Berserk Volume 1

by Kentaro Miura
I like violent comics. Why?? I don't know! I've wanted to read Berserk for years and never have. So I just got the first 3 volumes yesterday and sat down to read the first one. This manga is 18+ of course which it should be since it's bloody violent and full of random sex acts and rape. Still, I like the comic relief provided by the elf Puck. It's actually really cute.

So far, I don't know much about Guts (the main character) other than he is looking for some group called The God Hand who have branded him with a mysterious bleeding symbol that marks him as some sort of sacrifice.

I'm still reading. :)

Moon Phases Volume 4

Well, I have decided to stop reading this book that is written for 13 year old and full of rape and torture. WTF??? I don't approve of teenagers reading comics of this nature.

It looks all light hearted and cute but it's nothing like that once you get to the 4th volume. So... yea.... what can I say here?? I'm just disgusted and I'm not reading it anymore. PLUS. Tokypop pisses me off since they publish manga here in North American with half the images cut off?! What? You can't resize the images to fit the damn page?? grrr

An UPDATE!!!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Dealing with trouble in my apartment and back-stabbing ass-holes, one tends to let things like blogs fall off the grid. Balancing university, work and the gym takes some extra daily planning. Speaking of work, I have a new job. I was just hired by a software company as a technical writer. Finally work in the field I want to be in. WRITING. Sure I'll just be writing manuals and guides on security software, but it's going to look great on my resume and I know I'll learn a lot. Anything to make me a better writer and clearer communicator is good in my book.


So with all that, I've still managed to get a bit of reading done on my lunch breaks and during a few bus rides. Currently reading a few series, but mostly just trying to finish MW by Osamu Tezuka. I've been so busy that I had to renew it at the Library twice. But that doesn't mean I'm not thoroughly enjoying it. I am! I'm about 2/3's the way through. I have to say, Yuki is an interesting character. Well, not half as interesting as Father Garai.

The reader follows the moves of two men who are bound to each other by horrible secrets. Their pasts intertwined by a government conspiracy. 16 years prior to the present year of the story, a horrible chemical known as MW was released on a small island off the coast of Japan. It killed the entire population, all but two young boys hiding in a cave. The two survivors left the island of bodies never carrying a secret, however, one boy was touched by the gas and apparently touched by evil. This is Yuki, a sadistic serial killer with no goal except chaos & destruction. The other boy became Father Garai, a priest with a criminal past and a secret love of men. He is tortured for the crimes he had committed in the past and the ones he continues to ignore in the present. These are the crimes of Yuki, which are confessed regularly to the Priest. Yuki takes great delight in this torture while seducing the priest on a regular basis. It never seems to take Father Garai long to succumb to the seduction of Yuki's flesh although he seems quite restraint in other cases. There are a lot of details I could get into but let's not spoil everything.


The book makes reference over and over again, to the fact that Yuki was once a sweet boy who was possessed by the devil due to the MW entering his system. It is mentioned that one boy remained changed forever, however, it appears to me that both of the sole survivors of the island were changed. Garai was a teen-aged hooligan running with a gang who kidnapped wealthy children for ransom (that is how Yuki came to know Garai) but after they leave the island, Garai goes into a state a remorse and repents all he has done. Wouldn't you say that MW changes people not necessarily for the worst (evil) but reverses their unique nature?

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Services Vol 1

by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki

This was a quick read and pretty entertaining. I dislike dissected women in my books however. Most of it was fairly light hearted. A rag-tag team of un-employables decide to band together and create a business:delivering the dead to the after-life. The group is made up of strange people who possess various odd skills. One monk who can speak to the dead, a man who channels an alien through a sock puppet, a Japanese girl who studied embalming in America, and a few others I didn`t feel were worth mentioning.

So every chapter is like `body of the week` and it`s fairly entertaining so far. Kinda humorous, although like I said earlier, I`m not a fan of dismembered females. That whole serial killer angle has just been sooo over-used. Especially in horror manga.

It`s worth a look though and I`m going to order the second volume to see if there is more of a larger story than just `save this random soul`and move on to the next.

Legends from Darkwood by Christopher Reid & John Kantz

First off, I picked this up on a whim. It is so damn cute & funny.

Darkwood is a place where unicorns are hunted for their sweet, sweet unicorn meat. Raynn is a the hunter. How does one hunt unicorns anyway?? Well, it takes being a virgin to have the horse approach you first off. So when Raynd is placed under a spell and loses her virginity to some wandering knight, she's understandably pretty pissed.

The story doesn't end there though. She ultimately kidnaps a local virgin to use as bate on her hunting trips...as she on giant black unicorn named Andrew, who sold his soul to the forces of evil to gain power for his revenge again the humans.

This story is ridiculous and I love it. It's so funny!! I can't wait to find the rest. Although man, there are way too many characters in this story. It gets a little confusing. There's a character guide at the end to help out.

Tsukuyomi : moon phase Volume 1

This is a light-hearted, silly little manga. After all the Osamu Tezuka stories I've been reading (and currently reading MW) it's a pleasant change of pace. I felt I needed something well, brain-dead. Maybe that's why I'm still reading Fushigi Yugi.

Plot:

Kouhei Morioka is a freelance photographer who shoots the paranormal. In Germany, he spots a curious girl sitting on the steeple of an ancient castle. Futher investigation finds Kouhei with two holes in his neck and a little girl who claims him as her eternal slave. This doesn't happen however, Hazuki the little vampire, is confused as to why Kouhei does not become her slave. The two end up together as Hazuki flees her captive life in the castle, chased by her royal family's familiars and vampire slaves.

So that's not very original is it? Well, I don't care. I wanted brain-dead and I got it. The story is told in humour. The target demographic being Seinen (18-30 year old men). But after reading the first volume, it seems to suit teenage girls however, I'm sure that I feel that way due to a lack of nudity in the first volume. I ordered he next 3 volumes from the Library and I'm certain it will contain nudity.

Sadly, there is only 6 volumes released in English by Tokyo Pop. I was really hoping against hope that I would get to read ALL of a series of manga. Well, I'm sure I can find it all online.

The Guin Saga : The Seven Magi Volume 1

My first impression? What the hell is happening in this story? It jumps right into the action and doesn't give you any time to get to know the characters. That's what I thought until I realized that I picked up a copy of the continuing saga and not where the saga begins. Yeah. Sigh... The saga begins in a collection of novels which have been translated into English. Now that I know this, I do remember seeing the novels in the fantasy section of my local book store. I hadn't given it much thought as it had a picture of a panther and half naked jungle ladies on the cover. I mean seriously.. I was thinking "oh it's one of those novels". I've told you before how I judge books by their cover.

At any rate, I may never read the Guin saga novels.. or at least not the entire 100 Volume Saga (wtf?). But I will read the 2 & 3rd Volumes of this spin-off manga. The story in the manga is taken from a storyline originally published in the saga in 1980 where Guin is king of Cheironia and on a quest to save his kingdom from plague. Um.. there's a girl in chains throughout most of the novel.. there is a bit of action... mostly I was just confused until the end. It did get a little clearer on the last page. It's got a cliff-hanger type ending so I actually do wanna see what happens.

I really like the artwork in this series. It has a style all it's own and if I knew more about artistic style of manga, I'm sure I'd describe it here. Maybe I'll just post some pictures instead.

Dororo Volume 3

Well it's over. Done.. Finished. I'm sad. I wanted more Dororo! I thought it was cute, funny, inspiring and tragic.It kinda had a bit of everything. The ending?? Well, I get the sense that Tezuka was forced to create a quick ending for this story. Hyakkimaru departs from Dororo (who we learn is actually a female) and he doesn't even have all his body parts back yet! Hyakkimaru tells Dororo to put on a dress and grow up to be a proper lady while leaving her behind with her fist in the air.

I really wanted to see these two characters grow up together!

Escaflowne Volume 1

I've been a fan of Escaflowne since I first saw the anime on YTV back when I was in high school. I have never read the manga but knew that it was completely different and it is. The whole story is different. In the manga, Prince Van even has a mother who's alive. None of the characters look anything like the ones in the anime. They also have completely different personalities. Van is younger, more impulsive and dim witted. He is apparently an awful swordsman in addition. In the anime both Allen and Van were taught by the same glorious swordsman. This doesn't seem to be the case in the manga.

 Hitomi on the other hand serves as the energist to Escaflowne in body, instead of the dragon's heart like the anime. She also turns into a blond, naked bombshell. This is really confusing and pointless. Male fan service. Sigh. I dunno if I'm gonna bother reading the rest. I borrowed Volume 1 & 2 from the library so I'll probably read the second book just to see where the plot goes as it is very different from the anime. The dialogue is really boring. It's possible it's a terrible translation, but man, it's really boring and childish.

I really can't wait till my copies of Berserk come in. Collin and I are gonna read the whole series together. At least aspiring too. I'm gonna go kiss my boyfriend now! CHOW!

Dororo Volume 2

I love Dororo as previously expressed in my post regarding Volume 1. I'm almost through the 3rd volume now and I just know I'll be sad when it's all over. Volume 2 is full of samurai and bandits run a muck Their bodies sometimes being inhabited by demons which Hyakkimaru defeats and wins back body parts. We have learned some interesting facts. One, that Dororo is the offspring of a famous thief who put a treasure map on the back of his child. Two, that Dororo's father intends that all the hidden riches be given to the poor fathers who have been raped and pillaged over the years by samuri. Hyakkimaru decides, through the words of a mysterious monk, that he must help Dororo find the treasure and fufill his fathers wishes in order to give his life meaning after recovering all his body parts. That becomes the goal of the story. A few key events occur but I'm not going to give them away.

Now if I didn't have a test to write this week, I would have blogged on all this by now and finished Volume 3. That'll happen after the test is done. :)