after the first volume, and he gets it here. Though he was initially critical of Be-Ri and of Koreans in general, he’s now friendlier and even recognizes when the anger she’s directing at him is really due to something else going on in her life. Later, when his (highly irritating) girlfriend from Japan arrives out of the blue, we learn that he was looking on his relocation as an opportunity to change himself, and with her arrival, he feels as though he’s back in the same old place.

There are things about the story that I don’t like, like how Be-Ri treats the boy who likes her, but it’s also pretty unique sometimes. For example, it deals with realities of cat ownership (such as the threat of feline leukemia and the joys of scooping the litter box) that I’ve never seen addressed in any other comic. The gradual improvement of Tsuyoshi’s communication skills is also discernible, which I find quite neat.

All in all, I enjoy this series a great deal and will be continuing to read it.

This series is still ongoing in Korea, with five volumes available so far. Very! Very! Sweet is published in English by Yen Press with four months between volumes; two have been released and the third is due in March 2009.

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

Filed Under: Manhwa Tagged With:

Jade of Bango 1 by Ae-Ju Yim and Jin-Ju Yim: C-

November 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Let’s play Spot the Cliché! Lin Seonu is a clumsy and ditzy high school girl with the ability to see and communicate with spirits. One day, when she’s under attack by an evil creature, a handsome yet stoic guy—whose outfit features many unnecessary buckles—appears and helps her to unleash her hidden powers. This fellow claims to be her guardian and fiancé and, of course, must now take up residence in her house.

Having a premise full of clichés doesn’t necessarily spell disaster, but after a confusing explanation of Lin’s newfound power (in a nutshell, she’s the only person who can control a powerful force known as the Jade of Bango) and mission, the plot of Jade of Bango gets derailed by the introduction of new characters. Instead of focusing on Lin’s new responsibilities or her reaction to same, most chapters feature squabbles between the existing guardian and the hotheaded rival who appears and believes himself a better fit for the position. Later, a pair of buxom catgirl villains waste even more space with their antics.

Jade of Bango has the potential to be fun if it would get back on track. There are a couple of little hints that something more sinister might be afoot and, although the art is nothing great, the depiction of Lin’s benevolent spirit friends is genuinely cute. Too bad the creators seem to lack the attention span to stay on course.

Jade of Bango is known in Korea as Mong Hwan Baek Seo and is up to fifteen volumes. TOKYOPOP publishes it in a 2-in-1 format.

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

Filed Under: Fantasy, Manhwa Tagged With:

Maison Ikkoku 9 by Rumiko Takahashi: B+

November 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Godai finally gets serious about finding a job. Unfortunately, Kyoko is the only one who takes him seriously—a little too seriously—when he talks about his “future.” For the immediate future, he gets a position waiting tables at a resort, and an eyeful when Kyoko loses her top in the pool. Once he finally lands a gig student-teaching at Kyoko’s old high school, a googly-eyed student named Yagami moves into his life, and, sneakily, into Maison Ikkoku. Will she manage to get between Godai and Kyoko?

Review:
Even though I find Yagami pretty annoying, I must admit that this volume was consistently entertaining. With the previous volume, I’d gotten tired of stories about the neighbors pulling pranks, so it was nice to read a continuous storyline that had little to do with that sort of thing.

My favorite part, though, was the Christmas chapter. Godai and Kyoko were drafted by the puppet theatre club, who they’d helped a few years previously, to provide some voices for a show being given at a pre-school. Godai ended up cast as a penniless pauper and Kyoko’s character berated him for his worthless state. This lead to a nice conversation between the two of them where he lamented the state of his life. I don’t remember this from the anime, so to me it kind of felt like the first glimmer of the plot going in a more serious direction and getting the two of them together.

The volume ended with one of the most frustrating bits I remember from the anime—when Godai missed his job interview with Yagami’s dad because he encountered a woman in labor on the way and got roped into escorting her to the hospital. I suppose it’s a testament to the quality of the series when the characters’ faults make me want to shout at them, but it’s still irritating.

I’m almost up to the point where I abandoned the anime and am really looking forward to finally seeing the conclusion of this classic series!

Filed Under: Manga, Seinen Tagged With: ,
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