Category: Manga of the Month

Manga of the Month: February

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Saint Tail by Megumi Tachikawa

Saint Tail is a short, fun, and a little bit romantic magical girl series. Meimi, alter ego Saint Tail, and her friend Seira, a nun-in-training, spend their time much like wannabe Robin Hoods. Seira finds out what happened and Saint Tail steals back that which has been stolen from the practitioners. However, any good thief must have a rival desperate to catch them. Most of the city, and especially Asuka Jr., think Saint is a menacing phantom thief on the loose. Of course Asuka Jr. has no idea that his classmate, who maybe he is getting a crush on, and the famous thief, who he is also falling for, are the very same girl. Add in some great characters like Sawatari the school’s newspaper man, Asuka’s famous father, and Meimi’s off beat parents for spice. Megumi’s artwork is very charming and the very innocent romance playing out between Meimi and Asuka couldn’t be more appealing. Saint Tail is easily one of the best magical girls!

Yankee-kun to Megane-chan by Miki Yoshikawa

I was sold on Yankee-kun to Megane-chan by the name alone. And I was not disappointed. When I later learned that Miki Yoshikawa had been Mashima Hiro’s assistant it gave me some insight into style and tone of the manga while still retaining a distinct impression that this a unique work. If you like the style of Rave Master you will also enjoy Yankee-kun to Megane-chan’s art.

Shinagawa Daichi is famous for being one of the biggest delinquents at the school. One day Daichi is trying to have smoke on the toilet when his female class representative, Hana Adachi, bursts into the restroom forcing him on the school trip. Although Hana seems like a model class president it turns out she used to be an even bigger punk than Daichi and dumber than him to boot. As part of her new reformed image she is trying to be the ideal student president and solve her classmates’ problems. Soon Hana is dragging Daichi into her bizarre plans as well. Daichi begins to have a crush on Hana but can never figure out if she likes him or not.

The characters are quite charming and well suited for comedy. Daichi and Hana play off each other quite well. Daichi is the prefect straight man to Hana’s insane worldview. Miki Yoshikawa also has a very good grasp of just how long to build up a joke before setting off the punchline. The supporting characters are just as engaging, especially the ultra cute in a punk fashion, Rinka Himeji. I find Rinka intensely amusing and she has her own unique reality that complements Hana’s. There is also a cute little love story between Daichi and Hana that is somewhat slow to develop but that is sort of the nature of romantic comedies. Still Miki shows her ability to take the best of shojo and shonen and fuse them into something great.

Manga of the Month: January

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Mirai Nikki by Esuno Sakae

I will state right off the bat that Mirai Nikki is not for everyone but anyone who does not mind some disturbing violence should give it a try. Also the main heroine could easily turn off many readers. I am not sure myself if I like Mirai Nikki but it is fascinating enough that I keep reading. Oh, Narutaki wanted me to mention that Mirai Nikki translated literally to English is Future Diary which he felt was rather a lame name. I can’t disagree.

Yukiteru Amano is an introverted young man. One morning he discovers that the observational diary he keeps in his cellphone now updates daily to tell him the future. And there are eleven other diary holders who have similar diaries who want to kill him. The survivor becomes the next god of time and space. Amano’s main problem is that his diary is limited to how he wrote it before the game began so it only tells him the action of others and nothing about himself. Yuno Gasai, a beautiful honor student, also turns out to be a diary holder. Her diary does nothing but tell her what happens to Amano. Because it’s her stalking diary. It turns out that Yuno is quite quite unbalanced and has a rather disturbing obsession with Amano. Amano reluctantly teams up with Yuno but wonders if his ally is worse than his enemies.

Amano trying to figure out who the other diary holders are and what the strengths and weaknesses of their diaries are is my main draw to the series. All the other diary holders seem to be as psychotic as Yuno and out to kill him. The confrontations move at a good pace so that we get a good feel of how most of the other diary holders work while not dragging on. Unless they decide to throw in some story extending plot development I am fairly sure the series will end around book 12. There is also an insanely awesome side character who I want to talk about but in doing so might ruin their sheer awesome. I know that Yuno’s insane antics which are sometimes played for laughs but mostly rightfully damn creepy are the main draw for the vocal fans of the manga. I myself can’t really fall in love with anyone that creepy but I think she fits in well with the themes of the manga and give the manga an unique feel. Try it because you just might like it.

Atashi wa Bambi by Yoko Maki

Maki Yoko is known for her fluffy shojo romances and Atashi wa Bambi is certainly that but it has another layer that makes it one of my favorite works by her. Mai starts high school with a goal, fall in love and get a boyfriend. She has changed her attitude but retains her free-spirit and isn’t a pushover. She meets best friends Sen and Yaezou, she is attracted to Sen and eventually starts pursuing him. The guys seem like opposites, Sen is dark-haired and quiet and Yaezou is light-haired and snarky. Yaezou forms an instant dislike for Mai practically coming to blows before she learns that he has also fallen for Sen. Thus their rivalry-friendship begins. And that is really where the series excels, the sweet and sad friendship that develops between these two. They love and lose but form a real bond and end with something better than they were out looking for.

Manga of the Month: December

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Yoroshiku Master by Sakura Tsukuba

I picked this story with the holiday spirit in mind! It is by a manga-ka that I really enjoy and have talked about on occasion. She writes really spunky females and good-hearted romantic leads. This series is ongoing and she writes a little of it now and again. In this story, Sagara has a chance meeting with a guy named Kaito who all of a sudden transforms into a reindeer?! Not only that, he informs her that she is one of many santas. Funny, sweet, fluff ensues as Sagara gets to know Kaito (and his hilarious family) and as they prepare for the most important night of the year, Christmas Eve! There is no major drama here just light-hearted romance that is a perfect match for the season!

Liar Game by Shinobu Kaitani

Liar Game starts with Nao Kanzaki dropping of a 100 yen bill that she finds to the police to show us that she is stupidly honest. So when she gets involved in a game about being a great con-artist she is without a doubt up a creek without a paddle. She comes home to a package that reveals she has been chosen to take part in the Liar Game tournament. The briefcase contains 100 million yen and a set of rules. When the round is over she must give back the 100 million yen. Any money she takes from other players is hers to keep. Any money she loses she must pay back. Soon enough she winds up loosing all her money to a fellow player. Out of despair she teams up with a brilliant con-artist named Shinichi Akiyama,who has recently been released from prison. The Liar Game tournament is much bigger than they might have guessed. Also learn the organization behind the tournament seems to have some greater but unknown designs behind their games.

Whenever Liar Game comes up in conversation it is almost always compared to Death Note. This is not an unfair comparison since the core appeal to both series is the psychological games of cat and mouse. In each stage of the tournament, it is Nao and Shinichi trying to figure out the underlying strategy needed to win the game while deducing their opponents strategy. Shinobu Kaitani has been good at building up the tension until the end of each round of the game. There was also a 11 episode live action version made and was rather well received.