What I read in January 2013: Digest Version, part 1 of 2

b Bokurano Ours 6: You will be shocked to know that this volume is still dreadfully depressing.  In a series where the end will come when all the main characters die, it is unlikely that there will be a single volume that is NOT depressing.  But there are these little personal victories along the way that keep me reading.  And the dark, moral territory, of course.  Holy cow.

"I never was really wild about action movies.  It's not that the fighting and violence bother me, but generally a lot of innocent bystanders get killed in those stories, right?  That doesn't bother me either.  That's what actually happens in those situations, right?  So it wouldn't make any sense to try to pretend otherwise.  (47)  But the audience never cares about the innocents who get killed even though it's a huge deal if any of the main characters die. As far as I'm concerned, the  death of the heroes isn't any more tragic than the death of a bunch of nobodies.  Sure, it's a fictional world.  But they're living people, too.  Why should their lives matter less?  If the hero makes it to the end with the girl he met along the way, it's considered a happy ending.  If the hero dies, it's a tragedy.  I don't get it.  To me, if even one bystander dies, it's a sad movie.  The only difference between all those sad movie is whether the fictional hero is sad about the bystanders' deaths.  Most of the time, he isn't.  How can the heroes in the movies be so cheerful at the end?  How can the audience call that a happy ending?" 49

I cry so many tears reading this series . . .

b The Clockwork Sky 1: Too small!  Wanted more than this tiny introductory chunk.  Fun art because it's Madeleine Rosca, messy and rushed setup because of the small page count, generally interesting setting in a sociopolitically restless steampunk world.  Good times.

b Loveless 10: Kio is rescued.  And he's also suddenly a real player instead of a spectator, which is a surprising and promising development. Ritsuka has some transfer students in his class (the Zeroes), causing no small amount of trouble for his poor, innocent teacher.  Another pair approaches Ritsuka to propose an alliance against Seimei.  There's also a totally random Gundam 00 crossover, which made me laugh.

b Nabari No Ou 7: This arc wraps up with a death and some secrets being revealed.  Plots are continued and foiled, alliances are made and broken, tough moral questions are bludgeoned, and there is a lot of passion and conviction behind even the most questionable of actions.  Miharu now very firmly cares, and that only makes things harder. Oh, and they also get another scroll.  Good stuff.

b Othello 5: I still really wish this series had been allowed to be longer and do all the things it promised to do early on.  This volume is past the halfway point, and Nana is starting to get an idea that Yaya exists, partly because of Yaya's continuing rivalry with the evil and obnoxious Hano-chan.