#IReadsYou Review: ULTRAMAN Volume 4

ULTRAMAN, VOL. 4
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Eiichi Shimizu
ART: Tomohiro Shimoguchi
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERING: Evan Waldinger
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8185-9; paperback (May 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
188pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Ultraman is a character that appeared in Japanese sci-fi/fantasy films and television, beginning in the 1960s.  Ultraman was an alien entity that merged with a human host, creating a superhero that fought aliens trying to invade Earth.  Ultraman (stylized as ULTRAMAN) the manga, written and drawn by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, is a sequel to the television series, “Ultraman” (1966).

The new Ultraman is 17-year-old Shinjiro Hayata.  He is the son of Shin Hayata, the man who first merged with Ultraman 20 years earlier.  A new threat is growing, and that kind of danger requires a new kind of Ultraman.

As Ultraman, Vol. 4 (Chapter 21 to 26) opens, Shinjiro struggles with what it means to be Ultraman.  The alien enemies of Earth are brutal and unforgiving, and Dan Moroboshi, who wears an updated Ultraman suit, does not hesitate to kill them.  Shinjiro is struggling to come to terms with Dan's use of violence, especially after a battle leaves Dan's suit covered in blood.

Is Shinjiro or Dan the new kind of Ultraman for the danger the Earth now faces?  Well, there is a secret plan to force Shinjiro to take the next step in his development as the Ultraman.  Plus, The Rena Sayama 2018 Live Tour begins, but someone plans to kill Rena, an Ultraman fangirl.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Ultraman manga is an easy and enjoyable read, something that I can say about every volume.  And yes, it is such an easy read that I find myself finishing too quickly and wishing that there were more.  I really enjoy this manga, and I think its fan base should grow.  Ultraman is something like a blend of Marvel's Iron Man and Neon Genesis Evangelion, a blend I think that others can enjoy.

Ultraman Volume 4 focuses on the existential crisis Shinjiro undergoes as he deals with the realities of being the hero everyone expects to protect the Earth.  Killing and destroying the enemy seems the obvious solution, except that it may not be.  Creators Shimizu and Shimoguchi are gradually delving into complex issues, even as they continue to produce a delightfully breezy read.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of Ultraman and readers looking for superheroes from another land will want to try the VIZ Signature title, Ultraman.

A

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


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM Volume 3

THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM: PERFECT EDITION, VOL. 3
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kazuo Umezz
TRANSLATION: Sheldon Drzka
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Molly Danzer
LETTERING: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0939-7; hardcover (June 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
768pp, B&W, $34.99 U.S., $46.99 CAN, £28.00 UK

The Drifting Classroom is the legendary shonen manga from creator, Kazuo Umezz.  Many manga creators, fans, and critics consider Umezz to be the most influential horror manga artist ever.  Starting in October 2019, VIZ began publishing a new, three-volume English language edition of The Drifting Classroom in its “perfect edition” format.  According to VIZ, The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition features an all-new translation, new content, and revised story elements – all gathered in a deluxe hardcover format.  The original eleven graphic novels in The Drifting Classroom series are collected in three hardcover omnibus books, each with a trim size of 5 3/4  x 8 1/4.

The Drifting Classroom focuses on sixth-grader Sho Takamatsu.  One morning, Sho's school, Yamato Elementary School, is apparently struck by the tremors of an earthquake.  People near Yamato discover that the school has disappeared after the earthquake; at first, they think the school was destroyed in an explosion.  However, Sho, the teachers, the students of Yamato Elementary, and a visiting pre-school child (Yuichi “Yu” Onodo) emerge from the school to discover that Yamato Elementary is now surrounded by what seems like an endless wasteland of sand.  They come to believe that in the aftermath of the massive earthquake, the school has been transported to the future.

As The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 3 (Chapters 30 to 42) opens, the surviving children are in Tokyo Station, the subway line beneath the ruins of Tokyo.  There, they learn the horrible truth about what happened to civilization and an even more horrible reality – the so-called “future humans.”

Soon, Sho and his schoolmates return to Yamato, but the group divides into two.  There are the students that follow Sho, and the students that follow the increasingly belligerent Otomo, who blames Sho for causing the event that catapulted them into the future.  The kids wage pitched battles, but will they come together to face multiple existential outside threats?

Later, the kids discover a future “Paradise” from the past, but the youngsters fall out among themselves, which leads to a series of horrible events.  Returning to the school, they learn that at least some of them may be able to return to the present day – with the help of Sho's mother, Emiko Takamatsu.  But will everything fall into place or will the children be stuck in the dark future?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have previously called The Drifting Classroom manga a mixture of horror and science fiction.  The science fiction side of the narrative follows the adventures of a group of elementary school students trapped in what resembles a post-apocalyptic world.  The horror element focuses on the students as they are engaged in constant brutal conflict that gradually, inevitably shrinks the population that was originally 862 humans.

The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition Volume 3 is the final volume of this “Perfect Edition” reprint series.  The chapters contained within also reveal another side of this manga.  The Drifting Classroom can also be described as a juvenile science fiction and fantasy adventure, filled with both wonders and horrors.  The truth is that after 2000+ pages of this narrative, Kazuo Umezz is as energetic as ever.  His imagination is a wellspring of wild ideas, weird creatures, and inventive twists of time and space.  Yes, many of the humans reveal themselves to be relentlessly savage and senselessly barbaric, but, at the end, Umezz brings time and space together for an unforgettable ending that offers hope – maybe even coming close to assuring it.

The translation by Sheldon Drzka and the English adaptation by Molly Danzer perfectly capture the hopefully sentiments and the gory details.  Evan Waldinger's lettering gives the dialogue and action a machine gun-like rhythm that carries the readers at a breakneck pace across the book from beginning to surprise ending.

I highly recommended the two previous volumes of The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition to fans of horror manga and to fans of classic manga series.  I give the third volume my highest recommendation because it is a must-read for fans of great manga.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  The serious manga reader – interested in the past as well as in the present and future of the medium – will want to read the VIZ Signature release of The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition.

10 out of 10

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

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https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
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#IReadsYou Review: MUJIRUSHI: The Sign of Dreams

MUJIRUSHI: THE SIGN OF DREAMS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Naoki Urasawa
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Steve Dutro
EDITOR: Karla Clark
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1523-7; paperback with French flaps (July 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
272pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $26.99 CAN, £15.99 U.K.

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 French and international comics artists to write their own original stories inspired by the Louvre and its collection for about a decade.  The comics are published via a joint venture between the Louvre (under the imprint, “Louvre éditions”) and the French publisher known as “Futuropolis.”

One of the comics creators approached to produce a Louvre-inspired comic book is legendary “mangaka” (creator of manga), Naoki Urasawa, who is known for variety of titles, including Pineapple ARMY, Monster, and 20th Century Boys.  For the Louvre, Urasawa produced the manga, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams, known in French as Mujirushi – Le signe des rêves.

Mujirushi was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine, Big Comic Original, from October 20, 2017 to February 20, 2018.  The nine-chapter serial was eventually collected in a single volume (in both a standard and a deluxe edition) by Japanese publisher, Shogakukan.  Louvre éditions and Futuropolis first published Mujirushi in French in a single paperback volume in June 2018; then, as a two-volume manga set in August and October 2018, and finally, in a slipcase edition in November 2018.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of Mujirushi as single-volume, paperback graphic novel under its “VIZ Signature” imprint in July 2020.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams features an ensemble cast of characters.  The first is Takashi Kamoda, a failed businessman and tax cheat, who finds himself abandoned by his wife, hounded by creditors, and facing incarceration.  All Kamoda has left is his daughter, Kasumi, and now, he is considering suicide.

Fate brings Kamoda and Kasumi to the France Institute for Research (also known as the “La France Institute for Research”) and its odd director.  “The Director” wears a bow tie and his top front teeth are large and stick out his mouth, making his look like 1960s Japanese pop culture figure, “Iyami.”  A francophone, the Director tells Kamoda that he has a plan that will free him of his debts.  All Kamoda has to do is travel to France and abscond with “The Lacemaker,” a 17th century painting by the Dutch “Old Master” painter, Johannes Vermeer!

The plot also involves several other players.  Their is Michel, a French firefighter, and his singing grandmother, Madame Bardot.  “Kyoko” is the name of a mysterious Japanese woman from Michel and his grandmother's past.  There are French and Japanese police detectives.  Finally, there is Beverly Duncan, a billionaire businesswoman and celebrity who is running for President of the United States.  Oh, Beverly looks like a female Donald Trump!

THE LOWDOWN:  The Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams manga is the first work by Naoki Urasawa that I have read since I read the last volume of VIZ Media's edition of Master Keaton back in September 2017.  Urasawa is one of my favorite manga writer-artists, and I consider him to be one of the very best creators working in the comics medium over the last three decades.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams Graphic Novel is my least favorite work of his to date.  A very short work compared to Urasawa's best known manga, Mujirushi is basically a handy graphic novel package composed of Urasawa's familiar storytelling tropes.  First, it is a conspiracy wrapped inside a mystery that begins with a very important or pivotal origin story or back story that occurs decades earlier.

Second, the cast is a collection of odd and eccentric characters who are menacing or are at least behaving suspiciously.  The difference is that none of Mujirushi's characters have the depth and richness of the characters in Urasawa's best work.  Third, the art is trademark Urasawa, but there is nothing to really distinguish it from any other Urasawa graphical storytelling.

Still, even standard Naoki Urasawa is superior to most other mangaka and comics creators' best work.  John Werry's translation and English adaptation result in a story that is hard to stop reading.  Werry has fashioned something that your imagination can't stop chasing until it finds some kind of resolution... any kind of resolution.  Letterer Steve Dutro offers lettering, fonts, and effects that deftly capture the spirit of an Urasawa manga.  So while Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams isn't perfect, it is, to quote singer Grace Jones, perfect for you, dear Urasawa fans.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Naoki Urasawa will want the VIZ Signature graphic novel, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams.

7 out of 10

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


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

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#IReadsYou Review: PING PONG: Volume 1

PING PONG, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Taiyo Matsumoto
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Michael Arias
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Mike Montessa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1165-9; paperback (May 2020)
530pp, B&W with some color, $29.99 US, $39.99 CAN, £23.99 UK

Ping Pong is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto, who is also the creator of the Tekkonkinkreet and Cats of the Louvre manga, to name a few.  Ping Pong was serialized in Japanese publisher, Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine, Big Comic Spirits, from 1996 to 1997.

Ping Pong tells the story of two boys, Makoto “Smile” Tsukimoto and Yutaka “Peco” Hoshino, who have been friends since childhood despite having drastically different personalities.  They are now both talented members of the table tennis (ping pong) club of Katase High School.  The series depicts the boys' different approach to table tennis.

Shogakukan originally collected Ping Pong's 55 chapters into six tankōbon volumes (graphic novels), and in 2014, Shogakukan re-released the manga in two book volumes under the new title, Ping Pong: Full Game No.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of Ping Pong: Full Game No as a two-volume, paperback omnibus set under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Ping Pong, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 27) introduces longtime friends, Smile and Peco, who are both on the table tennis team at Katase High School.  Peco is all-in as a player, believing that he can beat just about any other ping pong player anytime.  Smile is eccentric and rarely smiles, nor does he take the game of table tennis/ping pong that seriously.  In fact, it seems that he would rather lose than have his opponent experience the agony of losing.

Well, Katase High's Coach Jo Koizumi won't accept that.  He is determined to make Smile a great ping pong player, even if he has to use every trick in his playbook.  Meanwhile, straight out of China comes Wenge Kong, a Chinese ping pong prodigy recruited by the Japanese high school, Tsujido Polytechnic, as a “ringer.”  However, Kong has his own issues and struggles.

[This volume also includes Ping Pong Episode 0: “Tamura.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  Some may know the Ping Pong manga because of the 2002 Japanese live-action film, which is how I first learned of the manga.  Over the last decade and a half, Ping Pong's creator, Taiyo Matsumoto, has become something of a graphic novel star with the English-language releases of his manga,  especially Tekkonkinkreet, Sunny, and Cats of the Louvre.

Ping Pong Graphic Novel Volume 1 provides a look at one of Matsumoto's early long form series, and it reveals that Matsumoto himself was something of a prodigy.  The first 27 chapters of Ping Pong are an impressive display of different graphical storytelling approaches in presenting the personalities, character, and motivations of the story's main players.

In fact, the characters' personalities drive this story.  For instance, Peco's cocky and carefree nature acts as a counter to Smile's stubborn attitude and taciturn nature.  As I read this story, I could almost feel the characters falling on either side of the Peco/Smile divide, and, for me, this gives a spice to the ping pong matches.  Speaking of those, Matsumoto turns the ping pong matches into duels of furious speed and slashing moves in which the players and rackets move as fast as the ping pong balls.

With his translation, Michael Arias' does what he did for Cats of the Louvre – give the readers an engaging tale full of diverse personalities.  Deron Bennett's lettering changes as Matsumoto's illustrations shift in tone and style, both creatives giving this tale depth and richness.  With a title like Ping Pong, one might not think that this story could be as wonderful as it is, and it is indeed wonderful.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Taiyo Matsumoto will want the VIZ Signature edition of Ping Pong.

9 out of 10

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


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

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#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 3

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 3
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1322-6; paperback (July 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is set in Japan during the “Edo period” (specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is sentenced to death, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They will travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, and others of her clan will accompany these criminals to an island where “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing.

As Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 3 (Chapters 17 to 26) opens, Gabimaru and Sagiri are joined by Yuzuriha of Keishu, (a “kunoichi” or female ninja), and her executioner, Yamada Asaemon Senta (a highly-learned swordsman and Sagiri's clansman).  They have just encountered what looks like a small human girl, but they also meet her guardian (of sorts).  He is “Hoko” the tree man, and he names the girl as “Mei.”

From him, Gabimaru and company learn that Shinsenkyo, which he calls “Kotaku,” is divided into three regions.  It is the center region, known as, “Horai,” where they will find the elixir of life, which the island's denizens call “Tan.”  Hoko also warns them of sinister beings roaming the island, the immortal “Lord Tenzen,” that do not allow anyone to leave the island.

However, Gabimaru believes that he does not have time to waste, and sets off on his own to the center of the island.  He is unaware of the fate of the other convicts and their executioners who have already met the Lord Tenzen with disastrous results.

[This volume includes miscellaneous art, bonus comics, and “Translation Notes.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have described the Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga as an Edo-period, samurai drama that is also firmly entrenched in the horror genre.  I think its English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' repugnant-attractive elements, a mix of beautiful and imaginative beings and creatures that are really monsters.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 3 is the first volume in which the lead characters get answers to their questions.  I thought that Vol. 2 was one best second volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I had ever read, just as Vol. 1 was one of the best first volumes.  Creator Yuji Kaku does not miss a beat as he reveals more of about the island and about its mysterious inhabitants.  If you have already started reading Hell's Paradise, don't stop now, dear readers.  If you have not started reading, you don't have far to go back to get in on the ground floor of this utterly fantastic dark fantasy manga.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of “VIZ Signature” titles will want Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.

A
9.5 out of 10

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


https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
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#IReadsYou Review: BLUE FLAG Volume 2

BLUE FLAG, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kaito
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Marlene First
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1302-8; paperback (June 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 US, $17.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Ao no Flag is a high school romance manga written and drawn by Kaito.  The manga was serialized on the online manga magazine, Shonen Jump+, from February 2017 to April 2020.  VIZ Media is publishing Ao no Flag as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Blue Flag, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Blue Flag focuses on an unassuming high school student named Taichi Ichinose.  It is his senior year at Aohama High School, and he finds himself in the same class as shy Futaba Kuze, of whom he has conflicted feelings.  Taichi and Futaba begin to fall in love, but each has a same-sex best friend – Taichi's Toma Mita and Futaba's Masumi Itachi – who are in love with them.

As Blue Flag, Vol. 2 (Chapters 6 to 12) opens, it is time for Aohama High's school festival.  Toma accepts the position of cheer squad captain on the condition that Taichi and Futaba participate.  The problems are that Taichi does not want to participate, and that Futaba is deathly afraid of performing a cheer in front of the student body.  Later, Masumi makes a series of surprising confessions to Taichi about her “boyfriend.”  Plus, Toma, the captain of the school's baseball team, looks for success at the high school summer tournament

[This volume includes the bonus story, “After the Festival.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Blue Flag manga is not any one thing.  It is a mixture of genres and themes:  romance, high school drama, coming-of-age, shonen, LGBTQ, and light comedy.

Blue Flag Graphic Novel Volume 2 is my first experience with the series.  The series is so easy to read that readers do not have to read the first volume to understand the story.  I would, however, recommend that due to the ending of Vol. 2 readers at least start the series with the second volume and not start with the third volume.

Kaito presents characters that are likable, even lovable, simply because the four leads have genuinely different personalities.  That makes the desire, yearning, self-doubt, and internal and external conflict feel real because the characters are truly seeing things from their own different points of view.  This is a high school romance that has dramatic heft.  As usual, readers get a superb English translation from Adrienne Beck that makes every thing resonate with the reader.  Also as usual, Annaliese Christman's lettering sets the tone for individual moments as well as for larger scenes.

I am utterly shocked by how much I like this second volume of Blue Flag.  Honestly, I didn't expect much because of the title and Vol. 2's cover illustration.  Neither hints at how powerful the story is.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of coming-of-age stories and of LGBTQ-themed manga will want to read the “VIZ Signature” title Blue Flag.

10 out of 10

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


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

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

#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 2

 

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1321-9; paperback (May 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is set in Japan during the “Edo period” (specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is sentenced to death, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They must travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, and others of her clan will accompany these criminals to an island where “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing.

As Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 2 (Chapters 7 to 16) opens, Gabimaru, his fellow convicts, and their escorts face murderous creatures that are either gods or monsters.  Stone, animal, insect, and human, these creatures seem to be an impossible blend of all or some of those things.  Meanwhile, we learn the back stories of a number of characters, including Yuzuriha of Keishu, a kunoichi (female ninja); the Aza Brother Bandits, Chobe and Toma; and the mountain tribeswoman, Nurugai, who joins Lord Tenza in a bid to escape the island.

Plus, Gabimaru and Sagiri start to understand each another, just as Sagiri's fellow clansman, Genji, insists she leave the island because she is a woman.  This debates occurs as the convict, Rokurota the Giant of Bizen, approaches them with murder on his mind.

[This volume includes miscellaneous art and “Translation Notes.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga is an Edo-period, samurai drama that is also firmly entrenched in the horror genre.  It's English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' repugnant-attractive elements, as this story is like a dark fairy tale turning darker with each page.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 2 is one of the best second volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I have ever read, just as Vol. 1 was one of the best first volumes.  Creator Yuji Kaku's ethereal, illustrative style perfectly visualizes this series' gruesome, nightmarish tableau and tapestries.  From the start, Kaku enthralls the readers with the mysteries of the island of Shinsenkyo; now, he multiplies the mysteries in this second volume.

Caleb Cook's translation conveys Kaku's move to focus on the characters' personalities, desires, and back stories with the same focus in which Cook's work conveyed the demented nature of many of the characters in the first volume.  Letterer Mark McMurray slashes and smashes us with the gory glory of Hell's Paradise using pitch perfect lettering.  Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is a paradise for fans of manga that blend samurai, ninja, and horror.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of “VIZ Signature” titles will want Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.

A
9 out of 10

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


https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVIZMedia
https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia


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

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#IReadsYou Review: VENUS IN THE BLIND SPOT

 

VENUS IN THE BLIND SPOT
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Junji Ito
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jocelyn Allen; Yuji Oniki (“The Enigma of Amigara Fault”)
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
EDITOR: Masumi Washington
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1547-3; hardcover; 5 3/4 × 8 1/4 (August 2020); Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”
272pp, B&W, $22.99 U.S., $46.00 CAN, £25.00 UK

Junji Ito is a Japanese writer and artist of horror manga (comics) who has created both long-form horror manga series and manga short works (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).

VIZ Media has published several hardcover collections of Junji Ito's manga short stories over the last five years.  They are Fragments of Horror (June 2015), Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories (December 2017), Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection (October 2018), and Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection (April 2019).

VIZ's latest hardcover collection of Junji Ito's manga short stories is a “best of” collection, Venus in the Blind Spot.  This striking book gathers ten of the most remarkable short works of Ito's career.  With a deluxe presentation, including special color pages, each chilling tale invites readers to revel in a world of terror created by a modern master of horror manga and comics.

Venus in the Blind Spot includes three stories that Junji Ito adapted from prose fiction writers.  Ito adapts two stories, “The Human Chair” (1925) and “An Unearthly Love” (1926), by Edogawa Ranpo (1984-1965), perhaps the most influential author of Japanese mystery fiction.  Ito also adapts “How Love Came to Professor Guildea” (1900), a short story by Robert Hichens (1864-1950), a British author who, among other things, wrote ghost stories, fantasy, and mystery fiction.

Venus in the Blind Spot opens with the story, “Billions Alone.”  At the center of this story is 19-year-old Michio, who has locked himself in his room for seven years.  He emerges from seclusion as people are being found dead and sewn together in pairs, bound by fishing wire that has been run through every part of their bodies.  Michio wonders that if he attends an upcoming school reunion and coming-of-age ceremony, will he become part of one of these “group corpses?”

A woman with a wicked tongue terrorizes the country as “The Licking Woman.”  A philandering husband discovers a “Keepsake” from his recently deceased wife.  And in the title story, “Venus in a Blind Spot,” the young men of the “Nanzan UFO Research Society” discover that they can't help but love their chairperson, Mariko Shono, but they can't see her either.

THE LOWDOWN:  Junji It's short works (a.k.a. manga short stories) display his incredible imagination and also the diversity in the style and tone in which he executes these stories.  Some are tales of existential terror and threats.  Others feature terrible situations, a twist on a comic situation because, by the end of the story, the reader will laugh nervously while thanking the cosmos that such situations are not his.

Venus in the Blind Spot emphasizes two other signatures Ito types, macabre tales that recall “The Twilight Zone” and eerie stories of haunting.  In such stories, Ito does not make use of beginnings, middles, and ends, so much as he offers episodes that are both terrifying and implausible.

The opening story, “Billions Alone,” is an episode of terror.  It is not metaphorically a tale of loneliness as much as it is a tale of humans alone against an existential terror that does not make sense – an implausible and ridiculous assault on the way humans live.  It is COVID-19 without the hope of science eventually saving our asses.

I have not read any of the three prose short stories that appear here as manga adaptations by Junji Ito.  “The Human Chair” is an Ito gem, and I wonder if Edogawa Ranpo's original is as deranged as Ito's take on it.  [Ranpo's huge cultural influence in Japan can be seen in Gosho Aoyama's manga, Detective Conan, which is published as Case Closed in North America.]  The other two adaptations, “An Unearthly Love” and “How Love Came to Professor Kirida” (from Robert Hichens's “How Love Came to Professor Guildea”).  These two stories have all the hallmarks of Ito's terrible power, and the latter is a tale of a haunting.  Still, they don't quite come together.

Never fear, “The Licking Woman” and “Keepsake” lay siege to your imagination, dear reader, and these two tales, each dealing with a haunting, certainly made my skin crawl.  Damn, that's nasty – both of them.  Venus in the Blind Spot, as a collection, is a good introduction to the short manga of Junji Ito.  New readers will get a taste of what is to come, and, in a way, it is not as deranged, overall, as other collections of Ito's short works.  For Ito's fans, Venus in the Blind Spot is an example of why Junji Ito is our blind spot.  We'll buy just about any book he offers us.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Junji Ito and fans of great horror comics will want the VIZ Signature edition of Venus in the Blind Spot.

9 out of 10

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


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

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#IReadsYou Review: RAN AND THE GRAY WORLD Volume 7

RAN AND THE GRAY WORLD, VOL. 7
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Aki Irie
TRANSLATION: Emi Louie-Nishikawa
LETTERING: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Amy Yu
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0368-5; paperback (May 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
304pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Ran and the Gray World is a fantasy manga written and illustrated by Aki Irie.  The manga was serialized in the manga magazine, Fellows!, from December 2008 to April 2015.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of the manga as a graphic novel series under its “VIZ Signature” imprint from November 2018 to May 2020.

Ran and the Gray World focuses on Ran Uruma.  Ran can't wait to grow up and be a sorceress like her mother, Shizuka.  With the help of a pair of magical sneakers, Ran sometimes transforms herself into an adult and takes off on various (mis)adventures.

As Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 7 (Chapters 38 to 45 to Final Chapter) opens, Ran finally awakens from her long sleep.  However, everyone is afraid to tell Ran that Otaro Midado, the older man who courted and wanted to marry the adult Ran, has died.  After her friend and rival, Nio Gekkoin, tells her, Ran's tears affect everyone around her and in the town of Haimachi.

As she works through her grief, Ran thinks about her future and about how she can become a stronger sorceress.  After she makes her decision, she informs her mother, father, and brother, and her plan sends her family into a tizzy.  And how will she handle her budding relationship with her human classmate, Makoto Hibi, the boy who is very much in love with her?

[This volume includes two bonus stories, “Shizuka's Vagabond Diaries” and “Hibi's Heart Isn't In It.”  It also has the illustrated 24-page “Character Introduction,” an “Afterword,” and a bonus illustration.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Ran and the Gray World manga spent a few volumes being in the middle of an intense story arc.  But once the fighting was over, it was apparently time to say goodbye.

Ran of the Gray World Graphic Novel Volume 7 is the final volume of the series.  While Vol. 6 wrapped up the bug invasion story arc, Vol. 7 finds Ran learning to grow up in a normal way (as normal as it can be in a world of sorcery).  “You know how kids only think about themselves?” Makoto asks Ran.  “Well, we're not kids any more,” he answers his rhetorical question.”

The crux of the series seems to be that Ran wanted to grow up too fast, and, in the process, she took on an adult relationship with an adult man, a relationship for which she was not prepared on a number of fronts.  When she had to save the one she loved, Ran made bad decisions concerning a person that no one could save.  Death was inevitable, and consequently, so was her soul-wrenching grief – to say nothing of the fallout experienced by her community and her hometown.

The fact that Ran could put on a pair of magical shoes that would transform her into a woman always felt like a gimmick to me.  Now, I know that the series' hook about the woman-child and the magical shoes was an important part of a coming-of-age story.  The shoes were not a gimmick, but they were going to lead to a lesson learned, one that could be passed on in the future.  Like the circle of life, the story ends with some else wanting to be “big” too soon, but with age comes wisdom.  This time, Ran knows exactly what to say when a child comes to her looking for a shortcut.

Emi Louie-Nishikawa's translation is spry and lively, and, in Vol. 7, she captures all the bittersweet essences that imbue the drama of this manga's final chapters.  Joanna Estep's precise lettering matches creator Aki Irie's art with its detailed line work and intricate crosshatching.  The art's layered toning, thick blacks, and lush brushwork coalesce into beautiful storytelling that carries the reader's gaze and imagination on a magical ride through this final volume.

I will only complain that this final volume seems a little long at 250+ pages of narrative, but even after that long finale, I didn't want to leave the Gray World.  Still, this excellent seven-volume fantasy manga will be waiting for new readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of coming-of-age stories about young magic users will want to try the “VIZ Signature” title, Ran and the Gray World.

9 out of 10

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


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


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#IReadsYou Review: TOKYO GHOUL: re Volume16

TOKYO GHOUL: RE, VOL. 16
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0742-3; paperback (April 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
338pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida.  It was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine, Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha, Inc.), between September 2011 and September 2014.  It was later collected in fourteen tankōbon (graphic novels).  It had a sequel series, Tokyo Ghoul:re, which also was serialized in Weekly Young Jump – between October 2014 and July 2018.  It was collected into sixteen tankōbon volumes.

VIZ Media published Tokyo Ghoul as a 14-volume graphic novel series from June 2015 to August 2017, under its VIZ Signature imprint.  It published Tokyo Ghoul: re as a 16-volume graphic novel series, bimonthly, beginning in October 2017, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ published the sixteenth and final volume this past month, April 2020,

Tokyo Ghouls is about “Ghouls.”  They look like humans and live among humans, 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.  Haise Sasaki was in charge of an unruly CCG squad, “Quinx Squad” (or “Qs Squad”), but among the secrets of his forgotten past was the truth that he was Ken Kaneki, a half-human and half-Ghoul.

As Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 16 (Chapters 165 to 179) opens, the Ghoul-CCG alliance has rescued Kaneki from his “Dragon” form, the monster within which he was entombed.  However, the creature continues to spew forth mutant Ghouls, and some of these things to which the Dragon has given birth are infecting humans with a horrific form of “Ghoulism.”

The only way to stop this is to go deep inside the creature, and who will go into the belly of the beast to find a cure?  It is Kaneki, of course.  There, he will face the ultimate conspirator, Nimura Furuta, and also, someone who was very important in his life.  Will Kaneki's ultimate act of bravery be the final strike that will end the Ghoul-human war or will it be his and everyone, Ghoul and human's, last stand?

[This volume includes an illustrated “Afterward” by Sui Ishida.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Tokyo Ghoul: re manga has come to an end.  When Tokyo Ghoul began, it was a dark fantasy series that took readers into a mysterious new world that seemed horrifying on the surface.  The truth was that this new world was more complicated beneath that surface.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Graphic Novel Volume 16 is a wrap-up of what the narrative became in the second series – a tale of racial conflict and of the conspiracy that created that conflict.  Without spoiling this final volume, I can say that creator Sui Ishida has not only ended the narrative, but he has also revealed that life goes on.

To the end, Joe Yamazaki's translation captures the intensity and mania and the ebb and flow of the action.  Vanessa Satone's lettering conveys the chaotic nature of that action, while she finds a way to cherish the end of the series while suggesting the continuation of the story.  Whatever happens beyond the pages that we can only imagine is not as important as the fact that between Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul: re we have thirty volumes of imaginative, inventive, and unique manga.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Tokyo Ghoul will want to dine on the “VIZ Signature” title, Tokyo Ghoul: re.

9 out of 10

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


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


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#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 1

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1320-2; paperback (March 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  As of December 2019, Japanese publisher, Shueisha, has collected the series in eight tankobon (graphic novel) volumes.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) opens in Japan during the “Edo period” (1603 to 1868, specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is one of the most vicious assassins to come out of the ninja village of Iwagakure.  However, an act of betrayal results in Gabimaru being captured during a mission and handed a death sentence, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.

Besides, Gabimaru claims that he does not care if he is facing death because he no longer cares to live.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, believes that she has discovered that Gabimaru actually feels otherwise.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They must travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  Sagiri and others of her clan will accompany these criminals, but on this island, “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing!

[This volume includes bonus art and “Translation Notes.”]

The Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga is an Edo-period, samurai horror-drama.  It's English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' horror elements.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 1 is one of the best first volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I have ever read.  The ethereal, illustrative manner in which Yuji Kaku depicts Gabimaru and Sagiri's internal struggles with the relentless killing in which they engage is a series of gruesome, nightmarish tapestries.  It is like taking some of the most shocking art from the legendary EC Comics' horror titles and multiplying it by the power of 10.  Kaku also enthralls the readers with the mysteries of the island of Shinsenkyo, of which he does give us a nasty taste in Vol. 1.

Caleb Cook's translation captures the demented nature of many of the characters that this volume introduces.  At the same time, Cook feeds us tendrils of story to capture our imagination and to draw us ever deeper into the world of Jigokuraku.  Meanwhile, rather than do the tendril-thing, letterer Mark McMurray slashes and smashes us with the glory of bloodletting that Hell's Paradise offers its unwary visitors... And that is a very good thing.

9 out of 10

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


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


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#IReadsYou Review: THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM: Perfect Edition Volume 2

THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM: PERFECT EDITION, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kazuo Umezz
TRANSLATION: Sheldon Drzka
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Molly Danzer
LETTERING: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0938-0; hardcover (February 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
760pp, B&W, $34.99 U.S., $46.99 CAN, £28.00 UK

The Drifting Classroom is a legendary shonen manga from creator, Kazuo Umezz.  Many manga creators, fans, and critics consider Umezz to be the most influential horror manga artist ever.  Starting in October 2019, VIZ began publishing a new English language edition of The Drifting Classroom in its “perfect edition” format.  According to VIZ, The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition features an all-new translation and new content and revised story elements gathered in a deluxe hardcover format.  If I understand correctly, the original eleven graphic novels in The Drifting Classroom series will be collected in three hardcover omnibus books with a trim size of 5 3/4  x 8 1/4.

The Drifting Classroom focuses on sixth-grader Sho Takamatsu.  One morning, Sho's school, Yamato Elementary School, is apparently struck by the tremors of an earthquake.  People near Yamato discover that the school has disappeared after the earthquake; at first, they think the school was destroyed in an explosion.  However, Sho, the teachers, the students of Yamato Elementary, and a visiting pre-school child (Yuichi “Yu” Onodo) emerge from the school to discover that Yamato Elementary is now surrounded by what seems like an endless wasteland of sand.  They come to believe that in the aftermath of the massive earthquake, the school has been transported to the future.

As The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 2 (Chapters 16 to 29) opens, the surviving students have accepted that they have been somehow transported into the distant future – at least some of them.  Now, they are confronted by strange plants and strange bugs, suddenly appearing in a world they believed to be barren.  But is any of it real?  That is what Sho and the other students have to figure out when a giant bug-monster attacks the school.

Then, what seems like a moving black mass is eating the students alive.  Plus, the students fight what may be an epidemic of the “Black Plague.”  Sho's mother, Emiko Takamatsu, finds a way to bridge “separated time” in order to help Sho.  Some of the students go on a rampage, and others create a crazy new religion.  And finally, an old adversary returns.

I previously called The Drifting Classroom manga a mixture of horror and science fiction.  The series is a seamless blend of horror and science fiction, and I really can't tell where one genre begins and the other ends.  The science fiction side of the narrative follows the adventures of a group of elementary school students trapped in what resembles a post-apocalyptic world.  The horror element focuses on the students in constant brutal conflict that gradually, inevitably shrinks the population that was originally 862 humans.

The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition Volume 2 focuses on the endless conflicts in which the children face – man versus man; man versus nature; and man versus himself.  Several times while reading Vol. 2, I thought of Lord of the Flies, and other times the characters seemed like nothing more than hapless castaways lost on another world.

Sheldon Drzka (translation) and Molly Danzer (English adaptation) present dialogue that perfectly captures the breakneck pace of The Drifting Classroom and also the desperation and the mania of the students.  Umezz brilliantly fashioned a series of terrifying situations in which to place his characters, and as much as they thrill me, I also find poignant moments in the English-language version .

I highly recommend this second volume of The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition to fans of horror manga and to fans of classic manga series.  It is a must-read, and, for the “special edition” collectors, a must-have.

8.5 out of 10

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


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


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#IReadsYou Review: DOWNFALL

DOWNFALL
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Inio Asano
TRANSLATION: Jocelyn Allen
LETTERS: Joanne Estep
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0936-6; paperback (February 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
246pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

Reiraku is a manga created by Inio Asano, the author of such manga as Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction and Goodnight Punpun.  Reiraku was published in the Japanese manga magazine, Big Comic Superior (Shogakukan), from March 10 to July 28, 2017.  VIZ Media is publishing an English language edition of Reiraku as a single-volume graphic novel, entitled Downfall, released under the VIZ Signature imprint.

Downfall (Chapters 1 to 7 to Final Chapter) introduces Kaoru Fukuzawa, a successful manga artist.  He recently finished his breakthrough series, “Goodbye Sunset,” and the fifteenth and final tankobon (graphic novel) collection of the series has just been released.  Although Fukuzawa has ended his manga, he does not know how to start a new one.

All that matters in the manga industry, Fukuzawa believes, is selling copies.  Sales of “Goodbye Sunset” collections had been slipping towards the end, and Fukuzawa believes that such cruel realities of the industry have destroyed his “pure love” for manga.  Also, Fukuzawa's marriage to Nozomi Machida, a manga editor, seems to be failing, and she appears to be moving on from him to work with new manga artists.  If Fukuzawa can figure out the formula for creating a new hit manga, will everything be okay?  Can he fill the void inside himself?  Or maybe Fukuzawa himself is the problem.

The Downfall manga, like some of Inio Asano's other manga, is about self-absorbed young men.  They tend to be cruel to others in ways that they themselves might not recognize... if they bothered to care.  Sex is defined only by these young men's needs, as seen by the number of young women with whom Fukuzawa's “engages” and by how he ultimately treats them.

The Downfall Graphic Novel is the portrait of the manga artist as a “monster,” in the context of his relationships with those closest to him personally and professionally.  Downfall is not so much about watching a guy fall apart as it is about him fulfilling a prophecy; years prior, a “cat-eyed” woman already told him what he was and would be.  I think Kaoru Fukuzawa's “downfall” had already begun by the time readers meet him in the present day of the story.

The English translation by Jocelyn Allen captures the essences and layers of Asano's earthy and blunt dialogue with its sense of realism.  Asano's beautiful, textured art tells the story in a painfully human style, alternating between intimate and aloof.  Allen's translation gets that the dialogue is what drives the story and is what defines the conflict between characters.

The lettering by Joanne Estep is both elegant and precise, and Estep seizes upon Fukuzawa's unrelenting self-absorption.  Once again, Inio Asano has produced a powerful story of a calamitous personality, and the English edition is an engaging, absorbing read.

9 out of 10

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


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


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#IReadsYou Review: NO LONGER HUMAN

NO LONGER HUMAN
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Junji Ito
ORIGINAL NOVEL: Osamu Dazai's “Ningen Shikkaku” as translated into English by Donald Keene
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jocelyn Allen
LETTERS: James Dashiell
EDITOR: Masumi Washington
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9846-8; hardcover (December 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
616pp, B&W, $34.99 U.S., $46.00 CAN, £25.00 UK

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror mangaka (comic book writer-artist) who has created both long-form horror manga 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).

VIZ Media has published several hardcover collections of Junji Ito's manga short stories over the last five years:  Fragments of Horror (June 2015), Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories (December 2017), Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection (October 2018), and Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection (April 2019).

One of Ito's recent works is a manga adaptation of Ningen Shikkaku, the 1948 Japanese novel from author, Osamu Dazai (as translated by Donald Keene).  Considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan, Dazai took his own life shortly after the last part of Ningen Shikkaku was published.  Ningen Shikkaku, one of Japan's all-time best-selling novels, was first published in serial form.

Junji Ito's Ningen Shikkaku was collected in three tankobon (graphic novel) volumes.  VIZ Media's latest Junji Ito publication is No Longer Human, a collection of Ningen Shikkaku Volumes 1-3 in one hardcover mini-omnibus (5 1/2 × 7 7/8 trim size).

No Longer Human focuses on Yozo Oba.  As a boy, he realizes that he is afraid of people.  He alleviates his fear by being a joker and class clown who dances, sings, tells jokes, and makes funny faces.  As an adult, Yozo is plagued by a maddening anxiety because there is a terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and what he sees as the joy of the rest of the world.

Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward.  He is a liar and becomes a womanizer.  He is a drunk and eventually becomes a drug addict.  Seemingly locked arm-in-arm with death, Yozo comes to believe that he must rid himself of the “10 misfortunes” that have always been packed inside of him, but can even doing that save him from the hell that is his life?

I have never read Osamu Dazai's Ningen Shikkaku, which apparently literally translates as “Disqualified From Being Human” and which some people consider to be an autobiographical novel.  In fact, I had heard of neither author nor novel until I did some research after I received a review copy of No Longer Human from my VIZ Media rep.

I will be honest with you, dear reader, that I have never disliked any of Junji Ito's work that I have read.  There have been some manga that I thought were just okay or good, but I have yet to come across Junji Ito manga that I consider a failure or a misfire.  I still have not found failure as of just having finished No Longer Human, which I enjoyed immensely.

Mesmerizing and hauntingly beautiful, No Longer Human is poignant, tragic, and delicate, but is also grotesque, wrenching, and cruel.  It is as if Ito uses his prodigious talents to torment us with a magnificent and gorgeous graphical storytelling presentation that is actually presenting all that is weak, pathetic, selfish, narcissistic, greedy, banal, and evil in humans.

I guess that No Longer Human could be described as psychological horror.  Because Ito has listed the American author of horror and dark fantasy short stories, H.P. Lovecraft, as one of his influences, I think No Longer Human tells a story of existential horror and terror.  Much of Lovecraft's work deals with existential terror and threats both existential in nature and supernatural in origin.  No Longer Human offers images that are connected to existential horror and terror, and while there are supernatural elements in the narrative, the story is itself not supernatural.

Jocelyn Allen's translation and English adaptation of Ito's text are quite a feat.  This is not the first time that Allen has adapted Junji Ito to English, capturing the unnerving calmness and relentless march of horror that defines Ito's work.  James Dashiell's lettering is steady and tranquil, as if he is creating a matter-of-fact declaration of a man living a damned life.

I want to make note of the fact that Ito opens No Longer Human with what can be interpreted as a depiction of the double-suicide of Osamu Dazai and a female acquaintance.  Printed in color, the passage has a dreamlike, pastoral quality that haunts this manga until its final chapter.  That chapter is a total freak show of its own.

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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#IReadsYou Review: BLACK LAGOON Volume 11

BLACK LAGOON, VOL. 11
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Rei Hiroe
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERS: John Hunt, Primary Graphix
EDITOR: Mike Montesa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1119-2; paperback (January 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

While on a business trip in Southeast Asia, Japanese “salaryman,” Rokuro Okajima, is kidnapped by a band of smugglers.  Abandoned by his company, Rokuro takes on the name, “Rock,” and joins his abductors.  They are Vietnam vet, Dutch the Boss; Benny the Mechanic, who handles the boat’s complicated high tech electronics, and Revy Two Hand, the ultra-lethal, gunslinger.  With Rock, this now-quartet is the baddest band of mercenaries on the high seas of Southeast Asia, sailing aboard the vessel, “the Black Lagoon,” a modified, World War II torpedo boat.  Through Dutch’s company, “Lagoon Traders,” this quartet operates a maritime courier service out of Roanapur, Thailand, a dangerous city that is rotten with military, ex-military, gangsters, drug dealers, and more of the worse people in the world.

As Black Lagoon, Vol. 11 (Chapter 77: “The Wired Red Wild Card”) opens, Rock and Revy are trying to help Feng Yifei, a former spy for the Chinese Liberation Army.  Feng's failures have led to her being disavowed by the government she once served, and now she is being hunted by the Chinese government's hired killers.

Rock and Revy have accompanied Feng to an Internet cafe where she tries to burn data that will help buy her protection (hopefully) from some organization that will want the information she has.  However, a Chinese operative has hired a group of “mixed-race” brothers to assassinate Feng, and they have caught up with her at the cafe.  The ensuing shootout will leave Revy and one of the brothers in police custody, forcing the former salaryman into action.  Now, Rock has to come up with a plan that will both save Revy and appease whoever wants to save Feng from the People's Republic of China.

The Black Lagoon manga was a burning hot property and was eventually adapted into an anime series.  However, after the ninth volume of the graphic novel (tankobon) series was published in North America in 2010, the tenth volume did not appear until 2015.  Creator Rei Hiroe insisted, in an “afterword” published in Vol. 10, that the series had not been on hiatus between the ninth and tenth volumes... no matter what anyone else said.

Black Lagoon Graphic Novel Volume 11 is arriving in North America nearly five years after the arrival of Vol. 10.  I am a big fan of this series, but I had to read one hundred pages into Vol. 11 before I found myself back in the groove of its narrative.  Of course, it was a big shootout scene that reminded me of why I like this high-flying, balls-to-wall, bullet-blasting, adult-action manga.

So my final analysis is that Black Lagoon remains the same.  There are character dynamics, deal-making, and interpersonal relationships involving various kinds of obligation.  But the best of Black Lagoon is still its explosive action, and that is still here.  Hopefully, we will not have to wait another five years for Vol. 12...

B+
7 out of 10

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


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

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Review: LEVIUS/est: Volume 1

LEVIUS/EST, VOL. 1
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: 978-1-9747-0639-6; paperback (November 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
212pp, B&W with some color, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Levius/est is a sequel to the manga, Levius, with both manga being the creation of manga artist, Haruhisa Nakata.  A currently ongoing series, Levius/est is published in the Japanese manga magazine, Ultra Jump.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of Levius/est as a series of graphic novels, and also published Levius in English as a single-volume hardcover omnibus edition.

Levius/est, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens in the 19th century.  The world has entered the “Era of Rebirth,” as it recovers  from a devastating war.  Seventeen-year-old Levius Cromwell, who lost his parents to war, 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.

Levius managed to become one of the “Grand Thirteen,” the 13 M.M.A. fighters in the sport's top level, “Grade I.”  However, Levius is currently in a coma, and his gravely injured uncle, Zack Cromell (his father's brother), is determined to save him.  To do so means engaging a dangerous young woman named A.J. Langdon, the fighter who caused Levius' injuries.

The Levius/est manga is a necessary sequel to the Levius manga.  After reading Levius, dear readers, it was clear to me that there was more story to be told.

Levius/est Graphic Novel Volume 1 is appropriate for high school age readers, as was the original, although both are classified with the adult seinen manga label.  Creator Haruhisa Nakata depicts some shockingly brutal fights in the original series, but here, he focuses on back story, flashbacks, and character relationships.  For instance, Nakata offers us the first look at the events that led to Levius' mother's grievous injuries, and he shows us a more detailed and different side of A.J. Langdon.

Nakata's art reminds me of the work of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), and I expect this series will sometimes seem like a steampunk spin on Ghost in the Shell.  Nakata's art makes for effective graphical storytelling and is also eye-candy.

John Werry and Jason A. Hurley's work on the English script for Levius/est won't fail us, and Joanna Estep's lovely lettering is perfect for this series.  That is why I am recommending Levius/est.  There is so much potential here, both in terms of action and in terms of character drama.  Levius/est may be a sequel, but I don't think it will be a retread.

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 for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM

THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM: PERFECT EDITION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Kazuo Umezz
TRANSLATION: Sheldon Drzka
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Molly Danzer
LETTERING: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0937-3; hardcover (October 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
752pp, B&W, $34.99 U.S., $46.99 CAN, £28.00 UK

The Drifting Classroom is a shonen manga from acclaimed manga creator, Kazuo Umezz, who is considered the most influential horror manga artist ever.  The Drifting Classroom was originally serialized in the venerable Japanese manga magazine, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, from 1972 to 1974.  VIZ Media published the 11-graphic novel series in English from 2006 to 2008.

VIZ recently began publishing a new English language edition of The Drifting Classroom in its “perfect edition” format.  According to VIZ, The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition features an all-new translation and new content and revised story elements gathered in a deluxe hardcover format.  If I understand correctly, the original eleven graphic novels will be collected in three hardcover omnibus books with a trim size of 5 3/4  x 8 1/8.

The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 15) introduces sixth-grader Sho Takamatsu.  The story opens with a prologue, of sorts, in which Sho speaks to his mother, Emiko Takamatsu, as if he were writing her a letter or telling her a story about his life since he last saw her.  The day and evening that led up to the fateful morning when everything changed finds mother and child squabbling over petty disagreements, seeming to deliberately vex one another.

Then, one morning, Sho's school, Yamato Elementary School, is apparently struck by the tremors of an earthquake.  People near the school discover that the school has disappeared after the earthquake; at first, they think the school was destroyed in an explosion.  However, Sho, the teachers, and students of Yamato Elementary emerge from the school to discover that Yamato Elementary is now surrounded by what seems like an endless wasteland of sand.  They come to believe that in the aftermath of the massive earthquake, the school was transported to a hostile world.

But the truth is more terrifying than that.  Wherever they are, the students and teachers find themselves besieged by terrifying creatures and short on food and water.  Worst of all, madness takes over both the adults and the children, turning them towards tyranny and even murder.

The Drifting Classroom manga is a mixture of horror and science fiction.  The science fiction side of the narrative follows the adventures of a group of elementary school students trapped in what resembles a post-apocalyptic world.  The horror element focuses, at least early in the narrative, on the breakdown of order in the school as well as on the murderous turn that some of the teachers and students take.

The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition Volume 1 is both a terrifying and a terrifically breezy read.  I once described the pace of the story being as if Umezz put his readers on a horse that just races at breakneck speeds through a barren landscape of non-stop action and adventure... and, of course, terror.  In addition to the depiction of terror, I think that what impresses me in these first 740+ pages of the story is the imaginative and inventive ways in which Umezz depicts the breakdown of Yamato Elementary's society in the shifting factions of hoarders, tyrants, and murderers.

Sheldon Drzka on the translation and Molly Danzer on the English adaptation capture The Drifting Classroom manic ebb and flow of the children investigating, planning, escaping, and fighting for their lives.  Drzka and Danzer's work is so good that there were times that I felt that I simply could not stop reading.  Believe me when I say that reading this does not feel like an experience of trudging through 740+ pages.  Honestly, by the end of it, I wanted more.

I highly recommend the first volume of The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition to fans of horror manga.  It is a must-read, and, for the collector, a must-have.

8.5 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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