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Author Archive for Marsha Reid

Review: Alice on Deadlines (Vol. 04)


Manga-ka: Shirō Ihara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2008

Synopsis: “Siblings! Brainwashing! True love?! It’s Christmas Eve, but Lapan has nothing saintly in mind for Alice and company! When back-to-back battles cut his pervy party short and members of Tsurukame descend upon the scene, will Lapan finally repent his skirt-chasing ways? And as Alice tries to come to grips with a revelation about Lapan’s past, will she be able to break out of her shell (with the help of Lapan’s groping hands)?”

The first thing you do when you find out that your organization is very-possibly sending someone to kill you is have a sexy Christmas party (obviously). Forget that we all might die in less then twenty-four hours, let’s get the shopping done and whip out the too short, too tight, overly revealing festive costumes! I mean seriously you name three better ways you could spend your quite-possibly final hours.

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Review: Alice on Deadlines (Vol. 03)


Manga-ka: Shiro Ihara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “Poor Alice’s trouble seems to know no bounds when she has to deal with a shinigami worse than Lapan… (Is that even possible??) And she has a run-in with the king of the shinigami. Some days it doesn’t pay to be a girl trapped in the body of a skeleton…”

Take a perverted guy and turn him into a girl. Then turn some of his friends/comrades into girls as well and let them loose on the world. While they proceed to do inappropriate things to each other, blow stuff up, cry, whine and act completely obnoxious, they also try to tell a complicated story of deceit and betrayal. The dark and ominous company of Shinigami threatens to make this story interesting, but there’s little to no reason to fear that could ever actually happen.

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Review: Cynical Orange (Vol. 06)


Cynical Orange (Vol. 06) – JiUn Yun
Published by Yen Press

Walking down the bumpy path of being Ma-Ha’s girl has gained the cynically sweet, and dazzlingly beautiful, Hye-Min some friends, but it has also gained her a few enemies. Bora won’t hesitate to take her delusional broken heart out on the poor girl, and does so every chance she gets. While grade school antics drive Hye-Min to the brink, the once magical oasis, her oppa’s cafe piper, threatens to fall apart while she’s not even paying attention.

Volume five had me geared up for a new beginning and a change in the story, but six has me wondering how much filler we’re going to suffer through before that happens. Yun JiUn has this weird theme thing happening with the last few volumes I don’t remember happening before. It’s somewhat distracting as it feels like she’s more focused on keeping with the obscure fairy tale theme then progressing the story.

Few things of substance happen in this issue which feels more like an in depth flash back into the Hye-Min + Ma-Ha phenomenon then an actual volume from the series. Somewhat like a ‘the best of’ release of your favourite TV show, you want it because you’re a devote fan but part of you knows waiting for the box set would be better. There is, however, an amusing few pages from the author at the end, some of which was a bit too culture-based for me to understand but entertained me anyway.

With fingers crossed I softly whisper, tell me more about shin-bi, and pray if the next volume is to be another ‘best of’ compilation it can at least be from his point of view.

Review written April 14, 2009 by Marsha Reid
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes


Review: Angel Diary (Vol. 08)


Author: Lee YunHee
Manhwa-ga: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis: “The search for the demon Se-In and Bi-Wal’s brother Ryung brings about some unlikely alliances between heaven and hell. Confused, Dong-Young seeks out Bi-Wal but once again finds herself with Se-In’s life in her hands instead!”

Things are getting messy after Queen Hong’s little trip to the human world when divisions were created between the four guardians after she pulled rank and changed the rules. The Chaos continues into the depths of hell as both their princes being constantly absent are agitating the elders more and more. With so many people pulling on the threads of their destiny, the future of Dong-Young and Bi-Wal is more then a little foggy.

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Review: Sunshine Sketch (Vol. 02)


Manga-ka: Ume Aoki
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “Daily life at the Hidamari Apartments goes on as the girls continue their art studies. Trips to the zoo, onsen excursions, and school projects fill their days as yuno, Miya, Sae, and Hiro’s friendships deepen. Take another peek into the lives of these memorable art students in the second installment of Sunshine Sketch!”

Prepare yourself for another round of cute, cute, cute! These girls keep making their way through art school one day at a time, going on field trips and having everyday adventures in the simple life of living away from home. Mom and dad aren’t here to take care of them, but with friends around, there will always be someone to lend a helping hand.

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Review: Spiral – Bonds of Reasoning (Vol. 05)


Author:Kyo Shirodaira
Manga-ka: Eita Mizuno
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008

Synopsis: “The Blade Children are on the alert as the first “hunter”—Kanon Hilbert, a fellow Blade Child and Eyes Rutherford’s childhood friend—is sent to eradicate them. To shore up their defenses, Eyes seeks the cooperation of track star Ryouko Takamachi, a Blade Child who despises both him and Kiyotaka Narumi. Well aware that Eyes won’t take “no” for an answer, Ryouko decides to let her physical prowess speak for her and challenges him to a simple game of dodgeball… or is it?”

Ayamu Narumi may just be the luckiest kid on earth… or maybe he’s just a genius. Either way, he needs everything he’s got to pass the life or death tests being brought to him by the Blade Children. We still don’t know what greater purpose he’s being tested for, but one thing is certain, his brother is definitely involved. What’s confusing about that is I’m pretty sure his brother is supposed to be dead.

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Review: Goong (Vol. 03)


Manhwa-ga: Park SoHee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “ChaeKyung and Shin return to their separate quarters at the palace, but the crown princess can’t shake the feelings aroused by her new husband. Try as she might, there’s no denying it — she’s completely fallen for him! When ChaeKyung lets a confession slips, she braces herself for the prince’s rejection. Instead, he doesn’t even acknowledge her! Though the suspense is killing ChaeKyung, does she really want to know what Shin has to say?”

Shin the man-beast is still at it, working his royal charms, if only to drive Chae Kyung crazy! The more something makes her happy, the more he wants to ruin it for her. He seems to have some kind of insane complex where if he can’t have something, he doesn’t want anyone else to have it, even if it’s something as simple as happiness. He’s still growing as a man, and being subjected to a girl like Chae is definitely changing the way he looks at things.

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Review: Hissing (Vol. 05)


Manhwa-ga: Kang EunYoung
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “Weighed down by the connection between his family and Da-Eh’s, Sun-Nam plans to get the truth out into the open. When Da-Eh and Da-Hwa show up to meet their boyfriend and half-brother respectively, they’re both shocked to find they’re waiting for the same person! Already frustrated with matters of the heart, Da-Eh blames her younger brother for complicating things further. But her anger quickly dissolves into sorrow when an unthinkable tragedy occurs.”

The love triangle is relentlessly trying to shed one of its corners in this fifth volume of Hissing, but it just can’t seem to shake either of the heartthrobs off. Everytime one of them starts to move further away from Da-Eh, they get pulled right back in by her smack-talking, sentimental attitude. Being boys with lovely faces, I guess it’s their destiny to be attracted to the only girl who doesn’t appear to care about how they look. With all this going on, one can’t help but wonder how on earth she’s going to meet the deadline for that manhwa contest!

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Review: Cynical Orange (Vol. 05)


Manhwa-ga: Yun JiUn
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008

Synopsis: “The gaiety of the school festival takes an unexpected turn when Ma-Ha is accosted by a group of his former girlfriends! Unabashed, Ma-Ha introduces them all to a shocked Hye-Min: How can they all stay friends with him when he’s such a player? But with Hye-Min’s popularity at an all-time low, she is surprised to find such good friends among Ma-Ha’s slighted exes. Hye-Min finds herself in a group of companions, forcing her to look closely at the cold, isolated person she’s always been.”

It’s a new beginning for Hye-Min, as the life of being girlfriend to the famous playboy, Ma-Ha, takes her down new roads. Her past has been full of elegant silence, but there’s no way Ma-Ha will let her get away with sitting on the sidelines anymore. Dragging her into his world by the wrist, she is forced to find out that other people aren’t so bad, and there is life beyond the walls of Piper.

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Review: Angel Diary (Vol. 07)


Author: Lee YunHee
Manhwa-ga: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008

Synopsis: “Dong-Young confronts Bi-Wal and lets slip a confession of love! But with her engagement to the King of Hell, does this budding relationship stand a chance? As the guardians argue about what to do, Queen Hong appears with an even more earth-shattering revelation!”

The time for fun and games is over and the subject on the table is peace. Keeping the peace between heaven and hell is nothing to laugh about, but the four guardians have had trouble weighing out their morals. Do they send the princess back home to marry a man she has never met, or do they keep hiding her on earth and risk losing everything? The longer they take in making their decision the more complicated the situation is becoming. Only time will tell, and who knows, maybe in this crazy world everything will work out for the better.

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