Manga-ka: Izumi Tsubaki
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2010

Synopsis: “For a brief moment, Chiaki fears that another girl is giving Yosuke a massage on the sly. As graduation day approaches, she must untangle her feelings for Yosuke and tell him how she really feels. Love, romance and massage…the exciting conclusion to The Magic Touch!”

Having heard both good and bad things about this series, I decided to undertake a review of the final volume for team Kuriousity. Catching up on the series with a previous volume beforehand, reading this last instalment left me pleasantly surprised. Magic Touch takes a fairly odd concept and delivers an entertaining, offbeat shojo series.

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Missed this when it was originally posted to the site but mid-August my review of Crimson Cross was posted over on AnimeNewsNetwork.

What to say about this one… well, it wasn’t bad, persay, but I’d felt like I’d read a near-exact story a hundred times before. It’s a vampire story about the son of Van Hellsing who is turned half vampire and thusly spends his grim days hunting the uber-power vampire who turned him. Along the way he meets carbon-copies of the same female archtype to give him some sort term angst. He broods, he reflects and generally fails at defeating the vampire. There’s a werewolf in there too somewhere. It’s just really stereotypical, unfortunately, and I found myself bored half way through when I realized it wasn’t going anywhere different than the usual.

This book was also another case where I was really underwhelmed by their graphic design decision for the front of the book. The thick flat-colour maroon border just suffocates the artwork – I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use a full-bleed of the art itself.

Overall, it’s as my review says, I can only really recommend this book to “those entirely new to the concept, or those so smitten that they must have all there is to do with the undead-leeches.” Sadly it’s a been-there-bit-that experience.

Author: Venio Tachibana
Manga-ka: Rihito Takarai
Publisher: June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2010

Synopsis: “It is rumored that Touji Seryou, one of the more popular boys at school, would go out with anyone who asks him out on a Monday morning. But on this particular Monday morning, the first person he meets at the school gate is no other than Yuzuru Shino, Seryou’s sempai at the archery club. On a whim, and well-aware of Seryou’s reputation, Shino asks Seryou to go out with him. Thinking that it will be treated as a joke, they’re both guys after all, imagine Shino’s surprise when Seryou takes him up on the offer!”

Touji is on a quest for true love – or any love really. Half-scorned and left dangling mid-affection by his brother’s girlfriend, Touji has spent his school year dating a different girl every week. But only for one week. Date them on Monday, break up with them on Sunday – it’s a seven day ritual that he’s yet to find reason to break. Until he gets out a by a guy anyway – cue Monday to Thursday!

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My recent review of Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories has been posted over at AnimeNewsNetwork. This is Fantagraphics’ first manga release and they did it in style – hardcover and everything.

When I first read this compilation of stories, I was a little underwhelmed. I liked it well enough, I enjoyed reading it but it didn’t leave much impression. I waited a week and read it again and suddenly it seemed completely different. It goes to show the importance of rereading, especially for these more subtle series. Too often I fly through a new book and more time is spent simply on absorbing what happened instead of how or why. A Drunken Dream is definitely more about the hows and whys. I was entranced the second time through as I picked up lots of little things I missed the first time.

The review tells what I liked how the book in more detail but summed up I’d really recommend it, not once but twice (and more times for extra charming effect) – it’s a beautiful book.

Manga-ka: Yoshiro Tatsumi
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “Susumu Yamaji, a 24-year-old pianist, is arrested for murder and ends up handcuffed to a career criminal on the train that will take them to prison. An avalanche derails the train and the criminal takes the opportunity to escape, dragging a reluctant Susumu with him into the blizzard raging outside. They flee into the mountains to an abandoned ranger station where they take shelter from the storm. As they sit around the fire they built Susumu relates how love drove him to murder.”

Black Blizzard is an important work in manga cannon, but luckily it’s more than just a dusty piece of history. Even today it is still an engaging thriller worth reading. Susumu is a piano player who’s down on his luck. When he falls in love with a circus performer named Saeko, it leads to a series of events which end with Susumu killing a man while in a drunken rage. When the manga starts he has been arrested by the police and is on a train, handcuffed to a fellow prisoner.

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Author: Satosumi Takaguchi
Manga-ka: Yukine Honami
Publisher: eManga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2008

Synopsis: “Shuuiku Academy’s students are leaving for summer vacation, but Yuuhi-kun is stuck in the dorm. It doesn’t matter that home lies on the same backwoods country property as the school campus – his house is being remodeled, so Yuuhi’s got nowhere else to go! Likewise, Sango-san will be staying behind to keep an eye on things, leaving the two of them all alone with nothing but time on their hands. Will being away from prying eyes lead Sango to temptation?”

This volume threw me for a loop. I completely did not get the whole dream sequence until the very end of that section, so while I was reading it, while it was kind of entertaining, it was also just a bit…odd. Once I realized it was a dream, it made more sense though.

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Manga-ka: Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: June 2010

Synopsis: “Camie the mermaid offers to take Luffy and the crew to Fish-Man Island if they’ll help rescue her boss Hachi from the notorious Flying Fish Riders. Ignoring all of the warning signs (hint: her boss sounds suspiciously like an old enemy!), the crew agrees to help their mermaid friend, only to end up losing Camie to the kidnappers too!”

An alternative title for One Piece vol.51 could be “How to Write a 50+ Manga Series.” In this volume Oda reintroduces characters from over a dozen volumes ago and also weaves in new ones who have strange but important ties to the main cast. It’s amazing how easily both the old and new characters are able to slip into the story. The huge cast highlights how big and real the world of One Piece feels. While of course the main cast is always caught up in some adventure, the side characters have lives and goals of their own that continue even after they’ve left the main story.

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Manga-ka: Natsumi Matsumoto
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: June 2010

Synopsis: “Momoka is eager to give Ryuga the antique pocket watch she bought him for his 17th birthday, but when she gets to school, the Ryuga she meets is only 13 years old! A tiny trickster fairy who lives in the watch has taken Momoka back in time, and now Momoka must find her way back to the present day.”

As Matsumoto adds the element of dinosaur-obsession into an already panda-inclined manga, cuteness levels jump into overdrive in this volume of St. Dragon Girl. A personable narrative combines with clever design elements to make a very readable series that touches upon most of the basic elements of shojo manga for a younger audience, while also appealing to general manga readers. Everything is handled in an efficient fashion that endows it with endearing charm, whether it‘s time travel, sinister paintings or overly violent mermaids.

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Reading manga online isn’t for everyone. Looking at any screen for hours can make your head hurt and your eyeballs fell like they’ve been dipped in bleach. Luckily, I was designed in a lab specifically to avoid those symptoms. I love reading manga online. I love that I control the vertical and the horizontal, that I can sharpen a single image to crystal clarity. I love that no trees were killed in order for me to enjoy a particular volume. I love that I can read the many works of Makoto Tateno and not worry about where in my tiny house I’ll fit them.

But while I like reading manga on my computer screen, that doesn’t mean I give every manga company that posts their wares online a pass. In fact, because I enjoy it so much, I want to see it done right. For the most part there’s not a big difference between publishers’ online manga viewers. It’s a pretty basic concept: it’s manga, and it’s online. This article is to point out the tiny details that differentiate them, the little things that either makes reading manga online a pleasure or a pain.

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Manga-ka: Yoshiki Nakamura
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: August 2010

Synopsis: “Kyoko is basking in the glow of working a Christmas miracle and getting some birthday booty of her own. But she’s so unused to this kind of joy that she ends up late to the script reading for her new drama. Now her whole day is a mess and Ren is mad at her! Can Kyoko balance revenge, a career and her own happiness?”

I find I enjoy Skip Beat most when the characters are pretending to be other people. That’s not a dig at the main characters. I really like Kyoko and Ren and find them a nice change from usual shojo leads. But,when they’re acting, or at least working on their craft, that’s when it feels like the manga is firing on all cylinders. This volume brings the focus back to show business world, making it one of the better volumes in the series in a long time.

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DC Comics may’ve done their darnedest to wipe their manga imprint off the face of the internet after shutting it down, but the knowledge of the books and the love of the imprint’s offerings still lingers with its fans. Now thanks to RightStuf the lovers and newly curious alike can scoop up some more of the now out-of-print books for their bookshelves with this week’s sale:

“From now through August 19, the “your price” listed is the price you pay – no coupon code required – and these new prices represent a savings of at least 33% OFF the retail prices of all titles from DC Comics and CMX Manga! (This includes items that are in stock, on order and special order!)**”

Lots to choose from and with a certain added sense of urgency since these remaining pockets of stock may not last long. Of those I’ve read, I’d highly recommend Key to the Kingdom, Kiichi and the Magic Books, King of Cards, Land of the Blindfold, Oh! My Brother, and my favourite – Stolen Hearts.

Going through the lists just reminds me how many other series I have yet to finished or start that I’ve meaning to though. Eep, time to start budgeting for some extra manga spending this month…

Author: Satosumi Takaguchi
Manga-ka: Yukine Honami
Publisher: eManga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2007

Synopsis: “When class president Sango Tsutsui and the other student administrators end up sequestered away at a director’s meeting, Yuuhi-kun is left back at the school, alone and defenseless. Will Yuuhi’s naive, country ways make him fair game for the Ezaki trio? Or will Tsutsui-san return in the nick of time to save him? Could it be that absence truly makes the heart grow fonder – are Yuuhi and Sango ready to take their strange relationship to (gasp!)… the next level?!”

Now this was an interesting instalment. I liked this second volume of Can’t Win With You for the most part, because Hayate and Kanya are by far my favourite couple in this series so far and there was a lot of development in their story. This strikes me as slightly odd, since the story is about (or is supposed to be about) Yuuhi, and, by extension, Sango. It makes me wonder a little just exactly which story the author wanted to tell.

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Another week, another slew of new releases! I was too late to get a hold of a copy of 20th Century Boys (Vol. 10) but there was still plenty of other good titles to pick up (now with some pictures):

BLU, the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop, had a couple of new titles out this week. The most exciting of which was the third volume of Voice or Noise. The second volume was released in February 2008 so it’s been quite a wait for this follow-up. None the less I’m as excited to finally purchase a copy now as I was looking forward to it after finishing the last. Great boys’ love series!

The other title I picked up from them is Scarlet, a one-shot by the same creator who did Cute Devil. Honestly, I don’t have much interest in this artist or this premise but I bought the painfully overpriced book all the same because it marks a new (potentially continued?) book style and I wanted to check it out/support it. It sports a larger-than-the-norm trim size and colour inserts at the front. I flipped through it and it was actually a bit disorienting reading a BLU title suddenly notably larger, though snazzy all the same. It’s great to see, especially since it takes a step closer to almost justifying the $18.99 price tag.

Continuing on the semi-boys’ love trend, I was amazed to see a whole slew of DokiDoki titles on the shelf of Chapters (the B&N/Borders equivalent to you Americans out there). They’ve only ever carried sparse copies of Vampire Hunter D from Digital Manga so seeing them branch out to this varied imprint was exciting, plus very promising to the local boys’ love fanbase who are too timid to special order. Though not boys’ love, I purchased a physical copy of Alice the 101st which I reviewed earlier in the month for ANN.

Moving onto other genres, I picked up a copy of Bakuman (Vol. 01) – the team of Death Note makes a manga about making manga – and the fourth volume of Ooku in which it feels like the faux-Shakespearean speech that I really dislike seems more toned down (or is that just me?). In the mail I got a copy of the newest volume of Butterflies, Flowers which is hilarious – I am completely enamoured with the mature silliness of this series and I hope many others are too.

And lastly, thanks to my local library, I’ve been reading the Manga Guide to Databases. After reading the Manga Guide to Statistics last week and being impressed with how much I actually retained from it, I sought out this one as I’ve been wanting a basic introduction to databases. Yay for learning?

Manga-ka: Souya Himawari
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “Roh is an outrageous orphan who has survived on the streets relying solely on his own strength. When he is taken in by a loving grandfather and grandson, Roh begins to believe that life may not be that bad. But when Seishin’s grandfather dies unexpectedly, Roh finds himself responsible for more than just himself!”

A one-shot collection of short stories, Moonlit Promises easily surpasses the mediocrity of other similar collections. Visually pleasing artwork and tender stories that vary from a genetically-engineered song-bird to a genie trapped in a ring and two boys becoming mercenaries to make a living, this trio of stories is worth having on any boys’ love readers’ shelf.

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