seinen ↘↖
Manga Review: Nobunaga no Chef
Ken and two other Japanese chefs get thrown back into past. They arrive in the Sengoku Era (the Warring States Period; 1467-1573). Almost immediately, Ken’s presumed co-workers are killed by soldiers. The only survivor, Ken, is rescued by a female blacksmith, Natsu. Upon arriving in the Sengoku Era Ken lost almost all of his memories; the only thing he retained was his knowledge of cooking. To repay Natsu’s kindness Ken does the only thing he knows how to, cook. After seven months of cookin Ken attracts the attention of a pivotal figure of the era, Oda Nobunaga.
Manga Review: Sasameki Koto
I am sure you will get this from the vibe of my review, but just so that there is no confusion, I absolutely love this manga. The following is an extremely biased review (even more so than usual) of Sasameki Koto. Sasameki Koto is about the pain of love. Those in this manga are all hurt by there love in some way. Some of them love boys, some love girls, but none of them are free from prying eyes and hurtful stares. “My love is a lonely flower, it blooms and scatters without anyone noticing it.”
Manga Review: D-Frag!
Kazama Kenji and his two friends are a normal group of delinquents, for them life is dandy if not a bit boring. Their lives change drastically when Kazama runs into the Game Production Club. In a school full of freaks and weirdos he entered the den of the freakiest and the weirdest. The club consists of Karasuyama Chitose, the student council president, Shibasaki Roka, the secret boss of the school whom everyone knows about, Mizukami Sakura, a mysterious girl who likes water, and their adviser, Oosawa Minami. Together with Kazama and his childhood friends, the two delinquents and the masochistic student council vice president, the group goes through various antics and adventures with the rest of the unusual student body and the surrounding area.
Manga Review: Saint Oniisan
Saint Oniisan received the 2009 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Short Work Manga and was nominated for the 2nd Manga Taisho Award (2009).
Jesus and Buddha descend to the mortal world for vacation after working hard for the turn of the century. They decide to rent a room together in Japan. Yes, you heard me right. This manga is about Jesus and Buddha’s daily life in modern Japan. This manga reflects the importance of Christianity and Buddhism for the Japanese. Through slapstick jokes and the references to both stories from Buddhism and Christianity the reader gains insight into both religions, their similarities and differences, while reading the humorous interactions between Jesus and Buddha. Ultimately, who doesn’t want to read a manga about Jesus and Buddha being roommates?
Manga Review: Crying Freeman
Crying Freedman is the code name for the best assassin in the Chinese Mafia, otherwise known as the 108 Dragons. Originally an genius potter, Yō Hinomura got involved with the 108 Dragons during an exhibition of his work. The organization noticed his talents and bent him to their will. As an assassin, Hinomura dons the alias of Freedman, however, he hates killing. After every kill he sheds tears thus earning him the name of Crying Freedman. He is the perfect assassin and successor to the leadership of the 108 Dragons.
Manga Review: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō
The post-apocalyptic future, as told by Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, is much calmer than most stories portray it. The difference between robots and humans, artificial and natural, has been blurred to the point where their is little difference between the two. In this calm yet unusual future Alpha Hasseno, runs a little coffee shop in her owner’s absence. Alpha lazily passes the time in her cafe between the seldom customer. Her world slowly expands as new customers visit and she meets new people on her various trips and excursions.
Winner of 2007 Seinen Award for Best Manga.
Manga Review: Otogi Matsuri
In the quite little town of Miyakono life takes a drastic turn for many residents. The residents have forgotten the old traditions and have abandoned the gods. By destroying the mountain and filling in the rivers an ancient charm was broken. This charm protected the town from the onslaught of the ten Kenzoku. These ancient and monstrous creatures gather the souls of their victims to resurrect their creator. The only humans that can fight these beings are those who have been chosen by the four gods guarding the town. These gods are: Suzaku, who protects the south, Seiryu, who protects the East, Genbu, who protects the North, and Byakko, who protects the West. Upon contact with the gods the chosen must give up their most precious thing in exchange for a jingi, a sacred weapon. They, along with the few who have spiritual sense, are the only ones who can see the Kenzoku and thus must fight together to save the greater population who are unaware of the danger. Still, the Jingi users are only human and their weakness causes many deaths, some unavoidable, some harrowing.
Manga Review: Island
From the manhwa writer that wrote Shin Angyo Onshi and Defense Devil comes a story of demons, death, history, and vengeance. Island centers around Won Miho who, ever since she came to Cheju Island, has attracted the attention of the native demons. Her only line of defense is Pan, a serial killer who hunts these demons. This mysterious man uses Buddhist chants and his jade dagger to defeat both god and demons alike. He is unpredictable, to say the least, and Won has to resort to money in order to keep Pan defending her. However, these demons are the least of Won’s worries as she gets caught in a history of hate between Korea and Japan which manifests itself in supernatural killing and battles.
Manga Review: Parasyte
Even in real life, humans are slowly destroying the planet. However, in Parasyte Earth may have a chance due to alien invaders. These aliens are parasitic, sometimes symbiotic, creatures that attempted to take over human bodies when they first invaded. Most Parasites succeeded and took control over human brains. Others failed to take over humans but succeed in controlling other animals, although this is considered a failure by the Parasite population. These Parasites develop a need to eat others of the same species as their host. Thus Parasites in human hosts eat other humans. Another failure is when a Parasite fails in taking over a human’s brain and instead controls a different part of their body. This is the case of Shinichi Izumi who has a Parasite in his right hand.
MangaLog: Hotel
From the same mangaka that brought us Sun-ken Rock, Boichi, comes a collection of five oneshots.
In general these oneshots have amazingly detailed drawings. Seeing how most of these oneshots have a sci-fi theme to them pictures can become quite grand, to have such images as detailed, crisp, and clear as these is quite the accomplishment. The facial expressions on the people here are of the most expressive I have ever seen in a manga. Boichi-sensei also shows off his ability as a writer. Together, the drawing and the writing act as an efficient conductor of emotion. The emotion Boichi-sensei put in is the emotion you receive, no less but everything more.
Click the break to read a summery of each oneshot and my thoughts on them.
I started making a post about every chapter of manga chapter I read. I called it MangaLog and I started off strong with a collection of oneshots.
