Category: Manga

By Suzuki Tanaka (Blu)
ISBN: 1-59816-358-2

Here’s another Yaoi story, (romanticized fantasy relationship tales of beautiful young men created for female audiences; like Shonen-Ai but with a more explicit erotic content) although very mild – to the point of chaste gentility – by that standard.

Kotori is a shyly demure young man living in the big shadow of his older brother Kujaku, who’s smarter, prettier and much more successful. This gentle tale of first love recounts his growing confidence and closeness with “Boy-Hottie” Akaiwa whose attentions, though heartfelt, are constantly questioned by the insecure Kotori.

Set in the crucible of a Japanese High School, populated with a lovely looking, manipulative bunch of gossips and back-stabbers (Yaoi guys are apparently all the sort of snotty bitches beloved by TV teen soap operas), these two meander down the path of true love hampered by the eternal hurdles of misapprehension, misunderstanding and the impossible dream of a little privacy.

Funny, unassuming, charmingly and painfully romantic, the main tale tells a very common story and tells it very well, with the minor characters adding to the narrative mix in their own sub-adventures in separate chapters, rather than as scene-changes in the major text. This can seem a little disconcerting to western sensibilities, but these drastic jumps will resolve into the big picture eventually, so bear with it. I personally couldn’t grasp the oddly unwholesome concentration – an almost veiled sexual subtext – regarding the physical attraction between brothers – but I might be reading too much into the family relationships of another culture, so you should really decide for yourselves…

Menkui translates as “shallow” or “superficial” and although this everyday saga of pretty-boy angst might seem to condemn itself with this title these characters have the potential for a genuinely moving tale. If you are a grown-up romantic you could do worse than begin this journey with these young lovers.

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

© 2000 Suzuki Tanaka. All Rights Reserved. First published in Japan by BIBLOS Co., Ltd. English text ©2006.

By Kei Kusunoki (Tokyopop)
ISBN: 1-59816-498-8

Everybody knows that witches are bad, so when Private Eye Makoto Hirasaka, a detective with an absolutely uncanny ability to find his quarry is accused of being one he laughs it off. But even though his pretty young client is “mistaken”, she still wants him to ride a bus and meet someone at the last stop. And that person will actually be a witch…

And so begins a dark and nasty splatter-fest of shock and gore. When the bus crashes in the wilds, Makoto discovers that in fact all the pretty young girls are witches and moreover the locals have turned the crash-site into a private hunting preserve, which is okay since they’re witches and witches are evil and evil witches must die…

This decidedly odd and amoral tale is well-paced, thrilling in the classic modern-horror manner and beautifully illustrated. In spellbinding images we see the girls – and to be fair, their pursuers – die in increasing splashy and bizarre ways as Makoto realises that maybe not only his client could be mistaken as to his mystical status…

If you love mood and action and can overlook any sense of plot this rather nonsensical piece of fluff might call to you.

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

© 2004 Kei Kusunoki. All Rights Reserved. English script © 2006 Tokyopop Inc.

By various.

Fruits Basket Created by Natsuki Takaya (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0293-4

Fruits Basket is an incredibly popular Manga – and latterly anime – series that tells of the romantic adventures and life of a young orphan girl adopted by the benevolent but cursed Sohma family. Tohru is just an average girl but she soon adapts to the fact that whenever one of her new family hug a person of the opposite sex they are transformed into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. A Shojo (girl’s story) story, it is funny, sad, charming and incredibly convoluted. Hence this frankly daunting companion volume that charts relationships explains details and tells you absolutely everything you might ever want to know about the series and the characters.

Also included in this lavishly illustrated book are games, puzzles, story-synopses’ for the first 17(!) volumes and even beautiful stickers of Tohru, some of her scrumptious boyfriends and loads and loads of cute, cuddly zodiac animals. These manga chaps certainly know the meaning of “added-value”…

© 1998 Natsuki Takaya. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2007 TOKYOPOP Inc.

By David Hine & Hans Steinbach (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0080-0

Here’s a taut Sci-Fi thriller in the manner of Scanners from the English speaking end of the manga world. Young Sam Chance has most of the usual teenager’s problems but that all changes when he starts having nosebleeds and manifesting terrifying psychic powers. When doctors examine him he is found to be the latest victim of SKAR: South Korean Adolescent Retrovirus. There is no cure.

And then his life gets really weird. Whilst coming to terms with his imminent death his family is approached by the world’s richest computer games manufacturer with a solution; to cryogenically preserve him for two tears until the cure he’s working on is perfected. It seems like the perfect – if drastic – answer.

So why then is the Government prepared to assassinate every one who knows him and even shoot down the plane he’s travelling on? Despite all such efforts Sam escapes and nervously submits to the freezing process, bitterly regretting the two years he’ll be separated from his girlfriend. A century later he opens his eyes…

And that’s where this volume ends: a sharp and quirky tale that promises much to come and a few new twists to this fan-favourite theme of teen psychic super soldiers. Keep watching…

© 2007 David Hine and TOKYOPOP Inc. All Rights Reserved. POISON CANDY is ™ TOKYOPOP Inc.

By Barbara Randall Kesel, Heidi Arnhold & Max Kim (TOKYOPOP)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-701-6

The manga movement gains more ground with this wonderful prequel to the classic fantasy movie as Barbara Randall Kesel scripts a gripping and emotive story of oppression and defiance on a far-flung world.

Gelflings are passive, gentle folk; farmers and artisans in a world lacking technology. The real power players are the philosophical Mystics and their depraved and evil counterparts, the Skeksis. Whilst the former are solitary isolationists, the monstrous Skeksis are power-hungry and use the life essence of the Gelflings to extend their own lives.

This story starts as the herder and musician Lahr discovers the giant Garthim are raiding again, taking Gelflings for the Skeksis to consume. Too late to save his own village, he stumbles across Neffi, whose village was also raided by the lobster-like plunderers. The desolates pair up and find another Gelfling village, hidden deep in a ravine.

They are in time to warn them but become embroiled in a deadly debate. Should the Gelflings stay hidden and hope to evade the relentless ravagers or should they abandon everything and run, in the hope of finding some new refuge? Is there another option? Can these gentle creatures learn to fight back in time to save their race?

Enthralling in both script and artwork, this is a quality fantasy tale, that won’t disappoint genre addicts or fans of the original film.

© 1982, 2007 The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved. The Dark Crystal is a trademark of The Jim Henson Company.

By Da-Mi Seomoon (TOKYOPOP)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-834-1

This top-notch fantasy tale is the story of two half-sisters whose already unconventional life takes an outlandish and possibly deadly turn…

Ha-Ru is a real golden child, popular, easygoing, good at sports but her sister Mi-Ru is darkly sullen and withdrawn. Ha-Ru also has the ability to see spirits and supernatural creatures, but she keeps that a secret from her fellow students. She is breezing through school when she is summoned home for a mysterious ceremony. Taking her close friends Dong-Uk Lee and Joon-Hee, she and Mi-Ru travel to ‘The Last Island’ to reveal that she is in fact the heir of the family which owns the island and everything on it.

This matriarchal nation reveres Ha-Ru, practically worshipping her, but when a faction of the ruling family try to manipulate Mi-Ru into usurping control the bitter girl runs away, attempting to throw herself off a cliff. Ha-Ru gives chase but only catches her as they plunge towards the sea…

They wake up on an alien world, a feudal desert with three moons, and dragons, and rough warriors who think nothing of making slaves of any strangers they find…

This is an above average fantasy tale, with more texture than the norm, some solid laughs to balance the action and genuinely interesting plot threads. Da-Mi Seomoon’s art is stylish and innovative, especially the photo-collage pages, and the characters are well-rounded. The volume does end on a cliff-hanger though, so you’ll probably want to have the next one handy before you start.

© 2003 Da-Mi Seomoon, HAKSAN Publishing Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
English text © 2007 TOKYOPOP Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Wing Shing Ma (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN 13: 978-1-59796-041-0

Unbelievable as it may sound the action kicks into even higher gear in this follow-up collection of martial arts comics in the classic Hong Kong Style. Hero Hua is the latest of his family line tasked with protecting the mystical Blood Sword from the varied forces of evil that want to possess it. With a huge support network of Kung Fu “goodies” to offset the brutal losses to his own family – all tragic victims of the never-ending battle – he thwarts every attempt by such villains as Heart Demon and General Satan to obtain the artefact.

This series is a truly generational saga that spans many lands and many years. After a climactic confrontation Hero Hua goes to America and the focus switches to the son he thought lost. Jian Xiong has been raised in secret and isolation by his grandfather to protect him from enemies. Many years pass, and the child grows into a wayward but good-hearted fifteen-year-old in a desolate fishing village. But one day his life changes forever when the island is invaded by the fearsome hordes of the Death Gate, a martial arts cult looking for the next Young Master, who is their destined leader…

Another magnificent campaign of battles and duels ensues before order is restored, but by the end Jian has triumphed and himself travelled to the United States. Can a meeting with his father be far away? You’ll need to read volume III for that answer.

Crafted in a variety of artistic styles including pen-and-ink, crayon, painted art, even photography, this is an exotic and frenetic comic about fighting, heavily influenced by the mystical component of Kung Fu. If you prefer a semblance of realism in your fiction this rollercoaster romp is not for you. This is Fighting Fantasy.

Superhero fans might be amazed at the variety of powers a lifetime of knuckle push-ups and bowing can produce, but this is a style of comic that is wedded to the concept of training and will creating miracles. It is however, irresistibly exuberant, beautifully illustrated and endlessly compelling. If you’re an open-minded fan, you may find yourself carried away on this relentless tide of shallow characterisation and non-stop action.

© 2007 Yasushi Suzuki. © 2007 DGN Production Inc.

By Morim Kang (Net comics)
ISBN 13: 978-1-60009-183-4

Some stories are great because of their innovation and novelty, whilst others just tell the same old tale over and over. When these latter tales succeed it’s solely because of the nuance, skill and artistry with which the commonplace has been shaped to feel fresh and new.

10, 20, And 30 is an evergreen saga of women and the search for love, tenderly observed, pragmatically and humorously told. Rok Nah is a young teenaged girl (a “10-Something”) going through those difficult years. She has boyfriend – sort of – but is obsessed with all the other confusions of growing up to deal with.

Her mother Krumb Yoon (“30-Something”) is a widow with a thankless job at a fashion company. Recently though, the company boss has been taking an inappropriate (but chaste) interest in her. The “20” part of the equation is Krumb’s niece Belle Woo who has become like an older sister to Rok since her parents have all but disowned her for having sex and refusing to get married. As the totally different, yet painfully similar, problems of love confront the three heroines, their natures and unique responses make for an entrancing and addictive read.

Although a standard soap-opera romance in conception, the light treatment and strong characterisations give this Manhwa (manga style comics produced in and for South Korea) a compelling edge that might win it fans across not just the age but also the gender divide…

© 1998 Morim Kang. All Rights Reserved.
English text © 2007 NETCOMICS. All Rights Reserved.

By Yo Yo (Tokyopop)
ISBN 978-1-905239-60-3

This is a light quirky fairy tale for adults, which blends traditional fantasy elements with modern artefacts and idiom to tell short gag tales. Narrated by a chain-smoking cat in leather boots, it details the sad-sack exploits of cute but uninspiring witch Laya, and the growing coteries of extraordinary friends who come to stay with her in her capacious house in the wild woods.

The creative anachronism and willingness to meddle with both context and the fourth wall might bewilder some readers, but generally the fun and frolics centre around the kind of problems teenaged girls fret about, such as boys, shopping, friends and social or family approval. My old soul wants to call this a very “girly” book but that’s not meant in an accusative or prejudicial way.

There’s fun and meat here but Laya isn’t about depth or challenge, so if you can’t just go with the flow or need a certain amount of tension in your entertainment, you might want to look elsewhere, and parents might want to screen this before letting younger kids at it

Jolly and competent, but not to every fan’s taste.

© 2001 Yo Yo, DAIWON C.I. Inc. English text © 2006 TOKYOPOP Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Jae-Hwan Kim (TOKYOPOP)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0188-3

This visually impressive if traditional sci-fi action thriller from the Korean end of the manga world is set in a post-apocalyptic future. 2504 AD: Genetic engineering has created a society where people are second class citizens, playthings of the hybridized animal/human ‘Beasterians’, bred to be our warriors but now occupying the top of the evolutionary food-chain.

This semi-feudal world is a battleground for rival hybrid clans, and humanity is poised to join the Dodo, but there is still The Prophecy. The Post-Testament Bible offers the slim hope of salvation for Mankind, and the militant arm of The Church has its own hybrid super-warriors, known as Angels.

When the Holy Mother – destined to be the mother of the new Messiah – is abducted by the Overlord Tyron’s unstoppable third-generation hybrids, a ragtag band of Angels must retrieve her at all costs…

This is nothing new, and older manga fans might recognise a lot of Buronson and Hara Tetsuo’s ‘Fist of the North Star’ in this fast and furious battle extravaganza, but they probably won’t care. This is the kind of plot-light, adrenaline-party blockbuster that guys drag girls to every summer, and on those disposable terms it excels. Exciting, excessive, entertaining eye-candy.

© 2007 Jae-Hwan Kim and TOKYOPOP Inc. All Rights Reserved.