The Tenpo Era was a time in Japan when misfortune upon misfortune was heaped on the land. In Ghost Slayers Ayashi, which takes place in the volatile Tenpo Era, life might not be getting better, but some spirit-busting secret agents are making sure it doesn’t get any worse.

Ghost Slayers Ayashi Manga Cover

Plot Summary

It is a tumultuous, dangerous time for Japan in the era of Tenpo. Famine and desperate living conditions have fanned the fires of insurrection, making all of Edo a powder keg ready to explode. To make matters worse, youi, harmful and evil supernatural creatures, have invaded the city and the surrounding areas, threatening the locals.

But a secret organization, The Office of Barbarian Knowledge, stands against these malevolent spirits. The agents of the Office are men and women skilled in magic and combat and are ever vigilante. They are responsible for protecting mankind from youi. They are Ayashi.

Review

Ayashi has a lot of cultural history bound up in its pages. It’s much like taking a superficial peek back into an era of Japan that doesn’t get much face time in anime and manga. It’s part of the appeal of the manga that the backdrop feels authentic. And then the manga brings to life traditional Japanese myths and supernatural creatures, just as they’ve been portrayed in stories for centuries, and invents a society to fight them.

The society itself has agents who also employ a few abilities which hark from the native mythos in their combat techniques. The Office and the spirits are tied together to make a story in a time that never was but could have been, with a little magic.

Manga Panel 01

The manga is a fun read that’s not too deep, not too dark, nor too sedate. There’s action to go around in the pages, and just enough mystery to have a “Gotcha!” moment or two in the stories. Some things blindside readers with twists and turns that come out of nowhere. The groundwork for some of these moments are laid so deftly, there’s a moment of “Oh, yeah, shoulda seen that one coming.” Especially in the last story of the manga.

Story

Ghost Slayers’ premiere volume is laid out in two stories. The first introduces readers to the Office’s members, and their top agent, Yukiatsu Ryuodo, aka, Yuki- a seemingly indolent, lazy man in his late thirties. Yuki and the other agents of the office track down all rumors concerning supernatural occurrences and search for the truth in them.

If the rumors prove to be youi, the agents must find the best way to defeat the creature. The bulk of the story however, is dedicated to discovering who or what is the cause of the problem. After the culprit is found, it’s go time, and the agents then show they have what it takes to go head to head with noxious fiends. Ayashi is both detective story and action/ adventure, and invites readers in to share in the investigation by offering up sympathetic, believable characters.

Character Development

It’s easy to connect with the characters in the stories in the way they’re portrayed. Their background and motives are clearly defined in their words, facial expressions and actions. Motives are key to solving any mystery and the characters in Ghost Slayers all have plenty and are explained well. The only folks without a motive for their actions are the Ayashi.

Why they do what they do is unclear, but who they are is given little by little in small interactions and conversations here and there. Yuki seems very much to be the layabout he appears to be, but there’s more to him and the rest of the Office that hasn’t been inked yet.

Character Design

Manga Panel 02

The manga has taken the Tenpo Period and created it as faithfully as can be hoped for in a manga, with creative license taken with a few of the youi. Men wear kimono, women are styled with traditional fashions and tatami abounds.

Most of the people are drawn more realistically than not, and are heavy with expressive details. Characters, have, well, character in Ghost Slayers. People have wrinkles, smile lines and scars. The expressions are easy to read and are abundant. Tiny little touches like these make the characters more human, more able to connect with, not to mention it makes good art.

Art

Yaeko Ninagawa inked Ghost Slayers and did a very fine and clean job of it. The art is as expressive as the characters themselves. Ninagawa has a good eye for lighting and perspective. The pages don’t feel flat or dull, they feel dynamic from the readers point of view.

The line weights are delicate, which give the pages a light feel. Darkness is not pervasive in the manga, but the panels which are dark are unique in the way they’re varied. Some panels are defined with different types of block shading, others with cross hatching and others a combination of the two. It’s a style that is consistent in its high quality and clean detailing which doesn’t feel heavy or smudged.

Production

Ghost Slayers has two pages of translation notes in the back of the manga along with a few excerpts of the manga in the original Japanese. Free kanji practice!

Conclusion

Ghost Slayers Ayashi is a manga that’s easy to get into and fast to finish. The stories read like mini supernatural mysteries from feudal Japan and are intriguing culture lessons to boot. I like the way minor characters feel “real”. And I like that even though I’m not Japanese and living in the Tenpo Era, I’ve got a front row seat to some mythical Tenpo action.

Rating

gets outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Bandai Entertainment
• Release Date: September 16, 2008
• Retail Price: $9.99
• Paperback: 200 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160496006X
• ISBN-13: 978-1604960068

Afro Samurai is chock full of action, as page after page of combat flies by. This would be great – if only I could actually see all of that frantic activity. The panels are so dark and murky it’s difficult to decipher what’s going on, except for when someone’s head goes flying off into the distance…

What do you think about Afro Samurai in manga form? Do you like him better than the anime?

But for manga which really get my attention, I put aside my fear of winding up in an endless loop of rereading. One of those series which not only caught my attention but tamed and domesticated it, is the ever popular Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. One volume was all it took to lure me into reading all twelve volumes as quickly as time and money would allow. And then rereading it. Again. And again.

Plot Summary

Boredom can be deadly, at least that’s how it turns out when a shinigami (death god) decides he needs a little excitement in his life. The shinigami in question, Ryuk, casually drops his death note into the human world, with instructions on its use scrawled in English on the inside cover:

* The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

* This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

* If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject’s name, it will happen.

* If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

* After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

The human who picks up Ryuk’s death note, Light Yagami, also happens to be bored. Light, a gifted student, sees the death note as his opportunity to change the world and make it a better place – and to rule it.

But just as Light is hitting his stride in reshaping the world by offing thousands of criminals, his efforts are confounded by the mysterious world renown detective, L.

L, who always solves his case, has taken on the challenge of uncovering the identity of the quasi-benevolent murder dubbed Kira (Killer) by the public. As the two go head to head, a dangerous game unfolds in which one misstep is a sentence of death.

Who will win this cat and mouse, or more appropriately, shinigami and human, game?

Review

The series is a fantastic essay on the meaning of good and evil, right and wrong, and how might may, or may not, make right. It’s scary too. Scary that a teen could do such things, scary that some people actually agree with his methods.

Death Note is one of the most compelling and riveting reads to ever hit manga. The convoluted reasonings, suspenseful moments, and heart pounding action provide enough mental exertion to wear a person out after just two volumes. And yet, the manga is so incredibly hard to put down, it’s easy to dive back into the series after the mind has taken a short breather.

Each chapter compels the reader to to uncover the answers to questions that snowball throughout the manga – Who was that guy? Will Light get caught this time? Has L finally got his man? What’s she got to do with anything? Are you serious?! Really?!! When and how will Light, if ever, get his comeuppance?!!!

The charm and allure of the series is the way it draws a person in – Death Note is a black hole which sucks the reader into its universe and keeps them there. The characters are what drives this phenomena. They’re so interesting and so well developed, people can’t help but feel something towards or with them. It’s impossible to be a bystander in this series. Readers almost immediately “choose sides”: L or Light. For a manga to elicit such definite reactions is nothing short of amazing, and that, in part, can account for its incredible, demographic-spanning popularity.

Character Development

Death Note has fantastic character development, enough so you cheer or boo the characters. Light is portrayed as a smart, handsome, hard-working and honest teen who wants to better the world. The flipside to that are his egomaniacal posturing and highly questionable methods.

L comes across as a brilliant, frumpy, asocial genius who takes on tough, unsolvable cases. His personality is unpredictable and almost undecipherable, and it’s difficult to decide if what he says and does is natural or all part of his master plan. He’s adept at playing on people’s desires and emotions to get what he wants to solve a case, which in its way, is also highly questionable.

L and Light really aren’t so different underneath their veneers, but they’re more like mirror images then exact copies. While their intelligence, true personalties and goals (world peace and justice) are almost a match, it’s hard to imagine two people who are further apart in terms of good and evil. They seem to define the other, and give Death Note that “can’t put it down” appeal.

Character Design

Character designs and style for the series are a good mix of realism and traditional manga. Some scenes have a touch of over-exaggeration, but most are done in an unique style.

The world of Death Note reflects that style and mostly takes place in Japan, with a foray into the world of the Reapers thrown in. The shinigami are the most interesting looking characters in the series, albeit the most undeveloped and boring.

Everyone else that’s a major character is in league with the Beautiful People. Even the bleary-eyed and ruffled L manages to look good in this series. The bad guys and the good guys alike, who share the spotlight, are attractively inked for the reader’s viewing pleasure.

Art

Lines are crisp and details aplenty, making the art on par with the story. The shading is also a win in that it isn’t over done, but is placed effectively to impart the feel of inner darkness and evil thoughts.

Takeshi Obata, the artist responsible for the incredible style of Death Note, did a sublime job conveying all the twisted emotions running through the manga. Light is significantly creepy in his expressions, even though he’s drawn well enough to make fans swoon.

Panel layout is also a plus as the full pages are used only for impact in a dramatic scene. Layout is a language, just like the art, and the usage in Death Note needed no translation.

Amazingly, Obata kept the art strong throughout all twelve volumes of the manga. Some scenes in some chapters may have been a little below the quality line, but overall the art stayed as robust as the story.

Production

The paper quality for the manga is better than most series, and is offset by beautiful covers.

Conclusion

Death Note is a series so good, so dramatic and so fun, it’s the one series I recommend to people who don’t read manga. They too can’t resist reading as Light tries in his crazy, yet well-inked, way to “make the world a better place”. However, I advise all who consider reading Death Note to buy as many volumes at once as possible and to take time off to read them all. Trust me, you won’t want to come up for air.

Rating

Death Note, Full Series gets 5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher:Viz
• Release Date:October 10, 2005 to July 3, 2007
• Retail Price:$7.99
• Episodes: 1-5
• Language: English

Light ups the creepy factor and L gets directly involved in Volume Two of the Death Note manga!

plot summary

Light has hit his stride in offing his opponents, and he’s become more coldblooded in the ways he deals with his enemies. He strikes a huge blow to L’s investigation and has positioned himself so he’s more fearsome than ever.

As Light grows increasingly more confident in his abilities to dodge the police and turn them against L, L must try to regain the confidence of the NPA. He puts himself at grave risk to to gather their trust back and to keep the NPA moving forward in capturing Kira.

But Light has much more than L to worry about now. Light’s maneuvering has put into motion the involvement of an unlikely but highly talented detective; that of a bereaved fiancée of one of Light’s victims!

review

Death Note is an intelligent read, showcasing the fuzzy nature of good and evil, yet still has an exciting edge. Light’s sinister use of logic in getting what he needs, is frightening to watch. Instead of figuring out ways to curb world hunger or stop poverty, the kid’s using his brilliance to kill good people who are in his way of world domination. Some people may side with Light and his methods of achieving world peace, but peace brought by the sword will usually end the same way.

The pacing for Volume Two was slower than the first volume of the manga. The time Light spent dealing with one of the characters who opposed him felt too drawn out. Yes, it’s a dangerous situation, yes this person can unravel all of Light’s designs, but please, can we get this manga moving?

Aside from the lingering nature of one of Light’s dealings, the manga still entertained and elicited emotions. Right now, I despise Light. Not many manga can claim they draw such strong feelings from me. Light’s gotta go down, and I’m waiting for L to take that scary kid out.

Character Development

Light is growing ever more creepy. His viscous joy in killing those who oppose him is beyond the satisfaction of one trying to make the world a better place. It’s quickly escalated into a sick game he plays for his own sense of empowerment. Any sympathy I felt for Light’s cause went out the window after page 30.

L also is playing a game, but at least he doesn’t delude himself the way Light does. That honesty, as opposed to the sociopathic lies Light tells himself and Ryuuk, makes L an approachable character.

Ryuuk, the ultimate bystander in all of this, is the only one who seems to have any neutrality, but Light’s manipulations will undoubtedly draw the shinagami into the mix sooner or later, and my bet is sooner.

Conclusion

Light is a frightening character, the kind too subtle to be suspect, but the kind we hear about after they’re caught and the bodies accounted for. Just because he kills with a pen and a desire to do good, doesn’t make him a tainted hero, but a cowardly sicko. Any manga which engages people on a level like this and makes us rethink the boundaries of what’s right and wrong isn’t bad at all.

Rating

Death Note, Volume Two gets 3 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Viz Media
• Release Date:November 1, 2005
• Retail Price:$7.99
• Paperback: 200 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421501694
• ISBN-13:978-1421501697

Todo Academy isn’t your typical Tokyo high school. It’s ruled by fighting, and The Executive Council (and the teachers) intend to keep it that way. Intimidating and dangerous, they practically rule the academy. But there’s another group – The Juken Club – whose members aren’t so focused on fighting…at least compared to everyone else. Throw a few supernatural elements into the mix, add some family drama, and you’ve got a recipe for ‘Tenjho Tenge’.

Some of the things to watch out for are: crazy brawls, near-death battles, relationship drama, ripped teachers (?), special fighting moves and supernatural swords.

After reading the first six volumes, I asked myself: “Is an entire manga series dedicated to fighting worth it?” My answer was “Yes…and no”.

Basically, Tenjho Tenge is one big fight, with some unique characters thrown into the mix. If you can follow panel after panel of devastating bouts of violence, you’ll probably enjoy it. Personally, I think the artwork is really strong and there are some interesting stories that are revealed between battles. But overall, I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters and found the violence a little repetitive after a while.

On a side note, there has been some controversy regarding editing that was done for the English release of the manga. I will admit – there are quite a few edits that were made to the artwork. The original Japanese version features much more ‘naughtiness’ (i.e. nudity and stuff) than the English one. I will say that the edits are seamless – even if you’ve seen the original.

Volumes 1-6

I decided to break up my review into multiple volumes, since the series is basically one big ‘fighting manga™’.

• Volume One, Fights 1-6 – We find out that Todo Academy is basically one big fighting school. This volumes focuses on the conflict between The Executive Committe (the villains) and The Juken Club (the heroes).
• Volume Two, Fights 7-12 – Juken Club members Nagi and Bob attend Natsume’s training sessions so they can learn how to fight. The Executive Committee declares war on the Juken Club…and chaos ensues.
• Volume Three, Fights 13-19 – The Juken Club versus Executive Committee! Bob has a chance to get out of the fight if he joins the committee…
• Volume Four, Fights 20-26 – Nagi and Bob become small-time celebrities at school…cause they survived a fight with Mitsuomi!
• Volume Five, Fights 27-33 – Aya now has possession of the mystical sword, and we find out how dangerous she really is.
• Volume Six, Fights 34-39 – After some problems with the Katana Club, Shin creates the Juken Club. Unfortunately, nobody wants to join it! Maya and Mistuomi finally join, but things quickly get complicated!

Characters

Goodies – the ‘heroes’

• Souichiro Nagi – He’s a considered a reject…maybe because he’s a member of the Demon Exorcist family. His ’special move’ is the Dragon’s Fist, which lets him use other people’s powers against them.
• Bob Makihara – Bob is Souichiro’s best friend. His ’special move’ is the martial art of Capoeira.
• Maya Natsume – Maya is the leader of the Juken Club. She’s busty and is very skilled in various martial arts. Her siblings each possess the power of the Dragon’s Eye, but she doesn’t. However, she does have Reiki – a super-all-powerful cursed sword. At first, she appears as a little kid to help save her energy.
• Aya Natsume – Aya is Maya’s younger sister. She’s a little more clueless with her powers though…
• Shin Natsume – Maya and Aya’s dead brother who was driven insane and died. He was the original leader of the Executive Council. He also founded Team KATANA and the Juken Club.
• Masataka Takayanagi – Mitsuomi’s younger brother. He’s shy and low-key, but he’s a crazy-mad opponent in the heat of battle.
• Kagesada Sugano – He prefers to hide instead of fight and is a big wuss.

Baddies – the ‘villains’

• Mitsuomi Takayanagi – President of the Executive Council. His ’special moves’ only last three minutes or so at a time.
• Emi Isuzu – She’s vice president of the Executive Council. Her superpower is kinda unusual…she can manipulate fat to make her look skinny. You don’t want to know where she hides her fighting knives…
• Bunshichi Tawara – He was once a top-tier fighter, but not anymore. He’s now the Executive Council’s adviser (i.e. slimeball). His goal in life seems to be avoiding fights. When he does fight, he’s dangerous though, so watch out!
• Shirō Tagami – He’s a follower of Bushidō. His ’special move’ is Bōjutsu, which uses a hybrid bō that turns into a sansetsukon.

Character Design

There are a lot of uniquely-designed characters in Tenjho Tenge. Oh! great has taken great care (ha ha) to make the Juken Club members and Executive Club gang unique.

Art

The art is tight-tight-tight! Linework is crisp, clean and sharp…with just the right amount of screen tones. I especially like the use of ’special effects’ during the fight scenes, which help create a sense of motion.

Rating

Tenjho Tenge, Volumes One – Six gets 2 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: CMX
• Retail Price: $9.99 each volume
• Language: English

Additional Reading

Official Tenjho Tenge Manga Site

But what about the violent people who also actively do me no harm? What about the criminals who shoot an innocent for their wallet and leave them to die? What about the child abusers and the mass murderers, some of which are still walking the streets and living their lives? If given the opportunity to cleanse the world of such distasteful people, would I be willing to kill them? What if I didn’t need to get my hands dirty to rid the planet of them, but only had to put pen to paper, could I do so then? What would the cost to me be? Would I be able to stop my hand there, or would I start knocking off the “little” people, like the guy at the gym who never wipes down the equipment?

Thankfully, I don’t need to answer these questions, but Light, the anti-hero of Death Note does, and he has answers in spades:

plot summary

Boredom can be deadly, at least that’s how it turns out when a shinigami decides he needs a little excitement in his life. The shinigami in question, Ryuk, casually drops his death note into the human world, with instructions on its use scrawled in English on the inside cover:

• The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
• This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
• If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject’s name, it will happen.
• If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.
• After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

The human who picks up Ryuk’s death note, Light, also happens to be bored. Light, a gifted student, is bored with the way the world is and bored with the never changing rottenness he’s surrounded by. He sees the death note as his opportunity to change the world and make it a better place- and to rule it.

Light first puts the death note to the test, and then begins to cut down the world’s most violent criminals. These mass executions don’t go unnoticed and are making the police concerned. Who’s killing so many criminals and how?

The police call on “L“, a mysterious detective who always solves his case, to catch the mass murderer responsible for the recent deaths. L and Light face off in a battle of wits and both vow to find and dispose of the other if it’s the last thing they do!

review

Story
The story for Death Note progressed pretty quickly in this first volume. From the time Ryuk “lost” his death note, to the time Light decides upon and implements his program of “cleansing”, was only about forty pages. Volume One plows ahead from there, relentlessly developing an ever more convoluted plot and introducing L to readers in short order.

The pace is fast, but not overly so. Development in Volume One is speedy, yet is not too much to soak in at once. There are thoughtful breaks in the action, which makes for good flow, and let’s the reader soak in info before ramping the story back up to high gear.

The overall feel of Death Note has a heavy touch of realism. As in the realistic way Light scoffs at the scribbled words on the Death Note and believes it’s a joke. Realistic in the way the Japanese police are suspicious of L and realistic in how Light interacts with Ryuk. Given Light’s personality thus far, all his reactions to situations feel real to the world of Death Note.

The concept for Death Note is heavy with themes of right and wrong, good and evil; bored death god gives his power to twisted mortal and watches as twisted mortal commits mass murder to make the world a happy place. But there isn’t a tone of preachiness thus far. The mangaka, Tsugumi Ohba, doesn’t even let on what he thinks of Light’s rampage, he just tells the story.

It’s actually pretty creepy to have this squeaky clean teenager commit remote mass murder with a righteous smile on his face. But who can really be that squeaky clean when all it takes for them to go on a killing spree is a notebook and a pen?

Character Development

An amazing amount of information is freely given in the volume, about Light’s motives, his connection with the police, and his twisted sense of righteousness. L is still a mystery, but there’s enough given to keep up his interest as a character. Light’s interactions with his family are a nice touch and add an even more sinister feel to his doings. It’s made clear Light will do whatever it takes to make the world a place he deems worthy, no matter the cost. So what does Light really want? A world free of crime and wrong doing or a world where he can rule supreme? Where are his priorities in regards to human interaction and how did this kid get this overblown god-complex?

Those questions aren’t addressed this volume, but the promise of more background and further insight into Light’s personality has been readily made in how much this manga has given so far. If every volume follows in Volume One’s path, I can only wonder what will be left to explore in the next eleven manga.

Character Design

Ryuk is a really interesting critter. He looks like a rock star/biker demon with a perpetual clown grin inked on his bug-eyed face. Light is scary in his own right. Anyone who can grin as he talks to a death god, casually comment on killing people he’s never met, but still look like the man you’d take home to momma, is downright terrifying. The contrast of his true personality with his appearance is stark. Light’s facial expressions as he devises ways to stump L and execute criminals is disturbing to say the least. He’s dead inside the part which makes him human, and it shows in his design.

Everything else in the world of Death Note is designed with an eye to realism. The setting is in Japan and reflects that culture well, down to the policemen in business suits and the Japanese high schoolers’ uniforms.

Art

The art, by Takeshi Obata, is superb and clean. It’s an absolute perfect match for the feel of the story, which is realistic with a touch of fantasy. There aren’t many heavy lines in the manga, and the shading was done with a light touch as well; except for Ryuk. That guy walks around like an incarnated black hole.

Aside from the shinigami, the manga is airy and clean, and easy to read. There are some highly detailed panels, and there are plenty of moderately detailed pages as well. The panel layout is fairly standard for manga, and not many pages are devoted to a single scene.

Production

I’m a fan of well designed manga covers (they are the first page you see of a manga after all) and Death Note has a well designed cover. It’s all about the contrast of matte and glossy, dark and light and good use of color. Death Note, Volume One has a great balance of all three.

I was immediately drawn into the world of Death Note. The story is compelling and the characters elicit strong reactions, both positive and negative. I’m able to connect with a few already, and although I don’t agree with Light, I’m eager to see how far this kid gets in remaking the world.

Rating

Death Note, Volume One gets 4 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Viz Media LLC
• Release Date: October 10, 2005
• Retail Price: $7.99
• Paperback: 200 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421501686
• ISBN-13: 978-1421501680

Hideyuki first began writing the Vampire Hunter D series in 1983. Yoshitaka Amano illustrated the covers for the books and drew illustrated pages for Hideyuki’s books, as well. The novels were hugely popular and led to a Vampire Hunter D anime feature in 1985, based off the first novel, Vampire Hunter D.

The movie was considered a success and in 2000, a second Vampire Hunter D feature was released, Bloodlust.

Bloodlust was based off the third of the D novels, Demon Deathchase. This sequel was also considered a success, and Hideyuki continued to write the popular Vampire Hunter D novels.

Nineteen D novels have been published so far, with the first of nine being translated into English in 2005. The latest novel, Throng of Heretics, was released in Japan this past October.

In November of 2007, a Vampire Hunter D manga was released for the first time ever by Digital Manga Publishing. The manga was drawn and written under the direct supervision of Hideyuki, by a mangaka the author personally handpicked; Saiko Takaki.

Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D, as the manga is known, was released first in English. A Japanese language release will follow after the manga has been translated into German, Finnish, and Hungarian.

The manga closely follows the first novel…

plot summary

10,091 years after the world’s governments unleashed atomic doom upon the earth, a strange nobility is teetering on the brink of obsolescence. Vampires stepped onto the world stage after the nuclear dust cleared, and declared themselves rulers of a post-apocalyptic planet. The Nobility, as the vampiric ruling class is known, has governed the world from the safety of night for the past 100 centuries. But they have become decadent and outdated.

Mutants and supermen have risen from the peasant ranks to overthrow their vampire suppressors. They are the vampire hunters. The most renown vampire hunter, D, has dedicated his life to eradicating the Nobility. D gets his formidable strength from his lineage as a dhampir; a creature half human and half vampire.

As D is roaming the countryside one day, a young girl flings herself into his path and challenges the vampire hunter to a fight. After gaging the dhampir’s powers, the girl, Doris Lang, hires D to help her. Doris has been bitten by a Noble and needs D’s help to rid the countryside of the vampire who has chosen Doris as his unwilling bride.

D agrees, and becomes entangled in the girl’s plight and his needs as both man and dhampir.

review

I loved the original Vampire Hunter D anime. I loved it so much, that when the novels were first released in English, I rushed out and bought the first two. The novels were slightly disappointing, though, since it felt that the translation was poorly done.

I got tired of reading “the gorgeous youth/man” over and over and over. It seemed something integral was lost when the text was turned into English. But the gist of the story was still interesting enough for me to soldier through the book.

A manga format is a much better fit for an English rendition of the famous novels. The visuals which don’t translate well into boring prose, are painstakingly drawn out in the manga. The wordiness of the novels is changed from hard to read book, into beautifully illustrated manga, which needs little translation.

Character Development

There isn’t much development at all in the first Vampire Hunter D novel and there wasn’t much character development in the manga, either. Within the first four pages, Doris gets naked, fights D, and then begs him to work for her. This scene was ripped from the book, nearly word for word.

I can’t fault the manga for what the novel failed to do since the manga is following the novel so closely. It would have been nice, however, for the manga to strengthen the story with a bit more insight into D and Doris.

The Nobility is given some amount of character development in the way of motivations and background. D isn’t given any back story, but there’s some hint at his origins. The other books in the Vampire Hunter D series flesh the hunter out by degrees; however, this manga was a great opportunity to really develop D for Western audiences.

I felt no connection with Doris and her little brother, Dan, beyond superficial pieces of the story. D was the main draw, no pun intended, of the series, and the manga didn’t disappoint.

Story

The story is actually compelling, if not a little overwrought at times. I had a hard time getting into a few parts of the manga, just as I had a hard time getting into parts of the book, as well.

The beauty of crafting a world so far into the future, is that an author can be as far-fetched as they please and not have to worry about timely contradictions or unbelieving naysayers. There are many “out there” instances in the manga which I couldn’t connect with but still enjoyed: cyber-horses, mutants, scientifically-advanced vampiric nobility. Yet there were some examples which left me scratching my head: time-bewitching incense seems more like a parlor trick than an advanced feat of science by the ruling class.

Part of the story involves D and Doris. Their “relationship” seemed forced, if not downright fanservice for those wanting to see two gorgeous people hook up. It did work wonderfully as a fanservice device. I don’t mind admitting I was smitten with the vampire hunter way back, when I first saw him animated, and wasn’t averse to the thought of D in love.

Character Design

The mangaka, Saiko Takaki, did a wonderful job in following and developing Amanao’s initial direction of the character designs. Much of Amano’s trademark style is evident in the manga; the long eyes, sharp noses, and organic lines have all been worked into Saiko’s art.

D never looked better, nor could I have imagined him to look better, than how he appears in the manga. He truly does live up to the description, “gorgeous youth”, but without the youth bit. In the novel, both D and Doris are described to be around the age of 17-18. In the manga, they look to be more around the age of 23-25.

All the characters in the manga look exactly as they’ve been described in the novels and they also resemble Amano’s brief illustrations. However, the art does retain some of Saiko’s own style.

Art

Too many busy lines, though, tend to distract from the work. The overall heavy organic feel of the art becomes tangled up in all the detailing and shorts the flow of the manga. The shading also tends to be a bit muddy. Aside from a few distracting instances, the art for Vampire Hunter D is strong and beautifully rendered.

Production

The cover for Vampire Hunter D is richly done in dark purples with crimson embossing. The edges of the pages are tinted a matching reddish-purple which compliments the gorgeous cover. However, the paper of the pages themselves is only a step above newsprint.

The roughness and off-white cast of the pages detract from Saiko’s artwork. Paper quality counts, and sadly, Vampire Hunter D’s pages don’t add up to the effort inked onto them.

Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D is a must read for any Vampire Hunter D fan, but it’s also a must read for fans of the truly unique and creative.

Rating

Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D gets 3 outta 4 Hammies™.

Illusions are all around us in our daily lives, and what might seem benign in one light may be malevolent in actuality. It’s sometimes hard to tell friend from foe and our eyes can deceive us when we need to see the truth the most. And it’s always good policy, living as we do in illusions, to never judge a book by its cover…

plot summary

Things are heating up-literally- at the Tokagawa residence. Maria has come to ask for Asuka’s help when Maria’s fellow rebel psychic, Maxim, turns up the heat in a fight to win Asuka.

Maxim, like Maria, has been ordered to secure Asuka at any cost, but unlike Maria, Maxim’s willing to pay whatever price necessary to obtain Asuka’s powers.

Kai is still the prisoner of the corrupt priest, Lord Ghibelline, who has trapped the psychic in his underground church. Kai has agreed to be the priest’s “guest” in order to protect the other young psychics Ghibelline is also housing. Lord Ghibelline reveals to Kai the nature of the Sacrament of Calvarias and wants Kai to retrieve it for him.

Things at Ashurum are just as intense as Shen-Long discovers his beloved sister, Shin-Lu, is not quite herself of late. Not just that, but Shen-Long has three new teammates to contend with- new teammates who don’t like to play together…

review

Volume Four was much better than the previous volume. It had more action, more twists and more interest than Three and introduced three new characters to the E’S cast: Maxim, Sherry, and Kyo.

However, Asuka is becoming more moe with each passing volume; either that or she’s getting dumber. (Moe, dumb, same thing?) Either way, her clueless-ness has crossed the line from slightly obnoxious, to irritating.

I prefer female characters to be internally strong with what I call human moments, i.e. they can get weepy when a situation warrants it. Asuka, while being a sweet innocent child has been crafted to be too strongly moe. There’s a fine line between naive and innocent and just plain dumb; a fine, fine line. Hopefully, Asuka will be tempered in her moe-ness with the advent of her alleged power.

I had a strong visceral reaction to Maxim when he was introduced. The guy creeps me out- a lot. The way he’s drawn; his snide, sexist comments: “If you always act so tough, you’ll never find yourself a husband,”; his mannerisms; everything about this guy makes my skin crawl. All I have to say is if this guy were real, I’d make damn sure I wasn’t alone with him in a room, or a building, or a city, or a country. He’s just slimy and he has some hidden agenda.

Kai is just so mixed up in his ideals, it’s painful to watch. His intentions are pure, but, wow, bad decisions seem to be all this kid can make. Ideals sure can be brutal when they’re not mixed with reality and tempered with experience. Time will tell if what seems like a bad decision on Kai’s part isn’t actually a well-plotted plan…

Yuuki is my fave character thus far in E’S since he has ideals (helping orphans and making Gald a better place for them) but he also recognizes the reality of situations (working for gangsters to make money may be necessary to make ends meet) and he has experience (being a gun-for-hire). Asuka is too moe, Kai is too idealistic, Maxim is too creepy, Maria is too shallow,and Shen-Long is too crazy for me to connect with on any but a sympathetic level. I empathize with Yuuki and that makes him memorable to me.

Volume Four has as many extras as the previous volumes but there’s a new addition in the way of Yuiga’s “Saint Ashurum’s Academy Dairies“. I had a good laugh over this extra, but the truly funny thing is that if the “story” for it was developed into a full-blown manga, girls would be pushing each other down to buy it first.

The end of E’S, Volume Four has me wanting more, more, more, and has renewed my interest in the series, which was lagging after Volume Three. The series has been building up the angst and action and Volume Five promises to have even more angst and more action than Four!

Rating

E’s Volume Four gets 3 outta 4 Kasugai™ gummies!

After Jareth kidnapped the child, he offered Sarah a challenge: solve the Labyrinth and save the child. While suffering through dangers unknown and hardships unnumbered, Sarah met an assortment of inhabitants of Labyrinth who helped her solve the Labyrinth. They fought to the castle beyond the Goblin city and were prepared to take Toby back. But when she finally found Toby…Jareth was there. Eventually, Sarah defeated him and rejected his love. Jareth’s plan failed and Sarah safely escaped with Toby.

Jareth was devastated from his loss. But he was patient. He waited, and watched Toby became a teenager. Then the Goblin King decided to make his move again. This time, he brought Toby into the goblin world but with a new twist. He would announce Toby as heir to the Goblin Thrown!

You might be thinking that I’ve lost it at this point. You might say “David, you’ve started writing Labyrinth fan fiction!”! But you’d be wrong and I’d say “It was my way of telling the story from the film and explaining how the new manga is tied into it”. Then we’d all laugh. Then we’d sing the ‘Dance, Magic, Dance’ song.

Now if you haven’t read my Return to Labyrinth Volume One review first, I suggest you check it out then come back here. It’s now time for sanity to return, so lets talk about volume two!

The manga

As an Ãœber-Fan of Labyrinth, I was pretty critical of the initial volume of the Return to Labyrinth manga series. There’s some good news this time – many of the things that bugged me have been improved or remedied. Overall, the art is better and the pacing is quicker. It’s beginning to feel more like the familiar Labyrinth world of the film, but it’s also new.

Story

Return to Labyrinth Volume 2 is pretty much ‘all about Toby’. He’s beginning to adjust to his new role as leader of the Goblin Kingdom. It turns out there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved! Toby also starts to learn magic from a new (cough*evil*cough) character, Mizumi, queen of the Moraine Kingdom. She’s a powerful sorceress whose past is directly linked with Jareth (but I won’t spoil it). Toby’s fate is now tied to Mizumi and Jareth, which creates all sorts of problems…most of which Toby doesn’t even know about! Meanwhile, there’s more mystery involving Moppet’s identity, some sword-fighting, goblins cooking gross stuff and other surprises.

Cover Art

The cover art is once again illustrated by Kouyu Shurei. Her stunningly-rich style has perfectly captured the relationship between icy-cold Mizumi, Queen of the Moraine Kingdom and Toby, the newly appointed ‘King of the Labyrinth’. The Wiseman is also prominently featured on the cover, which surprised me at first (I was expecting Jareth) but you’ll find out why once you read it. Unfortunately, Jareth the Goblin

Interior Art

Interior art duties are again handled by artist Chris Lie. This time around, Lie’s line work seems more crisp and focused. It feels like he’s a little more comfortable with the Labyrinth universe and he gets a lot more of the little things right than in volume one.

Characters

Last time I detailed a few character design likes/dislikes. Since this is volume two, I figured it would be neat to highlight a few things I’ve liked/disliked about certain characters rather than repeat the same stuff rather than specifically focusing on their design.

Likes

• Toby – Our main character. In volume one, I was shocked to see Toby as a teenager. Now that I’ve had some time to let my brain process that idea, I’m cool with it.
• Jareth The Goblin King – Jareth is (as usual) awesome.
• Mizumi, Queen of the Moraine Kingdom – She’s a rather neat addition to the cast and she helps us peer into Jareth’s past
• Sarah – After a rather disappointing appearance in volume one, Chris Lie makes up for it this time.
• Moppet – Even though several readers don’t like Moppet, I’ve liked her since she was introduced in the last volume. Her mask reminds me of the masquerade scene from the film, which was quite magical. She’s still a mystery (to me), but I’m sure she’ll be revealed as being pretty important to the story.
• The Wiseman – Perfect. There are even several funny gags with his bird-hat (just like the movie!)
• Spittledrum, the Goblin Mayor – He’s more relevant this time around, so I’m cool with him now too.

Dislikes
I don’t have so many dislikes this time around. The plot was well-paced and I really enjoyed the story. I still have a few for the list, though:

• Hoggle – He was essential to Sarah’s success in the Labyrinth. I’ve been nothing but disappointed in his manga characterization. Why is he essentially useless here?
• Mizumi’s daughters Moulin and Drumlin – While they serve a purpose (to torment Toby), I think they’re a little too cartoony for the Labyrinth universe. Plus, why do we need more humanoid people in the story?
• Hana and her trusty steed Stank – They don’t advance the plot much, since this story is pretty ‘Toby-centric’. Which is fine, but I’d really like to know if she’s gonna find here wings!
• Goblins – Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else feel like some of the goblins would never fit in a world created by Jim Henson and Brian Froud? Many of them are too cartoon-like in appearance.

Conclusion

Overall, volume two of the Return to Labyrinth manga was very enjoyable. It was a real ‘page turner’ and I rather impressed with the plot. Since this part of the story didn’t have to re-introduce all of my favorite characters, I was able to enjoy it a lot more. My favorite scene was in the “Museum of Toby”. I think you’ll see what I mean.

Good news: Return to Labyrinth has been expanded from three to four volumes! There’s currently no set street-date for volume three, but I suspect that it will hit sometime next summer (2008).

Rating

Return to Labyrinth Manga Volume 2 gets 3 outta 4 gummies!

Additional Reading

Along the way, I stumbled upon a few cool items of interest for Labyrinth fans. There’s the usual Return to the Labyrinth at Tokyopop. But there’s also some pretty cool Labyrinth fanart:

• http://chrissydelk.deviantart.com/art/Labyrinth-Guest-Art-59799014
• http://owling-byrrd.deviantart.com/art/Strangers-For-Now-22952248
• http://owling-byrrd.deviantart.com/art/Within-You-22699366
• http://owling-byrrd.deviantart.com/art/Its-Only-Forever-22952143

If you’re obsessing over Labyrinth (like me), check out these places too:

• The original Labyrinth trailer
• Labyrinth creator Jim Henson
• Labyrinth concept designer Brian Froud’s website
• Wikipedia’s write-up of the Labyrinth film

So what did you think of Return to Labyrinth Volume 2?

Volume Three of E’S shows Kai can fight when he wants to, Yuuki has a soft side-only for orphans – and Asuka really is clueless and beginning to go over to the Moe Side.

plot summary

Kai’s powers have turned against him and he finds himself captive again; this time his jailer is a priest! Wanting to harness Kai’s psychic abilities, Lord Ghibelline confines the young man in the Church’s subterranean headquarters. Kai discovers that he’s not the only psychic in the crooked priest’s grasp, and Kai’s natural compassion compels him to lend them a hand; no matter the cost to himself.

Yuuki, who’s been hired by the local rebels to find a mysterious artifact, is told by the information broker, Leonid, that the very group Yuuki was hired to help has placed bounty on his head. Maria, the granddaughter of the rebel’s leader, demands that Yuuki hand over the psychic in his care; the one with the honey blond hair.

Now Yuuki must unravel the mystery of Kai’s disappearance, the bounty on his head and Maria’s interest with Asuka.

review

Volume Three was disappointingly short. Just when things were getting interesting, the volume ended. One half of the manga was dedicated to a prototype preview of E’S, while the other was the regularly scheduled manga.

Granted, the half of the manga that was Volume Three of E’S was entertaining, and granted the preview manga to E’s was interesting, I still feel kinda cheated. Also, I was disappointed at seeing Kai as a victim, yet again. The boy got no respect at Ashurum from his fellow psychics, he was almost blown to oblivion by a teammate, Yuuki held him “prisoner”, Ashurum sent a psycho mass murder to bring him back, and now he’s the powerless captive of a corrupt priest. Hopefully this is all part of an equation which will make Kai omnipotent, or at least something close. The angst in this manga was on full-throttle and I really wanted to see a pay-off for the investment of having to relive teenage emotions.

The action was toned down for Volume Three, but it wasn’t missed. The action that did take place wasn’t as gratuitous- not necessarily a bad thing- as in previous volumes and furthered the story.

Volume Three’s art wasn’t as dark as One and Two and came as a reprieve from the oppressiveness of the former volumes. The art is still strong in Three but more open and light.

One of the extras for this volume is the aforementioned preview manga: “Prelude to Destruction“, Parts 1 & 2. Yuiga drew this short manga as a prototype/preview for the actual storyline of E’S. Many film producers and novelists will do a short prototype of their work to either pitch the piece to a studio or editor, or to get a feel of the direction their work will go. Yuiga didn’t take E’S in the direction her preview manga went, but she kept the tone of the E’S preview world the same for the current manga as she did in Prelude to Destruction.

The extras which were in the former manga are in Volume Three as well, along with a section which compares and contrasts the differences between Prelude to Destruction and the current E’S.

While I appreciated the opportunity to read Yuiga’s original take on E’S, I didn’t appreciate that Volume Three was so short. Aside from my disappointment with the brevity of the manga, I was also miffed by Kai’s poor luck/ weakness. I hope Volume Four can cash the check the previous volumes have written in terms of emotional investment.

Rating

Volume Three of E’S gets 2.5 outta 4 Kasugai Gummies™!