Assassination Classroom: Time to Face the Unbelievable

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 4

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Review: TWIN STAR EXORCISTS Volume 1

TWIN STAR EXORCISTS, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Yoshiaki Sukeno
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Bryant Turnage
LETTERS: Stephen Dutro
EDITOR: Annette Roman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8174-3; paperback (July 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Created by Yoshiaki Sukeno, Twin Star Exorcists is a new supernatural action manga series about rivals who may have to become lovers.  VIZ Media is publishing the series in English under its “Shonen Jump” imprint.  The series is currently ongoing in Japan, and VIZ will release Twin Star Exorcists English-language graphic novels twice a year, both in print and in digital editions.

Twin Star Exorcists focuses on a pair of mystical warriors with intertwined destinies.  Rokuro Enmado wants to be anything but an exorcist.  Then, he meets a mysterious girl named Benio Adashino, a 14-year-old who is serious about being an exorcist.

Twin Star Exorcists, Vol. 1 (Entitled Exorcisms; Chapters 1 to 3) opens with an exorcism.  We learn that an evil realm known as “Magano,” is a place where monsters called “Kegare” dwell.  The Kegare come to this world to kill and to kidnap humans, so exorcists must purify them.

Talented exorcist, Rokuro, is currently trying to be a teen idol, a pursuit destined to end in failure.  However, a trauma that Rokuro experienced in the recent past has turned him against being an exorcist.  Then, Benio falls out of the sky...

[This volume contains the bonus story “Benio in Kyoto” and also some “Extra Manga.”]

The Twin Star Exorcists manga is like most action-fantasy manga published under the “Shonen Jump” and “Shonen Jump Advanced” imprints.  It is filled with a complex back story and an internal mythology riddled with terminology, techniques, processes, etc., that is all built around the supernatural.  But it is a good read.

Twin Star Exorcists Volume 1 is hugely engaging.  I think readers will be drawn into its world.  The monsters are awesome and scary, and the stakes for the heroes are high and definitely involve life and death.  Rokuro and Benio's predicament is funny, and is along the lines of that found in the manga, Nisekoi: False Love.  Like Nisekoi, Twin Star Exorcists is funny and edgy, and sometimes the comedy is quite edgy.

Right now, I find the supporting characters to be soft and not well-developed.  Of course, I'm a sucker for the battles, fights, and explosive magic, so I think Twin Star Exorcists has potential.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux (Support Leroy on Patreon.)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Assassination Classroom: Time for a Transfer Student

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter and at Grumble.

Assassination Classroom: Time for Grown-Ups

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 2

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or Grumble.

Review: ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM Volume 1

ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Yusei Matsui
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Bryant Turnage
LETTERS: Stephen Dutro
EDITOR: Annette Roman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7607-7; paperback (December 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Assassination Classroom is a shonen manga that made its debut in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan in 2012.  The series is created by Yusei Matsui, who was an assistant to manga artist Yoshio Sawai, the creator of such popular manga as Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo and the long-running JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Assassination Classroom is a humor and sci-fi manga about a classroom full of misfits who take on their teacher who has bizarre powers and super strength.  The teacher, whom the students name “Koro Sensei,” is the alien octopus that destroyed 70% of the moon.  He becomes a teacher at Kunugigaoka Junior High, where he teaches the outcasts of Class 3-E and he promises to destroy the Earth after they graduate.  Now, it's up to these students to kill their teacher to save the world.  They are the “Assassination Classroom.”

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 7; entitled Time for Assassination) finds the students of the Assassination Classroom ready to pop a cap to save the world.  Besides saving the Earth, the other incentive is a 10 million dollar/yen reward, offered by Tadaomi Karasuma of the Ministry of Defense.  It's up to Karasuma to train these students to kill... even if he has to become their new P.E. teacher.  Plus, a juvenile delinquent skilled in battle tactics returns to school.

The Assassination Classroom manga is weird, with its mixture of comedy and menace.  It can be disconcerting to go from poignant teacher-student relationship to classroom violence in the space of a few pages or even a few panels.  At least, it would really be disconcerting if Assassination Classroom were not a shonen manga – a genre or class of manga where comedy and comic violence meld in imaginative and even volatile ways.

I like the science fiction and fantasy sub-genre that brings aliens, humans, and schools together.  I am still a fan of the 1980s animated series, "Galaxy High School," and I have even sampled some of the manga that influenced it, Urusei Yatsura (or Lum).  Assassination Classroom Volume 1 makes me curious to see where this goes.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Rosario+Vampire Season II: Alter Ego

I read Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 13

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter and at Grumble.

Review: DRAGON BALL 3-in-1 Edition, Volume 1

DRAGON BALL 3-IN-1 EDITION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Akira Toriyama
TRANSLATION: Mari Morimoto
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Gerard Jones
LETTERS: Wayne Truman
EDITOR: Annette Roman, Jason Thompson (manga edition)
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5564-5; paperback (June 2013); Rated “T” for “Teen”
576pp, B&W, $14.99 US, $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Akira Toriyama is a hugely influential Japanese mangaka (manga creator), and his signature creation is Dragon Ball, the long-running shonen manga (comics for teen boys).  Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995, Dragon Ball is comprised of 519 individual chapters.  Various anime series have been adapted from Dragon Ball, most notably "Dragon Ball Z," which some believe boosted the popularity of Japanese anime amongst Western audiences.

VIZ Media is Dragon Ball’s North American publisher, and it has been publishing individual graphic novel collections of the series for some time.  Now, VIZ Media is republishing the series in its “3-in-1 editions,” which collect three individual graphic novels in one large-sized paperback edition.

Dragon Ball 3-in-1 Edition, Vol. 1 contains Dragon Ball Volume 1: The Monkey King (Chapters 1 to 11), Volume 2: Wish Upon a Dragon (Chapters 12 to 24), and Volume 3: The Training of Kame Sen’nin (Chapters 25 to 36).  Chapters 1 to 36 cover the introduction of the hero, Son Goku, and the start of his adventures to the beginning of a famed martial arts tournament in which Goku is participating.

In Dragon Ball, Vol. 1, Bulma, a young woman and genius inventor, meets Son Goku.  Goku is a monkey-tailed boy who both learned kung-fu and inherited a magic staff from his late grandfather, Son Gohan.  Bulma is looking for the seven Dragon Balls, precious orbs that when put together summon a powerful dragon.  This dragon is Shenlong, the Dragon Lord, and when he appears because of the union of the seven Dragon Balls, he grants one (and only one) wish.  Bulma convinces Goku to join her on her quest, and they meets lots of strange, new people:  Kame Sen’nin “the Turtle Master,” Oolong the shape-shifting pig, and Yamcha and Pu’ar, among many.

In Dragon Ball, Vol. 2, Goku, Bulma, and Oolong meet more strange people:  some good, some bad.  The quest for the Dragon Balls reaches an unsatisfying conclusion.  In Dragon Ball, Vol. 3, Goku meets Kuririn, a young martial artist and Shaolin monk.  They become rivals and then, friends as they train under Kame Sen’nin.  After some truly grueling training, Goku and Kuririn enter the 21st Tenka’ichi Budokai (“Strongest Under the Heavens”) martial arts tournament.

I first heard of Dragon Ball as an anime, having no idea that it was also a manga.  Years later, VIZ Media sent me an Akira Toriyama manga for the first time (maybe Dr. Slump).  Then, I learned that Dragon Ball was not only an anime franchise, but that it was also a hugely-influential manga.  After reading Dragon Ball 3-in-1 Edition, Volume 1, I am ready to be a regular reader of Dragon Ball, if not also a Toriyama fanboy.

Dragon Ball is wild and silly like an old American Saturday morning cartoon.  Toriyama is as inventive and as imaginative as classic American and European comic books; think of someone who blends Carl Barks, Jack Kirby, and Peyo into one super-cartoonist.  Dragon Ball is sprawling and epic in the way we’ve come to expect of shonen manga like Naruto and One Piece, whose creators Dragon Ball both inspired.

Mississippi, goddamn!  Dragon Ball is one of the best manga and comic books I have ever read.  Take that for your recommendation.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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Review JIU JIU Volume 5

JIU JIU, VOL. 5
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Touya Tobina
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION/EDITOR: Annette Roman
LETTERS: James Gaubatz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5378-8; paperback (July 2013); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Jiu Jiu Volume 5 is the final volume of the shojo manga from creator Touya Tobina. Essentially a supernatural, dark fantasy with elements of both horror and teen romance, Jiu Jiu focuses on Takamichi Hachioji, a teen girl who was born into a family that pursues and kills demons.

The Hachioji Clan is the largest clan of Dark Hunters. “Dark Hunters” are people who hunt and slay the demons that lurk in the shadows. After the death of her twin brother, Takayuki, Takamichi receives from her family a pair of half-animal/half-human wolf-pups, named Snow and Night. She must train them to be her “Jiu Jiu,” a Dark Hunter’s familiar and hunting partner. The question is not only can she train them, but because they can transform into humans, can she also keep them on the leash?

As Jiu Jiu, Vol. 5 (Chapters 20 to 23/Final) opens, Kankuro moves forward with his plan to be the new head of the Hunters – by force. That means he must first commit a shocking murder and then, continue to agitate against the use of Jiu Jiu. Kankuro is helped by the actions of Snow and Night, especially of Snow

Meanwhile, questions continue to arise as to the true fate of Takayuki Hachioji, Takamichi’s brother. It also seems as if Takamichi will marry her current fiancé, Seijuro Shiratori. Now, all the intrigue comes to a head, but how will it leave Takamichi and her “dogs,” Snow and Night?

The Jiu Jiu manga proved to be a dark and edgy series, filled with characters that played at rivalries filled with bitterness and jealousy. It also had a weird romantic side, one that teased of a love between a woman and characters that were human, but could also be described as beasts, creatures, and demons.

I am disappointed to see it end, as the concept is one that could have run longer. The final chapters are melancholy, and the ending is bittersweet for reasons, which if revealed, would be irritating spoilers. However, I must repeat that Jiu Jiu should be read because it is dark and a bit nasty (in terms of the innuendo and violence). Jiu Jiu isn’t safe; it has bite, and sometimes, that is a good thing for a shojo manga to have.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Rosario+Vampire: Season II - Tsukune vs. Kuyo the Spirit Fox

I read Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 11

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Jiu Jiu: (Ex) Fiance

I read Jiu Jiu, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Rosario+Vampire: Season II - Fortress Fairy Tale

I read Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 10

I posted a review at ComicBookBin.

Jiu Jiu: Prince Meru the Vampire Pig

I read Jiu Jiu, Vol. 2

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free comics).

Rosaro+Vampire: Season II - Tsukune's Transformation

I read Rosario+Vampire: Season II, Vol. 9

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free comics).

Review: JIU JIU Volume 1

"Off the Leash"
JIU JIU, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA

CARTOONIST: Touya Tobina
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Annette Roman
LETTERS: James Gaubatz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4274-4; paperback; Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Touya Tobina is a manga creator originally from Tokyo. In 2005, her series, Clean Freak Fully Equipped (Keppeki Shonen Kanzen Soubi), won the Grand Prize in the 30th Hakusensha Athena Newcomers Awards. VIZ Media is currently publishing her new series, Jiu Jiu, is a shojo manga. Jiu Jiu first saw publication in Japan as a one-shot manga in the shojo magazine, Hana to Yume. The series is essentially a supernatural fantasy with elements of high school teen romance, which may actually come to dominate the series in later chapters.

Jiu Jiu focuses on Takamichi Hachioji, a girl who is born into a family of “Dark Hunters,” people who hunt and slay the demons that lurk in the shadows. The Hachioji Clan is the largest clan of Dark Hunters. Takamichi’s twin brother, Takayuki, was killed protecting her, so she became the clan’s heir. Her family gives her a pair of wolf-pups that are half-animal and half-human, which she must train to be her “Jiu Jiu.” A Jiu Jiu is a Dark Hunter’s familiar and hunting partner.

Jiu Jiu, Vol. 1 opens with a 13-year-old Takamichi still grieving her brother’s death. Her family gives her two wolf-pups that she can train to be her Jiu Jiu if she wishes; otherwise, they will simply be killed because of their lineage. She names the white-furred one “Snow,” and the black-furred one, “Night.” Three years later, 16-year-old Takamichi is still trying to manage and control the now older pups. They frequently shift between their human and wolf forms and are clingy and needy. They want to help her, but she just wants to keep them on the leash.

Despite its supernatural leanings, one of which involves killing creepy-looking demons, the Jiu Jiu manga is not a shonen battle manga. Rather, it is decidedly shojo. This is a love story, one that is filled with both cutesy drawings of dogs and with tumultuous emotions.

What makes this first volume of Jiu Jiu successful is that creator Touya Tobina does not make anything easy for her characters. To understand one another, each character must first understand his or her own motivations and also be honest with herself (or himself). Denial, dishonesty, and selfishness can have dire consequences, as this volume’s last chapter, entitled “Jiu Jiu,” depicts.

To fully enjoy this story, the reader can engage the text in a literal fashion. The full implications of the story, however, can be grasped by opening up the imagination to the impressions (such as lust and want) that a reader may find in the visual narrative, which means feeling the wild sensations that the graphics are trying to convey. Obviously, I like Jiu Jiu; in fact, I’m ready to go off the leash for it.

A-

#IReadsYou Review: GOGO MONSTER

 

GOGO MONSTER
VIZ MEDIA

CARTOONIST: Taiyo Matsumoto
TRANSLATION: Camellia Nieh
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Annette Roman
LETTERS: Susan Daigle-Leach
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3448-0; paperback; Rated “T” for “Teen”
459pp, B&W, $27.99 US, $36.00 CAN

GoGo Monster is a Japanese seinen manga written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto.  Japanese publisher, Shogakukan, published it in a single tankōbon (graphic novel) volume in October 2000.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of GoGo Monster as a single-volume graphic novel under its VIZ Signature imprint in November 2009.

GoGo Monster, a thick manga graphic novel by Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet), takes readers into the make-believe life of a third grader.  A mystery and sleight-of-hand fantasy, GoGo Monster asks what is real and what is childhood obsession?

Third grader Yuki Tachibana lives in two worlds. In one world, our world, Yuki is a loner ridiculed by his classmates and reprimanded by his teachers for telling stories of supernatural beings that only he can see.  In the other world, these supernatural beings vie for power with malevolent spirits that bring chaos into the school, the students’ lives, and even nature itself.

In Grade 3, Class 2, Yuki is a good student, but he is preoccupied with the struggle between his good supernatural friends and the bad ones who break windows and paint graffiti on the school walls.  Makoto Suzuki is the new kid sitting next to Yuki, and although the other students warn him against this, this boy becomes Yuki’s steady companion.  Yuki also finds sympathy in Ganz, the elderly caretaker of the school’s flower and vegetable gardens and also Sasaki a.k.a. IQ, a boy who wears a large box over his head.  Makoto isn’t sure if Yuki is making up his fantasy world or not, while Ganz and IQ are cagey about what they believe.  As he becomes more withdrawn, Yuki will have to depend on the friends that stick with him – whether he realizes it or not.

THE LOWDOWN:  The answer to whether Yuki Tachibana’s claims are true or not is obvious to most readers, but the validity of this child’s fantasies are not necessarily the heart of GoGo Monster’s narrative.  The genre to which Monster is closest is not fantasy, but rather the coming of age story.  In fact, Monster is a coming of age story presented in such a fashion that the reader must be a detective – searching for the truth by discovering Tachibana’s motivations and by dissecting what little of his past is presented to the reader.  The star of the story is Yuki Tachibana and he doesn’t disappoint.

Taiyo Matsumoto’s tale mixes environmental and green metaphors and symbols which gives the story’s themes of renewal and rebirth, not only for Yuki, but also for his classmates.  What Matsumoto does best, however, is engage the reader.  Matsumoto structures the story so that the reader is constantly trying to find the truth.  The execution of this comics or graphical storytelling is such that the reader is always looking for something – a strange looking creature or a subtle movement in the face of a staff member or student at the school – that will answer a question.

You will want answers, and you will be won over by this maddening complicated child, Yuki Tachibana.  He is our surrogate into this literary world.  GoGo Monster is a monster of a read, filled with a sense of wonder about the natural world, about the supernatural world, and also about living in the real world.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the manga of Taiyo Matsumoto will want GoGo Monster.

A-
7.5 out of 10

Revised and Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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