Review: BLOODY MARY Volume 10

BLOODY MARY, VOL. 10
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Akaza Samamiya
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Sabrina Heep
EDITOR: Erica Yee
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9809-3; paperback (March 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
166pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Bloody Mary is a shojo vampire manga from creator Akaza Samamiya.  The manga was serialized from 2013 to 2017 in the Japanese shojo manga magazine, Monthly Asuka.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of Bloody Mary in a series of graphic novels from 2015 to 2018.

Ichiro Rosario Di Maria is a high school student and a priest, but he also has the “Power of Exorcism,” which enables him to kill vampires.  He meets the vampire, Bloody Mary, who is unlike most vampires because he is both immortal and has red hair.  Bloody Mary wants to die, and Ichiro offers to kill him, but first...  Ichiro wants to kill every other vampire on Earth, and Mary will be his bodyguard.

As Bloody Mary, Vol. 10 (Chapters 37 to 39 to Final Volume) opens, the secret of Mary and “Mary” has been revealed.  Bloody Mary was once a boy named Maria, who had a twin brother named Mary, a weak and ailing boy.  Bloody Mary's alter-ego, “Mary,” a vicious vampire, was an attempt to revive Mary.  In a bid to save Bloody Mary/Maria, Ichiro will make a choice with tragic consequences.  Can Bloody Mary save Ichiro?  And what of Hydra, the female vampire who loves “Mary?”

[This volume includes a postscript and the bonus story, “And Then.”]

In my previous reviews of the Bloody Mary manga, I stated that I liked the series because I liked vampire manga, especially of the “Shojo Beat” variety, which Bloody Mary is.  I found that, over time, the narrative grew stronger as the number of personalities, living and deceased, grew.

Bloody Mary Graphic Novel Volume 10 is the final volume of the series.  It actually ended March of 2018, but I lost track of the series and of my copy of Vol. 10.  Well, it was good to get to the end, although I think that there is back story in this series still to be mined.

The translation by Katherine Schilling makes the most of these final chapters by creator Akaza Samamiya, emphasizing the themes of redemption and resolution.  The lettering by Sabrina Heep captures the lyrical and dream-like quality of this final go-round of Bloody Mary.  Hopefully, new fans of vampire manga will discover this unique spin on vampire fiction.

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: EVERYONE'S GETTING MARRIED Volume 1

EVERYONE’S GETTING MARRIED, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Izumi Miyazono
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8715-8; paperback (June 2016); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Everyone's Getting Married is a manga from creator Izumi Miyazono.  Published under VIZ Media's “Shojo Beat” imprint, Everyone's Getting Married is a josei manga (comics for adult women).

Everyone's Getting Married, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) introduces 24-year-old Asuka Takanashi.  She is a successful career woman with an old-fashioned dream.  Asuka wants to get married and become a housewife.  She thinks that she is getting close to that dream, as she has been dating her boyfriend, 30-year-old Kouichi, for five years.  However, Kouichi abruptly breaks up with Asuka to pursue his own career goals.

At a get-together with some friends, Asuka encounters 28-year-old Ryu Nanami, a popular newscaster for the PTV network.  She finds herself attracted to the rumored womanizer, but Ryu says that he'd rather die than get married.

[This volume includes the bonus story, “The Melancholy of Nanaryu.”]

The Everyone's Getting Married manga is one of those manga that pits a man and woman at odds and/or with different personalities against one another.  In real life, such romances are destined to failure, sooner or later, even if they become a couple and get married (Cynical!).

Everyone's Getting Married Volume 1 offers a star-crossed pair that are destined to come together.  The narrative simply offers creator Izumi Miyazono a chance to show how skilled she is at bringing them together while maximizing the tension in order to keep the readers interested.  I am certainly interested in following the long and narrow rocky road to Asuka and Ryo's eventually union.

The clean storytelling matches the clean illustrations and the result is breezy graphical storytelling.  In some places, clean and crystal clear means dull, but overall, the Azuka and Ryo's situation is just too tantalizing to ignore.  I must qualify this review by saying that I am a sucker for shojo manga, especially when the shojo is sho'nuff on the josei side.

A-

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: SHURIKEN AND PLEATS Volume 1

SHURIKEN AND PLEATS, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Matsuri Hino
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8525-3; paperback (March 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Matsuri Hino created the bestselling manga, Vampire Knight.  Her other popular series include Captive Hearts and MeruPuri.  Her latest series is Shuriken and Pleats.

It focuses on teenager, Mikage Kirio, a skilled ninja.  After the master that she is sworn to protect is killed, Mikage moves to Japan to start a new, peaceful life for herself.  Soon after she arrives, Mikage finds herself fighting to protect a man being attack by two ninja.

Shuriken and Pleats, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) finds Mikage totally dedicated to her master, James G. Rod, who has already lost family members to assassins.  Despite her best efforts, James is killed.  In Japan, Mikage hopes to enjoy the life James had planned for her.  Mikage enrolls in high school, where she finds other teenagers, especially Kotaro Suzuki, to be curious.  Soon, however, Mikage is drawn into the machinations of a powerful family, after she saves a man named Mahito Wakashimatsu.

The Shuriken and Pleats manga is another of those manga that are tailored made for me to love.  I am a fan of ninja manga, such as Tail of the Moon and especially the recently completed Naruto.  Shuriken and Pleats is a different kind of ninja manga, which is what I would expect from Matsuri Hino.

Shuriken and Pleats Volume 1 offers plenty of action involving ninja and also lots of intrigue.  I find it odd that Hino fills the first five chapters of this manga with so much back story, plot twists, plot lines, etc.  It is as if Hino is hurrying to finish this story.  In fact, there were times when I thought that the story was racing to its conclusion because it was a single-volume manga.

I have to admit that I am a little confused about the protagonist or antagonist status of several characters.  Perhaps, that is how Hino intends it, so I hope that Shuriken and Pleats reaches it potential because I do like my ninja manga.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: BLOODY MARY Volume 2

BLOODY MARY, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Akaza Samamiya
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Sabrina Heep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8314-3; paperback (March 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
168pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Akaza Samamiya has created such manga as Hatsukoi Canvas (First Love Canvas), Torikago Syndrome (Birdcage Syndrome), and Ouji wa Tadaima Dekasegichuu (The Prince Is Gone on Business).  All three of these series have been published in the popular Japanese shojo magazine, Asuka.  Her latest series is the supernatural vampire drama, Bloody Mary.

Bloody Mary focuses on Ichiro Rosario Di Maria.  This young man has the “Power of Exorcism,” which enables him to kill vampires.  He meets the vampire, Bloody Mary, who is unlike most vampires because he is both immortal and has red hair.  Bloody Mary wants to die, and Ichiro offers to kill him, but first...  Ichiro wants to kill every other vampire on Earth, and Mary will be his bodyguard.

As Bloody Mary, Vol. 2 (Chapters 5 to 8) opens, Takumi Sakuraba, Ichiro's life-long friend, meets someone who looks like his pal.  This isn't Ichiro, though; it is Yzak Rosario di Maria, Ichiri's paternal grandfather.  Yzak has secrets to reveal and wants Takumi to kidnap Mary.

Meanwhile, Mary digs into his past and unearths “Red Memories” that he has suppressed.  Now, he is sure that he met Ichiro long ago, but tragedy may be involved with that first encounter.

[This volume includes bonus manga content.]

Anyone who has read enough of my reviews may have already figured out that I am a sucker for vampire manga.  Still, I was not sure that I would like the Bloody Mary manga.  For one thing, I have a minor hang-up about men with the name Mary.

I have to admit that I was halfway through Bloody Mary Volume 2 before I started to warm up to the manga.  I think that I am intrigued by both this series' internal mythology and by the possibility of a past full of secrets, which series creator Akaza Samamiya teases.  I must also admit that I am not really buying the tepid boys' love dynamic between Ichiro and Mary.  Still, fans of vampire manga will want to try a Bloody Mary.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: HONEY SO SWEET Volume 1

HONEY SO SWEET, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Amu Meguro
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8325-9; paperback (January 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Amu Meguro is a newcomer as a mangaka.  She debuted with a one-shot manga, Makka na Ringo ni Kuchizuke O (A Kiss for a Bright Red Apple).  Her current long-form manga series is Honey So Sweet, published in the Japanese shojo manga magazine, Bessatsu Margaret.

Honey So Sweet focuses on Nao Kogure.  One day in middle school, Nao left her umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for a fellow student who was injured.  Little did she know that she would meet that student again in high school.  His name is Taiga Onise, a delinquent, and Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening teen boy.  However, Taiga suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him – with marriage in mind!  Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Early in Honey So Sweet, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5), Nao discovers that Taiga actually smiles, is kind to animals, and is a good cook.  Is he really the same Taiga who is a notorious delinquent?  Before long, Nao discovers that everyone in school thinks that she and Taiga are a couple – a couple of outcasts.

I don't quite understand why the Honey So Sweet manga is entitled Honey So Sweet.  It is indeed a sweet romance, but it also has a decidedly tart side.

Honey So Sweet Volume 1 introduces three other characters besides Nao and Taiga.  All five of these characters seem to speak their minds, for the most part.  They are tart rather than sweet.  I think that is what I like about Honey So Sweet.  It is a typical high school shojo romance, but creator Amu Meguro is always adding that something extra, whether that is dialogue or action, that makes the narrative skip a beat.

There are just enough minor twists to the shojo status quo to make this series an intriguing read.  I recommend that fans of high school shojo try the first volume at least.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Gangsta: Long-Lost

I read Gangsta., Vol. 6

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.  Support me on Patreon.

Gangsta: Striker

I read Gangsta., Vol. 5

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Dogs: Bullets & Carnage - Dog Soldiers

I read Dogs, Vol. 9: Bullets & Carnage

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Gangsta: Raid on a Cristiano Safe House

I read Gangsta., Vol. 4

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Gangsta: Boyhood

I read Gangsta., Vol. 3

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Gangsta: Hidden History

I read Gangsta., Vol. 3

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

Gangsta: War of the Twilights

I read Gangsta., Vol. 2

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Manga Review: GANGSTA Volume 1

GANGSTA, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Kohske
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERING: Eric Erbes
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6077-9; paperback (February 2014); Rated “M” for “Mature”
194pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Kohske is the penname of manga creator, Kohske Koosuke.  Kohske made her manga debut in 2009 with the short story “Postman” in Shonen GanGan magazine.  Her first manga series is Gangsta, which began running in Monthly Comic Bunch in 2011.

Now, Gangsta is VIZ Media’s latest graphic novel series from the VIZ Signature imprint.  Gangsta is set in the city of Ergastulum, a city filled everything from mafia types to petty thieves.  There are crooked cops, and prostitutes are plentiful.  Enter the “Handymen,” 34-year-old Nicolas “Nic” Brown and 35-year-old Worick Arcangelo.  They are the guys who take care of the jobs no one else will handle.

Gangsta, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens with a whore named Alex Benedetto getting her assed kick.  The 24-year-old has not made enough money to please her pimp, but it is about to get worse for Alex.

Police Inspector Chad Adkins has just delivered an assignment to the Handymen, Worick and Nic.  Barry Abbot and his gang are expanding their criminal enterprise into restricted territories, and the mafia bosses want Worick and Nic to kill Barry and every member of his organization.  Alex is part of Barry’s organization.  And Nic and Worick don’t fail.

Later, Nic takes on a man much like himself.  Alex picks up a few more tidbits about Nic from Big Mama Georgiana, madam of the “Pussy” Brothel.

The Gangsta manga is unapologetically violent.  I used to hear people refer to certain movies that were rated “R” by the MPAA as being “hard R.”  Gangsta is a hard R.  The setting, Ergastulum, is a world without mercy, but I don’t want to spoil how Kohske shows that lack of mercy.

I will say that I really like this first volume.  It reminds me of such body-count VIZ Signature titles as Black Lagoon, Dog: Bullets & Carnage, and Jormungand.  All the Gangsta characters, even the “guest stars,” are good, and Kohske sprinkles hints about the mysterious Nic throughout these early chapters that will tempt readers to return for more.  Readers looking for some seinen action will want to go Gangsta.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Yaoi Review: NightS

NIGHTS
SUBLIME – @SuBLimeManga

CARTOONIST: Kou Yoneda
TRANSLATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERS: Sabrina Heep
COVER: Kou Yoneda with Shawn Carrico
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6409-8; paperback (January 2014) Rated “M” for “Mature”
248pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Kou Yoneda made her manga debut with No Touching at All (2009) and followed that up with A Singing Bird Can’t Fly.  Yoneda’s most recent work is NightS, a collection of yaoi short stories.  Yaoi manga is a subset of boys' love (BL) manga that features explicit depictions of sex between male characters.

NightS focuses on three couples.  In the title story, “NightS,” 28-year-old Masato Karashima is a “transporter,” a man paid to smuggle anything from drugs to guns to people.  He is approached by Masaki Hozumi, a yakuza lieutenant who needs something transported.  Masato finds himself attracted to the older man, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game of lust and deception.  In this business transaction, no one is telling the entire truth about anything.

In “Emotion Spectrum,” high school student Kugo agrees to play wing man to Usui, a fellow student who is attracted to Kugo's flighty friend, Nakaya.  Results are unexpected.  In the two-part, “Reply,” shy mechanic, Seki, finds himself at odds with the salesmen at the auto dealership where he works.  Then, he meets the emotionally-reserved, matter-of-fact salesman, Keigo Takami, who is outstanding as a car salesman.  They like each other, but perhaps, not in the same way.

Obviously, a yaoi short story collection gives readers several stories to read, and if they are lucky, at least two couples trying to come together romantically.  The NightS yaoi manga offers seven stories of varying lengths, and best of all, three couples working towards a romantic conclusion... and some sex scenes.

I didn't find the stars of the “NightS” short story particularly interesting because of the awkward execution of the story.  However, the material – too much deceit, too much crime, and the stars seem doomed as a couple – was there to make this an especially good story.  Kou Yoneda just didn't make it happen.

“Emotion Spectrum” is the same: good idea that does not fully flower.  The deceit is fluffy, and it's a crime that the romance comes across as syrupy as a bubblegum pop song.  This couple may not be doomed, but they are destined to be uninteresting.

Luckily, “Reply” offers a more attractive couple and is an excellent read.  The romance is filled with captivating pitfalls, and the conceit: two guys who may be too different to be successful as a couple: works.  Because the romance is strong, I simply found myself rooting for these guys.  Keiko and Seki are the one couple in this collection that I'd like to see again.  I want to spend more NightS with them.

B+

www.SuBLimeManga.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Dogs: Bullets and Carnage - Mother and Mother

I read Dogs, Vol. 8

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Dogs: Bullets and Carnage - The Family Fuyumine

I read Dogs, Vol. 7

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Tenjo Tenge: The Natsumes

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 4: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

Dogs: Bullets and Carnage: Cage and Puppies

I read Dogs, Vol. 6 (Dogs (Viz Media))

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Tenjo Tenge: Bunshichi Takes on Shin

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 3: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1 (Tenjho Tenge)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.

Tenge Tenjo: Enter Todo High

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 1: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).