Archive for the Hayate x Blade Category


Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 13

January 30th, 2011

For six years, I have been telling you that Hayate x Blade (はやて×ブレード) is a most amazing manga. For six years I have been crowing about the fantastic characterization, the awesome action, the hilarious comedy of the women of Tenchi Gakuen.  And in all that time, I never once have said that “this volume wasn’t as good as the last one.” You have to figure that at some point, statistics will catch up with this series and there will be a volume that is not as good as the last one.

Volume 13 of Hayate x Blade is not that volume.

Volume 13 is absolutely one of the funniest things I have ever read, and has the beginning of an arc SO full of awesome that I find I am unable to talk about it without using far too many superlatives to be taken seriously.

The volume starts as graduation comes to Tenchi Gakuen, and spring break comes soon after. Graduation at Tenchi is a moving ceremony, as you can imagine – or would be if Hayate knew how to behave in public. Spring break is a chance to see all our regulars kick back a little and have some fun.

It also gives us a chance to see some of the characters involved in a Buffalo hunt in Arizona. (Bet you never expected that, huh!)

And it gives us a chance to meet a few new characters who will be attending Tenchi when the next term starts. Sae’s little sister Saki, who dislikes Akira, but hits it off well with Hayate, is one. And will Nagi become shinyuu with the tall, strong and not-too-bright newbie that is blundering around the campus? These and more new faces will enter Tenchi…soon.

But not until the fight of the century is over.

Since the first chapter there has been a fight that has been discussed, but never fought. A fight that will decide the very future of the school. A fight that will make the word awesome mean something again. A fight that has me freaking right the fuck out as it plays out in current chapters in Ultra Jump. As this volume comes to a close, we are witness to a fight that has everyone in the school on the edge of their seats.

Amachi Hitsugi and Miyamoto Shizuku vs Mikado Akira and Inori Sae.

This fight is everything you could hope it to be.

So, while statistically speaking, there will probably have to be a volume of Hayate x Blade that isn’t *quite* as good as the one before it – that hasn’t happened yet and I don’t expect it to happen at least for another volume.

Hayashiya Shizuru continues to be one of the best story-tellers in manga, IMHO and this series is an absolute must-read for anyone who cares about the craft of manga. Smart-dumb, funny, action-filled and emotional all at once. As surprisingly good at Volume 13 as it ever has been.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 9 and creeping ever higher….

This volume came bundled with a mini-Drama CD that will receive a review of it’s very own. Even if you can’t understand a word, you should listen to it for the chance to hear Asano Mayumi (Tatewaki Hikaru) rule the world of voice acting. Also for Sid and Nancy.





Yuri Network News – January 29, 2011

January 29th, 2011

Yuri Anime

Here is a trailer for the Morita-san ha Muguchi (森田さんは無口) OVA that is being bundled with the third manga volume. The OVA looks Yuri-er than the manga, but seems just as fun overall. For an overview of the story, check out my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2.

This was unexpected and happy-making – Digimon Tamers has been made available by Toei on Hulu.com. At last, I get to refresh my Ruki/Renamon fixation! Still want it on DVD, though… But for the first time ever, I may well try out Hulu. I’m actually pretty excited about this news. I loved Digimon Tamers. It was an amazingly good series, even aside from Ruki being a big ole babydyke. Oh screw it – squee!

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Yuri Manga

The tops stories here were already broken this week, but to recap:

Vertical has announced that they are publishing Princess Knight, Ribon no Kishi （リボンの騎士）apparently under some pressure from the Tezuka folks. Good for them.

And this week saw the release date for the second (middle) Volume of GUNJO. In reply to my congratulations on Twitter, Nakamura-sensei replied that all that was left was the final volume, phew! She promises to keep working hard.

You may remember Gakkou no Sensei, a story about three young teachers and their wacky adventures being pretty bad at their job. Volume 3 is out and the Japanese Yuri lists have upped the Yuri rating. That means fairly little, speaking from my subjective view, but it was a slightly fun manga with some Yuri-ish bits.

And in all honesty, this has to be the seriously weirdest news so far this year – with the popularity of Gantz, and the big global movie release last week, Oku’s first big series is making a comeback. Yes, folks HEN is back in bunko versions, being published by Shueisha. This series is of interest to Yuri fans, BL fans and people who can stand the way Oku draws ears. I reviewed this series ages ago, way back when it was one of the few Yuri series we actually had. Here’s my review  of the Hen anime and manga (from almost *7* years ago! That’s positively stone-age.)

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Yuri Drama CD


Man, you can always tell it’s mid-winter, when the Drama CD news comes pouring in….

You may remember that there is a new Hayate x Blade Drama CD –  Hayate x Blade Ultra Drama CD! Ichiban Hoshi! Zekkyoutsumeawase! that was released last month. Well, it was two of three being released in three months. The second of the set,  Hayate x Blade Ultra Drama CD Niban Hoshi! Tokkun Tsumeawase! was released this week. A third CD will be slamming your pocket next month, too. I haven’t gotten to listen to the first one, because the mini-CD that came with the last volume has been *so* insane and funny that I’ve had to listen to it three times so far. Review will happen eventually, when I stop laughing.

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That’s a wrap for this week.

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Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 12

September 7th, 2010

Today’s review is going to be shorter than it really should be, but I find words fail me.

It’s like, you remember that day when we all were fighting to get the star of some rogue graduate and there was, like, fighting everywhere and all the upperclassmen were like, “Swoosh!” and “Zam!” and everyone was running around and taking on  the Student *freaking* Council (!) and sometimes they even won and then there were those people who always hang around with that Kurogane kids and they were like fighting like, “Damn!” and they were running and running and the Chairwoman of the school was riding around on a big freaking white horse in armor and was all “THOSE WHO FIGHT WITH ALL THEIR HEART SHINE BRIGHTEST” and there was that avalanche which wiped out nearly everyone and that ninja girl was swinging from tree to tree and Mudo and Kurogane were trying to kill each other and it was all BAM!! and Pow!!! and in the end it was ***** who won the whole thing!

Yeah, it was totally like that.

Ratings:

Hayate x Blade, Volume 12 (はやて×ブレード), which is now available only for JP Kindle, is the most perfect storm of slapstick comedy, intellectual comedy, action and “WTF was THAT?” I’ve pretty much ever seen.





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 6 (English)

June 28th, 2010

In most gag manga, the moments of seriousness are brief and are quickly broken up before they can build to anything threatening the general hilarity.

In dramatic manga, the moments of comedy are brief, breaking up the tension with a soft smile from time to time.

In most action manga, the emotions are brief, building up in a fireworks climax during a battle, driven by the need to win.

In most romantic manga, the action is brief, confined to bursts of energy in order to move the characters from one situation into another.

In Hayate x Blade, Volume 6, none of these are brief. We are sated on action, comedy, emotion and drama and by the end of the volume…we want more. Or, well, I want more!

First, there’s the climax of the A-Team’s nefarious plot to blackmail Hayate into leaving the school, culminating in a 80 vs 8 randori. Maid costumes, ladles, cheesy lines and Michi suddenly being awesome! And finally, the entire A-team slayed where they stand by the appearance of their belove Akira. In a maid costume.

Then, we start to get some insight into the relationship between Ayana and Yukari and even as we are told what we are told…we’re given some hints that nothing in this relationship is what it seems.

And finally, in the middle of a school festival that is full insanity, the Hoshitori bell rings and a very, very serious fight begins.

Speaking as a reader, this is one of my favorite volumes in any language. Artistically, Hayashiya-sensei’s art has really coalesced by now and you can practically feel the impact as sword hits sword.  As a copy editor, this volume was *brutal*. The editor and adapter had a lot of work to do – this is a volume full of really obscure references. But damn, what a volume!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4 (Ayana x Yukari and Maki x Yukari for the win here)
Service – 4
Overall – 9

I can’t tell you at this point whether we’ll see a Volume 7, but I know that I, at least, hope and pray that we will. If there was ever a fight that we deserve to see the end of, it’s this one.





Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 11

February 27th, 2010

In fighting manga, it always seems like it’s those few quiet moments in between the fights that move the plot along fastest.

This is absolutely *not* the case for Hayate x Blade, Volume 11. In fact, if anything, the plot moves forward most in the giant handwave moments, the sweeping, epic, moments, and any moments that rocks or trees are crashing down the mountain. Frequently, onto Ayana.

Seriously, so much goes on in this arc that I’ll be hard put to synopsize even the broadest strokes.

You may remember from previous volumes, that Hayate’s twin sister Nagi had arrived at Tenchi Academy. Her superiority at the sword and her few-minute edge as the older sister leads both Nagi and Hayate to the conclusion that Nagi will now take her place as Ayana’s sister-in-arms. Hayate, sure that this is a fated conclusion, leaves the school, goes out to mountain behind the school and is found and befriended by obviously crazy Yannagi Makoto. Because of Makoto’s exceptional sword skills, her Edo-period patois and the fact that her hair covers one eye all the time, Hayate calls her Yagyuu (for Yagyuu Jyuubei) and oyabin (“boss” in Edo lingo.)

It turns out that Makoto is the first ever student who graduated from Tenchi’s Sword-bearing student program. Somewhere between her years in middle school and her third year of high school, she broke completely and fled to the mountain behind Tenchi where she has lived and trained, since. We don’t yet know why, but we do get the briefest glimpse of her past in a flashback.

Hitsugi decides that it’s time to deal with Makoto, so she announces a whole-school event – a randori (a many-against-one melee.) All of the swordbearers are told to find Makoto, with no regard for rank, with the exceptions of the student council who are sent out to obstruct the other ranks. The winner will get a prize chosen by which gate they started from – money, food or a trip to Hawaii. All of the students happily head out to find this mysterious graduate.

Except one.

Ayana couldn’t care less about Makoto. She’s super extra pissed off that she’s here at all and she only has one goal – to find and put the beat down on Hayate for being the cause of this nonsense. And, of course, get her back as shinyuu.

There are a number of scenes of awesome in this volume. Asakura Mizuchi’s preemptive introduction, before Ayana can forget her name again. Sid, being booted out of the helicopter by Nancy. The source of Makoto’s sword skills. What actually goes on inside Ensuu’s head. And Jun fighting Sae has some extra awesome on the side.

The randori format means that we’ll get to see pairs fighting that we’d otherwise never see. As Hayashiya-sensei never lets a character drop after introducing her, that means we get some good fights with characters that you probably forgot about.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1
LoseFanBoy – 1

Overall – 9

The arc isn’t anything like done, although in last month’s Ultra Jump it came to a climax. What the future will bring – and what past will be revealed – is still anyone’s guess!