Sand Land by Akira Toriyama: A-

January 31, 2010 by 4 Comments

sandlandFrom the back cover:
In the far future, war has destroyed the entire Earth, leaving only a barren wasteland where the supply of water is controlled by the greedy king. In search of a long-lost lake, sheriff Rao asked the king of the demons for help… and got the king’s son, Beelzebub, and his assistant, Thief. Together, the unlikely trio sets off across the desert, facing dragons, bandits, and the deadliest foe of all… the King’s Army itself! It’s travel adventure and tank action in this new story from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z!

Review:
After enjoying Toriyama’s COWA! so much last October, I decided to read more of his works. Sand Land, one of the first batch of titles to be serialized in the American Shonen Jump magazine, is another single-volume series about humans and demons working together on a quest, though this time it’s water they’re after and not medicine.

The follies of man and natural disasters have combined to reduce the habitable part of the world to one particular desert, with a further blow falling when the single river flowing through the land suddenly stopped. Some water is available—sold by the king for an exorbitant price—but many can’t afford it. One day, a war veteran named Sheriff Rao turns up at the village of the demons with a request. He has deduced, from the presence of a certain kind of bird, that there must be a lake to the south somewhere, but to cross the dangerous desert he’ll need demonic protection. The demon king (who appears for all of one page and is totally awesome) grants his assent and sends along his son, Beelzebub, who picks an older, knowledgable demon named Thief for the third member of their party.

The trio sets out in Rao’s car, but quickly encounters obstacles. When the car is rendered undrivable, Rao manages to steal a tank using nothing more than a can of hairspray, and they proceed on their way. The tank belongs to the king’s army and when they get wind of the theft, a chase ensues, during which Rao’s real identity is revealed, the chief general launches a smear campaign against him in the media, Rao retaliates with some unsavory secrets, and, ultimately, an extremely satisfying conclusion is reached.

Throughout all of this, Rao realizes that the demons have been sorely underestimated by humans and, in fact, are far more innocent of wrongdoing than humans are, themselves. Even though the basic plot is fun and extremely well paced, it really is this fledgling trust between races that is the best part of the story. Although it moves briskly and there’s not a lot of time for character development, there’s still enough for the story to resonate emotionally when it should.

Toriyama’s skill in paneling is extremely impressive; I always love it when reading manga feels like watching a movie. I did notice one disappointing and odd thing, though: one panel depicting an evil general is very obviously reused in a later chapter. Maybe there’s a good reason for it—could it have been VIZ’s doing?—but Toriyama did gripe at the outside about how hard the series (and especially the tank, which looks great) was to draw, so it seems possible this could’ve been a very random shortcut.

In any case, I really liked Sand Land a lot. It shares a lot of common elements with COWA!, but since I liked those elements, I really can’t complain about an overabundance of similarity.

Sand Land was published in English by VIZ and is complete in one volume.

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

Deadman Wonderland 1 by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou: B+

January 31, 2010 by 3 Comments

deadmanwonderland1From the back cover:
The Great Tokyo Earthquake. Ten years ago, it destroyed lives as it tore buildings asunder. Among those who lived through the disaster was Ganta Igarashi, now a middle school student finally getting a footing in his own life… that is, until the day the “Red Man” appears at his school and turns his world upside down again. Ganta’s entire class is brutally murdered, and although innocent of the crime, Ganta is sentenced to death and sent to the bizarre prison known as “Deadman Wonderland.” There, a brutal game of survival begins, where Ganta must discover the truth behind his classmates’ murder.

Can Ganta break out of Deadman Wonderland… or will it break him first?

Review:
The year is 2023. Ten years ago, the Great Tokyo Earthquake struck, leaving 70% of that city submerged by water. Ganta Igarashi used to live in Tokyo, but doesn’t remember anything prior to the evacuation. Now he attends middle school in Nagano, loves soccer, and has a couple good friends among his classmates. All of that changes on the day when “the red man”—a wonderfully creepy cyborg-looking fellow—arrives and murders all of Ganta’s classmates. In a rush to judgment, the authorities blame Ganta for the carnage and sentence him to death, at which point he’s shuffled off to Deadman Wonderland, the single privately owned prison in Japan, which doubles as a tourist attraction.

There, Ganta must learn to survive in the irrational environment or die. He’s fitted with a collar that is continually injecting him with poison—his death sentence—and the only way to delay it is to take a candy antidote every three days. To buy the candy, one must earn “cast points,” which are awarded for winning the various challenges put on for the benefit of the visiting public. When Ganta loses his first dose of the candy, he enters a deadly race with the hopes of using the prize money to procure another. Meanwhile, he meets a strange girl named Shiro who claims they knew each other before, gains some new super powers, and befriends his gentle-seeming cell mate who is hiding his true intentions.

There’s an awful lot going on in Deadman Wonderland, a fact made clear from the very start with a series of color pages depicting the moments right before the earthquake, but it all boils down to the fact that Ganta is likely not the normal kid he always thought he was. Sometimes I grow frustrated with stories that advance this many mysteries simultaneously, but it’s handled very well here, and the sense of a sure, guiding hand is palpable. I also really, really like “the red man,” who is not the only villain of the piece but merely the most visible. His character design is magnificent and menacing and you just know some crazy stuff is going to go down when he appears.

Ganta himself is also likable, as he rallies from his confusion and depression to fight for his life. I feel a little like one of the Deadman Wonderland patrons for enjoying watching him cope with some of the awful situations he faces, but he pulls through heroically enough that I can avoid feeling too bad.

This first volume of Deadman Wonderland does an excellent job introducing the reader to Ganta’s world and instilling a desire to read more about how he adjusts to his extreme circumstances. I also look forward to him learning more about some of the things at which the color pages hinted, like the truth of his early childhood and why, exactly, he’s been drawing a certain symbol on his possessions for years.

Deadman Wonderland is published in English by TOKYOPOP. The series is ongoing in Japan; seven collected volumes are currently available there.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee 2 by Hiroyuki Asada: C

January 30, 2010 by 3 Comments

tegamibachi2From the back cover:
Amberground is locked in darkness. A man-made star casts only a dim light over the land. The pitch-blade wilderness is infested with Gaichuu—colossal insects with metal exoskeletons. The Gaichuu make travel between the cities of Amberground extremely dangerous. But thankfully the Letter Bees, a brave corps of messengers, risk their lives in order to keep the hearts of Amberground connected.

Lag is close to becoming a Letter Bee! On the way to his final interview at the National Postal Service, he found a dingo: Niche, a feral young girl with shocking strength and hair made of golden swords. Now, as they approach the bridge to the middle-class district, they stop to rest in Kyrie, a desperado town. They meet Nelli, a friendly young man who shows them to an inn. Nelli’s so helpful that they never notice him steal Lag’s crossing pass!

Review:
Volume two of Tegami Bachi demonstrates what happens when a flawed but intriguing series picks the less interesting of the two characters introduced in its first chapter for a protagonist. Without Gauche Suede, the experienced letter carrier who inspired Lag Seeing to want to follow in his footsteps, the volume flounders for the first half as Lag and his “dingo,” Niche, make their way to his Letter Bee interview in Yuusari, a nicer part of Amberground than the area in which Lag grew up.

A lot of the problem here is Niche, an acutely uncivilized girl with hair that can turn into swords, and her antics. She apparently views her pledge to wear underwear as a symbol of her contract with Lag, so when he suggests she might be safer staying with his aunt than being his dingo, she ditches her bloomers and then nags him for dozens of pages to accept her as his dingo again. This is incredibly annoying. Also, she seems to have acquired a pet/emergency food source (think Menchi in Excel Saga) called Steak, who is a source for some regrettable pee and fart gags.

Once Lag makes it to his interview, though, things start looking up. The European-inspired architecture in Yuusari makes for some lovely backgrounds, and the other/older Letter Bees are pretty cool. Lag also does extremely well on his letter-delivery test, almost as well as Gauche, about whom he learns some surprising information.

Some of these merits are also flaws, however, since practically everything is more interesting than Lag and Niche, and looks better, too. I’d much rather read a story starring Largo Lloyd, the director of “The Beehive,” for example, and the only thing that inclines me to read the third volume is that we might learn more about Gauche. About the main duo I care practically nothing. It’s almost as if Asada wants to make his story more sophisticated, but is shackled by some Shonen Jump mandate concerning adolescent humor. Whatever the case, I’m going to give this series one more chance to win me over, but I’m not feeling too optimistic.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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

All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga: A

January 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

allmydarling“A mother is an imperfect woman.”

So thinks Yukiko Kisaragi, the central hub around which the collection of stories in All My Darling Daughters revolves. As the story begins, Yukiko’s mother, Mari, has just undergone a successful cancer operation and decides that, from now on, she’s going to live her life the way she wants. To Yukiko’s dismay, this involves getting remarried to an aspiring actor and much younger man, Ken Ohashi, whom she met at a host club. At first, Yukiko is convinced it’s a con, and maintains a guarded demeanor around Ohashi, but once he proves his love for Mari really is genuine, she breaks down. “She’s always belonged entirely to me,” she sobs.

From there, stories focus on those Yukiko knows. The second chapter is about a strange student named Maiko who forces herself on Izumi, a lecturer friend of Ohashi’s; the third features Sayako, a pretty friend of Yukiko who has decided to investigate arranged marriage; the fourth is about middle school friends of Yukiko and how their career plans went awry; and the final chapter focuses on Yukiko’s grandmother and her relationship with Mari. Meanwhile, we catch glimpses of how Yukiko’s life is evolving through a series of revelations about what has occurred “off-camera.”

At first I had a hard time understanding how some of these stories related to each other. Sayako’s story, for example, is incredibly touching and sad, but her mother does not play much of a role. The story of the forceful student seemed entirely out of place. But then the common thread hit me: this book is not just about mothers and daughters. It’s about the relationship between any caregiver and a child, and how something that might seem inconsequential to one could affect the other for the rest of their lives.

Sayako is crippled in love because her well-meaning grandfather told her, “You mustn’t discriminate among people.” Maiko has a warped view of relationships because someone indoctrinated her with a servile disposition—even though Izumi repeatedly says, “Who told you that?” it’s a perception she is unable and even unwilling to shake. Yukiko’s middle school friend is unable to fulfill her lofty goal of being a trailblazer for women in the workplace because an abusive father forces her to leave home early and quit school. Even Mari’s not immune, since her mother’s denigrating comments (made with good intentions, we later learn) about her appearance gave her a lifetime complex about her looks.

By the end of the volume, it’s apparent that Yukiko really is living a charmed life. Mari may be an imperfect mother, but she’s honest about her foibles and the two share an incredible relationship. Yukiko even achieves a sense of peace about her new step-dad, realizing “this strange boy is necessary for my mom.” Yukiko’s husband, Jun, is sweet yet equally imperfect, and a casual remark near the end of the volume reveals they’ve made headway in conquering a problem of equality in their marriage. Career-wise, Yukiko is the most successful of her group of middle school friends, prompting former chum Saeki to think, “At least one of us fulfilled her modest dreams.” And who is it whose fierce yet loving care enabled Yukiko’s life to turn out so well? I’ll give you one guess.

In addition to all of this thoughtful, integrated writing, Yoshinaga also employs her distinctive artistic style in the service of the story. True, the bulk of the panels contain talking heads in white space, but sometimes these headshots are exactly what one needs to get the point across. The most effective example of this occurs in the third chapter, when a two-page spread of close-ups is used to convey how Sayako and a prospective husband, Mr. Fuwa, have instantly achieved a content companionship. And if you don’t get sniffly when this technique is used again in the final two pages, you might just be a robot.

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

Filed Under: Josei, Manga, Short Stories Tagged With: , ,

RIN-NE 2 by Rumiko Takahashi: B

January 26, 2010 by 3 Comments

rinne2From the back cover:
After a mysterious encounter in her childhood, Sakura Mamiya gained the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! Then one day she meets Rinne Rokudo, a boy who is far more than what he seems.

Sakura and Rinne deal with the ghosts of an ancient warrior and a girl who drowned in the school swimming pool, but that’s just a warm-up! A wandering spirit leads them to a surprising confrontation, one that takes Sakura and Rinne on an even more amazing chase!

Review:
When RIN-NE first debuted, I used to read the chapters on The Rumic World faithfully, but after a while my interest waned. I had, therefore, already read the first few chapters of this second volume—those pertaining to the ancient warrior and the ghost of the drowned girl—and found them just as uninspiring on a second read.

The portion that I hadn’t read previously fared a little better, though. It’s the story of a high school boy named Reiji who’s traveling on his motorcycle to deliver a birthday present to his girlfriend when he runs into a telephone pole. He’s not dead yet, but his spirit has left his body and is thus vulnerable to Masato, a devil with a grudge against Rinne and the ability to corrupt Reiji into a vengeful spirit. Although Masato is unfortunately rather incompetent—the gags involving the traps he sets for Rinne are woefully unfunny—this story is still the most interesting of the volume and also provides Sakura with the opportunity to do some investigating on her own. She’s so essential, in fact, that Rinne compliments her awesomeness quite genuinely, which is kind of rare for him.

Although this volume is a quick and generally pleasant read, I’m a little disappointed that the story isn’t showing any signs of going anywhere. I know this is an unreasonable expectation: this is Rumiko Takahashi, after all, and I really shouldn’t expect movement for thirty more volumes or so. I like the characters, I like Sakura’s increased motivation to get involved, but in general, stories about helping ghosts pass on will get old after a while. A peek at forthcoming chapters shows that a new character will arrive in volume three, however, so perhaps the plot will perk up a bit then.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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

Live for Love by Itsuki Sato and Jun Mayama: B+

January 25, 2010 by 3 Comments

liveforloveFrom the back cover:
Yasuie runs the Kiryuuin Detective Agency in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Nichome neighborhood. With no clients and no money, it’s a constant struggle just to live and pay the rent. For the past seven years, Yasuie’s assistant and partner Yoshiyuki has been willing to suffer through all the good and bad times with him—even considering Yasuie’s playful advances, which approach sexual harassment—but life has a way of changing things.

Faced with his family’s ultimatum, Yoshiyuki must choose between a penniless future with Yasuie and a more traditional lifestyle. Can Yasuie convince Yoshiyuki to stay with him? Even if Yasuie does confess the true reason he brought Yoshiyuki into the detective business, will it be enough to change his partner’s mind?

Review:
Yoshiyuki Nomura had nowhere to belong. Abandoned by his birth parents in a coin locker at a train station, he had no family until he was taken in by the Nomuras at age twelve. He strove to do well in school and earn their approval, but the arrival of a natural-born son made him feel displaced. He went to an excellent college as expected, got a good job as expected, but none of it felt right and none of it lasted. On the same day, he lost his job and his girlfriend but also met his unlikely savior in the form a foolish and impulsive private detective named Yasuie Kiryuuin, who saw the dejected Yoshiyuki sitting on a park bench and couldn’t just leave him there. Instead, he offers Yoshiyuki a job.

It’s been seven years since then, and Yoshiyuki has been kept busy trying to keep Yasu’s business afloat, even though it consists more of fetching and grooming kitties than any real detective work. Yasu is incredibly affectionate towards Yoshiyuki, though always presents his feelings in a playful way that’s easy for Yoshiyuki to dismiss. Yoshiyuki is exasperated and often cranky, but is obviously content enough to have remained in the job for so long. Things seem destined to carry on this way indefinitely until Yoshiyuki receives a phone call from his foster parents out of the blue.

The Nomuras are kind people, and genuinely regret that Yoshiyuki was made to feel unwanted in their home. They want to make it up to him by inviting him back into their home, providing him with a good job, and setting him up with a marriage interview. Yoshiyuki is torn—the prospect of family life is tantalizing. Is this where he’d belong?—but Yasu makes the decision easy by forcing himself on Yoshiyuki when he gets wind of his possible departure. The nonconsensual scene is really awful because these are two characters we already genuinely care about, which makes it much more painful to read than if it had occurred in a series with fewer positive qualities. If there is a bright side, it’s that Yasu is not some sadistic seme who feels no remorse for his actions; he knows it was inexcusable and is consumed by regret.

Yoshiyuki moves back home with his family, but though they are solicitous, he can never fully relax around him. A nice subtle indicator of the distance between them is how his foster parents never fail to append his name with the honorific san; even after caring for him for so many years they’ve never felt close enough to address him on a first name basis. While Yasu flagellates himself at the office, Yoshiyuki helps his little brother with his homework and plays the dutiful son by attending the marriage interview, even though it doesn’t make him happy. “Will I have to accept this feeling of emptiness?,” he wonders at one point.

Although it happens too quickly, the ultimate reconciliation with Yasu is very satisfying, with Yoshiyuki realizing that he’s always being saved by Yasu’s foolishness and has, in reality, needed him all along just as much as Yasu needs him. I also appreciate that Yoshiyuki refuses to accept Yasu’s apology for what happened, making sure the latter knows just how physically battered and emotionally humiliated he was. Lastly, Yoshiyuki’s accidental admittance of his feelings (and his subsequent reaction) is possibly the best I’ve seen in BL manga yet.

While Live for Love certainly has its flaws, the interplay between the well-drawn characters is funny, sweet, and endearing and makes this story recommended despite the inclusion of one very regrettable scene.

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

Karakuri Odette 2 by Julietta Suzuki: B+

January 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

karakuriodette2In this gentle and episodic comedy, teenage android Odette has just entered her second year of high school and is joined by fellow android Chris, a former attack bot now reprogrammed by Odette’s creator, Hiroaki. Although Odette has learned much from being among humans, some concepts still elude her, like why a girl’s heart would beat faster near a particular boy or why some combinations of food taste better than others. Chris also receives some development, as he’s forced to consider personal preferences for the first time.

While each individual chapter is amusing, the real charm of Karakuri Odette is Odette’s continuing quest to understand humanity and her calm sorrow when she fails to do so. When she emulates something she saw on TV by putting an egg on Hiroaki’s ramen, for example, she experiences happiness that something she made pleased him. Further culinary experiments don’t fare so well, though, leaving Odette unable to recapture that feeling until she seeks out special tutelage from a friend. The concept of romantic love is also baffling, causing Odette to feel left out when so many of her friends have someone they like.

I continue to appreciate the approach this series takes with its subject matter; it’s definitely funny, but not in a frenzied way, and is frequently touching.

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

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

Steal Moon 1-2 by Makoto Tateno: C

January 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

stealmoon2As in the related series Blue Sheep Reverie, Makoto Tateno has gone beyond the call of BL duty to craft a science fiction plot of some complexity. One hundred years in the past, a computer on the moon called “Isis” was created to protect the president then in office. Now it’s rumored to be spying on the populace and seasoned street fighter Nozomi is recruited to help put it out of commission.

This all sounds fairly tame, but the way in which Nozomi gets involved is pretty bizarre. Boasting about his fighting skills after his latest victory, he declares that if anyone could beat him, he’d “willingly become his servant.” This is the cue for a mysterious guy called Coyote to show up, beat Nozomi, and promptly sell him to an internet peep room site. Because this is BL, Nozomi falls in love with Coyote, even though the latter says things like, “I wish I could’ve kept you imprisoned forever.” How romantic.

The peep show gig doesn’t last long, and Nozomi is eventually drafted into helping take down “Isis.” By the end of the second volume, he has learned more about Coyote so their relationship makes a bit more sense, at least, and some of the power dynamic issues are rectified. Nothing in the world can excuse the creepiness of the two twelve-year-olds in the peep show place with Nozomi, though. They’re fond of crawling all over him and striking sexy poses to drive up their hit counts, but the apex of ick occurs when one kid declares, “I’m gonna grow up real fast so I can service you!”

Um, ew?

Plotwise, Steal Moon is ambitious and occasionally even intriguing, but other elements of the story might incite a strong desire for brain bleach.

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

Filed Under: Boys' Love, Manga, Sci-Fi Tagged With: , ,

Immortal Rain 1-2 by Kaori Ozaki: A-

January 20, 2010 by 2 Comments

immortalrain1Machika Balfaltin’s grandfather, Zol, was a renowned bounty hunter/assassin, but there was one man he could never catch: Methuselah, an immortal with a price on his head. Machika, like your typical fourteen-year-old, is convinced that she can do anything and is determined to settle her grandfather’s unfinished business. Her attempt to capture Methuselah goes wrong, however, when a rival group of bounty hunters swoops in to take the credit. Methuselah allows himself to be hauled off to jail, whereupon Machika breaks him out because he’s her prey. Of course, now there’s a price on her head, too, so she’s got to leave town. From there, Machika and Methuselah, who reveals that his name is actually Rain Jewlitt, get into a series of adventures usually involving people trying to nab Rain and figure out the secret of immortality, which is portrayed as much more of a curse than a blessing.

While the adventures are interesting enough, it’s the bond between the two characters that’s really the most fascinating aspect of Immortal Rain. Machika still maintains that she’s going to kill Rain one day, but quickly grows frustrated with his passivity regarding his fate and soon nurtures a desire to help him, including finding a way to make him human again. Initially, Rain attempts to keep his distance. He likes people but, as he puts it, “eventually everyone must leave this earth at a speed I can’t keep up with.” When he tries to refuse Machika’s help, it hurts her, but he’s reluctant to keep her with him because her life is so vulnerable. “So… would you hold me like I’m glass? I won’t break,” she replies. It’s clear that he’s unaccustomed to someone showing such fierce concern for his present rather than the promise of an unlimited future that he represents, and by the end of volume two he seems to have finally accepted her as a companion.

immortalrain2In addition to creating this pair of likable characters, Ozaki also parcels out bits of Rain’s backstory with a sure hand. Obscure hints and scraps of information offered in volume one are already taking shape into something that makes more sense by volume two, suggesting that answers will continue to be furnished at a satisfying rate. It would seem that he was somehow involved in some scientific experiments 600 years ago—the remnants of which are being excavated by a company that employs Sharem, an intriguing villainess who is initially introduced as a high-kicking ice queen but is gradually revealed to have inner pain of her own—and is destined to meet someone from that time who’s on the verge of being reincarnated. Too, he was once in love with a dark-haired woman whose violin is his most treasured possession.

Missteps are few, but there are a couple of bothersome things in these first two volumes. First, while a lot of the humor is genuinely amusing (I especially adore anything having to do with Machika’s pet, Kiki), some of it falls flat, especially the inept Evans siblings who attempt to capture Rain with a thoroughly ill-conceived plan involving a train, a bridge, and a 12-year-old girl piloting a mecha. Also, while less of a problem in volume two, volume one contains some passages of narration that don’t make much sense. Here’s an example:

Look. Even if you open your ears you can’t hear… the sound of the heart… if only just once.

That sounds like the kind of poorly translated English you’d find on a t-shirt in Shinjuku!

Another great point in Immortal Rain’s favor is Ozaki’s incredibly appealing art. Although the series runs in the shoujo magazine Wings and Rain technically qualifies as a bishounen, the art fosters more of a shounen adventure feeling, creating an almost palpable sense of the wide world around the central characters. The nonverbal storytelling is also great, especially in Rain’s expressive reactions to some of the things Machika says and does. Somehow, his eyes manage to convey fondness, loneliness, regret, and puzzlement simultaneously; the effect is quite lovely.

I look forward to seeing how the story develops in subsequent volumes, although I do wonder whether TOKYOPOP intends to continue releasing the series. They’ve released eight volumes in English so far, and while new volumes in Japan appear at a rate of one per year there are still ten of them out now with no US solicitation of volume nine on the horizon. It may not be time to fret quite yet, but there’s definitely reason for concern.

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

Natsume’s Book of Friends 1 by Yuki Midorikawa: B+

January 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

natsume'sbook1Takashi Natsume has been able to see yokai ever since he was little, an oddity that resulted in the boy being shuffled from one relative to the next after the death of his parents. Lately, though, the yokai are getting more insistent, mistaking Natsume for his grandmother, Reiko, and pestering him relentlessly. After an encounter with a yokai residing in a ceramic cat, Natsume learns that his grandmother bound many yokai to her by capturing their names in a Book of Friends—which he has inherited—and vows to return their names to them. The cat, hereafter referred to as Nyanko-sensei, agrees to help with the stipulation that should Natsume get eaten by an angry and powerful yokai, possession of the book will fall to him, enabling him to rule over his brethren.

The first volume consists of four stand-alone chapters in which Natsume returns some names, gets to know a diminishing dew god and his one remaining worshiper, fields a request from some yokai to get rid of a meddlesome human, and helps the spirit of a swallow catch a glimpse of a man who was kind to her and cured her of bitter feelings towards humanity. The tales are each entertaining, though it’s the last, referred to in the Afterward as “The Swallow Underwater,” that is my favorite. It’s both moving and lovely and admirably showcases the true potential of this series.

On the surface, Natsume’s Book of Friends may appear to be simply an episodic series of stories about yokai, but it works on several additional levels as well. Because of his experiences in the past, Natsume has been regarded as strange and never made any close friendships. And yet, we see through the course of this first volume that he’s partly to blame for this. He gets so wrapped up in his supernatural endeavors that he fails to see the friendly overtures some of his classmates are making towards him. It’s only when he gets the chance to meet another person who can see spirits that he takes any initiative to get to know a human and, after that point, spends a bit of time with his other classmates, as well.

His feelings towards yokai evolve throughout the book, too. As he interacts with them, he begins to recognize that many are lonely, just like he is. Gradually, his feelings towards them change from dislike to “I don’t mind lending a hand” to, finally, risking danger to himself in order to give the swallow spirit the best possible gift he could. His outlook on a childhood interaction with a yokai also undergoes a metamorphosis; what he once saw as a betrayal he can now view as an act of kindness. Natsume isn’t a very expressive character, but he is extremely kind. Though his trusting nature might come to cost him later—even Nyanko-sensei is occasionally tempted to eat him—his ability to have faith in and sympathize with yokai makes him extremely sympathetic in return.

Midorikawa’s sketchy art matches the tone of the story well. It reminds me a little bit of Chica Umino, actually, though much calmer. Natsume and his classmates have pretty average character designs, but a lot of creativity shows in the designs for the yokai, from the tiny, Noh-masked dew god to the powerful spirit forced to dwell inside a tubby ceramic cat to all sorts of one-eyed, animal-faced creatures in between.

In the end, Natsume’s Book of Friends is a very unique title among the Shojo Beat line. I’m extremely eager to see where the story will go from here.

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

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