Manga Review: Meteor Prince by Meca Tanaka

Meteor Prince, Vol. 1Meteor Prince, Vol. 1

by Meca Tanaka

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always enjoy reading Tanaka. She’s such a unique voice in modern shoujo manga.

This follows a girl who is the black hole for luck — bad things just happen to her. And one day, the worst thing yet… a handsome alien lands on earth claiming she’s his destined mate!

It’s definitely cute, quirky, innocent and pretty much everything you’d hope from Tanaka. Plus, it’s only two volumes long which makes it a great series to pick up when you don’t have a lot of time.

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Manga Review: St. Lunatic High School / by Majiko!

St. Lunatic High School, Vol. 1St. Lunatic High School, Vol. 1

by Majiko!

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Niko and her brother are so impoverished they jump at the chance of a teaching job, free room and board…and free classes at the prestigious St. Lunatic high school. Only things aren’t as they seem, the house is dilapidated and on school grounds and the night school is a school for monsters…

I read this about 7 years ago, and since it was completely forgettable I decided to pick it up again and refresh my memory. I am so glad I did. This is such a silly and cute manga. The monsters are charming, the art is bold, and it’s all over just pure fun. I smiled reading the entire time.

This is a shoujo manga, so there is a little bit of romance. And, there are monsters, but they don’t come off as scary. You will probably enjoy this more if you’re middle-grade/pre-teen age.

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Video Review: Complex Age, volume 1 / by Yui Sakuma

My thoughts on Complex Age, volume 1 by Yui Sakuma.

This is a seinen (marketed to men) manga series about a young woman who loves to cosplay, but is having a hard time feeling comfortable sharing her passion with others. A very relate-able and interesting series!

One thing I didn’t mention in my video were the “translator notes” at the end of this volume. There were some really interesting insights into Japanese society and pop-culture in this manga that I’d never read before. I was very impressed with the inclusion of these notes! Just an extra thing to look forward to if you decide to pick up this manga!

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Non-Fiction Review: The Doodle Revolution by Sunni Brown

The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think DifferentlyThe Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently

by Sunni Brown

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

If you are already a doodler or drawer, or just aren’t intimidated by creative thinking, this book is not for you. Now, if you haven’t picked up a pencil since you were 6 years old, you might find some value here. But, I would still recommend that you supplement your “doodling vocabulary” with some basic clip-art or how-to-doodle books.

This is a basic class to get the most visually clueless to re-discover their pre-existing visual language. Or, more importantly what situations you can use your newly re-discovered visual language.

I’m a born doodler. I don’t need to be convinced to doodle… What I want is to know how to use my doodles more effectively. I borrowed this book to get tips on incorporating more visual elements into my university notes. Not to get a lecture (that I also give on a frequent basis) that everyone can doodle. In a way “preaching to the choir”, but also I disagreed with almost ALL of her arguments. That makes for an aggravating read.

I guess this book wasn’t for me. I did end up skimming most of it. Text-wise was a bit too casual for my liking. For example, am I supposed to understand the phrase,”crazy-ass importance”? What does that even mean? Why should my ass’ temperament determine the value of something?

In comparison, the text used in the info graphics (really just flow charts) was incredibly dry. Wouldn’t you have thought it would be the reverse. Use the casual text with pictures and the complex text without?

If you never draw. Believe you can’t draw. And work in a business that holds frequent team brainstorming sessions, this might be for you. The rest of us would be wise to look elsewhere.

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Manga Review: The Secret Sakura Shares / by Akira Hagio

The Secret Sakura SharesThe Secret Sakura Shares

by Akira Hagio

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title begins quickly, and ends quickly. It’s textbook shoujo scenarios and tropes, arranged neatly between two covers. The only thing missing was “the indirect kiss”/sharing a drink. Which oddly, made me a little sad. I like that scenario!

Unfortunately, there is no character development. There is no story development. And, there is definitely little if no tension or conflict.

Did I hate this title? No. Definitely not. Despite it’s faults it is still charming, and readable. It is a light, innocent and sweet romance with the quirky premise of a female student pretending to be the cat of a male student so that she will be taken care of after her family becomes destitute. Perfectly suited for tween-aged readers.

The biggest thing this title has going for it is that it is self-contained, which means it’s an inexpensive option if you like sickly-sweet teen romances.

If you’re a little older than a tween, but still want to read similar themes/scenarios I would recommend instead:
“Stepping on Roses / by Rinko Ueda” >> About a girl who marries a wealthy young business man to save her family. (for teen readers)
“Tramps Like Us / by Yayoi Ogawa” >> About a young woman who finds a stray boy and takes him in as her pet. (for adult readers)

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Review: The Tipping Point / by Naoki Urasawa (and others)

The Tipping PointThe Tipping Point

by Naoki Urasawa et. al.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a mixed bag for me, but that makes a lot of sense considering how many artists were involved in the creation of the work. I’m not going to go too into detail of each story, just that I enjoyed the art in about 80% of the stories… and I enjoyed the stories (or at least appreciated) the stories in about 40% of the works.

I didn’t do any research into this work before I bought it. None. So, I was a bit surprised to find that it wasn’t a single work by Naoki Urasawa. Unfortunately, his was not the strongest work in the compilation. So, I guess it’s good that there were other creators involved.

By far my favourite titles were:
Hanako’s Fart / Taiyo Matsumoto
The Awakening / Emmanuel LePage
The Child / Bastien Vives
Fish / Keiichi Koike

The production though, was very beautiful. Thick glossy pages. Large trim size.

It’s strange to me to read Japanese works in the English left to right orientation, but that’s the nature of compilations. I’m glad to see a work like this that takes creators from all over the world and puts them next to each other. I don’t know too many other publications that do the same.

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Comic Book Review: ODY-C by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward

ODY-C, Vol. 1: Off to Far IthicaaODY-C, Vol. 1: Off to Far Ithicaa

by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There’s something to be applauded for the risks taken to create this comic, had they been successful would have been an amazing experience.

As someone who has read the Odyssey many many times, I was just barely able to grasp the underlying plot. The story is told with a weird combination in what could be assumed an interpretation of epic poetry and psychedelic art.

The poetry is stilted, and does nothing to express the art or the story…and would be absolute gibberish without it. I can only assume that this heralds from the authors own misunderstanding of the source text.

The art is trippy and confusing. At times amazing and mind-blowing and at others poorly realized and messy. There were several times when I caught myself wondering how the colorist felt having to cover up desperately poor proportions and expressed movement.

For the concept and the colour, I give this comic 2 stars… But overall, I don’t recommend it.

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Non-Fiction Review: Pop Manga Coloring Book / Camilla d’Errico

Pop Manga Coloring Book: A Surreal Journey Through a Cute, Curious, Bizarre, and Beautiful WorldPop Manga Coloring Book: A Surreal Journey Through a Cute, Curious, Bizarre, and Beautiful World

by Camilla d’Errico

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would say that I would be interested in colouring about 75% of the pictures in this colouring book. Some of the images are so stunning. The children are so beautiful or cute, and the merging with animals is often so intriguing. Most pages include a highly detailed and somewhat surreal image of a young child placed in the center of the page with large white space as the background.

There are some unfortunate illustrations that were obviously copied from pencil drawings, or draft sketches. These are either not well realized as images, or just plain difficult to colour without the ability to erase line. The only way to move past this would be to use non-conventional colouring materials like acrylic paints. Whereas coloured pencils and crayon would be the preferred materials.

Camilla d’Errico’s style is more loose and sketchy, and for some images you can tell she’s tried to use the full space by adding backgrounds. Either strawberries, or geometric shapes. These are incredibly unfortunate as the art style or materials used are in competition of what she usually does. It is nice to have something in the background to colour, but d’Errico’s style is not one to fill the page. It would have been better to just do what she does rather than try to make it more “colouring-book”-like.

But, despite the problem with her backgrounds, and some poor choices, I would still say about 75% of the book is beautiful and I would be thrilled to spend time colouring in it. In an age when “adult” colouring books are all the rage, it’s nice to see something that fits somewhere between colouring for kids and the train-wreck that is most of adult colouring books who are trying to cash in on the craze.

This would be a great title for teens, or fans of Camilla d’Errico’s comic book series.

I received a digital copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

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Manga Review: The Qwaser of Stigmata / Hiroyuki Yoshino

The Qwaser Of StigmataThe Qwaser Of Stigmata

by Hiroyuki Yoshino

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

There’s just so much going on in this comic, and unfortunately it’s too much. Would this be resolved and ironed out in subsequent volumes? I’m not sure, but I’m also not interested in reading further.

Plot-wise, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. There’s a strange combination of religion and science. Which in modern-day are two things at odds with each other. It’s no wonder that they don’t work in this comic either.

From what I gather, there are a number of “Qwasers” who have the power to manipulate certain chemicals. Yoshino takes this idea and runs wild with it, adding in explanations based in chemistry to explain how the powers work, and why certain effects were reached. In a way, I appreciated this, but also… *snore*.

The series sits on the foundation of western religious symbolism, reworked for Yoshino’s purpose with a particular fascination with women’s (or more particularly, Mary’s) breasts. yeah. I’m often interested in the reworking of religious symbolism, but that particular fascination with Mary just goes a bit too far. He could have cut that bit out completely.

There is a potential underlining story under all of this “stuff”, but it is so weighted down by Yoshino’s ideas, in an attempt at combining all of his ideas into one comic, that it is lost.

The art is fair. I did like the character design of the blond-haired Russian, Sasha. The one bleeding eye was a clever reference of certain icons. But, overall, it wasn’t impressive.

If it wasn’t obvious by now, you can be sure that I didn’t like this comic, and I definitely won’t recommend it to anyone, especially if you’re offended by fan service or belong to certain religious groups. This will be nothing but offensive to you.

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