seinen ↘↖
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.
Manga Review: King of Thorns
People often ask: “If you could have one superpower what would it be?” One day I decided to sit down and plan out what would be the best superpower so that I would be prepared should someone ask. After brainstorming I came up with two superpowers that were tied for my favorite. One of them is turning what I imagine into reality. Just like any superpower this one has flaws. This manga explores what happens if someone tries to utilize this great power in order to take over the world. In this manga the so called, “Medusa virus,” has started to infect humans. The result? People slowly turn in stone. Huge power awaits those who can control the Medusa virus.
Manga Review: Sangatsu No Lion
It is a hard life for a professional shogi player. Winning a match means everything. Dropping down a rank is extremely challenging to rectify. But what if that proffesional shogi player is only a teenager? Kiriyama Rei is that shogi player. His father was a shogi player, and the only way Rei got his father to play with him was to challenge him with shogi. Now he is all alone and has a past that is too much for him to bare. All he has is shogi and the Kawamoto family. Fortunately, the Kawamoto family is really all Rei needs.
Manga Review: Mushishi
What is like a plant and like an animal but neither? What is a mirage but also physical? The answer is mushi. Mushi are a third type of being. They are not plants they are not animals but a little of both. Few people can see these creatures and even fewer of these become mushishi, wanderers who protect the balance between Mushi and humans. It is best to think of them as wandering healers who are both in tune with humans and mushi. The mangaka often bases the mushi after folk lore and superstitions. By borrowing from such lore we get creatures who have evolved and ripened for countless generations before being used in this work.
Manga Review: Team Medical Dragon
Available here
“Team Medical Dragon focuses around a genius surgeon, Asada Ryutaro, who’s methods have made him a bit of a renegade in the eyes of Japanese doctors. The manga exposes the illness of the Japanese hospitals and how their system is not designed to care for the patient. The manga is appropriate for mature audiences and contains blood, nudity, harsh language, and sex.” -Mangareader.net
