Review: Inuyashiki V.02

Title: Inuyashiki
Volume: 2 (of 3+)
Creator: Hiroya Oku
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: 11/24/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1632361310
MSRP: $12.99
Genre: Seinen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)

Description: Hiro Shishigami’s surprising reveal to his best friend, Ando, has made it clear that Inuyashiki was not the only person out in the park on that fateful night. Though it seems that Shishigami’s abilities will make life easier for his formerly bullied friend, his new abilities have also pushed him in a grim direction and he has now picked up a strange and deadly hobby. Inuyashiki may be the only person who can do something, but even with his new body, he’s still no spring chicken. Does Inuyashiki have what it takes to prevent Shishigami from continuing his violent pastime?

Contains Chapters 9-17:

• Chapter 9: The Other One
• Chapter 10: Hiro Shishigami
• Chapter 11: Tragedy
• Chapter 12: Plea
• Chapter 13: The Same Thing
• Chapter 14: I Will Handle Them
• Chapter 15: Across The Sky
• Chapter 16: Got Your Back
• Chapter 17: Their Powers:

Review:

Cover: The cover this time features Hiro Shishigami, the other hero who the aliens destroyed and built from the ground up. The background is orange this time with the same style used in the previous volume for the series title and volume number.

The spine from top-to-bottom contains the Kodansha brand logo, the series title, the volume number, and the mangaka.

The back cover is pretty basic as it just has the volume summary on he left side, with what looks like the inside of a computer on the right.

The cover this time for me I felt a bit deceived. It might be because the character featured on this cover, Volume 2, is the antagonist of the series. Usually a series would show our heroes front and center for the first couple of volumes before featuring a villain, but not Inuyashiki! However it is forgivable since their really is only one hero in the entire series so far so there is not really anyone else to represent the cover of Volume 2 unless you want to show off Ichiro again, which would be a bit boring as buyers who see the two volumes side-by-side on a bookstore shelf might think something entirely different about this series. For the most part, it works; I would like to see our antagonist looking a bit more sinister however.

Artwork: The artwork in this volume continues to impress me. Since this series is Seinen, it uses a bit more of a mature art style. If readers are familiar with Hiroya's other work, GantZ, this volume is pretty much drawn in the same style as his previous work. I absolutely love it! From the dramatic moments to the action sequences, every page is eye pleasing. 

Translation: The translation for this volume is pretty spot on. Character names, references, places, sound effects, and other anime/manga works are all left intact. There is also a page of translation notes for readers to get a better understanding of what some of the many references this volume contains.

Extras: N/A

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): This volume continues Hiro Shishigami's introduction as he visits a friend of his who was absent at school and begins to show off his new abilities that he inherited from the alien accident. He seems to have a bit more control over his powers then Ichiro does, but he also abuses them by harassing people and stealing.

He eventually ends up at a household where the family is home. Wife is cooking dinner while the father is giving their young son a bath. He kills them all as they plead for their lives. As the last member of the family arrives home, the older daughter, Hiro begins to torture her. Ichiro hears the cries for help and goes to try and save her before anymore harm happens. He arrives to late and as Ichiro sees the death and harm Hiro has caused he wants to avenge them. Hiro easily takes care of Ichiro with a single hit. Ichiro get's up and Hiro is surprised he did not kill the old man, but just decides to leave so he doesn't cause any more attention. Ichiro vows to not let anyone else die and starts to learn what his new abilities consist of to help defend the innocent.

Later, Hiro meets back up with his friend and threatens him that if he doesn't start coming back to school that he would kill him. His friend no longer wants to be his friend because of what he has done, but Hiro still does not let up, if he doesn't go to school he will find him and kill him.

In the last scene, Ichiro sees a cat that has been wounded and is in serious condition. He manages to use his ability to heal the cat good as new. Ichiro decides he will use his new found ability to heal the sick and injured.

I absolutely love this volume. The drama was intense, the action was insane. The protagonist and the antagonist are complete polar opposites which is something that makes me as a reader really choose a side fast. My one complaint is the inconsistency of certain things that happen in the story. In V.01, Ichiro had a shaking condition that he overcame after the accident but in this volume its back; it's not mentioned but the lines are there that show he is shaking again. Another thing is the jet pack Ichiro uses was shown off in the first volume as well, but he doesn't seem to realize he has one when he sees Hiro uses his and then he tries to access his own. Although the main story was amazing, things like the above mentioned do still bug me.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: Yes
• Sexual Situations: Yes

Overall Rating: 7/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 12/25/2015

New Releases: Week of 12/15/15

We got a huge week of releases! Especially with the manga department. Not a whole lot of mainstream titles but still some fairly good ones to check out!

Anime:

• Chaika The Coffin Princess Season 1 Blu-Ray
• Chaika The Coffin Princess Season 1 DVD
• Daimidaler Blu-Ray/DVD
• Hayate The Combat Butler: Heaven is a Place on Earth Blu-Ray
• Hayate The Combat Butler: Heaven is a Place on Earth DVD
• Majestic Prince Complete Collection Blu-Ray
• Majestic Prince Complete Collection DVD
• One Piece Season 7 Part 4 DVD Uncut
• Space Adventure Cobra The Movie Blu-Ray
• Street Fighter II The Animated Movie DVD
• Venus Wars Blu-Ray

Manga:

• Afterschool Charisma V.11
• Aldnoah.Zero Season One V.01
• Amazing Agent Luna Omnibus V.05
• Aquarion Evol V.05
• Attack on Titan V.17 Special Edition w/ DVD
• Attack on Titan V.17
• Barakamon V.08
• Black Bullet Novel 2
• Black Bullet V.02
• Bloody Cross V.09
• Chaika: The Coffin Princess V.03
• Demon From Afar V.05
• Dorohedoro V.17
• Fairy Tail V.51
• He's My Only Vampire V.05
• Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? Novel 4
• Kiss Him, Not Me V.02
• LDK V.02
• Master Keaton V.05
• Mayo-Chiki Omnibus V.01-03
• Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-Chan V.10
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin V.12 -Encounter-
• Ninja Slayer V.02
• Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi V.01
• Pandora Hearts V.23
• Puella Magi Suzune Magica V.02
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie -Rebellion- V.01
• Real V.14
• Rose Guns Days Season 1 V.02
• Say 'I Love You' V.11
• Spice and Wolf Novel 16
• Sunshine Sketch V.08
• Sword Art Online Novel 6 - Phantom Bullet Part 2
• The Devil Is A Part-Timer Novel 3
• The Secret Sakura Shares Omnibus
• Tokyo Ghoul V.04
• Tsubasa World Chronicle V.01
• Yowamusi Medal Omnibus V.01

Anime not too much really standing out unless your a huge fan of some classic 80s anime. There is a new One Piece Collection and a rerelease of the Street Fighter II Movie.

As for the manga side, we have a new Attack on Titan, bundled with an Anime OVA episode!!!! Also a new Kaori Yuki manga, Demon From Afar V.05. Gundam gets its final volume of The Origin series. Also the last part to SAO Phantom Bullet. What I really hope to check out eventually is CLAMPs sequel to Tsubasa, Tsubasa World Chronicle.

Keep checking back soon. the next review is being worked on and should be up prob tomorrow or Wednesday at sometime.

Manga Reading and Review Update

Finally managed to just finish Fairy Tail Master Edition V.01, so I went through my pile of mangas that still need to be read and found something that I didn't even have on my backlog! Inuyashiki V.02 will be the next new manga review I will be tackling, most likely this week. After that I will prob splurge a few titles that I have been wanting to read for quite some time (particularly more Naruto since the series recently finished) before I get to the next review manga, Magi V.15.

New Releases: Week of 12/8/2015

Time for new releases coming out for this week. As the year winds down, there won't be as many releases as the rest of the year. There is however still quite a few good releases!

Anime: 

• Aura Blu-ray
• Aura DVD
• Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends Blu-ray/DVD Anime Classics
• Library War DVD
• Rail Wars DVD
• Riddle Story of Devil Limited Edition DVD
• Riddle Story of Devil DVD
• Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas Complete Series DVD
• The Irregular at Magic High School Set 3 Blu-ray

Manga:

• Assassination Classroom Manga 07
• Darkstalkers Tribute Artbook (Hardcover)
• Deadman Wonderland Manga 12
• Freezing Manga Omnibus 05-06
• Itsuwaribito Manga 16
• Magi Manga 15
• Mega Man Tribute Artbook (Hardcover)
• Planetes Manga Omnibus 01
• Servamp Manga 04
• Tokyo ESP Manga 02
• Witchcraft Works Manga 08
• World of Professor Layton Artbook

The anime this week is a bit light on titles worth checking out. Saint Seiya is an easy go to for Shonen fans, but The Lost Canvas story line (Season 7 and 8) isn't the best parts of this series.

As for mangas there are a few more that I personally love! New Magi and Assassination Classroom this week. Planetes is also worth checking out if you are a fan of space exploration; its a bit more of a realistic series then most mangas. Also their's a few really cool video game artbooks being released that would be cool gifts for the holidays!

The Holidays

Sorry for the lack of reviews on here. I have had a lot of stuff going on with home life. Holidays, Family visiting, my Birthday. It might be still busy but I will try my best to still do a review here and there just to keep everyone on here happy.

So I just posted One-Punch Man V.03; I had that planned for last month but it got very busy. Currently I have nothing up for review that I have read. I am working on reading Fairy Tail Master Edition V.01, which probably won't get reviewed due to it being FIVE volumes in one. If I do review any of these, I will split them up by volume and review the stories from them specifically. After I finish this, I will be going onto reading most likely Magi V.15 and have that up for review, if not it will be a new series. I will however be reading something next that is for review, just not sure which.

Sailor Moon Crystal is also now getting its English dubbed release, so I might be going back as well and finishing up the reviews of Crystal with the Black Moon story arc.

With that said, keep a look out for whats to come. I'll prob start doing the release lists again every Tuesday, and update you all on statuses on content.

Review: One-Punch Man V.03

Title: One-Punch Man

Volume: 3 (of 10+)
Creator: ONE and Yusuke Murata
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Shueisha
US Publisher: Viz
Release Date: 11/3/15
Pages: 216
ISBN: 1421564610
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem - he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on! For three years, Saitama has defeated countless monsters, but no one knows about him... That's because he isn't in the Hero Association's registry! Together with Genos, Saitama decides to take the Hero Association's test! But can they pass?

Contains Punch 16-20:

• Punch 16: I Passed
• Punch 17: Sparring
• Punch 18: Pounding the Pavement
• Punch 19: No Time for This
• Punch 20: The Rumor
• Bonus Manga: Summer
• Bonus Manga: A New Wind Blows

Review:

Cover Art: The cover for this volume features one of our wild-card characters who we don't know yet is a hero or a villain, Sonic. The volume number is on the lower left corner which is presented in the same style as the original Japanese versions. The title is on the top in green lettering.

The spine from top-to-bottom contains the Shonen Jump brand logo, series title, volume number, mangaka, an image of Sonic hanging upside down and the VIZ company logo.

The back cover has Saitama walking down an upper dirt road with stairs leading to other paths below him. The bottom portion of the cover has the volume summary.

I really enjoy the covers of this series. It's not just because they are exact replications of the original Japanese tankoubans but also the imagery used. Each cover so far has used a single character primarily featured in that volume as the front cover, while the back cover has more of a simplistic art used to show the lighter side that the series has occasionally.

Artwork: The art from this volume is a bit all over the place. It still has tons of great action sequences but the art seems to at times go from a lot bold-to-thin lines quite a bit more frequently. There is one thing though that this series continues to surprise me with which are the double page spreads; not a lot of current manga series use double page spreads which in action series such as this one just show how much more powerful the action going on can be.

Translation: The translation is accurate for this volume. Character names, jokes, and references have been all left intact. The only thing that has been changed are sound effects, which is typical for VIZ manga titles.

Extras: The extras in this volume are pretty substantial. We get two bonus manga chapters. One being before Saitama actually became a hero and had hair. This chapter was a bit of comic relief as we had Saitama who needed to use the bathroom while being held inside of a building while S-Rank Heroes were off trying to destroy a nearby threat.

The second chapter showed off a new heroine; Class S, Rank 2 Terrible Tornado. Not much was really shown in terms of who she is, but it had a pretty cool action sequence.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): This volume was a bit light on content as there was only five chapters that were pertaining to the central main story. We first have Saitama and Genos trying out to be heroes by taking the Hero Association Test. Genos passes all tests with high marks getting put into Class S easily. Saitama however doesn't pass the written very well and is placed in Class C. The examiner thinks Saitama shouldn't still be a hero so follows him on his way home and tries to pick a fight, but he is no match for Saitama's one-punch.

The second chapter deals with Genos and Saitama in a sparring match. Genos wants to test out his skills against his master.

The third and fourth chapter sees the return of Sonic. Saitama must go out and stop crimes or he will lose his Class C Hero license. While he is looking to prevent him from losing his hero status, Sonic shows up to cause some problems, along with other heroes who question who Saitama is in the Hero Association.

The last chapter has two Class A heroes, Golden Ball and Hero Mustachio, as they have a run in with a monster called Kombu Infinity. The monster quickly defeats our two Class A Heroes, but luckily Saitama is on his way home from the grocery store and single handed pulls apart the monster piece by piece and takes the Kombu (it's basically the seaweed used in sushi) home for food.

Overall there still was a lot that happened in this volume in terms of moving the forward story. My only complaint was to maybe be able to see a bit more of the Hero Association Exam. Most shonen mangas I have read that have an exam of some sort (Naruto, My Hero Academia) have a bit longer process in terms of story with something like this. I understand it would slow the story down a little but it would have been a bit more character development for our characters and maybe had them run in with some other of the Class S and A characters. Other then that, the pacing was handled well. There was not a serious threat in this volume to really have the story arcs be longer then one or two chapters each, but hopefully soon that will change now that our main protagonists are actually heroes now and will soon have to take on much bigger threats.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: No
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating:

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 12/6/2015

Throw-Back Thursday Review: Chobits V.02

Title: Chobits
Volume: 2 (of 8)
Creator: CLAMP
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Kodansha Ltd.
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 7/23/02
Pages: 184
ISBN: 1591820057
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Science Fiction
Rated: OT (Older Teen Age 16+)

Description: Hideki's luck with girls seems to be turning around. First, his sexy test-prep teacher asks to sleep over, then the landlady starts doing him favors, and even the really cute girl from work goes out with him. And then there's Chi. She's the artificially intelligent Persocom that Hideki found, and as she continues to grow and learn, she hopes that Hideki will be her one true love. She'll do anything for Hideki, so when he tells her he's low on money, she takes a job. But when Hideki finds out what she's been paid to do, HE'LL do anything to bring her home.

Contains Chapters 13-24:

• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24

Review:

Cover: The covers of the Chobits series gets better and better as the series progresses. For Volume 2, we have a nice sunset background. The colors are really dark. What I really like though is the picture of Chi in White. It is a really nice eye catcher, along with the red ribbon on her dress. The Title is on the top, same weird looking font as the first, which I do not really care for that much. The bottom of the cover has the Mangaka on the left, and the Volume Number on the right. Since it’s a Tokyopop Manga, they have the different color strip connecting the front/spine/back. It is an odd color of blue again, with Tokyopop written on the top in gray.

The spine from top to bottom has the Tokyopop logo, The Series Title, The Mangaka, and the Volume Number. Kind of dull.

The Back however is impressive. It has the same background as the front; three pics as well. 2 pictures of Hideki and one of Chi and Shimizu. The top of the cover has the Series Title. Underneath that is a Profile on Hideki. Then we have a nice Summary on what this Manga is about.

Artwork: I love the Artwork of CLAMP. Every one of their titles so far has had magnificent Artwork. That’s one of the reasons why I buy their mangas. As soon as I open the first page it just makes me say “WOW.” It is just utter brilliance.

As for Chobits Volume 2, this Volume is no exception. The Artwork is very simple and clean. It makes me feel all warm inside.

Translation: The translation for Chobits Volume 2 is accurate. Nothing I really noticed that can be that bad, except for Sumomo’s name change to Plum. The sound effects are all kept in Japanese, which makes the pleasure of reading it an even better experience.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): In the last volume, we were left with Shimizu staying over at Hideki’s place for the night. Hideki wakes up the next morning and Shimizu is still there, but in her underwear. Shimizu gets dressed and heads to the school to teach her class. Hideki goes with her. Chi stays behind with Ms. Hibiya.

While Hideki went to school, Ms. Hibiya shows Chi some pictures that appear to be Chi. When Hideki arrives home; Chi has a whole net set of clothes from Ms. Hibiya.

The next day, Hideki goes out to do some errands. Hideki finds the next book to the series that Chi is reading. He buys it for her and brings it back home. Chi takes the book and reads it, entranced by it. Chi begins to get visions of a girl that looks just like herself. The other Chi tells Chi they are connected and she will be seeing Chi again and tell her more on their pasts.

In the beginning of the next ARC, Hideki is in need of more money, so Chi decides to help by getting a job. While Hideki goes out to work, Chi goes to look. She stumbles across a man who lets her work for him. He has somewhat of a porn shoot. He takes her back to his apartment and tells her to strip. Chi listens, but when she begins to do other things, her inner self tells her not to. Chi then goes into a trance and all the Persocoms begin to shutdown around the city.

Hideki wants to find Chi so Shimbo lets him have Plum, his laptop, for a while. Hideki begins to look for Chi with Plum, when he spots Chi flying out over the city. Hideki finds Chi on top of a clock. He yells to her and Chi jumps into his arms. Chi becomes out of the trance, not knowing anything that she just done.

As the story continues on and on, it continues to get darker and darker. I love dark series. I’m not gothic or anything like that, it just really intrigues me. As for the content of this Manga, there was a lot of story present here. There was also a lot of information present in this Manga. Although there is a lot of perverted humor, it begins to die down in later chapters and lead to an even greater story. If you are just reading Chobits for the perverted/Hentainess, I’d say stop now and buy other mangas like Love Hina or Ranma ½. Most all of CLAMPs works are dark, and if they are not dark they are full of angst. Chobits is one of those titles that tests all that CLAMP has to offer.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: No
• Nudity: Yes
• Sexual Situation: Yes

Where Purchased: Frank and Sons Collectible Show
Overall Rating: 4 (Out of 5)

Original Review Date: 11/11/03
Reviewer: TheGodofJurai

Review: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic V.14

Title: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic
Volume: 14 (of 27+)
Creator: Shinobu Ohtaka
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: SHOGAKUKAN
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 10/13/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421559641
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Sunday
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Aladdin and his friends face the powerful and diabolical pirate queen Madaura, who uses a powerful magical item called the Holy Mother Halo Fan to enrapture her captives and make them her slaves. A fierce battle looms, and if Aladdin cannot release his companions from Madaura's grip, he may find himself fighting against them!

Contains Nights 129-138:

• Night 129: Independent
• Night 130: Memories of Darkness
• Night 131: The Enemy
• Night 132: Confession
• Night 133: A Kind Person
• Night 134: The Day Before
• Night 135: Traveling Alone
• Night 136: Koha Ren Appears
• Night 137: Days of Training
• Night 138: Days of Study

Review:

Cover Art: The cover this time has a new character to the series, who is only briefly shown in this volume, Koha Ren. Lots of pinks, grays, and black coloring makes the character really pop, however, with the series title also being the same color pink that is predominant over the cover makes the title not that noticeable on the top portion. The volume number is displayed at the center-bottom of the cover in a gold circle.

The spine is pink and from top to bottom contains the Shonen Sunday imprint, the series title, volume number, mangaka, Koha Ren's face from the front cover, and a magic lamp with some smoke coming out of it making it look like the image of Koha Ren is coming out of the lamp.

The back cover has an image of Alibaba, Hakuryu, and Sinbad on the top portion. The volume summary is on the bottom half of the cover in white lettering on a pink background.

Overall the color is nice. The coloring really pops, its just the lettering used was a bad idea. The pink on pink isn't the best thing. I love the back cover art though. It is nice seeing these three characters as with future volumes we won't be seeing much of them for probably a while where Aladdin is heading off to do.

Artwork: The artwork for this volume is all over the place. We have your typical shonen style for the beginning third of the title. When we finish the previous story arc and move into the next one, the artwork begins to feel a bit sloppier then normal. There is a lot more humor going on since the last story arc dealt with some serious drama which we will get to soon, but I feel the artist did not need to drop the quality as much as he did. At certain points it seems like a five year old could do a better illustration.

Translation: Character names, places, and references are left intact. The Sound effects have been changed from the original Japanese ones to show English sound effects.

Extras: There are two bonus mangas that are only a couple pages long. They don't really do much to advance the story. They are purely humor.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The battle with Madaura continues from the previous volume, and ends with a very dark story. Hakuryu finally uses his Djinn equip and frees the children from Madaura's control by killing her with no remorse. We then get a bit of backstory on why Hakuryu is trying to bring down the Kou Empire. Hakuryu is trying to get enough power to kill his own mother. This puts a bit of fear into the other members of Aladdin's group. Hakuryu leaves the group to fulfill his mission alone.

Moving on from the Madaura story arc, we have a few comedy chapters as Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morigana  have a night on the town before they all go their separate ways.

After the night out and our heroes all go their separate ways, Aladdin heads alone to Magnoshutatt, a magic country, to learn more magic. This is where he runs into Koha Ren, the third prince of the Kou Empire. After the short meeting and not really learning a whole lot yet about this new character, Aladdin finally makes it to his destination where he becomes a student of magic. Aladdin gets placed in the lowest magic class and must pass a test in three months in order to move up ranks or he will be removed from the magic school. He is placed in a class with a dominatrix like instructor who whips him into shape fast. The three months pass and the test finally comes and Aladdin passes and instantly makes it to the top class, Kodor 1. The volume ends with a mysterious figure finally reaching the Leam Empire.

For the most part, the story was entertaining. The humor was a bit too much this volume, and the time jump of three months within two chapters was a bit quick. I wish we got to saw a bit more of Aladdin's training and not just him drooling over his teacher and her huge rack. Hakuryu's story was very intriguing however and i hope to see more soon on that subject. The pacing though with the rest of this volume from when our heroes all departed on their own journeys makes me think we will be seeing more sooner rather then later.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: No
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: Yes

Overall Rating: 5/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date:11/3/2015

Upcoming Reviews

Sorry I am very sick at the moment. I was planning on doing my TBT review this week but I've been in bed pretty much all day. I did manage to get through Magi V.14 though, which I will be reviewing next. A few of my books came in as well to the bookstore. After Magi, I will be doing One-Punch Man V.03. I'm going to try my best to get this one out before it hits stores officially as well.

Review: Ninja Slayer Kills! V.01

Title: Ninja Slayer Kills!
Volume: 1 (of 2+)
Creator: Koutarou Sekine, Bradley Bond, Philip Ninj@ Morzez
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha
Release Date: 9/1/2015
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1632360861
MSRP: $10.99
Genre: Shonen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)

Description: In the gritty, futuristic city of Neo-Saitama, the streets run slick with acid rain and blood. Here, an army of cybernetics-clad ninjas runs amok under the menacing rule of the Soukai Syndicate. As incessant strife wrought by a ninja turf war takes the lives of all citizens who end up in the crossfire, one can only hope to end the day without getting a shuriken to the skull. But in these dark, tragic times, a spirit of vengeance rises to kill all wicked Ninja who terrorize Neo-Saitama. This crimson avenger is Ninja Slayer, and he will not rest until all Ninja have been slaughtered at his hands.

Contains Kills 1-6:

• Kills 001 - Born in Red Black
• Kills 002 - Zero Tolerant Sansui
• Kills 003 - Menace of Darkninja Part 1
• Kills 004 - Menace of Darkninja Part 2
• Kills 005 - Menace of Darkninja Part 3
• Kills 006 - Divergence After Dark
• Bonus Extras
• Ninja Setting Design Collection
• Kills 000 + Preview

Review:

Cover Art: The cover is an exact replica of the original Japanese cover. We have our main protagonist, Ninja Slayer, looking very menacing at our reader on a white background. The series title is in the top right corner. The mangakas are on the lower left, with the voulme number on the right.

The spine from top-to-bottom shows the Kodansha Comics logo, the series title, the volume number, and the manga creator's name.

The back cover has the volume summary on the top third of the cover. The middle third of the cover has the rest of the manga's cast in a profile shot.

Overall the cover stands out very well. I bought this on a blind whim from the cover alone. It really appeals to the eyes with the colors use and how menacing our hero looks.

Artwork: All I can really say is there is tons of action; explosions, katanas clashing, limbs being severed. There is not much of anything else but fight after fight with an occasional inner monologue from our characters that doesn't really detract from the over all action artwork that this volume is entirely filled with.

Translation: Not really reading or knowing much about this series, I can not give an accurate account on the translation. I can say that Kodansha pulled off a lot of work though with translation information for the readers, which I must say was very helpful with my read through of this volume.

Extras: This volume contains a massive Character Design Collection extra that it is totally worth having in this volume with how confusing it gets with the content presented in this series. There is a lot of commentary about characters, concepts, weapons, vehicles, symbols; there is just everything pretty much explained in this section.

There is also a Translation Note section which has even more vocabulary terms very helpful in reading a title like this with so much Ninja and Samurai references.

The last extra which I found very helpful was the Author's afterword. If it wasn't for this section I probably wouldn't consider reading more of this series in the future, but I will get to that in the content section.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): For this being a blind buy, I wasn't really knowing what I was getting into buying this title. What I was presented with was a huge action slaughter-fest that was entertaining to look at, but not much content to really get me excited for the characters.

Ninja Slayer Kills! is apparently a spin off to another series called Ninja Slayer. The original series first volume actually doesn't come out until this week, so I had to do a bit of research to actually understand the entire concept of what this series is about.

The series begins with our main hero as a human, Fujikido Kenji, who gets possessed by a dead ninja known as Ninja Slayer, who uses his new power to protect his family by killing other ninjas. That's the premise of this series.

The rest of this entire volume is fight after fight as Ninja Slayer is basically taking down enemies from this evil organization called the Soukai Syndicate. It actually isn't until the last chapter that we get a bit of insight on what the Soukai Syndicate is actually up to.

For the most part, this series can get very confusing if the reader hasn't read the original Ninja Slayer series or hasn't done research on the series. Having done the research myself, the series is basically showing the glorious fight scenes in a different way then the original manga did not show. From what I have learned from various sources, the original Ninja Slayer manga has the exposition that this series lacks. Overall, it was entertaining to look at and flip through, but with a bit more of an actual story to go on, this series might have been a lot more entertaining.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 3/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 10/20/2015

New Releases: Week of 10/20/2015

Couple big releases this week that are coming out, just wanting to cover them here for my readers.

Anime:

• Dragon Ball Z: Ressurection 'F' (Collector's Edition Blu-Ray + DVD + HD-Digital/Standard Blu-Ray + DVD + HD-Digital/DVD)
• Hayate the Combat Butler Season 2 (Blu-Ray/DVD)
• Space Brothers Collection 5 (Blu-Ray/DVD)

Manga:

• Aquarion Evol V.04
• Claymore Manga Box Set (V.01-27)
• LDK V.01
• Magika Swordman and Summoner V.02
• Monster Perfect Edition V.06
• Ninja Slayer V.01
• Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary V.03
• Oreimo: Kuroneko V.03
• Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn V.02
• Tokyo Ghoul V.03

Tokyo Ghoul was an amazing read if you have not read it yet. I've only read V.01 of Claymore, but it reminds me a lot of a toned down version of Berserk, but with a female protagonist. We also got the 15th DBZ movie, which is probably the last movie for DBZ now that Dragon Ball Super is being released, and is interpreting Movie 14 and 15 into actual episodes. 

What's coming up for the blog. Currently making my way through Ninja Slayer Kills V.01 which will be getting a review when finished. There is also a TBT Review that will be posted this week. So keep checking back for updates!

Review: Final Fantasy Type-0

Title: Final Fantasy Type-0
Volume: 1 (of 1)
Creator: Takatoshi Shiozawa, Hiroki Chiba, Tetsuya Nomura
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Square Enix
US Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: 9/22/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 0316348910
MSRP: $13.00
Genre: Action/Drama
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: The cadets of Akademeia's Class Zero are legends, with strength and magic unrivaled, and crimson capes symbolizing the great Vermilion Bird of the Dominion. But will their elite training be enough to keep them alive when a war breaks out and the Class Zero cadets find themselves at the front and center of a bloody political battlefield?!

Contains Chapters 1-4:

• Chapter 1: We Have Arrived
• Chapter 2: Class Zero
• Chapter 3: The Battle of McTighe
• Chapter 4: Beneath the Vermilion Baner

Review:

Cover Art: The cover art is pretty neat, as not a lot of manga covers have I ever seen in his design. It features wrap around artwork that shows all twelve members of Class-0, which is basically all the students you get to play as in the Final Fantasy Type-0 Game. We have the title on the top, as well as the Final Fantasy series title with the logo. I find this rather redundant having it twice on the front cover. The mangakas are on the bottom portion of the cover.

The spine just has the name of the manga as their is only one volume in this series.

The back cover has the volume summary on a part of the artwork that doesn't really take away from the actual image of the Class-0 members, which is a good thing, as the artwork is probably the best thing this title really has to offer.

Artwork: The artwork is very clean and simplistic. Their is not a lot of detail in this entire book, which can be bad at times but for this it works. I think the creators were trying to show a much lighter side to the Class-0 teams usual foray due to the nature of the game being so dark. The artwork also stays consistent, not changing styles as it switches tones throughout the course of the book.

Translation: Seeing as I have only played the English version of the game, I can not go really off of if anything has changed much with this title. I can say though is the sound effects are left intact, with the English sound effects displayed next to the original. As for usual Final Fantasy vocabulary, everything follows the games pretty much spot on.

Extras: N/A

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Where do I begin with this single volume title. First off, we get four stories that take place before the events of Type-0 Game, None of them are connected whatsoever. None of them even feel remotely connected to the game as well. Having this be a prequel, I was hoping to see something connect to the games tragic opening cinematic, but that was not even referenced or have a direction of our characters being steered in that direction.

All four stories were so badly written they kind of all blended into each other with no meaningful remembrance. We have 12 main characters, and not enough time for really any of them to shine. We have lots of training exercises they go through with several references to Final Fantasy monsters like the malboros and tonberrys, but not once do we actually see them. We do get a scene with a chocobo and a moogle, but that's really as far as our Final Fantasy lore goes. There is even a quick summon or two shown, but they are kind of meaningless in power to what this volume really offered for me.

I know this was meant to be an item included in the Collector's Edition of the game; but it was also mentioned to be the prequel to the game. As I had to wait for it to be released separate from the collector's edition, I was really happy to get my hands on it. until I started reading and it took me over a week to get through due to how boring the content was. This is one title I seriously can't recommend to anyone, even the die-hard fans of the Final Fantasy Series like myself.

Objectionable Content:

Language: No
Violence: Yes
Nudity: No
Sexual Situation: No


Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Overall Rating: 1/10

Review Date: 10/13/2015

Throw-Back Thursday Review: YuYu Hakusho V.02 - Lonesome Ghosts

Title: Yu Yu Hakusho
Volume: 2 (of 19)
Creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 6/30/03
Pages: 199
ISBN: 1569319049
MSRP: $7.95
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: It was a typical day for Yusuke — go to school at noon, get kicked out by the teacher, fight with his rival Kuwabara, and head for home in time to wake his mom from her drunken stupor. But when he throws himself in front of a car to save a little kid’s life, he becomes Tokyo’s toughest teenage ghost! While his childhood friend Keiko grieves over his comatose body, Yusuke has one chance to return to life: raise a “spirit egg” at the behest of the comely Botan (aka Death) and her boss Koenma, lord of the infernal bureaucracy. But the creature that hatches from the spirit egg will be determined by the good or evil in Yusuke’s soul — if he’s not careful, he could create a monster!

Contains Chapters 1-8:

• Chapter 1: Goodbye, Material World!
• Chapter 2: Test for Resurrection!!
• Chapter 3: Time for Departure!!
• Chapter 4: The Old Dog and the Boy
• Chapter 5: Her First Christmas!
• Chapter 6: The Lonely Journey
• Chapter 7: The Promise!
• Chapter 8: The Temporary Resurrection (Part 1)

Review:

Cover Art: The first Volume of Yu Yu Hakusho is identical to the Original Version. The main pic has a sky like border. It has a profile shot of Yusuke, and in front of him appears to be Keiko with a worried expression on her face (probably because she found out what happened to Yusuke in this chapter). The title Yu Yu Hakusho is on the top with blue and yellow coloring. The cover as a whole is black with a blue tint. The bottom has the Mangaka’s name, followed by the Volume Number.

The Spine is white. It has the “Shonen Jump” initial logo (SJ) in blue and white. Underneath hat is the title, Yu Yu Hakusho, the Volume Number (again!), and the Mangaka. The pic on this volume is Yusuke. He has a blue tint to him.

The back is the same color as the front, black with a blue tint. The top has the title, Yu Yu Hakusho, followed by the Volume Title, Goodbye, Material World!, followed by the Volume Summary. We also get the Volume Number (yet again!) and a pic of Yusuke trying to look scary.

I am really getting tired of how VIZ structures their manga covers. All their new covers have the Volume Number and Series Title at every corner. This gets a little annoying. Tokyopop has the Series Title and Volume Number on just the front and the spine, while VIZ goes to the limit and spams every corner of their mangas.

Artwork: Volume 1’s Artwork I did not care for that much. Togashi did not stay consistent with. While some of the chapters have art that seems to be new and fresh, others look grainy and chalk like.

Translation: The Translation of Yu Yu Hakusho stays true to the original, except for the Sound Effects, which are dubbed English. They can be dealt with, but it does ruin the artwork, in my opinion.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I fell in love with Yu Yu Hakusho back in the Mid-90s. It was not just the plot that pulled me in, but the characters. The characters are so well driven and have great personalities, who can’t fall in love with at least one.

This Volume begins the series. Yusuke, the main character gets hit by a car as he saves a little boys life, who ran in the street for a ball. After Yusuke dies he meets Botan, the grim reaper, who she takes Yusuke to see the son of Lord Enma, Koenma. Koenma tells Yusuke that he wasn’t supposed to die, so he gives Yusuke an egg that Yusuke must do good deeds in order for it to hatch. If Yusuke does enough good deeds, Yusuke can be resurrected. If he does bad deeds, a monster will hatch and devour Yusuke’s spirit.

So, Yusuke has to return to the real world and tell his loved ones about the situation at hand. Yusuke enters his rival’s body, Kuwabara, and finds the women he loves, Keiko, and tells her that he will be back on Earth soon. Yusuke then leaves Kuwabara and begins his quest for resurrection.

This whole volume is all filler episodes on how Yusuke does good deeds in order for his resurrection. The last chapter though is part 1 of a 2 part mini-series. Yusuke gets a chance to be alive for one day, in order to revitalize his physical body. In this little time, Keiko gets kidnapped by a local gang. Yusuke can not save her either, cause if he lets Keiko see him, he will not be revived.

This volume was a little slow. The last chapter was a little interesting. It leaves you wanting to finish the mini-series, as well as finish the whole ARC on Yusuke being dead. I admit, I don’t really care for the beginning part of Yu Yu Hakusho, however stick with it. Yu Yu Hakusho has a great story and it does get better in future Volumes (it gets good starting with Volume 3).

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situation: No

Where Purchased: Orbits (Local Anime Store)
Overall Rating: 1 (Out of 5)

Original Review Date: 11/9/03

New Releases: Week of 9/30/2015

Big week of Manga releases this week:

• ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM GN VOL 06
• CASE CLOSED GN VOL 56 
• CLAYMORE GN VOL 27 
• DEADMAN WONDERLAND GN VOL 11
• DEMON PRINCE OF MOMOCHI HOUSE GN VOL 02
• FOOD WARS SHOKUGEKI NO SOMA GN VOL 08
• KNIGHTS OF SIDONIA GN VOL 14
• LIBRARY WARS LOVE & WAR GN VOL 14
• MAGI GN VOL 14
• MY LITTLE MONSTER GN VOL 10
• MY LOVE STORY GN VOL 06
• NARUTO GN VOL 72
• POKEMON ADV BLACK & WHITE GN VOL 09
• POKEMON ADV FIRERED & LEAFGREEN EMERALD BOX SET
• SECRET CODERS GN VOL 01
• SEVEN DEADLY SINS GN VOL 10
• SILENT VOICE GN VOL 03
• SO CUTE IT HURTS GN VOL 03
• TOKYO GHOUL GN VOL 03
• TORIKO GN VOL 30
• TWIN STAR EXORCISTS GN VOL 02
• VINLAND SAGA GN VOL 06
• WORLD TRIGGER GN VOL 07
• YU GI OH 5DS GN VOL 08

The ones in bold are the ones I will be purchasing. The Pokemon Box set will probably be bought later on, but it is in the list of things I will one day buy. From these, Magi and Naruto will both get reviews. Naruto may be a little while, as I am still working my way through the last few volumes trying to play catch up.

Next Review, Besides the TBT Review that IS coming this week, will be Final Fantasy Type-0. It's a One-Shot manga, so there wont be more then one volume. You guys have seen a lot of 10s from me recently, but this one will break that streak.

See ya all soon! 

Review: One-Punch Man V.02

Title:One-Punch Man

Volume: 2 (of 9+)
Creator: ONE and Yusuke Murata
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Shueisha
US Publisher: Viz
Release Date: 9/1/15
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1421585650
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Descrption: Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem - he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on! He's easily taken out a number of monsters, including a crabby creature, a malicious mosquito girl, and a muscly meathead. But his humdrum life takes a drastic turn when he meets Genos - a cyborg who wants to uncover the secret behind his strength!

Contains Punch 9-15:

• Punch 09: House of Evolution
• Punch 10: Modern Art
• Punch 11: The Secret of Strength
• Punch 12: Parasiders
• Punch 13: Speed
• Punch 14: I Don't Know You
• Punch 15: Fun and Work
• Bonus Manga: Brushing Up

Review:

Cover Art: Another awesome cover with this title. VIZ went and decided to use the original artwork, barely altering any of the original cover design. The front cover has Genos, Swinging his arm upwards at our reader. The Series Title is presented in orange letters across the top. The volume number, mangakas, and the Shonen Jump imprint are on the lower left corner.

The spine from top-to-bottom has the Shonen Jump logo, series title, volume number, mangakas, a profile shot of Genos, and the VIZ logo.

The back cover has Saitama dropping water over the side of a building, onto an enemies lit bomb. There is a kid drawing with chalk next to Saitama (its an image of a butt chin faced man). The lower third of the cover has the series title and volume number, followed by the volumes description in an orange box. 

My only real complaint here is the back cover's volume description. The black letter on the orange is a bit rough on the eyes to read. Overall though, this is pretty much near perfection!

Artwork: The volume's artwork is pretty much the same as the first volumes style, which I absolutely loved to begin with. This series is very heavily action oriented, so there are tons of fight scenes, stuff exploding, people dying. There is also times when the artwork is toned down and more silly, when the mood is appropriate for it. The action is what really draws me into this series so much as it isn't just your this day in age shonen series, it brings back the nostalgia factor from some of the mangas of the past few decades.

Translation: This series' translation is not really altered. We do get the usual sound effects that are changed for the English readers that VIZ normally does. Character names, attacks, and the references used by our characters were all retained to keep to the original feel of the source material.

Extras: This volume contains another bonus chapter on our main hero, Saitama, before became the One-Punch Man. I am really enjoying these chapters as we get to see the backstory of our main character and what he went through before he got the extraordinary power he somehow inherited.

There is also a page with a few translations of some of the Kanji that was left unchanged so readers can get an understanding of what certain text means.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The volume continues from the first volume. Our heroes, Saitama and Genos, head into the House of Evolution's Headquarters to confront the monsters masters who attacked them previously. When they arrive they have do deal with another Evolutionary Monster, Carnage Kabuto. Carnage Kabuto makes quick work of Genos, but he is still no match for Saitama's One Punch moves. All the leaders want to know is how Saitama got his powers, but it isn't easy to get that answer out of our hero.

After the first story concludes, a new chapter begins when a new enemy known as the Paradisers shows up. These guys all have shaved heads and begin wrecking havoc in local towns around Saitama's home. Saitama isn't about to get involved until he realizes that they are bald like him and with the people of the cities against him, they might go after him when he goes out bargain shopping since he is bald.

We are also introduced to a new character, Sonic. He is an assassin out to stop the Paradisers. He also runs into Saitama and thinks he is a Paradiser and the two have a fight as well, but he is no match for Saitama.

With the Paradisers defeated, a new threat shows up from a mystery organization. The leader of the Paradisers stole from them, and they want revenge.

The volume ends with Genos telling Saitama that they can register to become official heroes. The two decide that it might be the best thing to do with the confusion with all the citizens of the world that they might be confused as enemies.

I really enjoyed this volume. It had all the goodness of the first volume and then some with all the extra action and new characters being introduced. I can't wait to see what comes out of the Hero Registration that Saitama and Genos are going to try to obtain. If you haven't started reading this yet, it is a must for all shonen fans.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 10/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 9/27/15

Review: One-Punch Man V.01

Title: One-Punch Man
Volume: 1 (of 9+)
Creator: ONE and Yusuke Murata
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Shueisha
US Publisher: Viz
Release Date: 9/1/15
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1421585642
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem - he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on! Every time a promising villain appears, he beats the snot out of 'em with one punch! Can Saitama finally find an opponent who can go toe-to-toe with him and give his life some meaning? Or is he doomed to a life of super powered boredom?

Contains Punch 1-8:

• Punch 01: One Punch
• Punch 02: Crab and Job Hunting
• Punch 03: Walking Disaster
• Punch 04: Subterraneans of Darkness
• Punch 05: Itch Explosion
• Punch 06: Saitama
• Punch 07: A Mysterious Attack
• Punch 08: This Guy
• Bonus Manga: 200 Yen

Review:

Cover Art: The cover uses the original art of the Japanese Tankoban. We have Saitama throwing a punch outward at our reader. He's carrying a bag of groceries, and it appears there is an enemy in the background who he just put a fist through. The series title is in big black letters across the top, with the volume number and mangakas listed in a red rectangular box on the lower left corner.

The spine from top-to-bottom has the Shonen Jump logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangakas, a not so serious shot of Saitama, and the VIZ logo.

The back cover has an action sequence featuring Saitama and his disciple Genos, chasing after an enemy, destroying buildings as they go. The bottom 1/3rd of the cover has the series title and volume number, followed by the volume description. The text is black and it is all on a yellow background.

I really love the look of this cover. The front has an amazing style of artwork that really pops out when a buyer sees it on the shelf and the rest of the entire artwork using a bit more of a toned down style of art really fits with the overall feel of the entire series. 

Artwork: Since this is a shonen jump series, expect lots of action. The series takes place in a more futuristic style planet. There's lots of explosions, fighting, and more explosions! It does have quite a bit of humor as well, but the art style is consistent. What draws me in so much is it reminds me of some of the classics; Dragon Ball, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and Fist of the North Star. It isn't what fans of today's Shonen Jump series like Naruto and One Piece would be used to, and that is a good thing!

Translation: The translation is pretty spot on for this series. Character names, places, and plot has been left intact. The only thing that some people would probably complain about would be the sound effects are changed to make them English.

Extras: We have a bonus chapter in this volume. It deals before Saitama got his powers and how he was picked on in school. There's also a page that explains a few of he kanji symbols on a couple of the pages. 

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The series starts off with a few chapters of just non-stop action, mainly the first four chapters are used to show our readers that this series is going to be filled with fists flying, explosions, humor, and a lead character who just wants to do anything that is not boring. It isn't until the fifth chapter that our story really begins.

Genos, an android that doesn't know who or what he was built for goes up against a crazy mosquito queen person, thing.... He's supposed to be the strongest being in the world, that is until Saitama shows up and steals the show by beating the mosquito queen with a single punch.

Genos asks Saitama to be his mentor, so maybe Genos could one day be as strong as Saitama. But before Saitama can respond, more monsters show up and interrupt our two heroes. But it still seems nothing can stop the invincible Saitama.

The volume doesn't really end with a real cliffhanger, but it is still amazingly good that will just make the reader want to read the next volume as soon as possible. Luckily, VIZ decided to release the first two volumes on the same day. Like I previously stated above in the rest of the entire review, this series is GOOD. It really brings back a nostalgia factor on some of the best shonen series from the 90s, before the whole Pirates vs Ninja generation came out. I definitely recommend this as a read, and a purchase!

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No
• Overall Rating: 10/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 9/5/15

Been Busy...

Sorry, it has been a very busy week. Force Friday and the release of Disney Infinity has kept me from a lot of reading. I did manage to finish One-Punch Man V.01 and am working on it right now! Expect it up in a couple hours, or tomorrow at some point!

What's Coming Up!

Sorry for not being on top of what I had planned for the weekly Throw-Back Thursday Reviews. I have been a bit busy and occupied with real life. On the other hand, I finally managed to get a copy of One-Punch Man V.01! So next reviews on the list will be One-Punch Man! Both V.01 and V.02 will be reviewed!

I also picked up another random series, Ninja Slayer Kills! V.01. I will be reviewing this as well. From the artwork, it seems I may enjoy it. This was a blind buy, so it will be fun to review something I don't really have much knowledge about.

Now all I need is to get through Naruto V.60...

Review: Inuyashiki V.01

Title: Inuyashiki
Volume: 1 (of 3+)
Creator: Hiroya Oku
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date:  8/25/15
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1632361213
MSRP: $12.99
Genre: Seinen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)

Description: Ichiro Inuyashiki is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he's constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he's done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. But just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, a blinding light in the night sky strikes the earth where Ichiro stands.

He later wakes up to find himself unscathed, but he soon starts to notice that there's something... different about himself. However, it turns out that these strange, new changes are just what Ichiro needs to take a new lease on life and now it seems like there's nothing to stop him from being a hero worthy of the respect that he never had before... unless, that is, there was someone else out there with these same "changes"...

Contains Chapters 1-8:

• Chapter 1: The Vicissitudes of Life
• Chapter 2: Abnormality
• Chapter 3: Oh My God
• Chapter 4: No Tears
• Chapter 5: Violence
• Chapter 6: Help Me God
• Chapter 7: Ichiro Inuyashiki
• Chapter 8: Man Without An Inside

Review:

Cover Art: The front cover features our protagonist, Ichiro Inuyashiki, smiling wide on a green cybernetic looking background. The series title is displayed on the right side, going down the cover vertically. The volume number and mangaka are on the bottom left corner.

The spine from top to bottom has the publisher, series title, volume number, and mangaka.

The back cover has the volume description on a light green background, displayed on the left half of the cover. The right side has more of the cybernetic background effects on a darker green color.

I honestly like the cover for this series. It isn't too busy and it shows the carefree look of our hero. If you don't know what the series is about, it kind of doesn't appeal to the overall series, but it does give somewhat of a carefree innocent backdrop for what this title really contains.

Artwork: Hiroya Oku is a pretty famous mangaka already, with a bit of a darker appeal to readers (his other work was GantZ). The style used in this volume is very similar to his drawing style from GantZ, which I honestly have no need to really complain about. He really pays attention to detail and never does he try to make anything look simplistic.

Translation: The translation was pretty accurate for the volume. All Sound effects and names were left unchanged. I also really liked how they included tons of Shonen Jump, One Piece, and GantZ references. Since Kodansha doesn't own the rights to any of the above titles, it was surprising they were still allowed to use them.

Extras: N/A

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Ichiro Inuyashiki just moved into a new house with his family. He looks a lot older then what he is cause he has worked such a hard life, and his family treats him like crap because of it. None of them want him in their life, nor do they really want to be a part of his. Ichiro gets a dog however and the dog seems to show him the compassion he is lacking.

One day, as Ichiro is at a doctors appointment, he learns that he has cancer and has about three months to live. He doesn't know how he is going to tell his family, as none of them really have the time to hear about his problems. That night he goes for a walk with his dog to a nearby park, when a mysterious object in the sky crashes down and kills Ichiro and a nearby person. Whatever killed them rebuilds their bodies as living weapons and cover up the hole in the earth that was left by the object.

The next day Ichiro wakes up in the park not knowing what actually happened to him, but he quickly begins to see that his body is different, and with his new power, he decides to use it to help others as well as making himself feel good along the way.

I am not going to spoil any more then what i have already covered. This was an amazing read from cover to cover. I loved the pacing of each chapter as it never left me bored for a second. My only real problem is that I loved GantZ, and I was expecting a bit more violence then what was presented in the first volume. I won't be lowering the score based off of this though as I was still quite surprised by the entire read. We did get to see a glimpse of the other person at the very end who was also killed in the accident, but it doesn't look like we will be seeing much of him and his GantZ manga obsession until V.02, which I am very much looking forward to. This is a must read for the older manga crowd, especially the sci-fi readers.

Objectionable Content: 

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 10/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles

Original Review Date: 8/26/15

New Releases: Week of 8/25/2015

This week has a pretty good list of mangas coming out, as well as a couple of classic anime tiles being re-released

Anime:

• Appleseed (Blu-Ray/DVD)
• Patlabor 3 - WXIII (DVD)

Manga:

• Ajin V.06
• Attack on Titan V.16 
• Attack on Titan V.16 Special Edition (Includes Playing Cards)
• Attack on Titan - Before the Fall V.05
• Attack on Titan - Harsh Mistress in the City V.01 (Novel)
• Dance in the Vampire Bund Omnibus V.06
• Devil is a Part-Timer V.02 (Novel)
• Fairy Tail - Blue Mistral V.01
• Inuyashiki V.01
• Let's Dance a Waltz V.04
• Maria The Virgin Witch - Exhibition
• One Punch Man V.01
• One Punch Man V.02
• Say I Love You V.09
• Your Lie In April V.03

Highlighted titles will be my definite purchases. The italicized titles are stuff you guys should definitely worth checking out and buying. Of the releases this week, Inuyashiki V.01 will be the next new review (I already have it in my hands, and will be starting it tonight). One Punch Man will also be another future review, once I find copies of them.

Sorry for no Throw-Back Review last week, there will be one this week though, so keep a look out for YuYu Hakusho V.02, as well as the other mangas I mentioned above.

New Releases: Week of 8/18/2015

To keep my blog active, I will be starting to add New Releases once again to help out the people who do read my blog, as well as myself, up to date on what is coming out in the world of anime and manga. If it is Highlighted, its part of the buy pile.

Anime:

• Future Diary (Blu-Ray)
• Hayate The Combat Butler - Season 1 Complete Collection (Blu-Ray)

Manga:

• Alice In The Country of Hearts White Rabbit Afternoon Tea V.01
• Ani-Imo V.04
• Barakamon V.06
• Bodacious Space Pirates Abyss Of Hyperspace V.01
• BTOOM V.11
• Cage of Eden V.18
• Devil Is Part Timer: High School V.01
• Dorehedoro V.16
• Emma V.01 (Hardcover)
• High School DXD V.06
• Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? V.02
• Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer V.04
• Noragami Stray God V.06
• Puella Magi Homura Tamura V.01
• Rust Blaster
• Street Fighter Legends - Chun Li (Hardcover)
• Tokyo Ghoul V.02
• Trinity Seven V.02
• Ultraman V.01

As far as this week goes, We have a bunch of odd titles in the mix. Noragami will be the only purchase this week. We bought Tokyo Ghoul V.02 already at Anime Expo, which was an amazing read so definitely pick up that series if you have not yet. 

Throw-Back Thursday Review: Yu Yu Hakusho V.01 - Goodbye, Material World

Title: Yu Yu Hakusho
Volume: 1 (of 19)
Creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 6/30/03
Pages: 199
ISBN: 1569319049
MSRP: $7.95
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: It was a typical day for Yusuke — go to school at noon, get kicked out by the teacher, fight with his rival Kuwabara, and head for home in time to wake his mom from her drunken stupor. But when he throws himself in front of a car to save a little kid’s life, he becomes Tokyo’s toughest teenage ghost! While his childhood friend Keiko grieves over his comatose body, Yusuke has one chance to return to life: raise a “spirit egg” at the behest of the comely Botan (aka Death) and her boss Koenma, lord of the infernal bureaucracy. But the creature that hatches from the spirit egg will be determined by the good or evil in Yusuke’s soul — if he’s not careful, he could create a monster!

Contains Chapters 1-8:

• Chapter 1: Goodbye, Material World!
• Chapter 2: Test for Resurrection!!
• Chapter 3: Time for Departure!!
• Chapter 4: The Old Dog and the Boy
• Chapter 5: Her First Christmas!
• Chapter 6: The Lonely Journey
• Chapter 7: The Promise!
• Chapter 8: The Temporary Resurrection (Part 1)

Review:

Cover: The first Volume of Yu Yu Hakusho is identical to the Original Version. The main pic has a sky like border. It has a profile shot of Yusuke, and in front of him appears to be Keiko with a worried expression on her face (probably because she found out what happened to Yusuke in this chapter). The title Yu Yu Hakusho is on the top with blue and yellow coloring. The cover as a whole is black with a blue tint. The bottom has the Mangaka’s name, followed by the Volume Number.

The Spine is white. It has the “Shonen Jump” initial logo (SJ) in blue and white. Underneath hat is the title, Yu Yu Hakusho, the Volume Number (again!), and the Mangaka. The pic on this volume is Yusuke. He has a blue tint to him.

The back is the same color as the front, black with a blue tint. The top has the title, Yu Yu Hakusho (. . .), followed by the Volume Title, Goodbye, Material World!, followed by the Volume Summary. We also get the Volume Number (yet again!) and a pic of Yusuke trying to look scary.

I am really getting tired of how VIZ structures their manga covers. All their new covers have the Volume Number and Series Title at every corner. This gets a little annoying. Tokyopop has the Series Title and Volume Number on just the front and the spine, while VIZ goes to the limit and spams every corner of their mangas.

Artwork: Volume 1’s Artwork I did not care for that much. Togashi did not stay consistent with. While some of the chapters have art that seems to be new and fresh, others look grainy and chalk like.

Translation: The Translation of Yu Yu Hakusho stays true to the original, except for the Sound Effects, which are dubbed English. They can be dealt with, but it does ruin the artwork, in my opinion.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I fell in love with Yu Yu Hakusho back in the Mid-90s. It was not just the plot that pulled me in, but the characters. The characters are so well driven and have great personalities, who can’t fall in love with at least one.

This Volume begins the series. Yusuke, the main character gets hit by a car as he saves a little boys life, who ran in the street for a ball. After Yusuke dies he meets Botan, the grim reaper, who she takes Yusuke to see the son of Lord Enma, Koenma. Koenma tells Yusuke that he wasn’t supposed to die, so he gives Yusuke an egg that Yusuke must do good deeds in order for it to hatch. If Yusuke does enough good deeds, Yusuke can be resurrected. If he does bad deeds, a monster will hatch and devour Yusuke’s spirit.

So, Yusuke has to return to the real world and tell his loved ones about the situation at hand. Yusuke enters his rival’s body, Kuwabara, and finds the women he loves, Keiko, and tells her that he will be back on Earth soon. Yusuke then leaves Kuwabara and begins his quest for resurrection.

This whole volume is all filler episodes on how Yusuke does good deeds in order for his resurrection. The last chapter though is part 1 of a 2 part mini-series. Yusuke gets a chance to be alive for one day, in order to revitalize his physical body. In this little time, Keiko gets kidnapped by a local gang. Yusuke can not save her either, cause if he lets Keiko see him, he will not be revived.

This volume was a little slow. The last chapter was a little interesting. It leaves you wanting to finish the mini-series, as well as finish the whole ARC on Yusuke being dead. I admit, I don’t really care for the beginning part of Yu Yu Hakusho, however stick with it. Yu Yu Hakusho has a great story and it does get better in future Volumes (it gets good starting with Volume 3).

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situation: No

Overall Rating: 1 (Out of 5)

Where Purchased: Orbits (Local Anime Store)
Original Review Date: 11/9/03

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews...

You all might notice the side bar has a bunch of new titles across it. I updated my Reading Backlog to actually show all the titles I have so far in my backlog. I also updated the upcoming reviews section. Not all of those titles are definite, however if it has the TBT in front of it, that is one of my old reviews, so those will be coming out. This Thursday expect a review of Yu Yu Hakusho V.01. The second volume will follow next week on Thursday. The throwback titles will be going into different genres eventually, so don't think that I will only be doing Shonen Jump/Shonen Sunday titles for mangas.

I will be playing catch up with a few of my other manga series in reading so my next review manga I will probably be reading in about 2 or 3 mangas from now. Please look forward to a NEW manga review possibly this weekend. As far as more Sailor Moon Crystal, the earliest I will probably get to reviewing them is September.

Review: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic V.13

Title: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic
Volume: 13 (of 26+)
Creator: Shinobu Ohtaka
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: SHOGAKUKAN
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 8/11/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421559633
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Sunday

Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana, Hakuryu, and Kogyoku each leave Sindria on their own quests. For the first leg of their journey, they will all be aboard the same ship, and Alibaba can't resist stowing away on it too. The high seas are dangerous though, and an encounter with pirates will lead them on a journey they never expected to take...

Contains Chapters 119-128:

• Night 119: Parting
• Night 120: Zepar
• Night 121: Setting Sail
• Night 122: Voyage
• Night 123: Pirates
• Night 124: Zagan Unleashed
• Night 125: Storming In
• Night 126: Pirate Fortress
• Night 127: Ice Spears
• Night 128: Mother

Review:

Cover Art: The cover features Kogyoku in her Full Body Djinn Equip form. The blue and pink colors correlate really well together, but it does take away from some of the other features on the front cover, mainly being the series title, the mangakas name, and the volume number, All of which are present, but are fizzled out with the coloring scheme used with the overall image. Another thing that the Japanese Tankoban has that the US Release doesn't, is the full name of the series, The Labyrinth of Flames is no where to be found anywhere on the cover, and you actually need to flip to the inside pages to see the full title of the series, unless you look at the back of the cover, which shows it, but it is not really noticeable.

The Spine is pink and from top to bottom has the Shonen Sunday logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangaka's name a smaller cropped picture of Kogyoku from the front cover, and a magic lamp.

The back cover has a cool picture of Aladdin with Judar. This honestly makes no real sense to me as Judar makes only one appearance in this entire volume, and it is a one panel flashback scene.

In a nutshell, the artwork for this cover is superb, but it leaves me wondering if people would walk by it if it was not showing the spine, as it is very hard to see what series it actually is.

Artwork: The artwork for this volume follows in the same style as previous volumes. It is a typical Shonen manga series so it has similar styles of artwork like Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Clover. One thing that I love is how the mangaka can transition so well between moods in her art form. The comedic parts can be a bit simplistic and cartooney, but when the story shifts to a serious point, the artwork does as well.

Translation: As I have not read much into the Japanese version of this series, I can not fully judge the series entirely on it's full translation. There are English Sound Effects used though to replace the original Japanese ones. All character names are kept the same. I have to question though at times they seem like panels can be edited to make the series a bit more "Young Teen" friendly.

Extras: There is one extra in this chapter, a bonus Night 122.5 mini chapter, which elaborates a bit more on Alibaba rejoining his friends on the ship.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The volume begins fresh, as the previous volume ended the current storyline of the series. We have Alibaba questioning why he still is not as strong as his friends, and when Kogyoku runs into him, they decide to show each other what they have learned. Kogyoku has already achieved the power of Full Body Djinn Equip; Sinbad sees this and tests her strength to see how far along she has come since learning this new technique, but finds out she still has a long ways to go before they can fight on an equal level.

Alibaba then decides he needs to become stronger somehow, and as his friends are about to leave on their own separate journeys by boat, he decides to sneak on board with them to find his own place to get stronger. Alibaba is eventually found out that he is their and Aladdin and the others welcome their friend back to the group, but it is short lived as the boat is attacked by pirates. Our heroes are not that strong to defeat the pirates just yet, but Hakuryu manages to put a tracking spell on the pirates as they escape.

Back on dry land we learn that the pirates are kidnapping children from the slums and are taking them someplace. Because of Hakuryu's tracker, our heroes end up going on a new adventure to the pirate's island hideout. This time, our heroes are more prepared and defeat most of the pirates, but they call out for their "Mother," a strange woman named Madaura who has horns. Madaura destroys the island and then uses a Magic Tool that makes anyone who it affects not able to attack her, but feel them with the comfort of motherly love.

The volume of course ends with a cliffhanger in which our heroes are now at risk of not being able to defeat Madaura. I really enjoyed this volume, as it kept me entertained through my entire read. It had lots of action and a few light hearted humorous moments that really made my laugh. I really liked how they are beginning to focus more on the characters backstories a bit. when "Mother" was brought up, we start to see who actually had an actual childhood out of our heroes, and the effects of what not having one has on the other characters. Overall, this was another amazing chapter in the Magi story and I can't wait until the next volume is released!

Objectionable Content:

• Language: No
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: Yes

Overall Rating: 8/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles

Original Review Date: 8/11/15

What's To Come...

I'm sorry I didn't deliver the final review on time for Sailor Moon Crystal's Dark Kingdom Arc as I originally had intended. However, it is finally done and up for everyone's reading pleasure. The Dark Moon Arc will come... eventually. But I will be doing some new reviews for a while to show that I don't just like doing Sailor Moon stuff. Keep looking forward to new Throwback-Thursday Reviews (not really new reviews, but they are new to this blog). As you can see from my backlog of stuff, I have a wide variety of New and Old stuff to read, I usually don't like to do reviews to series that I am in the middle of however, due to possibly confusing people with the actual content portion. If a series however starts a new story arc, I may do reviews for volumes then and continue moving forward with new ones.

As of right now I may do a review on the current manga I am reading, Magi V.13, since it does actually start a new Story to the overall series (V.13 starts the second Anime Series as well). If not, expect one of probably My Hero Academia V.01. I'm also thinking of maybe going and doing some reviews of older mangas (reread them) that continue from some of the Throw-Back Thursday Reviews once I catch up with certain series.

Other then that, expect something in the manga category in the next few days or so. Until then, later...

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Conclusion and Commencement - Petite Etrangere

The Silver Crystal changes into its final form and is added to the top of Sailor Moon's Moon Stick, now Moon Scepter. Sailor Moon vows she will defeat Metallia, in the name of the Moon and as Princess Serenity. Sailor Moon fires a shot from the Moon Scepter right at the gem in Queen Metalia's head. The attack seems to not even phase her. It is then with the help of all of Sailor Moon's friends, she is finally able to eliminate the threat of the Dark Moon Kingdom once and for all, but at the cost of her own life.

With the Dark Kingdom destroyed, The Moon castle is restored to its original state. Tuxedo Mask kisses the lifeless Usagi, giving her some of his life force and restoring her to life. Tuxedo Mask uses his powers to locate the rest of the Sailor Senshi in the Arctic Circle. Usagi learns that they are all dead. Luna contacts Usagi and Usagi reveals to Luna that her Compact has been destroyed, Luna tells Usagi she still has the power inside herself. Usagi prays to the Silver Crystal and teleports away from the empty battlefield.

Usagi and Tuxedo Mask arrive on the moon and are greeted by Luna and Artemis. They all go to the Prayer Room where it is revealed that Usagi will be the new Queen Serenity. Usagi tells Luna that she does not want to give up her life on Earth yet. Queen Serenity's hologram appears and grants Usagi her wish, along with a new Transformation Brooch. Usagi uses her new power to transform back into Sailor Moon, "MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"

With her new power, Sailor Moon revives the Earth, along with all of her friends. A brand new day begins!

Now that everything has returned back to normal, the Sailor Senshi can live peacefully once again. That is until Rei sees a dark premonition in the fire at her shrine.

Usagi and Mamoru go on a date in a park and are about to kiss, when a mysterious ball drops out of the sky that looks a bit like Luna. The Luna Ball is followed by a  little girl with pink hair who slams down right on top of Usagi's head. The girl knows Mamoru's name, and reveals she is Usagi. Usagi tells the little girl she is Usagi. The little girl then pulls out a gun and aims it right at Usagi's head and demands she hand over the Silver Crystal.

As this episode is technically the end of the Dark Kingdom Arc of Sailor Moon, it also sets up The Dark Moon Arc. The episode follows the manga chapter exactly. In the original, we also have kind of the set up to the next arc as well, so this was a bit expected. The only real change I noticed with this episode to manga comparison was when we have Luna on the Moon as she is praying to help Sailor Moon defeat Metalia we get a glimpse of her human version, which is part of a Short Story in the original manga (the story that was used for the Sailor Moon S movie). I found this rather neat that they included this little thing in the anime version, as I highly doubt if they ever do continue the series past the Dark Moon Arc, we will see the Short Stories adapted into an anime version. Overall though, the finale to this story ended on an almost perfect note.

Rating: 8/10