What I read in February: Digest Version, part 1 of 5

The trouble with not having sufficient self-control to keep you from reading your favorite manga when they arrive is that then you have to wait FOREVER for the next volume. Until then, there are other books to read.

b Bamboo Blade 1: "What a terrible man.  What a horrible, worthless adult.  He's like the model for everything wrong with adulthood.. . . What a scumbag."  Really, he is.  Every time you think maybe the author will reveal something admirable, it hilariously turns out to just be another nail in the coffin.  But this story is actually about girls and kendo and being a hero of justice.  It's a bit reminiscent of Yawara if the grandpa wasn't so awful and the arena was the high school club instead of national competitions and the main character was more like the one from Nabari no Ou.  Hmmm.

b Black Butler VI: The tale of a boy bent on revenge and his dog, er, butler.  More smirking, more needling on both sides.  More morally dubious actions (and beyond dubious).  There is a plot forming slowly into larger story arcs, but this could go on a long time because the flashbacks indicate there were probably a lot of people there that he has to kill before his contract is up.

b Black Jack 1-5:  Oh, I'm sorry I didn't start reading this sooner.  It's a lot of fun, and the romance stories are so sweet (and more than a little creepy and dated, but anyone who doesn't expect that of a work written decades ago is a bit silly.

b Book Girl and the Captured Angel: This time the plot tangles with The Phantom of the Opera and introduces a highly intriguing character it then throws away at the end, which is irksome because I could see him being useful.  Small advances are made on the overall plot, and a certain mysterious girl working evil in the background is likely going to be in the foreground next time.  I hope the book deals with her well because the set-up has been excruciating.  I do love that the main character is slowly developing and growing.  Maybe by the next volume, he'll be strong enough to handle his nemesis.

b Border 3: I will admit that I really didn't want a whole volume about the young, innocent genius kid in the group.  There are so many characters I wanted to know more about more.  And I still Want books about them, which is why I hope this series continues and gives me what I want.  The problem with the series overall is I'm not sure how everything will come together since there's not exactly an overarching plot or even strong hints of one.  Not that I care, of course.  This is a character-centric series that has lots of characters with pasts and presents that are interesting, and they interact with each other well.  This might just be a journey manga more than a destination manga, and it's okay if there's no solid happy ending as long as there's more good stuff about these characters.

b Bride's Story 1-2:  This is gorgeous, richly illustrated, breathtakingly overwhelmingly lovely stuff.  It's very slice of life, so if you don't really like observing other cultures or appreciating minute details and nuance, you might actually lose consciousness in the first chapter.  Please don't drool on the book.  Wow.  Just great stuff.  I'm glad I waited to read it until I had two, so I could immerse myself in a silk road mini-marathon.

b The Cage of Zeus: Kind of talky, kind of clunky sci-fi novel that is Trying to Make a Statement About Gender and does so with kind of ham-handed prose.  Interesting when you know it's coming from Japan and what kinds of cultural mindsets they deal with there.  The pronouns were super awkward, but that's mostly English's fault.  The Amazon review is actually really thorough, if you're interested.