Happy holidays! ‘Tis the season for yet another VIZ Pubwatch. Today we’ll talk about some beautiful manga on the spookier side, including the vampire shojo Rosen Blood and the latest from Junji Ito. But first, some news, which is mostly videos.
REVIEW: Fullmetal Alchemist: A New Beginning Feels Like Returning to the Start
Fullmetal Alchemist: A New Beginning gives us a peek at Winry’s apprenticeship in Rush Valley. Although a mostly enjoyable read for a book aimed at younger readers, A New Beginning is a missed opportunity rather than a fulfilling inclusion in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. While a nice taste of her time there, the translation…
These Books, Comics, and TV Shows Are Perfect Comfort Food
I almost never reread, rewatch, or relisten to anything, except music. At some point in my life, the concept of rereading or rewatching came to feel like a bad idea – isn’t it a waste of time when new books can help expand my options for reader’s advisory (I’m a librarian, hello) or the scope…
REVIEW: Weeaboo is a Love Letter to Weebs Everywhere
Weeaboo traces the stories of three high school students. As Maya, James, and Dani survive senior year, they struggle to find themselves and each other in Alissa Sallah’s heartwarming graphic novel.
Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back Illustrates How Passion Also Means People
Although Tatsuki Fujimoto is mostly known for Chainsaw Man, especially in light of its upcoming anime adaptation to be developed by MAPPA, he has always had a strong versatility to his craft not letting himself be boxed within the confines of the tropes typical to the shounen genre. Look Back was recently published as a…
Pokemon Adventures Vol. 8: One Journey Ends, Another Begins
Published since 1997, the Pokemon Adventures manga series is set in the world of Pokemon video games such as FireRed, LeafGreen, and my personal favorite Omega Ruby. While the series has always been written by Hidenori Kusaka, the first nine volumes of the series were drawn by Mato. Afterwards, every volume has been drawn by…
REVIEW: The Treasure of The King And The Cat Is Filled With Magical Furry Fluff
With boys’ love manga being such a popular subgenre, you’d think that there would be more variety. There is so much potential for it beyond schoolboy romances, and newer manga such as You Kajika’s The Treasure of The King and The Cat is one example of this. Published in English by Tokyopop, this single-volume fantasy…
Previously on Comics: Blasts from the Past
Hello, reader. It’s Kate, who has awoken from winter hibernation just to write about comics for you. And that’s not the only thing that’s a blast from the past this week. When I first got into DC comics, about 15 years ago, the comic that got me into comics was the Geoff Johns and Mike…
REVIEW: The Way of the Househusband: Comics’ Greatest Wife Guy
Who wouldn’t want a partner who’d give it all up to make them delightful bento box lunches? I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate or support the careers of those we love, but in Kousuke Oono’s hilarious and sweet manga series The Way of the Househusband we’re presented with an enjoyable and appealing fantasy about a…
REVIEW: Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution: … Is Less Than Revolutionary
Revolutionary Girl Utena is a shojo classic that I only recently read. Because of my recent exposure, news of an addition to the series, After the Revolution, released in 2020 in English excited me. Overall, I see threads in the series that a younger me would have loved. Unfortunately, neither the original Utena series nor…
Previously on Comics: Time is a Flat Circle
Hello and welcome to another edition of Previously on Comics! I am your host, Kate, and this week is one of those weeks where it seems like not much is happening in the world of comics, but also a lot is happening. I took September off, but in August I wrote about Bloodbath Monday at…
I Don’t Need Adornments: On Phantom Thief Jeanne’s Maron Kusakabe
Content Warning: This piece contains discussion of rape. Recently, I changed the wallpaper on my phone to Phantom Thief Jeanne, the titular heroine of Arina Tanemura’s ’90s manga series Phantom Thief Jeanne. It was beautiful, but I soon wanted to change it to Maron Kusakabe, Phantom Thief Jeanne’s civilian identity. This was due to the fact…