Blank Slate 1 by Aya Kanno: B-

October 17, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Zen has no memory of the last twenty years, and doesn’t much care. The back cover, with its line “he can’t remember if he’s a killer or a hero,” erroneously leads one to anticipate a story of an amnesiac’s quest for identity. In reality, Blank Slate is all about the action.

The story takes place in the country of Amata, which was invaded and conquered in a war two decades earlier. The occupying government honors justice and order and employs a fleet of bounty hunters to eradicate all manner of undesirables. Zen is a notorious criminal and has committed every kind of crime imaginable. His philosophy is, “I do whatever I want. If it gets in my way, I smash it.”

I had a really tough time getting into the first chapter. It’s the stand-alone tale of a bounty hunter sent to kill Zen who instead joins him on a murderous spree of destruction and ruin. It wasn’t the best introduction to the setting or characters, and I found it very dull. The real serialization of the story commences in chapter two, and the improvement is immediate. From this point, there is a continuous plot focusing on the tensions between the native Amatans and the occupying Galayans and featuring kidnappings, prison breaks, and lots of guns. It’s pretty interesting, and I was surprised by several twists in the story.

Aside from the abundant bishonen, there’s nothing stereotypically shojo about Blank Slate. Zen is as heartless as they come and kills casually. Most of his victims are aggressors or authority figures, but he’s not above threatening the life of a child who could expose his hiding place. His companions are more sympathetic, particularly Hakka, a righteous doctor who has fallen into evil to protect something important to him.

The art style is visually clean, a necessity in a title like this where the story is enough to be puzzling over. Most of the character designs aren’t anything special, but Zen is really quite spectacularly pretty. This isn’t achieved through any gimmick of flowing hair or sparkly eye but simply with a beautifully drawn facial structure that’s quite stunning. I’ve reviewed a lot of manga, and never before have I devoted three full sentences to how pretty some guy is. Trust me on this.

Blank Slate certainly isn’t the best thing I’ve ever read, but the story it’s spinning is entertaining enough that I will surely be returning for the second and final volume due out in December.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

High School Debut 2 by Kazune Kawahara: A-

October 11, 2008 by Leave a Comment

From the back cover:
Hapless Haruna needs help finding a boyfriend! After failing to win the eye of any guy in high school, Haruna enlists the help of cute upperclassman Yoh to coach her on how to make herself more appealing to the male species. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!

Haruna begins to develop feelings for Fumiya, Yoh’s friend. Yoh talks her through her first-date jitters, but is Fumiya the right guy for Haruna? Especially when they walk in on Fumiya and Yoh’s sister Asami… kissing?!

Review:
I think I might actually like this more than Love*Com! It has the same sort of “I think I love my friend but I don’t know how he feels about me” stuff going on, but without the sniping, yelling, and namecalling that sometimes bothers me in the other series.

In this volume, Haruna goes on a Yoh-assisted date with Fumi, and things seem to be going well, but Fumi is perhaps too easy-going of a guy and is handily manipulated by Yoh’s sister into becoming her boyfriend instead. I like how Asami’s devious ways are not manifest from the start, and that she only gradually reveals herself for what she is.

Haruna’s discovery of what has happened prompts a very, very sweet scene between her and Yoh. Her handling of the situation—not falling to pieces the way he thought girls always did—seems to impress him, and soon he’s telling her she has her good points, and that maybe it’s okay if she’s really athletic and sporty after all. I’m glad he reversed his opinion on this, since it was the one major thing that bugged me in the first volume.

If it isn’t clear by now, I really like this series and will be continuing to follow it.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

High School Debut 1 by Kazune Kawahara: A-

October 11, 2008 by 5 Comments

From the back cover:
Back in junior high, Haruna Nagashima was only interested in two things: softball and manga. Now that she’s starting high school, Haruna’s focus has changed—she wants to snag a boyfriend and have the romance of her dreams!

After blindly following the advice of fashion magazines and the like, Haruna fails to win the eye of any guy. Convinced that a coach is needed (just like when she trained for softball), she recruits cute upperclassman Yoh Komiyama to instruct her on how to make herself more appealing. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!

Review:
At its core, High School Debut is a cute story with likable characters. Oh sure, Haruna is a girl who’s hopelessly clueless about something and has a blunt but kind boy nearby to steer her in the right direction and rescue her at key moments, which is not the most original concept ever, but the focus is on the right things, like being one’s self and learning what qualities are really most important in a prospective boyfriend.

It’s fun and refreshing and I like it a lot. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the shopping trip chapter; it felt like an episode of What Not to Wear, which I admit to watching on occasion. The one thing that bugs me is that Yoh instructs Haruna to stop working out. Apparently only weak and spindly women are attractive? At least Yoh’s buddy, Fumi, doesn’t think so. He seems to like her the way she is, and by the end of the volume, Haruna thinks she might be in love with him.

One of the things I must praise is the art. Kawahara employs some standard shoujo tricks to be sure, like relying on sparkly tone for the background of many panels, but maintains a distinctive style. Though the use of tone is generous, it doesn’t result in a cluttered page. She does innovative things with layouts. But most importantly, each of the main characters is facially unique. This is not one of those series where all the boys look the same except for interchangeable hair. I particularly like the look of Haruna’s best friend, Mami; she looks like she might be more at home in a josei manga.

I note that this was serialized in Margaret like two of my other favorites, Boys Over Flowers and Love*Com. If I were a Japanese person, I think I know to which magazine I’d be subscribing!

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Sand Chronicles 3 by Hinako Ashihara: B+

October 10, 2008 by Leave a Comment

From the back cover:
Sweet 16-year-old Ann returns to rural Shimane from Tokyo for the summer, eager to reconnect with her boyfriend Daigo. But will the allure of their close friends—wealthy brother and sister Fuji and Shika—sunder the romantic ties that have bound Ann and Daigo since they were 12?

Review:
I didn’t like this volume quite as much as the first two because it was missing that special feeling of nostalgia. Instead, it focused mostly on relationship and family angst, which was entertaining in its way, but didn’t elicit the bittersweet vibe that usually elevates this title above its fellows.

There was more focus on the Tsukishima siblings in this volume, which was welcome, as both of them separately tried to break free of the stifling mold their family has imposed upon them. Ann and Daigo begin by being worried about the Tsukushima in their town, but it’s probably only a matter of time until things escalate. I’m not really looking forward to that happening, since it will cause so much pain all around, but it will undoubtedly be interesting.

I’m also looking forward to farther down the line chronologically; will the series depict Ann in her early twenties, and follow right up to where she is as the story begins? That would be really neat.

Although these chapters here were not the best, the cliffhanger ending was pretty cool and I’m definitely looking forward to volume 4.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Skip Beat! 14 by Yoshiki Nakamura: A-

October 10, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Vie Ghoul is the new band burning up the charts by stealing Sho’s moves, and Kyoko’s hopping mad on his behalf. Kyoko’s confrontation with Sho about his lack of action doesn’t go as well as she hoped—Sho gets violent, and the frontman for Vie Ghoul gets a good look at Kyoko’s demons. And both men seem a little more interested in Kyoko than Ren would like…

Review:
This volume was a bit of a slow starter, since I really don’t care very much about the director of Dark Moon and his father complex. Sho’s appearance injected some much-needed energy and also brought about the return of Kyoko’s grudge demons and scary facial expressions, which we haven’t seen for a little while.

Throughout the volume, Ren’s manager Yashiro was unapologetically meddling in Ren and Kyoko’s affairs, which was great. Without him pestering Ren, we’d probably never know what Ren was thinking, so he’s very useful in that regard. My favorite scene in the volume was when he and Ren were eating at an outdoor patio and a couple of random guys nearby were discussing Kyoko. After one admitted to fancying her, Yashiro grinned evilly, and the following exchange ensued:

Y: That boy likes her.
R: That’s nice.

I seldom laugh aloud as I read, but that bit cracked me up.

Of course, Ren’s just playing it cool, as his totally sweet phone call to Kyoko to make sure she was ready for a location shoot proved. I loved seeing him unnerved by the possibility that Sho could steal Kyoko away. I’d never considered Sho a serious romantic rival until this volume, and I certainly don’t think he deserves Kyoko, but his attentions are probably the one thing that’d make Ren lose control over his emotions, so I’m all for it.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind 4 by Hayao Miyazaki: A-

October 4, 2008 by 2 Comments

From the back cover:
Now Princess Nausicaä and the God Warrior, a biotechnological abomination of the war known as the Seven Days of Fire, embark on a journey to the Crypt of Shuwa to seal away forever the terrible weaponry hidden within. But everyone seems to be conspiring to prevent Nausicaä from carrying out her mission, even the mysterious guardian of the crypt himself! In the end, as the surprising secret of the crypt is finally revealed, Miyazaki makes a profound statement about free will and the sanctity of life that sheds light on our own technologically advanced, yet morally troubled, twentieth century.

Review:
I was a little disappointed by this final volume because I had trouble understanding exactly why Nausicaä made the decision she did at the very end. I think that she wanted humanity to take its chances and not accept any help from the crypt’s technological capabilities, since that would once again be fiddling with life, but said chances look very slim indeed, so I’m a little confused.

In any case, the ending is suitably epic, with a couple of moving casualties. Mostly it’s action, action, action and plot, plot, plot, but there is actually a bit of humor, too, from the unlikely source of a crazy emperor’s severed head. I also liked how one little romantic subplot gets resolved in a couple of panels, even though Nausicaä’s eventual fate is a little less clear.

Overall, reading this series has been an interesting and enjoyable experience. It has required a lot of brain power to digest ideas, events, and their significance, but it’s been worth it. It’s not every day a manga can make you put it down and stare contemplatively at your wall for a few minutes, after all.

Filed Under: Manga, Sci-Fi Tagged With:

Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind 3 by Hayao Miyazaki: A

October 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Humanity, in its hubris, has precipitated a devastating environmental disaster. Flourishing industrial civilizations have been swallowed up by the Sea of Corruption, an enormous forest of fungi that releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaä, a compassionate young princess, and her allies battle to heal a wounded world and its inhabitants…

Now Nausicaä embarks on an inner, spiritual journey to the very heart of the Sea of Corruption, where she discovers its surprising secret! Compelled to share her discovery, she returns to the land of the living. But then she accidentally awakens a God Warrior, a biotechnological abomination of the war known as the Seven Days of Fire, from its stasis. And now the monstrous, yet childlike, God Warrior thinks Nausicaä is its mother!

Review:
I have no idea what those last two sentences are on about, because that did not happen in this volume. What does happen is that the environmental threat comes to a head, bringing many epic scenes of noble insects on their way to sacrifice themselves to neutralize a man-made mutant mold. Nausicaä nearly loses hope then regains it, and winds up being worshipped by a people who’re universally reviled.

There isn’t as much political stuff this time around, but that must be in the next volume, because now that things have kind of settled on the environmental front the big problem that’s left is the two crazies in charge of the warring nations. As a result, Kushana doesn’t appear much, but when she does, she is a complete badass. Seriously. I was tempted to bust out a scanner at one point just to have evidence to support my claims.

One thing I wanted to point out specifically is how well Miyazaki conveys a character’s thoughts with just a glance. There’s one nice sequence where Nausicaä is standing in a section of purified forest, spores floating about her, and the focus shifts to her young male companion, who’s watching her with a small smile on his face. It’s obvious just from that how he feels about her.

There’s not a lot I can say about this that I haven’t already. It’s really, really good and I’m extremely happy that I heeded all the recommendations I read. I hope someone will heed mine!

Filed Under: Manga, Sci-Fi Tagged With:

Boys Over Flowers 18 by Yoko Kamio: B+

September 26, 2008 by Leave a Comment

From the back cover:
When the Makino family’s finances hit rock bottom yet again, they decide to move to the countryside so Tsukushi’s father can earn a living as a fisherman. Poor Tsukushi is left behind in their apartment to try her hand at independent living. A few guests stop by, one most unwelcome—Tsukasa’s mother! Tsukushi stands up to the domineering woman, effectively declaring war. Then a housewarming gift from the F4 wreaks havoc on the apartment, leaving Tsukushi homeless! Will anyone take her in?!

Review:.
It feels pretty weird to pass the end of the story I know from the anime and still have half of the series left. I suppose that’s not all that unusual—Fruits Basket and Kare Kano are in the same boat—but the Boys Over Flowers anime was twice the length the others were, and still didn’t cover everything. I must say, I much prefer how things ended with the Shigeru situation in the manga; the end of the anime was pretty silly as well as rushed and unsatisfying.

The plot continues to be entertaining, though sometimes stretches the limits of plausibility just a little too much. I’m not sure how I feel about Tsukushi working as a maid in the Doumyouji mansion. On the one hand, I’ve heard that these next ten volumes or so are someone’s very favorite, and on the other, it just screams “shoujo trope” to me. Tsukasa is also being dense about what she’s doing there, and that annoys me, too.

I really liked Rui and Tsubaki in this volume. There’s a great scene where Rui and Tsukushi are heading home after spending the night at Shigeru’s villa. She’s lost in thought, so he has fun poking her face and fixing her hair in silly pigtails and stuff. I guess Tsubaki didn’t really do anything particularly awesome, but she did tell the story of her lost love that was hinted at in a recent volume, which I appreciated.

It’s strange not knowing what’s coming; I hope I like it.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Boys Over Flowers 17 by Yoko Kamio: A-

September 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Tsukushi and Tsukasa get some quiet time together after they escape the mess of his birthday party, but this quiet can’t last for long. Tsukasa’s feelings for Tsukushi have at long last been made clear, but Tsukushi is more confused than ever about her feelings for him. Meanwhile, Tsukasa’s domineering mother, Kaede, is brewing up plans to keep them apart forever, and she might have found just the thing to do it when she introduces him to his new fiancée!

Review:
Lots of interesting things happened in this volume. Essentially, Tsukushi encouraged Tsukasa to go for it with Shigeru—who was offering on a silver platter everything Tsukushi had denied him, saying, “I can fall in love with you if you want”—and he was so peeved at her he actually did it.

I loved seeing Tsukushi’s hurt reactions to witnessing them together, and was significantly weirded out (in a good way) by the scene where he kissed the other girl. In other romantic rival plots I’ve read, the male lead never seems to actually go that far though, to be fair, he only did it once Shigeru bullied him into it.

The best thing about the relationship, though, was that it provided Tsukasa some room for growth. Although he could’ve easily taken advantage of Shigeru, he didn’t. That’s not really anything new for him, true, but it showed him in a good light nonetheless. The truly significant outcome was when he told her she just wasn’t the one, he was actually able to apologize (something he has had issues with in the past) and seemed to have true sympathy for her pain. Progress!

I also really loved the scenes between Tsukushi and Rui in this volume. Although some latent attraction might still exist, they acted more like friends, with Rui coming to her aid and helping her to relax and laugh amid tense situations. She said, “I no longer feel tortured and frustrated anymore, when I’m with him. Even if my feelings for him can no longer be called love… I think I’ll always like Rui Hanazawa.” Aww.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Short Program 2 by Mitsuru Adachi: B+

September 23, 2008 by Leave a Comment

From the back cover:
Love and life are programmed in
* Is the life of a cute, young private detective on the line?
* Can love be found only half-way down the line?
* Will life change in a coffee shop?
* How can an earthquake shake up a relationship?
* Is destiny all it’s cracked up to be for a baseball loser?
* Will a playwright balance loyalty against love?
* Was it really that great in the good ole’ days?
* Can a manga artist watch baseball and meet deadlines?

Review:
Eee! I got to read this without spending $60+ on it! Thank you WorldCat!

I didn’t enjoy this collection quite as much as the first. I think the primary reasons were that many of the stories were really short and also that many of them featured baseball. I know Adachi is a big fan, but it kind of got to the point where I’d groan inwardly if the title page for the next story featured a kid in a baseball cap.

My two favorite stories had nothing to do with baseball. The first, “Spring Passes,” tells the story of a guy who had been persuaded to give a friend a lift on his motorcycle and then had a wreck. There was more to it than that, and though it was kind of predictable, I still liked its melancholy feel.

The other I particularly liked was called “The Road Home” and was told in two parts, each featuring a little boy that found himself whisked to another time, one forward and one back. I especially liked that the first half had no real resolution, and I think that’s kind of what I liked most about “Spring Passes,” too. The romantic comedy ones were cute with their nice endings, but the ones that really stood out did not take such well-trod paths.

Ultimately, I would like to own a copy of this for myself, but now that I’ve read it I will be able to hold out for the reasonable price that surely will present itself one of these days.

Filed Under: Josei, Manga, Seinen, Short Stories, Shounen Tagged With: ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »