Gakuen Alice Volume 11

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By Tachibana Higuchi. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

When we last left our heroes, Natsume had been lured into a trap, and it was up to Mikan and the others to rescue him. They go off to do this, being occasioanlly stopped by mid-level mooks. Unfortunately, these scenes are probably the most boring of the volume, as the entire cast stand around for about 60 pages and argue about why they shouldn’t be standing around. I swear, Mikan’s real Alice ability is dithering.

There is one very amusing bit during all this, and as you’d expect, it involves Hotaru. Hotaru, who is wearing a creepy egg helmet, is battling Mook #1, who has wind powers and a particularly arrogant demeanor. He’s jonesing to finish them off quickly, so he can get back to beating on Natsume, who he (like the rest of the school) despises. Then he breaks Hotaru’s helmet, and finds out that she’s a girl. Bing! True love alert! Of course, Hotaru wants nothing to do with him, but hey, it breaks up the monotony.

Luckily, Luca decides it’s time to tell the story of his and Natsume’s past, which is a good thing, as it’s easily the better part of the book. Luca has the typical rich-kid caged-bird childhood that you’d expect, but I was surprised to see how… well, how normal Natsume was. Yes, he’s still dour and grumpy, but in a far less “I hate life” way than he is in the current series. And then we see the reason why, which is the bond he shares with his sister Aoi. “Sister?” we say to ourselves. “Oh no…”

Yes, she’s instantly likeable, she’s cute, she’s happy-go-lucky… she’s doomed, isn’t she? (She’s also a lot like Mikan, something I’m sure that Tachibana is intending.) Sure enough, thanks to a trap planted by Persona (who has by now firmly established himself as the villain of this series, although I’m sure he’ll get a touching flashback later on as well. That’s the way these sorts of series roll. But for now, what a bastard.), Aoi and Natsume end up in a big amount of trouble… trouble that can only be solved by a) Natsume lying to protect his sister, and b) Natsume entering the Academy.

It’s telling that the preview for Volume 12 shows Mikan screaming “What’s wrong with this stupid school?”, as she is meant to be the reader identification character, and most readers are likely asking themselves that as well. Despite the presence of occasional ‘good’ teachers like Narumi (and how good he really is is debatable), it’s become clear that the Academy is more of a cross between a prison and a zoo, and that the ritualized abuse going on inside is definitely encouraged.

Still, this is what Tachibana does. Now that I’m reading Portrait of M&N; as well as Gakuen Alice, it’s becoming clearer… Tachibana likes to write hideously traumatic school situations, and then make comedic shoujo romance out of them. Obviously, Gakuen Alice is a big step up from the fluffier M&N;, but still. One can argue that I’ve been complaining about the bullying more than I should, but it is essentially the plot. Mikan and company have to find out what made the school this way. Hopefully we’ll see more of this in Volume 12.

Bamboo Blade Volume 5

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By Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

Once again, welcome to our love-letter to kendo. As this volume of Bamboo Blade shows, kendo allows you to do anything! You can use kendo to get better grades! Kendo can increase your self of self-worth! Kendo can distract you from the pain of your mother’s hospitalization? Why not try kendo today?

As lampshaded by the author, Bamboo Blade is not a series to read if you want to read about guys. Neither Yuji nor Dan get much development here, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Dan is there to be Miyamiya’s morality chain, keeping her from snapping and killing everyone. (He really is quite good at it, sensing exactly when he needs to step in and cheer her up, and knowing just what to say. Acorn head aside, it’s very clear why Miyamiya’s love for Dan is not just a false front.) And Yuji… eh. Whatever.

But the girls, as usual, shine in this volume. Pay particular attention to Miyako. She’s under considerable stress here, having to deal with her rabid rival/stalker Reimi, who’s now going to all her meets armed with a camera and a leer. (Yes, that’s right, Reimi’s ‘hatred’ of Miyamiya is actually an intense crush… hands up anyone who wasn’t expecting that. Anyone? Bueller?) She’s still doing poorly in her matches, either letting her rage get the better of her, or winning by default due to not having an opponent.

And yet, she shows that she’s the craftiest of the bunch. Kirino’s plan to get Azuma interested in kendo again is good, but it can only go so far. What it needs are a few dark and foreboding threats. The amusing thing is that, despite her over the top dramatics, Miyamiya is exactly right. Likely just studying and having no life won’t help Azuma at this point; kendo teaches self-discipline, which Azuma desperately needs; and really, a kendo scholarship *is* probably the best way to get into college for her. Of course, Miyamiya also thinks that she’ll make a good slave, and starts ordering her to get juices and things. Aww…

As for the meet itself, it was cute seeing a small shy girl from the other school inspired by Tama-chan to continue kendo. Her resolve to stay or to quit wavers widely as the fights go on, just as you’d expect from a teenager, but there’s no doubting her adoration of Tamaki’s amazing kendo moves. (It helped that Tamaki was fighting Azuma, the only one in that room who’s even remotely near Takami in terms of ability.)

I also liked seeing the coach of the other team, who is a hard-ass slave driver to his team, and knows that that may not be the best approach to take, but is driven to do it anyway. It makes Kojiro think about his own coaching style, and how he’s pretty much been simply standing by and letting Tamaki’s presence force the rest of the team to step up their own game. It’s not a bad approach, but it’s made clear that he really should be doing more, and is spinning his wheels by being lazy.

This is one of my favorite Yen Press books coming out at the moment. Sports comedy with a strong female cast, and lots of great set-pieces. It’s not overly dominated by action or comedy. And it’s deeper than it looks, too. Highly recommended.

Toriko Volume 1

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

Weekly Shonen Jump is, of course, a magazine designed for young boys to read. The series are full of things young boys like, whether it’s being a pirate, ninja, shinigami, samurai, or just the kid at school who can beat up all the other kids. That said, the magazine has a sizable female readership, both here and in Japan. And the editors know this. Most Jump manga have something that gives them a crossover readership, something that girls and boys will equally love. But then, on occasion, you get those Jump manga which are 100% designed for their demographic. Sometimes, you just need a dash of pure testosterone.

Enter Toriko, which has been running in Jump for two years now, and is probably its most popular new series. Theoretically, Toriko is about a vaguely futuristic world where animals seem to have mutated to become both ridiculously strong and impossibly delicious. Someone needs to be able to hunt down these dangerous animals and get them ready for the oven. Someone like Toriko, gourmet hunter! Together with the audience identification figure whose name I’ve already forgotten, they’ll travel to the farthest reaches of the globe, fighting hideous beasts for the sake of cuisine!

The food, it has to be said, is a bit of a MacGuffin here, which is somewhat surprising given how much attention is paid to it. Toriko himself is eating constantly, his sidekick Komatsu is a first-class head chef (I had to look up his name; it’s a sign of how irrelevant he is that he doesn’t get an intro card like the other main characters), and nobody can stop talking about Garara Gators, Rainbow Fruits, and the like. And yet, the food is just a gateway into what the manga is really about, awesome visuals of huge creatures and Toriko hitting, slicing, and dicing them.

He really is a huge, hulking menace, and it’s nice to see a Jump hero who we meet already at a very high level of strength. So many shonen heroes start off at the bottom, almost human level, and slowly build their way up over several volumes. Toriko springs forth as a demonic beast, and although we may get a flashback detailing his youth, it’s clear why most animals in the world are terrified of him. This allows us to jump right into the action.

The art serves this type of manga well. The heroes are not really all that attractive, but they certainly are rugged (again, with the possible exception of Komatsu), their style being more influenced by Fist of the North Star than Kenshin or Naruto. Toriko always seems to be grinning rakishly, usually because he’s staring down a 2-page spread of a gator or ape looking like it wants to eat him where he stands. The apes in particular are nasty suckers, and there is a great amount of detail given to their slavering jaws.

I will admit that vegetarians or animal rights activists will probably want to avoid this manga like the plague, even though Toriko makes a big point of never killing anything he doesn’t intend to eat (he stuns the apes as their flesh is too tough for cooking). But for anyone who wants to see Shonen Jump heroes at their absolute manliest, taking on hideous creatures with an insane grin on their face, Toriko is the manga for you.