Imawa no Kuni no Alice Haro Aso (writer and illustrator) Shogakukan 2010–2016 [Content warnings for this one include: suicide, (foiled) sexual assault, people dying, people being grievously injured or dismembered.] In today’s media, the book Alice in Wonderland is as much a motif as it is a piece of media on its own, inspiring works…
Journey Across the Seven Seas: Manga in the Hold
What is Seven Seas? No, it’s not the company releasing Sinbad’s Adventure (at least, not yet). Founded in 2004, Seven Seas releases about 20 new volumes a month. If the name flew under your radar like it did mine, you may not even realize how many titles they get out until you start checking your…
VIZWATCH: New Viz Manga in Early 2018
Happy holidays ya nerds! Here’s what I read from VIZ for the last half of November through December and January. Sorry this is so late! Life juiced lemons into my eyeballs for a few weeks and here we are.
Hipster Manga: Angel Heart
Although it’s only half the name of the series, “heart” is literally at the center of the long-running manga Angel Heart by Tsukasa Hojo. (Literally-literally, not figuratively-literally.) It’s both a story of a transplanted heart and the code name of a young assassin aptly named Glass Heart. After a particularly gut-wrenching kill, Glass Heart decides…
I Died and Was Reborn as a Mary Sue: The Isekai Trend
So, you’re a mediocre guy who got hit by a truck, stabbed multiple times, or maybe just had a bookshelf fall on you. Unless your name is Yuusuke Urameshi, the story of your near-immediate death is probably not that exciting. Have no fear, the author has decided to throw you into Middle Earth instead! Now…
Shiver: Junji Ito Collected Stories’ is a Nightmare You Never Want to End
Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories Vol. 1 Junji Ito (Writer and Artist) Viz December 19, 2017 Junji Ito’s work was some of the first manga I ever came across. When I was 12 we moved to a new part of London, one that was utterly detached from the place I’d grown up. But it was…
Not a Hero’s Journey: Queer vs Normative Storytelling in Devilman
This article does not contain outright spoilers, so feel free to read it whether you’ve experienced any incarnation of Devilman or not. It does however imply the directions things take, so bear that in mind if you want to go into the series completely ‘blind’. My title means a few things, but one of them…
One-eyed Butterfly: The Lone Queer Man of Basara
Disclaimer: This contains spoilers, so read at your own risk! Also, although Basara in general isn’t especially triggering, Ageha’s backstory, “Loquat” in volume 25, has instances of rape and child abuse. Ah, Basara, my love, my most favored manga. You are lovely and perfect. And yet, I wish you had better queer representation. What Basara…
Hipster Manga: Sekai Oni
You probably haven’t heard of it. Disclaimer: Sekai Oni is not nice or fluffy. Content at the core of its story includes rape, incest, child abuse, drug usage, suicide, sexually explicit material, and a great ol’ heaping of death. Also, spoilers.
The Subtle Horror of Japanese Comics
I’m a horror fan, and I didn’t realize it. Although I’m a wide reader genre-wise, horror and suspense were one of those genres I never really got into. Gore was gross, but not shocking. Jump scares just pissed me off. Silent Hill and its ilk were fun to watch, less fun to play when the…
Shakespeare on the Page: A Better Way
I was recently rereading Manga Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, and found myself surprised all over again by how much I like it, and how well it works. The Manga Shakespeare series, published by Amulet/Abrams in the US & Canada or SelfMadeHero in the UK, uses a “manga” drawing style (but the western left to right reading…