What I Read Recently -- Manga Reviews

Title: Insufficient Direction
Artist: Moyocco Anno
Publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 978-1-939130-11-2
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Synopsis --

Moyocco Anno's biographical manga about her married life with Hideaki Anno

Artwork -- A: The manga is drawn in a fun style that reminds me of newpaper comic strips. It's different from Moyocco Anno's usual style, which was cool. It shows artistic range.

Presentation -- A: Of course I love the bigger book size because it's easier to read. There's a generous appendix that explains the references in the manga. The translation reads very smoothly.

Story -- B: This is a tough manga fairly rate story-wise. There are many references to anime and manga and some inside marriage speak that only married people would truly understand. This means that the manga has limited accessibility. Honestly speaking, 90% of the references blew right past me, but I understand geek marriages perfectly well because I am a geek married to another geek. Anyhow, the compilation is broken into very short episodes that last a handful of pages. This makes for quick reads and small contained gag-based storytelling. I laughed a lot, mostly because the manga hit closer to home than I wanted.

Overall -- A-: I liked this manga. Rompers and Director-kun are presented as an adorable and real geek couple. I also appreciated the quick-hit gag-style storytelling. This is a must for Moyocco Anno's adult fans who have read more of her works than "Sugar Sugar Rune." Younger people and non-geeks will probably find this manga to be inaccessible.
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Title: Library Wars Volume 11
Artist: Kiiro Yumi
Publisher: Viz (Shoujo Beat)
ISBN: 978-1421564319
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Short Review: Iku faces the reality of war and her participation in it. The standard crying and questioning values comes forth as Iku deals with the possibility that she may have shot somebody. There's also an examination of violent vs. non-violent approaches to protest and how both can be highly politicized. The pacing of the chapter was nice. I read through it quickly in one sitting. This chapter also prompted me to reflect on what freedoms are worth dying for. There is a fun and funny short story at the end of the volume. I was grateful for this respite after such an emotional and weighty read up to it.

I am kinda getting tired of the slow pace of Iku's and Dojo's romance. I want to see what they are like together as a romantic couple in these dangerous situations. The "almosts" and "holding back" are getting on my nerves. I feel like it's inhibiting character growth at this point.

Overall B+:  It's a thoughtful volume, but on the whole I was left unsatisfied with the lack of romantic progress between Iku and Dojo.
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Title: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy Volume 4
Artist: Maki Minami
Publisher: Viz (Shoujo Beat)
ISBN: 978-1421559735
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Short Review: Hime is cast in a role and must overcome the misgivings of the sound director. As per every talent or fighting shoujo or shounen manga, Hime has a shortcoming that she must overcome. I loved every moment spent in the chapter showing Hime in her male disguise interacting with Kudo. The rest was standard idol-manga schlock that was handled in standard fashion. There were no surprises good or bad.

At this point I'm only into this series for the relationships between characters. I couldn't care less about the idol storyline.

Overall B-: It's still a fun read and the moments between Hime and Kudo are precious. The idol crap doesn't appeal to me at all.

What I Recently Read -- Mini Manga Reviews

Title: Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Clockmaker's Story
ISBN: 9781937867645
Purchase: Amazon US / Barnes and Noble

Review -- B-: For an Alice in the Country of XYZ follow on story, this is pretty good, but compared to other shoujo in general it's quite middle of road.  This story supposes that Alice falls in love with the Clockmaker Julius.  I've always like Julius, so I thought this was really cute.  Where it fell apart for me was when Julius acted aggressively. It seem very out of character. As with all the Alice in the Country of XYZ books, there is some implied sex, but nothing is shown explicitly. The narration during the scene in this book is pretty bad.  The writing is quite ham-fisted. But... I have to remember that this was written for tweens and teens. If you like the Alice in the County of XYZ books, then this is a must buy.  It could also be a good buy for a teen who wants a little bit of eroticism without explicit scenes. Otherwise, this book can be skipped without missing much.

Title: No. 6 Volume 5
ISBN: 9781612623597
Purchase: Amazon US / Barnes and Noble

Review -- A: Shion confronts his humanity as he and Rat carry out their plan to infiltrate the No. 6 Correctional Facility to rescue Safu. This is a grim volume filled with death and suffering. It made me feel very emotional.  There is a lot to mentally chew on in this chapter, and it is a page turner. Overall, it's another great volume in this wonderful shoujo sci-fi series.

Title: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy Volume 3
ISBN: 9781421559728
Purchase: Amazon US / Barnes and Noble

Review -- B: This series continues to grow on me. I'm not really into Hime.  I think she's quite bland,  but I do like her manager, Yamada P, and Mizuki. This volume focuses on Mizuki's past. I'd say the moral of Mizuki's story maybe be a little weird to American readers. We are used to people overcoming and winning, rather than understanding their own limitations and settling for what they can do. And then there's the blame shifting and the idea of how futile it is to encourage a seemingly talentless person. American optimism dictates that hardwork and determination always pay off and can override innate ability. Anyhow... I found myself knitting my eyebrows at times during the volume (My expectation was, of course, that the talentless character would work hard, become a success, and then kick Mizuki to the curb -- but nope.). At the same time, I understand this way of thinking, because sometimes it's better to redirect a person, rather than watch them keep hitting a wall. Anyhow, this continues to be pleasant cotton candy series. It's nice to read when I need mental vacation.

Manga Review: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy

Title: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy
Artist/Author: Maki Minami
Publisher: Viz (Shoujo Beat)
ISBN:  9781421559704

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble (Also Available Digitally)

Initial Impressions:
I approached this skeptically because I'm tired of reading "I wanna become an idol" manga. I only picked it up because Holanio and Sora from Tumblr seemed to be really excited about it.  The first chapter was lackluster, but I kept reading. The second chapter -- yeah, yeah, senpai notice me... But by the 4 chapter I was hooked once the manager character showed, and I became curious about what his plans for Hime are.  So... I guess I'll get the second volume, but only if it's on sale.

Artwork -- B: It's typical Maki Minami.  Lots of screentones and all the females look like 5-year olds. I don't particularly like the female character designs because they look like elementary school kids, but I can read the expressions and distinguish the characters from one another.

Presentation -- A: The redrawing and typesetting are superb. Also the translation reads easily and they dropped the honorifics (san, chan, kun, sensei, sama, etc...) I wish there were color pages, but that's a nitpick.

Story -- B-: It took 3 chapters for me to get into the story. It starts as a typical "I wanna become an idol" story (she's not a good voice actress in the roles she wants, senpai doesn't notice her, she's grouped together with handful of eccentric losers,... etc.) The end game is obvious, and I kinda wish she'd say "screw it" and embrace her natural talent rather than chasing after something she isn't. In this respect, the story is tedious. The characters are forgettable. I had to look up Hime and I can't tell you any other characters' name.  That's just how generic this is. What's got me interested in this series is how the industry rep plans to use Hime.  Will the story get creative in this respect?

Overall -- B: This is a generic idol shoujo cotton candy. If you like idol-shoujo, go for it.  If you like Maki Minami, go for it. If you're new to shoujo and like the little you've read so far, this is a must read.  If you've read a ton of shoujo and have grown tire of idol-shoujo, you can skip this title and miss nothing. I'm gonna get the second volume to see if the story detours from the generic idol story, though.