Tag Archives: Viz Media

Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 15 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Leave a reply

Skip Beat! Vol 15      

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date:  November 4, 2008

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Action Adventure Manga/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Things are heating up for Kyoko on location! Bad enough Sho is there but Vie Ghoul too? What terrible Fate is this? Kyoko runs into Sho’s manager, Ms Momose, in the bath, and they talk. Afterward, coming from the bath, she encounters the lead singer of Vie Ghoul. Is Reino putting the moves on her or what? And then Sho unexpectedly turns up and he intervenes in what is going on and Kyoko is able to escape. But not until after she makes it clear that she and Sho are not in a relationship!

Feeling frightened of the potential for all manner of bad things to happen to her, Kyoko reaches out to Ren. But she finds that she can’t tell him what is worrying her for fear of worrying him, so makes light of her call.  Meanwhile, Sho is upset over his perception that Reino intends to make Kyoko his. Bad enough the group stole his brand new song, but now Kyoko? He intends to write a replacement song and let them have the one they stole. His manager is concerned whether he can do that or not, in his current state of mind.

Ren is sure something is wrong, despite Kyoko’s words, and asks his schedule be rearranged so he can join them at the shoot the next day. Sho sees Kyoko on the set and warns her not to go wandering off alone. When Reino comes to see her also, she hides from him and flees into the woods. But he finds her anyway, and things get… creepy. Especially when Reino announces his plans to crush Kyoko!

It’s so funny to see Kyoko as the object of interest for both Sho and Reino! How alike they are. Both of them sleazy lol I love how Ren knows when Kyoko isn’t being truthful (and isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black considering what he hasn’t told her…yet. Waiting to see the fall-out when that day arrives!)

I loved the ending and can’t wait to read the reaction to that! Great volume, looking forward to more!

Book Review: Assassination Classroom, Vol 2

Leave a reply

Assassination Classroom, Vol 2   

Author: Yusei Matsui

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date:  February 3, 2015

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Action Adventure Manga/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

A new teacher arrives at Kunugigaoka Junior High, a rather buxom young woman named Irina Jelevich. For some reason, she is hanging all over Koro Sensei, to the confusion of his students. Nagisa continues to document the teacher’s weaknesses so that they can use them against him and assassinate him, which will prevent him from blowing up the earth. But Irina is not really a teacher. She’s been brought in as a professional assassin! Karasuma insists she maintain her cover and teach the students, but Irina is sure she’ll be able to achieve her goal of assassination on her first day with the class.

The students dislike her from the get-go and deliberately mispronounce her last name as Hellabitch. When her teaching skills are found to be lacking, they yell at her to get out, they need to study for their college entrance exams.

All the students, including Class 3E, must attend student assembly. Koro Sensei even attends, in “disguise”. But the rest of the school is determined to humiliate Class 3E, even to the point of withholding vital information. But they haven’t counted on the ingenuity and speed of Koro Sensei, who saves the day! The treatment of Class 3E is all due to the machinations of the school’s principal, Asano. He believes that by holding the class up as examples of what not to be, and treating them badly, he will scare the other students into doing well for fear of ending up like them. He is one of the few who know the truth about Koro Sensei, and refuses to listen to arguments that he should treat Class 3E better, claiming that if the world isn’t going to be destroyed, he has the future to consider.

Exam time arrives, and Koro Sensei announces he wants his entire class to score in the top 50! Even if the principal is giving the other students unfair advantages. Can they do it, even with his accelerated teaching techniques?

It’s time for a school trip – three days and two nights in Kyoto! Koro Sensei makes an enormous travel guide for his students that should cover anything that comes up during their trip! However, some of the girls in his class have been targeted by some unsavory characters and find themselves in a peck of trouble!

In this volume, we are introduced to the charming yet obnoxious principal of the Junior High. His disdain for Class 3E is incredible and his treatment of them is beyond abhorrent! Also, we meet Irina Jelevich, who doesn’t exactly endear herself to the students, and who uses her two biggest assets to lure her targets to their doom. There’s also a bonus story about Koro Sensei and a particular bun!

Great volume, look forward to the next one!

Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 14 by Yoshiki Nakamura

2 Replies

Skip Beat! Vol 14 

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: September 2, 2008

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Shojo Manga/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Kyoko joins Director Ogata for lunch. He seems happy to see her, which is more than can be said for her co-stars. Naturally, the conversation turns to Ren and how he’s doing. The director is doing better as well, and has a new-found confidence he was lacking before. That is largely due to something Ren said to him. Meanwhile, Ren and Mr. Yashiro are headed to his next job. The agent is working on Ren to talk to Kyoko about how he feels, and Ren doesn’t even bother to deny his feelings anymore. Not to him, anyway. What Mr. Yashiro doesn’t know, though, is Ren’s past with Kyoko. Perhaps if he knew that, he’d drop hints to Kyoko in order to get these two lovebirds together! Ren believes that there is someone who could possibly sway Kyoko’s heart by the mere mention of his name, and that disturbs him.

Kyoko is scheduled for an interview on Japonet Scope, thanks to her rising star. But on her arrival, she notices a door marked with Sho Fuwa’s name! What, can he really be here also? But the guy she runs into is not Sho, and yet he knows who she is… and seems to look down on her? Kyoko is surprised to learn that a new group named Vie Ghoul has not only climbed the charts but they have a song that has surpassed Sho’s! But she is indignant to discover that they are imitators of Sho! An angry Kyoko marches to Sho’s dressing room and tells him she needs to talk to him!

Mr. Yashiro tries to get Ren to watch the music video clip that Kyoko is in, but because it’s Sho’s clip, Ren is less than inclined to do so. His agent is trying to make him jealous so he’ll do something about his feelings, but Ren is resisting.  Kyoko is being sent on location for a few days for the film. She doesn’t realize until she’s there that a well-known music studio is nearby. And oh dear, it looks as though both Sho and Vie Ghoul are going to be there! What else could happen? Maybe Ren could show up too?

Kyoko has definitely grown and matured since we first met her. And while she still plans to get her revenge on Sho, she is not afraid to tell him about his shortcomings. The rose-colored glasses she once wore are gone… even if she can’t see how much she likes Ren. Still, it’s a start. But what’s going on with these Vie Ghoul guys? Are they going to throw some oil on this fire or start a conflagration of their own?

Great volume, look forward to more!

Book Review: Assassination Classroom, Vol 1: Time for Assassination

Leave a reply

Assassination Classroom, Vol 1: Time for Assassination

Author: Yusei Matsui

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: December 2, 2014

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Shonen Manga/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Class 3E at Kunugigaoka Junior High find themselves in a rather unique situation. Besides being considered to be the dregs of the entire school, looked down upon, belittled, used as warnings to other students to do well or end up like them, forced to attend class in a rundown classroom on top of a mountain…they have also been assigned the task of assassinating their teacher!

Their teacher is like no other in that he resembles a tentacle monster, can move at Mach 20 speed, and is impervious to most everything. Oh, and he is responsible for the destruction of two-thirds of the moon, which hangs in the sky as a silent reminder of what has occurred. He has threatened to destroy the entire earth in one year unless his demands are met. And what he demands… is to teach Class 3E at Kunugigaoka Junior High.

Why does he want to do this? No one knows, but they are in no position to resist, so he is given the assignment. The government tells the students of his class that they are to kill him, but also no one else is to know about what is going on outside of their class. Well, it’s not like they are even allowed to enter the other part of the school. But the real incentive is the reward of 10 billion that is being offered for the teacher’s death! So, game on… time to kill teacher!

This first volume is a perfect introduction to this unusual manga. The students of class 3E have a hard time, used by the principal as examples of what not to be. But this teacher, whom they have named Koro Sensei as a play on can’t be killed, sees them for who they are. While encouraging them in their assassination attempts, he also teaches them and raises their self-esteem. This book is both humorous and touching. I love the artwork. Koro Sensei is awesome! There is also a fantastic anime of this series which I highly recommend.

Book Review: Pluto, Vol 8 by Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka

Leave a reply

Pluto, Vol 8     

Author: Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: January 19, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Sci-Fi Manga//200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Atom has awakened, but everyone wonders what will he do now? Meanwhile, those behind the dastardly plot are rejoicing that their work is almost done. However, one witness remains. Within the United States of Thracia, Eden National Park opens, hailed as the greatest healing zone in the world. Uran is worried about her brother. His behavior since awakening is odd. He’s writing lengthy equations on the walls. When Professor Tenma visits Brau 1589 in prison, the robot asks Tenma what he did to Atom. Brau already knows what formula Atom is writing – the formula for an antiproton bomb.

Atom meets with Gesicht’s widow and lets her know that her husband was always thinking of her and that he loved her very much. Atom has a piece of Gesicht inside him now, including his hatred. That could be dangerous. Also, it’s becoming evident that the world is in danger from something below the surface of Eden Park, something that concerns both Pluto and Bora.

As the trial of Darius XIV begins, an earthquake can be felt. He tells them not to worry, it’s the beginning of the end, although having nothing to do with him.  He tells them it was all Abullah’s doing. At long last, the truth is coming out. About Pluto and Bora, about Abullah and Sahad. Why so many good robots had to die. But will Atom be able to reverse what has been set into motion, or is the entire planet doomed?

This is it. The last volume. I didn’t expect to cry over it, but I did. As I read the seven volumes that came before, I mourned the death of each and every robot, especially Gesicht. I was so sure he’d survive. I worried about how everything would end. Urasawa is amazing, and he’s told a very amazing story. The ending is all you could ask for and then some. Masterpiece all the way around. Glad I was able to take this journey with such remarkable characters.

Book Review: Pluto, Vol 7 by Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka

Leave a reply

Pluto, Vol 7     

Author: Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: January 19, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Sci-Fi Manga//200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Professors Tenma and Abdullah keep watch over the sleeping robot as it tries to assimilate the billions of personalities that have been programmed into it, unsure if it will ever awaken. Professor Tenma receives a request to meet with Gesicht’s widow before she returns home. She gives him something of her late husband and asks Tenma to ensure Gesicht did not die in vain. Tenma still hopes he can bring Atom back to life.

Epsilon, disturbed by Gesicht’s death, receives a surprise visit from Hogan, who has been assigned to protect him, under the assumption that he will be the next target. He wants to take Epsilon to a safe house, but Epsilon says he can’t go. It’s his birthday and the children have organized a party, complete with gifts. Hogan tells him to make it short then. Epsilon learns that the non-verbal Wassily has drawn something for him. The child shows him the drawing, saying “Bora” and then he begins to speak. And then something sinister unexpectedly appears…

Uran is discovered by her principal in the library after hours. She tells him she has felt two enormous sources of grief, but isn’t sure where they come from. She is reading Pinocchio, and has her theories about both Pinocchio and Geppetto and about being manipulated, like a puppet. While Epsilon is away on business, authorities come to the orphanage in order to take Wassily and have him adopted by humans in Norway. By the time Epsilon returns, the child is gone and the robot is upset. Wassily is turned over to none other than Professor Abdullah. When he sees him, Wassily screams out “Bora!”And not only that, but Pluto is there, and Abdullah refers to himself as Pluto’s father! Epsilon goes to rescue Wassily and finds himself in combat with Pluto. “Who is inside you?” Epsilon asks.

Professor Tenma encounters Uran at Atom’s grave and takes her to where Atom is. Epsilon is able to get through to Pluto, but the other robot warns him that something bigger is coming… Bora…And just then Atom awakens!

So much grief and sorrow, how much more can we take? I can’t believe Gesicht is gone. Seriously? And now another robot? When will the madness end? Only two volumes left. Dreading what might come in the next one. Fantastic series, sheer genius.

Book Review: Demon Slayer, Vol 19 by Koyoharu Gotouge

Leave a reply

Demon Slayer, Vol 19     

Author: Koyoharu Gotouge

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: December 1, 2020

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Fantasy Manga/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Inosuke and Kanao are facing the number 2 rank demon, Domo, who tries to confuse Inosuke with his rhetoric. But Inosuke refuses to listen. Just when things seem bleakest, assistance comes from beyond the grave, and a plan that was deliberately hatched some time ago. The question is, will it actually succeed? Or will Shinobu’s sacrifice have been in vain ?

Tanjiro and Tomioka have defeated Azaka and are recuperating when they learn of the battle Inosuke and Kanao are waging. Each battle is bringing them closer to facing Muzan! Meanwhile Tokito encounters an upper class Demon #1 who recognized something familiar in Tokito. Turns out he is a descendant of the demon! The demon is impressed with the skill displayed by the Demon Slayer. If these two are related, how will their skills compare? Genya joins the fight, but things aren’t looking well for him when he receives help from an unexpected quarter…his estranged brother Sanemi.

The major storyline in this volume concerns the two battles being waged, Inosuke and Kanao vs Domo, and Tokito and Genya against the #1. The battles are very interesting, and so is the back stories we get to learn about. I am glad to be finding out more about Inosuke, although I’m still not sure why he feels the need to wear the boar’s head. Maybe because his face is very feminine and he’s afraid he won’t be taken seriously with a girly face and a manly body.

They’re getting closer and closer to destroying Muzan. I have to believe that the final battle will include Tanjiro and Nezuko. Will the story continue once they defeat him? I hope so. This is a great world the author has built, and I’d love to see it continue. Great volume, looking forward to the next.

Book Review: Bleach, Vol 74 by Tite Kubo

Leave a reply

Bleach, Vol 74     

Author: Tite Kubo

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: October 2, 2018

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Supernatural/232 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

This is it. The last volume. The big battle. And so it begins…

Hard to believe the journey is over. Ichigo vs Yhwach. I don’t believe there was ever any doubt as to the outcome. Even so, there are obstacles to be overcome. Like Yhwach knowing the future, and planning for it. Such as the way he breaks Ichigo’s sword. That’s a hard one to overcome. But now the ghosts of the past rematerialize and all things are possible.

This last volume is filled with a lot. Old faces, new losses… and happy endings. We learn the truth about Uryu (which I said was coming), as well as the shocking truth about Yachiru. Will we ever see her again? We have lost close friends, such as Ukitake, while others have changed who they are.

I do have one question, though, if anyone can answer that. What happened to Aizen, after the battle? Where did he go? Is there room for another round of Bleach? Or will it become one of Bleach’s little mysteries?  I don’t know about that, but I do know the ending is very cute and heartwarming, and I am so glad I took this journey, even if I will miss all my companions on this wonderful voyage. Looking forward to seeing the new anime that is coming next month.

Bleach is awesome! Gotta read it all!

Book Review: Alice in Borderland, Vol 2 by Haro Aso

Leave a reply

Alice in Borderland, Vol 2   

Author: Haro Aso

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: March 15, 2022

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Dystopian/344 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Ryo, Karube, and Chota have teamed with Saori to defeat the land of Borderland and make their escape by playing their stupid games. It’s Karube who figures out they needed to head to the Beach, wherever that is. But then they find themselves playing a game from which only one operson will emerge alive and everything changes.

Afterward, Ryo stops caring about what will happen, unable to stop thinking about his friends and what has happened to them. He is found by a girl named Usagi, who brings him back to a semblance of himself after telling him her story. He decides that they need to fight on together. They decide to carry on the search for the Beach, asking players they run across. But eventually they realize they are talking to the wrong crowd so they decide on a strategy, waiting for the games to be over and talking to the survivors. Through trial and error, and clever deductions, they eventually reach their goal, although it isn’t quite what they expected.

The Beach isn’t an actual beach, it’s a hotel where a number of the players have gathered. On arrival, they are each ranked according to the cards they possess. The goal is to collectively gather all the cards necessary to leave the island, which appears to be the entire deck. But no one knows if more than one person will be able to escape. And some cards are more difficult to acquire than others, while no one has even seen the face cards yet.

But are the players at the top manipulating the others for their own agenda? Can Ryo and Usagi survive this place, and is there any actual chance of escape?

This is certainly a dangerous place to be for all involved, but somehow there is a question that really hasn’t been addressed. Probably because they’re all too busy trying to survive. But I have to wonder who is behind this, and what purpose does this serve? This manga is certainly a dark version of Alice in Wonderland, full of twists and turns. I will have to wait for the next volume because it is just now coming out, so the library won’t have it right away. Looking forward to it.

Book Review: Demon Slayer, Vol 18 by Koyoharu Gotouge

Leave a reply

Demon Slayer, Vol 18   

Author: Koyoharu Gotouge

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: November 3, 2020

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Fantasy Manga/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

 

Tanjiro and Tomioka face Akaza, Number 3 Upper Level Demon. He sneers at Tanjiro, certain that the demon slayer has used all of his water moves. But does Tanjiro have something else up his sleeve? Tanjiro has finally come to understand what his father meant by the Transparent World.  Having killed Rengoku, and believing he has killed Tanjiro, Akaza taunts Tomioka, unaware that his fate is right behind him. But when Tanjiro slices off the demon’s head, he doesn’t die! What’s up with that?

Kanao is in a struggle with the demon who killed her sister, Doma. When Inosuke comes to Kanao’s rescue, Doma is mildly amused, but certainly not threatened. In fact, Doma thinks they have met before… a long long time ago. When Inosuke was just a baby in the arms of his mother. Can what he says be true?

Much of this volume is taken up with Akaza’s backstory, which is interesting. It’s nice to get to know the characters, even the so-called bad ones. Everybody has a story to tell. Plus we finally meet Inosuke’s mother and learn more of the circumstances of what made him what he is now. Also, Tanjiro is growing exponentially. He’ll be a Hashira in no time, if not more.

Great volume, looking forward to the next one.