Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5 by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap: When Nanoka Kiba was a little girl, her parents were killed in a freak car accident. Since then she’s been raised by her kindly grandfather and his odd housekeeper Uozumi. Now, in her third year of middle school, Nanoka hears strange voices… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5

Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa

Phrasing, Dr. Agasa!

Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa I’ve reviewed several volumes of the long-running Detective Conan (“Case Closed” in the American dub) manga. The “teen genius detective trapped in the body of a pre-teen” premise has remained popular, and the associated anime has run for over twenty years and a thousand episodes. This has caused… Continue reading Anime Review: Case Closed: The Culprit Hanzawa

Manga Review: The Crater

Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly 2022

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly 2022 Can you believe I’ve been doing Shounen Jump Weekly reviews for ten years now? So much has changed during that timeframe, Famous longrunners have ended, new favorites have come and gone, instead of a simulated magazine the website is more like a box of manga you can dip into… Continue reading Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly 2022

Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1

Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1 Story by Bun-O Fujisawa, art by Karakara Kemuri It is 1924, and the Great Kanto Earthquake has hit Tokyo. In the ruins of a lavish performance hall, the star actor awaits death. A girl comes to rescue him, amusing to him as he is a vampire and she a… Continue reading Manga Review: Mars Red Vol. 1

Anime Review: Tokyo Majin Part Two: Martial Fist Chapter

Anime Review: Tokyo Majin Part Two: Martial Fist Chapter Magami Academy in Tokyo looks like an ordinary high school at first. But it’s actually a nexus of mystical forces that draws unusual people from all over. Most of these people are under the Stars of Destiny, a group of 108 people destined to play an… Continue reading Anime Review: Tokyo Majin Part Two: Martial Fist Chapter

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1 by Naoko Takeuchi Usagi Tsukino is a more or less typical fourteen-year-old girl. She likes food, video games, and sleeping, and dislikes homework and tests. She’s clumsy and a bit of a crybaby, but has a good heart and a kind streak. Also, she has… Continue reading Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1

Manga Review: My Dress-Up Darling 1

Manga Review: My Dress-Up Darling 1 by Shinichi Fukuda Marin Kitagawa is a fashionable, outgoing girl who enjoys eroge (naughty video games) and would like to cosplay as her favorite character, Shizuku. The problem is that she’s never learned to sew, and even with an instruction manual, her costume is disastrously bad. She comes to… Continue reading Manga Review: My Dress-Up Darling 1

Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5

Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5 by Naoki Urasawa Note: This review contains SPOILERS for earlier volumes of Asadora! It is 1964, and the Tokyo Olympics are about to begin. But there has been a sighting of “that thing”, a gigantic creature of unknown origins, in the vicinity. If it can’t be driven off, the Olympics… Continue reading Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5

Manga Review: Apollo’s Song

Manga Review: Apollo’s Song by Osamu Tezuka Shogo Chikaishi is an unhappy young man. He has no idea who his birth father was, and his mother supported them by inviting a string of horny men to her bed. She had little love to spare for her child, who often got in the way of getting… Continue reading Manga Review: Apollo’s Song