Manga Review: Oreimo by Tsukasa Fushimi and Sakura Ikeda

Title: Oreimo Vol 1
Authors: Tsukasa Fushimi, Sakura Ikeda
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: Not soon enough 9/18/2012
ISBN: 1595829563






If you're a manga fan, odds are you've heard of this manga under the fan translation title of My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute. If you haven't (but are still a manga fan) then you really ought to check this out. It's quite possibly one of my personal "most anticipated" manga releases for fall 2012 aside from more Sailor Moon and volume 13 of the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. (Incidentally, KCDS is also available from Dark Horse and is freaking awesome if you like mystery/thriller/horror manga.) It's one of my "must buy" releases for the fall.

High-school student Kyousuke doesn't get along with his cranky, dismissive, and secretive fourteen-year-old litter sister Kirino, but he suddenly finds himself forced to protect Kirino's secrets--she's not only a gorgeous fashion model, a track star, and an accomplished student, but she's also obsessed with naughty video games and little kids' fantasy anime! How can Kirino maintain her complicated lifestyle--and how can Kyousuke maintain his sanity? And might the tow of them, some how, just maybe, ever become friends?

This really has to be one of the cuter mangas out there and at only four volumes, it isn't going to break your bank account to collect them. Oreimo's primary charm is that it doesn't try to go too overboard with very much and lets the story unfold as it will. You just can't help but be charmed by the various characters here. I have to say that it's fairly easy for me to get interested with any manga that deals with otaku life, especially when it tries to take a look at the social stigma that being an otaku still has in Japan. (Especially if you're female.) Oreimo's primary goal is to entertain so there's still quite a bit of comedy in what it does, but there's also a good dollop of drama sprinkled within.  There is a bit of fanservice here and there that's a little naughty, but overall it's rather innocent.

The only thing that might give some pause is the relationship between Kirino and Kyousuke. She has a bit of a fixation on incest manga, anime, and games, which brings up the question as to whether or not there will be anything going on between the two of them. If you're someone who likes to avoid this subject matter, rest easy. To my knowledge there's no incest and the relationship between the two of them is predominantly that of two siblings reconnecting with each other.

Overall I really enjoyed this and I also enjoyed the letters column in the back of the manga run by the fictional Saori. It's a nice touch and one that I'm sure others will enjoy. One change I noted with this volume is that Dark Horse included their translation notes in the actual manga pages (akin to how other companies do it). It threw me a little, as I'm used to them collecting them all in the back of the book, but not something that would disrupt my read. Again, this is something that is on my "to buy" list for my fall and if you're looking for something cute, it should be on your "to buy" and/or "to read" lists as well. I can only hope that if we're lucky, a company will put out the light novels that this series is based on as well.

Five out of five stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Comic Review: Orchid #1

Title: Orchid #1
Author: Tom Morello
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: 10/12/2011






(Note: This review only covers the first 4 pages of the comic.)


From the mind of musician Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman) with art by Scott Hepburn (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), Orchid is the tale of a teenage prostitute who learns that she is more than the role society has imposed upon her. When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed. Human settlements are ringed by a dense wilderness from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful that overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortress-like cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. Welcome to the world of Orchid.

I have to say that for only four pages of material where I didn't even get to meet our title character, I was pretty engrossed from the start. The artwork here is really nice and the writing/art team does a great job of setting the scene.



I love comics that are set in a post-apocalyptic world, so this comic is really up my alley. (It speaks to the girl in me who would read Battlefield Earth at least once a year during middle school.) The artwork is really cool and I liked the causes of some of the devastation. See that underwater city? It was swallowed up by a huge trash vortex, which definitely isn't something you've really seen in comics before. What makes it that much more interesting is that trash vortexes are a very real thing and can actually be pretty dangerous. (See this link for more information. If you're curious as to what a trash vortex looks like, click here.)

The only thing I'm a little leery of is that the underwater city in this picture is Japan, which might be a little too soon for some readers. Japan was hit earlier this year by a huge tsunami that crippled the nation, so some will be a little sensitive at seeing Japan underwater. If you're one of these people, you might want to hold off on Orchid for a little while. The preview is pretty cool and it's likely that this comic was in production long before the tsunami hit, but I know that for some of you this will just be too soon.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this preview and I'm fairly certain that anyone who loves a good apocalyptic comic will absolutely love this comic and want to pick it up.

Want to see this comic for yourself? Luckily for you Dark Horse has a preview set up on their website where you can get a glimpse of the action for yourself. (Click here for the link.)

(Preview provided through Netgalley)

Manga Review: Gate 7 by CLAMP

Title: Gate 7
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: 10/25/2011
ISBN: 1595828060







Before I go any further with this review I have to state that I've only read the first chapter of Gate 7, the oneshot that started everything with this series. CLAMP works tend to have plots that reach far beyond one chapter, so I want to stress that all I can do is give my impressions of what I have.

Get ready for another exciting new series from best-selling manga creators, CLAMP (Chobits, Clover, Cardcaptor Sakura)! Chikahito Takamoto has always read about the beauty and mystique of Japan's ancient capital city, Kyoto. Now, two years into high school, he's finally visiting there for real. But wandering the grounds of Kyoto's legendary Shinto shrine of Kita no Tenmangu, he chances upon a mystery that his guidebooks didn't prepare him for - two handsome men and an attractive woman, all strangely-garbed, wielding powers...and fighting monsters! The two men treat poor Chikahito with suspicion - but the girl seems to like him. They aren't worried about what Chikahito's just seen, because they have the power to erase his memory...except for some reason, that power doesn't work! And why does the girl kiss him before sending him away? One thing's for sure: Chikahito is going to be seeing a lot more of these three strangers...

You can't read any CLAMP manga without admiring the gorgeous style that is their trademark. It might change as members come and go, but it's always beautiful and worth looking at on its own merit. This doesn't really change in Gate 7. I absolutely loved looking at the art in this story. It might not be their strongest work (their earliest works will always be my favorite), but this is beautiful. I can't say enough about it.

Story-wise, I can see where this will draw in a lot of readers. It's not entirely my style, but there's a decent base here to expand upon. It's a little on the vague side, but since this was just the first chapter I don't feel right giving any final judgement on the storyline of this series. (Supposedly what I read was just a oneshot but it looks like it was definitely intended to be a promo for a series.) I've done a little snooping on the internet for information and it looks like this series will get pretty interesting as the volume progresses. It just doesn't seem to be my cup of tea, but that's OK. I'll just wait for Dark Horse to release the inevitable artbook. (Hopefully they'll re-release some of the out of print artbooks TokyoPop used to carry.)

I have to say, this will definitely find an easy audience here in the states. CLAMP can rarely go wrong in my opinion and they're giving us more of what they do best. Gate 7 will definitely appeal to those who loved X and xxxHolic.

3.5 out of 5 stars

(Reader copy provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Supernatural Noir by Various

Title: Supernatural Noir
Editor: Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: 06/28/2011
ISBN: 1595825460







It doesn't matter how you like your supernatural tales. Modern, retro, a touch of gothic... there's a little bit of everything in this collection of short stories. Just don't be surprised when you end up going back over some of the stories just to figure out everything, though.

A hit man who kills with coincidence... A detective caught in a war between two worlds... A man whose terrible appetites hide an even darker secret...

Dark Horse once again teams up with Hugo and Bram Stoker award-winning editor Ellen Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound) to bring you this masterful marriage of the darkness without and the darkness within. Supernatural Noir is an anthology of original tales of the dark fantastic from twenty modern masters of suspense, including Brian Evenson, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nick Mamatas, Gregory Frost, and Jeffrey Ford.

Dark Horse has really outdone itself with this book. Like I said above, you'll find a lot to like in this collection. You'll find some stories that you'll just go batty over, others that you won't be able to peel your eyes away from. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting some of the resolutions here in these stories & I love that they threw me for a loop. It's no fun when you can predict everything that happens & you don't get that here. The Absent Eye ended up being one of my favorite stories & I just really hope that the author (Brian Evenson) does more with this story. It (like some of the others) had a lot of potential to be developed into one or several books.

However, as is the case with any collection of stories, you'll find the ones that you just weren't into. I have to admit that I just wasn't drawn into Caitlin Kiernan's short story, although I will admit that it was well written. (I can either take or leave her stuff.) Others were just a little too surreal for my tastes.

There was more here that I liked than disliked, so I highly recommend that you try this book out. It'll probably end up being overlooked by many, but this really is an excellent collection of stories.

4 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (No Future For You) by Joss Whedon

Title: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: No Future For You (Season 8, V 2)
Author: Joss Whedon
Publisher:Dark Horse
Release Date: 06/11/2008
ISBN: 159307963X







I took a while to savor the first volume before fully jumping into this one, taking my time to enjoy the story & artwork. After all, this volume brought back Faith, one of my favorite characters in the show. (She isn't going to topple Willow as my favorite character, but she's up there.)

Eisner award-winning writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) tackles Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight with "No Future for You." When a rogue debutant Slayer begins to use her power for evil, Giles is forced to recruit the rebellious Faith, who isn't exactly known for her good deeds. Giles offers Faith a clean slate if she can stop this snooty Slayer from wreaking total havoc - that is, if Buffy doesn't beat her to it. Georges Jeanty (The American Way) remains at the top of his game as series artist, and Whedon stays on as "Executive Producer" in this direct follow-up to Season Seven of the smash-hit TV series.

I'll be honest & say that this volume was really all about Faith & how she's dragged back into the action by Giles. The comic format really does help the story along since it allows us to see into Faith's head via the mental narration, something that'd be harder to do on TV. I really loved how the story reintroduced Faith as well as given Giles a little something to do that doesn't involve Buffy. The guy does deserve a life of his own, after all!

Unfortunately the artwork didn't seem to suit Faith as well as it did Willow & Buffy in the first volume. It's still well done but it just seemed like it wasn't as good as the first volume was. I also couldn't help but wish that Faith's interaction with the snobby blue-blooded Slayer had been a little more drawn out. There was just so much potential there & I felt it ended a little too soon.

Still, this was a good volume & one that I still heartily recommend to Buffy fans or just fans of comics in general.

(Reader Copy provided by NetGalley)