Case Closed: Blood Type

I read Case Closed, Vol. 57

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Yo-Kai Watch: Jibanyan's Tale

I read Yo-kai Watch, Vol. 3

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Assassination Classroom: On Island Time

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 7

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Yo-Kai Watch: Beware the Bristly Germs

I read Yo-kai Watch, Vol. 2

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Kiss of the Rose Princess: Gala

I read Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 7

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Assassination Classroom: Swim Time

I reads Assassination Classroom, Vol. 6

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Twin Star Exorcists: Into Magano

I read Twin Star Exorcists, Vol. 2: Onmyoji

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Review: YO-KAI WATCH Volume 1

YO-KAI WATCH, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA/Perfect Square – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Noriyuki Konishi
ORIGINAL STORY: Level 5, Inc.
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Aubrey Sitterson
LETTERS: William F Schuch
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8251-1; paperback (November 2015); Rated “A” for “All Ages”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN

Yo-Kai Watch is a video game created by Japanese video game developer, Level-5.  It is published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS.  Yo-Kai Watch inspired a manga produced by mangaka, Noriyuki Konishi.  This manga is the latest addition to VIZ Media's “Perfect Square” imprint, and November sees the release of the first two volumes of Yo-Kai Watch.

Yo-Kai Watch, Vol. 1 (entitled Nate's Lucky Day; Chapters 1 to 7) introduces Nate Adams, an ordinary elementary school student.  One day, Nate meets a strange yokai (called “yo-kai” in this series) named “Whisper.”  The floating, blob-like Whisper gives to Nate a gift.  It is the “Yo-Kai Watch,” which allows Nate to see yo-kai that are invisible to the human eye.  Soon, Nate is helping yo-kai and collecting from each one a “Yo-Kai Metal,” a memento of friendship that allows him to call on each one when he needs help.

[This volume includes the bonus story, “Late to School!!]

The Yo-Kai Watch manga is a good graphic novel series for young comics readers, especially those already familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.  In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that Yo-Kai Watch is inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh!  Both franchises encourage fans to collect franchise-related creatures and creature-inspired objects and ephemera.

That aside, Yo-Kai Watch Volume 1 is a good read.  The stories are not exactly taken from the “wheel of morality,” but each offers a lesson to learn.  Also, Nate Adams is an all-around good guy, who is always up for adventure and discovery, which is a good thing in a lead character, whether the story is for young or old.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: IDOL DREAMS Volume 1

IDOL DREAMS, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Arina Tanemura
TRANSLATION: Tetsuchiro Miyaki
LETTERING: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8256-6; paperback (November 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Idol Dreams is a shojo manga from mangaka, Arina Tanemura, the creator of such manga as Full Moon and The Gentlemen's Alliance †, to name just two of many.  A series for adult readers, Idol Dreams follows an ordinary office worker who becomes a teenager again and gets a shot at becoming a star.

Idol Dreams, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) introduces Chikage Deguchi, an office worker who believes that she has missed out on love and success.  During her high school reunion, it is revealed that she is 31-years-old and is still a virgin.  Although she is humiliated, Chikage gets a chance to be 15-years-old again, thanks to high school friend, Tokita.  On her first day being a teen again, a chance at stardom comes her way, but is Chikage really ready to change... everything.

[This manga includes the bonus, “Arina Way of Manga.”]

In her cartoon essay, mangaka Arina Tanemura says that when she was trying to decide what her next project should be, a publisher asked her to create a “magical girl” manga for adult readers.  The result is the Idol Dreams manga.

Idol Dreams Volume 1 has a “T for Teen” rating, but the series, in many ways, is indeed for older readers.  Teen can certainly read Idol Dreams, but you have to have at least reached a certain age well into adulthood in order not just to understand, but also to feel Chikage's sense of regret about what could have been.  The smart thing that Tanemura does is that she immediately confronts the reader with this reality:  how many of us would really do things differently if given the chance “to do it all over?”

I have liked many Tanemura manga, but Idol Dreams is the first one that I have liked unconditionally after only one volume.  I am dreaming of the chance to read the next volume.


A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Kaze Hikaru: Sei's Injury

I read Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 23

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Assassination Classroom: Time to Show Off a Hidden Talent

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 5

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Case Closed: Cheesecake Upside Yo Head

I read Case Closed, Vol. 55

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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.

Review: LBX Volume 6

LBX, VOL. 6
VIZ MEDIA/Perfect Square – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hideaki Fujii
ORIGINAL STORY: Level 5
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Aubrey Sitterson
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7700-5; paperback (July 2015); Rated “A” for “All Ages”
152pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

The video game, LBX (Little Battlers eXperience), is a series of role-playing action games created by Level-5 for the Sony PSP.  Hideaki Fujii created an “all ages” manga based on LBX, which VIZ Media has published in English as a bi-monthly graphic novel series under its “Perfect Square” imprint.

In the world of Fujii's manga, the LBX is the hottest toy in the year 2050.  The LBX (Little Battlers eXperience) is a miniaturized robot made of a new super-strong industrial cardboard.  Van Yamano is a rising LBX player, but he doesn't just play with these battle-robots for fun.  In order to save his father, Professor Yamano, he has to keep the LBX, named “Achilles,” out of the hands of evil at all costs.

As LBX, Vol. 6 (Chapters 23 to 25 to Final Chapter, entitled World Battle) opens, the “Duck Shuttle” arrives at the powerful new military satellite Eden, which orbits the Earth.  Aboard the shuttle are Van and his partner and LBX rival, Hiro Hughes, with Cobra piloting.

Van has LBX Icarus Zero, and Hiro has LBX Icarus Force.  The duo plans to use their LBX to stop a plot by Alfred Gordon, Vice-President of the American Union and also leader of “The Directors,” a terrorist group.  Gordon wants to bring peace to the world by taking control of the world, and he has the powerful and perhaps unstoppable LBX Zeus to enforce his will.  Van, Hiro, and Gordon are in for a big surprise.

[This volume includes bonus comics.]

I am still surprised that I enjoyed the LBX manga, which proved to be quite entertaining.  The series is really directed at elementary-age readers and also fans of the LBX, an actual, real-life media and merchandising franchise.  Alas, LBX Volume 6 is the end of the series... for now at least.  Still, this short, six-volume graphic novel series is perfect for readers who are enjoying or have enjoyed the Yu-Gi-Oh manga.  Those readers may even want to have an LBX toy.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux (Support Leroy on Patreon.)


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

LBX: New Hope

I read LBX: New Hope, Vol. 5

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Case Closed: The Moving Shrine Room

I read Case Closed, Vol. 54: The Moving Shrine Room

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Assassination Classroom: Time for a Transfer Student

I read Assassination Classroom, Vol. 3

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Kiss of the Rose Princess: True Contract

I read Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 3

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Review: METEOR PRINCE Volume 2

METEOR PRINCE, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Meca Tanaka
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7909-2; paperback (April 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Meteor Prince is a shojo fantasy romance from mangaka, Meca Tanaka (creator of Pearl Pink).  Originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, LaLa, the series focuses on an unlucky teen girl and the handsome alien prince who is totally in love with her.  VIZ Media published Meteor Prince in North America as a two-graphic novel series, with the second volume just recently being released.

Hako Natsune, the “Queen of Bad Luck,” has yet another experience of bad luck.  The President of the school's Occult Research Club draws a spell circle, hoping a ritual will help rid Hako of her bad luck.  Instead, the spell summons a naked teen boy, who seems to fall from Heaven.  He is Io, an alien prince from the planet, Yupita, and he declares that Hako is destined to be his mate!  Does this mean that Hako's luck has changed?

As Meteor Prince, Vol. 2 (Chapters 6 to 10 to Final Chapter) opens, Io is determined to be a normal boyfriend, but Hako's bad luck is falling on him.  Suddenly, a naked teen girl appears, as if dropped from heaven.  Her name is Tania, and she is from the planet, Ciel.  Tania declares that she is the one destined to be Io's mate, and she won't let Hako stand in her way.

After reading the first volume, I thought that the Meteor Prince manga seemed like a natural comic for me.  As I wrote in my review of that volume, I have loved comedies featuring aliens who come to Earth (and also comedies featuring humans whisked into space).  I was a fan of “My Favorite Martian” (1973-1975), a short-lived, Saturday morning animated series that was a follow-up of the live-action, “My Favorite Martian” (1963-1966).

Still, I was not too crazy about the first volume, but I really like Meteor Prince Volume 2, which turns out to be the final volume of the series.  That's a shame.  The story got stronger the more alien characters creator Meca Tanaka added and the more she showed readers of the wider universe.  Ultimately, Meteor Prince, as a short shojo manga, won't be memorable to many readers (relatively speaking, of course), but judging by the second and final volume, it could have been.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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