Review: CATS OF THE LOUVRE

CATS OF THE LOUVRE
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Taiyo Matsumoto (with Saho Tono)
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Michael Arias
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Mike Montessa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0708-9; hardcover (September 2019)
432pp, B&W with some color, $29.99 US, $39.99 CAN, £20.00 UK

Located in Paris, the Louvre is the world's largest art museum (and perhaps it most famous).  Did you know, dear reader, that the Louvre also publishes comics?  Yes, the most famous art museum in the world has been commissioning various legendary comic artists to write their own original stories inspired by the Louvre and its collection for the last decade.  These comics are published via a joint venture between the Louvre and French publisher, Futuropolis.

Most of these artists are French, but increasingly the Louvre has been working with Japanese manga artists (mangaka).  One of those mangaka is Taiyo Matsumoto, who is best known for his manga, Tekkonkinkreet.  Matsumoto won one of American comics' most prestigious honors, an Eisner Award (“Best U.S. Edition of International Material,” 2008), for Tekkonkinkreet: Black and White, VIZ Media's English-language edition of Tekkonkinkreet.

Matsumoto's contribution to Louvre comics is Les Chats du Louvre (Cats of the Louvre), which Futuropolis published in two books, one in February 2017 and the second in August 2018.  VIZ Media recently published an English-language edition of both volumes of Les Chats du Louvre in a single, hardcover, omnibus book under the title, Cats of the Louvre.

Cats of the Louvre, Part One (Chapters 1 to 10) and Part Two (Chapters 11 to 17 to Final Chapter) focuses on a group of human characters that works at the Louvre and a small family of cats that lives in the museum's attic.  Cécile Gagnier, a recent hire, is a tour guide.  Through Marcel, an elderly nightwatchman, Cécile learns that the paintings speak.  Although Cécile and, Marcel's new assistant, Patrick Nasri, initially doubt the old nightwatchman stories, they gradually become believers, especially Cécile.

For the world-renowned Louvre museum contains more than just the most famous works of art in history.  At night, within the Louvre's darkened galleries, an unseen and surreal world comes alive.  It is a world witnessed only by the cats that live in the attic, until now…  The cats, who change appearance at night into anthropomorphic forms, will end up sharing that magic with the humans.  Long ago, Marcel's sister, Arrieta, disappeared in the Louvre when the two were children.  Now, Cécile and a precocious white kitten named “Snowbébé” will solve a mystery that unites the world of the humans that work at the Louvre, the world of the cats, and the magical world a mysterious painting.

It is difficult to describe Cats of the Louvre.  It is surreal and partly exists in the real world and in the world of magical realism; then, some of it is entirely magical and fantastical.

Taiyo Matsumoto fashions an interesting and endearing group of human characters.  Marcel is mysterious, but he is the kind of old man who has a lot to say.  I found that I could not get enough of him.  Patrick Nasri is a nice spin on the skeptical youth type.  Cécile Gagnier is our doorway into the entire world of the museum and its employees and the world of the family of cats in the attic.  Her curiosity and determination and her willingness to listen and to believe make her an excellent focus and doorway into the narrative for readers.

The cats are something else entirely.  Even as cats, they seem slightly supernatural, so when they become human-like at night, everything about them turns magical and exciting.  I could follow their lives and adventures forever.  Most of the cat characters are quite interesting, but the star is, of course, Snowbébé.  This little white cat is the one who crosses the barriers, visiting the galleries during the day when the tourists and museum visitors can plainly see him.  It is his adventure into the mystery painting that creates the most magical and surreal sections of Cats of the Louvre.

Matsumoto's art is as lyrical, as poetic, and as personal as his story.  His odd, eccentric drawing style is perfect for comics; in fact, Cats of the Louvre looks like Eurocomics, American comics, and manga.  The art and story are hypnotic and alluring.  I found myself being pulled into the comic by the irresistible force of Matsumoto's graphical storytelling.

Michael Arias, the noted visual effects artist who directed the anime adaptation of Tekkonkinkreet, provides the translation and English adaptation for VIZ Media's edition of Cats of the Louvre.  Arias captures the magic and brilliance of Matsumoto's tale of the Louvre and its cats, its humans, and its charmed works of art.  Letter Deron Bennett turns in the best work of his career, providing the English lettering and sound effects and also, with his lettering, matching the beautiful spirit of Matsumoto's art.

I highly recommend Cats of the Louvre.  No admirer of the medium of comics can ignore Matsumoto's stunning manga.

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND Volume 1

THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kousuke Oono
TRANSLATION: Sheldon Drzka
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jennifer LeBlanc
LETTERS: Bianco Pistillo
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0940-3; paperback (September 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
168pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Gokushufudou is the debut manga from creator, Kousuke Oono.  It was serialized in the magazine, Kurage Bunch.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga in English as a series of graphic novels, entitled The Way of the Househusband, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9) introduces Tacchan Tatsu.  Once upon a time, Tatsu was a Yakuza boss, a man so feared that he was known as “The Immortal Dragon.”  Now, Tatsu is married to Miku, a career woman.  Now, the Immortal Dragon is a “househusband!”  But when he is reunited with Masa, a former underling, Tatsu realizes that the world of the Yakuza is not quite ready to let him go.

[This volume includes three bonus manga stories: “Gin's Walk,” “This is Masa Style,” and “Let's Have a Fair Fight.”]

I found The Way of the Househusband manga to be a delightful read.  It is so odd, but that can be a good thing, which it is in this instance.

The Way of the Househusband Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces readers to the simple, everyday world of Tatsu, the one fashioned by creator Kousuke Oono.  That world is about cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and eventually DIY crafts for the housewife.  Sheldon Drzka's translation and Jennifer LeBlanc's English adaptation capture the straight-forward dialogue and also this story's undercurrent of sly wit and slight goofiness.

Oono's art is offbeat compared to most manga art; the illustrations seem like something out of a Western alternative comics title.  However, Oono captures the interior and exterior world of Japan in excellent detail.  Tatsu and Miku's apartment looks like a real living space, and the grocery stores and shopping mall spaces... well, they make me feel like I am in some place where actually people shop and consume more than they need.

Of course, this is only Vol. 1.  Still, I find myself drawn into this “VIZ Signature” title, The Way of the Househusband, and I am always up for an interesting spin on the domestic comedy.

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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Review: LEVIUS

LEVIUS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Haruhisa Nakata
TRANSLATION: John Werry
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0502-3; hardcover (September 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
672pp, B&W with some color, $34.99 U.S., $46.99 CAN, £25.00 UK

Levius is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) created by Haruhisa Nakata.  It was serialized in 18 chapters from 2012 to 2014 in the Japanese manga magazine, Ikki.  In Japan, Levius was collected in three tankobon (graphic novels).  VIZ Media is publishing the entirety of Levius in English as a omnibus hardcover, entitled Levius.

Levius is set on an alternate Earth.  It is the 19th century, and the world has entered the “Era of Rebirth,” as it recovers  from a devastating war.  Seventeen-year-old Levius Cromwell lost his father to war, and his mother lies in a coma in a hospital because she suffered grave bodily injuries in the battle in their neighborhood, Green Bridge.  Five years earlier, Levius came to live with his uncle, his late father's brother, Zack Cromwell, and his paternal grandmother.

Now, Levius is a fighter in the sport of mechanical martial arts (M.M.A.), which has galvanized the nations of the world.  Cybernetically augmented fighters turn their blood into steam and their bodies into brutal and sometimes monstrous fighting and killing machines.  Young Levius is one of those arena battlers, a mechanical martial artist prodigy, hell-bent on winning in order to simply survive in a sport where combatants often enter the “Final Cage,” death.

There are five levels in M.M.A., I, II, III, IV, and V, and Levius is Level II.  In order to move up to Level I, Levius will have to fight the monstrous Hugo Stratus and a young woman named A.J. Langdon.  To defeat them, to maybe save them and himself, Levius may have to enter the Final Cage.

The Levius manga is appropriate for high school age readers, although it is classified with the adult seinen manga label.  Creator Haruhisa Nakata depicts some shockingly brutal fights, but Levius' mixture of dystopian science fiction, mecha, and martial arts will attract a number of manga readers who are familiar with titles like Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell.

The art is richly detailed and the fights and behind-the-scenes segments about cybernetics will remind readers of Ghost in the Shell.  In the drama scenes, Nakata's art reminds me of the work of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira).

I found this manga to be an exciting read.  However, there were times that the story seemed to become repetitive.  I will not say that the story is padded, but Nakata often needs to draw out fights to the gruesome end in order to convey the story's plot and themes.  The consequence is that readers may find that some of the mechanical martial arts battles will simply wear them down, as it did me a few times.

Otherwise, Levius is a unique alternate Earth, futuristic drama and action-thriller.  Its stylish art and powerful graphical storytelling left me wanting more.  And there is more, a follow-up, entitled Levius/est, which hopefully makes it way to American readers.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Manga Review: NO GUNS LIFE: Volume 1

NO GUNS LIFE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tasuku Karasuma
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Mike Montessa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1045-4; paperback (September 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
248pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

No Guns Life is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) series by Tasuku Karasuma.  It has been serialized in the Japanese manga magazine, Ultra Jump, since August 2014.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga in English as a series of graphic novels under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

No Guns Life, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) is set in an indeterminate future, after the end of a “Great War.”  One group of fighters in that war was known as the “Extended.”  The Extended are cyborg soldiers whose bodies were transformed via “physical function extension,” also known as “Extended surgery.”

After the war, the Extended were discharged.  One of them is Juzo Inui, a man whose body was transformed, and his head was replaced with a giant gun.  He has no memory of his previous life or knowledge of who specifically replaced his head or why.  Inui now scratches out a living in the dark streets of the city as a “Resolver,” one who resolves issues or takes on cases involving the Extended.  Now, Inui finds himself protecting, Tetsuro Arahabaki, a child with very powerful connections, but also possessing technology that has made him the biggest target in the city.

The No Guns Life manga is intriguing simply because of its title.  The striking cover art of the first volume – featuring Juzo Inui's gun head – is enough to encourage a reader to try, at least, the first volume.

No Guns Life Graphic Novel Volume 1, however, does not live up to the intensity that Inui's physical appearance suggests.  The six chapters contained in Vol. 1 depict violence, but not enough to earn the book a “mature” rating; it is rated for “older teens.”  There is, of course, nothing wrong with a teen-friendly rating, but, once again, that character design...  The truth of the matter is that Inui and Tetsuro are intriguing and probably have wonderful back stories, but in this first volume, creator Tasuku Karasuma focuses mainly on introducing concepts, characters, and conflicts.

If I had to compare No Guns Life, Vol. 1 to an American comic book, I would say that it has passing similarities to Marvel's The Punisher and to DC Comics' Deathstroke.  The difference is that Frank Castle/The Punisher and Slade Wilson/Deathstroke wield big guns, but neither has a big gun for a head.  Although if they did, that would make for some cool one-off stories.  Meanwhile, I really think the best of No Guns Life is yet to come.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BEASTARS Volume 1

BEASTARS, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Paru Itagaki
TRANSLATION: Tomoko Kimura
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Annette Roman
LETTERS: Susan Daigle-Leach
EDITOR: Annette Roman
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0798-0; paperback (July 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Beastars is a manga from creator Paru Itagaki.  It is set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, divided into the carnivores and herbivores.  In this world, eating meat is a felony.  The “Beastar” is a hero who begins as a school leader.  He or she transcends all the mistrust and discrimination that runs life in this world, and then, graduates to become some kind of great public figure who is a world leader.

Beastars, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 7) opens one night at Cherryton Academy, a boarding school for carnivores and herbivores.  Tem, an alpaca and herbivore student, is brutally murdered.  In a school literally divided into predator and prey, a carnivore is assumed to be the perpetrator.  Some eyes direct their gaze at Legoshi, a gray wolf and carnivore student who was Tem's best pal.

Meanwhile, Louis, a red deer from a wealthy and elite family, has ambitions to become a Beastar.  He has the lead in a school production of the play, “Adler,” and hopes that the play, especially his performance, will bring the school closer together.  As friendships maintain a fragile peace, Legoshi begins to mistrust his own feelings and instincts.  Will a fellow student, Haru the dwarf rabbit, be the thing that drives him to let the beast in his soul free?

[This volume includes bonus comics and illustrated text pieces about the design and world of Beastars and about the creative team.]

The Beastars manga manages to surprise me.  I had never heard of it, and did not know what to expect.  Now, it looks like Beastars could be a memorable anthropomorphic comic.

Beastars Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces an intriguing world.  Creator Paru Itagaki finds ways to insert information about this world of talking animals without overwhelming the narrative with factoids and the readers with too much data.  She is slowly revealing the characters personalities, with the exception of Legoshi, Louis, and Haru.  For those three character, Itagaki dives deeply into them, as much of the narrative, at least at this point, revolves around them.

I could take the easy route and say that this is a high school drama that is an allegory about teenagers trying to fit into high school before they have to learn their place in the world.  It is, but only partly.  Actually, I think Beastars (a VIZ Signature title) is also a timely tale that examines the dynamics of racial and ethnic strife and conflict, both between different groups and within each group's sub-groups.  There is even the hint of class conflict.

So, the first seven chapters of Beastars set an ambitious table for the series.  If upcoming volumes can be as intriguing as this first one, Beastars will be a beast of a graphic novel series.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: GANGSTA: Cursed Volume 5

GANGSTA: CURSED, VOL. 5
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kohske
ART: Syuhei Kamo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
EDITOR: Leyla Aker
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0156-8; paperback (June 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Gangsta: Cursed is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) from writer Kohske and artist Syuhei Kamo.  It is a prequel to Kohske's crime manga, Gangsta, and was originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, Quarterly Comic Go Go Bunch, from 2014 to 2018.  VIZ Media published the manga in English as a five-volume series of graphic novels entitled Gangsta: Cursed, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ's series recently came to an end.

Gangsta: Cursed is largely set in the crime-ridden city of Ergastulum.  The story explores the dark and violent past of key characters from Gangsta, with a focus on Marco Adriano a.k.a. “Spas.”  “Hunters” find and kill “Twilights,” humans who have powers and abilities that normal humans do not.  Spas belongs to the most notorious group of Hunters, the quintet known as “The Second Destroyers,” but he is loosing his sense of “justice.”

Gangsta: Cursed, Vol. 5 (Chapters 14 to 18) opens in the aftermath of Spas killing Maverick, fellow Hunter and his mentor.  Spas has come to believe that Twilights are not monsters, but that he, as a prolific killer of Twilights, is the monster.  Now, Spas must confront the rest of “The Second Destroyers” (a.k.a. the “Second Destroyers Group”):  Beretta, Minimi, and especially Striker.  This rift in Spas and Striker's moral stances will scar them forever.

Plus, Don Luca Cristiano and Galahad gather the remaining Twilights as the recent violence against their community subsides.  Don Luca and his wife, Shelly, welcome their first child into the world, but it is another child that the Don welcomes into his larger family that will generate consternation.

[This volume includes bonus manga, “0.5” and four-panel comics.]

I had told you, dear readers, that I was initially skeptical of the Gangsta: Cursed manga.  After reading the first volume of Cursed, I was impressed.  The series certainly offered a lot of kinetic action scenes and plenty of ultra-violence.  Gangsta: Cursed is written the original series' creator-writer-artist, Kohske, and is drawn by Syuhei Kamo.

Gangsta: Cursed Graphic Novel Volume 5 is the final volume of this series.  It is like the rest of the series, but it is the best volume by far.  Perhaps, because this volume is the concluding one, it has clarity of purpose – depicting the costs that the main players pay for their actions.  Kohske and Kamo balance the displays of savagery with the theme of redemption.  Can redemption come to someone who has committed as much savagery as Spas?  This questions permeates every panel of this graphical narrative.

So the impressive fight scenes and explosive actions scenes repeat in Vol. 5.  However, the final volume, with its explorations of forgiveness and revenge, makes the entire series worth reading.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: SMASHED: Junji Ito Story Collection

SMASHED: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Junji Ito
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jocelyn Allen
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
EDITOR: Masumi Washington
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9846-8; hardcover (April 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
416pp, B&W, $22.99 U.S., $32.00 CAN, £15.99 UK

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror mangaka (comic book writer-artist) who has created both long-form horror manga (comics) series and manga short stories.  Ito's best known long-form manga include Tomie, Uzumaki, and Gyo.  Tomie was adapted into a live-action film series (beginning in 1998), and Uzumaki was adapted into a live-action film (2000).  Gyo was adapted as the anime film, Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack (2012).

VIZ Media has been publishing hardcover books that collect many of Junji Ito's manga short stories for the last four years.  The first was Fragments of Horror (June 2015), and then, came Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories (December 2017).  Last year saw the release of Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection (October 2018), which collects six Ito stories and Ito's manga adaptation of Mary Shelley's legendary novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).

The latest Ito short story collection is Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection, which was released last month (April 2019).  This hardcover comics collection gathers 13 chilling, nightmarish stories from one of world's masters of horror manga and comics.   Be warned.  Do not be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you’ll get smashed!  What has caused so many people to be “earthbound?”  Why are they tied to a certain place for the rest of their short lives?  What is it about that strange haunted house that has come to town?  This is Junji Ito’s world, where there is no escape from endless nightmares.

A long time ago, I was reading a review of Annie Lenox's second solo album, Diva (an album of cover song), in which the reviewer/ music critic said that every album should have at least one great song.  [He thought Diva had two.]  I sometimes use that standard for collections of comic book short stories, except having one great story per collection is not enough for me.  I want at least two stories that so overwhelm me that I declare them to be great.

Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection contains 13 comics/manga short stories, and I think five of them are great, and a sixth is bat-shit-crazy enough to be great.  The opening story, “Bloodsucking Darkness,” begins as a tale about a young woman who, after being spurned by her boyfriend, decides to starve herself in order to get skinny so she become a model.  It wraps up as a chilling story dealing with themes of obsession and self-destructive behavior with the symbolism of vampirism and human blood as vehicles by which Ito moves the story forward.

“Roar,” an imaginative ghost story about two hikers who encounter a strange flash flood, is a mystery tale that uses an unusual and recurring haunting to explore family and local histories.  Its tragic reunion is one of the most poignant and heart-breaking moments I have ever read in a ghost story.  I think that “Roar” would have made for a wonderful episode of the original version of “The Twilight Zone” television series.

“Earthbound” and “Death Row Doorbell” both explore themes of guilt, revenge, and grief.  In different way, each considers how a sense of guilt can be so strong that it overwhelms the existence of people who have committed violent crimes.  Each story also examines the power that grief and the desire for revenge hold over both the perpetrators of crimes and the victims/survivors.  I don't want to say too much about the plot of each story because it would give away each story's fantastic resolution.  “Earthbound”  is about an epidemic of people frozen to a particular spot on earth.  “Death Row Doorbell” tells the story of a young woman, Noriko Kowa, and her brother (unnamed in this tale) who suffer a visitor whose ringing of their front doorbell causes them great pain and fear.

“I Don't Want to Be a Ghost” is an unsettling tale about a young husband who first finds a strange young woman on a lonely mountain road.  He begins an affair with her only to fall prey to her blood-chilling appetites.  The title story, “Smashed,” centers on a strange nectar that a Japanese explorer finds in an isolated jungle in South America.  The warning is that when you drink the nectar, you must not be “noticed.”  The ending of “Smashed” is of the kind that readers would only find in a comic book, and it reminds me of the ending of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Watchmen – an excellent science fiction, mystery, and conspiracy comic book miniseries with an ending that is crazy, but is not as enthralling as the story that leads up to it.  “Smashed” is the sixth “bat-shit-crazy enough to be great” tale I mentioned earlier in this review.

The other seven stories in Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection are also quiet good.  Most of them have elements that I would use the word “disquiet” to describe.  Once upon a time, elements in these seven stories might have gotten a cartoonist or comic book creator fired, maybe even made him or her unemployable, or even gotten a cartoonist jailed.  I'm thinking of the three-story suite involving a haunted house and a character named “Soichi.”

The only other comics short story collections that have impressed me as much as Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection does are those books collecting stories originally published in various EC Comics publications.  Smashed proves once again that Junji Ito is the current king of horror comics.

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: URUSEI YATSURA Signature Edition Volume 1

URUSEI YATSURA SIGNATURE EDITION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Rumiko Takahashi
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Camellia Nieh
LETTERS: Erika Terriquez
EDITOR: Amy Yu
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0342-5; paperback (February 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
416pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $26.99 CAN, £12.99 UK

Urusei Yatsura is a manga series written and illustrated by legendary mangaka, Rumiko Takahashi.  A comedy, it was her first ongoing manga series and was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1978 to 1987.  Urusei Yatsura is comprised of 374 individual chapters, which were collected in 34 tankōbon (graphic novel or trade paperback) volumes.  Urusei Yatsura (which means “obnoxious people”) is the story of a Japanese high school boy and the ogre-alien princess who vexes him.

VIZ Media published Urusei Yatsura in English during the 1990s in various formats.  In 2018, VIZ announced that it had re-licensed the manga and that it would publish it in its 2-in-1 mini-omnibus editions that collect two graphic novels or tankōbon volumes in one paperback volume.  The Urusei Yatsura Signature Edition is being published under the VIZ Signature imprint with a rating of “‘T+’ for Older Teens.”  Volume 1 carries a print MSRP of $19.99 U.S. / $26.99 CAN, and future volumes will present 400 pages of content in the larger “VIZ Signature” trim size, with the complete series scheduled for English publication by VIZ Media on a quarterly basis.

Urusei Yatsura (Signature Edition), Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 17) introduces Ataru Moroboshi, a lecherous, lazy, always hungry, and girl-crazy high school boy.  He is randomly chosen by an alien computer to battle for the salvation of Earth.  That is how he meets Lum, the alien slash ogre princess.  Lum starts to insists that she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally proposes to her.

Ataru considers Lum a pest and a needless complication in his life.  His real girlfriend, Shinobu, is furious at Ataru for putting himself in this position.  Now, Ataru finds himself fending off Lum, trying to appease Shinobu, and constantly in conflict with all manner of alien beings and also figures from Japanese mythology.

[This volume includes “Urusei Yatsura Data File” 01 and 02, “My Lum” by Rumiko Takahashi, and “Notes.”]

I first learned of Urusei Yatsura as an anime because I read (where, I don't remember) that it had influenced film director Chris Columbus (who directed the first two Harry Potter films) when he created the cult Saturday morning animated TV series, “Galaxy High” (1986).  Years later, I was able to buy a few episodes of the anime on VHS and also purchase a few issues of VIZ's publication of Urusei Yatsura as an American monthly comic book series.

Urusei Yatsura Signature Edition Graphic Novel Volume 1, which collects the first seventeen chapters of the original manga, is the first time that I have been able to read a substantial portion of Urusei Yatsura.  The thing that surprised me the most about this first volume is how well-developed the humor is despite the fact that this was Rumiko Takahashi's first ongoing series.  I have always admired how Takahashi can make a single chapter in a serial manga seem like a self-contained episode that is able to be a complete story by itself outside the main narrative.  Thus, each chapter is a comic work, and one of the best things about Urusei Yatsura is that each volume seems like a collection of sitcom episodes.

Another element that I enjoy is how Takahashi uses creatures and beings from Japanese folklore and mythology, often known as yokai.  Takahashi delights in the first volume with an colorful menagerie of princesses of various mythological types, including a crow goblin princess, a snow goddess, and even a kappa princess who has a jealous, giant-sized boyfriend.

After decades of expectations on my part, I find that Urusei Yatsura lives up to the hype.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I heartily recommend this debut volume, which is worth the $19.99 (U.S.) cover price.

A
8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: RWBY Official Manga Anthology, Volume 3 - From Shadows

RWBY OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY, VOL. 3 – FROM SHADOWS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONISTS:  Ritsu Hayami; Tsutanoha; Sumiwo; monorobu; Rojine Kio; Natsutaro; Mochiyama; mojojoj; Sun Hiura; Kaogeimoai; Mugupo; Ogurapan; Sora; Siguma Koko; Sorappane; Mikanuji; Ohtsuki; Umiya
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamasaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
MISC. ART: mojojoj, Mugupo, ryuga, Sai Izumi
COVER: Ein Lee and Meteo
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0281-7; paperback (November 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
168pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Based on the animation from Rooster Teeth Productions; RWBY created by Monty Oum

Streamed over the Internet, “RWBY” is an American animated series.  The late Monty Oum created the series for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its streaming and web animated series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it to be an actual anime series.  It is the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training who are collectively known as “Team RWBY.”

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology collects original short manga and comics set in the world of RWBY.  Each graphic novel in the series showcases a particular member of Team RWBY.  RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 3 is subtitled “From Shadows.”  It focuses on Blake Belladonna, the RWBY member who belongs to a race known as the “Faunus.”

The stories reveal how Blake initially worries about how she will fit in with her human teammates, who are also her roommates.  A few of the stories reveal that Blake uses her hair ribbons to hide the most obvious sign of being a Faunus, her cat-like ears.  In the story, “Curiosity Killed the Cat,” Blake tackles a school legend about a cursed mirror – with help of her teammate, Yang Xiao Long's dog, Zwei.  In the story, “Proof of a Black Cat,” an early period story, Blake learns to trust a new teammate when it comes to helping with her sword work.

[This volume contains commentary one-panel cartoons from the cartoonists that contributed to this volume.  It also includes “Message from Ein Lee.”]

As I have stated in previous RWBY manga reviews, I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to collect Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  My VIZ Media press rep has sent me all three volumes of the RWBY The Official Manga Anthology manga published to date.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel Volume 3 is, thus far, my favorite volume of the series.  Why?  For one thing, I think the manga/comics contained within this volume, short as they are, seem the most focused.  Many of them have a plot or solid concept, and only a few of them seem to be nothing more than a gathering of girl friends having a chat and a laugh.

I think another element that makes Vol. 3 strong is that Black Belladonna belongs to a persecuted minority.  Thus, the cartoonists can take various aspects of Blake's character or life and create conflict or drama about her fitting in at the academy or learning to trust her fellow RWBY teammates.  Even something as simple as Blake's hair ribbons can yield interesting moment and vignettes.  I would actually enjoy more Belladonna stories like this.

A-
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------------------

Review: RWBY Official Manga Anthology Volume 4 - Burn

RWBY OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY, VOL. 4 – BURN
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONISTS:  Ohtsuki; Ritsu Hayami; mojojoj; Xily; Mochiyama; Mugupo; Moromoimaru; Mikanuji; Meteo; Sun Hiura; Natsutaro; Sora; Tsutanoha; Kaogeimoai; Rojine Kio; EMO; monorobu; Umiya
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamasaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
MISC. ART: monorobu; Ritsu Hayami; Ohitashi; Honojirotowoji
COVER: Ein Lee and Meteo
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0282-4; paperback (February 2019); Rated “T” for “Teen”
168pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Based on the animation from Rooster Teeth Productions; RWBY created by Monty Oum

Streamed over the Internet, “RWBY” is an American animated series.  The late Monty Oum created the series for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its web animated series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it to be an actual anime series.  It is the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training who are collectively known as “Team RWBY.”

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology collects original short manga and comics set in the world of RWBY.  Each graphic novel in the series showcases a particular member of Team RWBY.  RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 4 is subtitled “Burn.”  This volume focuses on Yang Xiao Long, the RWBY member who is also the older half-sister of Ruby Rose.

The stories offered in “Burn” reveal how hard Yang works at her warrior skills, at being a sister to Ruby, and at being a good teammate.  Sometimes, she finds herself walking the dog, Zwei.  Other times, she fights with two sisters over a teddy bear.  Yang worries about her weight and tries to plan a party.  Often, she has to play make up to her sister, when the entire team isn't fighting demons.

[This volume contains commentary one-panel cartoons from the cartoonists that contributed to this volume.  It also includes “Message from Ein Lee” and “Message from Barbara Dunkelman.”]

As I have stated in previous RWBY manga reviews, I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to collect Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  My VIZ Media press rep has sent me all four volumes of the RWBY The Official Manga Anthology manga published to date.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel Volume 4 is a nice read, although it is not as good as Vol. 3, the best volume of the series, thus far.  Yang Xiao Long is not a particularly strong character in these stories, as she seems one note.

The stories here are written by new, emerging, and amateur manga creators.  Some the stories are pleasant, but nothing is standout material here.  I do like the work of some of the artists, for instance EMO, who offers a particularly strong panel featuring only a pair of eyes.  Beyond that, I think Vol. 4 is especially for RWBY fans.

B
6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

----------------------------

Review: RAN AND THE GRAY WORLD Volume 1

RAN AND THE GRAY WORLD, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Aki Irie
TRANSLATION: Emi Louie-Nishikawa
LETTERING: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Amy Yu
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0362-3; paperback (November 2018); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
216pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Ran and the Gray World is a manga from Aki Irie.  The series focuses on a girl who wants to be like her mother, who is a powerful sorceress.  VIZ Media is publishing this manga in English as a graphic novel series on a quarterly basis.

Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) introduces a girl named Ran Uruma.  She lives with her father, Zen, and her annoying older brother, Jin.  Ran wants to be a sorceress like her mother, Shizuka, who does not live with Ran and her brother and father.  Ran can't wait until she actually grows up, so she uses the help of a magical pair of sneakers that transforms her into a young woman.  Her brother and father try to keep her safe, but Ran is also determined to have her own adventure.

The Ran and the Gray World manga is a strange one, but part of its allure is that it seems like it is going to be... eclectic?  And the art is certainly pretty.

Ran of the Gray World Graphic Novel Volume 1 is a coming-of-age story in which the character that is coming-of-age of age already seems to be quite self-possessed.  As a child or in her adult form, Ran Uruma is trying to discover the world and to discover what she can be in that world.  Creator Aki Irie presents Ran's mother's visits to her family as a great raucous thing of magic and creation, and Ran's journey seems to be much like that.

This first volume of Ran and the Gray World is beautifully drawn, and it introduces characters and concepts more than it delves into them.  It all seems like a tease, and I want to know more about the delightfully taciturn older brother, Jin, as well as about the obligations of the vivacious, but largely absent mother, Shizuka.  I must admit that Ran and the Gray World's sense of the magical and the  whimsical make me want to come back for more.

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

------------------------------

Review: GANGSTA: Cursed Volume 1

GANGSTA: CURSED, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kohske
ART: Syuhei Kamo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9054-7; paperback (December 2016); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

The edgy crime manga, Gangta, has a prequel.  It is entitled Gangsta: Cursed, and it explores the dark and violent past of key characters from Gangsta.  Cursed is written by the creator-writer-artist of Gangsta, Kohske, and is drawn by Syuhei Kamo.

Gangsta: Cursed, Vol. 1 (Chapters 0 to 3) introduces Marco Adriano, when he was young.  Before he was a loyal and beloved member of the Cristiano Family, Marco was “Spas.”  He belonged to the Destroyers Second Group, a five-member squad that hunts and brutally kills “Twilights,” humans born with power and abilities that normal humans do not have.  Marco kills and kills, slaughtering and cutting Twilights as if they were meat, but then, he is confronted by a horrifying truth.

If I understand correctly, the Gangsta: Cursed manga is a spin-off series from the original Gangsta that focuses on the origins and back stories of several of the main characters of the main series.  I like that because the flashbacks are some of the best story lines in Gangsta.  [I'm a sucka for flashbacks in manga, in general.]  Artist Syuhei Kamo does an uncanny impersonation of Kohske's drawing style, so that is so more continuity in this new series' favor.

In terms of the violence, Gangsta: Cursed Graphic Novel Volume 1, the opening salvo, looks and plays out like a regular volume of Gangsta, but with a slight difference.  I don't remember any one volume of Gangsta depicting as much carnage as Gangsta: Cursed Volume 1 does, and the original can be pretty graphic when depicting mayhem.  When I first heard about this manga spin-off prequel, I didn't think that we needed more Gangsta, but the gory horror fan in me does indeed want more Gangsta: Cursed.  I recommend it to Gangsta fans who want to swim in more blood.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You'


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

Review: RWBY Official Manga Anthology Volume 2

RWBY OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY, VOL. 2 – MIRROR, MIRROR
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONISTS: KaTe; monorobu; Kuma; Mate; Ritsu Hayami; Amechan; Rojine Kio; mojojoj, EMO; Mochiyama; Mikanuji; Tsutanoha; Amaya; Sora; Kaogeimoai; ryuga; Uri; Assa; Sun Hiura; Umiya
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamasaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
MISC. ART: shihou; Kuma; BUZZ; Ecru
COVER: Ein Lee and Meteo
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0158-2; paperback (August 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Based on the animation from Rooster Teeth Productions; RWBY created by Monty Oum

“RWBY” is an American animated series that is streamed on the World Wide Web.  “RWBY” was created by the late Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its streaming and web animated series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it to be an actual anime series.  It is the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training who are collectively known as “Team RWBY.”

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology collects original short manga and comics set in the world of RWBY.  Each graphic novel in the series showcases a particular member of Team RWBY.  RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 2 is subtitled “Mirror, Mirror” and focuses on Weiss Schnee, sometimes called “the Ice Princess.”

The stories reveal how Weiss initially struggles to work in a team, and how she comes to think of her teammates as friends, although she still sometimes feels out of place.  The stories also reveal how close she is to her older sister, Winter, and how the dynamics of her powerful family affects her as a child and still do.  Most of all the stories are about how Weiss becomes a part of the family known as Team RWBY.

[This volume contains commentary one-panel cartoons from the cartoonists that contributed to this volume.  It also includes “Message from Ein Lee” and “Message from Kara Eberle.”]

I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to collect Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  My VIZ Media press rep has sent me both volumes of the RWBY The Official Manga Anthology manga published to date.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel Volume 2 is, in tone and style, similar to the first volume of the anthology.  The stories are mostly humorous, and they are lighthearted vignettes that focus on the relationships between the members of Team RWBY.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Volume 2 – Mirror, Mirror is a good way to let readers see various aspects of the character of Weiss Schnee.   According to the press release that accompanied the first volume's release, the mangaka (creators) that contribute to this anthology are new artists.  That shows in the fact that these stories feel like amateur press comics or “dōjinshi.”  The stories in “Mirror, Mirror,” are about relationships and friendship, but very few are about RWBY's continuity or about the series' internal mythology.

B
6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------------

Review: RWBY: The Official Manga Anthology Volume 1

RWBY OFFICIAL MANGA ANTHOLOGY, VOL. 1 – RED LIKE ROSES
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONISTS: monorobu; Ritsu Hayami; Kuma; KaTe; Xily; Uri; Sora; Amaya; Mikanuji; Moromoimaru; Koogeimoai; Siguma Koko; Mate; mojojoj; Amechan; Shiki Miou; Sorappane; Rojine Kio; Sun Hiura; Umiyo
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamasaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
MISC. ART: Sai Izumi; Esu; Shiki Miou; Tsukasa; Omutatsu
COVER: Ein Lee and Meteo
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0157-5; paperback (May 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Based on the animation from Rooster Teeth Productions; RWBY created by Monty Oum

“RWBY” is an American animated series that is streamed on the World Wide Web.  “RWBY” was created by the late Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its streaming and web animated series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it to be an actual anime series.  It is the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training who are collectively known as “Team RWBY.”

Shiwa Miwa, the creator of the manga Dogs and Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, produced a manga based on “RWBY” and entitled RWBY.  It was published in graphic novel form by VIZ Media in January 2018.  Now, VIZ is introducing RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, which will publish original short manga and comics set in the world of RWBY that showcase the members of Team RWBY

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 1 is subtitled “Red Like Roses” and focuses on Team RWBY leader, Ruby Rose.  The stories reveal that Ruby has insecurities just like everyone else, although she is a Huntress team leader.  While her worries run deep, Ruby is determined to overcome her shortcomings in order to be a true hero.  From working with other teams to taking on evil clones, Ruby is driven to be the best... even if it means she has to change her hair color.

[This volume contains commentary one-panel cartoons from the cartoonists that contributed to this volume.  It also includes “Message from Ein Lee” and “Message from Lindsay Jones.”]

I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to publish Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  As I wrote in a previous review, I was not interested in reading it, but my VIZ Media rep gave me a copy.  However, I was looking forward to the RWBY The Official Manga Anthology manga, VIZ Media came through.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel Volume 1 is a little more entertaining than the first RWBY graphic novel.  That is mainly because the stories are mostly humorous.  They are lighthearted vignettes that focus on the relationships between the members of Team RWBY.  Ruby Rose is the emphasis in these tales, but her teammates star in most of the stories here and are featured almost as much as she is.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Volume 1 – Red Like Roses is a good way to let readers learn more about the characters via comedy and teamwork.  Most of these stories are about 10-pages in length.  According to the press release that accompanies this first volume's release, the mangaka (creators) that contribute to this anthology are new artists, and it shows in the fact that these stories feel like amateur press comics or “dōjinshi.”  These stories are fun, but I miss the fantasy-horror-action mix of the previous RWBY manga.  Still, I think Red Like Roses will serve to make new RWBY fans just because of the friendly nature of these stories.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------

Review: DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Volume 1

DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Inio Asano
TRANSLATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9935-9; paperback (April 2018); Rated “M” for “Mature”
196pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is seinen manga (comics for adults) from creator (mangaka), Inio Asano (Goodnight Punpun).  Beginning in April 2014, the manga is being serialized in the seinen manga magazines, Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan).  VIZ Media is publishing the manga in English in North America as a graphic novel series under its “VIZ Signature” imprint in both print and digital formats.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is about the life mundane and an alien invasion.  On August 31st – also known as 8/31 – three years ago, an alien mothership arrived on Earth and parked itself above Tokyo.  Now, the impending doom is starting to feel like an ordinary thing.  Kadode Koyama and her best friend, Ontan Nakagawa, track the aliens movement with enthusiasm and study for college entrance exams with less enthusiasm.

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 8) introduces two high school students who are longtime friends.  Kadode has a mad crush on their teacher, Mr. Watarase, and Ontan is really tired of the rest of humanity.

Meanwhile, conventional weapons have not done anything to defeat the aliens.  The Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) now has a new weapon, a green weapon, that will not contaminate the city the way another weapons have.  Kadode and Ontan monitor the situation closely on social media, but they still have their own teen melodramas upon which to focus.

[This volume includes an “extra” chapter.]

The Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction manga is a strange one.  This is, however, the work of Inio Asano, and his strange is usually a very good strange.

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Graphic Novel Volume 1 is more about the comedy-drama of Kadode and Ontan than it is an alien invasion genre drama.  This manga is like Independence Day mixed with a tame, teen girl spin on the film, Superbad.  It is odd and offbeat, but I really want to read more Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.  You never know where Asano will take his narratives, but you will realize (eventually) that you are really, really glad that you are following the highways and byways of his storytelling.

Fans of the manga of Inio Asano will want to read the VIZ Signature title, Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------------------------

Review: RWBY

RWBY
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Shirow Miwa
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamasaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger and Walden Wong
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9512-2; paperback (January 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
250pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

“RWBY” is an American animated series that is streamed on the World Wide Web (or simply “web”).  The series was created by the late Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its animated streaming or web series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it an actual anime series.  It was the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training.

Shiwa Miwa, the creator of the manga Dogs and Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, produced a manga based on “RWBY.”  Miwa's story was based on the initial four trailers that were released to promote the “RWBY” anime shortly before it release.  Miwa's manga debuted in the November 2015 issue of the manga magazine, Ultra Jump, and concluded in the same magazine in January 2017.  VIZ Media collected Miwa's RWBY manga in a single-volume, paperback graphic novel in January 2018 (and my VIZ Media rep gave me a copy for review).

RWBY (Chapters 1 to 12) introduces Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long.  They are four Huntresses-in-training at Beacon Academy, one of four academies that train Hunters who subdue the monstrous Grimm and maintain peace.  Together Ruby, Weiss, Black, and Yang are Team RWBY.

We see a unique side of each member of Team RWBY.  Later, the quartet is put through a grueling training test that forces them to work with RWBY's rival, Team JNPR.  Their adversary is a giant, multi-headed serpent that seems impossible to defeat.

I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to publish Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  I must be honest with you, dear reader; I was not interested in reading it.  Then, VIZ Media came calling with a way to force me to read the RWBY manga.

RWBY Graphic Novel is actually fairly entertaining.  My experience with Shirwo Miwa is mixed.  He can produce visually striking manga action art, but sometimes his narrative is shallow or even dull.  RWBY has a slow start, but then, it really takes off when Miwa starts using separate chapters to delve into the mysteries of each of the series' four stars:  Ruby, Weiss, Black, and Yang.  The giant snake battle is a blast to read and makes me ready for more RWBY manga.  [VIZ Media will start publishing an RWBY manga anthology this coming summer.]

Fans of the “RWBY” anime and fans of the manga of Shirow Miwa will want VIZ Signature's single-volume RWBY graphic novel.

A-
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------------

Review: FIRE PUNCH Volume 1

FIRE PUNCH, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Tatsuki Fujimoto
TRANSLATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Snir Aharon
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9717-1; paperback (January 2018); Rated “M” for “Mature”
208pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Fire Punch is a science fiction and action manga from creator Tatsuki Fujimoto.  The series began publication in the Japanese manga magazine, Shonen Jump+, in April 2016.  [The series' original Japanese publication has apparently ended in January.]  VIZ Media recently started Fire Punch's English-language publication in a series of graphic novels under its VIZ Signature imprint.

Fire Punch introduces Agni and Luna are siblings.  Like “the Ice Witch,” they are among “The Blessed,” people born with abilities to perform miracles.  Not all of “The Blessed” are friendly.  Some are murderers, like the man who destroys Agni and Luna's village.

Fire Punch, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 8) opens on a world of ice and cold.  It wasn't always that way, until “the Ice Witch” made it so.  Agni walks this world, an instrument of revenge – a walking thing of fire and regeneration.  In the city of Behemdorg, he will find his target.

The Fire Punch manga opens with surprises.  It is a tough-minded, dystopian thriller that goes in unexpected directions.

Fire Punch Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces a world that is icy and snow-covered, but this unrelenting whiteness is not “as pure as the driven snow.”  Creator Tatsuki Fujimoto offers four chapters that are edgy and a narrative that is so mercurial that it challenges the author's breakdown of this story into chapters.  Initially, Fire Punch feels likes a juvenile fantasy, but it takes a violent turn and becomes a cold-blooded thriller.

I think that the characters will dominant this narrative, which is now dominated by this series' muscular settings and tough environments.  These characters are dangerous, and Fujimoto delights in making everything about them unexpected.  When it comes to surprises, this story continually delivers a Fire Punch to the gut.  Seriously, Fire Punch is dark, invigorating, and startling and it makes an early bid as one of the best comics of 2018.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------

Review: CHILDREN OF THE WHALES Volume 1

CHILDREN OF THE WHALES, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Abi Umeda
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9721-8; paperback (November 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
200pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Children of the Whales is a new fantasy adventure manga series from creator Abi Umeda.  The series is set on a island floating atop an endless sea of sand, and the narrative focuses on the isolated community that clings to life on that island.

Children of the Whales, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) introduces a boy named Chakuro.  He is the archivist for the “Mud Whale,” a floating island city of clay and magic.  Chakuro diligently chronicles the lives and deaths of his people, who cling to survival, but are cut off from its own history.

As the story begins, the community holds a funeral for Benihi, one of “the marked.”  Chakuro is also one of the marked; they are short-lived, but they wield “Thymia,” a magical power fueled by emotions.  Knowing that his time is short, Chakuro tries to chronicle everything he can about his isolated community.  That isolation, however, is about to be shattered by the discovery of a mysterious girl on another mysterious floating island.

[This volume includes an afterword, “How I Discovered Children of the Whales.”  This is also “From the Archivist's Diary: An Illustration of the Mud Whale,” and “A Note on Names.”]

I can honestly say that Children of the Whales is one of the best new manga and graphic novel debuts of 2017.  It reminds me of Daisuke Igarashi's imaginative environmental manga, Children of the Sea, which VIZ Media published earlier this decade.

Children of the Whales Volume 1 reads like an eco-fantasy and thriller because so much of the narrative is not only about the characters, but also about the world around them.  Creator Abi Umeda offers graphical striking compositions and inventive page design and layout that drive the narrative to balance character drama with a sense of suspense and mystery.  The four chapters contained in this first graphic novel are obviously connected, but each one presents something new, and sometimes even a fresh perspective.  From the exotic beginning to the shocking ending, Children of the Whales, Vol. 1 is a magical and gripping narrative.

Readers looking for unique graphic novels for young readers and teens will want the VIZ Signature title, Children of the Whales.

A
10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: TOKYO GHOUL: re Volume 1

TOKYO GHOUL: RE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9496-5; paperback (October 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul: re is the sequel to the manga, Tokyo Ghoul; both are the creation of writer-artist, Sui Ishida, and both were originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, Weekly Young Jump.  Both series take place in a world where there are Ghouls.  They look like humans and live among us, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  The Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) is the only organization in the world fighting and exterminating Ghouls and investigating Ghoul-related crimes.

Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9) introduces the CCG's “Quinx Squad.”  This is 22-year-old Haise Sasaki's squad; he is a Rank 1 investigator.  Kuki Urie, 19, is the squad leader, and, jealous of Sasaki, he wants to do better than him.  Toru Mutsuki, a 19 young woman, is close to Sasaki.  Ginshi Shirazu, 19, is the oddball.  When they join the hunt for the wily Ghoul, known as “the Torso,” Quinx Squad does not realize that the case will reveal something shocking about one of its members.

I described reading the Tokyo Ghoul manga as like entering an actual world of mystery.  Tokyo Ghoul: re shifts into a more familiar world; you might say that it is something like a police procedural.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 1 focuses on the CCG.  The Ghoul investigators do not interest me as much as the Ghouls themselves do.  I find the early chapters of this opening graphic novel to be dry, even a bit dull.  By the second half of this volume, the narrative gets a big bump when Sui Ishida puts his characters on the Ghoul hunt.  Honestly, Tokyo Ghoul: re will be at its best the more Ghouls are on the pages being Ghoul-ish.  I do not think the investigators will be as interesting... unless there are some shocking developments...

A-
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: TOKYO GHOUL Volume 14

TOKYO GHOUL, VOL. 14
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9043-1; paperback (August 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark fantasy, seinen manga (comics for older teen males and adult males) by creator Sui Ishida.  The series was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from September 2011 and September 2014.  VIZ Media gained the license to produce an English language translation of the series, which the company published as a 14-volume graphic novel series under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ published its final graphic novel in the series this past August.

Tokyo Ghoul focuses on Ken Kaneki.  He was a shy, ordinary college student.  He studied Japanese literature at Kamii University.  This book-loving freshman was excited to go on a date with the beautiful Rize Kamishiro, but he did not know that she was a Ghoul.  They look like humans and live among us, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  Soon, Kaneki found himself a hybrid, trapped between the worlds of Ghouls and humans.

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 14 (Chapters 133 to 142) opens as the forces of the Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) makes its biggest move against Ghouls.  Kaneki and Arima, the fiercest fighter of the CCG, finally face off, and Arima has the power to destroy Kaneki.

As I have written before, visiting the Tokyo Ghoul manga is like entering an actual world of mystery.  Of late, reading the series is like entering the world of an action movie.  It is time for those proverbial final battles.

Tokyo Ghoul Volume 14 is the final volume of the current series.  Tokyo Ghoul: re is about to drop into readers' laps.  Make sure it does not bite you.  In the meantime, the end comes with many bangs.  I prefer the mystery and suspense, so I would not call this one of the better volumes.  Still, it wraps up things to prepare for the next stage of the world of Tokyo Ghoul.  This was a series about a character, Ken Kaneki, trying to navigate two worlds, neither of which he seemed to fit completely.  That is indeed something upon which to build.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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