A Bride’s Story volume 1 is simply astounding. It’s amazing that it’s so beautifully drawn and told by Kaoru Mori; that such odd subject matter — marriage customs among the nomadic tribes of Mongolia in the 19th century — could be so fascinating; that such ornately, beautifully detailed art can be manga; that such a handsome (hardcover, jacketed) volume could be produced for the manga market, which is assumed to want cheap, teen-oriented stories. Amir is 20 years old, considered […]

Rin begins school in this volume, as her adoptive dad Daikichi continues to struggle with the day-to-day needs of parenting. (For more on this unusual family, see my reviews of volume 1 and volume 2.) The first chapter presents the concept of a memorial tree, a growing thing planted to mark a particular key point in a child’s life. As the kid grows, so does the tree, giving the family a living marker of connection. Daikichi intends to plant a […]

This series by Kiyohiko Azuma, the continuing adventures of a young green-haired girl who is almost supernaturally innocent, provides a take on daily life that serves as a terrific getaway from the reader’s cares. The first chapter of Yotsuba&! volume 9, which took an unexpected twist, worked as a surprise for me because of how well it’s all drawn. Unusual occurrences are somewhat run-of-the-mill for Yotsuba, anyway, so when something odd started happening, I rode with it until the page […]

It’s the perfect manga for me! Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! combines the foodie love of Oishinbo with the josei-style work focus of Suppli, only the career is making manga, a subject artist Fumi Yoshinaga previously covered in Flower of Life. Yoshinaga herself stars as the thinly relabeled Y-naga, a slobby creator of yaoi manga. She adores good food, though, and dresses up for it (making for amusing visual contrast). Her roommate S-hara is one of […]

In this volume, new dad Daikichi continues the search for Rin’s mother he began in the first book. (Click that link if you want to know more about the series premise.) He also begins preparing the little girl to attend elementary school; they’ve barely bonded, and already she’s growing up. While it’s very important to the story and the reader to solve that mystery and settle the question of the little girl’s parentage, I most enjoy the everyday changes similar […]

Daikichi finds a surprise at his grandfather’s funeral: The old man had a six-year-old daughter no one knew existed! The rest of the family wants to pack her off and forget her, but Daikichi, out of impulsive, unexpected motivation, since he’s a 30-year-old bachelor, takes his new aunt Rin home to watch over her in Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita. The two form an unusual, heart-warming relationship. There’s humor, of course, as Daikichi realizes how little he knows about children, […]

A new Yotsuba&! book by Kiyohiko Azuma is always a pleasure to be savored. Although sometimes, I don’t have the patience — instead, I dive in and wallow in its portrayal of childlike imagination. The first story in Yotsuba&! volume 7, in which Yotsuba discovers how to make a simple telephone out of paper cups and string, is a perfect example of the appeal of the series. It features her odd mix of knowledge about the world — she knows […]

The beloved series by Kiyohiko Azuma returns from a new publisher (who thankfully has also brought the previous volumes back into print) with all its charm intact. The stories in Yotsuba&! volume 6 fall into the category of “what it’s like to live with a young child” — they see the world differently. Everything’s new to them, yet they also start forming their own conclusions about the way things work. The result is creative comedy that rings adorably true. In […]