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 What I'm Lookin' At: Early September 2009
Written by Park Cooper
Black Jack v6
Vertical
Well, it’s more Black Jack, and it’s more Black Jack coolness. I’m starting to really feel challenged about how to sell you on Black Jack in new and different ways every time, when Black Jack is simply Black Jack, and if you like Black Jack, you will also like this volume... I guess I’ll hit you non-spoilery highlights from a couple of this volume’s stories:
“Revenge”: Japan’s board of directors decides they want Black Jack to either accept a medical license, or be in jail, once and for all. A powerful old man decides he wants Black Jack to operate on his son, or else. Will ANYONE come out a winner in this scenario?
“Terror Virus”: A terrible outbreak on a ship causes the government to secretly hire Black Jack—and rival Dr. Kiriko, the euthanasia-happy doctor we’ve met in previous volumes. But even if they’re successful, will Black Jack and Dr. Kiriko end up knowing too much for their own good?
Okay, if that doesn’t whet your appetite, heck with you.
Goong v5, Yen Press
This manga is just not for me. One might like it if one likes shoujo about modern princesses involved with romantic difficulties. Barb: "I think the art is rather pretty... quite manhwa pretty." She's still a bit burned out on reviewing right at this moment, or else she might've reviewed it herself.
Zombie Loan v6, Yen Press:
I'd long been interested in this title, since... well, since it has the word Zombie in the title. But I really can't say that I cotton to it... Basically, there are people who kill zombies... but no one does it for free. I understood the concept okay by the time I finished reading it, but now, a few weeks later, I can't quite recall how it all works. There’s no guide inside to who’s whom or what has gone before. This should appeal to the readers of Bleach, though; that should tell you something...
Barb: “I think the art’s cute. In sort of an East-meets-West way.”
B.Ichi v3, Yen Press
I can’t tell what’s going on in this fighting manga. There’s a lot of fighting, and apparently some robots. There are special weapons... and... bones... There’s people in strange outfits. I guess it might appeal to fans of other fighting manga... who... like... strange people and robots...? The back comes the closest to giving me a hint of what’s up: there’s a Robot Fight tournament... We’re against the King of Spin... Spin as used here might be a special fighting style or move... Our heroes are attacking the “Fear Factory,” which seems to be involved with robots somehow... Does that help?
I swear, a bunch of kids probably just jumped up from their computers and bolted for the store to buy this based on my description...
Barb: “Uh... the art here is even more... East-meets-Westy... the art is like a more... grown-up and advanced One Piece?”
Me: “You mean LESS grown-up and LESS advanced, right?”
Barb: “No, it’s more grown-up.”
Me: “Oh, you mean in emotional TONE. Less cartoonish, sort of. Okay.”
Barb: “It’s... less crowded.”
Me: “It’s... incredibly MORE crowded. That’s part of why I have so much trouble telling what’s going on.”
Barb: “Okay... you need to tell the readers... that... aspiring manga-ka who wanna see how indie comics and manga have, and will, influence one another... could find this interesting.”
Me: “Done, and done.”
Barb, doing her impression of Baby Snooks from old-time radio (for some reason): "I... like the guy on the cover... he has a big gun and white hair, so that's pretty. ...Big gun prob'ly go boom real loud."
Me: "Okay, you win."
Tena on S-String v1
Yen Press
This manga is okay if you like this sort of thing. This is a supernatural manga with a musical theme—there are (instead of shinigami) Soul Tuners, who adjust people’s Soul Scores, the music of the soul. Oops, a convenient-to-the-plot accident released some weird viral notes into the world, and they’re causing havoc in human lives, so we have to trouble-shoot.
Into this concept comes music teacher Kyosuke Hibiki, who was hit by a car, put in the hospital, and when he woke up, he could hear and see Soul Scores as lines of musical notes swirling around people. Soon he’s got a goth-loli-lookin’ Soul Tuner living with him... and then two more...
It’s Oh My Goddess meets Bleach meets xxxHolic meets Nightmare Inspector meets... well just about everything else you’d expect. It’s not badly done, but the only original part is the combo of a light, harmless supernatural manga with the musical theme. The adaptation sometimes feels like it could use just a little more tweaking, but mostly is pretty good. If you like every other light, comedic, supernatural manga, there’s a good chance you’ll like this one too, since this one is like most of them put together with a slightly new take on things...
Waq Waq v1
Viz Media
This manga is not for me. In a futuristic dystopia where peasants struggle to survive, bad robotic creatures threaten everybody. The cyborg corps known as the super-cool-and-tough Guardians protect the peasants... but there is a rumored being called a Kami who can grant a wish, or save us all, or something like that, called a Kami... and one guy thinks he’s found the Kami—the mythical person whose blood is red, not black!
Wait, what? Everyone else’s blood is black? That’s the only twist that keeps me curious to know more, and (perhaps wisely?) they haven’t explained to me why human-looking beings don’t have red blood these days...
If you like fightin’ and sci-fi and the-world-fell-apart-already scenarios, you might like Waq Waq. But personally, I would recommend trying Dark Horse’s _Banya: The Explosive Deliveryman_ (of course, Waq Waq is for teens, and Banya is for somewhat older readers, as I recall, but hey).
Gestalt v2
Viz Media
This manga is not for me. It’s a supernatural adventure with a lot of pretty girls in vaguely fan-service poses... Basically, there’s a big bad demon, and there’s Oliver, a priest, who I think is headed to the taboo continent known only as G (the whole continent is forbidden? Really? Must be pretty taboo to keep people from going there)—I think the bad demon thing was there at one time, and probably still is, so I bet Oliver’s quest is to deal with that. Helping him is a sorcerer who used to be a guy but lost one fight or bet too many, and now is mute and... female... there’s a dark elf along for the ride, too... in fact there’s a lotta elves in this volume...
Everyone’s pretty, everyone’s magical (or divinely magical)... you get the idea, especially if you’ve experienced Saiyuki and/or Record of Lodoss War and/or Black God... if you like other supernatural fantasies, you may like this one, because this one is a lot like those ones...
Cirque du Freak v2: The Vampire’s Assistant
Yen Press
Actually, I liked this volume better than the last volume of same. The set-up volume sometimes felt awkward... this one was somewhat better. The illustrator/manga-creator-who’s-adapting-the-book-series mentioned getting the hang of it better this time, and I agree. The adaptation is maybe a little bit better than last time, or, at least, I noticed clunkiness less often.
The boy who loves spiders who became a vampire (or half-vampire?) last time is trying to learn the ropes of being a vamp this time, but finds it extremely hard... especially drinking blood from humans (which, while it can be delayed, is needed for his survival sooner or later)... and also, the lack of other humanoid contact besides his mentor. To solve the second one, the two of them return to where it all started— the Cirque du Freak. There, our protagonist makes a new friend of a reptile boy, and makes even more friends... but there’s also tragedy ahead, which almost (but not quite) made me a little surprised that this only has a teen rating, instead of older teen. Oh well, at least we aren’t afraid to really go for it... no bloodless, safe series, this.
All in all, I feel better about this series than I did at first, so I wouldn’t cry if Yen Press sent me a volume 3 of it some day.
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