I don’t care for the Ranma 1/2 series. I’m only reading it to purposefully have read every manga (or manwha) series held at my local library. Of all the previous volumes I’ve read, this is the first one that made me laugh out-loud. So, therefore, I’ve had to mark this volume as ‘worth consuming’.

I think that every manga reader should read some of Ranma 1/2 sometime in their life, after all Rumiko Takahashi is a very important and prolific manga-ka. But, I encourage you to keep working through this series (if you feel like giving up, as I have) because occasionally the story will surprise you.

The story is quite lovely, though I have not seen or read the full series yet. I was a bit disappointed with the quality of the manga or ani-manga as it is called. The screen-shots that make up the manga are quite blurred and quite low quality. As I have not yet seen the anime, I don’t know if this is reflective of it, but I suspect not. Getting used to the very clear text against very ‘smudgy’ images is hard to do—and hard on the eyes.

I also was a bit disappointed with the story pacing. I think, because this is pulled directly from the anime that it doesn’t necessarily work in this format. Frequently there is a small 2-panel scene or a short joke that isn’t set-up properly because it wasn’t intended to be viewed in this format.

The text is awkward and wordy—with frequent spelling errors and word omissions; quite disappointing.

I really look forward to watching the anime; but I regret reading this book.

I’ve really enjoyed reading this darker comedy by Koge-Donbo. Koge-Donbo is also the author of such famed manga as Di Gi Charat and Pita Ten. It’s a slightly darker work than Donbo’s previous work, but it is drawn with the usual cute characters. This really drives the comedy up with the stark contrast between cute and dark; and therefore is much more appealing for me.

It is a bit on the rediculous side, like DiGi Charat. Basically the plot is about the ‘Nekogami’ family who’s father has recently died and left the fortune to the eldest son (who is currently away at war). Assuming that the son does not return in the allotted time or that he dies, the fortune then falls to one of the remaining siblings (yoki, koto, and kiku) or his fiancee (tamayo). The triplets decide that they first need to protect their household from outside intruders and second that they need to eliminate eachother (and tamayo) in order to be given the inheritence. Yoki (who’s name means ax) throughs knives, koto (who’s name means a stringed japanese instrument) manipulates strings, and kiku (who’s name means crysanthemum) throws needles which are used for flower arranging. It’s one big happy murder attempt! It’s actually really cute!

I only have two complaints about this series. One: The story is not conclusive. I’m hoping that there is more to this series, but so far I’ve found nothing. Two: The paper and binding are such high quality that it is difficult to read without breaking the spine. Ah well… I guess that’s as much a positive as a negative. It also means the book is exceptionally pretty.

If you like Koge-Donbo’s previous work I urge you to read this one. I think it is Donbo’s best work so far!

This is a real straight-forward book about manga: featuring 135 of Japan’s best manga artists. Each manga-ka has a short bio, as well as inference of some of their most famous and sought after work; followed up by 3 or 4 pages of samples of their work (many in colour). There are a few printing errors but overall its a worthwhile reference for any hard-core manga fan.

I guess, since February is the month of love, I ended up reading a lot of steamy romantic Yaoi. I didn’t think any of them were particularly great except for Boy Princess (which is actually shonen-ai and not yaoi). It has a really captivating story; with some interesting romantic developments. I’m looking forward to the next volume.

The largest series I worked through this month is HunterxHunter. I was told adamently by my sister that I had to read this series, and rightly so. Love, love, love it! The series hasn’t progressed much tho, I don’t know how long it will take for the story to finish.

This month I began a lot of new material, so that I could work through the Publisher weekly list of best comics of 2006. There are some interesting titles this year, but also quite a few I am unable to find at the library (and unwilling to purchase); so I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to finish this list. But it’s fun to try new things…

My anime consumption has increased this month. I watched the entire Cardcaptor Sakura series + movies (in Japanese), I also finished Princess Princess, Brigadoon, and Porco Rosso; none of which I had watched before.

Never Give Up is the same style of ‘gender swapping’ manga as W Juliet where both the male and female characters pass off as their other. Kiri has promised (at the tender age of 4) that she will marry Akira when she becomes a prettier princess than him. When we come into the story both characters are already in ‘love’ with eachother, but are keeping their distance until they ‘perfect’ themselves. I would have hoped the author would have hidden his ‘feelings’ for another volume or two or would have at least shown the audience the development of their relationship. Something seems off. I think Natsu should have a little talk with Kiri and tell her what’s what, rather than just fueling the fire. But instead, they’re going to have a love triangle with all this unneccessary angst…

Now, if Kiri decides she’s not in love with Akira after all; I could understand a reason for all the angst.

The story is interesting… very Japanese. It doesn’t have that feel-good happy ending that I’m used to. It has a very lovely message about a love for one’s parents. The only thing that bothered me is that there was a pretty big spelling error on one page that really interrupted the flow of the story. When there are only 100 or so words in a story, one error makes a huge difference. The art in this book is absolutely beautiful. If I could find some reproductions of it somewhere I would definately hang it in my house.

I was blown-away by the bizarreness and simplicity of the story. I’m dumb-founded by Millionaire’s imagination—attacking broken planets, the animated arc, the meat-grinder madness. The Art is amazing, and the old quality is used to its full-effect. But may I ask… Why does Becky have to look like an old man with pig-tails?

The most unique approach I have seen to teaching ‘how to draw manga’. It’s not exactly simple; but it really is insightful into drawing the desired effects. I also appreciate that the art represented in this book is well crafted; and representative of several different styles in the japanese-comic style. Far superior to anything I have read on this subject to date!

With the surge in popularity of manga, everyone seems to want to get their pencils out to write something. This is one of the few that’s worth reading. It has some of the best manga-ka giving some fabulous interviews about how they got into the industry; as well as beautiful reprints of some of their work. So, worthwhile!