Category: Manga

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Hikaru no Go Vol. 12

Written by Yumi Hotta
Art by Takeshi Obata
200 pages, black and white
Published by Viz

There are some series that, over time, I’ve grown bored with. It’s the same thing over and over again, and I’ve just hit that point where I don’t care. Twelve volumes in, though, I find myself a little amazed (and quite pleased) that this is anything but the case for Hikaru no Go. Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata have just crossed the halfway point for their saga to master a board-game, and I’m dying to see just what happens next.

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Le Chevalier d’Eon Vol. 1

Story by Tou Ubukata
Adaptation by Kiriko Yumeji
208 pages, black and white
Published by Del Rey

Comics in any country often have a large number of similar plot points or genres that get repeated from one work to the next, regardless of creator. From the evil sibling to the secret identity, seeing these ideas crop up over and over again becomes less and less of a surprise the more you read. In the case of Le Chevalier d’Eon, though, I must admit that Tou Ubukata and Kiriko Yumeji managed to sneak up on me with a well-known trope in Japanese manga. After my surprise faded, it hit me as to why they’d managed to get me—I’d never have expected it in a historical horror saga.

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Metro Survive Vol. 1

By Yuki Fujisawa
208 pages, black and white
Published by DrMaster Publications

In the 21st century, one particular sub-genre I’ve noticed gaining a lot of prominence these days is the “post-disaster” story. It’s not so much about the incident itself, but rather people caught up in its wake that have to fight to survive. That’s not to say that this sort of thing is a recent idea, of course, but I don’t think it’s any small coincidence that in the past decade there’s an increased frequency in which these sort of stories show up in popular media. The latest one I’ve found crossing my path is Yuki Fujisawa’s Metro Survive, a two-volume story about a group of hapless individuals trapped by a horrible disaster. The problem is, I’m not entirely sure Fujisawa can decide just what the true disaster of this story really is.

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Fairy Tail Vol. 1-2

By Hiro Mashima
208 pages, black and white
Published by Del Rey

Towards the end of 2007, Viz unleashed “Naruto Nation” on stores, releasing three volumes of the manga a month for several months. Naruto sales stayed strong, showing that if people want a series enough it doesn’t matter how quickly another installment hits shelves. Now Del Rey is kicking off Hiro Mashima’s latest series Fairy Tail with the first two volumes being simultaneously released. Now that I’ve sat down and read them both, I have to say that Del Rey made a really smart move, here.

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Kindaichi Case Files Vol. 16: The Magical Express

Written by Yozaburo Kanari
Art by Fumiya Sato
304 pages, black and white
Published by TokyoPop

A lot of long-running series, over time, grow stale. They start going through the motions of what is expected of them rather than what is new and interesting, and it turns into something approaching monotony. I think that’s one of the many reasons why Yozaburo Kanari and Fumiya Sato’s series The Kindaichi Case Files sticks out so much in my mind. We’re sixteen volumes into the series now, and with each new mystery adventure I find myself absolutely dying to purchase it and find out what happens next.

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Aqua Vol. 1

By Kozue Amano
192 pages, black and white
Published by TokyoPop

With the wealth of manga being translated into English, it’s understandable if one initially misses out on a few books the first time around. That’s certainly my excuse when it comes to Kozue Amano’s series Aqua and Aria. At a glance, there’s not a whole lot to lure you in—a young woman learning how to become a gondolier. Once I finally sat down and read the first volume, though, I realized that this is more than just the story of someone learning their job. Rather, it’s a travelogue across another planet.

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Hell Girl Vol. 1

By Miyuki Eto
208 pages, black and white
Published by Del Rey

Sometimes you read a book because the initial hook sounds too good to ignore. That was certainly the case in Hell Girl, where the idea of people using a website to send other people to hell (but at the cost of their own soul) seemed like a fun take on an old chestnut, and seemed to promise at least a slight exploration at the idea of, “How much are you willing to pay to change your life?” What I found, though, was anything but that.

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MPD-Psycho Vol. 1-2

Written by Eiji Otsuka
Art by Sho-u Tajima
184 pages, black and white
Published by Dark Horse

I feel like I should open up this review with a note of congratulations to the creators and publishers of the book. So, to Sho-u Tajima, Eiji Otsuka, Kadokawa Soten, and Dark Horse, well done. You’ve done what very few other comics have managed; I was thoroughly disturbed by reading your comic, yet I’m dying to read more. I’m not sure what this says about you, me, or this comic—but for now I’m going to assume the comic. It’s going to help my peace-of-mind with the idea that a book about a series of disturbing and horrific murders and a multiple-personality-profiler helping solve them is not, in fact, a trope that would hook me regardless of quality.

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Translucent Vol. 1

By Kazuhiro Okamoto
192 pages, black and white
Published by Dark Horse

One thing I’ve noticed about a lot of manga is that the series can often begin with a chapter that feels like (to use a television term) a “pilot episode”—a single story that will be used to convince the publisher that you have what it takes to go to series. Often these comic book “pilots” are stand-alone stories, so even if it doesn’t get picked up for a series you can run the one-off story and call it a day. What surprised me about Dark Horse’s Translucent, then, is that after reading the first chapter I’d mentally written off the rest of the book as an idea that had already run its course, with nothing more to say. I was quite happy, though, to discover that I was absolutely wrong.

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Alive: The Final Evolution Vol. 1

Written by Tadashi Kawashima
Art by Adachitoka
208 pages, black and white
Published by Del Rey

Have you ever read a back cover blurb so enticing that you absolutely had to read the book? That’s the sign of at least one of two things: a great story concept, or a great copy/advertising writer. The question is, though, just which have you encountered? That’s what I asked myself when I picked up the first volume of Alive: The Final Evolution by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka. And of course, being the first volume in a series, your guess was as good as mine.

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