Happy spring, VIZ fans! This month we’re taking a look at– gasp! PROSE! Illustrated by everyone’s favorite Junji Ito. And also my recent favorite, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. But first, the news.
Watch anime for free on Youtube!
I’ve covered this before, but it seems like new titles have been added to the channel since we’ve last talked about it, including Mr. Osomatsu, Vampire Knight, and Hunter x Hunter. Offerings also include 220 episodes of Naruto and all of Sailor Moon. Pretty cool! Supposedly there are also anime movies, but when I checked that specific playlist most of the videos came up as hidden for me so I don’t know what’s up with that. Anyway, hooray for free anime!
Three new One Piece releases in March
As mentioned last month, VIZ is trying a new marketing strategy to encourage readers to utilize their local comic shops to purchase their titles. Whereas last month’s “hottest titles” were from three different action series, this month they’re promoting One Piece volume 105 and the first two volumes of spinoffs Ace’s Story and Shokugeki no Sanji. I have to be honest: I’ve read about half of the first chapter of One Piece and watched some of the live action with my grandparents, but that’s it. Thus, I did not elect to review any of these titles this month on account of I do not have the context to properly appreciate them. But they sure do exist! So if you’re a more avid One Piece fan than me, you can now expand your collection.
Boruto anime on sale digitally
Episodes 256-273 of Boruto are now available digitally from many retailers. The rest of the show was 50% off until March 18, so we missed it by a hair, but that’s still a lot of anime that can be purchased. Exciting for Boruto fans, which I’m sure exist somewhere or else there wouldn’t be 273 episodes of it. Hope you’re all having fun.
Enough about anime I don’t watch, it’s time for…
What I’m Reading
#DRCL midnight children, Volume 2
Shin’ichi Sakamoto, based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula
March 19, 2024
I covered the first volume in September, and this volume has even more breathtaking visuals, even if the story is kind of confusing. Why is Renfield a nun chained up in a boarding school student’s attic? Where is Jonathan Harker? What kind of relationship do the three suitors have with Lucy in this iteration? None of that is as important as the extremely beautiful, haunting imagery. Translator Caleb Cook and editor Andrew Kuhre Bartosh both did a really great job of making everyone’s dialogue sound appropriate to the time period and to each specific character’s social standing and place of origin. The moments of body horror felt scarier than Junji Ito’s body horror often do to me, possibly because I’m used to Ito’s way of doing it by now but am less familiar with Sakamoto’s work. Sakamoto’s illustrations are so delicate and detailed, they remind me of Gustave Dore’s engravings more than anything else. Reading this feels like watching a very old art house film, except I don’t think this would look anywhere near as good in live action or animation than it does in comic form. If you like atmospheric and moody horror, this is the manga for you!
Stitches
Writing by Hirokatsu Kihara, Art by Junji Ito
March 26, 2024
This one’s not a comic, but a slim collection of illustrated spooky short stories. The first story in the collection seemed a bit awkwardly translated (and used the word “abruptly” too many times), but the rest were perfectly competent creepypasta-like tales. The volume closed out with a short horror manga by Junji Ito about two women in a bath house. Ito’s illustrations fit well with the text, but I didn’t find the text particularly interesting. I think the stories were too short to be properly scary to me, the manga included. Fortunately, it was a quick read.
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc, Volume 1
Story by Sekka Iwata, Art by Yu Aoki
March 19, 2024
I’ve been following this comic on Mangaplus for a while, and I’m excited to see it collected! With an anime coming out at the end of this year, now’s a great time to get into this story of corporate magical girls at a magical girl startup. I started reading this comic as a recent college grad struggling to find employment, and I found Kana’s struggles to pass an interview extremely relatable. Unfortunate that I cannot get myself hired at a magical girl start-up the way Kana did, however. I really enjoy Magilumiere. I think the cast is fun together and the worldbuilding, with the corporatization of magical girls and monsters that can be contained by computer programs and flash drives, is really interesting. The action sequences utilize established character and world traits well. I found the jokes about how start-ups are good for business a little grating, but they fit the story. If you like stories about magical girls but are also unfortunately a working adult, this may be the manga for you.
That’s all I’ve got for you this month! Tune in next month for more VIZ news and reviews!
