The action and weapons are still awkwardly and stiffly drawn, which makes the intense battle scenes lead to more snickering than anything else. Kudos for the ending of this bit with the older brother. It was unexpected and seems like it could really cause some issues with the plot later. We'll see if the author manages to make those issues work for her.b A Devil and Her Love Song 4-5: Maria continues to wrestle with herself, her friends, her classmates, and her evil demon of a teacher who needs to be taken out by a team of ninjas soon. (That will never happen because this is not a fantasy shojo. More's the pity.) I still really like all the screwed up dynamics because the confusion and internal lying and external fakery and everything feels very real even if its execution feels more outrageous than reality.
"Every once in a while you should cry until you're a mess. Sure, it might startle me, but I won't think you're a pain."
---b Missions of Love 1:
'"She's got dignity." That's what he said about me. I want to live up to his expectations of me. So I can't lean on him that way anymore. I've got to get it together." (That's a common trap, well explained.)
She writes cell phone novels, and she hears some people saying they wish her work had more romance. She doesn't really get romantic love, so she decides to do research that ends up involving her powers of observation and some blackmail of a rather unsympathetic character. Interesting set up here because I'm pretty sure I don't want them to get together, but this is shojo, so that's likely to be the end result. How will they get from here to there? Stay tuned.b YuYu Hakusho 16-17: The end of Sensui and a new beginning for Yusuke involve a lot of fights. (Shock!) Then, Yusuke tries to adjust to "normal life," fails, and gets an opportunity to go back to his roots. Kuwabara tries to get serious about school, and Hiei and Kurama also get some interesting offers. Yusuke makes a choice and tries to make a deal with Keiko. (Pretty funny editing out of a cigarette and replacing it with pocky.) Two more volumes to go!
It was the right decision for all concerned. But if it had just been me . . . ?
Oh, our crazy anthropomorphic, fried-chicken loving cactus may have made the ultimate sacrifice, but that doesn't guarantee a happy ever after for the characters who remain. The characters stayed true to themselves, so I was pleased even as I wanted to kick some of them in the head. The happy ending was earned, and a bonus story shows that some of the other characters may be in for happy endings of their own. Except for the cactus. I cried about the cactus.
Dark Horse, sometimes you really baffle me with the things that you publish. I mean, I'm a big fan of Hagi, and I was pretty curious about what he was doing when Saya slept, but this book didn't really add anything new to his character. Good thing he's a pretty good character anyway. 
This was really a lot of fun for the part of me that likes Sherlock Holmes mysteries and people bucking the class system. He was a street urchin who rose through the ranks to become a famous lawyer and then gave it up to become her butler. She's a woman of noble-birth with a penchant for writing mystery stories and solving real-life mysteries when she can get the chance. They both have ways of obtaining information to help solve cases that the other lacks. He loves her; she still sees him as an annoying childhood friend. It's all rather gruesome (the murder mystery) and delightful (the character interactions).
3-4: More bad things happen; some things are made clearer; other things are obscured. Character revelations are made, and they are more than a little horrifying. It reminds me a bit of the anime Strain where by the end I was pretty sure I sided with the folks who just wanted to blow all of humanity away. I am not totally on the side of the poor, beleaguered, butt-kicking non-humans, but I completely understand where their boss is coming from. Good thing Sakura is made of stern shojo stuff.
Cute little vignettes and illustrations and ideas. It's kind of hard to believe that this is the same author who wrote not simple. Really hard. But there is that same sense of realism in these works, I guess, just in smaller doses.
of 12: I learned a valuable lesson while reading this book: don't read sad things in front of your friends, even if you've already warned them it's sad because they freak out when they see you crying. This one ended brilliantly and strongly, and I really loved the whole series. How can something so heart-breakingly sad and nostalgic and melancholy also be so darn uplifting? It's the power of dreams, I guess. This series is already out of print, so if you are interested in it, buy it before the priced get crazy.
Sometimes you just want to read some bitter outsider reverse-harem ridiculous comedy full of character designs you consider ugly. Because, you know, it's funny, and it was only a dollar.
As many others have said, I should not enjoy this as much as I do. I mean, the protagonist is kind of a horrible person, and I don't really like her and am not really rooting for her, but that doesn't necessarily matter because this is fiction. And, c'mon, sentient cactus that transforms into pretty boy? And what's this, a couple sides of the love pentagon might be leaving?! Well, anyway, I'm in it for the long haul.
Just as bloody and action-packed as volume 1. Dark and weird, yet somehow lighthearted, full of mystery and mayhem and weird demonic powers. The character designs are distinctive, and it is nothing like Trigun. It's a wild, fun, scary ride.
The cast expands a bit here, and the heroine really starts developing a spine, as does her husband. Danger swirls; secrets are revealed. I hope this gets better and better because it seems to have worked out a lot of its early jitters.
Oh, this is the one with the super creepy doll!! It is super creepy in a way that a static medium should not be able to be creepy.
1: Well, I can certainly see why this series gets some folks' panties in a bunch! Even if I could find the second volume in stores, I'm not actually sure I'd read it, but I was told it gets better after the third volume.
Once again, Yu Kanda, I grant you permission to be as antisocial and curmudgeonly as you wish. Sometimes people suck. Though this series is horror-related and thus dwells on the horror and doesn't necessarily delve deep into the ethics, I find myself doing so as a reader. Where are the lines? Is lying to the NAZIs about the Jews hiding in your attic wrong? No. In that case, lying saves lives, and so it's the right thing to do. (Oversimplification, but still.) When one is fighting evil, how far is too far? How low is too low?
Apparently the last volume? For now . . .
2-3: More weird, gothy, Kaori Yuki craziness, this time involving the usual dark revelations and zombies plus convents and crazy and depraved nobles.
Why?! Why, oh American comics, do you lie to me with your beautiful covers and interior art that is completely unrelated?!!?
Wow! This adaptation is so good, I don't actually feel like I need the light novels, but once the manga ends, I'm going to want them badly. I really love how romance is part of the plot but is not the guiding principle. I mean, I can really get behind a manga that preaches the idea that true love is wanting what is best for the one you love even if that might make you miserable.
and @Full Moon 1: I was kind of surprised when this got license rescued from obscurity along with the sequel series. It's kind of fun still.
I guess I'll read more if the library has it. If I finish everything else I like. It was a bit obnoxious and cliched, but not terrible.
More ridiculous antics of the field hockey club that never plays a real game of field hockey. There's travel and hijinks and interruption to people's sleep schedules and probably something you can't unsee because Ai Morinaga is very, very good at that.
2, 7: Oh, Keidai. I like how this series holds up for repeated readings. Still funny, still dramatic, full of characters who are a hoot in both time periods. So nice.
When is volume 2 coming out? I don't know that I've ever come across a series that moves so slowly and deliberately and with such tenderness, affection, and lack of sentimentality. There's a relationship here, and I'm really looking forward to finding out how things work themselves out in the last volume.
More snark and social commentary, brought to you by sensei and his students.
9-11, 21-26: When you get a new volume, you just want to go back and read the rest . . .
-2: Oh, another weird one from the creepy-hilarious mind that brought you Chibi Vampire. Too bad I will never know how it ends since this was one of the fun ones Tokyopop licensed before it self-destructed. 
, 27, 28, 31: Oh, Bleach, why must you show everything? Because you are a particular kind of shonen, I suppose. And this early, it's still somewhat interesting to see every bit of every fight going on at the same time, but I begin to long for a single plot thread to follow or a single point of view character. Sigh. I will enjoy you for what you're good at!
I got a kick out of this one, another series rolled out by the big TP before it went belly-up. I liked the creepy dynamic and the wackiness. I was curious about what would happen next and where things would end up.
I've been out of touch this year, but I really haven't been hearing much about this remarkably un-shojo series. I admit that I was a tad skeptical, at first, because there was the potential for it to get stupid, like other series, but instead it has stayed intelligently dumb and hasn't broken any decency laws yet, I think. It knows exactly when to be inappropriate for maximum effect. It switches between heart-pounding drama and ridiculous silliness with, well, not ease but serious skill. I just hope it doesn't toss all the decency out the window . . .
Cranky people dealing with unwanted attraction to each other with a cast of wacky side characters who could easily fill out a whole series much more entertainingly than the usual cafe story.
More wacky episodic comedy for otaku. Funtimes!
: Well, that's violent and shocking and confusing, but the little mouse weapon thing is definitely cute, and I'm curious to find out what on Earth is going on. I might like the anime as long as it's not as violent as the manga, but I might have to try the novel if I don't want to throw up . . .
Okay, I had fun with this one. There are certain parallels to Love Attack! (another Tokyopop title we'll never learn the ending for), but I find some of these characters more endearing and more opaque. There's this girl who sort of ended up the leader of a gang and then ends up getting kicked out of school and then transfers into the only school who'll take her only to reunited with her childhood friend/older crush who is pretty much nothing like she was re-imagining him. He totally abuses his authority as a teacher to make her use her talent for violence to help out some of the oddballs in the school.
Y'know, I kind of want a prairie dog. I'm probably allergic . . .
Sometimes you find an impossible to find out of print volume at Half Price Books when there's a huge sale!
1-5: One of the things I love about manga is how you can read a story about people you would find 100% repulsive in real life, and you can sympathize with them sometimes. You can cry over their stupid, stubborn contrariness and the ways they make themselves miserable when they're fictional.
I have no idea, really, what's going on, but there's time travel and a war and Rasputin is really mean. Pretty much everyone is bloodthirsty and crazy, too.
Continuing its one chapter a month growing romance all the way to the conclusion, this series is just quirky and fun all the way through.
Oh, the agony of choice and some deep, dark history rising up out of the shadows to prey on the innocent! Also police drama, annoying characters, and goofy romance.
The more I read of this, the more I can't understand why anyone would take it seriously enough to get offended by it. It's goofy, ridiculous, occasionally almost accidentally educational.
Art, crime, and Robin Hood forgers. I like this series quite a bit even if only for the gorgeous art lovingly recreated within.
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