Category: REVIEWS

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Manga Reviews REVIEWS

Pride Vol. 3 and 4

Pride Volume 3 by Yukari Ichijo
Available on Jmanga.com

pride3

Pride is rapidly becoming one of my favorite series on Jmanga. This story of two rival opera singers always manages to put an interesting twist on showbiz manga with some unexpected plot twists. The rivalry between classy yet suddenly broke Shio and crawling up from the gutter Moe was firmly established in the first two volumes, and they are thrown together when they both get work at the same nightclub. Something unexpected occurs when they sing together though, their different voices end up blending in a delightful way. Ran thinks that the two women combined are his perfect diva and he is inspired to write even more of his own music for them. They join together in an unlikely trio called SRM, with both singers challenging each other to grow while Ran feels free to explore his avant-garde impulses. After seeing the antagonistic relationship between Shio and Moe, it was interesting to see how their commitment to music made them want to work together.

One of the things that I enjoy about this series is the way that Shio and Moe are so forthright with each other about their mutual dislike. Moe basically states that she hates Shio, and Shio points out that Moe’s low character is also something that she despises. Moe announces that when they sing together she intends to use Shio as her foil to showcase her own voice, and Shio points out that if she intends to do that, Moe has to drastically elevate her technique. The fledgling trio actually starts to achieve a small amount of success when they get a chance to go on a variety show that has a singing and songwriting competition, but their chances of winning are derailed when a musical prodigy named Eiko also appears on the program as a surprise guest.

Pride Volume 4 by Yukari Ichijo
Available on Jmanga.com

pride4

It turns out the Eiko is the illegitimate half-sister of Shio’s wealthy fiance Mr. Jinno. Shio gets a glimpse of Jinno’s family life when she’s introduced to his parents, and she sees that Eiko has to sneak around in order to see her father. Jinno’s character begins to be revealed a bit more, and he is slightly more sympathetic, but still with the potential to do something scary if Shio crosses him. Just as Shio’s future life as a music company begins to take shape, Ran suddenly seems to be looking at her in a new way. Shio’s been able to take care of herself on her own for a bit, and the new levels of maturity and self-assurance begin to attract Ran. Shio keeps her engagement a secret because she doesn’t want to distract from SRM’s potential.

As a character, Shio is still interesting after 4 volumes, because she just seems to sail through some difficult situations due to her strong sense of self. This is contradicted by her cold decision to become engaged to Jinno, but she’s also very pragmatic. When Shio sees the truth about Moe’s mother, she handles the situation with aplomb, and doesn’t use it as an excuse to strike back at her rival. Moe begins to recognize that her singing has been improved by being exposed to Ran’s music and Shio’s technique, but she still goes through life with raw emotional reactions. The contrast between the personalities and life situations of two protagonists in Pride really drives the series forward in a compelling way. The fourth volume ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait for volume five.

Electronic access provided by the publisher

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Manga Reviews REVIEWS

Story of Saiunkoku, Vol 8. by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino

Story of Saiunkoku, Vol 8. by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino

I enjoy the meditative pace of Story of Saiunkoku. By the end of this volume plucky heroine and trailblazing civil servant Shurei Hong is finally launched at another stage of her life, and the fact that it took eight volumes for her to experience a new adventure doesn’t bother me at all. The main reason why I enjoy this series so much is the fact that the manga features such a rich variety of characters, all of whom are sympathetic and interesting in different ways. As the first and only woman to pass the civil servant exam, Shurei has been accused of cheating and must clear her name. It is always a bit heartwarming how all the people that surround Shurei come together to support her. She’s a very capable young woman, but the path that she’s chosen is so incredibly difficult that it is a good thing that she has so many friends and relatives who work behind the scenes to make sure that she can succeed on her own terms.

It turns out that the burdensome paperwork that Shurei and Eigetsu were processing also not so coincidentally included the clues to major financial irregularities in the Ministry of Rites whose head was determined to prevent Shurei from becoming a civil servant. Shurei and Eigetsu’s hazing resulted in their peers becoming more sympathetic to them, and the duo was also able to research and create a report that contained very damning evidence about an enemy that they didn’t even know they had. Supporting cast members that come to the forefront in this volume include Shurei’s uncle Renshin Hong and Minister Ko, whose devastating beauty ends up being a weapon for Shurei when he actually takes off his mask in court to force a confession from the Minister of Rites. There’s plenty of humor in this scene, as the onlookers are warned that if they look at Minister Ko’s face they will lose their ability to concentrate on work for years, their home life will collapse, and “in the worst case, you may lose your mind.”

There’s a great scene between Shurei and Ryuki towards the end of the volume where he demonstrates his trust in her by appointing her as a civil servant even though he would prefer that she stay as his bride. Shurei and Eigetsu embark on a new phase of their lives as civil servants together, but life can’t be boring when they are about to be sent to govern the most rebellious province in the land, aided mainly by the roguish Ensei. This volume also features a very lighthearted story about a cross-dressing contest that Shurei tries to make her male friends participate in because she’s so enthusiastic about the grand prize of many bales of rice. I think we’re catching up to the Japanese releases of this manga and the next volume is the final one. I’ll be a bit disappointed since I believe the light novel version of the story covers much more than the manga. Still, I’ll be happy with whatever I can read from this series.

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Manga Reviews REVIEWS

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Box Set by Hayao Miyazaki

I’m just going to talk about the packaging and quality of this box set, because I think most people are familiar with the story and wonderful art found in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Nausicaä is a manga classic, and it totally deserves the deluxe treatment it gets in this collected edition. This is a two volume set that comes in cardboard box with a glossy cover. The set comes with a folded two-sided Nausicaä poster as well. The hardcover volumes are a mega-sized 10+ inches tall, ensuring the reader can appreciate the full details of Hayao Miyazaki’s art. The covers for each volume are matte, with an image of Nausicaä on the front and some grey and blue tinted abstract designs featuring the flora and fauna from Nausicaä’s world, giving the covers the look of an antique book. I pulled out my Viz Select Comics editions from way back in 1988 when Viz was releasing monthly comics with flipped art, and the reproduction size of the art was the same. I have always regretted not having a complete run of Nausicaä in the larger size. I filled in my collection of the later half of the series with a couple of the Perfect Collection volumes and I thought that the art suffered a little bit from being printed smaller.

The paper used for the box set is a good matte quality, and the ink used is a softer black which I think makes the backgrounds of the story seem even more dreamy and fairy-tale like. The translation here is the same Studio Proteus translation for the series that has been used in the past, but the lettering has been redone and looks much more smooth, compact, and easy to read. There are glossy color plates in front of each volume, which include character portraits as well as maps rendered in the lovely muted color palette I expect to see used for Nausicaä. I think that out of all the deluxe editions of manga that I’ve seen, this is by far the nicest.

I originally had this box set on my wishlist for the holidays, and then got wind of a coupon at Barnes and Noble and picked it up for $22.00, which I consider to be basically free. At slightly below $40 on Amazon currently, this is still an extremely good deal. If you have the money to spare to treat yourself to this set or can make some pointed hints to people who might be buying you presents, I think this is truly a great addition to any manga fan’s library.

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Manga Reviews REVIEWS

Demon Love Spell Vol. 1 by Mayu Shinjo

I ended up liking Mayu Shinjo’s Ai Ore a bit more than I thought I would after reading the first omnibus volume. The second series settles in as more of a straightforward comedy series, without some of the problematic gender dynamics that were present in the earlier series. Still, Ai Ore didn’t inspire much rereading or long term affection from me. One of my problems was that the male lead of Ai Ore looked nothing like Sakuya from Sensual Phrase. Shinjo has a somewhat limited set of character designs, but when she does hit on a design she does execute it very well. I experienced far too much cognitive dissonance in Ai Ore expecting a Sakyua clone to pop up, only to be disappointed. Fortunately in Demon Love Spell, the demon in question looks like a typical Shinjo hero half of the time!

Miko is a shrine maiden (ha ha!) who isn’t very good at her job. She can’t sense the demons that she battles, so her technique is limited to chanting random spells and hoping that one of them works. She sees all the girls in her class crying over a faithless boy named Kagura. One of the victims jokes that Kagura has to be a demon because no human boy could go through women that fast. Miko makes up for her lack of skill with enthusiasm and she decides to rush off and exorcise the womanizer. Miko fins Kagura kissing yet another girl and starts lecturing him about the dangers of being possessed by an incubus who preys on the sexual desire of women. Kagura finds Miko extremely hilarious until she casts a spell on him and he actually disappears. Miko starts crying because she thinks that she accidentally killed someone when she hears an angry voice yelling at her from the vicinity of her shins, saying that it is impossible that someone like her could bind his powers.

Kagura wasn’t possessed by an incubus, he actually is one of the most powerful incubi around, and now he’s trapped as a powerless chibi version of himself only a few inches tall. Miko and Kagura end up developing a symbiotic relationship. When she’s in contact with him she can actually see the demons she wants to battle. If Miko gives Kagura a tiny amount of affection, his powers kick in and he’s able to help her. Kagura in appearance and demeanor is very much a typical Shinjo alpha male. He’s imperious and demanding, which doesn’t always play very well when he looks like a three inch tall cherub. One of the reasons why I wasn’t able to enjoy Ai Ore as much is that the relationship between the protagonists was a bit unbalanced. Even though this was deliberately done to contrast with the character’s outward appearances, Mizuki was too tremulous and Akira too demanding for me to really root for them as a couple. The personalities of the characters are much more balanced in Demon Love Spell. Miko might not be the best shrine maiden in the world, but she has no problem torturing Kaguya in his chibi form by dressing him up in clothes belonging to an old doll of hers. She decides to fasten Kaguya to a chain and hang him on her handbag to take him to school with her, and she starts lecturing him on proper behavior, saying “Bag mascots aren’t supposed to talk!”

Kaguya is still able to use manifest his regular form and power up when he visits Miko in her dreams, but she doesn’t remember anything the next morning. The incubus helps Miko fend off all the demons that are gathering around her, drawn by the fact that she managed to capture him. As the story develops, it seems like Kaguya is starting to feel genuine concern and affection for Miko. Or perhaps he’s just comfortable with the fact that he’s able to hang out in her cleavage when they enter battle together. Demon Love Spell was a fun comedic version of paranormal romance manga. While the comedy explored in Demon Love Spell is on a bit of a similar wavelength as Ai Ore, I found the characters much more interesting and sympathetic. I think readers who tried Ai Ore and didn’t care for it should give this series a try. I still tend to prefer Shinjo when she is in serious and dramatic soap-opera mode as seen in Sensual Phrase, but Demon Love Spell was quite enjoyable.

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Manga Reviews REVIEWS

07 Ghost, Vol. 1

07 Ghost, Vol. 1 by Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara

I’m always a little curious about license rescues, and I hadn’t read 07 Ghost when it was released earlier by GoComi. I was even more interested when I saw that in Japan the series ran in Monthly Comic Zero Sum, the same magazine that features Saiyuki Reload and Loveless. In manga genre terms, I suppose that 07 Ghost is josei, although it would be a bit hard to tell from the trade dressing that Viz provided, as it isn’t released under any of the Viz sub-imprints and it is labeled as being for teen readers. 07 Ghost is one of those titles that I can see appealing to a wide variety of readers, as it features a nice combination of world-building, a solid protagonist, magical battle scenes, and perky nuns.

Teito Klein is an orphan going to school in an militarized area. Teito and his fellow students are trained in a form of magical combat called Zaiphon, which uses hand gestures to evoke energy. Teito’s acerbic nature and favored status by one of his instructors ensures that he’s just about the least popular student at the Barsburg Military Academy, but he does have a best friend named Mikage whose sunny disposition contrasts with Teito’s more brooding personality. Teito is An Orphan With A Forgotten Past, and when he starts getting flashbacks to memories from his previous life he begins to think that Barsburg isn’t the right place for him anymore. He confronts Aya, who he suddenly remembers as having killed his father. Aya says that Teito is a “slave from Raggs” and puts him in chains. Teito manages a daring escape and winds up in District 7, the City of God. District 7 is filled with handsome priests and pretty but interchangeable nuns. Teito starts to adjust to a different way of life.

There’s a ton of plot explored in this first volume, but overall I thought that the pacing and world building aspects of 07 Ghost were handled very well. Teito’s journey serves as a way to introduce the tricky geopolitical issues of his world, and the fantasy and action aspects of the manga are visually striking. In District 7, the religious order believes in seven ghosts that serve as guardians against evil. The guardians are depicted as hooded figures with dramatic scythes inscribed with runes. When the unconventional priests battle their spells are also depicted as sweeping scythes that cut across the panels of the manga. This results in some action scenes that are a bit more pretty than coherent, but it was still not to hard to follow what was going on. A large cast of characters are introduced but aside from Teito and Mikage the most prominent person from District 7 is Frau, the cynical priest who rescues Teito and sticks around to make sarcastic comments and protect him occasionally. There’s a bit of a Saiyuki vibe with Frau and Teito’s relationship, which makes sense given the source magazine for the manga.

When I finished 07 Ghost I wanted to see what would happen next with Teito’s story. While Teito’s amnesias-orphan status isn’t particularly novel, I enjoyed seeing the world he lives in and it was fun to read a fast-paced fantasy manga. I feel like many of the series I’ve been reading recently develop much more slowly, so 07 Ghost‘s storytelling pace was a nice contrast. The attractive art, fighting priests, and hints of a larger magic/spiritual system to explore all have me looking forward to the next volume. I can see why Viz chose to put out this series again. It has plenty of commercial appeal, but is still quirky enough to be genuinely intriguing.

Review copy provided by the publisher