Archive for the English Manga Category


If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, Volume 4

November 26th, 2023

Seven female pop idoss, dressed in slight different iterations of yellow chinese-dress style costumes face us. No one thinks that the life of a pop idol is a free and easy life, not any more. We all know that – even aside from abusive management companies – it’s a hard life. It’s a lot of work that is rewarded by the whims of fans. If the fans don’t show up for the idols, no matter how much they do, it’ll never be enough.

But what does that make the life of a fan? You show up to the shows, you buy the merch, you get a handshake and, maybe, a kind word. Does the idol remember you among the many fans they have? In If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, Volume 4 we see this overtly transactional relationship from many different angles.

Cham Jam’s participation in the Okayama Idol festival is finally announced, but the fans already knew…which takes away a bit of the energy. While the idols toil to be their best selves, we get a glimpse of their motivations. Yuka’s only real desire is to be liked, while Maki really wants Yumeri to surpass her. Maina is happy where she is, Aya is not happy where she is. Sorane looks to Reo who is having a small crisis. Cham Jam will be on the same stage as Maple Doll, a popular group from Hiroshima, which features another member of Reo’s former group. It’s hard for Reo to see Mei’s group and not feel as if she’s lost something.

From the other side, the fans are struggling with just how best to support Cham Jam. Kumasa and Eripyo visit a Maple Doll concert to see the competition where they are spotted by Yuka and Aya. This causes all kinds of miscommunication that they are “two-timing” Maina and Reo. I’m gonna admit that that this section made me rage. People can like more than one thing at once, folks. It is really not at all okay for companies or other fans to make that taboo. Like, really, fandoms, get a grip.

Eripyo invites a coworker over to watch a promotional clip for the Idol Festival, only to accidentally create a rabid fan in another fandom. Woops.  She also becomes incoherent whenever she’s near Maina and it annoys her as much as it does me.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Painful, but poignant at times
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – Argh

Overall – Argh

I know I struggle with the “comedy” aspect of this series. Maybe if you read it, you’ll think it’s hilarious. I hope you do and let me know in the comments!

Thank you very much to the folks at Tokyopop for their excellent work making this convoluted tale of business and love make sense and for the review copy!





A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 9

November 22nd, 2023

Two girls in navy blue jumper-style school uniforms smile at us, their arms entwined. One wears a flower and holds a diploma scroll, the other wears frog and salamander mascots on her bag.I’m playing clean-up in my files this week and this book, which is the final volume of the series, had been put aside for several reasons. The main one was that a friend of mine was really into it and planned on reviewing it for us on Okazu, but she died of COVID in 2021 and was never able to do so. So, I spent a year avoiding this series like the plague I associated it with. A little over a year ago, I finally was able to finish the series in Japanese. Today I’m holding up my promise to Claire Monserrat Jackson and reviewing A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 9, by Makoto Hagino.

Konatsu and Koyuki have come a very, very long way since they first met. Koyuki has begun to understand the people around her, and allow herself to be part of a group. Konatsu is still not entirely sure she’s communicated everything she wanted to say to Koyuki, but is definitely sure that the other girl is very important to her.

Their final school festival together is a culmination of these two refrains. Even when her classmates’ behavior is a little frightening to Koyuki, she is able to understand that they don’t mean to hurt or scare her. And when she comes to the Aquarium Club’s cafe, she completely understands Konatsu’s message to her, in the form of a frog and salamander pancake combo.

Koyuki graduates and is off to the big city.

In an epilogue, we learn that Kaede’s big sister is a famous model and she thinks that Kaede has the chops to be one, too. Poor Fuyuki. But he finds an interest in photography…so maybe they will meet again after all.

When she comes to Tokyo to visit, Konatsu learns that Koyuki absolutely understood her message to her…and, at last, the older girl is able to respond. This salamander and frog need each other and they want to be together. As I said in my review of the Japanese edition, they will not be heading into the future together, but they will be there for one another. Whether their relationship develops into more than friendship will depend on many things. I see it as a possibility, not a probability. Upon re-read, I call it a fairly high possibility. ^_^

Regardless of any romantic possibility, this series was a very gentle look at the relationship between two young women. It was worth reading for that alone, but I’m also glad that the ends leaves room for recognition of intimacy and desire to have the other person in their lives.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 5

Overall – 8

I sincerely hope the Nagahama High School Aquarium Club got  lot of new members from this series. It looks like they do a lot of cool stuff, in this article from earlier this year!





Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1 Guest Review by Luce

November 15th, 2023

A wolf-woman in a butler's suit leans over a sheep-woman in a colorful dress, with flowers floating around them.In the Land of Sheep with ‘Wolfa’ – people with wolf ears and tails, and ‘Sheepa’, those with sheep ears, Aki Rukijo, a Wolfa butler, is the private tutor to Momo Shiudafaris, a Sheepa princess. Princess Momo is known as the ‘frigid’ princess, and rarely leaves her rooms. After an incident with a wild wolf on a full moon which Aki saves her from, Momo has Aki appointed her private tutor, although that’s not really her true aim. On a night of a full moon, when wolves find their instincts harder to ignore, Momo sneaks into Aki’s bedroom and declares that she loves her, and she’ll ‘gobble her up’!

Despite what sounds like a racy beginning for Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1, by Mito, nothing much actually happens in that scene beyond kissing and them getting naked. And it doesn’t happen again in this volume, although Momo is definitely thinking about it. Bluebell, Momo’s Sheepa maid, is fully on board with the princess’s courting of Aki. Aki is more reserved about the whole thing, mostly since she is a commoner, and Momo is, well, a princess. Thus, Momo continuing to try and court her. It’s all rather cute, really.

Momo, being a princess and possibly having some previous bad experience, is somewhat limited in her experience of the outside world – the two of them go on a castle date, which is cute, but Momo wants more. Egged on by Bluebell and aided by Sakaki and Kiku, fellow Wolfa friends of Aki’s, the two of them disguise themselves and go into town, which is suitably adorable, and actually shows them getting on as people, bonding over the play they went to see, and over books.

I wondered if there might be some class difference between the Wolfa and Sheepa, but if there is, it isn’t touched upon much in this first volume. The royal family is Sheepa, although we only see two here, third princess Momo and her mother, the queen, but other than that, no mentions are made. I think there might be other animal hybrids, but they aren’t mentioned by name. It feels very much more of an aesthetic choice than a story-driven one, which is honestly fine. A work doesn’t always need to have something to say in particular, and the mangaka likely just wanted to draw cute girls with wolf and sheep ears; not to mention the role-reversal of the more confident sheep courting a flustered wolf. I can understand that.

Ratings:

Story: 6 – more about cuteness than plot
Art: 8 – lots of blushing, but the art is nice throughout, the colour pages are very pretty
Yuri: 10 – definite courting between the main couple, possible background yuri couples
Service: 3 – Momo in her underwear, and Aki in butler wear. It suits her.
Animal ear rating: 10 – they even flap when the characters get excited

Overall: 9

If you like animal hybrids and a cute story, or always kind of wanted the princess to get with their maid/another woman close to them, this seems like a pretty good bet. Volume 2 is headed our way next spring –  I’ll certainly continue reading. Final aside, Aki reminds me a little of Zakuro of Tokyo Mew Mew, albeit only by looks, and Momo is a bit like a more assertive Elianna from Bibliophile Princess.

Thank you very much to Seven Seas for the review copy! The translation was by Jan Cash, with lettering by Rina Mapa – I didn’t notice any issues with either, which usually means a job well done!





The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2

November 13th, 2023

Pictured: Two girls, one in a beige sailor-collar blouse and blue skirt Japanese school uniform and one in a sweat jacket, white blouse and jean shorts, hold hands as they walk in a moody night setting. In Volume 1, we met Saki, a high school student who meets and befriends Kanon, a student who is hard of hearing. Kept at a distance by Kanon, who appears aloof, in part because trying to read lips can be exhausting, and the background noise of people is difficult for her to parse…and because something happened in middle school to make her withdraw from people, Saki does her best to gently cross barriers between her and the other girl.

In The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2 Saki and Kanon both take steps to become closer, and to assist Kanon in participating in society on her own terms. Kanon finds an ally in her teacher Miura-sensei, who turns out to have a fairly balanced perspective on life with disability. He finds a physical space where Kanon can relax, and introduces her to a club that suits her. The Literature Club welcomes her to their group.

All is not smooth sailing, though, as Kanon’s over-protective little sister, Rinne, makes Saki feel unwelcome. That she’s not wrong about Saki, makes it harder for her to fight. But a crisis ends up convincing Rinne that Saki is, perhaps, not a bad person. A trip to the movies opens up more cans of worms and Saki struggles with her feelings for Kanon. Kanon tells Saki her side of the issue that came up in middle school. The conversation that follows takes away one more barrier between Kanon and Saki – something that will become very important in future volumes, trust me.

Once again, I beg you all to read this manga. Yes, Saki is a young queer person, but that is only one piece of an incredible multi-layered story about friends, family, disability, and society. It’s some of Kuzuhiro’s best work to date, and really opens up pathways for abled folks to address the needs of disabled folks without being weird about it. What really makes this book work is that every main character so far is dealing with more than one issue. No one is an “XYZ character,” even someone like Miura-sensei comes across a fully-featured person who is dealing with issues in his life and work and searching for balance, as we all are. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Service – On principle only
Yuri – 3 Creeping up slowly

Overall – 9

I’m so thankful Kodansha licensed this. Terrific translation by Kevin Steinbach, lettering by Jamil Stewart in the caption style is eay to read, ( but you know I’m gonna say give the letterer time and money to do retouch!) Phil Basman’s iteration of the cover is very moody and solid. A fine job by the team from Kodansha.

This is an outstanding manga that almost assuredly will be overlooked by the Eisners because it’s not a Shonen Jump title, but for my money, it’s among the best series of the year. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments!





If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, Volume 3

November 9th, 2023

Seven girls in red pop idol costumes pose on the cover of If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 3 by Auri Hirao.Phew. Now that Christian took us over the hump of Volume 2, in which neither Maina nor Eri act in any way approaching the way normal humans might, We arrive at Volume 3 of If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan I Would Die, where they are marginally less not human. 

The first-ever ranking contest results are in and through an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances, Eri comes too late to make a difference in the rankings. Main is, yet again, disappointed for the wrong reasons, until she learns that Eri bought her CDs anyway and runs after her Number 1 fan, but missing her because of an amazingly tortured and unreal set of circumstances. But the Christmas concert comes and although Reo is still center, the girls make their best efforts at giving their fans the kind of service they want – callouts, special gestures, handshakes – and, for the holiday a fraught gift a three shot! Why an idol group would sow dissension among their otaku by requiring them to pick a second fave is beyond me, but perhaps management forgot that otaku live and die by single-minded, creepily possessive obsession?

Importantly, Eri and Maina make each other very happy by saying something mostly-incoherent, but this time at least positive to one another! Yay! Maybe we past their inability to communicate? Hahahah, no, obviously not. This is a Hirao Auri manga and no one important will ever have a meaningful conversation.

The manga ends with the Cham Jam girls and their fans accidentally being at the local shrine at the same time for New Year’s…and the news that Cham Jam will be participating in this year’s Okayama Idol Fest…and so will with the girls who were in Reo’s old group. shock!

I said we’re “over the hump,” and in one sense we are. There will be less torturing of Eri from Volume 4 onward, but this volume is still firmly rooted in the idea that hurting Eri, and Eri and Maina not managing to talk is super hilarious, and not massively stressful. On the other hand, the members of Cham Jam are actually lovely when they are together. You can really see how much they like one another and really believe in themselves, which is incredibly charming. The shrine scene is a reminder that whoever they are up on stage, idols are people, too.  Cham Jam seems like a group you could really get behind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story –  Still frustrating but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can’t see it yet.
Character – 8
Service – Pleasantly, 0
Yuri – 4 Hovering at “I think I feel something for you, but can’t put a finger on it,” to “I can’t look you in the eyes, but don’t know why” with potential

Overall – 8

Tokyopop does a very good job of making this series as fun as possible which, at least for a few more volumes, is not very much. But IF you love idol culture and love insights into both sides of the struggle – what idols and their fans go through – this is probably one of the most realistic manga out there. Idol culture is a niche of it’s own and has it’s own language and rituals. Thanks very much to Tokyopop for today’s review copy and for the excellent work by the entire team for bringing this title over.