Archive for the English Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Strawberry Panic Omnibus (English)

March 3rd, 2011

91Bt+QH8+zL It’s been practically an eon since I first encountered Strawberry Panic! in the pages of Dengeki G’s magazine as stand-alone scenarios of Yuri couples. Since then, both I and the series itself have changed a few times. The series underwent an adaptation to manga, in which the initial pairs were expanded to an entire cast, and adapted into an anime, which reached deep into Yuri memes and roots and pulled out a love story with a satisfactory ending. The Light Novels, with their melodramatic stylings, served to complete the unfinished manga in an over-the-top way.

For my part, I began with pretty much nothing but loathing for the series which wallowed and pandered in a way that completely turned me off. There was nothing in the original stories that was created with me in mind and the manga was decidedly shaped for the lowest common denominator. As the anime shifted from “stolen meme of the week, which we present with a straight face and no real desire to tell a story” to “stolen meme of the week, which we present with a wink and a nod and –  we can’t help ourselves –  a bit of character development and plot, too” my opinion began to change. (I consider this a positive quality in myself, even if fans have a somewhat difficult time accepting that. I still get angry letters about reviews I wrote 7 years ago.)  And then I read the novels.

I have to say, very frankly, anyone who cannot “hear” the overt campiness of the novels, the hyper-melodramatic tone in which they were written, is really, honestly missing the point. In my review of the first LN in English, I tried to illustrate this with a few of the quoted passages. My comments were not me being snarky, but me commenting on the snark embedded within the lines of the novel. Of these, this passage really stood out as a tell:

Of course, most of the young ladies used their judgment when they heard those legends. But there were some who really believed them. …And yet those same young ladies grew into fine women.

Really read that, please, and note the subtext which (for those of you who cannot see the flashing lights,) says, “DO NOT TAKE THIS STORY SERIOUSLY.”

At the moment I read that line in the Japanese edition of the Light Novel, I ceased to take any of Strawberry Panic seriously and was, at last, able to find affection for it in my heart.

This week I found myself re-reading the manga as the Strawberry Panic Omnibus, put out recently by Seven Seas (who are now more active on Twitter. Go say hello.). My primary emotion upon completing it was that I was a little sad that it ended so soon. There were so many good bits yet to come and at least one helicopter would surely have been included! But no, this story was terminated at the equivalent of the end of the first novel.

Technically, the omnibus looks good. The translation is as it was; the translation notes are short, but enough. I like the size of the book, which is A5 – this gives it the feel of a typical seinen manga. It feels good in my hand and isn’t going to break a foot if I drop it, as Cardcaptor Sakura might. The one thing I will continue to say about Seven Seas is that they really do a great job of giving us, the readers, an authentic manga reading experience.

The story is very Yuri. There is nothing else to be said about that – there are multiple pairings in this manga but, of them, there are two entirely romantic romances (which almost no fans cared about, instead focusing on the hopeless losers in the rivalries…which has got to be some kind of commentary on something, don’t you think?)

This we can say about Strawberry Panic in all its iterations: Shizuma is queen-like, a veritable goddess on earth who is inexplicably (even to herself) attracted to a humble, down-to-earth energetic, cheerful girl, Nagisa. And Amane is a Prince-like being who is inexplicably (especially to herself) attracted to humble, angelic, cry-baby Hikari. And those two romances fill the pages of this collection with melodrama, tears and kisses.

Love it or hate it, Strawberry Panic was a gateway Yuri series for a generation of fans last decade. If you have not already picked up a copy of this omnibus, please do. And get an extra for your library, to spread the love of Yuri love to the next generation.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 9
Service – 10

Overall – 8

Foreshadowing: I have had the opportunity to see the Strawberry Panic Light Novel Omnibus and it is also quite good. More than it being good, though, you need to read it to get the end of the story! If you liked/loved/tolerated the manga and 1) want to know what happened or 2) really, really want to read about the helicopters, get it! I have to say, I laughed through the novels all over again as I read them. The language is breathtakingly campy in places.

Postscript: Today we have the genuine pleasure of thanking our own candidate for Etoile, Okazu Superhero Eric P., for his sponsorship of today’s review! As always, Eric, thank you kindly for your generosity. If you’d like to become an Okazu Hero, just click on the Yuri Wish List links on Amazon and Amazon JP on the right-hand sidebar and purchase something for review and you’ll be a Hero to Okazu readers world-wide!





Aria Manga, Volume 6 (English)

February 17th, 2011

Aria Volume 6 (Aria (Tokyopop))Among the many lessons in the Aria manga, there is one that is quiet, softly tucked in among the all the others. But of all the lessons within Aria, it is quite possibly at the very core of this manga’s value system.

In Volume 6, we learn what kind of adult Alicia wants to become, what a Master means to a student, what kind of person Athena is, what Alice doesn’t want anyone else knowing about her and what the secret behind the late night train whistle that runs through town is.

But more importantly – most importantly – we learn once again that everyone is good at…something. And in that simple fact, we’re reminded to appreciate the people around us for that thing, and by extension, appreciate our time with them, and our time in the world. In fact, if we learn anything from Aria, it should be to *appreciate* the life we have, because for each of us, it is unique and wonderful.

You could, of course, be reading Aria for whatever Yuri you may have made up in your head. And that too will be valid – as long as you appreciate it.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 1

Overall – 8

I am absolutely thrilled to say “Thank you, I appreciate it!” to brand-new Okazu Hero, Kayden L! Thank you for the sponsorship of today’s post – and for the lovely note that came with the book. I truly appreciate the kind words. Please email me  to receive your Okazu Hero badge, suitable for use on websites, social media profiles and other flat surfaces!

I would also like to express sincere appreciation to Tokyopop for continuing to put this series out, despite the fact that it will never have the hordes of fans it deserves.

I very much appreciate Amano-sensei for writing this series. I’m able to appreciate it anew with every volume.

And while I’m at it, I just want to say once more how much I appreciate you for reading this review.





Jormungand Manga, Volume 6 (English)

February 14th, 2011

There are days, like today, when the idea of being a professional killer holds great appeal. On days like this, I never read manga like Jormungand, for the same reason I won’t have a drink on days I’m depressed. It would be a very, very bad habit to get into.

Jormungand continues along its merry way, leaving piles of corpses in its wake, while the main characters become even more sympathetic and human so that we root for them to kill even more *really* bad guys. Our guys aren’t bad, you see…they are really honorable, decent professional soldiers who were screwed over by their dishonorable leaders. Hey! we say. We’re really honorable people who have been screwed over by THE MAN. We would love to take revenge in a visceral way. But we’re also not entirely delusional and, in my case at least, a pretty bad shot, so we watch Koko and her team do it for us.

In Volume 6, Valmet finds that her former life as Major Sophia Valmer has some unfinished business that needs to be wrapped up and she sets off to finish it. She is joined in this by Jonah, who is clearly the other piece of Koko’s soul. They wrap it up neatly while Koko and the rest of the team deal with baddies who try to pay with drugs rather than good, clean, dirty money and piss Koko off. The body count rises.

Of note, Koko discusses how she feels about Valmet, admitting she sees her as an important part of her life. The actual description is left open-ended, so we can fill in what blanks we feel are appropriate.

Valmet’s feelings for Koko are, as ever, on the surface for all to see. In this book, emboldened by affectionate kindness from Koko and proximity to her, Valmet sneaks in a quick peck on the cheek. Happy Valentine’s Day, Valmet. That’s probably all you’re ever going to get, but if you’re happy, then I’m happy.

Jormungand remains a cheerful little ditty about cheerful professional killers killing cheerfully. I feel better already.

Ratings:

Art – 5 (It’s steadied up a bit from last volume)
Story – 5
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5
Service –  2

Overall – 8

For a manga equivalent of a shooter game, you really just can’t beat Jormungand. It’s morally reprehensible, but extremely enjoyable.





MMF: Karakuri Odette Manga (English)

January 21st, 2011

Karakuri Odette Volume 1This month, the Manga Movable Feast is taking on a series that I personally consider to be one of the most enjoyable shoujo series I’ve read in the past few years. Along with the recent The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko, I consider Karakuri Odette a do-not-miss series for fans of shoujo manga who nevertheless crave something a little different from energetic, clueless girl is in love with jerky, but noble, guy.

Odette is a perfectly normal girl. She wants to make friends, she wants the people she cares about to be happy. She wants to be cute. She wants her battery pack to have a cute cover. The only difference between Odette and any other girl her age is that she was not created as an act of love between a man and a woman in bed, she was created as an act of research by a man in a lab. Odette is a robot, or android, if you prefer.

Odette’s story is not Pinocchio’s, however. While she definitely seeks to better understand the human experience, she does not desire to “become a real girl.” It would be a redundant wish because, as we see time and time again, she is already a real girl and the fact that she is an artificial/created intelligence changes nothing about that.

Karakuri Odette is not just a story about a robot girl being more human that the humans around her. (And even if it was, it would be delightful anyway.) By being so *real*, Odette actually does turn someone around her into a real person. Not Chris, her foster-cousin, another robot brought into the story as a weapon, but integrated into the family circle. Not Shirayuki, a self-ostracized girl who has never been able to relate to other people on account of the fact that she can hear their thoughts. No, the person Odette has the most profound effect upon and humanizes the most is her father, Yoshizawa-hakase.

To illustrate this, let me sum up a number of their conversations from various chapters into one whole conversation.

“Professor, I want to go to school.”

“Okay.”

“Professor, I want to be able to eat.”

“Okay.”

“Professor, I want to go to go shopping for cute clothes.”

“Okay.”

“Professor, I want a cell phone.”

“Absolutely not. You don’t need one.”

Can I get some raised hands from people who had that conversation with their fathers? Anyone? I thought so.

In Volume 5, it all comes to a moment in which, after asking for a cell phone again, Odette says something viciously and the Professor responds with “how dare you say that to your father!” (I’m working from the Japanese version, so my apologies if this differs from the Tokyopop translation. I haven’t gotten that yet.)

While fellow androids, the emotionally stunted Grace and haughty Travis call their creator “Papa,” it is Professor Yoshizawa who declares loudly that he loves every last screw in Odette.

Odette is just a perfectly normal girl, who is fundamentally different from everyone else, but is allowed, encouraged and supported by the people around her to be exactly who she is.

In honor of this month’s MMF theme, and the inspiration Odette is to me and hopefully to a lot of “different” people, I declare today “Odette Day.” For today, we won’t care if there are jellybeans in our eggs. For today, we will treat everyone as if they don’t have bad intentions. For today, we will be okay with being not like the other kids. For today, we’ll cover our insulin pumps and asthma inhalers with a cute fleece cover. For today, it’ll be okay to be different.

Happy Odette day to you all.





Lucky Star Manga, Volume 6 (English)

January 18th, 2011

For a comic that has nothing to say, but keeps saying it over and over, getting more self-referential and introspective every time, I’m amazed to tell you that I actually found Lucky Star, Volume 6…funny.

Not hysterical fall over onto the floor funny, like say Hyperbole and a Half. (You are reading Hyperbole and a Half, aren’t you? If not, you really need to, because you’ll lose your cutting edge geek cred if you don’t and your 13-year old niece will roll her eyes at you because you are so lame.

No, Lucky Star is still basically this: Konata and Hiyori are otaku – and so are a few other characters whose names escape me all the time. Overall, I feel like the less Konata-Kagami time we get, the better the story is. Mind you, I really can’t keep all the characters straight, even with character personality inserts at the beginning of chapters, for one simple reason – the character highlighted almost never appears in the next comic and by the time they do appear, I’ve forgotten them again. But the characters themselves are merely here to deliver lines that we all think (as, obviously we, the readers, must all be otaku), “yeah, I hate that too.”

The art has not changed. Which means that the art is primarily strangely shaped heads floating just barely over the bottom of the panel. This strongly increases the “talking head” feeling of this manga, which then increases my inability to tell anyone apart, as they are all teeny, blob heads just barely floating over the bottom of the panel. Nonetheless, I laughed. I too thought, “Oh yeah, I hate that,” or “Oh yeah, I’m like that too.” I guess I should congratulate myself for being a good otaku.

….I would like to take this opportunity to say that, however good an otaku I am, I have no intention of visiting the city of Washimiya or its shrine.

The readability of the English edition has significantly improved since Bill Flanagan took over the translation. Either Bill is really doing his editor’s job or the editor has finally started to get into the game, as this was the first volume (we really wouldn’t want to rush these things!) that reads almost like normal people speak. Even jokes that complain about weird otaku-speak actually have a natural distinction between average conversational language and the slang-laden drivel that passes for conversation among fans.

There is no Yuri. If you see Yuri in this volume, you are working harder than Hiyori at it.

Ratings:

Art – 5 Floating blob-heads a the bottom of the panel…
Story – 7
Characters – 7(0)
Yuri – 0
Service – 10 for in-jokes that only an otaku could love

Overall – 7

I’ll never be a huge fan of Lucky Star and, to some extent making me wait ’til Volume 6 before it’s funny is simply too little, too late. However, for fans of the series, Volume 6 is closing in on a masterwork of in-jokes about in-jokes.

Many, many thanks to Okazu hero Nadia C for her sponsorship of today’s review!