Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 3

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 3 by Naoko Takeuchi Usagi Tsukino doesn’t look much like hero material at first glance.  She’s clumsy, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and a bit of a crybaby.  But Usagi has a secret heritage, and when talking cat Luna seeks her out, Usagi becomes the bishoujo senshi (“pretty… Continue reading Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 3

Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters

Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters by Toshiki Hirano & Narumi Kakinouchi The Shinma (“god-demons”) are supernatural creatures that come from a place known as the Darkness, which many of them have escaped from to the bright and warm Earth.  It is the fate of Miyu, born of the union of a vampiric… Continue reading Manga Review: Vampire Princess Miyu Volume Two: Encounters

Manga Review: Servant X Service 1

Manga Review: Servant X Service 1 by Karino Takatsu In a certain city in a certain prefecture of Japan, the Health & Welfare Department has hired three new people.  Yutaka Hasebe, a highly competent slacker; Lucy (etc.) Yamagami, a strait-laced woman with an improbable name,  and Saya Miyoshi, an under-confident woman who has a tendency to… Continue reading Manga Review: Servant X Service 1

Manga Review: Nisekoi

Manga Review: Nisekoi by Naoshi Komi Raku Ichijo is a mild-mannered teenager who just happens to be the heir-apparent to the Shuei-Gumi Yakuza clan.  He wants nothing to do with this, intending to become a strait-laced civil servant when he grows up.  Raku also dreams of romance.  He has a lock pendant from ten years… Continue reading Manga Review: Nisekoi

Manga Review: Orange the Complete Collection 1

Manga Review: Orange the Complete Collection 1 by Ichigo Takano If you could send a letter to yourself ten years in the past, what would you say?  “Life will get better after high school”?  “Don’t drink and drive”?  “Here are the winning lottery numbers for [date]”?  On the first day of her junior year of… Continue reading Manga Review: Orange the Complete Collection 1

Manga Review: Inuyashiki #1-3

Manga Review: Inuyashiki #1-3 by Hiroya Oku Life is tough for Ichiro Inuyashiki.  He’s only 58, but looks a good ten years older.  His wife and children think he’s a loser (and they’re not entirely wrong,) he gets pushed around by jerks, and now he has cancer.  The prognosis is terminal, a few months at… Continue reading Manga Review: Inuyashiki #1-3

Manga Review: Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus 1

Manga Review: Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus 1 written by Kazuo Koike, art by Goseki Kojima Ogami Itto was once a samurai warrior of high rank, the official executioner for the shogunate.  He had a lovely wife and new son; life was good.  But another clan was ambitious, and framed Ogami for treason.  Under sentence of… Continue reading Manga Review: Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus 1

Manga Review: Noragami: Stray God #1

Manga Review: Noragami: Stray God #1 by Adachitoka Mutsumi is in a bad way.   Not only is she under stress studying for the high school entrance exams, but her classmates have turned against her, bullying Mutsumi and encouraging her to self-harm.  She’s locked herself in a toilet stall for a good cry when suddenly… Continue reading Manga Review: Noragami: Stray God #1

Manga Review: Showa 1926 1939 a History of Japan

Manga Review: Showa 1926 1939 a History of Japan by Shigeru Mizuki This is the first volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s  massive history of Japan during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, the “Showa Era,”  It was a long reign, covering most of the Twentieth Century, from 1926-1989.  In addition to the larger story of Japan, it… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa 1926 1939 a History of Japan

Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2

Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2 written by Kazuo Koike, art by Goseki Kojima Yamada “Decapitator” Asaemon is the o-tameshiyaku, sword-tester for the shogun and official executioner of criminals.  It’s not a pretty job, but at least he has one in Edo-era Japan, during a time of peace.  Without wars to fight, many of the samurai… Continue reading Manga Review: Samurai Executioner Omnibus 2