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Kamisama Kiss Volume 7 by Julietta Suzuki

Kamisama Kiss Volume 7 by Julietta Suzuki

One volume of Kamisama Kiss is pretty similar to the rest, but that doesn’t really matter because Suzuki’s series is so cute and well-executed. One thing that I was excited to see is a bit of a trend to longer storylines, with a chapter that will be continued in the next volume! This doesn’t happen all too often in Suzuki’s manga as many of the chapters in her books are remarkably self-contained.

This volume starts out with a cute story about new Snake Shinsei Mizuki, who is feeling left out because he has to stay back at the shrine while Nanami and Tomoe go to school in the human world. Mizuki is spectacularly unsuited to the modern world, managing to get conned into buying a goofy looking protection sticker that he wears on his head as soon as he steps foot in the outside world. The next story shows Nanami and Tomoe visiting an amusement park together. Nanami is feeling suspicious and jealous when she finds out that Tomoe has been keeping a woman’s hairpin in his room. Tomoe is still loudly proclaiming that he’ll never fall in love with a human woman, while basically going on a date with Nanami. Nanami’s jealously almost ends up derailing their day, but they end up having a relatively peaceful ride on the ferris wheel.

The larger issue everybody has to deal with is Nanami’s attendance at a gathering called the Kamu-Hakari in Izumo. Mizuki informs Nanami that taking a fox shinshi along will result in Tomoe being harassed. Nanami ends up attending the gathering with Mizuki, but her naivete and expectations that other Kami are going to be nice are about to be tested horribly. One of the most enjoyable parts of Kamisama Kiss is seeing the unique character designs Suzuki develops for the otherworldly beings who Nanami meets, and the Kamu-Hakari gathering is full of new, slightly menacing gods who are not amused at the idea of welcoming a human in their group. Nanami finds herself cut off from any support and encounters Kirihito, a mysterious human with something extra going on. Nanami is promptly sent on a dangerous mission to the land of the dead, while Tomoe tries to live it up since his mistress has left him behind.

While there were a couple of fun stories that focused on individual characters, I was happy to see the turn towards more narrative complexity. It will be interesting to see if Nanami comes away from the Kamu-Hakari with more godlike abilities, or if her human perceptions and emotions will continue to be her best weapons in dealing with other kamisama. Tomoe continues to protest far to much about his emotions and Nanami continues to pine, but after seven volumes I’m still not tired of reading their story.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Manga Reviews

Dawn of the Arcana Volume 2 by Rei Toma

Dawn of the Arcana Volume 2 by Rei Toma

I enjoyed the first volume of Dawn of the Arcana, so I was happy to see that the second volume continues to be an entertaining fantasy story with the added bonus of the development of a tortured love triangle that was hinted at in the earlier volume. Caesar and Nakaba continue to have a rough time as newlyweds in a political marriage. Toma is pretty good at portraying Caesar as a poor little rich boy who is deserving of sympathy. He makes some clumsy attempts to give Nakaba expensive presents, when really all she cares about is being able to rescue an injured bird. While Caesar is quick to get angry when he sees Nakaba rejecting his advances, the puppy dog look on his face when he accidentally does something to cause Nakaba to be happy is pretty endearing.

Nakaba finds herself falling for her enemy prince husband despite her best intentions, and as I was expecting her servant Loki isn’t all that happy to see Nakaba and her new husband getting along. Nakaba also gets a welcome dose of levity when a little boy from her home named Rito shows up to be another one of her attendants. Rito is an Ajin like Loki, but he exhibits tiny ram horns in contrast to Loki’s canine characteristics. But things aren’t going to go smoothly for Nakaba, as a series of poisonous attacks on Caesar results in her being placed under suspicion by the court. Loki explains the source of Nakaba’s visions and says that her power may be growing. Loki’s quiet patience finally wears out and he confesses his feelings to Nakaba. She’s left feeling torn between her loyalty to Loki and the guilt that she feels when she enjoys spending time with Caesar.

One of my quibbles with this volume is that Nakaba didn’t have any clear ass-kicking moments that were so nicely exhibited in the first volume. While being caught in the throes of young love may throw her for a loop momentarily, I’m hoping that she has a few more take charge moments in later volumes. As she begins to be more comfortable with her visions, it will be interesting to see if she’s able to untangle the complicated web of plots that surround her in a new and unfamiliar kingdom. While the plot elements in Dawn of the Arcana still aren’t all that original, I’m very interested to see what happens next with Nakaba, Loki, and Caesar. I just hope Nakaba has a chance to punch someone in the next volume.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Manga Reviews

Skip Beat Volume 26

Skip Beat! Volume 26 by Yoshiki Nakamura

I’ve been in a bit of a post holiday blogging malaise, what with going on vacation, getting sick, coming back from vacation, still being sick, and just dealing with work. But there isn’t any better way to snap yourself out of a manga blogging funk than to pick up a fresh volume of Skip Beat! The plot arc introduced in this volume looks like it will be really fun, and this volume would be a good jumping on point for anyone who has read a few volumes of the series but hasn’t kept up with recent developments.

One of the ways Nakamura excels as a manga artist is that she’s great at drawing someone in the grip of absolute rage. We get treated to several panels of anger in the early section of the drama, where Kyoko and her fellow LoveMe Section members are dealing with the emotional fallout from their Valentine’s Days. The president of LME Lory asks how everybody’s day went and a dark cloud descends over Kyoko and Moko. Kyoko yells “It was a nightmareish evil day that threatened my peace and quiet!” Moko fiercely proclaims “It was a day that polluted society…a day that made idiots even more stupid!” Lory is disappointed in everybody’s progress and hands out new assignments with the word describing Kyoko’s as “Dangerous.”

Kyoko is told that she has to pick up a new actor named Cain Heel who apparently resembles a member of the yakuza. When she sees a man dressed in dark clothes, radiating such a hostile aura that all the other people in his vicinity are stepping away and staring at him, she walks up and says “Mr Tsuruga?” The man stands up without saying anything, Kyoko falls to the ground and he stalks off, stepping over her. Kyoko is mystified because she thought that the man was Ren based on his proportions. As she’s walking down the street trying to process her experience, a long dark arm snakes out from an alley and pats her on the head. It is Ren after all, and he’s portraying a new actor in order to further his career. Lory announces that Kyoko is going to be Cain Heel’s lucky charm, his treasured sister Setsuka. Kyoko gets a gothy-makover and the Heel siblings are ready to launch Cain’s new career. This means that Kyoko and Ren are going to be forced to be in close quarters, with plenty of agonizing moments and crazy fashion to look forward to. What more could any fan of Skip Beat! want?

Lory speculates that forcing his two actors together will result in great things, and he takes particular note of the fact that Kyoko must have been observing Ren very closely in order to penetrate his disguise. Kyoko gets to work thinking through the character of Setsuka, hoping that her acting will get Ren’s approval. In the meantime Ren is being tortured by the mini-skirts Kyoko has to wear as Setsuka. Skip Beat! is always entertaining, but I’m really excited to see what Ren and Kyoko will get up to as the Heel siblings.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Manga Reviews

Dengeki Daisy Volume 8

Dengeki Daisy Volume 8

This volume contains a good dose of back story, as Teru finally learns how her brother Soichiro and Kurosaki met. She also learns why Kurosaki is filled with guilt over her brother’s death. After the events in the last volume, Kurosaki has decided to absent himself from Teru’s life. She’s depressed after hearing Kurosaki’s confession that he killed her brother, and devastated about the hostile text message that Akira sent in her place. In true Dengeki Daisy fashion the thing that snaps Teru out of her funk is a fist to her stomach, delivered by her friend Kiyoshi. He yells at her, “Stop acting like a victim looking for sympathy. Turning your back on him just because getting involved takes committment…that’s just plain horrible. You don’t do that to someone dear to you.” After a long lecture, Teru delivers a fierce uppercut to Kiyoshi and says with a smile through her tears that she feels better.

Teru decides to dedicate herself to finding out the truth behind Daisy/Kurosaki’s “sin”, and to do that she decides to fully inquire into his past. She gathers together all of Kurosaki’s old co-workers and protectors and begins to learn the truth behind Kurosaki’s development of a classified encryption program called “Jack Frost” and the people at Soichiro’s company who worked for the government. Kurosaki is now hunting down “Jack Frost” on his own, in an attempt to protect Teru. This volume was a little heavy on the exposition side of things, but I found I didn’t mind that so much because after 8 volumes, I’m really invested in finding out what will happen to these characters. It was also nice to see Kurosaki and Soichiro together in simpler times. Even thought the mystery of Kurosaki’s past is cleared up somewhat, there’s still plenty left to explore in the present as it is unclear who all the players are in the current hunt for Jack Frost and what they’ll do to get their hands on it. Dengeki Daisy is always fun to read, but I hope that Teru and Kurosaki get back together in the next volume!
Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Manga Reviews

Stellar Six of Gingacho Volume 2 by Yuuki Fujimoto

Stellar Six of Gingacho Volume 2 by Yuuki Fujimoto

One of the things I found so frustrating about Tokyopop going down the tubes as a manga publisher is that it had really started to increase the output of nice shoujo titles right before it was dissolved. I will always feel a yearning to read the rest of the delicious crackfest that was Demon Sacred, wonder about the hot janitor student romance possibilities in Sky Blue Shore, and wonder what happened when the kids of Stellar Six of Gingacho grew up. If you read the first volume of Stellar Six, the second is very similar. The thing that makes this series so enjoyable is the nostalgic and humorous take on slice of life stories at a street market as the protagonists face the pressures of high school and teenagerdom.

Mike is still determinedly innocent, determined to stick together with all her friends from the street market even as they face attending different high schools from each other. She’s unaware of the feelings her best friend Kuro has for her, even though it is obvious to everyone else that he’s in love with her. Life goes on as it always does, with Mike’s gang investigating various incidents at the Gingacho street market. First they investigate a mysterious case of vandalism prompted by jealous love at a local shop. Next, Mike and Kuro are besieged by all the athletic clubs at their new school, because the displays of athleticism they’ve honed by promoting the market make them desirable prospects. Mike and Kuro help a new family to the neighborhood open their Bento shop, with some special care for the young girl who misses all of her old friends that she’s moved away from.

With a slice of life manga like Stellar Six, what happens isn’t as important as the interactions between the characters as they navigate their daily lives. Memorable moments from this manga for me were the blank stares Mike and her friends give the adults who predict that their friendship isn’t going to survive high school, or the awkward way Mike and Kuro discuss love after they see the effects of a love triangle in one of the cases they’ve investigated. It is too bad that we’re not going to see the full series of this manga, because angst-free, slice of life manga are hard to find.