Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
When I’m feeling out of sorts, nothing calms like a new volume of Aria by Kozue Amano. It’s the manga equivalent of a hot cup of tea and a sit-down, a lovely mediation on appreciating the quieter aspects of life. The series had some unexpected delays, but that means it’s timely — in this volume, Akari, the apprentice gondolier (undine), is beginning her second autumn on the water planet, just as fall has firmly fallen here in the U.S. The […]
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At this point, I’m reading this series out of nostalgia, since it’s the oldest manga series I’m collecting that’s still running. It started in 2003, when the first three books by Kim Kang Won came out, with volume 4 following four years later, and then after another two years, here we are with volume 5. Goodness knows that the story isn’t worth six years of patience. The events are stereotypical soap opera, and the characters are types instead of three-dimensional. […]
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When I started this series, I read an awful lot into the first volume. Based on what I saw, I was expecting a dramatic exploration of the contrasts between appearance and behavior as twins were set in opposition to each other, layered over with the message of optimistic struggle making a dream come true. So when I read the second volume, I was shocked to find that it went in a radically different direction, with a very different kind of […]
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The latest Manga Guide to science covers Molecular Biology, the study of cells, genes, DNA, and their behavior. It’s an intimidating subject, treated in a fanciful way to make it more comprehensible by writer Masaharu Takemura and artist Sakura. The framing premise follows Ami and Rin, two college students about to flunk their molecular biology course because they never go to class. Their professor sends them to make-up classes on his private island (must be nice!), where they use a […]
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The Creepy Girl from the previous volume is playing on Yoh’s kindness in an attempt to wedge herself between him and Haruna in volume 11. I was a bit surprised to see her portrayed by Kazune Kawahara as so manipulative and mean, but when I checked back in the previous chapters, I realized she’d been that way all along. I’d just been seeing her through Yoh’s eyes and assuming no one could be that nasty on purpose. It doesn’t help […]
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When we last left dog whisperer Suguri, she, her dog Lupin, and three other dog owners and their pets were taking a vacation together. At a country lodge, they encounter another visitor with four huge dogs — Newfoundland, Great Dane, Leonberger, and Great Pyrenees — as well as an unwelcome guest: a bear! When Suguri returns, she discovers that her boss Teppei has taken his purebred black Labrador Noa (which is how Suguri and Teppei met) to be bred. That […]
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Guest review by Ed Sizemore Gesicht has been assigned to guard Adolf Haas and his family. Haas’ former colleagues have decided he’s a liability and want him dead before he can reveal too many of their secrets. But Gesicht is starting a personal crisis as buried memories begin to surface, revealing shocking details of his past. Also in this volume, Hercules faces off against Pluto, while Uran, Professor Ochanomizu, and Professor Tenma all have to come to grips with what […]
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After being disappointed by the sitcom-like mediocrity of the second book in this series, I was pleased to see that this latest installment went back to what I liked in the series opener: shojo school drama lightened with a humorous approach to gender expectations. There’s more in this volume about Love Chick, the manga Juta creates based on the adventures of his friends Asuka and Ryo. Since Asuka is the otomen of the title, a manly boy who nevertheless likes […]
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