New manga, con reports, and Empowered!

The Manga Bookshelf reviewers make their picks from an unusually slim week of new manga releases.

Meanwhile, Sean Gaffney looks forward to a more bountiful selection next week.

Deb Aoki talks to Adam Warren, creator of Empowered, on how anime and manga have shaped his sensibility.

Tom Langston posts the slides from his sports manga panel at Fanime.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao notes the birthday of Bleach sociopath Sosuke Aizen.

David Brothers files his con report on Fanime, including the Shonen Jump panel.

Matt Blind posts the big list of manga best-sellers (online sales) from the week ending March 18.

Ash Brown is giving away the first volume of R.O.D.: Read or Die. Hit the link to find out how to enter.

News from Japan: Neko Ramen creator Kenji Sonshi has started a new series, Neko Tantei, about a cat who is a detective. Aloha Higa has put Shirokuma Cafe on hiatus, apparently to protest the way the anime adaptation was handled; it seems to have worked. Toriko Chiya is launching Clover trèfle, a sequel to her Clover office romance manga, in Cocohana. Minoru Furuya, creator of Himuzu and Ping Pong Club, just debuted a new series, Saruchinesu, in Kodansha's Young. The French site Manga News has a list of the manga that ended in May, including Negima; only series licensed in France are included. ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings. And CLAMP will illustrate the cover of the novelization of the movie Blood-C: The Last Dark. (Click image twice to enlarge.)

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf ace reviewer team greets the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. A Day Without Me reviews 12 Days, a Tokyopop OEL title that isn't quite what you'd think, at Gar Gar Stegosaurus.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Manjiorin on vols. 1 and 2 of Eternal Sabbath (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Free Collars Kingdom (Manga Xanadu)
Rob McMonigal on issue 3 of GEN (Panel Patter)
Zack Davisson on vol. 4 of I'll Give It My All' Tomorrow (Japan Reviewed)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 22 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 14 of We Were There (Manga Report)

Manga the Week of 6/6

That's a whole lotta Viz, that is.

Mind you, there is a Vertical title as well. In fact, it came out everywhere but Diamond this week. Vol. 3 of 14 Days in Shonan puts the series at 1/3 complete, but Onizuka's work has barely begun! He has kids to inspire and adults to castigate! And old' friends?' to reunite with! Who knows, he may even get lucky! (OK, no, that will never happen.)

The big release from Viz, meanwhile, is the final volume of Ouran High School Host Club. And for those who are curious, unlike most harem manga, this one resolves its pairing. Fans have loved the story of Haruhi, Tamaki and the others ' enough to bring the anime over here as well ' and now we finally have closure. Thanks to Bisco Hatori for so much great romantic comedy.

There are other releases as well. More shoujo! Black Bird 14, which will no doubt continue to sell like hotcakes. Dawn of the Arcana 4, which I am horribly behind on. Devil and Her Love Song 3, which I am greatly looking forward to, as I love snark. Earl & The Fairy 2, which hopefully will improve a bit on its first volume. Kamisama Kiss 9 and Kimi ni Todoke 14, for you romantics out there. And Sakura Hime, for the Tanemura addicts.

This does not mean there is not a giant pile of shonen as well. Bakuman 11, now in its 2nd half! Not one, but two Bleach volumes, which I believe have some great stuff for IchiHime fans! A new Nura and Toriko, which don't get to speed up as much as Bleach, but have less to catch up on. Slam Dunk 22, in case your daily basketball quotient needed filling. And Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal, the nth sequel to the popular franchise.

That's a whole lot. An exhausting amount, in fact. Anything for you?

Links: Fleurs du Mal

Though Naruto, Black Butler, and Black Bird frequently dominate the NY Times manga bestseller list, there are always weird and wonderful surprises. Witness last week's chart: the first volume of Shuzo Oshimi's The Flowers of Evil (Vertical, Inc.), a dark farce about adolescent sexuality, cracked the top ten, placing third on the overall list amidst more obvious crowd-pleasers such as Sailor Moon, Ai Ore!, Rosario + Vampire, and Durarara!! I was also pleasantly surprised to see my review of The Flowers of Evil get a shout-out at the Arts Beat blog:

Hey, Ma, I made the Times without breaking the law!

And speaking of Flowers, here are the results of the final May giveaway: JRB won volume one of The Flowers of Evil, while Maty will receive volumes one and two of Apollo's Song. Congratulations to both winners! I also wanted to say thank-you to everyone who entered this month's drawings; it was great to see such an enthusiastic response. If you didn't win, fear not: there will be other contests!

In other news'

Anime | In a move that surprised no one, the organizers of New York Comic-Con have decided to fold New York Anime Fest into the main show, rather than present it as a separate but concurrent event. Anime-themed panels, concerts, and screenings will continue as before under the larger banner of NYCC. [Anime News Network]

Anime | After a four-year hiatus, Cartoon Network has revived its Toonami programming block. The new line-up debuted on May 26th with Bleach, Cassern Sins, Deadman Wonderland, and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, as well as perennial favorites Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell. [adult swim]

Comics | In case you missed it: Tim Marchman discusses what's wrong with contemporary superhero comics. [The Wall Street Journal]

Manga | Jocelyn Allen makes an exception for her no-magazine rule to read two recent issues of Manga Erotics f. Her verdict? 'Erotic or not, the stories running in f are good,' she opines. 'The hits are far more numerous than the misses. Out of fourteen stories in Vol. 71, there was only one that I was deeply uninterested in, which isn't to say that I was in love with all the rest, just that there was enough going on to keep me reading until the very end.' [Brain vs. Book]

Manga | Over the weekend, VIZ announced that it added Barrage, a new sci-fi manga, to its shonen line-up. The first chapter will debut in next week's digital Jump magazine. [Anime News Network]

Manga | Mark your calendars: the next Manga Movable Feast will be held from June 24 ' June 30th. Anna Neatrour (Manga Report) and Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue) will co-host; Takehiko Inoue (Real, Slam Dunk, Vagabond) will be the main course. [Soliloquy in Blue]

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 18 March

Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week's charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. '0 (1) : Sailor Moon 4 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [467.0] ::
2. '0 (2) : Sailor Moon 3 ' Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [451.7] ::
3. '0 (3) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [445.5] ::
4. '0 (4) : Sailor Moon 2 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [426.0] ::
5. '0 (5) : Sailor Moon 1 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [385.5] ::
6. '7 (13) : Sailor Moon 5 ' Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [384.8] ::
7. '-1 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 ' Yen Press, Dec 2011 [354.0] ::
8. '0 (8) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 2 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [342.9] ::
9. '-2 (7) : Black Bird 13 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [340.0] ::
10. '0 (10) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 1 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [306.8] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 74
Yen Press 72
Tokyopop 59
Viz Shojo Beat 58
Kodansha Comics 39
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 36
DMP Juné 21
Seven Seas 20
Vizkids 17
Dark Horse 14

[more]

Series/Property

1. '0 (1) : Sailor Moon ' Kodansha Comics [1,169.5] ::
2. '0 (2) : Naruto ' Viz Shonen Jump [896.2] ::
3. '0 (3) : Black Butler ' Yen Press [644.0] ::
4. '0 (4) : Maximum Ride ' Yen Press [615.9] ::
5. '0 (5) : Black Bird ' Viz Shojo Beat [522.6] ::
6. '1 (7) : One Piece ' Viz Shonen Jump [472.0] ::
7. '-1 (6) : Bleach ' Viz Shonen Jump [446.9] ::
8. '4 (12) : Pokemon ' Vizkids [426.7] ::
9. '0 (9) : Negima! ' Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [381.8] ::
10. '12 (22) : Pandora Hearts ' Yen Press [377.0] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

1. '0 (1) : Sailor Moon 4 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [467.0] ::
3. '0 (3) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [445.5] ::
9. '-2 (7) : Black Bird 13 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [340.0] ::
12. '4 (16) : One Piece 61 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [279.1] ::
13. '1 (14) : Naruto 54 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [272.1] ::
14. '-2 (12) : Dengeki Daisy 9 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [270.8] ::
16. '16 (32) : Bunny Drop 5 ' Yen Press, Mar 2012 [255.8] ::
18. '15 (33) : Gate 7 vol 2 ' Dark Horse, Mar 2012 [250.0] ::
21. '10 (31) : Fairy Tail 18 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [238.0] ::
23. '-8 (15) : xxxHolic 19 ' Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [221.7] ::

[more]

Preorders

6. '7 (13) : Sailor Moon 5 ' Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [384.8] ::
15. '10 (25) : Sailor Moon 7 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [264.6] ::
17. '6 (23) : Sailor Moon 6 ' Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [255.0] ::
43. '33 (76) : Countdown 7 Days 2 ' DMP, Apr 2012 [158.4] ::
47. '12 (59) : Negima! 34 ' Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [154.7] ::
55. '20 (75) : Sailor Moon 8 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [142.4] ::
62. '10 (72) : Black Butler 9 ' Yen Press, Jul 2012 [136.7] ::
73. '78 (151) : Warriors SkyClan & The Stranger 3 ' HarperCollins, Apr 2012 [123.3] ::
83. '23 (106) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 ' Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [110.7] ::
84. '88 (172) : Shojo Fashion Manga Art School Year 2: Draw Modern Looks ' F+W Media, Apr 2012 [110.7] ::

[more]

Manhwa

353. '-52 (301) : Bride of the Water God 9 ' Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [33.2] ::
378. ' (last ranked 18 Dec 11) : Angel Diary 7 ' Yen Press, Oct 2008 [31.0] ::
566. '-283 (283) : Bride of the Water God 10 ' Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [18.0] ::
670. '772 (1442) : INVU 5 ' Tokyopop, Nov 2009 [13.5] ::
840. '-150 (690) : Priest Purgatory 1 ' Tokyopop, Aug 2010 [8.6] ::
915. '-145 (770) : Arcana 4 ' Tokyopop, Mar 2006 [6.9] ::
1042. '-1 (1041) : Ragnarok 1 ' Tokyopop, May 2002 [4.9] ::
1116. '484 (1600) : Arcana 1 ' Tokyopop, Jan 2005 [4.0] ::
1183. '-228 (955) : March Story 3 ' Viz Signature, Oct 2011 [3.1] ::
1276. '-254 (1022) : March Story 1 ' Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [2.3] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

53. '46 (99) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 ' Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [148.6] ::
71. '23 (94) : Ice Cage (ebook) ' Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 [128.3] ::
77. '6 (83) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [120.2] ::
95. '-9 (86) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [105.7] ::
100. (new) : Treasured Prince ' Yaoi Press, Mar 2012 [99.5] ::
107. '187 (294) : An Even More Beautiful Lie ' DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [96.1] ::
109. '-17 (92) : Ambiguous Relationship ' DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [94.2] ::
114. '-12 (102) : Private Teacher 3 ' DMP Juné, May 2012 [91.5] ::
155. ' (last ranked 12 Feb 12) : Butterfly of the Distant Day ' DMP Juné, Jun 2011 [72.0] ::
159. '28 (187) : Black Sun 2 ' 801 Media, Dec 2011 [69.5] ::

[more]

Ebooks

3. '0 (3) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [445.5] ::
7. '-1 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 ' Yen Press, Dec 2011 [354.0] ::
13. '1 (14) : Naruto 54 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [272.1] ::
20. '-9 (11) : Naruto 53 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [242.0] ::
25. '-7 (18) : Maximum Ride 1 ' Yen Press, Jan 2009 [212.0] ::
30. '0 (30) : Soulless 1 ' Yen Press, Mar 2012 [187.3] ::
32. '-3 (29) : Maximum Ride 4 ' Yen Press, Apr 2011 [182.0] ::
34. '12 (46) : Blue Exorcist 2 ' Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jun 2011 [176.2] ::
40. '4 (44) : Bleach 37 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [165.4] ::
53. '46 (99) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 ' Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [148.6] ::

[more]

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 4

By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as 'Toaru Kagaku no Railgun' by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

This volume, as the back cover tells you, marks the start of the 'Sisters' story arc for Railgun. Which, if you're only following the manga, means very little to you. But this is not a manga for those who merely read the manga (though it can be read on its own fairly easily, as I have shown). Franchise manga tend to lack the surprising plot twists that original titles may have, simply as they rely on an already existing base. So if you're buying this 4th volume of the Railgun manga, it's already expected that you'll have bought the Index light novels, and the Index manga and anime, and indeed Railgun's own anime, which is namechecked here. Higurashi does this too ' I've been coyly pretending not to know who the villain is in my reviews, but of course I do ' as did all the readers of the manga when it came out. Expectations are set differently.

That said, this volume has a lot to offer. It's rather upfront about the way that it manipulates its cast ' particularly its heroine, Misaki. We start right off with her being shown a boy with muscular dystrophy, and asked to donate some of her DNA to help fight such things. Which would be fine, if she had parents who were also giving consent, or if the scientist askin g didn't have an evil leer on his face after she agrees. No, we know we're going to be getting into evil clones right off the bat. (Well, the cover might have clued us in as well.)

Of course, the evil is debatable ' the clone on the cover actually looks rather sad and vulnerable (and mysteriously missing genitalia, in the best time-honored tradition). And indeed, when we first meet Misaka 9982, she is immediately filled with likeable traits. She's snarky, and intelligent, and deadpan, and talks in the third person (something I wasn't sure Seven Seas would carry over ' it sounds more awkward in English, but does help to set the clones apart from the original). This is contrasted with Misaka herself, who spends the entire volume frustrated and not sure how she should feel. She's heard the rumors before, but being faced with the actual reality is a bit much.

As we see Misaka meet her clone, and have amusing arguments with her clone, and come to see her clone as a little sister sort of figure ' complete with giving her a frog badge she got from a crane machine ' we know, instinctively that we're heading for tragedy, and that this clone is going to die. Of course, the number '9982' after her name might also clue us in ' these clones are being created as experimental subjects, and their purpose is to die for the greater good. I suspect Misaka is not going to see it that way, however, and the volume ends with her losing it and attacking the mysterious boy who is responsible.

All of this is handled quite well. The manga flies by, and we get just enough characterization from Misaka 9982 to feel horrible about what happens. And certainly we immediately loathe Accelerator, the young man who seems to be our heroine's new villain. Ah well, I'm sure he will simply be a minor villain' you see? There I go again, pretending that this isn't a franchise. :) Definitely recommended.

Pick of the Week: Genshiken, Wallflower, & more

MELINDA: There's not much to choose from at Midtown Comics this week, but making my pick is astonishingly easy, perhaps only because I came so late into the world of manga. The truth is, I've always wanted to read Genshiken, and this new omnibus release from Kodansha Comics has finally made it easy for me to actually conceive of doing so. I look forward to finally picking this series up!

SEAN: It's a very slim week this week, so instead of highlighting something revolutionary or cutting-edge, I will go for one of my comfort manga again. The Wallflower will not win any points for originality'or indeed for resolving its plot'but it's always so much fun, and I always enjoy seeing what wacky situations the cast will find themselves in this time. Everyone needs a manga that you just turn your brain off and read, and this is a good one. Plus Sunako kicks ass when she wants to.

KATE: Looking over the final shipping list of the month is like opening a half-empty refrigerator: there's bound to be something worth trying, but it takes a little imagination to find it. This week, however, the manga offerings are just too meager, so I'm going to recommend the first Wonder Woman trade instead. For me, the big draw is the artwork: Cliff Chiang depicts WW not as a voluptuous pin-up, but as a tall, lean warrior who just happens to look a lot better in a strapless unitard than the rest of us mortals. I don't have any difficulty imagining this WW kicking ass and taking names.

MICHELLE: It's not on the Midtown list, but according to Amazon, volume three of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan is due out this Tuesday. I wasn't sure what to expect from this tale of a former delinquent with a talent for getting through to troubled teens, but it turns out it's a lot of fun. I enjoyed volume two more than the first, as a matter of fact, which certainly bodes well for this next installment!

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Readers, what looks good to you this week?

New SJ series, more on American manga creators

The newest addition to Viz's Shonen Jump Alpha lineup is K'hei Horikoshi's sci-fi manga Sensei no Baruji (Barrage).

This really shouldn't be news, but somehow it is: ICv2 reports that Bizenghast creator M. Alice LeGrow will be paid for the eighth and final volume of the series, which is being co-published by Tokyopop and RightStuf.

Sean Gaffney looks at the coming week's new manga releases.

The Digital Manga Guild will expand its reach to light novels and doujinshi, Digital Manga, Inc., representatives announced at Fanime this past weekend.

Deb Aoki continues her series on Making a Living in Manga with a look at publishers vs. self-publishing and webcomics'and whether you should just move to Japan.

And here's an interview with a working manga artist: Laur Uy posts parts 3 and 4 of her interview with Cassandra Jean, the illustrator of Beautiful Creatures, published by Yen Press.

The Manga Moveable Feast, which focused on Oishinbo and food manga, is over, but you can read all the posts and check the links at host blog Otaku Champloo. A few late entries: Ed Sizemore has some things to say about food manga at Comics Worth Reading, and he and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss the topic with Deb Aoki and Michelle Smith in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast. Meanwhile, Ash Brown muses on Oishinbo and the Romance of Food at Experiments in Manga. And Kate Dacey looks at seven mouth-watering food manga at The Manga Critic.

And Michelle Smith and Anna Neatrour will co-host the next MMF at their blogs, Soliloquy in Blue and Manga Report, respectively. The topic: The works of Takehiko Inoue.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news at Okazu. She also points to the English translation of Kimino Tamenara Shineru, a gag manga set in the Heian era, which is now available on JManga, along with an essay on the Heian Period that she co-wrote with translator Erin Subramanian.

Patrick Markfort takes to video to discuss the work of Naoki Urasawa.

Comics Alliance has an excerpt from the manga section of The Comic Book History of Comics, by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey. Check it out for a snippet of the history of manga told in comic-book form.

Connie continues her commentary on the Eroicaverse with a look at the art book Plus Ultra.

Black Sun manga-ka Uki Ogasawara will be a guest at this year's Yaoi-Con.

Megan Purdy reports on the scene at TCAF at Manga Bookshelf.

Matt Blind has the manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending March 11.

News from Japan: Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the newish manga magazine Miracle Jump. W-Juliet creator Emura will launch a new shoujo manga, Idea no Hana, in the August issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume, and D.N. Angel manga-ka Yukiru Sugisaki's 1001 (Knights) debuts in the next issue of Asuka. Galaxy Angel creator Y'ko 'tsuki (a.k.a. Kanan) has a new series, Sh'jo Ren-ai Hen-i (Girl Love Variation), in Shogakukan's Club Sunday magazine. Manga adaptations of the anime 'K', the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor game, and the Mini-Skirt Uch' Kaizoku light novels are in the works. Berserk is back for a three-chapter run in Hakusensha's Young Animal. The high school version of K-ON will end in the June issue of Manga Time Kirara Carat.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss some recent yaoi titles in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown wraps up a week's worth of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Matthew Warner on vol. 6 of Arisa (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Bloody Monday (podcast review) (Sesho's Anime and Manga Reviews)
TSOTE on vol. 3 of Case Records of Professor Munakata (Three Steps Over Japan)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 3 of Dawn of the Arcana (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 3 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Carlo Santos on Dororo (omnibus editions) (ANN)
Connie on vol. 1 of Doukyusei (Slightly Biased Manga)
Manjiyorin on vol. 1 of Drifters (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 2 of Fist of the North Star (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alexander Bustos on issue 11 of GEN magazine (Comic attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 18 of Higurashi: When They Cry (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Hoshin Engi (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 9 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Kamisama Kiss (Comic Attack)
Sweetpea616 on Kitchen Princess (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
John Rose on vol. 5 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-Chan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 7 of Natsume's Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (Manga Xanadu)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Oishinbo A La Carte (Manga Xanadu)
Ash Brown on Oishinbo A La Carte: Ramen and Gyoza (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 62 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Chris Beveridge on chapter 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (The Fandom Post)
Drew McCabe on chapter 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (Comic Attack)
Carlo Santos on vol. 5 of Saturn Apartments (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 7 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 6 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on Young Miss Holmes Casebook 1-2 (Good Comics for Kids)

Bookshelf Briefs 5/29/12

This week, Kate, Melinda, and Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, VIZ Media, JManga, and eManga.

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Amorous Women of the Floating World: Sex in Old Tokyo Vol. 1 | By Kaoru Hazuki & Chinatsu Takamura | Leed Publishing Co., LTD ' The cover copy for this manga begins, 'Did you know that Japan in the 18th century was even more sexually permissive than it is today?' After reading this manga, however, it must be clarified that 'sexually permissive' should be appended with''for men.' This book is for men, of course, but it's difficult to accept it as harmless sexual fantasy, when it works so hard to try to sell the subjugation of women as female empowerment. The book opens lessons in 'marital harmony.' 'It is incredibly pleasurable for your lord to enter your mouth,' a young woman is told on the eve of her wedding night. 'Do not deny him!' Later, we learn about the rural practice in which groups of local men set upon households of women in the middle of the night to ask for sex, which we're told was empowering for the women because they were allowed to say no. While as a history of sexual behavior in Japan, this book offers some interesting information, as sexual fantasy it's just kind of' icky.

Black Butler, Vol. 9 | By Yana Toboso | Published by Yen Press - You know the previous arc must've been a dark one when a murder mystery set in Phantomhive Manor seems positively lighthearted by comparison! Ciel is compelled by Her Majesty to play host to a distinguished German visitor, but when the man turns up dead (on the requisite dark and stormy night, of course), Ciel is the only one without an alibi. One guest believes in his innocence, however'a medically trained mystery writer named Arthur, whom one can only assume is meant to be Conan Doyle. Arthur narrates the tale, which is kind of neat, and though I don't believe for one moment that Sebastian has truly become the killer's latest victim, I must say that I was really bummed out that I didn't have volume ten immediately to hand.- Michelle Smith

Cross Game, Vol. 7 | By Mitsuru Adachi | Published by VIZ Media - I've you've been keeping up with Cross Game, you pretty much know what to expect with this volume. The Seishu team has one last chance to make it to Koshien, and this omnibus (comprising volumes 14 and 15 of the original Japanese edition) offers lots and lots of baseball goodness as they make their way through the Tokyo tournament. Meanwhile, there's a sort of romantic pentagram going on that provides some distractions. I really admire the elegant way that Adachi and co. depict the games'they are effortlessly easy to follow'as well as Aoba's growing realization of Ko's various good qualities, and am always left wanting more even after 300+ pages. Speaking of wanting more, I shall avail myself once more of the opportunity to express my wish for another Adachi series after Cross Game wraps in July. Please, VIZ? - Michelle Smith

A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 3 | By Miyoshi Tomori | VIZ Media ' Miyoshi Tomori captures adolescence in all its messy confusion, addressing pack behavior, frenemies, and faculty bullies. To be sure, other manga explore the same terrain, but Tomori's work is one the few that can transport an adult reader back to his or her high school days in a vivid, compelling fashion. What makes this series work is its cast: the characters are flawed, inconsistent, and sometimes unlikable ' just like real people ' but they're also funny, smart, and occasionally brave in small ways ' just like real people. Best of all, Tomori's heroine is prickly and brash without being cartoonish; chances are, you knew someone just like Maria when you were 15, and secretly admired her candor, too. Recommended. -Katherine Dacey

Don't Cry, Girl | By Tomoko Yamashita | JManga ' Are wacky nudists the latest trend in manga? I ask because Don't Cry, Girl was the second manga I've read that featured a naked character ' in this case, Masuda, a bachelor who agrees to provide a home for Taeko, his friends' chaste but sensible 17-year-old daughter. The story reads like an extended riff on Austin Powers, with Masuda strategically using bowls of fruit, house plants, and vacuum cleaners to block Taeko's line of sight. It's a giddy and stupid conceit, sustained by the chemistry between the unsparingly blunt Taeko and the irrepressibly childish Masuda. The volume is rounded out by a second story, '3322,' which explores the relationships among a trio of women who spend a summer living together. The second story is lush and atmospheric but a little disjointed, making it difficult to follow all the plot strands. Taken as a whole, however, Don't Cry, Girl is a welcome addition to the small but growing body of josei in English. - Katherine Dacey

Rin-ne, Vol. 9 | By Rumiko Takahashi | VIZ Media ' The latest volume of Rin-ne features several ghost-of-the-week stories. Some have a loopy charm: in 'Ramen Kaedama,' for example, Rokudo's feckless father teams up with another damashigami to open a noodle shop, while 'The Wig's Regret' features a possessed prop from a long-forgotten school play. Other chapters, however, feel like something that Rumiko Takahashi could produce on autopilot: the stories are pat and predictable, with magical elements that feel overdetermined. The artwork, too, lacks the detail and personality of Takahashi's earlier efforts; the backgrounds are uncharacteristically sparse and bland, while the figure drawings look like pallid imitations of characters from Ranma and InuYasha. It's not bad, just tired; we've seen Takahashi tell these kind of stories before with more spark and wit. -Katherine Dacey

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 11 March

Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week's charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. '1 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [485.3] ::
2. '-1 (1) : Sailor Moon 3 ' Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [467.7] ::
3. '2 (5) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
4. '0 (4) : Sailor Moon 2 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [404.3] ::
5. '-2 (3) : Sailor Moon 1 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [400.8] ::
6. '0 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 ' Yen Press, Dec 2011 [385.5] ::
7. '7 (14) : Black Bird 13 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [376.3] ::
8. '0 (8) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 2 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [356.5] ::
9. '-2 (7) : Black Butler 8 ' Yen Press, Jan 2012 [336.7] ::
10. '0 (10) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 1 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [311.1] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 78
Yen Press 70
Viz Shojo Beat 58
Tokyopop 51
Kodansha Comics 43
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 34
DMP Juné 19
Vizkids 18
Dark Horse 17
Seven Seas 17

[more]

Series/Property

1. '0 (1) : Sailor Moon ' Kodansha Comics [1,190.0] ::
2. '0 (2) : Naruto ' Viz Shonen Jump [941.1] ::
3. '0 (3) : Black Butler ' Yen Press [722.9] ::
4. '0 (4) : Maximum Ride ' Yen Press [719.9] ::
5. '1 (6) : Black Bird ' Viz Shojo Beat [607.1] ::
6. '-1 (5) : Bleach ' Viz Shonen Jump [550.7] ::
7. '7 (14) : One Piece ' Viz Shonen Jump [492.3] ::
8. '1 (9) : Fullmetal Alchemist ' Viz [438.0] ::
9. '-2 (7) : Negima! ' Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [429.9] ::
10. '-2 (8) : xxxHolic ' Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [416.0] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

1. '1 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [485.3] ::
3. '2 (5) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
7. '7 (14) : Black Bird 13 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [376.3] ::
12. '108 (120) : Dengeki Daisy 9 ' Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [292.4] ::
13. '6 (19) : Sailor Moon 5 ' Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [292.3] ::
14. '-1 (13) : Naruto 54 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [285.5] ::
16. '15 (31) : One Piece 61 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [279.4] ::
19. '-2 (17) : Bleach 38 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [253.3] ::
30. '30 (60) : Soulless 1 ' Yen Press, Mar 2012 [198.1] ::
31. '72 (103) : Fairy Tail 18 ' Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [198.0] ::

[more]

Preorders

23. '-1 (22) : Sailor Moon 6 ' Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [246.2] ::
25. '-4 (21) : Sailor Moon 7 ' Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [232.8] ::
72. '8 (80) : Black Butler 9 ' Yen Press, Jul 2012 [126.7] ::
75. '8 (83) : Sailor Moon 8 ' Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [125.5] ::
86. '21 (107) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [117.7] ::
102. '7 (109) : Private Teacher 3 ' DMP Juné, May 2012 [102.5] ::
103. '47 (150) : Naruto 56 ' Viz Shonen Jump, May 2012 [102.2] ::
105. ' (last ranked 4 Mar 12) : Novus Karma (ebook) 1 ' MangaMagazine, Aug 2012 [101.2] ::
106. '-18 (88) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 ' Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [100.7] ::
144. '-5 (139) : Naruto 57 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [75.3] ::

[more]

Manhwa

283. '-29 (254) : Bride of the Water God 10 ' Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [39.3] ::
301. '7 (308) : Bride of the Water God 9 ' Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [37.5] ::
690. ' (last ranked 2 Oct 11) : Priest Purgatory 1 ' Tokyopop, Aug 2010 [12.4] ::
770. '129 (899) : Arcana 4 ' Tokyopop, Mar 2006 [9.7] ::
955. '-335 (620) : March Story 3 ' Viz Signature, Oct 2011 [5.7] ::
1022. '756 (1778) : March Story 1 ' Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [4.6] ::
1027. '-172 (855) : Toxic (anthology) 1 ' Udon, Jul 2012 [4.6] ::
1041. '-347 (694) : Ragnarok 1 ' Tokyopop, May 2002 [4.4] ::
1059. '720 (1779) : Jack Frost 4 ' Yen Press, Dec 2010 [4.2] ::
1122. '-371 (751) : Jack Frost 2 ' Yen Press, Nov 2009 [3.5] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

83. '-29 (54) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [121.1] ::
86. '21 (107) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [117.7] ::
92. '-11 (81) : Ambiguous Relationship ' DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [113.3] ::
94. '7 (101) : Ice Cage (ebook) ' Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 [111.5] ::
97. '-21 (76) : Seven Days Friday-Sunday ' DMP Juné, Sep 2011 [109.1] ::
99. '3 (102) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 ' Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [107.9] ::
102. '7 (109) : Private Teacher 3 ' DMP Juné, May 2012 [102.5] ::
173. '-50 (123) : Private Teacher 2 ' DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [62.9] ::
178. '-1 (177) : Finder Series 4 Prisoner in the View Finder ' DMP Juné, Aug 2011 [61.8] ::
187. '-43 (144) : Black Sun 2 ' 801 Media, Dec 2011 [60.0] ::

[more]

Ebooks

3. '2 (5) : Naruto 55 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
6. '0 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 ' Yen Press, Dec 2011 [385.5] ::
11. '5 (16) : Naruto 53 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [303.4] ::
14. '-1 (13) : Naruto 54 ' Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [285.5] ::
18. '-3 (15) : Maximum Ride 1 ' Yen Press, Jan 2009 [270.2] ::
24. (new) : SIN 1 ' MangaMagazine, Sep 2011 [236.9] ::
26. '9 (35) : Maximum Ride 2 ' Yen Press, Oct 2009 [227.1] ::
29. '3 (32) : Maximum Ride 4 ' Yen Press, Apr 2011 [198.1] ::
30. '30 (60) : Soulless 1 ' Yen Press, Mar 2012 [198.1] ::
40. '-4 (36) : Maximum Ride 3 ' Yen Press, Aug 2010 [183.0] ::

[more]

An Open Letter to Movie Critics

By now, if you're a movie critic, you've filed your Avengers ' sorry, Marvel's The Avengers ' review and are girding your loins for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Before you hold forth on the evils of comic book movies, or write an essay about superhero decadence, let me offer a few suggestions for reviewing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight. These tips won't guarantee that every DC or Marvel man will be wowed by your references to Rio Bravo and Yojimbo, or swayed by your measured criticisms, but they will ensure that movie-goers like me ' smart folk who like Lawrence of Arabia and The Walking Dead ' won't roll our eyes in disgust at yet another review that begins, 'Hollywood must be out of ideas, because they sure do like to make comic book movies.'

1. Don't trot out the 'superheroes are for kids' line.

Neither DC Comics nor Marvel have been publishing superhero comics for kids since the mid-1980s. OK ' that's not entirely true. In the interest of reaching out to younger readers, both companies have created all-ages versions of Batman, Spider-Man, and other popular stories. That both companies felt the need to create kid-friendly versions of these properties ought to tell you something about the content of most DC and Marvel products. Just compare an issue of any New 52 title with Tiny Titans if you don't believe me; the difference in tone, presentation, and content will astonish you:

This DC Comic is for kids.

This DC Comic is not.

It's fair to criticize the plot of a comic book movie as being too obvious or simplistic to sustain an adult's interest, of course, but that's not the same thing as dismissing the entire enterprise as 'kids' stuff' because ten-year-old boys used to be Stan Lee's target audience. Comics have evolved. So should your critique of movies based on comics.

2. Get your facts straight.

Take it from a comic book reviewer: if you whiff a detail ' no matter how insignificant ' fans will stop following your argument and start building a case against you. Amy Nicholson ' who wrote a smart, informed review of The Avengers ' was eviscerated by fans who fumed that she'd referred to Samuel L. Jackson's character as 'Nick Frost' instead of 'Nick Fury.' (The error has since been corrected.)

As someone who reviews Japanese comics in translation, I have deep sympathy for this reviewer. I've made similar mistakes, and have endured withering comments from readers who think it a cardinal sin to credit the wrong publisher for a book, or misspell a secondary character's name. What I've learned from that experience is that you might demonstrate your erudition in ten other ways ' through the quality of your insights, the depth of your cinematic knowledge, or the creativity of your language ' but comics fans won't give a damn about your opinion if you call Captain America 'Stephen Rodgers.'

3. Do your homework.

The best comic-book films work equally well for devoted fans and newcomers alike: think Ghost World (2001), Spider-Man (2002), or Superman (1978), all of which had something to offer both groups of viewers. And while it's beneficial to share your impression of a comic book movie as a member of the general public ' as someone who knows Batman from the campy Adam West show, for example, or from watching Saturday morning cartoons ' your review will be more authoritative if you take the time to learn a little more about the characters' histories. Think about it this way: you wouldn't review a big-screen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility without reading the novel or watching other versions, so why would you walk into a movie version of a long-running comic book franchise without at least familiarizing yourself with the characters? Read Wikipedia. Visit your local comic book store and talk to the sales clerks. Buy a few trades. It won't kill you, I promise.

4. Remember that there are many comic book fans who will appreciate a thoughtful review.

We aren't all rampaging monsters with a taste for critics' flesh; many of us like an elegant turn of phrase or appreciate a Truffaut reference as much as you do. Don't insult us for liking comic books, and we won't sneer at you for suggesting The Avengers was overly long. Scout's honor.

7 Mouth-Watering Food Manga

When Khursten Santos announced that this month's Manga Movable Feast would be' well, a feast, that provided me with a swell excuse to highlight my favorite food manga. I attribute my interest in the genre to my brief but intense infatuation with Iron Chef in the mid-2000s. I had always found cooking shows uninteresting: why watch someone make a cake or a roast when I already knew how to do that? Iron Chef, however, reimagined the cooking show as a tournament manga with an identifiable cast of characters who faced new and increasingly difficult challenges each week. Presiding over the competition was a flamboyant 'villain' ' the one and only Chairman Kaga ' who was capricious and extravagant, demanding his contestants turn asparagus and ayu into ice cream and amuse-bouche. I can't say I learned how to prepare any dishes from watching Iron Chef, but I came to appreciate the Iron Chefs' creativity and combat-readiness.

When I discovered that there were manga that looked and sounded like an episode of Iron Chef, I was ecstatic. I read Iron Wok Jan and Yakitate!! Japan before discovering more sedate forms of food manga: Antique Bakery, Kitchen Princess, Mixed Vegetables. I gradually lost interest in the melodramatic pageantry of Iron Chef, but not in Japanese cuisine. I've been expanding my culinary horizons through manga instead, tackling anything with a food theme. Which ones reign supreme in Manga Critic Stadium? Read on for the list!

7. EKIBEN HITORITABI

KAN SAKURAI AND JUN HAYASE ' JMANGA ' 2 VOLUMES (ONGOING)

If you need definitive proof that there's a manga for every conceivable niche audience, look no further than Ekiben Hitoritabi, a charming series about a train bento enthusiast. Yes, you read that right: Ekiben Hitoritabi follows the exploits of Daisuke Nakahara, a thirty-five-year-old man whose greatest ambition is to sample the boxed lunches served at train stations around Japan. The story is as relaxed and meandering as Daisuke's journey, as he transfers from one line to the next in search of the country's best ' and most exotic ' ekiben. Slight as the story may be, the authors' meticulous attention to detail and obvious fondness for train travel carry the day, making this manga both fun and educational. Now if only Amtrak would investigate ekiben' I'd take a fish cake over microwave pizza any day.

6. NEKO RAMEN

KENJI SONISHI ' TOKYOPOP ' 4 VOLUMES (INCOMPLETE)

If you've ever lived with a cat or dog, you know that no meal is complete without a pet hair garnish. Now imagine that your beloved companion actually prepared your meals instead of watching you eat them: what sort of unimaginable horrors might you encounter beyond the stray hair? That's the starting point for Neko Ramen, a 4-koma manga about a cat whose big dream is to run a noodle shop, but author Kenji Sonishi quickly moves past hair balls and litter box jokes to mine a richer vein of humor, poking fun at his cat cook's delusions of entrepreneurial grandeur. Taisho is the Don Quixote of ramen vendors, dreaming up ludicrous giveaways and unappetizing dishes in an effort to promote his business, never realizing that he is the store's real selling point. The loose, sketchy artwork gives the series an improvisational feel, while the script has the pleasant, absurdist zing of an Abbott and Costello routine. (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 6/2/10.)

5. YAKITATE!! JAPAN

TAKAHASHI HASHIGUCHI ' VIZ MEDIA ' 26 VOLUMES (COMPLETE)

Kazuma Azuma is a boy with a dream: to create a bread so beloved by the Japanese people that it becomes synonymous with the country itself. Though he lacks formal training, he's a prodigy in the kitchen, blessed with 'hands of the sun' (a.k.a. hands warm enough to jump-start the dough's rising) and a jazz musician's knack for improvisation. These skills land him at the modest South Tokyo branch of Pantasia, a popular chain of bakeries. There, alongside the loud-mouthed apprentice Kyosuke Kawachi, the cute but steely manager Tsukino Asuzagawa, and the bread master Ken Matsushiro, he hones his craft, develops new Ja-pan prototypes, and enters countless bake-offs. (In other words, Yakitate!! Japan is One Piece with pastry.) The series does, at times, sag under the weight of repetition ' how many death-defying baking competitions can one boy win? ' but its mouth-watering concoctions, colorful cast, and impromptu science lessons ensure that every volume has a least one or two outstanding chapters. (Reviewed at PopCultureShock on 3/7/07)

4. KODOKO NO GOURMET

MASAYUKI QUSUMI AND JIRO TANIGUCHI ' JMANGA ' 1 VOLUME (COMPLETE)

If you're a fan of Kingyo Used Books, you may remember the chapter in which Japanese backpackers shared a dog-eared copy of Kodoku no Gourmet (a.k.a. The Lonely Gourmet) in order to feel more connected to home. Goro Inogashira, the hero of Gourmet, is also a traveler. Goro makes a point of seeking out new restaurants in every city he visits, looking for pubs and noodle shops that are popular with the locals. While the manga is episodic and underdeveloped ' Goro is the only recurring character ' Jiro Taniguchi does a wonderful job of conveying the social aspect of eating, creating brief but vivid scenes of each establishment in which diners slurp soup, banter with the owners, and size up the well-dressed Goro. (He always looks out of place wherever he goes.) At one volume, Kodoku no Gourmet offers a pleasing sample of traditional Japanese dishes without exhausting its ever-so-slight premise.

3. GOKUDOU MESHI

SHIGERU TSUCHIYAMA ' JMANGA ' 2 VOLUMES (ONGOING)

Gokudou Meshi revolves around a contest: once a year, the residents of Naniwa South Prison swap stories about the best food they've ever eaten. The prisoner with the most mouth-watering story wins an item from each of his fellow inmates' osechi, a special New Year's Eve box filled with fish, rice cakes, omelettes, and other symbolic delicacies. As one might expect from such a conversation-driven series, Gokudou Meshi is told primarily through flashbacks, with each prisoner recounting the circumstances of his incarceration, as well as his favorite food. The fun is in the details: prisoners debate the merits of regional delicacies and remember their last meals on the outside. Author Shigeru Tsuchiyama plays it straight, rather than baldly pointing out the incongruity of conversation topic and setting; as a result, Gokudou Meshi reads like a giddy mash-up of Oz, Tampopo, and The Next Food Network Star, rather than a traditional sitcom.

2. NOT LOVE BUT DELICIOUS FOODS MAKE ME SO HAPPY!

FUMI YOSHINAGA ' YEN PRESS ' 1 VOLUME (COMPLETE)

My Dinner With Fumi: that's what I would have called the English-language edition of Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! The fifteen stories contained within this slim volume celebrate good food and good conversation, documenting Yoshinaga's interactions with friends, assistants, and fellow artists at real restaurants around Tokyo. No culinary stone goes unturned, as Yoshinaga ' or, as her fictional alter ego is called, Y-naga ' visits a Korean restaurant, a French bistro, an Italian trattoria, a sushi joint, an all-you-can-eat dim sum buffet, and a bakery famous for its bagels. As the characters chatter enthusiastically about what they're eating, we realize that Yoshinaga's real objective is showing us the important role that food plays in fostering friendships. One contentious conversation even prompts the omniscient narrator to praise good food for its diplomatic value: 'But through the power of skirt steak, their hearts resumed beating as one,' the narrator observes. In Yoshinaga's world, detente is just a dish away.  (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 12/12/10.)

1. OISHINBO A LA CARTE

TETSU KARIYA AND AKIRA HANASAKI ' VIZ MEDIA ' 8 VOLUMES (COMPLETE)

Equal parts Iron Wok Jan, Mostly Martha, and The Manga Cookbook, this educational, entertaining series explores Japanese cuisine at its most refined ' sake, seabream sashimi ' and its most basic ' rice, pub food. The stories fall into two categories: stories celebrating the important role of food in creating community, and stories celebrating the culinary expertise of its principal characters, newspaperman Yamaoka Shiro and his curmudgeonly father Kaibara Yuzan. (Fun fact: Yuzan is such a food snob that he drove Yamaoka's mother to an early grave, causing an irreparable break between father and son.) Though the competition between Yamaoka and Yuzan yields some elegant, mouth-watering dishes, Oishinbo is at its best when it focuses on everyday food in everyday settings, shedding light on how the Japanese prepare everything from bean sprouts to ramen. Warning: never read on an empty stomach!

* * * * *

So, hungry readers, which food manga are your favorites? Are there food manga you'd like to see translated into English (e.g. Cooking Papa)? Dish away!

Convention report: TCAF 2012

Guys, I really like TCAF. Which might sound strange, as this is the latest con report in the history of time, but there it is.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is a week long comics festival held all over Toronto's downtown. It culminates in a weekend mini-convention hosted by the (not so) secretly awesome Toronto Public Library. Christopher Butcher, TCAF's founder and director, didn't want it to be your typical comic con, so he modelled it on literary festivals and conferences. There are none of the giant screens, booth babes, or pricey giveaways that you'll find at most major North American comic cons, and you won't hear much about the latest Marvel and DC releases. Instead, you'll hear from Scholastic, First Second, Oni Press and Archaia, and mainly, comics creators themselves. You'll get the chance to meet lots of up and coming and independent creators, from all over the world. You'll get to participate in workshops, play indie games, indulge in kidstuff and check out great panel discussions, and you'll do all of this mostly for free'only a few of TCAF's events are ticketed.

I mention all of this not to boost the festival (it's not without its flaws), but because TCAF is designed to cultivate a certain kind of festival experience for creators and fans, and overall, it's a pretty good one. The festival is hosted by the downtown Reference Library and surrounding businesses, all of which maintain regular operating hours during the two-day explosion of comics love. While you're collapsing into a lump of fannish bliss at Kate Beaton's feet, someone's studying for an exam, or enjoying an afternoon meal. And so, the festival is less an awesome assault on the senses, and more kicking comics book fair. Also, it's on a smaller scale than the other two major dates on the Toronto comics scene's calendar, Fan Expo and Anime North, and the character of the festival is just more relaxed, less overheated, and far more oriented to discussion of comic arts, than to promotion by publishers. If you're a fan of indie, small press, or kids books, it's a good show, is what I'm saying.

My usual con and festival buddy is my girl Maddy (of When Fangirls Attack). We've been attending local conventions for a couple of years now, and have it down to a special kind of socially awkward, anti-science. This time, while we were impeded by a forgotten cell phone, crowd aversion (Saturday was packed!), a general lack of proper hydration and nutrition, we managed to meet up with friends, hit most of the panels we were interested in, and with the help of a third friend and a Starbucks full of regretful witnesses, get into an hours-long argument about J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. It's why I missed the presentation of Allison Bechdel's new book, and while I'm sore about it, I also can't turn down a chance to complain about Kirk's poor character development (Chris Pine, saved that script, ok?). Basically we had a great time, and we talked to all kinds of incredible people.

The Festival

Maddy and I are both Toronto locals, so we started our festival experience early, with a University of Toronto symposium that took advantage of TCAF, to bring in Kate Beaton (Hark A Vagrant) and Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim). I can't speak for the rest of the Bodies and Cities series, but this discussion was about art and place. Does art depend on where you are, or who you're with? Is the internet making it harder for artists to make a living? These were questions the never entirely serious Beaton and O'Malley answered, with weird and funny anecdotes, and plenty of shade for North American Big Comics.

After the talk, we had mediteranian food and cake, and hit up BMV Books (quite possibly the best place to pick up cheap, used comics in Toronto) and The Beguiling (the festival's mothership), where we got our festival guides, and started to plan our itineraries. We're both panel people, so it was akin to shopping for a Christmas siege of the Reference Library, The Pilot Tavern and other TCAF venues. There may also have been an extended email chain involved. It was a whole thing.

O'Malley and Beaton both had interesting things to say about creation, ownership and the whys and wherefores of comic art, which set the tone for the weekend. The opening night talk with Jeff Smith (Bone), Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (Daytripper) picked up on these themes'perhaps a consequence of bringing together so many indie and small press creators. Smith, Moon and Ba have a bit of a mutual admiration society going on; their rapport makes it well worth checking out the talk, which has been posted in full by the library. It also reminds you of just how small a world comics is, that creators and fans from all over the world have such close personal and creative connections. This, it turns out, was another of the themes of the festival. Butcher and the rest of the TCAF staff worked hard to bring in an impressive slate of international guests. With everything from workshops, to exhibits (Gabriella Giandelli!) to panel discussions, TCAF celebrated the hell out of the international comics scene this year, and particularly, international comic art (double emphasis on art). Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, so it seemed a pretty natural fit, to be having this discussion here.

After the opening night talk, we headed over to the opening night party at The Pilot. We missed whatever festival activity resulted in all the cool kids having Hello My Name Is tags, but were in good time for its devolution into a nerdier version of any other bar in the world. There was a lot of comics talk over beers, is what I'm saying, and although that's increasingly common, in these halcyon post-Dark Knight, post-Avengers days, the collective knowledge of the Summers-Grey family tree was still impressive. Unlike the big cons, TCAF doesn't attract cosplay (did you catch the Homestuck/TCAF cosplay blowup?), so the bars around the festival aren't filled with visible displays of nerdy enthusiasm. The bar scene is not mine though, even with an above average number of Green Lantern t-shirts in attendance, so we left after a few beers, without any awkward fan-creator stories to share.

Saturday and Sunday were a haze of panels, shopping, and arguing about Star Trek. A lot of panels and talks, you guys. I attended: Comics and Mental Health, Guy Delisle Spotlight, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba Spotlight, Kate Beaton Spotlight, Graphic Narrative, Writer's Craft, and, hell, some other stuff that I can't clearly remember. Maddy and I split up, so between the two of us, we covered about 70% of the festival's programming. I'm a sucker for smart, passionate people, saying smart, passionate things, but I'm picky'TCAF's programming though, was really quite good. Overwhelmingly, the conversation at TCAF is analytical (what are the boundaries of comic art? what does the future look like for small publishers and independent creators?) and informative (how to manage life as a self-employed creator, how to construct a page for maximum impact).

Aside from programming, there was still the festival floor to hit. Vendor and creator tables are set up on the library's first and second floor. As with any con, space is at a premium, but because TCAF takes place in an open-for-business library, and not a convention centre, floorspace is even more precious. Attendance has been going up the last few years, but this year it was ludicrous'so well attended that Saturday was basically a wash, in terms of meaningful interaction. At one point, getting to a particular table involved five minutes of bobbing, weaving and inching forward, half a foot at a time. One of the biggest draws this year was Andrew Hussie, creator of Homestuck. His fans lined up, and lined up, and lined the hell up some more for his Q&A. There were a lot of Homestuck fans; adorable in their enthusiasm. Another big ticket was the Adventure Time creative team. A video of their panel is available here. By Sunday things tend to clear up (most locals have been and gone), and this year was no different. Finally we were able to enjoy meeting and chatting with creators, and do some shopping.

The Haul

For the last few years I've been doing this whole responsible adult thing, and trying to pay down my student debt at as blistering a pace as I can manage. As a result I'm perpetually cash strapped, and go into every book fair, festival and convention with the intention of not buying. Or at least, buying as little and as smartly as possible. Never has this plan survived the first engagement. When you go to a convention, you spend money. My resolve is strong' until I see Michael Cho (Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes), or Scott Chantler (Two Generals), or, or, oh god, is that Kate Beaton? OMG, I love her shoes! And then my plan to spend responsibly is revised into Operation: All The Things, Into My (not a plastic) Bag. You can probably relate.

This year I managed to avoid the admittedly adorable ephemera that sends me into fits of puzzled buyer's remorse when I get home (five handmade felt bookmarks? really?) and double down on the things I really covet: books and prints.

Because Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba made my TCAF weekend, I stopped by their table with the intention of buying all the things. But by the time I made it there, late in the day on Sunday, most of those things were gone. I picked up De:Tales though, a book I missed when it came out a couple of years back, and I have high hopes for. They weren't the highlight of my festival experience just because they're lovely guys, but also because they're engaging speakers who used their showcase spot to put on a great talk about comic art and creative influence, and seemingly spent the weekend being laid back and intelligent all over the place.

Similarly, I went into TCAF weekend with the intention of picking up Guy Delisle's Jerusalem, and Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother?, but their generally awesome showings at the festival made the experience of handing over my hard-earned Canadian dollars that much sweeter. Like the brothers, Delisle proved that PowerPoint can be wonderful, in the hands of an experienced comics professional. He showed in-progress art from his next project, sketches and pictures from previous projects, and bits and pieces of comics art that inspired him during his travels. Thus far, Delisle's work has been something in the vein of thoughtful, personal (and hilarious) anti-travelogues, so seeing and hearing about that stuff made me even more excited for Jerusalem. As for Allison Bechdel, well, here's a Wall Street Journal interview with her that demonstrates her inherent interestingness. (If you don't think the grammar of comics is a cool subject, then I don't know what to tell you. Also, at some point in the distant future, Scott McCloud will be rolling in his grave, because of you).

I also picked up two prints and the TCAF poster by Moon and Ba, and did a whole lot of shopping for other people. Their presents are in the mail, so hopefully I'm not spoiling things by mentioning Adrian Alphona, Chad Sell, Christina Strain and Bryan Lee O'Malley. Unicorns and drag queens'that's all I'm prepared to say at this point. The Toronto streetscape above is part of a series by the always-friendly Michael Cho, and this lovely print is by Christina Strain and Jayd Aït-Kaci, who do the web comic Fox Sister. (Have you read Fox Sister? Get on that, for real). The print is of the eponymous fox sister, and will be framed and hung below my beloved Klimt print.

Overall I think I demonstrated admirable restraint. Which, hey, is why shopping for other people is the actual best.

The Conclusion (no hilarious anecdote?)

Even with all the people (18,000!), I managed to meet up with a few friends and acquaintances, get into two arguments about Star Trek, one argument about cyperpunk, and three debates about the future of online distribution and ownership. (I talk a lot. You might have noticed). I managed, somehow, to bump into two former classmates from the Toronto Cartoonist's Workshop (holla!), and another two Twitter friends and their friends. And most importantly, I met the world's most adorable Brony. Fluttershy, you guys, he was stealth cosplaying Fluttershy. My only regret is that I didn't get a chance to check out the festival's exceptional kids programming, or collapse into a lump of fannish bliss at Kate Beaton's feet.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Manga the Week of 5/30

It's a 5th week of the month, you know that means there's virtually nothing. In fact, all three of these are available now' unless you order from Diamond.

Kodansha gives us the first Genshiken omnibus, collecting three volumes of this otaku-loving series. I always tended to read it for Saki, but there's something for everyone here. Unlike Negima, this does not feature any new translation, possibly as the old version was perfectly fine. We also get Vol. 34 of Negima, which I've already reviewed, possibly as it's hitting Diamond a full month late. And we have Vol. 28 of The Wallflower, which I always enjoy, mostly as I expect laughs and nothing else. This volume apparently featured the obligatory Edo Period AU!

Aaaaaand that's it. Thoughts?

Drumroll, Please'

I'm pleased to announce the results of last week's Double-or-Nothing Giveaway! Thank you to all the readers who entered; it was nice to see familiar names as well as new ones in the comment section. Here are the winners:

• Bakuman, Vols. 9-10: Myrah
• Durarara!!, Vols. 1-2: Justin
• Skip Beat!, Vols. 26-27: Debbie B.
• The Flowers of Evil, Vol. 1 and Gate 7, Vol. 1: Manga Connection

I will be contacting the winners via email tomorrow (Wednesday), so please check your inboxes. If you didn't win, don't despair: I have one final contest! I will be offering two prizes this time, both published by Vertical, Inc. The first is volume one of Shuzo Oshimi's The Flowers of Evil, and the second is vols. 1-2 of Osamu Tezuka's Apollo's Song. Here are the contest rules:

1. Leave a comment indicating which manga you'd like to win. You may enter both drawings, if you wish.
2. Winners of the Great Omnibus or the Double-or-Nothing Giveaways are not eligible.
3. You must be at least 18 to enter, and a resident of the United States. I will not ship manga outside the United States.
4. The deadline to enter is 11:59 PM EST on Monday, May 28th. Winners will be announced at The Manga Critic on Tuesday, May 29th.
5. Winners will be chosen by random lottery.

Good luck!

Dining and gambling

I'm still in transit, blogging from the Metropolitan Lounge in Union Station, Chicago, waiting to take the Lake Shore Limited to Boston. Traveling by train gave me some time to write up my review of vols. 1-6 of The Story of Saiunkoku at MTV Geek. In other news:

Khursten Santos rounds up the second day's worth of links for the Manga Moveable Feast, which celebrates Oishinbo and food manga this month.

Digital announced a new BL license via its Twitter yesterday: Junko's Konbini-Kun, which will be retitled Mr. Mini-Mart for the English-speaking audience.

Daniel BT takes a look at Nobuyuki Fukumoto's gambling manga.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo opens up her swag bag and chats about her recent acquisitions.

Reviews: Carlo Santos gives his take on a batch of new releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Ken Haley on The Bible: A Japanese Manga Rendition (Sequential Ink)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea616 on Lady Snowblood (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Oishinbo a la Carte (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 8 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)

Oishinbo A La Carte, Vol. 2 (Sake)

By Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Big Comic Spirits. Released in North America by Viz.

It's time for the Oishinbo Manga Moveable Feast, and though I had already reviewed the final volume a long time ago (see sidebar), I thought that I would take this time to revisit another volume, one which got a lot of buzz when it first came out over here. That would be the one devoted to sake, Japan's national alcoholic beverage. And so we get several chapters, including one long multipart epic, devoted to what makes good sake ' and why so much of it these days is bad.

Given that Oishinbo is about singing the praises of Japanese food, it's not particularly surprising that much of it involves praise for Japan in general. One chapter here involves a businessman who has been 'Westernized' and has to be reminded of the joys of good old Japanese cooking and liquor. That said, it's rather startling how much of this volume is just ripping into Japan's sake trade over and over again. I've no idea if things are the same these days (these chapters were written 15-25 years ago), but much is made over the fact that popular sake in Japan tends to be watered down in order to increase profit, and have additives such as charcoal and MSG. It can get fairly depressing.

That said, of course, you knock them down in order to build them up. We also get much praise of the good old-fashioned small-time sake brewer, still using pure ingredients with no additives and storing it properly to bring out the best flavor. There's actually a lot of comparison with French wine, in a way that reminded me of The Drops of God ' it's noted that France would never treat its wine the way Japan does its sake.

In these Viz compilations, characterization usually falls by the wayside ' the danger of working with a 108+ volume series ' but we still get a good sense of the main players, which is important for a series like this. You have to sympathize with Yamaoka and Yuka, and care about their lives, as otherwise you're left with nothing but a manga that lectures you. (Which, admittedly, it can sometimes be anyway.) Yamaoka shows off his cleverness in the final chapter, which reminds us that sake is still an alcohol, and that there are some people who abuse that. And Yuka really shines in the multi-part story, managing to sweet-talk Yamaoka's father, Yuzan (this is actually a running thing in the series, and Yuka is very, very good at it ' note Yuzan's retainers giggling). There's no romance here, but if you want that go lean Japanese and then buy the original Vol. 47, which has the wedding.

At the end of the day, though, the way to judge Oishinbo is by its ability to make you want to search out more. After this volume, I wanted some sake ' just as I wanted to visit an Izakaya after the final Viz volume. Oishinbo may be about a battle between father and son, or a growing romance between colleagues, but that's just the spice. The real meat of the manga is its love of food and its burning passion for it being cooked and served properly. And it's something yoou can't really get in North American Comics, either, though I'd love Batman's recipe for crumble apple pie.

Slow train blogging

I'm posting a little late today because I'm traveling from San Francisco to Boston by train this week; I'm writing this in the Denver station, aboard the California Zephyr, and I'll switch to the Lake Shore Limited tomorrow in Chicago. I'm live-Tweeting the trip, if you're interested.

If not, well, here's the latest news:

I forgot why I liked Cromartie High School so much, but Jason Thompson reminded me in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

This month's Manga Moveable Feast is a feast indeed'it celebrates Oishinbo and other food manga. Khursten Santos is hosting it at Otaku Champloo, and she kicks things off with an introduction to food manga, some interesting links, a spotlight piece on Oishinbo, and the recipe for a dish featured in Oishinbo.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

DMP has released the cover design for their new edition of Osamu Tezuka's Barbara, which was funded on Kickstarter.

Yen Press will adapt the Gaia Online game Monster Galaxy into a graphic novel.

The JManga folks announced via Twitter that they are working on an app for Android and iOS that will allow readers to download manga and read them offline. (Hat tip: ANN.)

Reviews: Johanna Draper Carlson posts some short reviews of recent shoujo manga at Comics Worth Reading. Ash Brown reflects on a week's worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. It's time for a new round of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf.

Anna on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Drops of God (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 56 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Greg McElhatton on Rohan at the Louvre (Read About Comics)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (ANN)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of X (3-in-1 edition) (I Reads You)
Dave Ferraro on Young Miss Holmes Casebook 1-2 (Comics-and-More)

Bringing the Drama: Rooftop Prince

Rooftop Prince is available for streaming on Hulu, Viki, and Dramafever.

ANNA: I just finished watching the first episode of Rooftop Prince and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. There were so many elements that were all over the place, it is difficult to summarize!

The Rooftop Prince, His Retainers, and Their Tracksuits

There are two parallel stories set hundreds of years apart, cast with the same actors. Is everybody time traveling, or are we looking at some odd cases of reincarnation?

In the present day, Se Na reacts badly when her mother remarries, providing her with a new sister, Park Ha. Se Na torments her little sister, and eventually causes her to become lost. Park Ha grows up in the United States with no memory of her previous family. She finds out that her father was looking for her and travels back to Korea in time to attend his funeral. She's reunited with her stepmother and evil older stepsister.

The two sisters also exist in the past, with the older one about to be passed over as a candidate for crown princess in favor of the younger one. A horrible accident (or was it?) results in the younger sister being scarred. The older sister becomes crown princess. The crown prince Lee Gak is extremely charming and light-hearted, but when he wakes up to find that his princess has drowned in the middle of the night, he becomes overcome with grief. Determined to find out the truth behind his wife's death, he puts together an investigative supergroup consisting of a scholar, warrior, and a fabulously fashionable eunuch.

In the present, a rich young man named Tae Yong who closely resembles the crown prince notices Park Ha, but he doesn't ask her out. He's betrayed by his cousin and drowns. Two years later, the crown prince and his retainers show up in Park Ha's apartment. I think I've covered everything! What were your thoughts on the first episode?

EVA: You guys promised me a comedy! What the heck, man. The older sister isn't funny, she's evil! Awesomely evil, true, but still. Not a comedy!

In all seriousness, though, episode one is full of all the reasons why I usually give a series three chances before committing myself. It is clunky, disjointed, and not at all funny. Because the two storylines, one taking place in the Joseon era and the other in modern day, jump back and forth with no explanation, it's hard to know if we're dealing with a case of reincarnation or of doppelgangers. All I know for sure is, if it hadn't been for the last scene where the prince and his retainers appear in the rooftop apartment after being sucked through a lunar eclipse after fleeing from Korean ninjas (that's right, Korean ninjas), I'd have thought this show was going to be a straight up mystery.

The Rooftop Prince Scooby Gang

ANNA: I agree that the first episode was a bit confusing. I had no idea what to make of the doppelgangers, and the storylines seemed to tilt towards the tragic with all the bullying and death going on. The sudden switch of tone towards the end of the first episode where the prince forms his supergroup of retainers made me hope for much better things for the second episode, and I found myself liking it much better.

EMILY: Episode 1 was a lot more serious than the plot description I'd originally read of the series, but it is obvious that the whole episode is intended as set up for the hijinks to ensue later. The episode bounces back and forth between the story of a Joseon King, his beautiful Crown Princess, her scarred sister, and the story of modern reincarnations of the same people. Or are they reincarnations? There are a lot of questions and mysteries set up in the first episode. There are also two murder mysteries being set up. One in the past and one in the present. But they both have interesting twists. In the past, we aren't entirely certain who the victim is, though it's pretty much assumed to be the Crown Princess. Also, we don't know who the killer is, though one piece of evidence points to an unlikely suspect. As for the accidental murder in the present, we know who the culprit is, but we aren't entirely sure the victim is dead and not doing some sort of time-travel thing instead. You never know.

I enjoyed the first episode, and didn't have any problems following the intertwined plots. I think Micky Yoochun is doing a great job in his role of the time-jumping King. His acting is a lot more animated than I've seen it in past dramas, and he sounds very funny with his historical accent (er, not that I'm one to judge Korean accents). I also must say, Micky looks fantastic in historical garb. He should stick to historical dramas forever and ever. Or at least, always wear that hat. I can see it now'Micky in some drama playing a lawyer, but wearing the historical hat. It would be awesome, I tell you.

Episode 1 ends right when things start to get funny, as our Joseon King and his sidekicks end up in a modern rooftop apartment. OF COURSE they land in a rooftop apartment. Given how often they appear in kdramas, the odds were fairly evenly split between them landing in a rooftop apartment, or a plush penthouse suite in a hotel. For comedic value, they obviously go for the rooftop.

Episode 2 promises to be very silly :)

Is it an elevator or a changing room? The modern world is so confusing!

ANNA: What did people think of episode 2? I liked the way it focused on the main thing I enjoyed in the first episode, the Joseon King and his merry band of sidekicks. Putting them in different colored tracksuits for modern dress was inspired, and there were so many funny moments when they were trying to learn how to survive in the modern world.

EVA: Well, I both enjoyed it and didn't enjoy it. I loved the track suits and hated the slapstick. (I have a very low tolerance for slapstick.) I loved the hate/hate relationship that forms between Lee Gak and Park Ha, but hated how long it took Lee Gak to figure out that he has traveled through time. And, man, is Park Ha's sister evil. Eeeeeeevil.

Here's the thing: I know it sounds like I'm doing nothing but whine and complain about this show, but I'm actually enjoying it. I just wish I didn't have to put my brain on hold to do so. Sure, this is a comedy and most situations are going to be played for laughs. But my ability to suspend disbelief is being sorely tested. As the series progresses through the first four episodes, Lee Gak is way too slow on the uptake. I'll grant that it takes him a while to figure out the whole time travel/doppelganger thing, but don't you think that once he understands that there is a guy in this world who looks just like him he'd be able to open his mind wide enough to embrace the possibility that there might also be a person in this world who looks just like the princess? Considering how quickly he grasped the concept of television, this shouldn't have been such a stretch.

The other thing that's bugging me are the merry henchmen. In episode one they were described to be intelligent, crafty free-thinkers. Sure, okay, they're loyal to their king, but once they realized a) there isn't a king in modern day Korea, b) their constant kowtowing draws a lot of unwanted attention, and c) that their best chance of returning to their time depends on the kindness of strangers, that they'd start trying to fit in? While I love the comedic aspects of the merry henchmen, I do wish they'd start living up to their potential.

A trunk full of adorable merry henchmen

ANNA: Overall, I'm enjoying this drama although it seems to reel me in gradually. I think that anyone considering watching it has to view at least the first two episodes because they are so different in tone. I didn't feel truly hooked on this series until the very end of episode 4, where we see the dramatic tension of the show ratcheted way up as the whole reincarnation storyline that was introduced in the first series was finally addressed.

I liked the storyline with Park Ha's business and the henchmen being willing to help out so much. I'm wondering what sort of outfits they will have to wear next, since they've already been in tracksuits and furry mascot costumes. After 4 episodes, Micky Yoochun's performance is really starting to grow on me, and I can see why Emily is such a fan. The time-traveling prince is a tough role to pull off, and it looks like there will be plenty of challenging scenes ahead after the end of episode 4. While I've enjoyed this series, I think it took 4 episodes for me to become enthusiastic about it. I watched the first 4 episodes gradually over time, but with the twist scene at the end of 4 (even though it was a bit predictable), I can definitely see myself marathoning the next few episodes as soon as I get time to watch more.

EMILY: I'm having a hard time containing my thoughts to episodes 1-4 because I have gone ahead and watched all the episodes that are out now and am current :) I'm enjoying the show very much. It seems to have several mini story arcs. It begins serious, and then shifts to ridiculous for several episodes, as our spoiled prince and his color-coded Joseon Power Rangers adjust themselves to our times. This is played up for maximum silliness, as the writers find not just the major things (cars, elevators, etc) to baffle our time-travelers with, but also a lot of small details of modern life that we take for granted. From putting out a fire by spitting toilet water, to the deliciousness of omelet rice, to the fabulous black card that will let the prince buy anything (oh, the power of chaebol credit limits) there is a lot to get used to in our time. But once the hilarity ends, things start to take a more serious turn as the murder mystery heats up, the Prince finds his Princess, the villains step up their scheming, and romance begins to bloom. Through all of it, I like the chemistry between Park Ha and the Prince, the antics of the Power Rangers are endearing (poor lovelorn blue ranger), and I don't even mind the obligatory kdrama Birth Secret that pops up. I will say that the villains in this series are in the running for worst villains ever. She, because of her skill at lying and ability to make me want to poke her eyes out, and him because of his total ineptitude. I don't think he could manage to kill anyone even if he aimed and shot a gun directly at their heart.

I really look forward to how this drama will play out.

The Rooftop Prince wears a Texas Tuxedo

ANNA: I think you're right about the series functioning in mini story arcs, as I can see a new arc developing at the end of episode 4 and start of episode 5. In some ways I like that structure because having the story presented in 3-4 episode bursts makes it easy to stop and start the series if you don't have the time to watch the whole thing at once. I think I will be watching the entire series, even though I'm not going to be able to get through it as quickly as Emily.

EVA: I am glad you two have enjoyed what you've seen of the show so far, but the more I think about it, the more sure I become that I don't need to see the rest of the episodes. Yeah, Mickey's character begins to grow and the plot begins to thicken, but all the silliness has pulled me out of the story enough times that I don't think I want to dive back in.

ANNA: So Rooftop Prince is a good show if you enjoy your kdramas with family angst mixed with slapstick, but not so great if you find yourself with a low tolerance for silly men dressed in tracksuits. Have you watched this show yet? What did you think?