Words of Truth and Wisdom: Notes
Written by Alethea and Athena Nibley

This column is going to be a little hard to write for three reasons. One, Anime Expo is coming up, and we're excited. Two, there's a certain video game that we're dying to get back to. And three, we came up with the idea for this particular column almost two weeks ago and weren't smart enough to write it down then. We thought about it, but we were obsessed with another video game. Anyway, many of you are aware that, in the process of translating...
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Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u)
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

Kaguya doesn't remember who she is or why she has a huge scar on her back. Six months ago, she was found injured and unconscious in a field of bamboo. Now she works as a housekeeper and babysitter at a brothel, living her new life simply as "Kaguya". Kaguya's real identity is entwined with two men--Hanzou, a handsome bodyguard of Okazaki Castle, and Hanzo, a leader of the ninja village of Iga. Between amnesia and mistaken identity, no one knows...
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Kurohime v9
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Well I’ll be; it’s been awhile, but here’s something I’ve been waiting for: a title with just enough kick, action, humor and drama to make it a title not only worth ranting about BUT for which I’d want to go back to the first volume and review the whole series from ground zero. Finally. I didn’t think I’d see this day again. Kurohime apparently never played God of War, or she’d have known the whole axiomatic thing about biting the deities that you...
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What I'm Keepin' Track Of: June 23rd, 2009
Written by Park Cooper

It's the special dual-company, three-letter, end-of-alphabet episode of What I'm Keepin' Track Of-- Viz and Yen. Black God v6, Yen: Hmmm. This is one of those supernatural adventure stories with some fighting in it... like, say, FullMetal Alchemist, only (MOSTLY) set in the real world... it’s okay. I’m a little hampered by coming in on volume 6, and yet, it’s at the start of volume 6 that you get the full backstory of the female lead, Kuro, a mostly-likable...
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High School Debut v10
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

After volume 9's single-minded focus on the upcoming school sports festival, vol. 10 of High School Debut is back to the series' more usual presentation of several shorter storylines. First up, we have the actual festival (it flies by remarkably quickly, given how much buildup there was) and the outcome of Asaoka's bet with Yoh. Later in the volume, Yoh finally meets Haruna's family, which I personally think is the highlight of the book. (I don't...
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The Lapis Lazuli Crown v1
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

In the kingdom of Savarin, it's not uncommon to have magical powers. But young Miel really isn't interested in developing her own, despite her family's history as some of the most important magicians in the realm. She's trying to live a more mundane life, much to the frustration of Sara, her older, over-achieving sister. Her life changes one day when she meets a young man who claims to be a stranger in town. Is it only a coincidence that he looks...
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What Ysabet's Reading: June 23, 2009
Written by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

My list of manga to review has gotten pretty long again, so rather than eke out full-length reviews over the next several weeks I'll write up another round of short reviews to give you a more immediate look at what I've been reading lately. This time around I'm looking at several recent and upcoming shoujo titles from VIZ: vol. 6 of Monkey High! (Shouko Akira), vol. 13 of Love*Com (Aya Nakahara), vol. 4 of Haruka - Beyond the Stream of Time (Tohko...
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Words of Truth and Wisdom: Spelling
Written by Alethea and Athena Nibley

The other day, we were discussing the challenges of translating Negima! with someone, and, while there are many, many, many challenging things about translating Negima!, the one we focused on most was the spells. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Negima!, basically what you need to know is that there are a lot of spells, with incantations to go with them. Like in Final Fantasy Tactics, how sometimes the characters will say a cool little chant...
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Goong v5
Reviewed by Joy Kim

The fifth volume of the manhwa Goong finds crown prince Shin visiting the royal family of England. Left behind in Korea, Chae-Kyung grows more and more lonely--and ever more vulnerable to the schemes of the Yul's mother, the new daebi. Will new rounds of scandal bring the young royal couple closer together, or will they push them even further apart? This review copy was my first taste of this popular manhwa series. Normally starting a manhwa or manga...
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Venus Capriccio v1
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

Takami is tall, attractive and funny. But when one more guy she was interested in dumps her, she's at her wit's end to figure out what she's doing wrong. Maybe it's because she's interested in the wrong kind of guys--boys who want their girlfriends to act more "girly" than Takami. So she turns to her musical prodigy friend Akira for support. They've known each other since they started taking piano lessons as kids. Will their long time connection develop...
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Detroit Metal City v1
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

There’s all kinds of content in the world. There are titles that surpass time, space, and known existence to become the greatest reads you’ll ever come across, titles that are quirky and fun and beautiful and so recommendable all at the same time (Azumanga Daioh). There are reads that are for the fandom, reads for the die-hard purists of a genre or series, and reads that appeal to one group or another. Then there’s whatever the hell Detroit Metal...
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What I’m Keepin’ Track Of: Yen Press, June 10th, 2009
Written by Park Cooper

“Man, I hate this. I wanna go teach _nowwww_,” I said. “I know, you’re always like that at the start of a new semester, including summer semesters. Why don’t you do your manga pile there? Write a new ‘What I’m Keeping Track Of.’” I liked the name and the idea so much, I went with both. And so, as the theme to Lupin plays in the background, here we go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJYxy2060c First up, some stuff from Yen Press. Cirque Du Freak...
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