#IReadsYou Review: TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN: Volume 1

TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN, VOL. 1
YEN PRESS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGA-KA: AidaIro
TRANSLATION: Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley
LETTERS: Jesse Moriarty and Tania Biswas
ISBN: 978-1-9753-3287-7; paperback (January 2020); Rated “T” for “Teen”
178pp, B&W with some color pages, $13.00 U.S., $17.00 CAN

Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun is a Japanese manga series by AidaIro, the pen name of an artist named “Aida” and a writer named “Iro.”  It has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine, Monthly G Fantasy, since 2014.  Yen Press is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a graphic novel series, entitled Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun.  Yen originally published the first volume as an eBook in August 2017.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5)  introduces Nene Yashiro, an occult-loving girl entering her first year of high school at Kamome Academy.  This school is also infamous for its “school ghost stories” known as the “Seven Mysteries.”  “No. 7” of the Seven Mysteries is the ghost story of Hanako-san of the Toilet.  Said to occupy the third stall of the third floor girls' bathroom in the old school building, Hanako-san, the ghost of former female student, grants any wish when summoned.

“Hanako-san, Hanako-san...are you there?” Nene Yashiro calls out, as she ventures into the haunted bathroom.  The Hanako-san she meets there, however, is nothing like she imagined.  Kamome Academy's Hanako-san is actually Hanako-kun, a boy!

[This volume includes bonus manga, “Teach Me, Hanako-kun: Ideals Arc,” and “Translation Notes.”]

Yen Press launched the print edition of the Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun manga this past January.  The publisher initially released the first volume of the series as an eBook back in 2017.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun Graphic Novel Volume 1 shows all the signs of being a narrative that is very early in the story.  Nene Yashiro and Hanako-kun have potential, but, at this point, creators AidaIro don't focus much on character development.  They zero in on introducing the supernatural world of this series and on bringing in the first supernatural adversaries that the heroes will face.

The art is playful in style, and the graphical storytelling is shadowy and abstract, which heightens the atmosphere of the supernatural and of the otherworldly.  The translation by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley conveys the sense of young characters still learning their stations, even in the case of Hanako-kun.  Vol. 1 also ends with a killer of a cliffhanger, and that makes it likely that readers will heavily consider returning for the second volume.

7 out of 10

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


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I Reads You Review: NEGIMA, VOL. 28

Creator: Ken Akamatsu; Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley (translation and adaptation)

Publishing Information: Del Rey Manga, paperback, 186 pages, $10.99 (US), $11.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-0-345-52160-6 (ISBN-13)

Rating “OT for Ages 16+”

Negi Springfield is a ten-year-old wizard who dreams of becoming a Magister Magi (a “Master of Magic” or “Master Mage”), a special wizard who uses his powers to help normal people. Negi’s primary reason for becoming a Magister Magi is to find his father, Nagi Springfield, the legendary mage also known as the “Thousand Master,” who is believed to be dead. After graduating from the Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales, Negi becomes an English teacher at Mahora Academy in Japan, where he deals with 31 older girls, each very special in her own way.

Negima!, Vol. 28 opens post-Ostia Festival. Negi has managed to free his enslaved friends. As Negi and company prepare to leave Magical World for their homeworld (Earth), they discover that they have been branded as outlaws. That is when Negi encounters Kurt Goedel, the Governor-General of Ostia, who plans to arrest all of them.

This sinister man also claims to be well-acquainted with Negi’s parents, especially Negi’s mother, Arika Anarchia Entheufushiaa, the Queen of Calamity. Goedel offers to pardon Negi and company if they attend his party, the Governor’s Ball. Also, Negi and his friends make a shocking discovery about Magical World and its location.

I always find Negima a difficult read whenever I receive a copy for review, as I have with Vol. 28. There are so many characters, and the story seems (at least to me) to be too busy. Still, I’m a sucker for team books, and this is essentially a team book or the shonen manga equivalent of one. Such a large cast is always bound to yield many interesting and engaging characters, and out of all those sub-plots, surely some of them will capture the imagination.

This time around, Negima offers something to keep readers interested and me coming back – at least for a while. Negi’s parents, their connection to Ostia, Goedel’s part in these mysteries, and the truth about Magical World are the kind of storylines that grab you. I must also admit to enjoying the dynamic of Negi and all those girls – some with romantic feelings for him. It’s like a gift that keeps on giving.

I Reads You Review: NEGIMA!? neo, VOL. 6

Creators: Ken Akamatsu (story) and Takuya Fujima (art); Alethea Nibley, Athena Nibley (translation and adaptation)

Publishing Information: Del Rey Manga, paperback, 196 pages, $10.99 (US), $11.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-0-345-52059-3 (ISBN-13)

 

Rating “OT for Ages 16+”

 

Negima! Magister Negi Magi was a manga created by Ken Akamatsu (the creator of Love Hina) that followed the adventures of a Welsh preteen wizard who teaches at an all-girls high school in Japan. The series spawned several anime productions. One of those anime, entitled Negima!?, re-imagined the series and also inspired the manga series, Negima!? neo.

Ten-year-old Negi Springfield is the greatest prodigy to ever graduate from his magic school in England. Negi dreams of becoming a Magister Magi (master mage) so that he can better protect the ones he loves. He also hopes his exploits will led him to his father, the legendary mage, Nagi Springfield. Negi teaches English at Mahora Academy, an all-girls junior high school in Japan, where he must deal with 31 beautiful girls who are often overly affectionate with him. Negi must also do his job without using magic.

In Negima!? neo, Vol. 6, Negi and his master, the vampire Evangeline AK McDowell, take a trip back in time to watch Evangeline and her master, Negi’s father, Nagi Springfield, fight off a Yuletide demonic invasion. Next, Akira Okochi, one of Negi’s students and a member of the school swim team, befriends a lost and sick baby dolphin. Finally, Makie Sasaki and Yuna Akashi take a trip by train in order to celebrate an anniversary only one of them remembers.

My prior experience with Negima!? neo was Volume 1, and I wasn’t crazy about it. I found the fantasy and comedy too broad, as it encompassed several genres, including action, horror and science fiction. I also found the narrative to be on otaku overload or fan overload. The series seemed more like a parody of anime.

In this volume, the stories focus on the characters and their relationships with one another. There is certainly a lot of fantasy action – as in the two-chapter, time travel episode with Nagi and Evangeline. There is high school fun and heartwarming drama in the tale of human-animal interaction, “Grand Bleu Friends.” Fanservice abounds in the breasts-and-booty fest, “The Longed-For Love Lingerie!?” A heartwarming tale of friendship offers innuendo and martial arts in “A Pair of Cherries.” So genre and the usual Negima!? neo antics are plentiful here.

It is all, however, character driven. When told from the point of view of character, Negima!? neo’s wildness and genre extravagances don’t seem like mere excess. Experiencing this manga through the characters is the way to really enjoy it.

B+

I Reads You Review: FRUITS BASKET: BANQUET

Creators: Natsuki Takaya with Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane (adaptation) and Alethea and Athena Nibley (translation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W with some color, paperback, 224 pages, $14.99 U.S., $18.99
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1798-3 (ISBN-13)

The recently published Fruits Basket -Banquet- is a coda to the popular manga series. Fruits Basket is a shojo manga (comics for teen girls) created by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the Japanese magazine, Hana to Yume, from 1999 to 2006, and was eventually collected in 23 volumes (or tankōbon). It was published in North America by TOKYOPOP, both in paperback and also in hardcover “Ultimate Editions.” TOKYOPOP billed Fruits Basket as the “#1 selling shojo manga in America.”

Fruits Basket follows high school student Tohru Honda and her life with the Sohma Family. After Tohru’s mother died in a car accident, she lived in a tent and supported herself. She is eventually taken in by her friend, Yuki Sohma, and lives in a home with him and his cousins, Shigure and Kyo. Some of the Sohmas are cursed. Thirteen members of the family are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac, and they turn into their respective zodiac animals when hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Although she keeps the curse a secret, Tohru makes it her goal to break the Sohma curse.

Banquet is 200-plus page of odds and ends. It opens with a 16-page color section of illustrations, with some of them being double spreads. There is some fan art and also a creator interview that is packed with pencil art. There are also several contest sections with a few pages devoted to most of the characters or chapters that received a lot of votes. Readers will delight in a new eight-page manga related to the “Couples & Combination” contest. In the end, Fruits Basket -Banquet- is for the hardcore Fruits Basket fan.

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I Reads You Review: FRUITS BASKET ULTIMATE EDITION, VOL. 4

Creators: Natsuki Takaya with Alethea and Athena Nibley and Alexis Kirsch (translation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, hardcover, 410 pages, $14.99 U.S., $18.99
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-0731-1 (ISBN-13)

I imagine that on different occasions during the last few weeks, manga creator Natsuki Takaya found herself suffering from what seemed like cramps. They were actually the labor pains she felt as she brought another Fruits Basket fan into the world – me.

Fruits Basket was serialized in the Japanese magazine, Hana to Yume, from 1999 to 2006, and was eventually collected in 23 volumes (or tankōbon). Fruits Basket is the story of high school student Tohru Honda. After her mother dies in a car accident, Tohru begins living in a tent and supporting herself. She eventually finds a home with Yuki Sohma and his cousins Shigure and Kyo.

The Sohmas are not normal because they live with a curse. Thirteen members of the family are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac, and they turn into their respective zodiac animals when hugged by someone of the opposite gender. Tohru promises to keep this fact a secret, but her goal is to break the Sohma curse. Meanwhile, Tohru and the Sohmas have various adventures.

TOKYOPOP, the North American publisher of the series, has been republishing Fruits Basket in “Ultimate Editions,” which reprints two volumes of the series. Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition Volume 4 collects Fruits Basket, Vol. 7 (which contains Chapters 37-42 of the story) and Vol. 8 (Chapters 43-48).

There are several storylines that occur in these 12 chapters. Tohru’s friendship with the shy Kisa Sohma causes her friction with another Sohma, the smart-alek Hiro, who begins to harass and steal from Tohru. In a long flashback, Tohru’s friend Arisa Uotani tells how meeting Tohru and her late mother, Kyoko, changed her life. Also, Tohru meets the troubled Ritsu Sohma, and the arrival of parent-teacher conferences brings up the touchy subject of the Sohmas’ parents.

TOKYOPOP bills Fruits Basket as the “#1 selling shojo manga in America,” and I have seen it on a few manga bestseller lists that I found. I don’t follow message boards and fan groups, so I don’t know why so many other readers like it. I like it because, at least in these stories, Fruits Basket is about friends having a good time, and when they have a bad time, they work through it together as friends. The characters are engaging; they’re the kind you just want to follow around from page to page. Creator Natsuki Takaya makes her characters so playful and so exuberant that even their squabbling has a sparkling, fun quality about it.

Another great thing about Fruits Basket is Takaya’s gorgeous art. It’s a relatively simple style, but there is a sexy and vivacious air about ever line and every brush stroke, which results in pretty figure drawing. As a bit character says about the cast “But such beautiful children. Are they models?” They’re certainly models for good shojo manga.

A-

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