Manga the Week of 2/29

February 22, 2012 By 1 Comment

It’s a 5th week that’s really a 4th week, so there’s actually quite a lot of manga shipping.

Dark Horse has a very busy week compared to their usual (their usual being no manga at all lately). A new volume of Gantz, which is at 21 volumes yet still providing the violence and latex outfits everyone wants. Speaking of what everyone wants, Volume 1 of Gate 7, much like its predecessor Kobato, featured CLAMP trying a bit too hard to be CLAMP. I’m hoping Volume 2 goes a little lighter on their standard tropes and heavier on plot and characterization.

I wish I didn’t have to give it the cover spotlight, but it’s the final volume, and it used to be awesome, so here it is. Del Rey’s last manga series ends with the publication of Vol. 19 of xxxHOLIC. The early volumes of this series were possibly the best thing CLAMP has ever done not named Card Captor Sakura. This last one… is out this week. :)

A trio of new manga from DMP. After much delay, we get the 7th volume of Itazura na Kiss. Featuring everyone’s least favorite hero. Let’s hope he gets a sweet moment or two this time around. There’s also Vol. 3 of the awesomely named Bad Teacher’s Equation, and the more sedately named Border. Both by the same author. I wonder if she did them at the same time?

Midtown comics lists Vol. 4 of cyberpunk series Mardock Scramble as coming in next week. My shop says it is also getting the 13th volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, which will answer the all-important question, “Can a translator last longer than 4 volumes on this series without burning out and leaving?”

Vertical has Volume 11 of its brand new series, GTO The Early Years. Yes, both those things are correct. Vol. 1-10 were released by Tokyopop, and Vertical is picking up where they left off. Known in Japan as Shonan Jun’ai Gumi, this series lasted even longer than GTO, and is how the world first got to know Onizuka. This volume should contain Vol. 21-22 of the original. Ed says if sales are good, they may go back to put 1-10 back in print. Get it! Onizuka rules!

Lastly, Midtown lags a week behind everyone else, as most of Diamond’s shops got Vol. 5 of Tenjo Tenge this week. It has kicking! And boobies! It is hard to imagine a more appropriate manga for 13 year old boys. Who, of course, should not be reading it. At least not in North America. M for Mature, folks.

So what appeals to you this week?

Filed Under: features, manga the week of

Toriko, Vol. 8

February 22, 2012 By 1 Comment

By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

It’s been a while since I did a full review of Toriko, but this is a good volume to talk about, as it’s less fight and more food oriented. After finishing off the cliffhanger from last volume (and getting to meet several of the side-villains face to face), Toriko reunites with Komatsu and goes to Gourmet Town, the #1 town to get fantastic food. While there they meet up with a legendary chef, the elderly but insanely strong and intelligent (as with most elderly manga women) Setsuno, who gives the two of them a taste of a legendary soup. A soup that is still incomplete, and needs one more ingredient. This leads to the cliffhanger of this volume, as both Toriko and Komatsu must journey to “Ice Hell” to find said ingredient…

In general, successful Jump series seem to fall into a pattern of “fighting + friendship + X”, where X is a variable. Plus ninjas, plus pirates, plus mangaka, plus Nisioisin… that type of thing. Here it’s food, and while much of Toriko is sitting back and watching insanely strong men battle each other, the food is not just an added extra to make the story palatable. First of all, even with the occasional ‘reader suggestion’ thrown in, the different types and varieties of food show off the author’s prodigious imagination. But food also controls the plot and the main characters. They live for it. A lot of the scenes in this volume will be familiar to fans of Oishinbo or similar titles – the initial reaction of happiness, followed by a description of what they just ate, possibly delineating the ingredients used. This is Jump foodie manga.

This volume also has several strong scenes between Toriko and Komatsu, including Setsuna, reminiscing on her own partnership with Jiro (who she was also romantically involved with), noting what good partners Toriko and Komatsu make. Now, I don’t think that any Jump title currently running is written primarily for the magazine’s growing BL audience. No, not even Reborn. But certainly a lot of what attracted the BL fandom in the first place is here – men in close friendships, with lots of bonding and fights and befriending former enemies. Komatsu is in many ways the perfect uke, and he’s surrounded by strong partners – not just Toriko, but also Coco and Sunny from previous volumes – all of whom initially see him as rather pathetic but then grow to treasure him as Komatsu’s true talents in food preparation are revealed. There’s also a dearth of women in this story – Rin has been around, and she has a crush on Toriko, but he completely ignores it. So while this isn’t a BL story, it does have everything that drew BL fans to Jump in the first place, and does not go out of its way to disappoint them.

I’m impressed by the world building going on here. A lot of titles like this give off a feeling that the author is making stuff up from week to week, but several of the plot points here seem to be well planned. Komatsu’s naivete is useful in this regard, as Toriko can explain various things to him, but there’s a casualness to it that doesn’t make it seem like exposition. I particularly liked the references to the Colonel sending a duplicate to Ice Hell rather than himself – it’s made mysterious while also being obvious for the reader.

Toriko is great fun, and looks to be starting another big arc. Hopefully it will continue to balance its big fights and male bonding with more delicious food. Recommended for Jump fans.

Filed Under: reviews, toriko

Manga the Week of 2/22

February 15, 2012 By 2 Comments

The fourth week (but really the 3rd) of February gives us quite a few titles to choose from. And for once, none of them are from viz – it’s the other publishers that get a look in.

Dark Horse gives us the 20th volume of Oh My Goddess, which means they have now caught up with the ‘unflipped’ editions. Honestly, it’s a sign of how popular this series is with their fans that they even went to all the trouble of this giant re-release, and I’m impressed. As ever, Carl Horn supplements the releases with letters and endnotes. Going forward, starting with Volume 41, it’s all heading forward into the future, rather than reliving the glorious past.

As always, DMP’s yaoi publications always end up with the best titles. This week we have ‘Gentlemen’s Agreements Between A Rabbit And A Wolf’, which sorely needs a tiger in there as well, but I won’t quibble as I know it would destroy the beautiful seme/uke balance the title provides. And in more sedate titles, we also have the 5th volume of the deluxe reissue of Kizuna.

Kodansha gives us the 4th volume of 24-style thriller Bloody Monday, and the 4th volume of fantastic dinosaur art series Gon. Two series that really are unlikely to ever cross over. (Gon doesn’t appear in Cage of Eden, does he? Cause that would just make my year.)

Seven Seas is giving Midtown the 3rd volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun, which many other Diamond customers – including me – got this week. There is still no sign of the parent series, A Certain Magical Index, but Railgun is entertaining enough.

That’s right, it’s my blog, and so Higurashi gets the image again. The Atonement Arc hits Volume 3, and no doubt will feature increasing paranoia and bloodshed. Can the ircle be broken, or are we in for another depressing reset? Well, we won’t find out yet, but certainly this will ramp up the tension. Also from Yen, we have new volumes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (the normal manga version, not the SD one); ninja manga Nabari no Ou; ecchi harem fantasy catgirl samurai… thing Omamori Himari; the awesomely insane Soul Eater; and a new volume of Sumomomo Momomno, which is still going, to my surprise. it’s hit Volume 11 too! Sheesh, kids these days…

All this and the debut of Soulless: The Manga from artist REM! What interests you this week?

Filed Under: features, manga the week of
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