Manga-ka: Tokiya Shimazaki
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “When a little fun between the sheets gets a bit too rough, Mizuki ends up breaking Azuma’s glasses. Azuma has an incurable eye disease and his glasses need to be made to exact specifications. Mizuki, being the compassionate uke that he is, tries to make Azuma as comfortable as possible until his glasses are fixed. Of course, Azuma’s most comfortable between Mizuki’s legs with Mizuki flat on his back!! And what is the name of that incurable eye disease, anyway?”

It’s more of the same shenanigans here in volume five of Love is Like A Hurricane. The stories remain pretty episodic, continuing to offer lots of weird and funny situations from the kinky to the cute (and all sex-filled for your entertainment of course). In this volume, the opening chapter takes readers back a couple years in the school life of its characters while the rest of book continues with Mizuki and Azuma sex-capades, including sunburns, tutors and sex in a shrine.

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Saiyuki Reload (Vol. 09) – Kazuya Minekura
Published by Tokyopop

I almost forgot Saiyuki Reload existed until the newest volume stared at me from the store shelve. It’s a shame the wait between volumes is so long but at least they’re still coming. Fortunately for all my interests in this series, this ninth volume delivered in spades.

In this book the highly foreshadowed darkly-dressed Sanzo, Ukoku, returns to take centre stage as he confronts Sanzo and Hazel. Unfortunately the two are mere child’s play in comparison to the dark Priest’s ability so the showdown quickly goes from confrontational to a dramatic game of life or death, with Ukoku’s unknown motivations pulling the strings.

A good portion of the book goes into the back-story of Hazel who we learn has connections to Ukoku from his childhood. It was a great chapter for building up this character who’s managed to remain a bit of an enigma, and now stripped to his most vulnerable, it’s impossible not to feel for him. As if I didn’t already like Hazel enough before, this book cinched it with nearly gut-wrenching suspense for the next volume.

An unrelated short story at the end of the book certainly has its humorous moments, and though I appreciate the attempt to balance out the books grimmer plots, it was a little annoying being pulled away from the main timeline when it’s just taken such a white-knuckled turn.

Review written February 20, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased in-store from Chapters

Manga-ka: Tatsumi Kaiya
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: February 2008

Synopsis: “Koji’s mother just married up in the world and now this average boy is finding it hard to adjust to a school where nearly all of his peers have grown up wealthy. Meanwhile, Taiki is a playboy who insists that he doesn’t want to go steady… until he meets the adorable rent-a-boy, Makoto! And how will the charming Romeo – the French-Japanese Kotaro – keep his innocent little Juliet away from rival suitors? Some boys will find true love in Sakurajo School while others won’t.”

Love Training is a story that takes place in your classic prestigious all-boys school. From character to couple, it follows several students as they get used to life at the facility and learn to get along with each other, among other things. While one is a love between stepbrothers, another follows a game of lovers gone further.

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Recently launched boys’ love publisher, Yaoi Generation has announced two new licenses today: Shinri Fuwa’s Tendar Affairs (Yasashii Kankei), and its sequel series, Perfect World. Combined the two connected series are five volumes long.

Yaoi Generation gave out clues pertaining to these licenses on their forums not too long away:

“…they’re older multi-volume works from a mangaka whose work has been published in the US before. She’s known for drawing wonderful expressions. It’s a light yaoi.”

Shinri Fuwa’s work has previously been published by Digital Manga and BeBeautiful and one of their current projects is the Libre/Deux english-teaching project, Repeat After Me?. Shinri Fuwa’s two titles bring Yaoi Generation’s series list up to three, but they assure fans of their initial release, breath, that it remains their top priority.

Black God (Vol. 05) – Dall-Young Lim/Sung-Woo Park
Published by Yen Press

This fifth volume of Black God leaps off from where the fourth volume left fans hanging as Keita comes face to face with a woman identical to his deceased Mother. In a world where humans have doppelgangers, it’s pretty easy to deduce who, or what, she likely is, but for Keita, even that ‘logic’ is a hard answer to swallow.

So he takes her out on a date. Or she takes him out on a date. Either way, the two spend the day together, sharing ice cream, frolicking on the beach and having a way-to-close kiss. Come on, Keita, we know you’re emotionally confused but don’t ever let the word Mom stop ringing in your ear!

Without really giving us much more information than we already knew, the Mom-look-alike is revealed to be the woman in the picture that lead Keita and co back here to his hometown in the first place. Good news means it wasn’t his Mother, bad news means… now what? The two in the picture proceed to let Keita in on their own personal mission and even invite him to join up with them. Unexpectedly to my surprise, the often-bubbly headed boxer, Kuro, has had some secrets she’s been keeping from everyone too.

While the artwork, fight scenes in particular, in Black God is still fantastic, I’m finding it hard to care about the grand scheme of things. The lead trio still make up a pretty likeable cast of characters and the plot itself has become much easier to follow once you understand the basic groundwork of this world, but despite how much the story is trying to build up some sort of climatic destination, I’m just not feeling it anymore. Who’s the real bad guy? What’re they going to do next? At least I’m not the only one confused. Hopefully both Keita and I will both get a little more direction in volume six.

Review written February 20, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

A press release from Digital Manga today marks the opening of their new website for the upcoming imprint, Doki Doki. The Doki Doki line-up is described as their ” “Gateway from Shojo to Yaoi,” with stories varying between shojo and shonen-ai to yaoi, and will be for ages anywhere from 13+ to 18+. “

I don’t find this new website as sleek as their Digital Manga corporate site but certainly a much cuter and organized step-up from older imprint sites. Shame some of the randomized title graphics are pixelated though (the graphic artist in me can’t help but be nagged!).

Admittedly while I do see the appeal of multiple websites for multiple imprints, I do find the multiple forums a bit of a shame. Personally I’d like to see one Digital Manga forum with sections for their individual imprints, bringing together their communities as a whole instead of leaving fans of them all hopping forum to forum.

This new website as also gets me thinking about the look that the Doki Doki books themselves will have. As some may recall, Digital Manga recently revealed the cover designs that their future releases under the original DMP imprint will be having. Both the June and 801Media imprints’ have their own consistant visual designs and differing cut sizes. I can’t recall if this was previously established for Doki Doki books already. The larger cut size of June or the smaller size of 801Media? Dust jackets or no dust jackets? Though with recent removal of said dust-jackets from their June and 801Media books, I’m inclined to believe Doki Doki won’t be starting out with them (no complaints from me though!).

Edit: Information on DokiDoki’s website tells us that the books will be the same size as their June and DMP line-ups (5.875″ x 8.25″) and will have no dust jackets. They will also carry the same price tag of $12.95/US.

But wait, there’s more! Going back to the original press release that brought about this post, Digital Manga staffers would also like to share news of their promotion for Doki Doki’s launch. When purchasing the books through their website, Akadot Retail, and (as I understand it) registering for their Doki Doki newsletter, you’ll recieve a special a print of the original artist’s page from the particular book you’ve purchased (first come, first serve). The two books launching the imprint are Eiki Eiki’s Train Train And Mikiyo Tsuda’s Princess Princess Plus (both of which being my biggest excitement-factors regarding this new imprint!).

While the promos are a neat add-on, it’s the books themselves that I can’t wait to get my hands on. More Mikiyo Tsuda and Eiki Eiki books are good any day, any time! Looking forward to it, Doki Doki :)

For your viewing convenience, you can read the full press release here.

Gardena, CA (February 24, 2009)- Digital Manga Publishing, Inc., one of the industry’s most innovative manga companies, is proud to announce the launch of their newest imprint DokiDoki, a special co-publishing line exclusively between popular Japanese publisher SHINSHOKAN and DIGITAL MANGA. The DokiDoki line is essentially “The Gateway from Shojo to Yaoi”, with stories varying between shojo and shonen-ai to yaoi, and will be for ages anywhere from 13+ to 18+. To celebrate this newest addition to the Digital Manga family, Digital Manga is excited to present a very special promotional giveaway!

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Author: James Patterson
Manhwa-ga: NaRae Lee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis: “Maximum Ride knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of her “flock” are just like ordinary kids, except they have wings and can fly! It may seem like a dream come true to some but for the flock it’s more like a living nightmare when the mysterious lab known of the “school” turns up and kidnaps their youngest member. Now it’s up to Max to organized a rescue, but will help come in time?”

Maximum Ride is a Yen Press commissioned manhwa based on a series of apparently popular (admittedly I’d never heard of them until now) books by James Patterson. I’ll start off simply by saying I really enjoyed this first volume of the series.

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Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: DelRey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis: “The princess has been betrayed and her body sent to Fai’s frozen home world of Seresu. In order to follow Sakura, the wrecked remains of the band of travellers must pay their price to the witch. And once they arrive, Fai will have to confront the one he’s been fleeing – and the horrific truth of his past!”

Volume twenty of Tsubasa is a big eye-opener for the series as readers learn just how layered all these overlapping foreshadowed plans really are. After the dramatic climax of the last volume, the characters have a lot to deal with, and even more to take in, when Yuuko appears before them to help explain what transpired. The series continues to delve into darker and darker territory with some disturbing revelations about Fai’s past and their climatic effect on his life now (and the lives of his companions). With a new perspective and altered task at hand, that which remains of the title crew bands together to travel to Fai’s country.

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YTV’s website has updated with a few new shows beginning this Spring and that includes the premiere of the previously announced anime, Pretty Cure. As you may recall, Pretty Cure is coming to Canadian television dubbed due to a deal directly between YTV and Toei Animation, definitely an interesting surprise move by them when we first heard about it in December.

The first episode is due to play at a depressingly obscure time of 8:30am (Atlantic time)  March 6th, but returns with a more favourable rerun at 2pm the following Saturday afternoon. (via Zannen.ca)

YTV’s synopsis of the show (with lead character dub names):

“Natalie and Hannah are suddenly thrown together as the legendary warriors known as “Pretty Cure”. They’re each entrusted with a Card Commune, a device that looks like a cell phone, and by sliding their Pretty Cure Cards through them they are able to transform. As Cure Black and Cure White, they must fight against the evil monsters of the Dark Zone who are after the magical gems called “Prism Stones”. It’s up to these ordinary girls with extraordinary powers to collect all seven Prism Stones and restore the Garden of Light before the darkness devours everything.”

Outfits may be silly in the way only animes can be, but with some pretty slick looking animation and magical girls who literally kick their enemies’ butts, I’ll certainly be catching a rerun of the first episode (would watch the premiere but I’ll be busy that weekend!).

Manga-ka: Yukari Hashida
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: May 2008

Synopsis: “Diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, Joe figures that the last chance he has of ever making a name for himself is to kidnap a politician’s son, demand an insane amount for the ransom, escape to the South Sea Islands with the money and die partying with booze in one hand and a beautiful babe on the other. But can you say “Stockholm Syndrome?” Things don’t turn out as Joe planned when the kidnap victim, Yuushi, begins to develop feelings for him. Which one is the captor and which one is the captive?”

The synopsis had me hopeful that this would an interesting book so please take a moment to read it above. Got it? Alright. Now while this much of the plot is true, it’s all over by page fifty-six in this book, and if you’re thinking that it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of development time, you’re exactly right.

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Comic (Vol. 05) – SiHyn Ha
Published by Yen Press

This volume of Comic must’ve hit nearly every shoujo cliché in the book, and on the basis of predictability, it certainly took a lot away from the story. On the other hand, shoujo clichés are overused for a reason, because at some point or another they’re pulled off in a way that makes you keep on reading with genuine interest.

Picking up where the last book left off, Alice makes a direct confrontation with Patrick regarding Daria’s claim that the two are dating. Ever the clever one (refreshingly so), Patrick easily deduces the source of the problem and tells Daria to back off and that he’s finally going to tell Alice how he really feels. But of course things never go as smoothly as one would hope, and even after feelings are shared, it takes only one little slip-up, and a witness to see it, to spiral everything back to where they started.

For all of Patrick’s common sense, Alice continues to run completely on her own emotions, which can be a little frustrating, but at the same time they sort of compliment each other in that regard. While I continue to enjoy this series for its quirky relationships (I can’t wait for the new character to become more relevant!), I’m still depressed that bestfriend Daria has so swiftly spiraled into the role of conniving backstabber when a boy was tossed into the picture.

Review written February 10, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Manga-ka: Hinako Takanaga
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: May 2008

Synopsis:
“Father Mauro lived a peaceful life in a small town ministering to his community. That is, until he found a wounded demon (?) in the bushes of the church garden. While Raoul looks like a demon, complete with horns and a tail, he doesn’t act like the typical demon. Playful? Yes! Mischievous? Yes! Outright evil? Well… that depends on the definition. Does seducing men of the cloth count as evil – especially if they like it?”

Father Mauro is a kind-hearted priest living in a quaint little town. One day he finds an injured man named Raoul in the garden of his church, and despite the suspicious horns and tail the stranger has, Father Mauro takes him in to nurse back to health. Back on his feet in no time, Raoul is a very friendly individual who has no idea about whether or not he’s a demon. But, what he does know, and makes no secret of, is how much he likes the priest who saved him.

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More from Amazon.ca today, this time with the majority coming from Tokyopop. Usual disclaimer: Until officially announced by companies, all listed here remain speculation only.

Mikansei No. 1 (Vol. 01) – Majiko!

Maria Holic (Vol. 01) – Endo Minari
By the artist of Tokyopop’s currently released series, Dazzle.

Mad Love Chase (Vol. 01) - Kazusa Takashima
With the original title Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made, Made Love Chase is a five-volume shoujo series by the boys’ love famed artist known for her popular series Wild Rock and Man’s Best Friend (both published under Tokyopop’s BLU imprint). Undoubtedly my favourite find of the day :)

And anyone remember my post back in October 2008, License Fortune Telling… But Not Really? Well as of today that list of crossed out licenses has gotten six titles shorter. Only a few left on there now that have yet to be announced or spotted as listings (which remember are not 100% definitive). Titles now crossed off:

.hack//Alcor - Kanami Amou
Ashita no Yoichi - Minamoto Yuu
Harlem Beat wa Toaki Made - Kazusa Takashima
Haru Hana - Kazumi Yuana
Karakuri Odette - Suzuki Julietta
Metal Heart - Yoon Jae Ho

Other listings of interest that popped up today were one for Tokyopop’s recently announced Domo manga project, which looks to have Clint Bickham, one of Tokyopop’s previous winners of the Rising Stars of Manga competition, as atleast one of its artists. Del Rey’s upcoming OEL adaptation of Bakugan Brawlers has Kriss Sison listed as illustator.

Fanart by ShardGlass (Full version can be seen here)

What you’re about to read are my initial thoughts and post-week musings of Naoki Urusawa’s dramatic suspense series, Monster. I wanted to get out my theories and ideas on the manga before I seek out and read others’ opinions through the power of the Internet, lest my easily persuaded mind be influenced by the more well-worded and coherent thoughts of others ;)

I encourage those who’ve read the series to share some of their thoughts and opinions as well. It’s truly a series that warrants discussion and I look forward to hearing what others thought.

Keep in mind that the following contains discussion pertaining directly to the end of the series. I’ve made note in the text below the cut where those who’ve not finished the series should stop reading if they wish to avoid spoilers.

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