Ghost Hunt 2 by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada: B+

October 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
High school student Mai Taniyama, her handsome boss Kazuya Shibuya (aka Naru), and other members of Shibuya Psychic Research are now tackling the eerie case of the Morishita family. What is the tragic story hidden within the Morishitas’ old house? Is it haunted by a mischievous poltergeist, or by something far more sinister?

As Mai and Naru dig deep to uncover the home’s dark secrets, they learn that every child who has ever lived there has died under mysterious circumstances. And they soon discover that the malevolent forces at the house have a disturbing face: the creepy smile of Ayami Morishita’s doll. Of course, destroying a child’s toy should be a simple matter, right?

Review:
I think this volume might mark an official serialization of the series, since there were a few differences from the first volume. Chapter title pages and authorial sidebar columns, both lacking in the first volume, were included. Also, Mai’s character design was subtly changed to make her appear younger (face rounder, eyes bigger, hair poofier). I’m not a fan of the transformation; she doesn’t look bad, and her personality’s the same, but I preferred the original design.

The story itself was pretty good, though not as creepy as I’d expect something featuring an evil doll to be. There was one scene where she’d crept into a little kid’s futon that was pretty freaky, though. Like the first volume, the atmosphere was well done; reading this felt kind of like watching a spooky movie. And once again, Naru came up with the right answer at the end. He didn’t, however, make any insulting remarks to/about Mai this time; it seemed he has come to respect her competence some, and trusted her to take charge in certain areas.

One thing I liked was the quick pace of the story and the assumption of intelligence on the part of the reader. For example, a child was shown floundering in a pool, then Mai was shown jumping in after her. The next panel was of the child’s aunt holding her and saying, “You’re safe.” The reader can put together what happened without going through several pages of underwater rescue. Also, Mai was shown experiencing some dreams that might’ve been an indication of burgeoning psychic power, but she didn’t spent five pages angsting over the dreams and their possible significance.

On the other hand, one thing that bugged me was the way dialogue bubbles were handled. It wasn’t always apparent who had said what, owing to the lack of bubble “tails” in most panels. Contextually, again, the reader was allowed to figure it out and it did always make sense, but somehow, this level of effort annoyed me while the examples cited above didn’t. I guess I’m fickle like that.

Ghost Hunt continues to be enjoyable. True, beyond Naru and Mai, the characters (exorcists of various kinds hired by Naru) are pretty flat so far, and I have to wonder why he keeps them around when they fail so often, but the leads and the stories are enjoyable enough that I can still recommend this series without reservation.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo, Supernatural Tagged With:

Ghost Hunt 1 by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada: B+

October 23, 2008 by 2 Comments

From the back cover:
The decrepit building was condemned long ago, but every time the owners try to tear it down, “accidents” start to happen—people get hurt, sometimes even killed. Mai Taniyama and her classmates have heard the rumors that the creepy old high school is haunted—possibly by ghosts from the Second World War. So one rainy day they gather at the old school to tell ghost stories, hoping to attract one of the suspected spirits.

No ghosts materialize, but Mai and her friends do meet Kazuya Shibuya, the handsome young owner of Shibuya Psychic Research who’s been hired to investigate paranormal activity at the school. Also at the scene are an exorcist, a Buddhist monk, a woman who can speak with the dead, and an outspoken Shinto priestess. Surely one of them will have the talent to solve this mystery…

Review:
I ended up enjoying this volume quite a lot. I’m not sure which of the creators should receive credit for the semi-spooky atmosphere throughout, but I thought it was well done. Actual creepy occurrences were pretty low, though there was a nice bit where a chair moved on its own. Mai was a fun lead character, spunky and level-headed, and I liked all of Shibuya’s gadgetry for monitoring the paranormal, too.

The basic plot boiled down to—are there really evil spirits here, or is one of these slightly suspicious so-called experts actually a fraud? It didn’t pan out the way I thought it might, but it wasn’t exactly surprising, either. Shibuya (dubbed “Naru” by Mai because of his narcissistic tendencies) was set up in an “ultimately, he’s going to be the one who’s right” kind of way, so we’ll have to see whether that continues in future volumes. He did have a distressing habit of making digs at Mai about her ignorance, but I guess we’re supposed to excuse that because of the single angsty panel in which he declares that he hates himself.

Clearly, I can find negative things to point out, but on the whole, I found Ghost Hunt to be a lot of fun and recommend it for some mildly creepy Halloween reading.

Ghost Hunt is published by Del Rey, and the first nine volumes are in print and available. The tenth will be released on April 7, 2009. The series is ongoing, but there was a two-year gap between volumes 9 and 10 in Japan, and no volume 11 has been published there yet, so it’ll probably be a long wait for anything else after April.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo, Supernatural Tagged With:

Dororo 3 by Osamu Tezuka: B

October 8, 2008 by 3 Comments

Book description:
Hyakkimaru and Dororo search for the treasure hidden by Dororo’s parents, but are thwarted in their search by a traitorous bandit, man-eating sharks, and greedy samurai. Afterwards, they continue to encounter demons and tales of the misdeeds of Hyakkimaru’s powerful father.

Review:
This final volume of Dororo was a disappointment on a few fronts.

At the end of the second volume, it seemed that Hyakkimaru had a new goal: find the money buried by Dororo’s parents and use it to fund a revolution against the samurai. They started off this volume looking for it, but after the location marked on the map turned out to be a bust, they never spoke of it again. Instead there were stories about angsty horse demons and voracious ghouls and a random revelation about Dororo that was probably groundbreaking for its time but has been done better since.

There were a couple of spots of snerkworthy dialogue, like this gem of deep characterization: “Wait. If I kill you, I’ll get another body part back… That’d make me glad.” And let’s not forget Hyakkimaru’s stirring farewell to the lady who’s just fallen in love with him and died in the space of five pages: “See ya.”

The biggest disappointment, however, was the lack of any meaningful controntation between Hyakkimaru and his father. Oh sure, the villagers Daigo had been exploiting rose up in revolt and won the ensuing battle, but it was all very anticlimactic. The end was pretty abrupt, as well, though I did rather like the melancholy aspect of it, and at least a few loose threads were tied up.

All in all, I did enjoy reading Dororo and I think it was an excellent place to start my Tezuka education.

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

Bleach 24 by Tite Kubo: B-

September 21, 2008 by 5 Comments

From the back cover:
Ichigo and the Soul Reapers wage a furious battle against the Arrancars who are attacking Karakura Town. But this enemy is unlike anything they have ever fought before, and these aren’t even the strongest of the Arrancars! If Ichigo and his friends can barely face them, how can they hope to fight off the elite Arrancar warriors, the dreaded Espada?

Review:
Despite leaving me confused in several places, this volume was an improvement over the previous one.

When last we left off, several of the Soul Reapers were fighting Arrancars, and most of this volume dealt with the conclusions of those battles. The fight scenes were not as clear as usual, and there were several times that I couldn’t quite understand what was going on, aside from someone getting wounded somehow. There were also seemingly too many Rukias running around. I assume that would make sense if I remembered more of what happened in the previous volume.

Things only became somewhat cool to me when more of the Arrancar hierarchy was revealed. Yes, it’s silly that the top ten of them are numbered in terms of descending power rank (and have the numbers on their bodies), but at least it provides some idea of structure for the foes to vanquish. I’m still pretty unclear on all the Arrancar and Vizard stuff, but guys with numbers on them I can understand. Speaking of Vizards, another potentially cool thing is that Ichigo seemed to be on the verge of asking them for help in controlling his inner Hollow.

Random note: I am amused when combatants are miraculously able to hold in all the blood from their unseen wounds until their opponent has fallen, at which point they suddenly go “SPLAKK!” and spurt from dozens of places.

I was prepared to drop this series if I disliked this volume as much as the last, but it was decent enough to buy a little more time.

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

Me and the Devil Blues 1 by Akira Hiramoto: A-

August 26, 2008 by Leave a Comment

RJ isn’t cut out for a farmer’s life. Despite the urgings of his sister and pregnant wife to give up his dreams of becoming a bluesman, he still finds himself drawn to the local juke joint, where folks of ill repute gather to listen to the blues. His own efforts to master the guitar aren’t going well, though, and after a particularly poor reception to his playing, one of the denizens jokingly suggests that he sell his soul to the devil to obtain the skill he lacks.

The desperate RJ goes through with the deal, and returns to wow the crowd with his incredible newfound ability. All this is not without a price, though, as he learns he’s actually been gone for six months and that his wife and baby have died in the interim, part of the devil’s deal to enable him to know the blues. He sets out on the road and before too long encounters Clyde Barrow, a white man and a criminal, who involves RJ in his schemes, one of which threatens to cost RJ his life.

I can honestly say that Me and the Devil Blues is unlike any manga I’ve ever read before. In fact, I think the closest thing to it in terms of tone and feel would be The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. There are parts that I really love and parts that I still don’t quite get, and through it all there is an unstinting depiction of the brutality and ignorance of which the human race is capable. Uplifting it is not.

The art—truly excellent throughout—also reminds me of American comics to some degree, but with more consistent quality than that medium usually manages. The resemblance is particularly striking in the first few chapters, where much of the action takes place at the juke joint in RJ’s rural town. Panels have no free space, and instead reflect a darkened interior crowded with people dancing, drinking, and socializing. It’s not hard to imagine it in gritty color.

Hiramoto also does great things with the character of Clyde Barrow, managing to visually convey the man’s potential to be charming, confident, scheming, rattled, and dangerous. I particularly like the mannerisms he’s been given; I’m not sure I’ve seen a mangaka bother to give someone a recognizable tic like Clyde’s habitual hair smoothing before. The time period of the story (early 1930s) is also well-rendered, with hairstyles, clothing, cars, and attitudes all doing their part to contribute to a feel of historical accuracy.

While certainly not the sunniest option one might have for reading material, Me and the Devil Blues is not one to miss. It may also be just the thing for that comics-loving pal of yours who is absolutely convinced there’s no manga that would appeal to them.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Seinen, Supernatural Tagged With:

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: B

August 11, 2008 by Leave a Comment

From the front flap:
The carnival rolls in sometime after the midnight hour of a chill Midwestern October eve. Ushering in Halloween a week before its time, a calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Young boyhood companions James Nightshade and Will Halloway are the first to heed its call. From a place of safety, they watch a midway come to spectral life, their emotions a riot of eagerness, trepidation, bravado, and uncertainty. For they can sense the change that’s in the air; that this is the Autumn in which innocence must vanish in the harsh, acrid smoke of disillusionment…and horror.

In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery.

Review:
There were definitely things to like about this book. Despite a slow start, it worked its way up to genuinely creepy. The best example was an extended sequence that took place in a darkened library, with the evil Mr. Dark slowly, slowly prowling the stacks in search of Jim and Will, all while explaining the horrible fates that’ve befallen their mothers while they’ve been hiding. It was cool.

I also really liked the relationship between Will and his dad, the introspective Charles. Charles married late and was a bit of a mystery and maybe even an embarrassment to his son. As events unfold, they came to understand each other and Charles’ support and belief in the boys’ story meant a great deal to his son. One nice conversation focused on what it means to be a good man, and how that’s not necessarily the same as being a happy man.

So, yes, good stuff. However, the one thing that I disliked was a very major thing indeed: the writing style. I’m sure Bradbury was aiming for a strange and enchanting mood with his colorful prose, but too often it came out confusing and got in the way of the story. Here’s an example:

Will saw that paper frolicked in the trees, its words “the most beautiful woman,” and fever prickled his cheeks. He thought Jim, the street of the theatre, the naked people in the stage of that theater window, crazy as Chinese opera. Darn, odd crazy as old Chinese opera. Judo. Jujitsu. Indian puzzles. And now his father’s voice dreaming on, sad, sadder, saddest. Much too much to understand.

Many times I’d read a bit and go, “Wait, what?” and have to reread it to grasp the meaning. It was like reading Faulkner, and that’s not a compliment. As much as I complain about it, though, there were still some bits of imagery that I liked, like when dry leaves on a sidewalk were compared to scuttling crabs, so I guess it wasn’t all bad. Just occasionally annoying.

I’d tried to read this once as a child and never made it past the opening chapters. I’m glad I gave it another try; underneath all the frou-frou was something worth reading.

Filed Under: Books, Supernatural

InuYasha 34 by Rumiko Takahashi: B+

August 5, 2008 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
Inuyasha and the gang follow a trail of rumors that lead to a “living mountain.” Naraku has awoken the mountain from its 200-year slumber and stolen its sacred stone. The “living mountain” then gives a gift to Inuyasha and his group to help them in retrieving the stone. But what could Naraku be hoping to achieve?

Review:
There’s an Eddie Izzard routine where he talks about Queen Elizabeth II being forced to fend off a snarling pack of canines while crying, “Aah! Crazy dogs! Crazy dogs!” For the first few chapters of this volume, I kept thinking, “Aah! Crazy rats! Crazy rats!”

In a ploy to lure Kikyo out of hiding, Naraku has deployed crazy rats to eat some villagers. Normally, this would be cause for snoozing, but Kohaku’s personal dilemma is intriguing. He’s the one unleashing the rats, and is caught in the act by his sister. He’s only pretending to be under Naraku’s command, though, but can’t do anything to explain the situation to Sango because he’s being watched by Naraku’s spies. I like this plot thread, and also appreciate when he and another of Naraku’s gang finally decide to start working together to bring their master down.

After the crazy rats are vanquished, Inuyasha and friends encounter some parasites that’re going around possessing demons and which ultimately lead back to Naraku. At this point, I’ve seen Naraku dissolve so many times and yet not die that I just don’t get invested in these little encounters they have. I’m much more interested in what’s going on with Kohaku and in the little random character chapters that pop up, like the one where Shippo has been infected by the parasite or the one occurring in the real world in which Kagome’s school friends get to meet Inuyasha. Both are very cute.

I’m a little sad I really can’t care about the plot more, but it’s a fun reading experience nonetheless.

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

Deja Demon by Julie Kenner: B-

July 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Between attending gala fund-raisers for her husband’s political campaign, training her teenage daughter to wield a crossbow and a stiletto, potty-training a toddler, and her increasingly complex personal life, Kate hardly has time to prepare for the impending chaos: a neighborhood Easter party that has her buried in eggs.

Keeping the local kiddos in line will take all of Kate’s skills as a mother and Demon Hunter, just when she’ll need them the most. An old enemy has descended upon San Diablo—along with a full-blown army of the undead and a powerful demonic ally. Once again, it’s up to Kate to save the world. Good thing she can multitask!

Review:
Before I get into the content of my review, I’d like to compose a brief note to the author.

Dear Julie –
You (and, apparently, your editors) seem to be laboring under a misconception about the meaning of a certain word. “Eviscerate” means to disembowel or remove internal organs. An inanimate object cannot be eviscerated. When you write, therefore, that a wall of red flames eviscerated everything in its path (specifically mentioning pedestals) and that our heroine “escaped even as the demons and their lair were eviscerated,” I am going to have to call foul.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news; I hope you’re not too gutted.

P. S. When a scene occurs outside, silence cannot fill the room.

Anyways, because I was unaccountably eager for this fourth installment in the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series, I was the first patron in the reserve queue for it at my local library. The shame! These books really aren’t very good, and I’ve come to realize each of them follows the same formula.

1. A demon minion attacks Kate in her backyard and demands information on something its master needs for his big “king of the world!” ritual. This can be some bones, a ring, or a sword. Up until this point, the good guys will never have heard of this thing. The demons never seem to realize that maybe they should keep their plans to themselves.

2. Some scattered investigation into the threat will ensue but take a backseat to Kate’s domestic concerns. These will involve a dinner party.

3. The word “kiddo” will be used a distracting number of times. Mostly by Kate, but she seems to infect others with it; even priests aren’t immune. Kiddo count in this book: 12.

4. Kate will angst about keeping secrets from her husband. This will not prevent them from making out repeatedly.

5. Someone Kate cares about (usually her teenage daughter) will be kidnapped by the demons.

Deja Demon offers some variety in the details, but adheres to this same basic framework. By the halfway point, I’m thinking, “Okay, that’s it. I am not going to read these anymore.” But then something I’ve been wanting to happen finally does, and it weakens my resolve by being kind of awesome. It’s just too bad said event is preceded by 300 pages of stuff I feel like I’ve read before. Perhaps a more appropriate title for this book would’ve been Déjà Vu.

Filed Under: Books, Supernatural

Storm Front by Jim Butcher: B-

July 14, 2008 by 2 Comments

From the back cover:
With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry Dresden needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse.

Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires, while he himself is under suspicion of the crimes. One thing is certain, if he can’t stop whoever is on the killing spree, Harry will be the next victim.

Review:
I will confess up front that I spent $40 for the unabridged audio edition solely because it’s read by James Marsters. I’ll not be doing that again. Not that Marsters was bad—he was quite good, really, aside from a couple mispronunciations (I’m pretty sure that when one refers to one’s self as a “spellslinger” it’s not intended to be pronounced “spells linger”)—but because I can’t see spending that much money on a book in this series now that I know what I’ll be getting.

What will I be getting?

1. Sexay laydays. Of the six female characters (including the first victim), four were sexay. Three of those worked in the sex trade in some capacity. Scenes with them involved sentences like, “She laughed, a sound rich enough to roll around naked in.” The fifth was a client whose missing husband was into the orgy scene. The sixth was a cop, possessed of martial arts skills but not averse to using feminine wiles to extract Harry’s cooperation on a case.

2. A yawner of a mystery. I’m not sure it’s possible for me to be less interested in mob-related plots. Harry’s angsty backstory wasn’t that great, either. Oh, also, he has a totally eyeroll-inducing name: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.

3. An interesting magic system. It seemed that a fair amount of thought went into devising it. Standard things like spells and potions seemed the norm, but I thought the method for preparing the latter was pretty neat.

4. A talking skull. Easily the most entertaining character in the book. It didn’t hurt that Marsters gave him a British accent, so that he kind of sounded like Spike.

I am reminded of the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom books by Julie Kenner because, though this series has some serious flaws, I kind of want to keep reading it anyway. My local library has all but one of them, though only the most recent is available with Marsters’ narration. I’ll miss the Spike-sounding skull, but he isn’t worth $40.

Filed Under: Books, Mystery, Supernatural

Dororo 2 by Osamu Tezuka: A-

July 1, 2008 by 1 Comment

Book description:
Hyakkimaru and Dororo continue to travel the land, protecting ungrateful villagers from demons and collecting missing body parts along the way. An encounter with a former mentor causes Hyakkimaru to reexamine his goals, however, and start considering what he wants to do with his life after the last of the demons has been defeated.

Review:
I really liked this volume of Dororo! The stories were continuous rather than purely episodic and Dororo really grew on me as a character. Hyakkimaru gained some angst when he learned about his family and also a cause, when the existence of a cache of money destined to fund a revolution was made known to him.

Although I liked pretty much everything (pesky anachronisms aside), my favorite bit was a story about a spirit dedicated to collecting new faces for a demon possessing a statue. She’s supposed to collect Dororo’s face, and takes on his mother’s visage to beguile him, but he ends up charming her by calling her “mama” and stuff, and in the end, she can’t sacrifice him.

I liked the first volume fine, so wasn’t expecting such an improvement for the second one. I’m not really sure how the story can wrap up with just one more volume—Hyakkimaru still has 27 or 28 demons left to vanquish—but hopefully it’ll deliver on the promise exhibited here.

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