These are the final two volumes of Honey and Clover, so there will be spoilers here. Beware. Be sure to have some mental palate cleanser on hand—fluffy shoujo may work for you but I turned to shoot-’em-up seinen—when you finish Honey and Clover, because, man, is it depressing! It’s not that I’d expected everything to turn out rosy, since much of the plot revolves around two … [Read more...] about Honey and Clover 9-10 by Chica Umeno: A
MMF: Weekend Edition
The Paradise Kiss MMF is winding down, but there are still some new contributions to highlight. Proving once and for all that manga isn't just for kids, Derik Badman shared his academic paper, "Talking, Thinking, and Seeing in Pictures: Narration, Focalization, and Ocularization in Comics Narratives," for which he used Paradise Kiss as an example: Were I able to spend the … [Read more...] about MMF: Weekend Edition
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace: A
From the back cover: There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy become such good friends that … [Read more...] about Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace: A
MMF: The Isabella Appreciation Society
There are a couple of new MMF contributions to mention today, and both take time to bestow some praise upon Isabella, the "elegant transvestite." Over at The Manga Curmudgeon, David Welsh dusts off a 2005 column on Paradise Kiss and freshens it up with some new thoughts. I love his insightful take on Isabella's function in the story: I was initially a bit annoyed by the … [Read more...] about MMF: The Isabella Appreciation Society
MMF: Another Day in Paradise
Each day brings more terrific musings upon a terrific series! Today, we have three! At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson has posted a review of the first volume and makes a nice comparison of her own initial avoidance of the series and Yukari's preconceptions about the members of Paradise Kiss. Just like with NANA, I was pulled into this series from the first chapter and hooked … [Read more...] about MMF: Another Day in Paradise