07-Ghost: Meet Hakuren Oak

I read 07-GHOST, Vol. 2 (07-Ghost (Viz Media))

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

Review: 07-GHOST Volume 1

07-GHOST, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONISTS: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara
TRANSLATION: Satsuki Yamashita
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Hope Donovan
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4994-1; paperback; Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

07-Ghost is a shonen manga which debuted in 2005. It is also the first manga written and drawn by the team of Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara. VIZ Media recently released the first English-language volume of 07-Ghost.

07-Ghost, Vol. 1, opens in the Barsburg Empire. The opening chapter introduces Teito Klein, a former slave and orphan, who is a cadet at the Barsburg Empire Military Academy. An incident between Teito and Chief of Staff Ayanami gets Teito thrown in prison.

With the help of his friend, Mikage, Teito escapes and ends up in District 7, also known as the “District of God.” The bishops and nuns of Barsburg Church take him in and care for him, but the church is also a place of secrets. Teito learns of seven legendary ghosts, and one scary devil. Some of these secrets will cast away the shadows of Teito’s past and point the way to his place in the now-destroyed Raggs Kingdom.

That 07-Ghost is the debut work of a creative team is obvious. The story is overstuffed with characters, subplots, and back story, and the action is frantic and unkempt. The art is a maelstrom of heavy inks and chaotic page design. The composition is pure high energy, but that energy does not translate into consistently coherent storytelling. There is so much here that potential is assumed, and I’d like to see more. I’m intrigued, but right now, a lot of 07-Ghost seems like sound and fury.

Still, youthful exuberance and passion is a good thing, especially when compared to polished professionalism that results in bland corporate product

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

I Reads You Review: PORTRAIT OF M&N, VOL. 2

Creators: Tachibana Higuchi with Jamie S. Rich (English adaptation) and Satsuki Yamashita (translation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 192 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1725-9 (ISBN-13)

Romance/Comedy; Rated “T” for “Teen Age 13+”

Portrait of M&N is a shojo manga focusing on two high school students with embarrassing, even debilitating secrets that cannot be shared with people outside their homes. First, 15-year-old Mitsuru Abe is an extreme masochist who delights in receiving brutal beatings. Mitsuru meets fellow student, 15-year-old Natsuhiko Amakusa, an extreme narcissist who is mesmerized by his reflection.

They keep each other’s secrets. Then, another student, 17-year-old Eiichi Hijiri, inserts himself into their relationship, claiming to be in love with Abe. Is he really, and does Natsuhiko even care if another guy is in love with Abe?

It’s meet the parents in Portrait of M&N, Vol. 2. Mitsuru meets Natsuhiko’s parents, but she is deathly afraid that they will learn her secret life as a masochist. However, the Amakusa clan has its own secrets, including Natsuhiko’s mother. Natsuhiko makes things worse by inviting the inquisitive Hijiri.

Next, the school’s Ball Games Tournament reveals the jealousies that the other female students have against Mitsuru because they believe she stands between them and Natsuhiko. And they plan to give her hell for it. After he is hurt in an accident, Hijiri plays on Mitsuru’s guilt and turns her into his nursemaid, which is probably making Natsuhiko jealous. So why won’t he admit it?

I didn’t enjoy this second volume of Portrait of M&N as much as I did the first. In Vol. 1, the art by creator Tachibana Higuchi (Gakuen Alice) reminded me of the work of famed New Yorker cartoonist, Charles Addams. This time around, Higuchi’s work lacks the macabre flourishes, and the wicked sense of humor is now more slapstick. The stories are more like traditional high school shojo (comics for teen girls) romance, and the secrets that made the leads seem weird now seem more like debilitations than dirty secrets. I enjoyed reading this volume of Portrait of M&N, but now it is quaint rather than edgy and comic.

B-

I Reads You Review: PORTRAIT OF M&N, VOL. 1

Creators: Tachibana Higuchi with Jamie S. Rich (English adaptation) and Satsuki Yamashita (translation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 206 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1724-2 (ISBN-13)

Portrait of M&N is a new series focusing on two high school students with embarrassing, even debilitating secrets that cannot be shared with people outside their homes.

Fifteen-years-old Mitsuru Abe is attending a boarding school because at her last school, the students discovered that she is an extreme masochist who delights in receiving brutal beatings. Fate brings her into contact with fellow student, 15-year-old Natsuhiko Amakusa, and he turns out to be a narcissist who gazes at himself in a room full of mirrors. They help each other out and keep each other’s secrets. Then, another student, Hijiri inserts himself into their relationship, claiming to be in love with Abe. Is he really, and does Amakusa even care if another guy in love with Abe?

The moment I saw the cover for Portrait of M&N, Vol. 1, it made me want to read the book. On the credit page, Chelsea Windlinger is credited as “graphic designer.” If Chelsea did design the cover, I need to praise her; it is Eisner Award worthy.

As for the manga itself: if this first volume of Portrait of M&N is a good indicator (and I think it is), this will be a good series. Creator Tachibana Higuchi (Gakuen Alice) isn’t making fun of the leads’ personality disorders, but she’s mines humor in how Abe and Amakusa engage the rest of the world in spite of their afflictions. I’d say that Higuchi is being cruel to her fictional creations, except both Abe and Amakusa are so resilient. Higuchi has a way of placing her characters and their weird interior worlds in the context of the outside world that reminds me of the work of famed New Yorker cartoonist, Charles Addams. Portrait of M&N is macabre and has a wicked sense of humor in the vein of Addams’ classic cartoons. This is reason enough to embrace Portrait of M&N.

This is a wonderful read, and like a dark jewel with the power of enchantment, it won’t let you look away.

A

Buy Portrait of M and N Volume 1 (Portrait of M & N)

I Reads You Review: HANAKO AND THE TERROR OF ALLEGORY, VOL. 1

Creator: Sakae Esuno with Satsuki Yamashita (translation) and Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 222 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1608-5 (ISBN-13)

The new manga series from TOKYOPOP, Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, has an unwieldy title, but this breezy read offers ghost stories for your afternoon reading delight. Created by Sakae Esuno (Future Diary), Hanako and the Terror of Allegory is about a detective who battles urban legends come to life.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Vol. 1 introduces Detective Daisuke Aso. He usually deals with con artists and cheating spouses, but he is also known as the Allegory Detective… much to his chagrin. Folktales, legends, old wives’ tales, myths, etc. (the killer with hook for a hand who stalks lovers’ lane) have a way of coming to life, and Aso is the man who battles these monsters.

Aso doesn’t fight alone. Kanae Hiranuma is a recent client; she was vexed by the man with an axe hiding under the bed, an allegory come to life and haunting Kanae’s days and nights. Because she was too poor to pay him, Kanae became Aso’s assistant at the Aso Detective Agency. Even there, Kanae finds more weirdness. The agency’s resident computer and tech geek is actually a resident of the office. Hanako is the allegory of the girl in the bathroom.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory is pretty standard in terms of story structure – inciting incident (usually a customer), complications, climax, and the end. There is a surprising amount of action – fights, chases, and some gunplay, and there is even minor violence and a few panels featuring semi-nudity and sexuality. That is the strange thing about this title: it seems like a teen horror series with a mixture of shojo and shonen elements. However, it has quite a bit of edge, which makes Hanako and the Terror of Allegory just offbeat enough to attract adult fans looking for ghost story manga.

B+

Buy Hanako and the Terror of Allegory Volume 1 (Hanako & the Terror of Allegory)