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A little change of pace today with a post about something near and dear to my fan-girl heart – fun, colourful comics and Avatar: The Last Airbender! And with so many great Avatar goodies out both recently and on the horizon, expect more ATLA here on Kuriousity coming up!
But today it’s about the comics – or lack there of.
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Manga-ka: Katsuhiro Otomo
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2001
Synopsis: “A twisted old man, gifted with extrasensory powers, holds silent sway over an entire block of apartments, its occupants puppets for him to control. Life is hits to give… and to take. But suddenly there is a new voice in his head, and before he knows it, a young girl with her own battery of psychic abilities arrives to challenge him. Soon, the sprawling complex becomes a battleground between two minds possessing incredible, unimaginable power.”
A public housing complex is Japan has been inexplicably struck with a rash of suicides, murders and unidentified deaths. With over twenty deaths in two years, local police officers are nearing their wits ends trying to piece together what little information they have in the hopes of discovering the cause of these occurrences and to put a stop to them. While a number of unique individuals catch their eye in this seemingly ordinary facility, the true nature of the case reveals itself too late in scope while still maintaining the secrecy of its origins.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m always on the look out for deals and sales that help me keep filling the shelves without breaking the bank. There’re always amazing sales going on somewhere, whether it’s your local shops or an online vendor. A sale doesn’t help if you don’t know about it however so I’m from here on out I’m going to do what I can to spread the frugal-love and let you guys know about some great sales you can currently take advantage of.
This morning RightStuf posted it’s newest deal (they change them on a fairly consistent weekly schedule): at least 33% off all listed Dark Horse releases! For books that often range on the highside of pricing, this is a good time to pick up some favourites at a price you won’t find everyday. Plus it’s far easier than one may think to buy enough to reach those free-shipping limits… (dangerously so!).
There’re pages and pages of books to choose from, ranging from the brutally-fantastic Berserk to the classic genre-inspiring Astro Boy and something somewhat inbetween with the newest volume of the wonderfully creepy Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. You can also sneak in a pre-order for the upcoming CLAMP omnibus collection of Magic Knight Rayearth and save yourself $6. Along with lots of manga volumes, there’re also some art books hidden in there as well (including the upcoming Blade of the Immortal).
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Manga-ka: Osamu Takahashi
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2009
Synopsis: “Stunning, hot-headed Asuka Langley Soryu has been friends with Shinji Ikari since they were little. And she always sort of assumed they’d stay together – until the day the beautiful, brilliant Rei Ayanami showed up in class! When Shinji starts to get curious about Rei, Asuka needs to figure out if she wants to be just friends with Shinji, or something more. But why are so many people keeping an eye on these relationships – people like homeroom teacher Misato, school nurse Ritsuko, and Shinji’s mother – NERV’s chief scientist, Yui Ikari…?”
An alternative universe take on the classic Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji Raising Project is a mixed bag of new ideas for old characters. Stripping them of their mechs and mental-drama, Shinji and co instead battle the trials of waking up for school on-time, reminiscing their childhood, avoiding those pesky trip-into-boobs potholes and momentarily questioning what their loving parents do for a living.
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Author: Eiji Otsuka
Manga-ka: Housui Yamazaki
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: February 2010
Synopsis: “The dead don’t walk in Kurosagi — that is, not without a little help . . . and it’s a shock to the system when the delivery service finds out what’s making their clients rise up! Then, for Numata to take off his sunglasses for anyone, it must be a grave matter . . . or, more likely, a matter of someone not yet in their grave…”
A new face arrives on scene and strange old myths resurface in this tenth volume of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. Spiritual powers may been the KCDS’s bread-and-butter (on the rare occasion it actually pays) but with technology springing up to both challenge and compliment their work, it’s becoming a whole new ballgame in the corpse finding business.
Unable to attend the Dark Horse panel at SDCC this past weekend, and hopelessly technologically limited since then, this news has taken its time making the way to the front page at Kuriousity, but that’s certainly no indication of my excitement over this announcement!
Dark Horse employees announced at their SDCC panel that they’ve acquired the licenses to multiple CLAMP series and will be releasing them in their entirety in special omnibus editions. This is a part of their continued celebration for CLAMP’s 20th Anniversary, including their recently released omnibus collection of CLAMP’s lyrical Clover series.
The series announced were Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura and Chobits. All three of these series were previously published in English by Tokyopop over multiple-volume runs (in that order).
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Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: April 2009
Synopsis: “Kazuhiko is a young, but already deeply wounded, black-ops agent of a baroque, retro-tech world – pulled out of retirement to escort Sue, a mysterious waif, to a destination she alone knows. Sue and Kazuhiko have never met… yet she knows him, having grown up since the age of four with her only human contact being two distant voices: that of her elderly “grandma” – Kazuhiko’s commander, General Ko; and that of Kazuhiko’s dead girlfriend, the beautiful singer Ora. And Sue has been kept in that cage all these years because of what she is, and what the Clover Leaf Project found her to be: a military top secret… and the most dangerous person in the world.”
Combining the noir-esque features of one of CLAMP’s most visually distinct works, and an impressive repackaging by Dark Horse, this dark futuristic story of hope and survival gets another well-deserved chance to enthrall a new generation of manga fans.
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The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Vol. 09)
Eiji Otsuka (Story) & Housui Yamazaki (Art)
Published by Dark Horse (May 2009)
My favourite part of this volume would be its last chapter, which gives focus to Yuji Yata and his alien hand puppet, and the group’s embalmer, Keiko Makino. Though the two are there for nearly all the cases, they tend to get the short end of the attention stick. Yata in particular is often shadowed over because having the power of an obnoxious hand puppet is rarely as useful as it sounds. Yet in this chapter we not only learn a great deal more about these two, er, three characters, but we also see Yata and his partner exhibit a skill of power that’s quite impressive indeed, and sort of a shame we haven’t seen more of it until now. A little surprise fluff topped it off at the end for a sweet endnote, a contrast to some of the darker flashbacks in the chapter itself. Although, is it just me, or is Keiko teenage girl mannerisms of speech much more pronounced in this book?
Other episodic events in this volume involve a girl hounded from beyond the grave by dolls, a bodiless peeping tom in a woman’s changing locker, and my favourite of the corpse-involved, a story about a group of boys with special powers to hear things from another world. There wasn’t much in the way of connecting plot devices as previous volumes have been including but the character-driven strength of the cast of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service still keeps each chapter interesting. The nurse who shares powers similar to Karatsu does return though, as I’d hoped she would, and as much as I love the added chance for corpse-encounters she brings to the story, it’s the three-way love triangle being poked at that actually interests me all the more.
Many of the stories throughout the series work from inspiration of current day events, historical facts and urban legends, and this fact along with an attractively grounded art style and real sense of personality and flaw from these characters, makes the whole series that much more compelling. There’s also the humour, which never fails to amuse. Numata, you alone never cease to entertain.
Though a little sad that previously insinuated plot directions aren’t continued here in the ninth volume, there was still the usual quality of creepy story telling along with a great final chapter chock full of character goodness. I also never tire of the quality of Dark Horse’s releases: reads well, looks awesome and has lots of translation notes for the curious. As per usual, next volume please!
Review written May 30, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased from Strange Adventures
There’s been lots of speculation about Kodansha’s silence on their plans to publish in North America since it was first announced back in July 2008. Rumours of a cease in their plans due to America’s economic issues seemed to make sense, but still, it was only a matter of time before something new turned up. Could that time be now?
Amazon.ca has listings for Akira (Vol. 01), Akira (Vol. 02) and Ghost in the Shell (Vol. 01), all listed under ‘Kodansha Comics’ as the publisher. Both these titles have been previously released by Dark Horse. Second editions of both Ghost In The Shell and Akira were released by Dark Horse in 2004, both sporting slightly higher page numbers than these Kodansha Comics listings.
Credit where credit is due to Andre and AnimeVice who were quicker on the draw posting this than I. Though in doing so Andre’s new blog: Geekery with Andre, has been discovered. Happy to see it, Andre! Loved your posts over at LiveJournal.
So what do these listings foretell? Who knows at this point exactly, but may it be the start of rereleases to come. Why? Because I’m now on 24/7 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon watch. Kodansha, you’ve been warned.
Edit: Quick-to-action Gia of AnimeVice has already made contact with Dark Horse’s Marketing Coordinator:
“Marketing Coordinator Aaron Colter informed that while he couldn’t comment on any license expiration, he could confirm that Dark Horse wouldn’t be publishing either of those titles in the future, so if Kodansha says they’re reprinting them, then they probably are.”
A couple new finds on Amazon.ca today:
Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon (Del Rey)
“The first novel based on the worldwide sensation! Rendered immortal by an infusion of mystical worms that can repair any wound, the masterless samurai Manji wanders the hillsides of feudal Japan, his quest to slay one hundred evil people to atone for his past sins. By his side is the young woman Rin, an orphan who seeks vengeance for the murders of her parents. Driven in a quest for absolution, the two have faced many deadly challenges, both natural and supernatural. But can they survive their greatest battle against the all-powerful Inugami?”
If this was previously announced, then I missed it which mades me sad because I think it sounds really fun. As a fan and follower of Blade of the Immortal since the manga single-issue ‘floppies’ first hit comic store shelves, I think it’d be great enjoying the series in a different media (anime doesn’t count). I wonder how Manji will translate to prose?
Tokyopop has a listing for something simply titled Saving Life, which may or may not be the manga of the same-name by Girls Bravo creator, Mario Kaneda.
And lastly, GoComi has a listing up for the previously revealed sequel-of-sorts to Aimee Major-Steinberger’s wonderfully charming Japan Ai, titled Cosplay Ai (cover at right). While never having cosplayed myself, I have no doubt that this book will be worth a read and I really look forward it!
Edit: While I appreciate the e-mails from people with a heads-up that I “missed” the Haru Hana manga listing that is also on Amazon.ca, I already posted about that title back in February :)
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