Animania

Semi-small month, comparitively, as I was conserving most funds for the move.

Chibi Vampire: The Novel, Volume 05 (07/21/2008)

Ballad of a Shinigami, Volume 02 (07/23/2008)

Delivery Cupid (07/23/2008)

I Shall Never Return, Volume 01 (07/23/2008)

Nana, Volume 11 (07/23/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 29 (07/23/2008)

Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, Volume 04 (07/23/2008)

Voices Of Love (07/23/2008)

Blood+ Volume 2: Chevalier (07/25/2008)

Kurogane Communication, Volume 01 (07/25/2008)

Chibi Vampire, Volume 09 (07/29/2008)

Fruits Basket, Volume 20 (07/29/2008)

Got this one at such a great deal, I had to snag it!

Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok: Complete Collection (07/17/2008)

Not very much manga this month, due to all the anime! One, Platinum Garden is a new series, but with Tokyopop's cancelling a bunch of stuff, I suspect this one won't get finished.

Platinum Garden, Volume 01 (06/07/2008)

A Love Song For The Miserable (06/11/2008)

June not only saw my usual grabbing of goodies from DeepDiscount's twice a year sale, but also RightStuf putting almost all Geneon volumes on sale for $5 each! Suffice to say, I went to town!

Blood+, Part One (06/19/2008)

E's Otherwise: Complete Collection (06/19/2008)

R.O.D. - Read or Die (06/19/2008)

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World: Complete Collection (06/19/2008)

3x3 Eyes, Volume 1: Immortals (06/20/2008)

3x3 Eyes, Volume 2: Legend of the Divine Demon (06/20/2008)

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Volume 1: Sweet Mischief (06/20/2008)

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Volume 3: The Bear Pianist (06/20/2008)

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Volume 4: Magical Sparkling Days (06/20/2008)

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Volume 5: Home Sweet Home (06/20/2008)

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar: Special (06/20/2008)

Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 1: Faithfully Yours (06/20/2008)

Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 2: My Dearest (06/20/2008)

Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 3: Hugs and Kisses (06/20/2008)

Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 4: Truly Yours (06/20/2008)

Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 5: With All My Heart (06/20/2008)

Haibane-Renmei, Volume 1: New Feathers (06/20/2008)

Haibane-Renmei, Volume 2: Wings of Sorrow (06/20/2008)

Haibane-Renmei, Volume 3: Free Bird (06/20/2008)

Haibane-Renmei, Volume 4: Day of Flight (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 1: The Inception (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 2: The Dragon's Teeth (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 3: Magical Moonlit Flowers (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 4: Ruins and Hopes (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 5: El Continent (06/20/2008)

Star Ocean EX, Volume 6: The Legendary Warrior (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 1: Awakening (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 2: Irruption (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 3: The Promise (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 4: Assailants (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 5: Convictions (06/20/2008)

Tokyo Underground, Volume 6: Into the Light (06/20/2008)

Tsukihime, Lunar Legend, Volume 1: Life Threads (06/20/2008)

Tsukihime, Lunar Legend, Volume 2: Lunar Dance (06/20/2008)

Tsukihime, Lunar Legend, Volume 3: Nocturnal Fate (06/20/2008)

Note: As I'm in the process of moving, expect reviews to continue to be fairly sporadic until August, as much of my manga is now packed.

A Love Song for the Miserable is a single volume yaoi title from the seemingly unknown, single named mangaka Yukimura. It was published here in North America by Digital Manga Publishing under their June label back in May. I decided to give it a whirl after reading a favorable review of the title over on AnimeOnDVD.com. Being from DMP, it features the usual large book size, a nice color dust jacket and high quality pages and printing.

Itsuki Asada works for a large department store. When his request to be transferred to his dream department, events planning, is denied, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol and ends up laying in a bush crying. He's found by Iwasaki Sunao, normally just called Nao, who got lost while jogging and thinking. He pulls Asada from the bush and, sobered up, Asada gives him directions. In exchange, Nao tells him to drop his shop. Feeling more and more depressed about his job, Asada finds the paper with the shop's address and decides to visit. This starts a friendship between the two men, as Asada becomes new pastry chef Nao's personal taste tester. Alas, when Nao decides he should go to France to study more, Asada reacts badly, leaving things bitter between them. At this point, the story jumps ahead three years, finding Asada finally in the events department and Nao the pastier at a new shop who is already receiving tons of praise. Asada must inject himself back into Nao's life to try to get the chef to be a participant in a baking event at the store. These two must now deal with the past, and with the feelings that caused them to both react as they did. They must also decide what kind of future they want, and if it should include one another.

I don't know if this is Yukimura's first work or not, but if it is it is certainly a good one. She has an excellent art style, with her men looking like men without the ridiculously sharp pointed chins often seen in these series. Instead, their chins are more normally proportioned, while still being "manly." Her characters are all distinctive looking, with good facial expressions, and her drawings of the desserts were so well detailed I wanted them to come off the page so I could eat them! I like both central characters. Asada is so miserable, I can't help pitying him. He has a lot of issues with his work, and really just wants to be needed. When he finds his own little paradise, losing it really hurts him. Nao also has an interesting personality, hurt by Asada's reaction and a little slow to realize why. As whole, it has a good story, with some nice resolution and just the right amount of interaction with others without getting distracted by them. It was particularly nice to read a yaoi title that didn't fall back on having some former friend/coworker etc decide they suddenly want to have one of the main characters. The only thing causing problems for Asada and Nao are their own personalities and unwillingness to be honest with their feelings. I highly recommend this one for anyone tired of the usual high schoolers, love triangles, and ultra-pointy chins. This is two adult men, just trying to deal feelings they never expected to feel.

Rating: A

Back in February, I reviewed the first volume of the Blood+ manga adaptation. As I mentioned there, in addition to the manga adaptation, two light novel adaptations of the original Blood+ anime series were written and published in Japan. Both are licensed by Dark Horse, and the first volume of the main series, also entitled Blood+, has been released. Written by Ryo Ikehata, the series is illustrated by Chizu Hasahi. Each volume is subtitled, so to avoid confusion for the rest of the review, I'll refer to this first volume by its subtitle of First Kiss. Unlike with the manga, the main novel series is a fairly straight novelization of the anime events, with First Kiss covering the events in the first fourteen episodes of the series, with the introduction of the characters and Chiropterans, and the trip to Vietnam. All of the novels are divided into two "books", which each book divided into two parts and each part into varying numbers of chapters.

For those unfamiliar with the anime series, Blood+ tell the story of Saya Otonashi, a high school girl with amnesia who can't remember anything of her life beyond the last year. Her otherwise normal life is destroyed when she encounters monsters called Chiropterans, and discovers that she is the only one who is capable of killing them. Joined by the mysterious Hagi, who is her companion, and taken into the care of an organization called the Red Shield, each battle with Chiropterans causes Saya to learn more about the past she has forgotten, a past she realizes she needs to remember if she wants to protect her brothers and her new found companions, not only from the monsters, but from herself.

While the series is a novelization of the show and follows events pretty much right on track with the episodes, it adds more descriptions and more in-depth views of the characters thoughts and reactions to events. David, in particularly, comes across more sympathetically here than he did in the first parts of the anime, and Riku as being less bland. The writing is very well done, flowing well with descriptives that not only helped me remember the scenes from the anime, but visual them with greater depth. I also got a better feel for the individual characters and their motivations. Dark Horse's translation of the work is good, with only one or two minor typos. Like most companies releasing light novels, Dark Horses released the work in the typical manga size, though they did choose to keep the full color front pieces. All in all, this was an excellent read, and it was nice to have a novel keep me busy awhile instead of the usual quick 30 minute read of the typical manga volume. I'm looking forward to picking up the second of the four volumes, Chevalier, in July.

Rating: A

Mmm....yeah, I got happy again All caught up on RM's available volumes, and cauht up on TB as well.

Ceres, Celestial Legend, Volume 02: Yuhi (05/03/2008)

Chibi Vampire, Volume 08 (05/23/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 14 (05/23/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 28 (05/23/2008)

Shaolin Sisters: Reborn, Volume 02 (05/23/2008)

Shaolin Sisters: Reborn, Volume 03 (05/23/2008)

Shaolin Sisters: Reborn, Volume 04 (05/23/2008)

Trinity Blood - Reborn on the Mars, Volume 02: The Iblis (05/23/2008)

Trinity Blood, Volume 01 (05/23/2008)

Trinity Blood, Volume 03 (05/23/2008)

Love Mode, Volume 09 (05/28/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 23 (05/28/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 24 (05/28/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 25 (05/28/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 26 (05/28/2008)

Rave Master, Volume 27 (05/28/2008)

Shaolin Sisters: Reborn, Volume 01 (05/28/2008)

Trinity Blood, Volume 06 (05/28/2008)

Blood+, Volume 02 (05/30/2008)

Nana, Volume 10 (05/30/2008)

Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, Volume 03 (05/30/2008)