A Devil and Her Love Song

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Review Archive

To see a list of reviews in alphabetical order, please see our review index.


Review: Honey Hunt (Vol. 06)

Reviewer: Shannon Fay
Honey Hunt (Vol. 06)

Manga-ka: Miki Aihara
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “With Yura and Q-ta’s relationship now revealed to the public, Mizorogi will need to decide whether or not to interfere. What will Haruka do when he has the chance to tell Yura his true feelings? And when Q-ta visits Yura at her house, the two of them end up in the bedroom all alone…”

This volume of Honey Hunt focuses on the love triangle between main character Yura and brothers Q-ta and Haruka. It’s a complicated situation only made worse by the fact that all three are celebrities and have to juggle their professional and personal lives. Yet, even though they’re famous, the characters themselves are relatively grounded, with no one emerging outright as the obvious choice or bad guy.

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ANN Review: Butterflies, Flowers (Vol. 05)

ANN Review: Butterflies, Flowers (Vol. 05)

This weekend my review for the fifth volume of Butterflies, Flowers was posted over at AnimeNewsNetwork.

Butterflies, Flowers is one of my favourite currently running series – it’s so funny that I know I’ll have several good laughs reading every new book. The actual romance is pretty lost on me, as how creepy and controlling the relationship is is far more domineering a factor than any mush, but I forgive it for the fun at their expense and for being a shoujo series actually targeted at older women (ie: a josei series in Shoujo Beat trimmings). More Yuki Yoshihara’s series please!


Review: Raiders (Vol. 04)

Reviewer: Andre Paploo
Raiders (Vol. 04)

Manhwa-ga: JinJun Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “Irel and Lamia are back on the hunt for the chrism bottles – that is, until Lamia decides that it’s time to part ways. Memories of a solitary past have given her cause to keep her distance from humans, but is she really prepared to go it alone? Meanwhile, Detective Chris’s conspiracy theories lead him to the heart of a secret society called “Crossline.” Can their leader, Ian, truly be who he claims?”

Rolling in with another volume of insane, fast-paced action, mildly incoherent conspiracy theories and zombies created by the blood of religious icons, JinJun Park’s Raiders offers more of the same thrills. Slightly held back by poor reproduction choices, it never the less offers a decent mix of art, though might not be suitable to mass market tastes.

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ANN Review: Strawberry Panic Omnibus

ANN Review: Strawberry Panic! Omnibus

The omnibus trend continues as I tackled the collected edition of Strawberry Panic for a review over on AnimeNewsNetwork.

Overall I had fun reading this purely because it was so silly; cute but campy. The art was beautiful but the characters pretty shallow. It really felt like a big stereotype of Yuri as a genre, with a debatably healthy dose of cliches straight out of harlequin novels. Too bad about the lack of any realistic romance though, though at least I wasn’t really expecting that going in. Ah well, it was shiny?


Review: Azumanga Daioh Omnibus

Reviewer: Shannon Fay
Azumanga Daioh Omnibus

Manga-ka: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2009

Synopsis: “This four-panel comedy chronicles the everyday lives of six very quirky high school girls. Meet the child prodigy Chiyo, the animal-loving Sakaki, the spacey out-of-towner Osaka, the straight-laced Yomi and her best friend Tomo, and the sports-loving Kagura throughout their high school lives.”

Azumanga Daioh’s anime is a rare case where the original pales in comparison to the adaptation. While the manga is cute and funny, it’s hard to recommend it knowing that the funnier anime version exists. However, the manga is still charming in its own right. Having the whole series collected in one big volume is dangerous, as the stripes get more and more addicting as the book goes on.

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Review: Gaba Kawa!

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Gaba Kawa

Manga-ka: Rie Takada
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2008

Synopsis: “Demons like Rara are supposed to cause mischief in the mortal world and draw humans to darkness. They’re not supposed to help mortals and they’re definitely not supposed to fall in love with them! But that’s just what happens when Rara enters high school, where a hot guy named Retsu Aku calls her “Gaba Kawa“! While demons gain power by causing mischief, the opposite is also true – if Rara uses any of her powers to help mortals, she’ll immediately lose that very power. If she loses enough power, she’ll disappear!”

Rara is a young demoness let lose in the human world. Her mission? To spread mischief and chaos for humans everywhere! Thus, she’s enrolled in high school. After a botched attempt to find her demonic idol, Rara meets Aku Retsu – a mysterious young man in her school. One suedo-suicide save later and Rara quickly takes to stalking Retsu with her powers of invisibility, unaware that Retsu can actually see spirits and thus has been able to at least sense her all this time. But before that oh so shocking reveal, it was still fun watching her spaz around and act like a complete love-sick ninny as she tried to get closer to him while simultaneously losing her demonic powers in doing so.

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Review: Inubaka – Crazy for Dogs (Vol. 16)

Reviewer: Andre
Inubaka (Vol. 16)

Manga-ka: Yukiya Sakuragi
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2010

Synopsis: “Woofles regular Chizuru advises her friend Serina, who is contemplating motherhood, to try looking after a dog first. Can Chizuru’s dog Melon and a new puppy convince Serina that their affection and cuteness are worth the aggravation?”

Pet manga is a popular genre of manga in Japan that has become a noticeable presence in the domestic fandom with the bestselling Chi‘s Sweet Home, and this long-running series from VIZ. It follows in the path of series like Ginga Legend Weed, Hamtaro, Bow Wow Wata and What‘s Michael. The longest running of these titles, Inubaka is an adorable entry in the brand, originating out of a seinen magazine as Chi’s Sweet Home did, reassuring us manga readers that we are never too old to gush over doggies. And if there’s one thing Inubaka delivers on, it’s a never ending assortment of dogs!

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Review: Black God (Vol. 11)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Black God (Vol. 11)

Author: Dall-Young Lim
Manhwa-ga: Sung-Woo Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “Mikami may have slipped through the Kaionji Group’s fingers once, but they aren’t to let her escape again! Before she can make her getaway, Saishu of the Shishigami Clan takes out Mikami’s beloved Ferrari, forcing her to face him in a battle. Enraged, Miami readily leaps into the fight, but without a contractee even the fierce Mototsumitama is no match for Saishu’s skillful attacks. Excel watches in tears as her only precious friend is bloodied and beaten… which rouses memories of another person she once held very dear.”

This eleventh volume of Black God pens up with suspense as Mikami is driven to confrontation (they destroyed her Ferrari!) with the sinister duo on her doorstep. At the same time has to look out for Excel who is still suffering from memory loss and now stays on the sidelines as a fearful young child. And as marks the bulk of this volume – violence ensues. And lots of it.

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Review: Legend (Vol. 10)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Legend (Vol. 10)

Author: Woo SooJung
Manhwa-go: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “Painfully aware of the fate that lies ahead of Eun-Gyo should either the Shaman or the Bulkirin succeed in their respective goals involving the Seven-Blade-Sword, No-Ah asks Eun-Gyo to run away with him to a place where they can never be found. But Eun-Gyo refuses to allow the world to be destroyed because of her cowardice.”

This final volume of Legend unfortunately compounded all the elements I’ve had issue with for the past few volumes. While in this book many of the recently introduced characters are already gone, or swiftly dealt with, there’s still the leftover resonance of too many characters and most poignantly, too many bad guys. Note: Review contains spoilers for the series

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Review: Bleach (Vol. 33)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Bleach (Vol. 33)

Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “Ichigo’s mission to rescue his friend Orihime from the Hollow world has turned into a struggle for survival against a succession of enemies, each one more powerful than the next. Now another vicious challenger has entered the fray, one that happens to know the startling truth about Ichigo’s new friend Nel!”

Just when you thought the multi-volume long fight between Ichigo and Grimmjow was over… you’d discover you were right this time. But that’s only to make room for the next opponent, the toothy Nnoitora, who wastes no time jumping in to tear apart what’s left of our main character. Though it still feels painfully drawn at out at times, an assortment of just-abouts or why-don’t-theys, this thirty-third volume still manages to impress more than those recently before it by delivering a few surprises and some blows too brutal to be ignored. Warning: Review contains spoilers for the volume.

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