Shin
Mar
11

New York New York (Fan Scanlation)

Author: Marimo Ragawa
Website available for dl: www.zetsuai.com (that link is very confusing, it’s what it says in the corner of the first page, but I’m sure I got it from some place else.)
Translated by: Janna & Phoenix
Genre: Romance, Yaoi, Drama.
Age: 16up -Nothing really, a few kisses here and they are not graphic-

Review based on chapter 1&2 of the three chapters available at the time
Review:
Kain is a young New York Police Officer. He moved away from his parents to live on his own. He’s doing fine; however, he’s being pressure by his mother to find a girl and settle down. Kain however can’t, you see he’s keeping a little secret from his mom and the guys at the station: he’s gay. He works in Manhatthan but lives way outside in Queens. He usually goes to the local gay bar as it’s the only place where can be himself. He couldn’t bare to tell his parents and co-workers and face the consequences of that. One night one guy steps in, with his blond hair and adorable eyes. Kain is immediatly struken, and dare I say it, falls in love. However still battling with his own demons (a.k.a his mother) he’s a bit nervous approaching the guy, still he tries. He realizes it isn’t so hard to do, and the two of them get off talking. (that wasn’t meant to sound so bad)
Kain invites the guy over to his apartment, who’s name is, after they friendly exchanged them, Mel. The talk and talk some more. Mel stays over for the night, but nothing happense. Early the next moring Kain wakes up only to realize that Mel isn’t there. Aww Sad
Kain rubs whatever it was as a one night “conversation” since he didn’t get Mel’s address or phone number or anything. He goes back to the gay bar, and well is hit on another guy. They qurrel over whether to go to a hotel or Kain’s aparment. As they go to Kain’s aparment for Lord knows what kind of kinky stuff. Kain meets Mel waiting at his door; however, with the other guy on Kain’s shoulders, Mel decides to make a quick exist.
Kain is in shock that Mel even came back, even more surprised to see that Mel left him note containing his address and everything. Now Kain feels like bastard. Mel is broken up about it too, but feels somewhat horridfied when a police officer shows up by his door. It turns out only to be Kain, on duty. After a little explaining about what happened, things seem to be back to the way they were. Before Kain has to run to a robbery in progress Kain gives Mel a kiss. This seems to be the start of a relationship.
Over the next couple of weeks, Kain and Mel start seeing each other on a regular basis. Their relationship isn’t perfect though, Mel’s past seems to haunt him. The fact that he’s open about his sexuality and that has other partners, makes Kain jealous. Mel’s rather sensitive and many times Kain pushes him away, but they work through the early problems. After a while they decide to move in with each other, in a small house in the suburbs.
Kain is still a closet case, at work and with mother. Even though he moved in with Mel, he hasn’t come to terms with his own sexuality–at least in regards to other people. This makes Mel feel sort of second class. Kain starts to refer to Mel as the other “friend” to his mom, and doesn’t allow Mel to meet any of his co-workers. Mel tells Kain the story about how his mother committed suicide and left him outside in the cold, and ever since then he’s felt alone in the world, and that’s why he bonds to Kain so much and doesn’t want to get left alone. Mel’s worst fears come true when he’s held by gun point and raped by a robber, when he finds out that the robber had AIDS, he’s almost ready to give up. However Kain won’t let him give up so easily, even if it means him comming out to his mother and co-workers. He won’t let Mel’s be alone again.

Opinion:
Wonderful manga. There wasn’t much of focus on sex in this but it was still really good (yeah, I’m a yaoi fanboy smut, don’t look at me that way). There is a lot of drama in this, a whole lot, but that’s what makes it so good. It deals with a lot of gay-theme issues in the few pages, issue anyone having “acceptance and denial” issues would be able to undertand very well. It’s a very realistic manga, and un-like a yaoi that have plot lines so far from reality, this one is pretty on the ball. Which might the reason why it’s such a good read. Kain and Mei’s relationship is always taken on blow after the next, and it’s inspirational to see how they stick it through. The manga is overall really intense, and I don’t mean that kind of “intense” we usually identify with yaoi. Sometimes you feel for Kain and what he goes through and other times you hate him for what he puts Mei through. And at first you might think Mei is some kind of whore, but later on you begin to feel for him, and all the shit he went through and still going through in his life.
The story gets really touching in the second chapter, when Mei get’s raped by the robber (don’t worry they don’t show it, and in case it’s rather sad, unlike most Yaoi where non consenual sex is what drives most it) and he becomes scared, as he was potentional exposed to AIDS. It’s definately a chapter than sticks to you. But overall the story is like that, very dramatical and intense, and well emotional.
The artwork is really well done, the men actually look masculine, and handsome (which is one thing I usually critise yaoi-boys for being too feminine, but what can you do). Enough attention was paid to detail, although it wasn’t very, so that everything was balanced. Overall the artwork had a unique feel to it, it was very different from what I’m accustom to.
Now this is a yaoi so how can not talk about sex (we could have talked about it anyway though). If your a yaoi-smut you might be let down in this department, there isn’t much sex (at least in the two of the three or four chapters I’ve read, the others could be a bunch of pages of Holy gay Orgy to make up for lost time, but I’ll have to wait to see). While both of the characters talk about sex a lot, it isn’t the driving force behind. So far there have only been glimpses of sex in the manga, I believe the most graphic thing you’ll see is a Mei’s leg on Kain shoulder. It’s really tease worthy, because you want too see them have sex because they have the perfect everything (bodies, personality etc) but the manga kinda wants you not to focus on sex but the relationship. We could say it’s very very very soft core yaoiness, mostly kisses and hugs and stuff.
The editing/translation did have some mistakes, I saw a “I want u to be happy” or something like that sentence, which is ok if you posting on a forum (like me) but you try not to write the letter “u” for “you” for something you want people to read. Besides that you should be find, the usually “come” for “cum” mistakes weren’t in this because it isn’t a smutty manga.
It’s a weird manga, and I mean that by it’s very gay (like real gay, not straight women fantising about gay men) oriented and realistic. Not the usually way out of the scope of reality of ever happening yaoi. After reading I’d be more likely to put it in a Love/Drama/Romance category before I do the rest of the Yaoi genre. New York New York is good example of how diverse the yaoi genre can be, it’s not all just sex people. If your a fan that likes your yaoi focussed more on story and solid plot than sex than this is good for you. If you’re a shonen-ai fan that wants a tear jerker of a real romance story with intense emotion, than this is good for you, the only thing is the boys in “Boys’ Love” have grown up. If you love emotional love stories that have deep emotions connected to it, than this is good for you. If you’re a smut that just likes it nasty don’t even bother with it.

Score:
8.8/9.0
-Definately want to see this published one day-

By Cherubim

Mar
11

New Vampire Miyu volume 1

New Vampire Miyu volume 1 review

Art by – Narumi Kakinouchi
Story by – Toshihiro Hirano
Japanese publisher – Susperia (Akita Shôten)
English translation – (Studio Ironcat)
Volumes - 5
Genres – Shôjo, Horror, Romance

Review is based on volume 1
Miyu is both Vampire and Guardian of the Japanese Spirit Realm. Larva is her devoted servant, and assists in her vigil to keep a balance between the Dark and the normal world. When stray Demon-gods, or Shinma, seek to feed upon and destroy humans, it is Miyu’s power combined with Larva’s that returns them to the Dark. But unlike Miyu, Larva is not Japanese. He is actually a powerful Western Shinma whose original mission was to destroy Miyu. A transfer of blood bound them together instead, and her would-be assassin became her greatest ally.

However, Larva’s brethren have now travelled to Japan with every intention of returning Larva to their ranks and conquering their competition. Larva’s blood relation Carlua is particularly anxious to destroy Miyu, but not before the Japanese Vampire Princess is punished for the transgression of having enslaved a Western Shinma.

Imagine Bram Stoker’s Dracula: A being of unimaginable power, including the ability to withstand sunlight, which roams the land in search of blood. Now imagine that such a being was a brown-haired, golden-eyed thirteen-year old girl charged with the task of returning wandering Shinma to the dark and defending the gate to the Japanese Spirit Realm. That’s the premise for New Vampire Miyu, and it’s a welcome move away from the mostly comedic titles that are currently available, and towards a more eerie and spooky world where the dwellers of the dark live amongst humans, sometimes without incident, and sometimes with deadly repercussions.

Miyu is an attractive character in that her beguiling, child-like appearance is both truth and lie. More than her small stature, there’s a lack of maturity in her decisions and action which give the impression of a young innocent — not something you usually think of someone who takes pleasure in burning her enemies to cinders. But the nascence is there and proves to be her weakness on more than one occasion. Her powers may echo that of the ancient guardians, but Miyu is still vulnerable to her emotions. For that reason she has great need of Larva, who is a fascinating being himself for balancing carefully on the fine line between father-figure and paramour. He is the sage, stable force in Miyu’s existence who protects, teaches and loves her. That he’s blessed with the allure that seems common property of all vampires in literature and bishônen in manga simply widens his fan base. Together, they make a somewhat taboo but enticing couple, and it is the threat of their being separated that eats at the reader’s heart during this first volume.

New Vampire Miyu is categorised as horror, but it’s also a wonderfully gothic romance, illustrated in one of the more beautiful manners I’ve seen to date. Many of the panels are sketch-like, with little tone — primarily line work. My personal favourites are the wider panels that have layered faces or limbs meant to communicate movement. It’s accomplished not in an exaggerated form as in most comics, but in an ethereal manner that is decidedly delicate and romantic. It’s not pristine or perfect, but it carries a large emotional impact. Sadly, however truly beautiful the art may be, it’s difficult to give it full appreciation since the layout as a whole often leads to confusion. Many times — especially during fight scenes — the action is unclear. It may be very pretty to look at, but it doesn’t do what it’s meant to: tell the story.

The key to unlocking this problem could have been the dialogue, but unfortunately that’s also hard to follow on occasion since the speaker is not always easily discernible. The dialogue is also somewhat disappointing considering the wonderful idea the author had to work with. Part of the reason is the run-of-the-mill writing itself, but the other part of the problem is how the dialogue translates. The way something reads in Japanese does not necessarily have the same effect in English — even if it is a literal translation — so by English standards some of the writing comes across as stilted or clichéd. Admittedly though, the characters and story are engaging enough to overcome most of the verbal shortcomings.

And once again, the art in New Vampire Miyu is splendid. Studio Ironcat managed to successfully reproduce the beautiful tones and ink washing from the original, and topped off the volume with a lovely gallery of individual issue covers, and attractive start and end pages. If not for some terribly blatant errors and a silly omission, it would have been quite the accomplishment, but this volume was slightly marred by blurry pages, missing words in some of the speech balloons, and — perhaps the strangest complaint of all — a lack of page numbers. These faults were not the death of the volume, but they were certainly distracting. Hopefully they will not be present in the proceeding volumes, and corrected in future printings of the first.

Ultimately New Vampire Miyu has all the makings of a great manga series: awesome characters, gorgeous art, an exciting story, and a nice presentation, but this volume has a few too many flaws to qualify as more than good. I eagerly look forward to the next instalment, but considering the price of the volume, it’s not a necessary addition to the manga bookshelf unless you’re a fan of vampires or horror in general.

Language – Threats abound but there is little to no vulgar language.
Violence – Where there are vampires, there’s blood — and plenty of it goes flying in this volume. However, it isn’t as graphic as some other manga — no decapitations or tearing of limbs…
Nudity – None.
Sex – None, though there is a great deal of erotic subtext and a few eyebrows may be raised by the close relationship between the very child-like Miyu and bishônen Larva.

By Raven

Mar
11

Naruto


NARUTO by Masashi Kishimoto:
genre: shounen/action/comedy
characters: 8/10
story: 6/10
art: 7/10
overall: 7/10

(reviewer’s note: This is based on the first 5 books) of the manga which means that a few months from now, this will probably be edited, if not completely re-written.)
———
SERIES STATS:
- Serialised in Shounen Jump
- Series ongoing
- Licensed by Viz under Shounen Jump
———
STORY: (Reviewer’s note: In doing research for this review, I discovered that Naruto is indeed far more popular than I had feared which means that about 1 out of every 3 people who will read this will probably be offended at some point or other. Please forgive me and remember that this is a review which means that it’s based on what the reviewer thinks. Please also take into consideration the fact that this is the first ever very-undeniably-shounen manga review done by a very shoujo person so I’m just trying my best. Thanks.)

Many years ago, the mountain village of Konoha was devastated by a nine-tailed demon. To destroy it, the village gathered ninjas together to battle the demon and in the end, one ninja, known as the Fourth Hokage, gave up his life to seal away the powers of the fox demon within a young boy: Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, a boisterous pest with a good heart who dreams to someday be Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village. After nearly failing his pre-ninja exams, he is set in a team with Uchiha Sasuke, his number one rival, and Haruno Sakura, his number one crush (being that HE has a crush on HER) to fufill tasks set by their mysterious, but amusing, training master Hatake Kakashi. But unbeknownst to his team, minus Kakashi (who really isn’t on the team anyway, but who wants to get technical?), Naruto’s a lot stronger and fated for much more than his big mouth lets on.

How many times have we seen this? Boy of not-so-appealing personality has amazing strength that only those priviledged few know of, but meanwhile, he gets tossed into a lot of situations where he can fight and practice some really interesting logic while he struggles to reach the goal of being the best. Naruto is one of those slow-fast series. The main storyline moves slow, hindered by an abundance of characters, who make up for the fast and furious action scenes. Kishimoto, however, balances the fast and the slow rather well, so there’s not much time for boredom, minus the few times that the dialogue just gets garbly and leaves the reader with their mouth hanging open hoping that maybe the addresse will punch the addresser just to spice things up. The one thing so far that sets Naruto apart from other standard shounen series about being “the best(!!!)” is the amount of drama that Kishimoto tosses in. The amounts of angst are almost enough to satisfy a shoujo manga. Don’t get me wrong though – this is not Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yet, while this setup has been seen a million times and then some in the anime.manga world, Naruto is strangely addictive. This is to be blamed upon the humour, which ranges from the usual perverted humour (Kakashi reading his “Make-Out Paradise” – or “Come Come Paradise” depending on your translator – novels is probably my favorite.) to you usual simply insulting the other party humour, as well as the strange diversity of the cast. It’s these two factors that really keep this series alive and kicking….no pun intended.
—-
CHARACTERS: (there are approximately 123 more characters than mentioned but here are the main heroes of the story)

- Uzumaki Naruto: A hyper, happy go lucky, loud, annoying but goodhearted ninjutsu student and failure as a person in the eyes of villagers who ignore him because of the demon that is within him. But against all odds, he pursues his dream of becoming Hokage, unaware that he’s destined for much more than he can imagine. He’s like a young Soichirou Nagi (from Tenjyou Tenge), really, and yes, righteously annoying, but eventually lovable. He’s very devoted when it comes to his friends. He’s got a major thing for Haruno Sakura, while he’s at it all….

- Uchiha Sasuke: The top student of Konoha’s Ninjutsu Academy. Being a loner who has all the right bishounen looks makes him the undisputed target of all the girls in the Academy’s affections, Haruno Sakura included. But Sasuke’s mind is far from girls as he strives to reach his own goal of avenging the horrible murders of his clan. Sasuke, like Naruto, his “main rival, has a great amount of untapped power, but he is more aware of his capabilities than Naruto.

- Haruno Sakura: A conflicted, emotional, generally quite messed up, but friendly kunoichi in training. Sakura’s usually putting on a front, allowing her “inner Sakura” to display her true feelings and judgements. She is weak in ninjutsu, but, of the three, has the best control over her chakra. Though the owner of a brilliant mind which comes in handy for written things, she is often blinded from peforming her best by Sasuke, with whom she is completely enamoured.

- Hatake Kakashi: The teacher (jounin) in charge of the Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura team. He is the sole Konoha possessor of a powerful eye which allows his to “see” things in battle. Known quite well in the world of ninjas, he is rumoured to have copied 1000 jutsus as well as never allowed anyone to become a genin. When not on the battefield or training the team, Kakashi is laid-back and somewhat cheerful, but he is a huge believer in teamwork and determination.

ART: Shounen art for a shoujo.image junkie is the complete end of the spectrum and in many cases, very hard to stand. In the case of Naruto, the artwork is no more brilliant than Dragonball Z. Sweaty bodies, lots of blood, snotty noses, mangled faces….Kishimoto does not hold back in showing the goriest of gore and ugliest of ugly. Being that it’s an action manga, there are plenty of fight scenes, but the actions seem stiff on paper instead of fliud, like a ninja’s should be. There’s nothing very particular about the artwork in general and the focus is more on story than art. However, when taking into concern how Kishimoto uses his artwork to tell the story, it is a very different matter. His panels are well placed to reflect the emotion of the scene at hand (example: Naruto yelling at a “bad guy” in book 4 after their big battle.) and though his drawings don’t emote as well as his storytelling, it certainly tries well, but serves its purpose as best it can.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS (highlight whited out areas for spoilers): The overwhelming popularity of Naruto kept me from getting into it for a while. All those pairings you see everywhere….sigs all over forums. Just….overwhelming. What first got me thinking that I should give it a chance, surprisingly, was the gorgeous first ending song “Wind”, which a friend graciously played for me. I drove down home for Thanksgiving from my university with said friend and the only reading material he had was Naruto, so I decided…why not? How bad could it be?

I’m glad I gave it a chance. While Naruto is not my favorite manga ever and probably never will be, the story is much more intriguing than I had expected. The battles are intense and I’m not totally fond of Kishimoto’s characters’ logic. But at least they’re thinking. While I had expected myself, the shoujo lover, to be drawn to Sasuke, the obvious bishounen, as my favorite character, I found myself enjoying the character of Kakashi far more (and even more so that little dog he summons in the 4th (or 3rd…can’t remember anymore) that hangs off of Zabuza’s badge) while Sasuke, to me, is this…weird little boy. Another surprise for me in Naruto was the amount of angst and emotion that Kishimoto puts into his work. Haku’s death and when Naruto yells at Zabuza about it until Zabuza is crying was actually quite touching. It’s not something I had expected to find in Naruto.

As I wait for the next few books to come out, I’m expecting a lot of page skipping with myself only in the part where they’re about to enter some forest o’ doom or other. I was never one who could stand artless action scenes, or perhaps I’m just too used to the balletic grace of Tenjyou Tenge’s battles. But this is a story that keeps you wanting to know what’s going to happen next. It’s addictive. No wonder it’s so popular. Who knows, perhaps this self-spoken shoujo girl will even learn to love her first strictly shounen series since Dragonball Z (And yes, I loved that manga until it was totally ripped apart by American publication.). We’ll see and I’m certainly looking forward to it.

SHOUNEN JUMP (VIZ) EDITION ADDITIONS: With the exception of some censored bits (i.e. the changing of Kakashi’s book titles to something less…suggestive, perhaps), change of dialogue from something that used to make sense to extreme loud pointless ( It’s a fact that” I’m going to defeat you!!” sound so dumb all the time? So why do they insisting on changing pretty much every 5th line to that, if not an elliptical version?), and some power yelling differences ( Apparently, “Valentine’s Technique” was changed from “Mind Transfer Technique”, with the latter making much more sense.) the editing it pretty well done. It’s just a pity that dialogue had to be skewed to make it more “action appealing”, I guess it would be called.

Undeniably, the most annoying part of the Viz publication is the little arrow that reminds the reader every 3 pages or so to read from right to left with its “Read this way” message. With that tiny arrow requiring a giant blank space at the top of the page to accompany it, the panels have probably all been shrunk to accomdate it and it’s very distracting from both story and artwork.

By kiyo-chan

Mar
11

Najica Blitz Tactics volume 1

Story and Art – Takura Tashiro
Creator - Studio Fantasia, AFW / Najica Project
Japanese Publisher – Media Factory, Inc
Serialised In – Young King Ours
English Publisher – ADV
Released Date – 08/2004
Format - Right to Left
First Volume ISBN - 1-4139-0018-6
Genre - Action
Age Rating – Older Teens

In the not so distant future 17% of the earths landmass is sunken into the ocean after a series of devastating earthquakes… why this necessitates the wearing of miniscule miniskirts and white cotton panties however is anyone’s guess.

Najica Blitz tactics has been described as an anime “Bond in a short skirt”; personally I think this is rather cliché. Najica can better be described as a heady mix of Noir, agent Aika and cowboy bebop, and this title is the manga adaptation of said Anime.

As for plot Najica is a skilled perfumer for CRI cosmetics but in reality is actually a special operative for the secret intelligence organization behind CRI. With her Humaritt partner Lila in tow she embarks on missions around the world fighting evil doers.

As you’d hope the Najica manga doesn’t run parallel to the anime and therefore isn’t simply a rehash, it expands the story with whole new missions, characters and scenarios. As you’d expect it’s still as heavy in the fan service department as it ever was, perhaps even more so than the anime, Najica’s bust size is knocked up a few notches and there is a mission where she and Lila dress as bunny girls to infiltrate a casino belonging a company bootlegging CRI cosmetics on the black market.

Despite all these pros I cannot help but feel a little disappointed with the first volume, though I must clarify that this is just a first volume review. While I do not feel bitterly disappointed and saddened at what the Najica manga could have been there seems to be something missing overall.

Najica is an entertaining enough read, it’s high impact, high action, panty crammed mix of action and subtle comedy is well done and presented, but overall it misses that unquantifiable quality that the anime enjoyed, however I am still hopeful that the series will reclaim the sparkle of the anime.

Characters

Najica – As one of the world’s top perfume designers, Najica Hiiragi works with her trusty assistant Kirala to develop the Day Series perfumes for CRI Cosmetics. When not jet-setting around the world, Najica tools around neo-Tokyo in a bright red convertible. Men love her. Women want to be her. But Najica has another job, one that few ever see: Secret agent for the CRI intelligence organization.

A regular James Bond in heels, Najica carries out her missions with the same professionalism that makes her an idol for her co-workers and the bane of her rivals. She is a perfectionist in everything she does, and is known for her extreme sense of confidence. She hates having anyone following her around, trying to keep up with her; thus, her reluctance to accept Lila as a partner.

Najica’s weapon of choice is a Soviet-made Stechkin APS. With its 20-round magazine, and unique wooden holster than can be attached as a buttstock, this 50-year-old piece serves Najica well on her missions. It’s also capable of firing plastic bullets, which lessen the chance of anyone being killed or seriously injured during Najica’s confrontations.

Lila – The lovely Lila is a Humaritt, a man-made human being that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, which was developed by the Shinba Industrial Corporation with the codename of ZZZ (Pronounced “Triple Zet”). After initially being abducted by the wayward wife of a millionaire, through mafia connections, Lila was eventually rescued by Najica before she had the misfortune of ending up as the mischievous Madame’s personal plaything. To Najica’s displeasure and dismay, the untested Lila is assigned to serve as Najica’s new partner on all future CRI intelligence operations.

Having little knowledge of the world around her, Lila is much like a newborn infant in that her lack of life experience tends to produce some aggravating situations for Najica to cope with. Lila’s saving grace is her skill in battle. It was Lila’s talent for carrying out secret missions that finally led to Najica accepting her as a capable partner and roommate, despite her unusual bathing habits.

Lila is quite adept at using as many weapons and vehicles as are required to finish her mission. From handguns to heavy machineguns, she can usually pick up anything found in the local environment and use it with amazing accuracy. However, her downfall in this area lies in strategy, as she is sometimes prone to being a little too direct in such
matters.

Mar
11

Moon Boy (volume 1)

Moon Boy

Plot Summary
Many years and ages ago there were a race of rabits that lived on the moon in peace and tranquility. However, their peace did not last long. One day the wolves came to the moon and started eating the rabits livers and drinking their blood. The remaining rabits who lived on the “light” side of the moon fled to the earth (they were able to escape because wolves could only live in the dark). However, when the wolves finished eating the rabits on the moon they followed the rabits to earth. The rabits that fled to the earth were given the name Earth Rabit, and the blended in with humans, and resemble humans in every way except for the fact that in a full moon the Earth Rabits eyes turn red.

Now fast forward a couple milinia to present day time and we meet Myung-Ee, an average, although a bit shorter than her other classmates, middle schooler who loves “pretty boys”/bishonen. One day Myung-Ee got into a fight the new kid Yu-Da Lee. Later however she learns that Yu-Da Lee and herself are Earth Rabits being hunted by one of the Foxes that were in disguess that Myung-Me likes. After being saved by another Earth Rabit Myung learns about her ancestry.

Fastforward again, it’s five years later and everyone has pretty much grown up–except for Myung-Ee, who’s just grew up a little. Myung-Ee has transfered to a new school looking to find more bishonen. To Myung-Ee surprise no one remembers anything, not even Yu-Da Lee, who is now hanging out with the popular group in high school. When Myung-Ee goes up asks Yu-Da Lee if he remembers anything from five years ago, he politely says “no” and that he doesn’t even know who she is. Naturally because Yu-Da Lee, Myung-Ee is told to “buzz off” by his fan club, who swears to protect him at all cost. Clearly Myung-Ee realizes that something is wrong, since she’s the only one that remembers what happend between her Yu-Da lee and the wolf. Little does Myung-Ee realize that she’s being watched. One night a wolf, who turns out to be one of the popular kids that Yu-Da Lee hangs out with attacks Myung-Ee; luckily she is once again saved by a mysterious warrior earth rabit. Unfortunetly the wolf gets away, but the warrior tells Myung-Ee what’s going on. It turns out that Yu-Da Lee is a rare black rabit that has the power to restore the power of the wolves’ leader and that Yu-Da Lee is being guarded by the wolves until he matures and his liver is ready to be eaten. The wolves made everyone forget what had happend five years ago and implanted Yu-Da Lee with a false reality. Myung doesn’t know what to do, but she can’t let Yu-Da Lee become food for the wolves.

Art Commentary

“Moon Boy” would generally fit into the shojo category, but it touches on many different genres. The artwork is reflective of that. There are some very humours scenes and some very dramatic ones. The mixing between tones and styles makes the read fun and interesting because it’s not all set in one tone. Since the story mainly follows on a serious dramtic theme, like eating Bunnies, switching it over to Myung-Ee’s search for bishonen comedy shojo style is nice. So you’re getting a mixed bag, in terms of story and in terms of art.

Commentary

Well the first thing that caught my eye about Moon Boy was the cover art. Very, very, pretty! I started ready the first couple of pages and put it down for a month or so; after the first couple of pages I had begun to feel as if Moon Boy would turn out to be other typical shojo manga, the ones that usually bore me to death. However, one day I had nothing to do so I decided I’d finish ready the manga and put it in the “Done” pile. After reading the entire book I realized I was wrong for judging a book by it’s cover and the first 10-15 pages. I discovered a lot as I read through the first volume, and saw some very pretty bishonen might I add. I have to say though, the story is pretty far fetched and bizarre and cute all in the same, but it passes. The mix of shojo themes and shonen action and vice versa really makes the read exciting because you never know how it will be when you turn the page. Like many shojo stories there is a romance, or the potential for one, and maybe even a shonen-ai romance, but there is also blood, fighting, and scary wolves; so you get the best of both worlds. Complement that with stunning artwork and you’ve got this manga pretty much summed up. I really do want to read volume because volume one left you on one pretty big cliff-hanger between the wolves and Yu-Da Lee. Anyway I won’t spoil it any more.

Overal Score
8.5/10

By Cherubim

Mar
11

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland

Artist: CLAMP
Genre: Yuri, comedy.(thats lesbian themed comedy)
Full of?: Woman, and all kinds of amusing shorts(as in tales not the clothes). Come to think of it i dont think there are ANY men in the manga.
What not to like?: Not so heavy with lesbianism that they hit you in the face with breasts and double sided “pleasure” toys, but pretty blatant nonetheless.(again this is the japanese version, im seriously unsure of how the english version stacks up and im very curious to see it at all really)

Miyuki is your average girl, with one problem. She seems to be constantl avoiding the hit ons and attractions of others. Mostly females. It doesn’t help that she finds herself in the strangest situations.

Again this is a collection of short storys, like Shirahime, but more comedy themed. The first story is of course her trip through Wonder-land, where the manga gets its name from. Here Miyuki has to deal with a lustful(and hot) centipede, a bustuous madhatter, a queen and all the other funs of the land of wonder as it were. Did i mention everyone is female, and everyone is trying to get Miyuki? She somehow always just manages to avoid most situations however, leading to mostly comedic action and no *ahem* other forms of action.

The manga doesn’t end with just her trip in Wonderland. Oh no, Miyuki find’s trouble wherever she goes, including m personal favorite, a game of Mah-johng. It quickly escalates into “strip mah-johng” and she competes with some rather odd females for the right to keep her clothes(and her heterosexuality, lol). This could almost the called the tales of the Lesbian that never was, but its fine as is. Pretty funny, but dont pick it up expecting some cutesy or funny manga. This is pretty sexual charged, but amusing on an adult level nonethe-less.

The manga has your typical CLAMP goodness(they draw such hot females…maybe thats why their men always look so womanly…) and if you look close you may see “cameos” of characters or look-alikes throughout the adventures of pseudo-lesbianism.

Characters:

Miyuki-chan: Your typical blonde haired schoolgirl. With the odd abilty to be COMPLETELY clueless at times, and a penchant for drawing upon some strange lesbian adventures. She sorta got shafted in that department. While others find themselves in adventures across say time, space…she finds herself in adventures with her sexuality…No wait, maybe she didnt get the bad schtick afterall.

Others: A slew of amusing characters, new and old. You wouldnt think the Centipede could be so hot, but you would be very wrong.

Similar tastes:
CLAMP in general, very much CLAMP school detectives *yataa* or Magic Knight Rayearth. (i believe both were going on at the time)

Where can i get it?: Licensed actually…So you can get it where you buy your manga. I still am so utterly amused that they brought this over here. But i have had to warn people off it before, because they thought the art was nice and didnt realize what it was about. Maybe this will help a little.

By Darknight ZO

Mar
11

Mekakushi no Kuni

MEKAKUSHI NO KUNI (Land of the Blindfolded) by Sakura Tsukuba
genre: shoujo/fantasy/romance
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
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SERIES STATS:
- series complete (9 books)
- licensed by CMX
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STORY: Kanade Otsuka has the power to sometimes see into people’s futures when she touches them. Her power frightens her sometimes because she’ll see things she doesn’t want to see and when she forsees impending disaster, she’ll want to prevent it, no matter what happens to her. Arou Naitou is the opposite of Kanade. He can see into people’s pasts and is very laid back about his power as he believes that while he can’t do anything to change his powers or other people’s pasts, but he can do things to change the effect that the past may have caused on a person. Both, however, each feel a little left out of the world, being the only ones who can enter what they term “invisible worlds” that no one else can see – the worlds of the past and the future. One fateful day, they run into each other and discover that they aren’t alone after all. Thus a strong bond is formed between the two- a bond of determination, understanding, friendship, and later, a very powerful love.

While this poignant and heartwrenching series is deeply rooted in romance, Tsukuba also delves a lot into philosophy, using a lot of metaphors, comparing Kanade and Arou to people who live in a land of blindfolded people with their blindfolds off. As Kanade struggles to deal with her desire to help those who have bad things in store for them, Arou stands by her side, faithfully keeping an eye out and providing for her a strong shoulder of support when she loses faith in herself. Their relationship is one of trust and a very deep friendship that undergoes its tests and especially temptations when concerning their powers. Both are given the option of looking into each others’ pasts or futures to see what the truth really is when there are doubts instead of upholding faith in each other, which, as anyone who’s ever been in a relationship knows, is one of the hardest things to do. Yet, instead of being torn by this, they are united by it. There has not been such a genuine couple in any series, be it anime or manga, in a very long time.

But Arou, Kanade, and later their friend Masahiro also have to overcome the obstacles of prejudice, the fear that people feel towards them when they realize that they have some unnatural abilites, and the capabilities of their own powers. The situations they get into are all relatable in some form or way, as supernatural as some of them are. In addition to all this, Arou and Masahiro also must come to terms with their pretty depressing pasts and with each other when it concerns Kanade. Masahiro provides the last corner of a rather one-sided love triangle, but unlike most love triangles, the boys don’t let the fact that they both love the same girl get in the way of their friendship with each other or with the girl. They do get in some pretty silly and amusing situations over her. It’s one of the most entertaining parts of this series. There’s another girl in the series who I personally feel he makes a great pair with, but we’ll see.

Another fact that sets Mekakushi no Kuni apart from other series is that when characters have magical powers, they usually keep it secret from their parents. But in this case, the three protagonists’ parents are all aware of their children’s abilities and how each of them handle this fact plays an important part in each of their stories and their personalities.

This manga is recommended for everyone. It’s a top recommendation for those dark days when it feels like everything that could have possible gone wrong went wrong….sort of like a deeper Ah! Megamisama. It might make some people cry, but that’s a given side effect of this heartwarming series.

CHARACTERS:
- Kanade Otsuka: A shy and sweet hearted girl who forgets to think before she acts. Her premonitions of misfortune cause her to want to prevent this impending doom and she becomes so absorbed in this task that she often puts herself in danger. Lucky for her, she has Arou to jump in and save her all the time. She believes that the future is not set in stone and should always be helped. She’s quite naive, really, but her naivety is what makes her so pure and strangely believeable.

- Arou Naitou: Arou is an almost total opposite of Kanade. He does not feel the need to deal with his power and nor does he feel the need to change anything until he meets Kanade. He’s very carefree, kindhearted, a great cook, and handsome to top it all off. So it’s not a surprise that people are easily drawn to him, but none are as drawn to him as he is to Kanade. He’s very dedicated to saving her/protecting her and has some really impeccable timing…

- Masahiro Namiki: A person who can see futures like Kanade, he’s more adapted to his power then her, making him, in a sense, stronger than her. At first he uses this to antagonize her, but Kanade doesn’t let this get to her and he begins to see her and Arou in different lights, leading to a tight friendship between all of them. Due to a very sad past where his parents rejected him for his abilites, he lives alone (though he’s later joined by Marota, the CUTEST puppy ever.).

ART: Tsukuba’s art is simple and yet very complex. It tells evokes the strong emotions that run within the characters at exactly the right times and is expressive, even if she enforces the usual ribbons and flowers. It’s also ridiculously romantic, which emphasizes the romantic aspect of this series perfectly, though the focus of the series is not on romance. The lines are simple, clean, and she doesn’t overdo her spreads or embellish her drawings with more than it needs. Panels are well placed and there is never over-cluttering inside. Her boys are bishounen (Gotta love that), her landscaping sweeping and realistic, and not everyone is a gorgeous babe. While her artwork isn’t as intricate as Tanemura Arina’s or CLAMP’s, her art still gives the reader the same feeling of loveliness.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS (SPOILERIFIC): Is it possible to love a series too much? I never believed that any series could be so perfect. Yet, after reading the first 5 volumes of Mekakushi no Kuni, I believe so. While there’s a 10 out of 10 rating up there for overall, this series personally touched me a lot deeper. While people cry when people die in series, I cried (not kidding) at just about every single chapter starting in book 4, especially when it involves Namiki or Arou’s pasts. That one scene when Masahiro’s mom finally smiles for real at him just melted me. All the emotions that can possibly be contained in such a simple gesture are drawn out to their fullest in that single scene. Here’s Masahiro, losing his tough guy image, and he’s completely naked at that one moment to the whole world. How wonderful. How absolutely wonderful. And the worst part is that that’s not the only scene that is so touching. There are hundreds more in the only first seven books. Sadly, the ending to the series is a bit open-ended and there’s no feeling of absolute closure, which could be both bad and good.

I’m in love with all her characters, with all the silly situations that everyone gets into, with each story that each character has, and specially that Marota. The story where Masahiro take Marota out to play made me bawl. My fault for listening to really nostalgic music and reminiscing about my ex-dog at that part. Arou and Kanade make one of the sweetest couples, I think, in all recent manga. Every time Tsukaba throws at us one of those really big splashes of the two of them being sweet, I die. (I wish there were more guys like Arou around….haha.) Do I love this series too much? Yes. I do think so. But I think that given how much this series touches my heart (or lack thereof), it’s justified.

CMX EDITION EDIT: With CMX being new to the “manga” publishing industry, they might’ve been to rushed to get their work out on the market, and that is probably the reason why it seems that they forgot to pay attention to what exactly they were doing. Of the three copies of Land of the Blindfolded that I found, all three had the same pages where the image was doubled and blurry for a good…the rest of the volume, really. It was a good way to get a headache. Not a good way to make an impression on the masses of hardcore “manga” buyers out there. Beyond that fact was the one that the image on the back of the book was not from the series at all but from the extra story at the end of the first volume. Most likely, most people would not be aware of this as the character does bear some resemblence to both Arou and Masahiro, but it’s this action of leaving the readers in ignorance that outlines the very nature of bad manga licensing. So far a dialogue editing goes, most of it is kept intact, though somehow it feels very dull and as if the characters are speaking in monotones -totally emotionless.

I’m disappointed. I had hoped that CMX could pull off a better job than Tokyopop, especially now that they’ve licensed Tenjyou Tenge and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, two of the top mangas out there. Here’s to hoping that they improve their editing work before they hit the production process of those two, the rest of Mekakushi no Kuni, and any other series they decide to publish, in the future.

By kiyo-chan

Mar
11

Mars

Meet Kira, a quiet artist who hides in a corner to sketch whilst avoiding boys at all costs. One day she meets Rei, a rebellious bishounen (pretty boy) with a motorcycle, a reputation, and an interest in Kira’s art. Rei has an intense fascination with a certain picture of Kira’s – a beautiful drawing of a mother embracing her child – and Kira, uncharacteristically, offers to paint the picture for Rei if he’ll model for her. Kira and Rei’s interest in each other swiftly goes beyond their agreement though and hence their odd, rather touching love story begins.

Things, however, aren’t all flowers and hearts. Rei has the sort of sensuality and shocking carelessness characteristic of highly intelligent but lonely young people. He has a very strange attitude toward death; if he doesn’t address it with indifference, he seems to find it just another semi-interesting bump in his hazy life, and he talks about dying often. (“The world’s going to collapse. Even now, everything’s all messed up… …I can’t imagine that the future is so great, so it’d be more interesting to come to a crazy, flashy end.”) Not only that, but Rei’s past holds some very turbulent issues and these have a tendency to catch up with him. So maybe little Kira’s bitten off more than she can chew – though she does seem willing to take Rei and all his baggage. Rei’s confidence leaks into Kira, and she abruptly grows a rather remarkable backbone. The two of them take on the world with their devil-may-care attitudes while at the same time finding the true beauty of life within each other.

The difference in this manga compared to other shoujo titles I’ve read is the amount of violence in every volume (not that I’m complaining). In volume 1 we see death threats, teachers with less than honourable intentions and so forth, and by the 2nd and 3rd we see two people commit suicide. Those poor people, right? The manga is not only about a young (and rather different) couple, but how they manage to keep their relationship going throughout the many incidents that happen involving first Rei’s odd past and then Kira’s.

A few months ago I bought the first volume of Mars all because I got the mangaka, (manga artist/writer) Fuyumi Soryo, name mixed up with an other artist who’s name I’d read in a review somewhere and was eager to have a read at one of their mangas. To my amazement, not only did I find the artwork to be more impressive then what I’d originally thought of, but the characters and the storyline (even though it was only the first volume) caught my attention too. Something I noted as well that one of my fellow manga fan friends told me over the phone, was that the main character Kira isn’t annoying like the female characters usually are, and is someone that you feel sorry for and want comforting because she seems more real. The same goes for Rei too. He’s not just the typical pretty-but-bad male character, but he has a real tragic background leaving him very much alone in the world and with less of a positive attitude towards life. You can really feel for the characters. I think it might have something to do with the great amount (and the mass amount of detail) of expressions used with each, individual character.

Mars has a very surreal, often dreamlike quality about it, and its major violence and darkness mostly come off feeling, appropriately, like a nightmare. The striking difference between how Rei and Kira could care less about the world but hold an honest, childish love for each other sometimes plays awkwardly, but it’s an interesting concept nonetheless. The art and layout in this manga is artsy. The mangaka Fuyumi Soryo is able to express so many human emotions in Mars that it’s easy to tell who’s doing what because of who (etc, etc). She also gives her manga a lovely powdery feel with such art, and her colour work is truly amazing. Any artwork from Mars that is on the internet is usually either from the manga or coloured images. These coloured images only tend to be drawn in soft and rather ‘hard to see’ colours and blends, making it look all very delicate and soft. This is a great manga, honestly, even if it’s a little out there.

But one can’t overlook the fact that Mars isn’t very “revolutionary” as far as shoujo titles go. Girl is shy and unloved. A popular, gorgeous, intelligent bad boy strolls into her life, and they quickly fall in love. The popular girls at school who love the boy try to pound the girl flat. Boy gets in fights and shows how incredibly tough he is and how good he looks stained with a bit of blood. Angst. Romance. Shock value. It has the hard-to-put-down quality of soap shoujo that makes you want to read the next book as soon as you’ve put the previous book down. Mars’ surreal tone and the main characters’ interesting attitudes give the manga a bit of an advantage in the waves of shoujo titles with similar plotlines and in my opinion can be a good read not just for shoujo fans, but for manga readers who like their good dose of tragic and violence.

Characters (Japanese listings so Family/Surname first)
Kashino Rei – A rough, brasen young man who races motorcycles. He’s sassy and rude but sweet, and is very popular in school. He’s good at many things, but chooses to ignore all but his motorcycle racing.
Aso Kira – A talented artist and classmate of Rei, who is very quiet and shy. She hardly ever speaks and her quiet demeaner makes other students uncomfortable around her, thinking she is arrogant, unfriendly, weird and vain.
Harumi – Classmate of Rei and Kira. She has a crush on Rei and despises Kira for the attention she gets from Rei. As a result, she is very cruel to Kira and threatens her if she lets Rei get close to her.
Tatsuya – Rei’s best friend and classmate. He has a crush on Kira and tries to steer Rei away from Kira. He is worried that Harumi is too much to handle and fears that she will hurt Kira because of the attention she gets from Rei.

(Side note: Rei is very cute and lovable *swoons*)

By Raven

Mar
11

Marmalade Boy volume 1

Creator: Wataru Yoshizumi
Publisher: Tokyopop
First Released: April 2002
Number of Volumes: 8
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama

First Volume Review

Intro
All Miki Koishikawa wanted was an ordinary family and that’s exactly what she had. Then one fateful day her parents met the Matsuuras, and turned Miki’s world upside-down. Now she lives in a house with four parents and her new stepbrother, Yuu, who is made out to be a total jerk (a cute jerk, though). It’s bad enough being brought into her parents’ strange soap opera, but Miki will star in a soap of her own when she ends up torn between her long-time crush, Ginta, and her new stepbrother.

Review
What do you get when you throw in comedy, romance and a twisty story? Well, you get Marmalade Boy of course. In the first volume of Marmalade Boy we meet the main character Miki. She’s a dynamic character with a good personality, always caring for others but occasionally a bit self-centred. So what’s the story? Well, after Miki’s parents came back from Hawaii, she learns that they want a divorce and that’s not all; her parents want to “switch” partners. When Miki meets the ‘other parents’, she also meets their attractive son, Yuu. The two groups of parents then announce their decision for all six of them to move in together. When Miki tries to object to the idea Yuu doesn’t give in. In fact, he supports their decision. What ever makes them happy makes Yuu happy. So when they all move in together, Yuu also transfers to her school. Mika starts getting jealous, as the girls of her school seem to like the new student a lot. Not because of the girls crushes on him but because he acts like a different person at school. Whilst among the other students he seems very nice and friendly towards others, but at home he is moody and acts like a jerk towards Miki. Things get a bit more complicated when Ginta, Miki’s old crush, starts getting jealous of Yuu and Miki’s ‘relationship’. That’s when Miki learns that Ginta may have a thing for her. Things get a lot more complicated when more problems come up! Will Miki get out of her little dilemma or will she fail?

I’ve heard a lot of bad things about Marmalade Boy and was therefore reluctant to buy a copy of it myself. After having the opportunity to read it, I feel as though it could have been better than how it played out. Although Marmalade Boy was pretty good it lacked true suspense. There was nothing that would really keep you reading. Other than the lovable characters, the story line had some plot holes. Although it keeps us guessing what is going on with Miki and Yuu, the other characters don’t get a lot of development. The first volume is basically surrounding the two main characters, other than that; there isn’t much to read about. I felt as if the story could have been too unrealistic. I mean, two of the same parents switching partners with the other couple? It was too weird for me to think about it.

So how did Tokyopop do on translating Marmalade Boy? Well, considering that this is part of Tokyopop’s new ‘100% manga line’ I felt that it was a brave but great move for Tokyopop. The translation was pretty well and I don’t recall any mistakes. The cover was pretty well done, nice and simple. I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to pick up the second volume just yet, but it will be added onto my ‘to buy list’ to see if it improves any.

Main Characters

Miki
She is your every-day girl-next-door. It’s the people who live with her that make her life weird. With four parents and a step-brother, it’s no wonder Miki is confused.

Yuu
He always seems to have himself together…and the girls love it. Yuu, much to the dismay of Miki, is always surrounded by young girls and is always followed around by Arimi, the ex-girlfriend who would do anything to get him back. Miki finds herself ‘liking’ her new step-brother.

Arimi
Arimi made a deal with Yuu so that he would go out with her. Now that he’s broken things off with her, she will do anything to get him back – even if it means going out with Ginta to make Yuu jealous.

Ginta
He’s always had a crush on Miki, but when he found out she liked him, he did not take advantage of the opportunity to profess his love. But now, seeing her with Yuu is driving him nuts, so he teams up with Arimi -Yuu’s ex – and is on a mission to break Miki and Yuu up, so that he can get the girl he loves.

Meiko
Meiko is Miki’s best friend. Her parents hate each other, making her family life very difficult. Meiko can be distant and has some secrets. She is very mature and she is an introvert. She always gives advice to Miki.

By Raven

Work in progress... not home!
Trying to get all/most of the new code working before I start on the eyecandy.