I’ve finished reading Battle Angel Alita: Last Order – so it’s time to finally get into the back half of the manga.
Read moreBattle Angel Alita: Last Order (Second Half): Manga Review
Blade of the Immortal Vol. 1-8 (US): Manga Review
I’ve been getting back into reading Blade of the Immortal with the new Amazon anime series adapting the manga – which will still be airing as this goes up. Thus far I’ve read the first 8 volumes of the manga (using the US order), and have some thoughts on the work.
Read moreGenshiken Second Season – Vol. 1-8: Manga Review
When a creator revisits an old creation, it can be interesting from a reader’s perspective, as we see how changes with time influence that work, whether it’s the Eva Rebuild movies, or Chris Clairmont returning to the X-Men, Timothy Zahn returning to Star Wars, or what have you. With the revival of Genshiken – Genshiken Second Season – the manga elects not to pick up right where the old manga did, and instead skips forward, to a new generation of otaku and a look at how fandom has changed with time, with some interesting results.
Read moreHayate the Combat Butler Vol. 30-34: Manga Review
So, at last I’ve now gotten caught up on Hayate the Combat Butler – at least the official English release of the manga, so I might as well get through these last 5 volumes at one big whack!
Read moreKnights of Sidonia Vol. 1-7: Manga Review
Today’s Menu for Emiya Family Vol. 1-3: Manga Review
A while back I reviewed the anime adaptation of the manga Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. At that time the video review went out, the first volume of the manga had come out, and I’d read it and enjoyed it, and since then two more volumes of the manga have come out since then, so it’s time to give this a proper review.
Read moreUltraman Vol. 5: Manga Review
The first four volumes of the Ultraman manga were bookended by the sentence “This is the beginning of a new age.” Volume 5 starts with that sentence, but ends with the sentence fading from the page – and that says a lot about where this volume of the manga ends.
Read moreLaid Back Camp: Vol. 1 – Manga Review
I enjoyed Laid Back Camp a lot. Between its informative depictions of going camping in Japan, it’s interesting travelogue sequences, and it’s generally chill tone, it ended up being one of my favorite anime, and one where I was kind of sad to see it end, and glad to see the show get a second season. After hearing that the manga had been getting an English release, I decided to check out the first volume of the manga.
Read moreHayate The Combat Butler – Vol. 29: Manga Review
When last we left the worlds most unlucky butler, he had unintentionally deceived idol singer Ruka into thinking that he was a girl, due to having been roped into crossplay. Meanwhile, Nagi has decided to get back into manga – but she needs her muse…
Read moreHayate The Combat Butler Vol. 28: Manga Review
In the last couple volumes of Hayate the Combat Butler, we got something of a new status quo for the characters as a whole, while not really setting up what the next arc for Nagi was going to be. Volume 28 introduces a couple of new characters (sort of) while setting up Nagi’s next arc.
Read more20th Century Boys: Manga Review
If I was going to describe 20th Century Boys in a high concept manner to someone in an elevator, I’d describe it as It meets The Stand. It’s a story that takes place over a vast scope of time, almost 30-40 years, with multiple time skips, and an apocalypse in-between, with a fundamental premise of a group of childhood friends being forced to face a great evil as adults. The difference is, the evil in It is a clearly supernatural, unearthly evil. The evil in 20th Century Boys is very, very human.
There are some spoilers below the cut.
Read moreHayate the Combat Butler Vol. 26-27: Manga Review
After Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 25, 26 and 27 serve as something of a bridge arc. They don’t tell a complete story in their own right, but instead sort of continue in the shift in the status quo started by Volume 25.
Read moreOh! My Goddess – Thoughts on the first 13 Volumes
Over the past few years off and on, I’ve read the first 13 volumes of Oh! My Goddess, and I’ve written about them on various other places (including Bureau42), but never on my blog. Having finished the 13th volume of the manga, now is as good a time as any to give some general thoughts about the series.
Read moreUltraman (Manga): Thoughts on Vol. 1-4
If you think about it, superheroes have been a part of Japanese pop-culture ever since the post-war period, and in particular the 60s and 70s. Astro Boy is Pinocchio with Super-Powers. Characters like Shotaro Ishinomori’s Android Kikaider and Kamen Rider featured protagonists fighting a supervillain organizations and their superpowered minions, and so on. And, of course, there is the tokusatsu classic – Ultraman from Tsuburaya Productions.
Read moreManga Review: Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita is a truly unique work of manga – on par with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in terms of being something that visually stands out from the rest of the medium. While it’s narrative it has some stuff in common with other works of SF, it’s also a manga that I haven’t seen much like.
Read moreManga Review: Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1
When I was younger, there were a couple things that grabbed my imagination when it came to dungeon fantasy – there were the Monster Ecology articles in Dragon Magazine, and the descriptions of monsters in Hackmaster and KODT Magazine. The Monster Ecology articles envisioned a fleshed out dungeon ecology, where every monster, even ones created by coked out wizards like the Owlbear, had a life cycle and found a way to fit into an ecosystem – indeed, the articles presented the idea of a Dungeon Fantasy setting as an ecosystem that the monsters fit within.
Manga Review: Unofficial Hatsune Mix
Short little manga review this time.
Manga Review: Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 25
As I mentioned in my overall review of the Golden Week arc, that was an arc that was begging to be animated, and sadly was not. It also thoroughly smashed the existing status quo with a literal and metaphorical nutcracker, with Nagi giving up her fortune and her house to save Hayate.
Manga Review: Hayate the Combat Butler – The Golden Week Arc
There comes a point in any manga where the status quo, as it exists, can no longer stand. Where if things stay as they are, the work will stagnate. In Battle Angel Alita, it is in the leadup to the Motorball arc. In Hayate the Combat Butler, that arc is the Golden Week arc.
Manga Review: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories
A few weeks ago (as of when I write this in October) I came to learn that the most popular tabletop RPG in Japan right now was neither D&D nor a homegrown RPG like Sword World, but Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu. Also, I learned Dark Horse Comics had released a collection of adaptations of the works of H.P. Lovecraft by artist Gou Tanabe and had announced a planned release of Tanabe’s adaptation of At The Mountains of Madness. Thus, it seemed appropriate to read the first of Tanabe’s adaptations and get a feel for his take on Lovecraft’s work. Read more
Manga Review: Blame!
Editorial: Let’s talk a bit about Casca
Last month I was finishing up the trilogy of films adapting the Golden Age Arc of Berserk. Previously I’ve also done a Where I Watch thread on the show at RPGnet and reviewed it at Bureau42. Going though this arc again, I was reminded a bunch about the issues I have with this arc and how it treats the character of Casca. Read more
Manga Review – Hayate The Combat Butler, Volume 7
I have a manga review that’s actually topical for Valentine’s Day next week.
Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 7 by Kenjiro Hata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Whenever I’ve had a rough day, and I feel like I can’t remember the last time I laughed, one of the manga or anime I turn to, in order to lighten my spirits is Hayate the Combat Butler. The blend of oddball comedy and reverentially referential humor, along with a willingness to just chip away at that fourth wall blends together well to make an enjoyable comic, and the fact that the characters are incredibly likable really helps to keep me coming back in a way that TV shows like Family Guy, which also relies on referential humor, fails to do. Read more
Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Vol. 2
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 2 by Eiji Otsuka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery service is a very interesting manga to describe, in terms of being a horror manga that contains elements of the supernatural, but is ultimately bases its horror out of what people do to each other, then it does with the actions of the restless dead – though those elements are there. Read more