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Review Archive

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

Review: Saturn Apartments (Vol. 01)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Friday, June 25, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Hisae Iwaoka
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2010

Synopsis: “Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the Earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the Earth, thirty–five kilometers up in the sky. The society of the Ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father’s occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu’s job treats him to an outsider’s view into the various living–room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.”

There are a lot of interesting elements in Saturn Apartments. The science is solid and thought-out, and the hierarchy of Saturn Apartments makes for interesting social commentary. But, while these elements are always present, the real focus is on the human stories of the individuals window-washing Mitsu meets on the job. Still, though the characters are cute and their stories tug at the heartstrings, personally I was more interested in the world than the people who populated it.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Viz Media

Review: The Battle of Genryu (Vol. 02)

Posted by Andre Paploo on Tuesday, June 22, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Manga-ka: Shouko Fukaki
Publisher: CMX Manga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “A mysterious society is stalking Jin because his father and sister, Toko, betrayed them in the past by removing Jin before he could further their cause. At the same time, long-lost brother Soichiro tries to warn Jin’s friend Fusano that Toko and their father are not the good guys they appear to be. Fusano’s not buying it and leaves with Toko, a decision she may come to regret.”

In my previous review, I recommended The Battle of Genryu as a fun martial arts manga with an intriguing plot. That remains to be true, but it’s a little difficult to recommend now with CMX’s closure. If you don’t mind not getting an ending to your manga, you might still want to check this series out, since it sports some great art, and will hopefully be revived someday.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: CMX, Manga

Review: Millennium Prime Minister (Vol. 01)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Monday, June 21, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Eiki Eiki
Publisher: Doki Doki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: July 2009

Synopsis: “Up until now, the most exciting part of Minori’s schoolgirl life has been playing video games… but one day, her skills win more than she ever could have imagined. When Minori beats some guy at the local arcade, suddenly he declares he’s going to marry her! When the same guy turns out to be none other than Kanata Okazaki – Japan’s newest, youngest-ever prime minister – Minori finds herself swept up in a world of politics and paparazzi. Is Kanata really in love with her?”

Suspension of disbelief is a tricky thing: push it too far and it will snap. A twenty-five year-old prime minister of Japan? All right. In real life, Japan’s just elected its fifth prime minister in four years, so why can’t one of them be really young and good-looking? But even the cutest world leader couldn’t get away with getting engaged to a sixteen-year-old high school student and having her move in with him. Factor in that he does all this against her will and it’s hard to believe this guy could get elected, let alone stay in power.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Doki Doki, Manga

ANN Review: Stepping on Roses (Vol. 02)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, June 20, 2010

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This weekend my review for Stepping on Roses (Vol. 02) was posted over on ANN – a shallow, slightly offensive series that has really pretty art and enough silly entertaining moments to make me keep reading it. It definitely joins the ranks of Viz Media’s other guilty-pleasure-for-those-who-enjoy-them sort of books, such as Black Bird, Hot Gimmick and Flower in a Storm.

Must say I’m starting to really like the super summed up pros and cons at the end of ANN reviews; the grades aren’t my proverbial cup of tea but the short blurbs really give review skimmers some reasoning past a couple letters. Has been a great experience thus far!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: ANN Reviews, Manga, Shoujo Beat, Viz Media

Review: Rin-Ne (Vol. 03)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, June 19, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “A boy from Sakura’s past appears, hoping to win a date with her. But the ghost of another lovelorn boy leads to an unexpected triple date. Can an exorcism take place at an amusement park? Does Rinne have feelings for Sakura? Compared to playing the dating game, dealing with angry ghosts and rogue shinigami may be less frightening!”

Rumiko Takahashi really feels like she’s finally found her footing with Rinne here in the third volume. With the lead introductions and spiritual-mythos in practice explained in the first book, and a gaggle of jokes tested and frankly flopped in volume two, this third volume comes on the heels of that less than blow away material to present a new reason for on the fence readers to give this witty supernatural series another run for Rinne’s money.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Rin-Ne, Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media

Review: Sunshine Sketch (Vol. 04)

Posted by Marsha Reid on Friday, June 18, 2010

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Reviewer: Marsha Reid

Manga-ka: Ume Aoki
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: January 2010

Synopsis: “Nothing much has changed at the Hidamari Apartments for some time: Miyako’s her usual, wacky self; Sae’s still writing novels; Hiro’s worrying about her weight; and Yuno’s still as thoughtful and adorable as ever! But believe it or not, time has been passing, and Yuno starts thinking about what the future holds for her, her friends, and her art as graduation looms ever closer. The immediate future of the Hidamari residents, however, involves two new first-year neighbors — the shy, polite Nazuna, and outspoken computer whiz Nori!”

When the cuteness of every day life reaches volume four, it falls from simple laughs to being simply repetitive. The character personalities which before were cute and humourous are exactly what they were in volume one and oddly enough this is in no way a good thing. Tossing in new characters who you feel you’ve met before fails to spice things up and Yuno’s worrying about what happens after graduation brings the whole story down.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Viz Media

Review: 20th Century Boys (Vol. 08)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Wednesday, June 16, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Naoki Urasawa
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2010

Synopsis: “This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world! As boys, Kenji and his friends came up with a bunch of stories about an evil organization bent on world destruction. As adults, someone is now turning their fantasies into reality! What really happened on Bloody New Year’s Eve? Kenji, Otcho and Maruo have just driven their dynamite-loaded truck under the robot…where they see what a poor relation to the giant robot they dreamed up in their childhoods it actually is: just two legs with caterpillar treads, held together by an enormous hot air balloon, with cloth hanging down to disguise the underside.

Meanwhile, at the meeting of the government’s crisis control committee, Manjome Inshu unveils the Friend’s benevolent plan to distribute worldwide a vaccine against the virus being spread by the robot. The Friends, he says, have been developing such a vaccine since the terrorist germ attacks of 1997. At the same time, the Friends will contribute a monument they were building for their headquarters to serve as a blockade against the robot. The Friends are saving the day! Or are they?”

I’ve always liked stories where the main characters are fighting to take down a corrupt system (i.e. 1984, The Matrix). It automatically puts the cast in a proactive position and paints everything in a shade of grey. To us the main characters may be heroes, but from the other side it is very easy to label them as terrorists. This issue and many others are explored in 20th Century Boys volume 8, making this instalment not only full of tense thrills but also interesting philosophical dilemmas.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Manga, Naoki Urasawa, Viz Media, Viz Signature

ANN Review: Otomen (Vol. 06)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, June 15, 2010

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Continuing with some more Viz Media shoujo-goodness, I reviewed Otomen (Vol. 06) for AnimeNewsNetwork over the weekend.

Otomen continues to be a really fun series. It is getting a little repetitive though and the number of Otomen (men who indulge in stereotypically girlish hobbies) is getting to be a little larger than one would expect in a series that’s still trying to thrive off it being quirky. At least all said-Otomen are really entertaining characters. While there was still lots to laugh at (in the good way) in this sixth volume, it was a little disappointing not having the lead female, Ryo, make much of an appearance. Her tomboyish personality, and dense overall sense of awareness, always makes her an enjoyable addition to the story, especially when it triggers all of Asuka’s adorable romantic ‘advances’. Hopefully all that extra good stuff will return in volume seven!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: ANN Reviews, Manga, Otomen, Shoujo, Viz Media

Review: Maniac Shorts Shot

Posted by Shannon Fay on Monday, June 14, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Miya Ousaka
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “Design school students Issei and Jin, on their way home from a live concert, pick up a discarded cardboard box, only to find that it contains a pair of sexy underwear with a “special” attachment…!! Deciding to have some fun, Issei puts them on and poses for Jin, but when Jin finds when he aims his camera at Issei, his sexual desire goes through the roof!! What will happen when Jin finds he can’t hold back anymore and has to have Issei right then and there?!”

Maniac Shorts Shot is a good example of how varied yaoi anthologies can be when it comes to explicitness. The first story in the book really makes the manga earn its 18+ rating with its frequent and explicit sex scenes – in fact, it’s not so much there are a lot of sex scenes, it’s more like the whole story is a sex scene with some plot duct taping them together. On the other hand, the next story is a sweet love story with a relatively vanilla sex scene. It’s weird to see such different stories in the same book, but on their own merits each story works.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: 801Media, Boys' Love/Yaoi, Manga

Review: One Fine Day (Vol. 02)

Posted by Marsha Reid on Sunday, June 13, 2010

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Reviewer: Marsha Reid

Manga-ka: Sirial
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: May 2010

Synopsis: “With No-Ah’s childhood friend/tormenter added to the mix, all sorts of new adventures are brewing at the green-roofed house. Nanai the dog, Guru the cat, and Rang the mouse have cooked up even more fun this time around: visiting the library, searching for treasure—and tailing Rang on her first date?!”

If you think of volume one of One Fine Day as a test pilot, then issue two is the smoothed out first episode. There is more time spent on showing us the world these characters live in than episodic cuteness, which is fantastic. Sirial really got it together in this second instalment starring animal cuteness beyond comprehension.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press