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Review Archive

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

Review: Dawn of the Arcana (Vol. 04)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Monday, June 25, 2012

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Manga-ka: Rei Toma
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: June 2012

Synopsis: “Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, so no one expected there to be love between the unlikely couple. But just as feelings start growing between them, Nakaba’s power, the Arcana of Time, shows her a vision of a young woman’s murder. Has the time come for Nakaba to harness her power to change fate?”

As the characters try to come to terms with what they discovered in volume three, Nakaba has a vision of a young girls’ death on the very swords they discovered. Mere moments later, she meets the girl whose fate she has seen – the younger sister of the King’s advisor. Now the whole group is on the road to stop multiple disasters from occurring and giving us all the chance to escape that stuffy castle for a while. Yay! Meanwhile much to the volume’s benefit, the evolving importance of other characters does wonders to round out a cast originally focused entirely of the love-triangle trio. They all serve the plot well where the Nakaba/Caeser romance continues to fall rather flat.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Dawn of the Arcana, Manga, Shoujo Beat, Viz Media

Review: Soul Eater (Vol. 08)

Posted by Victoria K Martin on Sunday, June 24, 2012

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

Synopsis: “While Black☆Star and Tsubaki keep Mifune and Mosquito distracted, Sid is able to locate Arachnophobia’s demon tool and put an abrupt end to their sinister plans. But though the evil organization won’t be manipulating anyone’s morality anytime soon, the blueprints for the dangerous tool are sealed away in Shinigami-sama’s secret vault rather than destroyed. Surely Shinigami-sama would never think of constructing a demon tool himself?!”

My experience with Soul Eater before reading this volume is, I must admit, a tad limited. I know of the series mostly by reputation and have read a chapter of it in YenPlus. But beyond that, I went into this volume with very little knowledge beyond what I could find on Wikipedia. It’s a challenge I’ve faced before as a reviewer but I find that can be interesting in its own way, since you can really look at how a single volume stands on its own, more so than if you are seeing it as just part of a whole.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Soul Eater, Yen Press

Review: Three Wolves Mountain

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

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Manga-ka: Naono Bohra
Publisher: SuBLime
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: June 2012

Synopsis: “Way up in the mountains, far from any major cities or towns, Kaya Susugi runs a small cafe by day and guards a haunted cemetery by night. Then, one night, he comes across werewolf brothers Tarou and Jiro. Cheerful but klutzy younger brother Jiro quickly falls head over heels for the capable loner Kaya. What results is a dive into the hot, tail-twitching delight of werewolf mating season!”

Three Wolves Mountains is an assortment of ‘finally!’s before I even took off the plastic wrap. It’s among the first of SuBLime Manga’s print editions , and only the second Naono Bohra work to be released in English. While the plot’s execution has its bumps, SuBLime made a fun and memorable choice in releasing a genre fan-favourite that serves up supernatural puppy love (of the sexy, mature-reader only variety!).

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Naono Bohra, SuBLime

Review: Bleach (Vol. 40-41)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, June 10, 2012

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Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: June 2011

Synopsis: “While the Soul Reaper captains deal with Aizen’s forces in Karakura Town, Ichigo faces Ulquiorra in Hueco Mundo. To match the powerful Espada, Ichigo will have to rely on his hollow powers. But will the darkness overwhelm him? Pushed to the verge of death by Ulquiorra, Ichigo releases his Hollow powers. But can Ichigo control his powers long enough to claim victory against his rival, or will he lose everything he’s been fighting for…?”

While my wallet may not agree with me, I love that Bleach volumes are now coming out two at a time. With volumes consisting of on-going fight scenes, I breeze though singles of Bleach in a third of the time most other manga volumes with the same page count would take me. Two volumes felt just right, and as I finished reading them, I felt I had actually experienced a decent chunk of story as a big fight came to a close.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Bleach, Manga, Shonen Jump, Viz Media

Review: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Vol. 01)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, June 7, 2012

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Author: Magica Quartet
Manga-ka: Hanokage
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: May 2012

Synopsis: “When a new girl joins her class, Madoka Kaname thinks she recognizes the mysterious, dark-haired transfer student from one of her dreams…a dream where she is approached by a catlike creature who offers Madoka an opportunity to change destiny. Madoka had always thought magic was the stuff of fantasy…until she sees the transfer student fighting with the very cat being from her dream! And just like in Madoka’s dream, the cat gives her a choice. Will Madoka become a magical girl in exchange for her dearest desire? What will be the cost of having her wish come true?”

The words ‘refreshing’ and ‘different’ have been thrown around quite a bit to describe this magical girl series, and it isn’t difficult to see why. Cute girls in cute outfits battling evil things remains the base but there’s more going on than your usual fight ‘em in frills adventure here in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Does it live up to its anime? I can’t say for sure, as someone who hasn’t seen it, but I have an inkling this barely scratches the surface.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

The Review That Wasn’t: Spice & Wolf (Vol. 05)

Posted by Victoria K Martin on Sunday, April 29, 2012

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Author: Isuna Hasekura
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: December 2011

Synopsis: “Lawrence and Holo take a respite from their travels north, but a true businessman never rests! It isn’t long before an opportunity for profit in the town of Lenos presents itself to Lawrence; one that could fulfill his dreams of owning his own establishment. But as always the promise of great reward carries with it great risk – and risk is never greater than when one plans to use a werewolf as collateral!”

Hey, remember me? I used to post reviews here? No? Well, I can’t blame you for that since it has been awhile. Definitely longer than I intended it to be. And there are a few reasons for that but the main one is that I was sent the fifth volume of the Spice & Wolf light novels to review and haven’t been able to finish it. And without finishing it, I can’t really give it a proper review. I can, however, review my inability to produce a review. Or something. Roll with me here, guys.

This isn’t my first encounter with Spice & Wolf. I’ve seen the first season of the anime and about half of the second season. I even reviewed volume one way back when. My struggles weren’t due to the common issue of not knowing what is going on. No, the problems I had come down to finding it a hard book to not put down – and not entirely for negative reasons.

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Categories: Editorials, Reviews
Tags: Light Novels, Yen Press

Review: Higurashi When They Cry – Atonement Arc (Vol. 03)

Posted by Shannon Fay on Friday, April 20, 2012

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Higurashi When They Cry – Atonement Arc (Vol. 03)

Author: Ryukishio7
Manga-ka: Karin Suzuragi
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “Based on the evidence detailed in Takano’s notebook, Rena believes she’s uncovered the truth behind Oyashiro-sama’s curse and the mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa! But though Rena’s theory fits perfectly with Hinamizawa’s dark history, it is difficult for Keiichi to believe such an outlandish tale, especially given Takano’s fascination with the occult. However, Rena cannot be diverted from her obsession with the plot she believes will inevitably destroy the village. Will her mounting paranoia cause her to take drastic action once again?!”

Things continue to get darker and more dire in this volume of Higurashi. Rena has fully bought into Takano’s conspiracy theory and believes that the whole village will be wiped out if she doesn’t do something. The only person in Hinamizawa she trusts is her friend, Keiichi. While Keiichi isn’t as sold on Takano’s story, he still tries to give Rena the benefit of the doubt and help her look into it. But, as Rena digs deeper into the goings-ons in Hinamizawa, the more paranoid she gets until even her best friends start to seem like enemies.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Higurashi, Manga, Yen Press

Review: Sun Fish Moon Fish

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 5, 2012

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Author/Artist: Morag Lewis
Publisher: Sweatdrop Studios
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: October 2011

Synopsis: “Justice can be costly… The Royal Family have been murdered and the main suspect is the Court Mage Anciarin, who fled the scene in suspicious circumstances. However, not everyone is convinced of Anciarin’s guilt. Iashar, assigned to the pursuit of the fugitive, becomes increasingly sure that there is more to the murder than he first thought. His search for the truth leads him to a forgotten history – and powerful enemies. What price will Anciarin pay to fulfil the promise made to a dying prince?”

Reading a one-shot is such a satisfying experience. It’s not an easy thing to put together either – going past the realm of a short story with the planning (and self-control!) to keep it from going on and on. Sun Fish Moon Fish pulls together a pretty solid beginning, middle and end, clocking in at shy of 300 pages. Published in the UK through an independent group of comic creators called Sweatdrop Studios, Morag Lewis’s political fantasy is a learner’s work – the unrefined artwork puts some dampen on the experience but, while delivering a story with a pair of likeable characters, shows a lot promise despite a lack of polish. Note: This review contains some spoilers.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Global Manga, Sweatdrop Studios

The Coast: January – March 2012

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, April 1, 2012

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Shannon Fay and I have had a few more manga reviews published in our local free newspaper, The Coast over the past couple of months. The majority have been to their website so for a couple thumbs-up titles we shared with our local readers, you can check out the links below:

Shannon:

About Love
The Drops of God (Vol.01)

Lissa:

Codename: Sailor V
Only Serious About You (Vol. 01)

The tricky part is always deciding what to review next. It’s interesting writing reviews that are not only considerably shorter than we’re used to for Kuriousity, but also in a way that bears in mind that the majority of The Coasts’ readers likely don’t read manga – or perhaps even comics – on a regular basis, if at all.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Canada, DMP, June, Kodansha Comics, Manga, Vertical Inc

Review: Bleach (Vol. 38)

Posted by Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 2, 2012

1 Comment »

Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “The Soul Reapers must guard the four pillars that are protecting Karakura Town from destruction of the hands of Aizen’s minions. Standing guard are assistant captains Yumichika, Kira, Hisagi and Ikkaku! But when Ikkaku goes down, will Karakura Town fall with him…?!”

Bleach’s multi-volume spanning fight scenes are nothing new to readers. Engaging as they can be, by now we’re just hoping this current one will be this arc’s climax so we can finally move on. Starring an assortment of new just-for-this-fight enemies and a dozen different Shinigami, each chapter continues to focus on one or two specific characters. It’s great for learning more about those who’ve been lost to the background but not such a great arrangement if you’re waiting for what happens next.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Bleach, Manga, Shonen Jump, Viz Media