RIGHT TURN ONLY!!
Is That A Kiba In Your Pocket...
by Liann Cooper,
Hey all! Please try and bear with me as I play the fun game known as "Catch Up." Because of this, you will undoubtedly see some releases from as far back as August in addition to the more recent and stuff. As always, thanks for your and thanks for reading!
Buy It Now!  CLAMP Released by Del Rey October 2004 $10.95 US Once you flip to page 30 and see poor Hajime Yamamura Released by Media Blasters September 2004 $9.99 US If I recall correctly, a couple of readers were dying to get their hands on all the “weird” manga they could. Well, here's another title to add to your lists – Kamunagara. It's a strangely intriguing story of a normal teenager named Kugaya who one day discovers that he has inherited supernatural powers. Not just plain ol' “supernatural powers,” but powerful ones that cause his hand to sprout a gigantic sword and then drive him to hack up possessed animals. Does it get better? You bet it does! Not only does Kugaya gain ultra-wicked powers, he also snags the affections of the most popular girl in school. Turns out Takemi was Kugaya's lover in a past life and has been waiting for him to return to her. Word to the wise: When your boyfriend from long ago is already overwhelmed by the acquisition of occult superpowers... don't drop the “I love you” bomb on him. Eventually we find out that Kugaya's reason for sprouting large weaponry and having fits of bloody violence is attributed to the fact that an ancient seal between the human world and the demonic world – the Underbelly- has been broken. Now it's up to the “Guardians of the Seal” (which consists of Kugaya and Takemi so far) to patch the rift. Being only the second series I've read from Media Blasters, I'm already feeling confident in their ability to release solidly produced series. Presented with sharp, crisp print quality, the detailed grotesqueness of the monstrosities that Kugaya and Takemi must fight – take one look at the scene with the mutated dog and you'll know what I'm talking about – are only emphasized. Kamunagara starts off on one heck of a right foot with its creepy story and horrific illustrations. I, for one, can't wait to see what creations volume two brings.
 Until the Full Moon = Vampire boys in love. See the difference? ....... Good! I it that I was sad when shounen-ai. Georgio and Legal Drug Volume 1 Story & Art by CLAMP Released by Tokyopop October 2004 $9.99 US Two CLAMP titles in the Buy It section?! Why, I believe this is a first. In complete contrast to the bold look of xxxHOLiC, Legal Drug contains the light stylings of Natsuki Takaya Released by Tokyopop October 2004 $9.99 US A new volume... a new member of the Takeshi Obata Released by Viz September 2004 $7.95 US Who would've thought that plunking glass pebbles on a wooden table would be so entertaining? Not me, for one. But, even with this being only the second volume, Hikaru no Go has captured my attention and I find myself enjoying the characters immensely. Following the Go-playing ventures of Hikaru Shindo and his Go expert, spirit-friend Kaoru Ohashi Released by Tokyopop October 2004 $9.99 US Ren and Rai are good-looking guys who are perfectly normal aside from the fact that, in exchange for supernatural powers, they sold their souls to the demon Diabolo. In obtaining the powers, the two hoped that they would be able to find Ren's cousin, Mio. But ten years later, the boys are now 17 and running out of time. They haven't found Mio, and once they turn 18 they will change into such vile creatures that not even nightmares can predict. You know how a book can have a really great premise but poor execution? I fear this is what happened to Diabolo. It starts off pretty damn exciting with a schoolgirl who freaks out after she sees her beheaded neighbor, gets attacked by a crazy dog, and finds out that she's pregnant with... herself. That's right, HERSELF. She gets rescued by Ren and Rai who in turn tell her that she can't succumb to the evil or she'll turn into a headless demon... or something. Then it gets all cryptic with the pair reiterating a promise to kill each other once they become inhuman and then going around killing those who have become consumed by Diabolo. I've always cringed when a book becomes so episodic that you start seeing it in pieces, rather than a complete storyline. Sadly, Diabolo started to disintegrate into such episodic chapters that I couldn't figure out if each incident was a standalone or not. Due to having such strong potential, I'm not shrugging this one off yet. I just hope things start to gel a little more in the next couple of volumes or I'm going to be sorely disappointed.  Toshitsugu Iida Released by Viz October 2004 $9.99 US After watching Hiro Matsuba Released by ADV Manga November 2004 $9.99 US Everyone has a bit of a sweet tooth, and mine happens to enjoy fluffy, saccharine-injected manga. More Starlight to Your Heart is a diabetic's worst nightmare. With its sweet story about a klutzy girl in love with a cutie-pie guy, this one's sure to melt you into a quivering puddle of syrup. Lady Akane is head-over-heels for Aogi, one of the palace guards and Aogi is completely smitten with Lady Akane. What's the hitch, you ask? Lady Akane's father. He has forbidden Aogi to set foot within the inner palace halls in order to keep Aogi and Akane separated. But, Akane is sneaky and has worked out a secret agreement with her mother to become a servant of the court. This way she'll be able to see Aogi without her father finding out. It's never made clear how Akane's father doesn't find out that Akane is working as a servant or how nobody realizes that Lady Akane is the servant named... AKANE! We just know that Akane's mother, brother, and Akane's maid are in on the secret - and Aogi, of course. With a mind-numbingly ridiculous plot and wispy-haired, pretty boys and girls running rampant across the pages, this is just about as Gureko Nankin Released by ComicsOne November 2004 $9.95 US Take the first season of Power Rangers (when they were cool), make Rita a hot babe, replace the battle scenes with goofy hijinks involving playgrounds and chocolate, and you have yourself volume one of Imperfect Hero. I believe Imperfect Hero was supposed to set off the "this series is supposed to be knee-slapping funny" bells that similar works- like Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade - were to have set off. The thing is...with me, the bells remained silent. Focusing on a group of five high schoolers who transform into the top secret battalion called Gakusei 5 (also known as G5) and fight against their archnemisis, the totally sexy Mayura. However, due to a battle "injury," Mayura has recently become disoriented and makes her way down to earth to find a boyfriend. How the series jumped from saving the world from a busty villain to having the boobified vixen find a boyfriend, I have no idea. Of course, Mayura ends up in the company of the wimpiest member of the G5, G-Green, also known as Yuji. Will Yuji be able to push aside the hotness that is Mayura and destroy Earth's most nefarious enemy? Will the G5 realize he's housing her and rip him to shreds? Most importantly - Will you care enough to continue reading? Most likely answer: Maybe; if you like "OMG! MY HAIR LOOKS TOTALLY CUTE WITH THIS BOW!! SHOOT A LASER Rin Asano Released by ADV Manga November 2004 $9.99 US Meet Ryohei, victim of a terrible haircut, newly appointed guardian of one chibified girl, and son of a father who made a promise to a dead guy. Ryohei's problems began when his father, in a rather inebriated state, agreed to become manager of a housing complex called Tengai-ya. After Ryohei befriends the rather odd tenants of Tengai-ya, he stumbles upon a glowing rock which "hatches" a hyperactive, dumpling-faced girl named Anjū. With his father oblivious to the strange goings on, Ryohei becomes hopelessly entangled in situations that involve talking buttons and walking pocket watches which in turn eventually cause him to out and get tossed into the local hotsprings. While the actual idea of a haunted village is interesting, Tengai Retrogical is not. Maybe it's the generic characters or the bland environments in which they live...or maybe it's the silly gumball of a girl who runs around collecting memories of inanimate objects. Uh huh...Anjū collects memories of...things...for midget Santa Claus-like beings in order to SAVE EARTH! YAY! Tengai Retrogical needs to decide if it's going to be super cute or super spooky because at the moment it's not accomplishing either. The book is incredibly bad, but rather Tengai Retrogical is so unimpressive that just ends up being incredibly boring. |
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