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