Month: March 2012

Categories
Manga News

PR: Josei and Romance manga promotion on Jmanga.com

When Jmanga was announced, one of the things I was hoping for from the online manga company was more josei manga, since it does seem to struggle a bit sales-wise in print format. So it is nice to see that Jmanga is featuring josei and romance titles in a promotion. They’ve been adding some harlequin manga I haven’t read yet to their online library, which I plan to review in a little bit. So read on below for full details:

Get 100 points back on all Josei/Romance purchases!
Sign up now and get up to 4500 POINTS!
http://www.jmanga.com/list/genre/josei/romance
JManga.com, the first official and legal manga portal website, will be holding a special campaign from March 15th to 21st (PST). Subscribers who purchase any Josei/Romance titles during the promotion will get 100 points back (up to 29% off) per volume!

Now is the perfect chance to check out such romance manga titles as “The Celebrity Doctor’s Proposal” by Sarah Morgan / Masami Hoshino, “The Bride of Montefalco” by Rebecca Winters / Kiriko Higashizato, and yaoi romance such as “Pet on Duty” by Nase Yamato and “Dash!” by Isaku Natsume.

You must be a subscriber in order to purchase manga on JManga, but during this promotion will be offering a special sign-up bonus of up to 4500 points! Don’t miss this chance to get the romance manga you need. JManga.com continuously strives to offer the widest selection of legal online manga available, from major to niche, shonen to shojo and yuri to yaoi/BL!

100 Points Back on all Josei Romance Manga Purchases!!
URL: http://www.jmanga.com/list/genre/josei/romance
Date:March15th through 21st in2012(PST)
Details:
1. Purchase any Josei/Romance titles and get 100 POINTS BACK per volume.
2. Sign up for a paid subscription and get up to 4500 POINTS!!

Categories
Manga Reviews

Dawn of the Arcana Volume 3



Dawn of the Arcana Volume 3 by Rei Toma

I feel like with the third volume things really started to come together nicely in this manga series. The first two volumes were promising, but the third one really has a nice mix of romance, politics, magic, and danger. Nakaba and Caesar start to warm up to each other, but things are even more strained between the red-headed princess and her faithful servant Loki. Things get even worse when Nakaba is instructed to dye her hair before some visiting dignitaries arrive. She chops off her hair instead in a gesture of defiance and Ceasar promptly does the same. The newlyweds now have identical ragamuffin hairstyles. Nakaba is ordered to be confined to her quarters, but she runs into the vising Prince Akhil, the fifth prince of Lithuanel. Akhil recognizes that Nakaba has the power of Arcana and drops some hints about the long-lost tribe that may feature in her origins. He wants her to come back to his country, but Caesar steps in to prevent it. Unfortunately when Caesar steps away later on he’s not able to prevent Nakaba and Loki from being locked up in a dungeon. Nakaba flashes back to Loki’s feelings and experiences when he was all alone trying to protect her when she was an infant and she realizes the depth of his lover for her.

One of the things that intrigued me the most about Dawn of the Arcana when I first picked it up was the situation of a reluctant princess facing down a hostile court. Nakaba had plenty of run-ins in this volume, and the secret passage leading out of her dungeon leads her to discover that her new country has weaponry that will upset the balance of power between nations. Loki immediately sees the weapons as a source of danger for his people, because when humans have better arms and armor, they will no longer need to rely on the strength of the Ajin. Nakaba and Caesar realize that their marriage was a ploy to ensure plenty of time for weapons construction, and Nakaba is determined to do what she can to save the Ajin like Loki. Her power doesn’t seem suited to such a task though, and she doesn’t know what to do.

Nakaba continues to be an engaging heroine, and seeing glimpses of her past with Loki helps the reader understand the deep connection between the two. From being a jerk, Caesar has grown to be a credible match for Nakaba. Part of what makes him more endearing than jerk-like after three volumes is that he doesn’t have the cunning to hide his character flaws. He’s impatient and possessive, but he lights up whenever Nakaba shows him a tiny amount of affection. Even though he isn’t the most well-mannered prince around, it is clear that he actually cares for the bride that he’s so eager to please. The displays of cruelty by the other nobles and the dangerous situations Nakaba finds herself in whenever she leaves her room continue to deliver plenty of dramatic tension. This series keeps getting better.

Categories
Manga Reviews

Otomen Volume 12

I’ve been on the fence about Otomen a bit, because while I think it is funny and very well-executed, I wonder if the series tends to drag on a little bit too much. At a certain point we know that in every volume Asuka is going to be threatened with exposure over his love of traditionally feminine pursuits, but he’s going to manage to save himself at the last minute with the help of his friends. I enjoyed this volume more than most because the emotional stakes were much higher for Asuka. He’s joined a “manly baking” class that has a mysterious scruffy instructor who always wears sunglasses. Asuka’s Otomen-hating mother finds out that he’s involved in the class and reacts poorly when Asuka tells her that he’s learning to bake in order to improve his martial arts training. There actually is a near kitchen disaster and Asuka manages to contain it by wielding tools like whisks and mixing bowls full of batter like a kitchen ninja. The accident makes the bakery inhabitable and Asuka’s mother invites the stoic instructor to stay at their house. The mysterious man is of course Asuka’s long-lost father and father and son manage a touching reunion, but not without some additional complications by some cake-loving gangsters. This volume of Otomen ends up being a bit of a meditation on the feelings put into baked goods when they are made by someone who loves you. Seeing Asuka bond with his father made this volume stand out from the other recent volumes of this series that I’ve read.

Review copy provided by the publisher

Categories
Manga Reviews

Oresama Teacher Volume 7

Oresama Teacher Volume 7 by Izumi Tsubaki

This was another entertaining volume of Oresama Teacher. I was happy that in the first chapter we finally got some solid information about Takakomi’s mysterious past and the reasons why he changed from a delinquent to a teacher. It turns out that his grandfather used to be connected with the school, there was some nefarious paperwork from the current principal that involves a land-grab scheme, and Takaomi’s solution was to bet that he would be able to turn around the school in three years in order to return control of the school to his family. This seems like an improbable and misguided plan, but when Mafuyu hears Takaomi’s story she starts to tear up and decides that she’s going to help her former mentor in beat downs and bullying.

Mafuyu and Hayasaka are studying for the first time in an attempt to bring up the school’s test average, aided by spy/highschool ninja Shinobu. Mafuyu isn’t very strong on brainpower, but she does have an odd ability to memorize, which results in several funny scenes where random facts start to spill out of her because her brain has overfilled its capacity. Takaomi uses his dark powers of intimidation to force other slacking students to study. Everybody survives exams, and it is time to head home for the summer. Mafuyu has trouble fitting in with her old gang again, but she ends up spending time with them and learning more about the feelings of the juvenile delinquent comrades she left behind. Oresama Teacher is an excessively silly series but it switches up plot developments that move the story forward a little bit, with more character focused bits. Even when Oresama Teacher might rely on a very standard plot element like going to a summer festival, there’s always a little twist that makes it interesting and ridiculous as Mafuyu attends her summer festival with a crossdressing rival gang leader. Oresama Teacher always goes to the top of my reading stack when I’m looking for a fun distraction.

Review copy provided by the publisher

Categories
Manga Reviews

A Bride’s Story Volume 2 by Kaoru Mori

Well, the first volume of this series had the meticulously researched slice of life stories that I expected from the author of Emma, but the second volume gives the reader a surprising amount of action. Amir is starting to get more settled into her new life as a married woman in the village. She even makes a new friend, the outspoken Pariya. Pariya has had trouble finding a husband due to her snarky personality, but she quickly forms a friendship with Amir. Amir continues to be a captivating heroine, partly due to her frequent unorthodox actions. When Pariya gives Amir an intricately decorated loaf of bread, Amir is momentarily distressed because she doesn’t have a present to give in return. She runs inside, grabs her bow, and shoots a bird for Pariya. Amir comments that the birds are “very tasty roasted.”

The gulf in age between Amir and her husband Karluk is preventing them from having a real marriage yet, but Karluk is doing the best he can to be a good husband to his new wife. The village idyll is interrupted when Amir’s tribe comes to take her back. They’ve run through all their marriageable women, and decide that they’re going to marry Amir off again to foster a new alliance. Amir’s brother seems slightly ambivalent about kidnapping his sister back, but he goes along with the orders of the older men in the raiding party. Mori’s sense of humor is part of what makes her manga so fun to read. All the historical detail might seem dry in the hands of another author, but even in a tense situation she manages to build in some funny bits of character interaction. When the researcher Mr. Smith sees Amir being menaced by her family, he decides to drive a herd of sheep towards the group to form a distraction, but not before he undertakes a lengthy apology to the Shepard by saying, “I know beyond the cold descriptions in books, that domestic livestock is a vital factor in inheritance. But…given our present circumstances..I want you to know that the actions I now take have been forced upon me.”

Amir’s tribe severely underestimates the fighting potential of the villagers, and there are some exciting and unconventional battle scenes as the villagers defend Amir in the middle of the night. While Karluk is forced to stay at home with Amir instead of fighting with the other men, he manages to pull off his own heroic moment. The rest of the volume focuses on the growing emotional connection between Amir and Karluk, and there’s a great episode that focuses on the tradition and symbolism attached to the embroidery patterns that are handed down between the women of the same family. Embroidered cloths end up being a way to hold on to memories of the women who created them, serving as a storytelling mechanism as they are unpacked to be shown off to a new generation. These hardcover volumes continue to be a manga collector’s dream. This is a special series, and it is nice that Yen Press is keeping the production values for A Bride’s Story so high.