When Kai’s lover, Maria, is murdered, he sets out to find her killer. His one clue is that the ring Maria always wore—a man-made blue jewel resembling the eye of a sheep—is missing, and he thinks he’s found it on the hand of Lahti Bara, a bigwig in Sarte, one of the gangs ruling the gritty city of Akatsuki. To get close to Lahti and check out his ring, Kai makes a bid to be his … [Read more...] about Blue Sheep Reverie 1-2 by Makoto Tateno: B-
Sci-Fi
Love Hurts: Aishiatteru Futari by Suzuki Tanaka: A-
From the creator of Menkui! comes this collection of intriguing (and chaste!) boys’ love stories. “The Fate of a Crime Fighter’s Love” features childhood friends Seigo and Touma, who hail from a village where everyone has super powers. Some seek to do evil with their abilities, while others work to stop them. This story has a fairly comedic tone, but the characters are … [Read more...] about Love Hurts: Aishiatteru Futari by Suzuki Tanaka: A-
Serenity 2: Better Days by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B
From the back cover: When the Serenity crew uncovers a heaping pile of cash—marking their first successful heist—they divulge their most outlandish fantasies, and look forward to a little R&R in a tropical paradise. Unfortunately for these space cowboys, someone is hot on their heels in search of a prize more precious than money. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the … [Read more...] about Serenity 2: Better Days by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B
Serenity 1: Those Left Behind by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B+
From the back cover: Here's how it is—in a universe filled with hearts and minds as cold and dark as the reaches of space, one small Firefly-class starship named Serenity takes its ragtag crew of mercenaries, outlaws, and fugitives in search of a job, any job, that'll earn them enough cash to afford that most elusive commodity—peace. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the … [Read more...] about Serenity 1: Those Left Behind by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B+
Wāqwāq 2 by Ryu Fujisaki: C+
On the upside, the plot of Waqwaq receives some much-needed clarification in this volume. Unfortunately, it’s still pretty convoluted. Two thousand years in the past, three magi created a race of machines and a race of black-blooded humans and set them in conflict. They also created machines known as gojin-zou, which, when bonded with a human, become a Guardian. When machines … [Read more...] about Wāqwāq 2 by Ryu Fujisaki: C+