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Posts Tagged Yen Press

Review: Nabari no Ou (Vol. 09)

By Shannon Fay on Monday, September 24, 2012

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Manga-ka: Yuhki Kamatani
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “As Yoite’s condition worsens, Yukimi’s mind drifts, eventually settling on the mystery of the dying Kira user’s past. Acting independently at the cost of his assigned mission, the Grey Wolves’ resident journalist sets off in search of the truth about his ward’s life with little to guide him. Left to their own devices, Yoite and Miharu break free of Hattori and the Grey Wolves when they learn that the leader of the pack knows much more about them than he has ever let on! On their own and on the run, the two do their best to stay alive and solve the puzzle of the Shinra Banshou. But in the world of shinobi, death is never very far behind…”

First off a disclaimer, I haven’t read the previous volumes of Nabari no Ou, so keep in mind that this review is the opinion of someone coming into the series at volume nine. This is an especially tricky series to pop into randomly as it features a large cast with different goals and factions. Plus, it’s about ninjas, and you know how tricky ninjas can be.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Don’t Pet the Bunny – Yen Press Licenses Yoshiki Tonogai’s Doubt

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, September 11, 2012

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It’s new manga license time! AnimeNewsNetwork reported last week that Yen Press has licensed Yoshiki Tonogai’s manga series, Doubt.

Getting past my initial ‘holy-cripes-that’s-a-scary-cover’ reaction, it sounds like an interesting series. Very suspense-heavy potential and I like that it isn’t too long a series. With only two volumes to commit to, it’s more than safe enough to satisfy my curousity with!

“A Japanese cell phone game called Rabbit Doubt has gone viral in Tokyo. In it, players are rabbits who must do everything in their power to uncover the wolf in rabbit’s clothing before it kills them off. The wolf, a randomly selected player, must use his wiles to create mistrust among the rabbits and knock his adversaries off one by one. When five fans of this game decide to meet offline for fun, the last thing they expect is to lose consciousness and wake up trapped in an abandoned building with a corpse strung up in front of them, a mysterious barcode tattooed on each of their bodies. Will the virtual friends be able to pull it together in the real world and figure out what’s going on in time to avoid ending up the wolf’s dinner?”

The series, which was originally four volumes long, will be released in two 2-in-1 omnibus editions for $20.99/CAN ($18.99/US) each. The first book is due out April 2013. A listing for volume one appeared on Amazon.com earlier this month.

This is Yoshiki Tonoga’s second time published in English, with the first being Yen Press’s editions of Higurashi When They Cry: Time Killing Arc for which Yoshiki Tonoga was the artist.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Yen Press

Review: Durarara!! (Vol. 03)

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, September 1, 2012

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Author: Ryohgo Narita/Suzuhito Yasuda
Manga-ka: Akiyo Satorigi
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2012

Synopsis: “Twisted passion accelerates disaster!! After twenty years of searching, Celty, the headless Black Rider, has at last found her missing head—bobbing through the streets of Ikebukuro on someone else’s neck! Though Celty pursues, the girl escapes on the arm of Mikado Ryuugamine, taking refuge in his apartment. But with both the legendary Rider and Yagiri Pharmaceuticals bearing down on Ryuugamine in their pursuit of the scarred girl, how can he hope to save his own neck?!”

Durarara!! returns for another fun and frantic volume. I always need to re-read the previous volume before I dive into a new one due to the multiple characters and web-like story. A refresher is greatly recommended for a story like this when it’s those little details and run-ins that make the big scenes mean that much more. And boy are there ever some character crescendos here in volume three.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Durarara, Manga, Yen Press

Review: 13th Boy (Vol. 12)

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 30, 2012

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Manhwa-ga: SangEun Lee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2012

Synopsis: “With the holidays finally upon Hee-So, the season of giving is in full swing! But as she gets ready for her Christmas Eve festivities, Beatrice takes generosity to a whole new level as he prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to give the present of “destiny” to his beloved friend. But if Hee-So realizes the sacrifice her darling Beatrice plans to make in order to bring Whie-Young back among the living, will she be able to look her first love in the face ever again? Hee-So’s search for love concludes in this final volume of 13th Boy!”

(Final Volume Spoiler Warnings) Against all odds, a small part of me kept hoping that Beatrice would be the one that Hee-So ends up with at the end of 13th Boy. But how often do the kind, self-sacrificing, ever-loyal ones actually get the girl? It’s little surprise that fickle Hee-So needs her man to have a little bad boy attitude to him, and while the inevitability of the series’s result left me feeling a little cold, the execution also caught me off-guard enough to make it ultimately very satisfying.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: 13th Boy, Manhwa, Yen Press

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – August 22, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 22, 2012

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It’s the week of threes! I have three top picks out of the manga this week and all are the third volumes of their respective series – Countdown 7 Days (Vol.03), Replica (Vol.03) and Gate 7 (Vol.03). All three are also some of the best manga eye-candy out there to my tastes right now so I expect lots of oogling will happen tonight. So, so pretty.

For the full list of titles available in stores and retail sites this week, check out my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

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Categories: Features, News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Bunny Drop, CLAMP, Dark Horse, DMP, Gate 7, June, Manga, Otaku USA, Viz Media, Yen Press

Review: Soul Eater Not! (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 20, 2012

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Manga-ka: Atsushi Ohkubo
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2012

Synopsis: “Ding-dong! DEAD-dong! Class is about to begin, and you don’t want to be late on your first day of school! Join Tsugumi Harudori in the NOT class at Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school dedicated to training transforming Weapons like Tsugumi and the Meisters who will wield them. Many NOT (Normally Overcome Target) students aspire to join the elite EAT (Especially Advantaged Talent) class, but it may take Tsugumi some time to find her confidence—and a partner—at this crazy school!”

Soul Eater Not! is a spin-off of Atsushi Ohkubo’s Soul Eater. It introduces a new cast of characters who attend the same school as those in Soul Eater, but focuses more on their friendship, schooling and quirky personalities than the monsters and battles those traits are used for by the previous leads. As someone who couldn’t really get into the first series, and who doesn’t usually find shonen slice-of-girl-life stories interesting, I went into this book with low expectations. To my pleasant surprise, however, I closed this book upon completion with a smile on my face and an eagerness for volume two.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Review: Bunny Drop (Vol. 06)

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, August 18, 2012

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Manga-ka: Yami Unita
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: August 2012

Synopsis: “As Daikichi continues to juggle work with raising a teenager, Rin struggles with the relationship between her and Kouki, her childhood friend. The last ten years have brought about a variety of changes to their friendship—some subtle, some not so. Kouki may always have been head over heels for Rin, but the choices he’s made in the past seem to have put a wedge between them. And when a scorned ex sets her sights anew on Rin as the object of her rage, the tricks up this girl’s sleeve threaten to nip Kouki’s potential romance with Rin in the bud for good. As Rin’s sixteenth birthday approaches, will there be cause for celebration? Or will Daikichi have a crisis of the heart on his hands?!”

The previous volume of Bunny Drop really disappointed me. Here we had an utterly charming series about a single, middle-age man adopting a little girl and learning how to care for her. In volume five, we had a time jump that took us forward to the child, Rin, now being a teenager. Volume six doesn’t do anything like take us back to those more charming and educational days (save for a few flashbacks) but at least now that we’re over the shock of the transition, we can appreciate the story more for what it’s become. Still, teenage school drama, haven’t we seen it all?

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Bunny Drop, Manga, Yen Press

Review: Black Butler (Vol. 10)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 13, 2012

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Manga-ka: Yana Toboso
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2012

Synopsis: “With his royally sanctioned dinner party a shambles and a murderer on the loose, Earl Ciel Phantomhive is a veritable prisoner in his own home, alongside those of his guests who still live. And in the most shocking of turns, the young earl now finds himself without his indispensible manservant, Sebastian. But as the mystery deepens, there arrives upon the young earl’s doorstep an odd vicar, wearing an insolent smile and an Inverness cape that flaps and splashes behind him… Is this mysterious thirteenth guest the perpetrator of the crimes that have bloodied the halls of Phantomhive Manor?”

The murder mystery resumes, taking us into the third volume of Black Butler‘s Phantomhive Manor who-dun-it. I was a little surprised to see this story arc lasted even this long, going right up to the final page of this tenth volume of Black Butler and beyond. None the less it gives secondary characters time to shine, and introduces a new character with some secrets of his own that bring about a conclusion that really couldn’t have been put off any longer.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Black Butler, Manga, Yen Press

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – August 1, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, August 4, 2012

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Holy mangaful shelves it’s August already… On that stunning note in regards to the passing of time, this week’s On The Shelf article marks it’s first year anniversary! I’ve really enjoyed writing it every week and hope to keep doing so as long as I keep creating my own shopping lists for new printed manga. Which of course we hope will be a long, long time :)

This week there are new books from Dark Horse, Kodansha Comics and Yen Press. My top pick goes to the newest volume of 13th Boy, because magical pretty boy cactus love interest! Yup.

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Categories: Features, News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Dark Horse, Kodansha Comics, Manga, Otaku USA, Yen Press

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – July 18-25, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

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The recent lull of Kuriousity updates extended over to my On The Shelf article as well, but worry not curious list-seekers and manga-buyers (because I’m quite sure you were beside yourselves) – this week’s On The Shelf is a double-dose edition collecting what’s new and recent from last week and today!

My does-want-must-haves of this shipping stack include the first volume of Project-H‘s Velvet Kiss, Vertical Inc‘s classy looking one-shot, Sakuran, Viz Media’s new 20th Century Boys and the tenth volume of Black Butler from Yen Press.