Category: Manga

Ongoing Investigations: Case #161

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When we went to go see A Letter to Momo our little group went on a side trip to Kinokuniya. These trips are always dangerous. I did not pick up anything but my roommate purchased the Fate/Complete Material volume 5 art book which of course was of no small interest to me.This is a very hefty art book all about Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. As I have never played Fate/Hollow it is always nice to get some more insight into that game. I have to say that I was slightly surprised that Bazett was the character on the cover. While she is one of the most important characters in the game she generally tends to be overlooked in most materials.The first part of the book shows all the designs from the returning characters. I never noticed how many odd little outfits Rin gets in this game. Interestingly enough all the new characters are near the back of the book in their own section. Also apparently that trio of girls who are the stars of Fate/School Life are rather prominent in Fate/Hollow. While they are no main characters that is a still a major upgrade from barely having names to becoming reoccurring minor characters. I wonder how they got that popular. There is also an amazingly wealth of background images and production sketches. Sadly I could not read the accompanying notes but I am sure they are filled with fascinating little details. Overall like the rest of the Complete Material books this is an amazing resource. As a side note they don’t have any materials from the sex scenes. I know that is a selling point for some people and a deal breaker for others. There is a whole page of naked Saber bum but other than that it is all clean as a whistle. It is definitely something I will pick up for myself when I have money again. If nothing else it only makes me want to play Fate/Hollow Ataraxia even more.


The Knight in the Area isn’t the best soccer anime you’ll see, but it does a solid job. I have to say I was surprised about the brother’s fate, I mean it was obvious Kakeru would have to go it alone, but the details of it were unexpected. As Kakeru finds his soccer spirit again, he decides to change schools looking for a player his brother respected. The players at Enoshima are a colorful bunch and I’m really enjoying the way they play off each other. The pacing is almost too fast however which leads to people saying a lot of things rather than showing them or us feeling them. I am pleased that in episodes 9-10 Seven is getting more of story. And she is a force to be reckoned with, quickly showing she has more skill than Kakeru and the boys of the team. It was really gratifying to see her far bypassing our main character. Kakeru is a player who will struggle for each new step and that is just fine.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #159

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I remember hearing about Friends with Boys when I was listening to Manga Out Loud podcast and thinking it sounded interesting but I forgot to look into the title further. But when I remembered I could read the comic online as web comic as mentioned again on the 3 Chicks Review Comics podcast I set aside some time to read Friends with Boys. The first thing that stuck me was the art reminded me of the art of Chynna Clugston. Both women have a style that is clearly manga aware but is equally informed by a wide variety of comic traditions. Faith Erin Hicks will discuss Tezuka as quickly as Bone when she is commenting on a page of her comic. She has an expressive style that lends itself equally well to web comics as well as traditional print comics. The story itself has two main layers. The first is the story of how Maggie McKay has to deal with going to a public high school after being home schooled all her life. At the same time there is a supernatural element of Maggie being able to see ghosts. The highest praise I can give the story is that if you removed all of the supernatural parts I would have found the story equally enjoyable. Maggie learning to make friends outside of her brothers with the punk Lucy and her brother Alistair was perfectly wonderful. While the ghost story tied the mundane drama together it was never forced to pick up the slack on the story. If anything it felt slightly thrown it just to make the story stand out as more than a mundane tale of friendship and self discovery. It did not detract from the story but it was an unusual addition. I will mention that not every plot element is wrapped up. If you want answers to every question the story poses you will be disappointed. The main story arc is resolved satisfactorily but certain side elements are left to your imagination. I don’t think the story is purposefully written to be a ongoing series. A sequel could be written but nothing in the book demands it. I would read more about the life of Maggie McKay and her friends and family but do not feel cheated if I never got more. The story itself is only up as a web comic for a few more days if you want to sample it but you can buy the physical book right now as well. As a side note what has Chynna Clugston been up to recently?

Avatar the Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures is a collection of short comics with mini-stories that happened during each of the seasons of the TV series. The book is divided into sections based on the books in which each story takes place. It is a little disconcerting if only because you are somewhat forced to remember what was happening at that particular moment, but you get on board fairly quickly. There are lots of different artists and writers so some are more stand out than others. I particularly liked the stylization by Brian Ralph for Momo’s adventure and the youthfulness of Gurihiru’s art. The greatest and most hilarious moments include the return of Wang Fire. It is a fun collection of mostly humorous anecdotes but nothing that screams buy this!

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Manga of the Month: GTO: The Early Years

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GTO: The Early Years aka Shonan Junai Gumi (湘南純愛組!) by Tohru Fujisawa

Since I already did GTO: Shonan 14 Days as a Manga of the Month it is only natural that I recommend GTO: The Early Years as the companion piece. Shonan Junai Gumi is where Eikichi Onizuka’s adventure started. I always had a vague feeling there was a longer story that occurred before GTO when I first read the series. Characters make quick reference to old stories and grudges. Characters would pop on to the scene with minimal introduction. Ryuji Danma and Onziuka seemed to have had a tremendous amount of back story. But I did not think much about it and just assumed Tohru Fujisawa liked it hint at a greater story than he was telling. But when I learned that GTO was a sequel to an equally long manga called Shonan Junai Gumi it all made sense. So I was thrilled when Tokopop started releasing the original series and crushed when they closed up shop leaving the manga unfinished. Thankfully Vertical has licensed recused this series and is putting their own signature polish of the title.

Back before he was the greatest teacher in Japan Eikichi Onizuka was just a teenager with his friend Ryuji Danma and they both had a dream. To finally lose their virginity. It just so happens these two goofy teens are also the toughest delinquents in all of Japan. So the Oni-Baku has to fight all stripes of insane thugs, miscreants, yankees, criminals, and psychopaths to keep their reputation while trying to find love (or at least satisfy their lust) with some lucky ladies. They build quite a gang for themselves in the process.

It is great to get the end of the beginning of the Onizuka legacy when it seemed like this part of the story would not see a full licensed release in the US. While this part of the story is a bit cruder than later parts of Onizuka’s story it also has its own energy that is not present in the later iterations as well. The art and story telling is a bit less refined but I feel the humor is a bit ruder, the action a bit wilder, and the stakes a bit higher. As Tohru Fujisawa goes on in his career his work gets much more refined but he loses a bit of spontaneity in the process. This is the raw and uncut Onizuka. I would like to see this do well because then Vertical can go back and redo the old Tokoyopop versions of GTO: The Early Years and maybe even GTO itself. If you want more Onizuka there is the new Ino-Head Gargoyle that continues the GTO legacy with Saejima Toshiyuki who has been with the GTO franchise since Shonan Junai Gumi as well.