Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture Volume 1

Genre: Comedy
Price: 10.99 USD
Range: T 16+
 
Bacteria to School

Just when you thought you have seen it all, Del Rey brings one of the most original and funny stories to English this reader has read in a long time. The first Moyasimon is the tale of university student Tadayasu's opening days at a Tokyo agriculture school. He is joined by his buddy, Kei, the son of sake brewer. What makes Tadayasu special is his secret ability (that everyone seems to know about) to see microscopic organisms with his naked eye. Any bacteria, fungi, germ, or other microbe appear as tiny (and cute) little guys floating in the air. Since each microbe has it's own qualities, each looks different (for example, a microbe beneficial for making sake appears to Tadayasu as a little smiling ball with a top-knot like a samurai).
 
Despite Tadayasu's truly unique ability, he is one of the most down-to-earth characters in the book. Between his eccentric professor who takes Tadayasu under his wing and bad sake-brewing classmates, Tadayasu's special talents come into play again and again in some often bizarre and always entertaining situations.
 
What makes Moyasimon surprisingly special is how it reads like a manga, but is chock full of fascinating facts about our world's smallest inhabitants. Without even realizing it, this first volume is a crash course in microbes. Notes on the edges of the page remind readers every chapter of not only who the main characters are, but who the main bacteria are. As fundamental as the information "taught" is, much of it was news to me, and Tadayasu's desire to be able to identify the bacteria he sees on the spot becomes to a degree the same goal of the reader.
 
It is no surprise Moyasimon remains a mega-hit in Japan. Limited edition Moyasimon microbe toys and phone straps were released in Japan, and a sake brewer who convinced artist Ishikawa to put sake microbes on a special label was rewarded with a sold out line of sake. The requisite anime series is no surprise, but two children's books about microbes also came from Moyasimon, including the timely upcoming release Let's Wash Hands.
 
Dense and wordy, Moyasimon is a surprisingly good read. The 16+ rating is more for lots of alcohol talk then for anything really lascivious, and the hidden educational benefit will pique the interests of those interested in science and agriculture. But even this decidedly non-biologist reader was infected by the engrossing story upstaged by the real stars of the show: the microbes.

20th Century Boys Volume 5

Age Rating: Older Teen

Genre: Mystery

Price: $12.99

20th Century Boys has been an engrossing read from the very beginning, as Naoki Urasawa is great at feeding readers just enough information to keep them guessing. However, in the more recent volumes things seemed to be unraveling too fast. Volume 5 fixes this problem, as Urasawa throws a wrench into his story that changes its entire scope.

As the fateful 31st of December rapidly approaches, Kenji is gathering his friends in preparation for their climatic encounter with the Friends. There is a small problem, however. The “Book of Prophecy” states that nine warriors will fight the league of evil, but there are only seven of them including Kenji. In a last-ditch effort, Kenji reaches out to Yanbo and Manbo, but with no luck. This, along with him being unable to decipher one of the pages of The Book (and numerous pages being torn out), causes him to reconsider everything. However, these feelings are short-lived, as the meaning behind the mysterious page soon reveals itself and the countdown to Apocalypse begins.

Sounds like a great volume, right? Well, that quite literally is not even the half of it. Just when Kenji and his friends are about to take on the Friends, Urasawa abruptly shifts his focus to the year 2014. Of course, their story cannot end there, as there are far, far too many loose ends to be tied up. Even so, in the second half the focus is on the now teenaged Kanna and her current lifestyle. This portion of the book does drag its feet a little and will certainly cause many readers to yearn for Kenji, but it still gives way for some entertaining moments and also some new characters. Not to mention Urasawa saves his trump card for the very end. What a cruel little twist indeed.

The great moments just keep on coming in volume 5. The introduction of the adult Yanbo and Manbo is both creepy and funny at the same time, and the moment in which Kenji, Otcho, and Kamisama simultaneously realize the meaning of “the signal went up” at the precise moment it actually happens is well done (though to the reader the meaning is already obvious by that point). Otcho’s reasoning behind his original design for the Friends’ symbol is laugh-out-loud funny, as is Kanna’s boss at the restaurant. Kanna also single-handedly (and successfully) mediates a mob feud, which is quite amusing to see take place. The list goes on.

Though being forced to wait and see what happens to Kenji is an unfortunate annoyance, Urasawa continues to prove his storytelling prowess all the same with another very good volume. Volume 5 answers some questions while bringing to light many more, bring the series to a significant turning point. In addition, now that he is telling two stories at once, all doubts one might have had regarding the pacing of 20th Century Boys can be cast aside for now.

Antique Bakery Volume 1

Age Rating: 16+

Genre: Comedy

Price: $12.95

Description: When an old antique shop re-opens as the hottest new bakery in an unsuspecting neighborhood, there’s no doubt that a few surprises are cooking. Love, rejection, old high school flames and the most delicious boy-to-boy affections all blend together to make a treat unlike any other. The Antique Bakery is now open…care for a dessert? Antique Bakery teases the palate with humor, fun flirtation and a host of sweet and sour moments. No matter what you crave, this is one shop you can’t pass up.

As I said last week, for the month of November I’m going to review cooking manga. When I reviewed the first volume of Kitchen Princess, I said this about cooking manga: In my mind, cooking manga demonstrates everything that comics can be—all about great stories about something everyone does. I mean, let’s face it; everybody eats. Cooking manga is shonen, shojo, seinen, yaoi—it cuts across genres in ways that other types of stories don’t. I just think it’s cool how creators play with food and cooking to come up with so many different situations, characters, plots. Plus, there’s some inherent difficulties in representing food in comics—the visual pleasures of food are not easily re-created in black and white line drawings, and the obvious draws—smell and taste—are not available to the mangaka. Yet the best cooking manga makes you hungry! I’ve heard about Antique Bakery quite a bit—Fuji Yoshinaga is a major talent and it shows here. She’s primarily a yaoi artist, and her work is spoken of in the same way that I’ve heard people speak about DeathNote, Monster, and Nana—as in, “if you want to know what seinen/shonen/shoujo/yaoi manga is like,” someone will say, (or even, “before you judge that genre”) “check out this.” Antique Bakery is the yaoi that sealed Yoshinaga’s reputation here in the US, and so when I decided to write a month of cooking manga reviews, I knew I had to include this title.

I’m glad I did—Antique Bakery is as sweet, delectable, and playful as the pastries sold in the titular shop. This is a love triangle, kind of, but at heart it’s a situation comedy. In fact, it feels only nominally yaoi. The setup is this: Tachibana owns the bakery and runs service, Ono is the master pastry chef, and Eiji is the equivalent of a busboy. And the setup is this: Tachibana is an oddball business-type, kind of a schemer, beautiful but loutish, a straight guy who’s hoping that his bakery will give him access to cute young women he can endlessly hit on. And while Ono is the finest pastry chef there is, he is, in his own words, “a gay of demonic charm”—every bakery and restaurant he’s ever worked in has fired him for causing fights between men, husbands leaving their wives, and worse. Eiji is a boxer with a vicious sweet tooth and detached retinas. Thus, Tachibana’s too much of a businessman to hire any chef but the best, but Ono’s total, inescapable fear of women means that Tachibana cannot hire a “sweet little counter girl.” And Ono’s omnivorous sexual attraction has found in Tachibana the one man who escapes his devilish charms. Eiji, on the other hand, works just to be near the master chef—a desire of another sort. But he’s not Ono’s type, and he has no respect for Tachibana. And that is what I mean by love triangle, albeit, a love triangle of a different sort.

This first volume begins in the present, with the bakery and its trio acting as set pieces for “problem of the week” storylines. Complex set-ups, involving interweaving both the main and secondary guest characters’ backstories leads to a not very satisfying ending for the chapters, but good enough. At this point, midway through the volume, you have a fun handle on the characters and the humor. Then the story drops back to the beginning and the series of events that led to the creation of the Antique Bakery. And it’s here that the story, humor, characters, art—everything really clicks and starts humming along.

I loved Antique Bakery. Just picking up the book to look over sections for this review had me cracking up seeing again some of the great moments. Yoshinaga has such great control over her characters, their gestures, and facial expressions. Her stylings are solidly in the yaoi mode, with lithe, limber guys, finely rendered and lovingly detailed. One of the things that tends to bother me about yaoi—how backgrounds tend to completely vanish for pages—here is done judiciously. And if you’re squeamish about guy/guy action, there’s only really one brief scene in the book, definitely more heat that fire. That said, the guys are sexy, particularly Ono when he gets dressed up to go out on the town. What I don’t know is where the series goes from here. The whole set-up seems like a delicate balance that threatens to fall apart if Yoshinaga keeps things going as they are, or collapse in on itself because the stories stall out in a stale, guest with romantic problem per chapter.

A couple of other comments before I leave Antique Bakery: Yoshinaga does a fantastic job of the cooking side of the manga. There aren’t lots of drawings of the pastries, but what make’s it really sing are the ways she has the customers savor their food. When somebody tastes great food in cooking manga they can immediately break down the ingredients that make it so. In a good cooking manga, nearly every character is, at heart, a foodie, sort of like how everyone in a shoujo manga is pretty. In Antique Bakery, this food ecstasy becomes a more general expression of sensual, sexual energy. So that everyone’s sweet tooth becomes suggestive of different cravings entirely. It’s very clever.

Finally, I just want to note something about the packaging of this by Digital Manga Press. Their volumes are larger than the typical manga released in the US, and they include the dust jackets that most other publishers forego. I really enjoyed these elements of the book. Yoshinaga’s art felt expansive and dramatic with the extra space, and the slipcover gave Antique Bakery that extra bit of class that made it stand out. DMP really stands out with this volume.

Yen Plus November 2009 # 16

Age Rating: Older Teen
Genre: Action/Romance/Supernatural/Horror/Slice of Life
Price $8.99

Yen Plus is Yen Press' monthly manga magazine.  It's about 450 pages of mostly pure manga, and divided into two sections.  One side reads left to right (western style) and is composed of OEL and Korean titles.  The other side reads right to left (Japanese style) and is all Japanese titles.  The magazine carries between 10-12 titles, some titles occassionally taking a month "off".  For example, in this issue, Maximum Ride and Sumomomo Momomo did not have chapters, making for only 10 titles.

On the OEL/Korean side, the titles that ran this month are Nightschool: The Weirn Books, Pig Bride, Time and Again, Jack Frost and One Fine Day.  These are all strong titles, making this side of the magazine most enjoyable. 

Nightschool by Sveltlana Chmakova is a supernatural adventure story about a girl named Alex who is a weirn, a kind of witch who seems tied to some sort of dark future.  Sveltlana's art is beautifully done and her story remains intriguing month after month. 

Pig Bride is a romantic comedy.  Si-Joon Lee, when he was young, got himself engaged to Mu-Yeoh Park, a girl who wears a pig mask.  She has come to claim her fiance, and has brought a load of trouble with him.  Great characters combined with both comedy and some drama make this one of the best titles in the magazine and a strong anchor. 

Time and Again is a recent edition, starting this year.  Baek-On Ju is a wandering exorcist and Ho-Yeon Won is his bodyguard.  Together they travel the countryside, encountering spirits and humans, going up against both.  The stories in this title delve a lot into Korean ghosts, demons and belief in karma and reincarnation.  The stories can be bloody, but very poinent. 

Jack Frost is a horror story, starting out to look a lot like Hellsing, but has evolved into its own.  Noh-A Joo is a new transfer student to Amityville Private High School, and a being gifted with immortality and whose blood can heal others.  She is also wanted by the Immortalizers.  Her protector is the brutal Jack Frost.  There is a lot of blood and decapication in this series, but it has a real story if you stick with it long enough. 

One Fine Day is the only all ages title in this magazine otherwise filled with teen/older teen titles.  It's about three animals, a dog, a cat and a mouse, who live with No-ah, a novice apprentice.  The chapters follow the three animals daily activities as they discover new things and get into trouble.  The stories are light and often cute.  They are easily enjoyed by all ages.

Included in this issue was a one-shot story and the first of two a chapter preview of a title soon to be published by Yen.  The one-shot was Prom Night by George Alexopoulos.  It's a story of a boy asking a girl to Prom, and then trying to come up with the money to go.  The characters are awkward teens, not your average good looking, popular kids usually seen in manga or comics.  They look and act like real kids which is what really makes the story work.  The Preview story is for Raiders.  In the first chapter we meet Irel, a young man about to rob an old church that is protected by armed forces.  He is discovered and makes an exciting and dramatic escape.  The story has a very Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider feel to it, and looks to be a great read, especially if you like that kind of adventure.

The Japanese side ran the titles Soul Eater, Nabari no Ou, Black Butler, Pandora Hearts and Hero Tales. It starts out with Soul Eater, a title hyped by both Yen and fans.  Maka is a scythe meister, trying to make her weapon, Soul Eater, into the strongest weapon ever.  The chapter in this issue doesn't feature the main characters, but a shinigami, or soul reaper and his weapons.  Soul Eater is an average action/supernatural title with a large side of fan service.  It failed to impress me. 

Nabari no Ou is about Miharu Rokujou, an apathetic boy who is also possessed by the Shinra Banshou, the ultimate ninja art.  He is drawn into the battle as rival ninja clans fight to posses him and the Shinra Banshou.  This title is on the edge for me.  Miharu's apathy makes him different from other shonen protagonists, but not necessarily interesting.  The story does take some interesting turns. 

Black Butler just started with the August issue and is still gaining its legs.  Ciel Phantomhive is the Earl and head of the Phantomhive family in 19th century England.  Sebastian is his butler, and not an ordinary one at that.  In this chapter, we learn more about Sebastian and why he works for Ciel.  The story and art for this title has been great and deserves the praise it's gotten. 

Pandora Hearts is a strange take on the Alice in Wonderland story.  Oz Vessalius was imprisioned in the Abyss, but escaped thanks to the help of Alice, a girl with no memories and the powers of the B-Rabbit.  Alice and Oz agree to work for the Pandora organization to find out who imprisoned Oz and get Alice's memories back.  I had my doubts about this title, but it's turned out to have a fascinating mystery.  It's definitely worth the read. 

Hero Tales is by Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, and this story is no less epic or engaging.  Taitou Shirei is the Hagun, one of the cursed stars in the Big Dipper.  He, with his sister and two of the Hokushin Tenkun, other warriors tied to the constellation, go in search of the Kenkaranbu and it's thief Keirou Hakuhou.  Set in Ancient China, this action adventure has all of Arakawa's great art and a story worthy of it.

Yen Plus has gone through a lot of changes in the past year, switching out titles and giving other time off to feature others.  The magazine as it is now has a good balance of genres with at least one title to please anyone.  Though, at its price, it really needs more than one to make it worth the monthly purchase.  But, the emphasis on manga and less on articles about TV shows or video and card games make it more relevant to adult readers and not just teens.  There are ads in the magazine, but are mostly in house to Yen Press, and Little Brown, another  imprint under Hachette.

Punch! Volume 1

Genre: Shojo
Age Rating: OT
Price: $8.99

Though Elle wants nothing to do with fighting, her grandfather has different ideas and betrothes her to an up-and-coming boxer from his own gym. She hates the idea and doesn't want to marry him. One day she meets a handsome street brawler who intrigues her, but her jealous fiancé finds out and goes after the guy! What will happen when a trained boxer goes a couple rounds with a scrappy street fighter?

Cheerful and energetic Elle Nagahara just wants to find a normal boyfriend. Sounds like any teenage girl except she is already engaged so the ever so handsome Ruo. Though she views her betrothed as a brother figure and tries to break off their relationship by seeking other boys that often fall victim to Ruo's fellow gym members. And her grandfather just so happens to be the owner of the gym. After growing up in an environment of seeing bloods and guts on the ring Elle no longer wants any part of any violence.

Though her stance begins to change when she encounters a street fighter named Kizuki at the mall one day. Now she begins to question whether or not she could be falling for fighter outside of the ring. By a string of events Kizuki ends up being accepted at Elle's grandfather's gym as Ruo's rival in both dojo and for Elle's heart.

Heavily laden with drama in almost every character's daily lives might be a bit too much to take at times though for the first volume it was not overwhelming. Often times I've encountered series where they try to cram in as much character background as possible so they can jump right into the plot line. This series breaks that mold by showing the characters develop as the reader anticipates the unraveling of budding romances mixed with the tightened grip of Ruo as he now faces someone worthy to be his rival.

For a quick read I highly recommended this three volume series. As a fan of Rie Takada's Happy Hustle High I was eager to see what Punch! had to offer and I'm sure her fans will not be disappointed with this drama series laced with, at times, much needed comic relief!

Alive: The Final Evolution Volume 1

Age Rating: 16+

Genre: Mystery/Supernatural

Price: $10.99

It is said that the road to hell is paved on good intentions, and if that particular idiom proves to be true in any manga ever published in English, Alive: The Final Evolution is the story that seems to be laying down the bricks as quickly as possible. The first volume of Alive seems to be changing gears in the middle of the first volume, changing its tone and its storytelling technique within the first 3 chapters.

The beginning seems interesting enough - Taisuke Kano and his friend Hirose always seem to be on the wrong end of the fights around school. Hirose is small and picked on, and Taisuke, while he talks a big talk, is a total wimp himself. Still, he's an admirable guy, sticking up for his friends. The resident heroine, Megu,  is a cute tomboyish girl who gives Kano and Hirose a hard time for being goofballs and getting beat up before school. It's obvious she cares about the two of them, and she falls under the typical shonen manga stereotypes. We're also introduced to Kano's older sister, who is the school nurse at his high school. She sees the latent relationship between our hero and Megu. and likes to pick on the both of them. It's a fairly standard opening, but things get really weird, really quickly.

The creepy events start occurring around the middle of chapter one when some kind of fog/alien entity/ virus causes a mass worldwide suicide fit. As the world begins to implode, Hirose and Kano get caught up in the middle of everything, and a group of upperclassmen who are getting ready to beat up Hirose end up dead.

Hirose, of course, goes to jail for suspected murder. The manga spends a lot of time stewing about his jail time, and all the aftermath of the attacks. Some freaky shit happens near the end of the second chapter, leading up to a climactic confrontation between Kano (who apparently has super powers?) and Hirose (who can kill people with bubbles?). Apparently, this whole feud is being fueled by Hirose's jealousy, or some sort of teen angst. The ending of the last chapter is actually quite random, but it does set up the book very nicely for the next volume.

The strange thing about Alive is that it feels as though this was originally intended to be some sort of mystery/supernatural story, and it ended up on the bad side of reader polls. It feels like the writer, Tadashi Kawashima, is trying to redirect the story to a different genre of manga through the 3rd chapter, which I imagine will end up changing the style from mystery to being a standard shonen battle manga by the end of the second volume.

Still, with all the standard shonen pieces (or should I say clichés?) in play, Alive is still a very good looking book. The art is well done, and the artist clearly has a good sense of action, paneling, and the use of screen tones. All of the characters are good looking, and fairly well designed. I especially like the designs of Inspector Katsumata and Yura, the "comrades" who are behind Hirose's brainwashing/re-education.

I'm not sure that I know what to think about the translation - sometimes it reads very smoothly, and other parts seem very clunky. There are a few problem spots where the characters are "saying" a sound effect, and I'm not sure what you do with those, but it seems odd to leave the kanji in the speech bubble and put the translation beside it. It could be that this has shown up in more than one manga, but this is the first time I've realized it, and I can't say I'm that fond of it.

Overall, Alive does a few things that are different, but I'm afraid it's giving up its powerful start for a mediocre storyline. However, I still want to know if my predictions are accurate, so I'll at least be following up with Vol. 2. Still, for those of you out there looking for a great mystery or supernatural suspense manga, don't let the beginning fool you.

Yotsuba&! Volumes 1-6

Genre: Comedy

Rating: All ages

Price: $10.99

Yotsuba is back, and this time from Yen Press. The quirky, inquisitive little girl is still romping around with her favorite pals: her dad, Ena, Fuuka, Asagi and Jumbo.

The mischievous antics start when Yotsuba and her dad move in next to the the Ayase family, which includes Ena, Fuuka and Asagi, three girls. Of course, Yotsuba wanders off and Fuuka talks to her dad and agrees to find him. Yotsuba, who thinks Fuuka is a stranger and should not be trusted, runs away, and the pair almost get hit as Jumbo pulls up to the house. And that's just the first chapter.

Another one of Yotsuba's curiosities is her ability to not fully understand what the adults or older kids tell her. This is exactly what "Global Warming" is about when she hears "glowball warming." Yotsuba proceeds to deem anyone with an air conditioner on as an enemy of the earth.

The young girl is full of good intentions, and that's what leads to her getting into trouble most of the time. This is best seen in "Helping Out" in the fifth volume, when she goes next door to the Ayase family and tries to assist in a number of household chores, always ending in less-than-stellar results. Or as in "Milk" and "Delivering" in volume 6. In those stories, Yotsuba wishes to be the milkman, so when she goes to deliver the milk and sees Fuuka ride past her on a bike, she decides to follow Fuuka, who is riding to school. Plenty of trouble follows her, despite her best intentions of simply to deliver milk to Fuuka.

Yotsuba is always getting into mischief, and most of the time, that's what provides the laughs. For instance, in "Catching Cicada," she comes home and lets the insects out of the container, allowing them the opportunity to fly all over the house. The neighbors are less than amused.

The best tale from the first six volumes, "Vengeance," came in the second volume. In it, Yotsuba was watching a television drama show; when it was over, she espoused the characteristics of someone seeking vengeance. It also has some of the best art, especially the one-page splash at the beginning that shows Yotsuba in a stereotypical mobster's hat and jacket. But in the tale, Yotsuba plays out and shoots her dad and Jumbo with a water pistol. She spins and turns into another character and seeks vengeance for what was done to them.

Although they are all good, the fifth volume was probably the best. It had two of the best vignettes, "Danbo" and "Yanda." In "Danbo," Ena and her friend, Miura, are working on an independent study project for school. When Yotsuba stops by, Miura is dressed as a robot in cardboard boxes, and Miura prentends to be a fully functional robot. Yotsuba asks if there is a person inside and the robot, Danbo, answers no. As Yotsuba learns more, she tests the robot by punching him. And later, Ena's mom brings up food, but Miura can't eat, even though she's hungry, because it would crush Yotsuba's spirits if she learned a person was under there.

"Yanda" introduces what could be Yotsuba's nemesis, Yanda, who is one of her dad's friends. Their relationship gets off to a bad start when Yotsuba is home alone and Yanda wants to wait inside for her dad. Yanda offers her candy and drops it, and when Yotsuba looks up, Yanda is half-way inside the front door frame. Yotsuba rushes and shuts the door on Yanda, who is half inside, half outside. It only gets worse (or better) later when Yotsuba gets ice cream and flaunts it in front of Yanda. "Want some?" she asks, only for Yanda to take it away and steal a big bite, leaving Yotsuba furious.

The art is simplistic, but it works well that way. And it is at its best during moments of extreme emotion as those emotions are then displayed quite well on the characters' faces, such as when Yotsuba sees Yanda steal a bite of her ice cream.

Although most of the tales in the first six volumes are one-and-done, some, including "Milk" and "Delivering," show a continuation of themes or stories into multiple chapters. And that really helps to break up the motony of the one-chapter stories, which can work great in a single volume, but fall flat after several volumes. The fifth volume has a three-story arc that ends the volume in a nice, touching way. And, again, it helps to break up the fact that most Yotsuba tales are stand-alone stories.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Walkin' Butterfly Volume 1

Genre: Josei/drama

Age Rating: OT/Older teen/16+

Price: $10.95 (or $5 direct from Aurora's website)

"You won't last one step on that catwalk. And do you know why? Because you can't see your true self."

Of the four key manga demographics -- shoujo for girls, shounen for boys, seinen for men, and josei for women -- josei is the least well represented in the English-language market. You could fit the titles of all the josei manga available in English on one side of a postcard, and still have plenty of room for the address -- so every new addition to the list is worth a look, and Walkin' Butterfly is worth a lot more than that.

The heroine of Walkin' Butterfly is more of a scorpion than a butterfly, at least at first. High school dropout Michiko Torayasu has always been tall, and at 19 she's 6'0" and sick to death of being stared at and teased. She's so tall that no boy will go out with her, and all the rejection and mockery has given her a fiery temper and a desperate sense of being freakish and outside everything, "like a monster built by a mad scientist". One day, by chance, she stumbles into the dressing room for a fashion show. Mesmerised by the sight of all those women as tall as she is, she's too flustered to object when one of the make-up artists mistakes her for a model -- but Mihara, the designer for the show, spots her and calls her bluff, saying "You're just an ordinary Amazon. I feel sorry for my clothes!" Incensed, Michiko storms out onto the catwalk... and freezes. It turns out there's more to being a model than just walking around in haute couture clothes, and Michiko is stunned and humiliated by her failure -- but after having a major freakout, Michiko turns that humiliation into her motive for aiming at her new goal: to become a top model and show Mihara that she does have what it takes.

Walkin' Butterfly is tremendously well written, with a fresh and distinctive art style that bristles with energy; Michiko is a vivid character both to look at and to read about, and her plight is so well portrayed it brought tears to my eyes. There are echoes of the standard shounen manga boy-who-wants-to-be-the-best about the plot, but the storytelling and characters are so down to earth and realistic that it doesn't feel like the same kind of thing at all. This is a story as much about Michiko learning to know and appreciate herself as it is about her becoming a model, and there are no shortcuts or power-ups or dei ex machina for Michiko, only the slow, difficult work of learning to be true to herself.

Funny and moving from beginning to end, Walkin' Butterfly is a wonderful read. Highly recommended.

Cat Paradise Volume 1

Age Rating: Older Teen
Genre: Supernatural/Action
Price: $10.99

At Matabi Academy, students are allowed to bring their pet cats to the dorms.  For Yumi Hayakawa, whose favorite hobby is making clothes for her kitty Kansuke, Matabi seems like a sure bet.  After all, nothing can possibly go wrong with her best friend at her side! But on the first day of school, the two find themselves face-to-face with a murderous demonic minion on campus! Will Yumi and Kansuke be able to defend themselves and their school against an ancient cat demon's thirst for vengeance?

Usually ditzy lead characters like Yumi Hayakawa annoy me to no end, and make me dislike a series greatly.  But not in this series.  Why? Because Yumi has Kansuke, her no-nonsense, tough as nails cat to constantly berate her and keep her in line.  And that's the charm of this first volume; Yumi and Kansuke's relationship and how it changes when the demonic forces come into play.

When we first meet Yumi, we see how thoughtless and clueless she can be.  Riding the train to her new school, she puts Kansuke in her suitcase, and forgets to let him out.  It never occurs to her that Kansuke's displeasure with her could be related to the outfits she likes to knit for him, even when it's point out to her by her friend.  She even gets lost on her way to the welcoming ceremony.  But all of Yumi's faults are tempered by very realistic reactions to the situation around her.  She freaks out as one would expect a teenage girl would when confronted by a monster.  She skeptical that her knitting skills can do anything to help fight the monster.  She admits her fear at the burden suddenly thrust on her by Kansuke's choice.  All these things make her a more rounded character, more believable.  And then there's Kansuke.

Kansuke seems to have a "tough love" kind of attitude toward Yumi.  He's always meowing at her, and showing his displeasure for her clothes for him by shredding them, but he also really cares about her.  Even though she can be thoughtless, she can also be selfless, putting herself in harms way for others.  In short, her stupidity annoys him, but it's that stupidity that makes him love her as well, and want to protect her.  It's his intense feelings to be strong and to keep Yumi safe and happy that draws the pair into the battle against Kaen.  This seems to be a theme, as is seen with Hasutani and Musashimaru, another pair with the power to fight Kaen.  Kansuke and Yumi make a good pair, Kansuke's pragmatic attitude balancing against Yumi's more carefree attitude.  Rather like an inter-species Odd Couple.

The story moves at a good pace, balancing the action and the exposition nicely.  There's a lot of background given in this first volume, including how Yumi and Kansuke met, who Kaen is and why he must be stopped and Hasutani and Musashimaru's background.  There might be an element of romance between Yumi and Akifuji, the human part of another pair and good doses of humor are sprinkled around.  The art isn't like you're typical shonen/shojo title.  It's much more realistic, even with it's fantasy elements.  Even the bishonen aren't that bishi.  I especially like the way Iwahara draws the cats, their bodies often reflecting their personality.  The spirit beasts are well done as well, as frightening as they are fantastic, and even they have their touch of humor.

Cat Paradise is a great action series.  It's mix of humor, drama and action all make it a series worth reading over and over.  Cat lovers will really enjoy this series, as Iwahara really captures what it is to be a cat, and they get just as much, if not more, screen time as the humans.  But the well rounded characters and strong story make this a title anyone can enjoy.  I highly recommend it.

 

Kitchen Princess Volume 1

Because of our Thanksgiving holiday, American Football, and the Fall season, this is a big food month here in the States. So, for the month of November I’m going to review cooking manga. I love cooking manga. In my mind, cooking manga demonstrates everything that comics can be—all about great stories about something everyone does. I mean, let’s face it; everybody eats. We all do, and the popularity of television like Iron Chef and the Food Network, and books like ,i>Eat, Pray, Love and In Defense of Food or Like Water for Chocolate, they all speak to something inherently dramatic and fascinating about food.

Cooking manga is shonen, shojo, seinen, yaoi—it cuts across genres in ways that other types of stories don’t. I just think it’s cool how creators play with food and cooking to come up with so many different situations, characters, plots. Plus, there’s some inherent difficulties in representing food in comics—the visual pleasures of food are not easily re-created in black and white line drawings, and the obvious draws—smell and taste—are not available to the mangaka. Yet the best cooking manga make you hungry! For my first review, I’m talking about Kitchen Princess, volume 1:

Publisher’s Description: Najika is a great cook and likes to make meals for the people she loves. But something is missing from her life. When she was a child, she met a boy who touched her heart–and now Najika is determined to find him. The only clue she has is a silver spoon that leads her to the prestigious Seika Academy. Attending Seika will be a challenge. Every kid at the school has a special talent, and the girls in Najika’s class think she doesn’t deserve to be there. But Sora and Daichi, two popular brothers who barely speak to each other, recognize Najika’s cooking for what it is–magical. Is either boy Najika’s mysterious prince?

I’ll begin by stating the obvious--Kitchen Princess is both fun and sweet. It makes a perfect introduction to the pleasures of cooking manga. I originally bought it looking for something for my six year old daughter to delve into. The series is rated T (ages 13+), but I’d had a number of folks suggest the title as appropriate for young girls. While the first volume is fine for a young audience, I’ve decided to wait a bit before letting her read it. Not a long while, just a year or two (it’s perfectly appropriate for ages seven or eight and up). In the meanwhile, however, I have the pleasure of reading this fun series.

The immediate charms of KP are obvious—Natsumi Ando’s art is cute without being treacly, and though it is full-on shojo style, it doesn’t fall prey to what I feel are the traps that some shojo can fall into: I always have a strong sense of place, no matter how much the backgrounds fall away to dancing sparkles and emotive zip-a-tone, and the action is easily follow-able. It has a strong plot device, almost a variation on the children’s novel The Little Princess if you were to substitute cooking for wealth. And the series has a winning heroine in Najika, a plucky, determined, and bright young girl who’s naivete and lack of “grit” (for want of a better term) never leaves her two dimensional or frustrating.

What’s not so obvious about the series are its unfolding surprises and well-finessed plot development. Even though the set-up is a series of challenges Najika resolves through her cooking talent, the solutions and developments never feel ham-fisted or forced, and the plot seems to flow naturally and in subtle ways from the choices the various characters make. Even Najika’s enemy Akane—the bitchy, scheming popular girl—rises above the stereotype from which she is molded. In addition, Najika is more focused on her own struggles for success, both academically and socially, than she is caught up in boys and love—a refreshing difference from much of the shojo we see here in the US (not that there’s anything wrong with a good love story, but I like seeing girl protagonists with goals of personal self-worth rather than just fawning over a guy. Plus, that has more dramatic thrust for plot, rather than the more circular comedic strengths of a love triangle).

Finally, the food looks yummy, and there’s recipes! One of the things I look forward to when I do share this with my daughter is trying out the great foods found within the series.