Category: Manga

By Mira Lee (NetComics)
ISBN: 978-1-60009-232-9

It’s hard enough to get by as a mannish young girl, better at fighting than dating, and a poor student too, in today’s society, but when you’re also trapped in a parallel dimension where sadistic, autocratic, bullying women have enslaved men, it’s much worse. When you compound that with the shameful fact that the oppressed men who have summoned you to deliver them from bondage are completely oblivious of the fact that you are actually female you can see why young Sooha Jung thinks she might have made a mistake in travelling to this magical realm to liberate the men of the Para Empire.

Falling afoul of the brutal women – also unaware of Sooha’s sex – led to a battle in which the rebel Boy-Toy Ganesha was injured almost fatally. Desperate and on the run, Sooha is captured and imprisoned. As events in the rebel hierarchy proceed without her, Sooha realises that this is not her first contact with the male denizens of the Para Empire. There was an incident long ago when she was a little girl…

There’s a touch of Aubrey Beardsley and the occasional dash of Charles M Schulz in the dreamy artwork that so well delineates this compelling manhwa fantasy. Ending on another cliffhanger this tales continues to grip the reader in fevered anticipation…

© 1997 Mira Lee. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2007 NetComics.

By Matsuri Akino (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-607-1

There’s a new kid in school but he’s not the type who likes to make waves or get noticed. Meanwhile in the remote mountainous kingdom of Dhalashar, the Chinese have installed a new ruler, Karma the 42nd. The world expects trouble because everybody knows that the new leader is not the true reincarnation of the King. Idly, Fuuto Kamishina ponders the hassle of a kid of fifteen forced to run an entire country. It takes all his energy just to get through a day. And then the giant invisible talking bird tells him that he’s the true king of that faraway land and heir to all the mystical and spiritual powers of the position…

This collection of the first five tales in the acclaimed series introduces the reluctant boy-king and sees him gradually accept his heritage if not his responsibilities. He makes and tragically loses a friend and fellow outsider, takes up with an unconventional scholar and his uniquely disabled lolli-goth ward, speaks with the dead and discovers that other magical servants and guardians are going to keep making his life increasingly difficult.

Somewhat slow-paced and a trifle derivative, this Shoujo fantasy is populated with the usual fashions, castles and coterie of pretty, intense boys that fans expect, but there’s little of the back-biting intrigue that pervades the sub-genre here: At least so far. What there is though, is a dreamy inevitability and spooky sub-text that ought to appeal to mystery fans as well.

Beautifully drawn, but painfully slow, most readers – myself included – will need a few more volumes before a fair and full opinion can be formed.

© 2000 Matsuri Akino. English script © 2006 TokyoPop Inc.

By Mira Lee (NetComics)
ISBN: 978-1-60009-231-2

Sooha Jung is sixteen and has just failed the High School Admissions Exam. In achievement-oriented, socially conservative South Korea it’s bad enough to be a tomboy who prefers to fight rather than preen or primp or date boys, but now she can add mediocre student to her list of failings. But then the ethereally beautiful and androgynous Ganesha literally bumps into her.

Sooha is unsure if the lovely but weird foreigner is a boy or a girl, but soon decides that’s not as relevant as the fact that he’s completely crazy, claiming to come from another dimension, the Para Empire, where men are slaves and sex objects dominated by sadistic, domineering women. Disbelieving yet inspired by the thought of a world where women are in charge she agrees to “return” with Ganesha. Unfortunately, the story was true and she’s soon trapped on a very alien world. Moreover Ganesha believes she’s the perfect man to lead the downtrodden males of Para to freedom!

Embroiled in a civil war in a fantastical primitive place, Sooha bolts, but soon realises the genuine need of the oppressed in a truly savage society. She also discovers that Ganesha has a secret. As the most beautiful man in the worlds he’s not only a secret freedom fighter but also the cherished, pampered plaything of the truly diabolical Supreme Ruler: a woman known as The Emperor…

Malevolent schemers, Court intrigues, broad humour and a weird take on gender issues elevate this old, old plot and the healthy doses of supernatural conflict countered by Sooha’s Bull-in-a-China-shop temperament makes this tale an unexpected treat. Its nice to see a less-than-deferential, plain girl as lead character for a change and the cliffhanger this first volume concludes on ensures that I’ll be back to see what happens next. Give it a go and perhaps you’ll feel the same way too…

© 2001 Mira Lee. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2007 NetComics.

By Kosuke Fujishima (Titan Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-510-1

This volume of the classic manga fantasy romance/comedy of manners finds the mystically afflicted Keiichi still kicking back (as much as is humanly possible) after his semi-domesticated pantheon of goddesses almost destroyed the world. When he accidentally bound the celestial Belldandy to him in a cosmic wrong number incident he knew that there was trouble ahead but he never dreamed that her tag-along sisters were chaos incarnate.

Mischievous Urd believes she now owes him a debt of gratitude and intends to repay it by making him and Belldandy fall properly in love. But in a home filled with meddling deities, and sisters at that, no plan ever works out…

Things are further complicated by the demonic possession of Keiichi’s little sister Megumi by the wicked spirit Mara, the introduction of vacuous himbo boy-toy Senbei, the God of Poverty and Disaster, and the appearance of a new student in the Motor Club our hero spends all his time and money in.

Sora Hasegawa is a different kind of threat: she’s smart and pretty, loves machinery and wears glasses! (In Japanese popular literature and modern fiction there’s a sub-cultural icon called a meganekko or glasses-wearing-girl, who is either a nerd or irresistibly cute and often both. If you need more information set your search engines to look, but don’t touch…). How can the faithful and long-suffering Belldandy compete with this kind of threat?

Beautifully illustrated, consistently charming, this blend of slapstick, fantasy and comedy-of manners is a perennial favourite and a great joy to read. But for the love of Odin, do not start anywhere but with the first volume, and then you’ll have to get ’em all.

This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

English language translation © 2008 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

By Maki Murakami (TOKYOPOP)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0240-8

Enthusiastic, if over-written, sequel to the twelve volume manga series Gravitation which follows the trials and tribulations of popular boy-band (that’s a pun most of you won’t get until later) Bad Luck through the torrid love affair between Shuichi Shindo and Eiri Yuki. This is a Shōnen-ai serial so if you’re not comfortable with pretty lads in love this is not for you, and if you’re looking for the sexually explicit stuff, you’ll be disappointed too as that’s Yaoi fiction. This is a twisty-turny teen romance tale (the lead characters are contextually in their thirties but are drawn much younger).

At the end of Gravitation Shuichi and Yuki had seemingly resolved their tempestuous relationship and settled down -as much as Rock Stars ever do – but with this volume a trip to America brings an amazing and long-term complication into their lives, opening old wounds. Also, in a world full of beautiful hungry people temptation is never far away…

To Western eyes (mine included) this is an uneasy blending of over-the-top slapstick, Rock ‘n’ Roll clichés, cheap soap-opera, and touching, desperate romance, but the series has narrative integrity and many devoted fans. It helps a lot that it is so beautifully illustrated. If you like this sort of thing, to misapply Abraham Lincoln’s legendary adage, this is the sort of thing you’ll like, but trust me on this, without the dozen Gravitation books as a starter, this sequel series will be fairly impenetrable.

This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

© 2006 Maki Murakami, GENTOSHA COMICS. English text © 2007 TOKYOPOP Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Keiko Takemiya, story by Ryu Mitsuse (Vertical)
Book 1 ISBN: 978-1-932234-84-8, Book 2 ISBN: 978-1-932234-85-5, Book 3 ISBN: 978-1-934287-04-0

Keiko Takemiya is one of the most revered women working in Japanese comics. Her Kaze to Ki No Uta (an adaptation of Gilbert Cocteau’s The Poem of the Wind and the Trees) which appeared in 1976 is considered the first ever Shounen-ai (young men’s love strip) and the progenitor of that entire genre. Born in 1950, she sold her first work in 1968, working in not just romance and girl’s stories but also science fiction in a grand and epic manner.

This brief series from 1980-1982 has some overtones of Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker novels, and tells the epic generational tale of humanity’s struggle against encroaching and relentless mechanisation by sentient machines programmed to domesticate and protect Man from all threats – especially himself.

On the idyllic and spiritual world of Astria, Cosmoralian Prince Ithaca is preparing to marry Princess Lilia when an irresistible mechanical invasion force arrives, programmed to overwhelm and eradicate organic life.

Despite heroic opposition The Enemy inexorably assimilates the human population, and Lilia is forced to flee with her newborn son Prince Jimsa to the desert wastes. There he grows to young manhood surviving ravening wild beasts, bandits and grim adversity, sharpening the immense powers he has developed as the culminating point of three extremely special bloodlines.

And somewhere a twin sister he knows nothing about also matures…

The third volume begins with the siblings eventual meeting, carries through to the final fate of Astria and goes on to encompass the intergalactic destiny of the entire human race.

Staggering in scope, this fantasy thriller has classical overtones (and a chilling metaphorical message picked up in James Cameron’s Terminator movie a few years later) delivered in an engagingly florid and poetic style. Working with prose science fiction legend Ryu Mitsuse, Takemiya blazed a trail with this tale and it’s a pleasure to finally see it in an accessible English edition.

© 2008 Keiko Takemiya. Translation © 2008 Magnolia Steele and Vertical, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By various (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-42780-347-1

I’m always happy to see new ways to cross the divide between comics – of any nationality – and the broader world so this odd but interesting (to wizened codger me, at least) new art book from those fine people at TokyoPop gets my nod.

For those of you who have no idea what “Gothic” and “Lolita” means in this context, allow me to enlighten you.

Young people–and especially Japanese folk–like to dress up. They call it “Cos Play”. That’s a recreational choice. This book is devoted to a stylisation that probably grew out of that but more directly devolves from music fans copying the way their favourite Visual Kei bands dressed. Visual Kei is a music genre where performers all play in a themed uniform or costume – like the Beatles in 1964 or the Hives last week. This mimicry has become an actual fashion movement in its own right.

The Gothic part is much like what you’re used to, a subculture concerned with alienation, which borrows equal parts from Elizabethan and Victorian/Edwardian clothing styles and vampire imagery ranging from the German Expressionists to Hammer films. There’s lots of black and some red and/or white. Many outsiders assume Goths are obsessed with death and nihilism, and just like when I was a punk in the late 1970’s (don’t visualise, just move on) assume the clothes are a uniform rather than a lifestyle choice. By most accounts Goths are concerned with issues of change, transformation, free expression, conscious eroticism and austere or “cold” beauty.

Lolita in this context means wearing outfits that have visual roots in Victorian and Edwardian children’s clothing or Rococo period fashion and accessories. In Japan Roriita Fasshon is a thriving subculture with many competing companies producing apparel and millions of young people designing their own personal outfits.

The basic kit includes knee length socks or stockings, flounced skirts and dresses, ornate headdresses, blouses and petticoats plus insanely high heel/platform shoes or boots… and very specific make-up. The emphasis is on innocence and idyllic childhood, so there’s often a teddy bear or toy in attendance.

Lolita subdivides into a number of branch styles such as Gothic, Elegant Gothic, Sweet (or amaloli: based on Rococo art styles and heavily influenced by Alice in Wonderland and shojo manga – I said there was a comic connection, didn’t I?), Country (more Dorothy in Oz than Alice in Looking Glass Land), Classic (which is intricate and Baroque influenced) and even Punk.

This oversized tome is filled with translated articles produced between 2004 to 2006 culled from Japanese magazines on the subject as well as original American contributions, hundreds of photos, poetry, fan art and designs, and a rather good complete original manga tale: Till Dawn is by Asumiko Nakamura and details the surreal yet poignant meeting of a Goth boy and a Lolita girl. This edition also includes a set of patterns for the home hobbyist to make their own Loli-Goth accessories.

Not, I suspect, everybody’s cup of tea but an intriguing project that might pull in a few fashion-conscious fans to our weird graphic playground. And all you comic he-men shouldn’t worry; I read the entire thing and felt absolutely no desire to put on a petticoat (what did I say about not visualising…?!)

© 2007 TokyoPop, by arrangement with Index Communications. All Rights Reserved.

By Kyungok Kang (NetComics)
ISBN: 978-1-60009-116-2

This is a rather gentle suspense – and potentially, horror – story for older kids which has a lot to offer adult readers. Jina is a young Korean Girl with all the usual problems of the comfortable modern miss, but her family is keeping a big, dark secret from her.

Hundreds of years ago her ancestors were rulers and one vain and foolish king ordered the death of a magical serpent called Imugi, just as it was preparing to ascend to Heaven. It cursed the family for eternity, decreeing that in every generation one of them would die, because of the actions of two people close to them. The fear, distrust and misery of this most subtle pronouncement has blighted the family through the centuries and for all their attempts to forestall their doom with priests, fortune tellers and exorcisms, nothing has worked. Long ago they decided to keep all knowledge of the curse from the children, only revealing the secret when – or if – they reach a certain age.

Jina doesn’t have many friends but as her birthday approaches her school rivalry with that obnoxious boy Jaesuk looks to be turning into something more, the girls in class seem less aggressive and distant and her cousin Myunghyun has returned from America after three years, bringing with him a gorgeous and enigmatic young man named Yoojin Lee. As the days progress she grows closer to them all but her new relationships are troubling her parents. The latest soothsayer has determined that Jina is the most probable target of this generation’s curse which means that two people close to her will cause her death…

More teen-soap than thriller, this undemanding manhwa fantasy has a subtle undercurrent to it which promises much. I for one will follow this pretty eye-candy to see if there’s a bitter bite beneath all the saccharine…

© 2007 Kyungok Kang. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2007 NetComics.

By Hiroki Endo (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-502-6

After the deadly ‘Closure Virus’ decimates the world the survivors have to cope with the global power-grab of the paramilitary secret society Propater. Elijah Ballard is one such survivor, searching for his mother in the ruins of a still un-pacified South America. Falling in with a rebel unit lead by the ominous Colonel Khan, Elijah is unaware of just how important he is, and just what part his mother now plays in the bloody new world order.

This volume of Hiroki Endo’s gripping, brutal post-apocalyptic thriller splits the action between the contemporary battle with a disturbing back-story origin for the compelling young rebel Kenji; a cold, psychotic killer who seems as alien and inhuman as any cybernetic monstrosity devised by the world-devouring Propater forces. By exploring Kenji’s violent past and unconventional relationship with older brother Ryuichi, the author also offers a glimpse at the origins of the Conquerer’s technology. It appears that the Closure Virus is the basis of the Cyborg technology now decimating Khan and his unit…

Eden is a brutal, savage epic, meticulous and compelling: This volume ends with a seemingly unconnected vignette showing what’s happening to Mana, Elijah’s missing sister – absent since the first book. How this sweet, innocuous interlude will fit into the dark, apocalyptic mosaic of this drama is something for another time…

And you really should stick around for it. This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

© 2007 Hiroki Endo. All Rights Reserved.

By Kosuke Fujishima (Titan Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-509-5

When geeky engineering student Keiichi Morisato dialled a wrong number one night and connected to the Goddess Technical Help Line his life changed forever. A gorgeous, powerful goddess named Belldandy materialised in his room, and offered him one wish. He jokingly asked that she would never leave him…

Trapped on Earth and unable even to move too far from his physical proximity Belldandy became part of his life. Unfortunately her life increasingly became part of his, too. All Keiichi wants is to pass his exams and live a quiet life but as more and more of Belldandy’s powerful and weird family turn up and move in, life keeps on getting more wild – and dangerous!

In this volume mischievous sister Goddess Urd has been possessed by the Lord of Terror and has activated the celestial Ultimate Destruction Program. The Great Fenrir Wolf is free and the World is about to end unless our hapless goof does something about it!

Although the trademark humour is still in evidence, this is a more action-oriented adventure, with moments of genuine suspense and the mandatory massive destruction one expects from manga thrillers. All of which shows just how adaptable this series can be, and the book even has room for a delightful and poignant change-of-pace tale to close. ‘Urd’s Fantastic Adventure’ is a bittersweet tale wherein the depowered and diminutive Urd reverts to a child’s body and experiences a doomed first love with a lonely young boy.

In a structured society like Japan there’s plenty of scope for comedy with fantasy and gender role-reversal. It’s a sign of Kosuke Fujishima’s great story-telling ability that this comic take on Bewitched travels so well in our less strictured world, and remains one of the most readable and engaging of manga properties. It’s great but you will need to read them all.

This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

English language translation © 2008 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.