Reviews to Resume After the New Year

Title says it all. Been much to busy to keep up with the schedule. I am slowly working on stuff, and once I get enough, the schedule will be back on. So hold tight folks!

Chapter Review: Boruto Chapter 01: Uzumaki Boruto!!

Our series starts off very similar to the very last fight with Sasuke and Naruto battling before the end of part one of the original Naruto manga, except this time we have Boruto, facing off against someone named Kawaki. What looks like Boruto trying to save his friend, quickly switches to him bringing out a Konoha head bandana with the symbol of his village striked it, showing it is Boruto that has turned against his clan. The flash forward ends abruptly here as we travel back intime to Boruto possibly years later...

Boruto, unlike his father, seems to be a ninja who is a bit more popular when it comes to friends. He has the same personality as his father once had as well, accept for the fact that he hates his dad. Naruto now is the leader of Konohagakure. Boruto also makes it very clear in the narrative, this story is not about his father Naruto, it's about him. So now that we have that out of the way our story begins with Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki taking on missions with their master, Konohamaru. After their current mission, Konohamaru shows off a new device that he ninja world is developing that can reproduce ninjutsu techniques with tiny scrolls. It gives off powerful reults, but Konohamaru makes it clear that his students must get strong on their own and not rely on machines. Boruto can honestly care less about having to master his own techniques and on his way home, runs into the inventor of the device who gives one to Boruto to use. Unbeknownst to Boruto and us though is their is a scheme behind this that we will see in future chapters.

Our story then shifts quickly to the upcoming Chuunin exam. Boruto's team all wants to compete, but they need everyone to agree on it. Boruto however thinks it is dumb, but later agrees with the plan to do the exam. It is also the day of Boruto's younger sister's birthday, and Boruto gets even more upset that his father sends a shadow clone out to the party instead of himself to wish his daughter a happy birthday.

Sasuke, on his way back from seeing Naruto who gave him a new mission, finds Naruto's childhood jacket thrown outside of his house. When he returns it, Boruto chases after him, begging Sasuke to train him.

The chapter pretty much leaves us off there. As a whole, I thought it started out well, until we got to the Chuunin Exam stuff. Yes, this is not a weekly series like the original series, but a monthly; it doesn't mean that this series needs to be very fast interms of where we are going. We are just being introduced into this world. The Flash forward sequence at the beginning as we go to the past for the rest of the chapter was a nice touch; it gives us something to look forward to later. But us having so much, so quick, can really be overwhelming. Yes we know this world, but we don't know all these new characters unless you read the side-stories. Overall, it was an interesting ride and can't wait for the next addition.

Rating: 6/10

Quick Update

Once again, sorry for certain delays. I am really trying to play catch up! Tons of reviews still to take care of, so I am going to go to a 1 Volume a week, the TBT, and 1 Chapter a week till I catch up... So here is what its going to look like till the end of the year!

• 12/15 - TBT Review: Saiyuki V.02
• 12/17 - Boruto Chapter 01 Review
• 12/20 - Magi V.19 Review
• 12/22 - TBT Review: Battle Royale V.07
• 12/24 - Boruto Chapter 02 Review
• 12/27 - Platinum's End V.01 Review
• 12/29 - TBT Review: Saiyuki V.03
• 12/31 - Boruto Chapter 03 Review

This will bring us into the new year. I will most likely do another What to Expect in 2017 type of feature as well, give you all a glimpse on what I am expecting and what you all might see on here as reviews one day!

Review: Ninja Slayer Kills! V.03

Title: Ninja Slayer Kills!

Volume: 3 (of 4+)
Creator: Koutarou Sekine, Bradley Bond, Philip Ninj@ Morzez
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha
Release Date: 9/20/16
Pages: 224
ISBN: 1632360888
MSRP: $10.99
Genre: Shonen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)

Description: THE CRIMSON AVENGER RETURNS

The wicked ninja soul, Naraku, has been sealed away deep within Fujikido, but the flames of vengeance still burn bright! And despite the staggering setback caused by losing his ninja power, Fujikido continues his quest to avenge the murder of his wife and son at the hands of ninja. However, the Soukai Syndicate have sent out the young ninja, Dominant, to face Fujikido, and their ensuing encounter will be the start of Fujikido’s true battle!!

Contains Kills 12-17:

• Kills 12: Back in Black Part 3
• Kills 13: Back in Black Part 4
• Kills 14: Back in Black Part 5
• Kills 15: Neo-Yakuza For Sale
• Kills 16: Surprised Dojo Part 1
• Kills 17: Surprised Dojo Part 2

Review:

Cover: The front cover this time features Fujikido (Our ninja slayer) and Yukano, Fujikido is front and center with Yukano kind of more in the foreground. Both are in action poses. What makes this image cool though is Fujikido's mask is broken, part of it is falling off his face, while the rest is still hanging on his head, but cracking. The series title is in the upper right corner, and the volume number is on the lower right.

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

The back cover has the volume summary across the top third of the cover. Under that is an awesome collage of Fujikido's enemies in this volume of the series.

The cover is very simplistic, but every point makes it stand out, the hot and dark colors used on a white background is just a perfect fit. The empy spaces aren't really distracting at all. Plus the overall layout is spot on attractive. It's one of the reasons I picked this series up originally and still am buying it today.

Artwork: The artwork continues its dark shonen style feel. Action from pretty much cover to cover, and very detailed at that. It really reminds me of an 80s sci-fi samurai punk movie in terms of look and feel. The art to me is still probably one of the best things about this series, which in terms of overall depth, doesn't say a lot.

Translation: Character names, attacks, cultural references, places, sound effects, and honorifics are all left intact. I honestly can't ask for a better translation then this series.

Extras: There's a huge Character Design Setting section that gives lots of info on the characters and places in this volume, with detailed pictures and notes from the mangaka. Theres also an afterword from the mangaka and translation notes.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): This might be the last volume I review of this series, due to the fact that it is weirdly paced and completely unmemorable to me from volume to volume. With that said, let's go on with what I can piece out of what I read from this book.

First off, we have the Ninja Slayer and Yukano continuing with their fight from the previous volume of the series (which was released about 6 months before this one).Our heroes actually almost get their asses handed to them, but Fujikido won't give up because he vows to be the Ninja Slayer to avenge his family who ninjas actually killed. With that out of the way, Fujikido defeats the enemy and gives way to the next story arc.

We have a chapter that sets the tale of the next arc. Yakuza's have hired some of the worlds deadliest ninjas to take down the Ninja Slayer once and for all. There are a total of six, and by far I find them the most creatively made characters of the series so far, but probably with the stupidest names I've ever heard. The first of these ninjas, Big Shuriken, sets the stage for the rest of this volume.

The final two chapters dives straight into this new threat, the Six Gates. Like mentioned before, they are here to kill Fujikido. Big Shuriken and Fujikido's fight begins, but is interupted when two more of the Six arrive to cause even more trouble, Earthquake and Hellkite. The volume ends in a very overwhelming situation for our hero leaving him completely outnumbered.

For the most part, the action is incredible as far as this series is concerned. My huge issue is the overall story. It's very easy to get lost in with this series, I'm not sure if its due to this being an all action version of the original Ninja Slayer series or what the problem with the pacing is. We actually do get some character development in this volume. The flashback with Fujikido when he knows he needs to keep on fighting to avenge his family was a nice touch. Also the new enemies he will be facing have a bit of necessary development that previous enemies never had. Hopefully this means they will be around a bit longer then just a couple of chapters. If not, I and I am pretty sure a lot of fans will continue to be disappointed by this series as a whole.

Objectionable Content:

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

Score:

• Cover: 10/10
• Artwork: 7/10
• Translation: 10/10
• Extras: 10/10
• Story: 2/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 12/12/16

Throw-Back Thursday Review: Reservoir Chronicle: Tsubasa V.01

Title: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE: TSUBASA
Volume: 1 (of 6+)
Creator: CLAMP
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Kodansha Ltd.
US Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: 4/1/04
Pages: 208
ISBN: 0345470575
MSRP: $10.95
Genre: N/A
Rated: T (Ages 13+)

Description: SAKURA AND SYAORAN RETURN!

But they’re not the people you know. Sakura is the princess of Clow—and possessor of a mysterious, misunderstood power that promises to change the world. Syaoran is her childhood friend and leader of the archaeological dig that took his father’s life. They reside in an alternate reality . . . where whatever you least expect can happen—and does. When Sakura ventures to the dig site to declare her love for Syaoran, a puzzling symbol is uncovered—which triggers a remarkable quest. Now Syaoran embarks upon a desperate journey through other worlds—all in the name of saving Sakura.



Contains Chapitres 1-5:

• Honorifics
• Chapitre 1: The World of Beginnings
• Chapitre 2: The Price of Memory
• Chapitre 3: The Wings of Hitsuzen
• Chapitre 4: The Strength to Fight
• Chapitre 5: The Instant of Awakening
• Letter from the Editor
• About the Creators
• Past Works
• Dramatis Personae
• Translation Notes
• Preview of xxxHOLIC
• Preview of Tsubasa Volume 2

Review:

Cover: As you must know, this title was one of the first four titles that launched the Del Rey Manga line, and with its release, we have yet another company who will surely be promising with its future releases based on these first four volumes.

The cover of Tsubasa is a masterpiece. It almost is identical to the original Japanese volume. The front has the volume number on the left upper corner, followed by the series title next to it. I prefer Del Rey’s version of the series title rather then the original as it stands out more. Under the series title we have the mangaka in white text. The bottom of the cover, extending from the right side, is a little red bar which has a small blurb stating that this series is “new from the creators of Chobits.” The main image on the front cover is the same as the original. It has Syaoran protecting a distressed Sakura. The image is a little bit better from the original as there is more of a darker contrast to it, bringing the characters emotions more out from the expressions they are showing.

The spine is well done as well. From top to bottom we have the Del Rey logo, done in Japanese katakana, an image of Sakura taken from the front cover, the series title, the volume number, the mangakas, and the Del Rey logo again, this time done to their traditional logo used on all of their other releases.

The back cover has a background image taken from one of the panels from the manga itself, except it is done in green and black, with one of Sakura’s memories swirling around it. The top of the back cover we have a heading which states “Sakura and Syaoran return,” relating to the return of these characters to the manga world (they were originally in the manga and anime series Cardcaptor Sakura). Below that we have a summary of the volume.

As a whole, this cover was done very well. I enjoy looking at it, and sometimes that is hard to say for certain series. Del Rey did a great job for the cover for one of their first manga volumes, which is impressive for it being one of their first.

Artwork: The artwork from Tsubasa is an exact transfer from the original version. A lot of people have complained about this title having grainy artwork or to rigged, when this is how it exactly looks in the original Japanese volume.

CLAMP’s artwork always impresses me. If the story lacks, the artwork will always bring up a positive.

Translation: The translation is very accurate to the original. I had no problems at all with it. They even left “chapitre” as “chapitre” and did not change it to “chapter.” Honorifics are left intact and no name changes were made at all. SFX were also left in the original form, which means that the artwork suffered no damage from the translation.

Extras: Tsubasa V.01 comes with plenty of extras to keep everyone happy. First thing it comes with is the colored pages that were included in the original release in its weekly anthology serialization, as well as the Special Edition volumes. The color pages are quite nice and it is cool to be able to own a reasonably inexpensive manga volume, which in volume format in Japan, the Special Editions can cost you a pretty penny.

Del Rey also included quite a few of their own unique extras which were very pleasing to me. Before the actual content of this volume begins, we are introduced to a page explaining what “honorifics” is and what the prefixes mean attached to the ends of characters names.

Another addition Del Rey added was a short essay on one of CLAMP’s past works, Cardcaptor Sakura, which is a nice little piece which can be very helpful in understanding a little bit more about CLAMP, as well as the story of Tsubasa.

Next we have another original addition by Del Rey, which clues the readers on characters in this volume that appear in some of CLAMP’s other works. Tsubasa is one of CLAMP’s titles that deals with major crossovers between the “CLAMP Universe,” so this section can come quite in handy when trying to find out which characters come from which series (I myself am a big CLAMP fan because of the whole crossover fetish CLAMP has with putting old characters in newer series). There are a few characters that were not pointed out, but I am sure you can figure it out once you buy this volume, or if you have it already then you know what I mean. One note though that would have been nice to add is that Miyuki-chan is in the Tsubasa series, but can easily be overlooked. She shows up in this volume running around the background, as well as a few other volumes of the series. It is a little like “Where’s Waldo?” Can you find Miyuki-Chan?

We also have some translation notes that were added by Del Rey, so the readers can get to know a little bit more about certain topics or words that are brought up and wouldn’t be understood by the typical reader.

Since Tsubasa crosses xxxHOLIC in V.01, Del Rey decided to do a mini preview for xxxHOLIC, to try and seduce its readers into buying the other series. Nice couple of pages to get people to want to buy it.

Last, Del Rey decided to put in a preview of V.02 of Tsubasa, but the only thing is that it is entirely in Japanese.

The extras were very overwhelming and a very nice addition. They were also very helpful at times, and I hope to see future volumes with material just like this, maybe even better.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Where do I start with this series. Well first it is a CLAMP series. It is also one of their newest series. But what makes this title stand out against CLAMP’s other works is that it is a crossover series that spans across every series they have ever made. CLAMP is known for its art and its crossovers, and when they decided to make a series that crosses all of their series boundaries, there was no way I was going to miss out on it.

RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE: TSUBASA, or Tsubasa for short, begins with two characters, Syaoran and Sakura from the Cardcaptor Sakura series, in a very close love relationship. Both characters are in love, but can not be in love because they are from totally different classes of society. One night, Sakura becomes entranced and ends up in a coma. Her memories are removed from her soul, and Syaoran decides to go on a quest to find Sakura’s lost memories.

Syaoran is brought to the Galaxy Witch, aka Yuko from xxxHOLIC, where she tells Syaoran that he can find Sakura’s memories, but their would be a price to pay; he could find all of her memories except for the memory that Sakura had of him. Syaoran agrees, but before he leaves on his quest, two more people arrive, Kurogane, a warrior trying to return to his own world, and Fai D. Florite, a magician not wanting to return to his own world. The three of them, as well as Makona their guardian, from Magic Knights Rayearth, are transported to a new world, the Hanshin Republic, where they are left to find the first part of Sakura’s memories.

In the Hanshin Republic they run into many other CLAMP Characters such as Sorata and Arashi from X/1999, and Rayearth and Sang Yung from Magic Knights Rayearth I and II.

By the end of the first volume we are left with out characters in a dire situation. I will not say much more as I want some of this to be a surprise.

As far as V.01 of the series go, it starts off slow with introductions, and then begins to pick up towards the later part of the volume. It was a very enjoyable read for me, but if you are expecting for a lot of action, don’t expect it until V.02.

Objectionable Content:

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

Score:

• Cover: 10/10
• Artwork: 10/10
• Translation: 10/10
• Extras: 9/10
• Content: 9/10

Overall: 10/10

Where Purchased: Walden Books
Original Review Date: 6/18/04

Review: Black Clover V.03

Title: Black Clover
Volume: 3 (of 7+)
Creator: Yuki Tabata
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 10/4/16
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421587203
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (For Teen)

Description: In a world of magic, Asta, a boy with anti-magic powers, will do whatever it takes to become the Wizard King!

Asta is a young boy who dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the kingdom. Only one problem—he can't use any magic! Luckily for Asta, he receives the incredibly rare five-leaf clover grimoire that gives him the power of anti-magic. Can someone who can't use magic really become the Wizard King? One thing's for sure—Asta will never give up!

Asta and his teammates were ready for trouble when they were sent into a magical dungeon full of traps, but going up against the Diamond Kingdom may be too much for them to handle. Even Yuno couldn't stand up to Mars and his mineral magic—does Asta have a chance...?!

Contains Pages 17-25:

• Page 17: Destroyer
• Page 18: Inside the Treasure Hall
• Page 19: Memories of You
• Page 20: One Instant
• Page 21: Destruction and Salvation
• Page 22: Assembly at the Royal Capital
• Page 23: The Distinguished Service Ceremony
• Page 24: Capital Riot
• Page 25: March of the Dead

Review:

Cover: The cover this time features Noelle, front and center. Behind her is Asta, ready to strike with his anti-magic sword. And behind them is Mars, watching over them in a greenish color. The background is rose pink, with the same tapestry like border as previous other volumes of the series has used. The series title is accross the center in white, with the volume number in red under it.

The spine from top to bottom contains the Shonen Jump brand logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangaka, an image of Noelle taken from the front cover, and the VIZ company logo.

The back cover uses the same background as the front. Up top is a small pic that is basically a colorized shot of one of the cover pages from the later arc that takes place in this volume. Under that we have the series title, the volume title, and then the summary of the volume.

I honestly don't care for this cover whatsoever. The imaging used for the front is not very rememberable, expecially with the colors used. It reminds me of something that should really be a chapter title splash page over an actual volume cover. The volume number placement and the color used makes it very hard to even see. The image used on the back cover is ridiculously small and could have been enlarged slightly with how much space was left over on the top half of the cover. Overall, very bad layout!

Artwork: The art from this series continues to impress me. Being it a shonen series, we can expect there being a lot of action sequences, and does the volume deliver! Mixing a style similar to Claymore and Berserk, the volume continues its dark gothic/magical world element, which I very much enjoy! The comedic moments does change the tone of the art at times, but it really doesn't distract from the overall appeal.

Translation: Character names, attacks, places, and lore remain intact. Honorifics and sound effects have been changed, per usual from VIZ's translations.

Extras: There are tons of extras in this volume. Character bios, relationship charts, a mini chapter, an afterword. There's a lot of little things to find that makes the reading experience much better!

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): This volume concludes the previous story arc with Mars and the dungeon that started last volume, and moves onto the next big arc where we finally meet the current Wizard King. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though yet. Asta and the gang still have a bit to go with the fight with Mars.

Asta finally enters the battle with Mars, and does quick work of Mars' Talos Doll Swarm by using his Anti-Magic Sword. Mars uses his magic to create a Titan like body to defend himself, but in the end Asta manages to take that down as well. The Crimson Dawn and Black Bulls manage to make it into the dungeon Treasure Room.

All looks like our heroes won, until Mars returns using his Phoenix like abilities. We learn it is rare for Wizards to be able to use more then one type of element magic, Mars appears to have more then two so far. Noelle decides she will try to take him down, but in the end she is easily defeated, as well as Asta. All hope looks lost as our heroes are down, but Yuno manages to deliver the final blow to Mars, after Mars has a kind of flashback that shows a somewhat tragic past that he had (no spoilers here, just think that Gaara tragic backstory from Naruto but with Wizards and not Ninjas).

The next story arc barely gets off the ground. We get to see the Wizard Capital and see the Wizard King once again, learning a bit more about him then from the first story arc where we saw the trials Asta and Yuno went through to become actual wizards. This starts out as somewhat of a ceremony to promote wizards who have achieved certain merits (not sure how often these happen). It ends with the Capital getting attacked by a new threat who actually can reanimate corpses and use them as their zombie puppets.

As a whole, the story moved fairly quick. We really didn't have any intermission between the two story arcs and just jumped from one point to the next. It does work for some series, but for this one it was rather to quickly and didn't really give me, the reader, time to breathe between one instance to the next. Plot wise the story was engaging and it won't make me stop reading because of the problems it does suffer, but I do wish the stories begin to get a bit longer then just moving quickly through story arcs. We are on volume 3 and we have had pretty much four overarching stories so far. Like I said it is not a bad thing, just wish there was more overall substance. 

Objectionable Content:

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

Score:

• Cover: 2/10
• Artwork: 8/10
• Translation: 5/10
• Extras: 8/10
• Story: 7/10

Overall Rating: 6/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles

Original Review Date: 12/6/16