Heaven!! by Shizuru Seino

Part two of the Shizuru Seino threesome. I'm still pretty light in the Christmas manga department, so I'm going to just do one next week and then one on Christmas itself. Unfortunately they are both one-shots so the reviews won't be very long but I blew through the Christmas manga long ago. I hope by next year I'll find a few more like I did this year...

*sigh*

Heaven!! by Shizuru Seino

Art and story (c) Shizuru Seino

Genre: Shojo, Supernatural
Length: 3 Volumes – 12 Chapters



           Like Girl Got Game, there is a little bit of messiness and looseness to the art at the beginning of this manga, but it settles quickly and gets into a good groove for what it will look like for the rest of the serial. The gags and the resulting expressions are, from what I remember, different than what is in Girl Got Game, too, there are things that are similar sure, but there are elements to the art and story that are separate from it as well. One that remains the same is the point and arm shake that people do, as illustrated by the below picture:

But otherwise there isn't a lot of things that remind you of the other story as far as the art goes. I don't remember any times that the characters looked the same as any of the others from the previous manga, either. Even the background characters that all looked the same in Girl Got Game have changed. The side characters are pretty thin in this story though and are quickly forgotten and turn to background characters at best. The backgrounds are a little lacking, and the clothes aren't spectacular in look or on the fit of the body frames. Still, the art is very clean and fun. Heaven!! was written pretty much right after Girl Got Game and they do share similar standards, but there is definitely some improvement and lots of differences in the art.
           Rinne is a strange girl who can see and exorcise ghosts with a giant paper fan, a

technique she cultivated with her own experience. Masaharu is one of her classmates, a delinquent who dyes his hair and scares everyone in class. The two have nothing in common except that they are the two who get in the most trouble, but one day, while chasing a spirit, Rinne accidentally involves Masaharu when he saves her from getting hit by a truck. Neither are hurt, but somehow Masaharu is separated from his body in the process. Unsure how to put a spirit back, Rinne promises to help except a spirit decides to take the uninhabited body for himself and stick Masaharu into a stuffed animal. From there, things really start to get mixed up...
           Of the three manga that I read this week from this author, this one is the most ridiculous, which is a pretty hard thing to achieve considering the madcap antics that go on in every single set of stories. Its also a little more rough in the progression of some elements. Rinne's shamanic powers are definitely thrown aside after the first volume and not brought back until the very end of the third one, making this manga more of a slice of life manga, albeit a bizarre one, than a supernatural manga. All the same it is enjoyable to

read and the short length makes it a good afternoon read, too. The trio of characters mesh well, and there's never a time where nothing is happening, even if it isn't anything but gags instead of actual story. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see a delinquent trapped in a pink monkey-shaped stuffed animal while his beautiful face is paraded around by a sex crazed god who came down from heaven? Obviously, not me, although it isn't as well pulled off as Girl Got Game's premise; its actually rather strange, the way things progress I mean. Some spoilers ahead, but the love story does not go like you may think it does at the beginning. Rinne does come off as annoying to some people, though, who can't stand her personality. Negative feedback I saw were mostly complaining that Rinne is too shallow of a character to be likable. Which is true, she is very shallow at a glance, still, maybe its because of the vehemence I had for Duck Prince's much worse handling of selfishness or that her reasoning for not understanding is that her gift has led to her not even knowing what friendship is, but I don't think its really true that she's totally self absorbed as she admits to loving him very quickly after she first denies it. Even when it could get cruel or mean for the poor boy in the monkey body, it stays light. For me the biggest problem is more of the ambiguous coupling at the end, but I always complain when they don't state right out who is going out with who so I think that’s probably a personal irk more than anything. Typically, people like Girl Got Game better, and I'm no different, the characters are completed faster and the hijinks are funnier in the previous manga, but Heaven!! still has a lot to love, even if it isn't as flushed out as the other, its a completely original type of story and there's never a dull moment or a crazy coincidence that puts a smile on the lips.




4/5 Not as good as Girl Got Game (Power!!) but still freewheeling fun.

Uhhh, that's not normal, bro.

P.S. All the sites I've looked on say that this manga is a spin off of Girl Got Game, but I am unsure of the actual connection to each other. Perhaps I'm missing something? If anyone who reads this sees the reason it's called a spin off, please tell me. I think it might be background characters, as if its the same school as in Girl Got Game (though the uniforms are different so I don't think that is it) but I can't find a concrete answer anywhere and I'm unwilling to state it outright with out knowing concretely what the connection is. I can be pretty clueless sometimes when it comes to small details because I read things too fast, so I'm just not sure at all. 

Halloween Oneshots 2016

Happy Halloween! Just a few oneshots to end the season. I'll add the pictures a little later, I'm not feeling well at the moment so I'm being a little lazy. At least I had fun, and I hope you did, too.


Kurenai Kuraki  by Kazuko Furumiya


Genre: Shojo, Horror
Length: Oneshot - 60 Pages

Spooky and a bit gory, this oneshot has too much story to actually make full sense. Even though it's the longest of the three stories I read, it reads as the most rushed. It feels more like a set up than an independent short story. The girl isn't really built up enough before the spooks happen and the male lead leaves more questions than answers. The art is a little unremarkable as well, making it about average.


2.5/5 An okay read.



Nyanderful by Sekaiichi Asakura



Genre: Seinen, Horror
Length: Oneshot - 26 Pages

A young bakeneko goes out on her first night of haunting the newest heir of the family her ancestors swore to ruin. Silliness ensues. The very cavalier art style and simplistic story are charming and engaging. Just the looks on the faces are funny; the very round head of the main character is great for this, actually. I had a good time, still, I'd be remiss if I didn't also say it was weird. Its no secret that I like weird, though and after having a taste, I wish there was more of the little monster doing her best.


5/5 Sweet and silly.




The End in Common Ruin by Mitsukazu Mihara


Genre: Horror, Supernatural
Length: Oneshot - 9 Pages

A story of two twins who were never apart and wanted to stay together forever. The queen of gothic lolita strikes again! The straight edged art and dark, large eyes gave away the mangaka right away. The story, too, is stark and blunt. Telling a story in such a short time and yet still having such a complete beginning, middle, and end, is wonderful. Definitely right for the season.

 
5/5 Dark and tragic.

Saiteihen no Otoko by Mikoto Yamaguchi

Tomorrow is finally Halloween, and I have a few one shots lined up for extra spook. Happy Candy!

Saiteihen no Otoko (Scumbag Loser) by Mikoto Yamaguchi

Genre: Adult, Horror, Supernatural
Length: 3 Volumes - 14 Chapters and one Extra


           The art is pretty stark, no softening tones at all, and that really adds to the harshness of the story. Facial expressions quickly turn from innocuous to frightening at the change of a panel. That being said, it's also a little wonky at times with profile views being a little off and the like. The clothes and the body shapes are a little strange, too. The clothing in particular often looked too tight, I don't know if that was to accentuate the awkward and contradictory ways people acted through out the story but it just looked like people bought clothes one size too small all the time. Even when it's supposed to be a hot girl, the ill fitting clothes are distracting and ugly. It's adequate.

           Murai Masahiko is obsessed with not being the worst "scumbag loser" in his class, in fact, just being second to last is fine with him, but when the guy worse off than he is gets a girlfriend Murai finds himself in a precarious situation. So he blurts out that he has one, too, showing pictures of an old classmate that moved away. In a strange coincidence, she transfers into their class as soon as he says it. Walking his "girlfriend" home, though he confronts her because his childhood neighbor Mizusawa Haruka actually died five years ago!

           This manga is about gross people, and I am not joking. The "hero" of this story has a scent fetish which allows him to notice things others don't but also leads to him sniffing things in a perverted manner. It almost was too much for me at the beginning, but there is a mystery in the story that kept me from quitting, and although my affection for this story never rose, I still found it an interesting read and I'll tell you why. Although it may not seem like it in the beginning, there is an intense scrutiny of social norms and the meaning of a parent's so called "unconditional love" in this manga, as well as what it means to be different from others. Having flawed people trying to remain so instead of throwing away their ugliness is something not often seen in any kind of entertainment, outside of children's programs telling kids they are special, and I did find that to be a unique and empathetic situation. Meanwhile, in the horror section of the story, there is a growing cult of people who become perfect overnight and keep luring others into their embrace. Seeing the two types of people interact was compelling. Still there are many times things were uncomfortable, to say the least, and other times there was too much dialog, so it's hard to like overall. It's sufficiently spooky until the end where you're suddenly hit with an emotional, blood splattered wrap-up. The ending isn't even that fulfilling, either, so it's a bit of a blindside when the tone changes and things aren't really explained. Saiteihen no Otoko is just conflicting that way. The gross characters are really off putting but the actual plot is very engrossing, so I say give it a shot but I won't blame you if you can't make it past the underwear sniffing main character.


3/5 The good is nearly out shadowed by the nasty.
 

Nemuri no Fuchi by Ayumu Nakamura

I'm so late with this review I'm posting it this week instead of last week, that's procrastination meeting pumpkin patches and corn mazes for ya. I'm going to save myself some trouble this week and have the pictures between the paragraphs. Blogger is touchy enough without me having to do everything on my smartphone, and the last post caused me so much trouble I don't want to repeat the process.


Nemuri no Fuchi by Ayumu Nakamura

Art and story (c) Ayumu Nakamura

Genre: Shonen, Horror, Supernatural
Length: 3 Volumes - 14 Chapters



           The art is sufficiently creepy, but it's not really that interesting. The best things are the creatures that are seen at the very beginning and again at the climax, they are sort of like a demented Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. The rest of the art is summed up best by a very famous emoji: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The faces look a little squished sometimes, too drawn out and considering the faces are very minimal this does look odd from time to time. Though, the shading given to the main character's face does convey his depression and fear well. The clothes are unremarkable in every way, and while the actions and movements are fairly good, the actual proportions of the bodies are underdeveloped and stick-like. Underwhelming is the word I think describes it best.

           When he was little, Shuuhei liked to play hide and seek with his best friend Kaori, but that ended the day she went missing in the woods during one of their games. Around the same time, mysterious entraces to an otherworldly maze began appearing in closets and other doorways and those who go in are lost forever inside it. Convinced his childhood friend disappeared inside part of the maze, Shuuhei has isolated himself because of his guilt and his mental preparation for the day he finally finds a doorway to enter it himself and can finally save her.

           I'm going to repeat myself here and say again, underwhelming is the word I think describes it best. The plot takes a little too long to set up and get moving, and even then it goes too fast or too slow. Though, I have to say Shuuhei has a very realistic reaction to the maze full of monsters the first time he goes in, running away and hiding in fear. The next time, though, feels like a bit of random side tracking, again taking too long to explain. That really is the problem through out this whole manga, actually, there are a lot things introduced but with out real payout. Some of the time used to introduce various random things and people could have been spent explaing the maze in more detail. The characters themselves are given plenty of depth for the kind of harried story it is, so they carry the the plot through even though they story is weak at times. Shuuhei's estranged best friend, for example, adds extra support to the quest but also enables the author to have more speculation on the maze but not actually answer what it is exactly. Then there's the flimsy happy ending that is the bow on top. I found it anticlimactic, as well as cheap. All in all, it's a little creepy but its not fully fleshed out.



3/5 An okay spoopy read.

Is it Halloween yet?

Darn!

Crimson Cross

Boo! Did I scare ya?



Crimson Cross art by Kyoko Negishi and story by Sakae Maeda

Genre: Shojo, Supernatural
Length: One Volume - 3 Chapters


            The art is nice to look at, pretty faces, though a little generic or maybe plain is a find the era of the clothing to match the setting. I'm not really a stickler for that sort of thing but it did muddle the overall feel of the story. Plus, I don't think I'm imagining it when I say the main character dressed exactly like Constantine from Hellblazer, and that is far from the style of clothes every other characters wearing. It's dark and shadowed, and adds good ambiance to the story.

closer description. It's not really attention grabbing that's for sure. The eyes are a little blank at times, too. The hair and clothing have nice movement and detail, though I didn't
            Found near death in the woods, a vampire is saved by a woman who lives in a cabin alone there. She realizes he is running away from someone and, due to her compassion, she gets caught up in the man's struggle with another of his kind. A struggle that seems destined to last forever.
            As I was reading this manga, I thought it was an interesting twist on the Dracula and Helsing story. The conflict gaining new faucets because the vampire hunter had been forced into being the same creature as what he is hunting but it just doesn't pan out into a complete plot. Each chapter is just another meeting that Helsing has with a different woman who he tragically cannot save. Efforts wasted on both his and my own part. Then I got to the last chapter, and I realized what I was in for, what horrors I would be left with and the rage began to rise. Because this manga is one of those where there is no actual ending to speak of. Big epic blah blah blah fest and another claim of revenge and in the final frame, way at the bottom the final "End."

Just because you write it doesn't make it satisfying! Now, past that major fault, it's still kind of interesting, but like the art there's not a lot depth to it. As I said the narrative just wanders aimlessly when a chapter starts and jumps when it's over to the next seemingly random encounter. It's got some appeal but it ruins itself with a protagonist who never accomplishes anything.



2/5 Initial interest only gets a story so far.

Still better than THIS Helsing, though.

Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made by Kazusa Takashima

This manga really brightened my mood, I haven't been feeling well lately for reasons I can't figure out, so it was a welcome distraction. I did catch up on Skip Beat recently, though, and that made me happy, too, and angry when it stopped. Ongoing manga addictions are so troublesome.



Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made by Kazusa Takashima

Art and story (c) Kazusa Takashima

Genre: Supernatural, Shojo
Length: 5 Volumes – 27 Chapters and several extras

Those bulbs right there.

           *Gestures with a wide sweep of one arm* Handsome men, handsome men everywhere. A warning and a promise, this manga is full of bishies. Generally, the art work is a little messy, but it's in a good way. The careless feel gives a lot of personality to the character designs. Especially the hair, it's just flowing and moving all the time and I love it. Its really well done in every category, actually, there’s a lot of variety to the faces and hair, the eyes have a lot of expression, and the clothes are interesting. Some of my favorite parts were the almost haphazard SD art (is this even a term people use anymore? In any case, wikilink) that happened in the gag sequences. The one thing that bothered me was, at times, the hands were too often the bulb looking type.
           The Prince of Hell disappears to the human world on the day of his wedding,
changing his appearance completely. Now a part of the outside world and enjoying every second, he must avoid anyone seeing the crest on his back in case they have been sent from Hell to retrieve him. Even his best friend could be an agent, or his teacher, despite the danger though he is living a life he never had hoped for.
           I loved this manga, its silly and full of handsome guys and I didn't need any more than that from it, either. Despite the title giving me images of some generic shojo, Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made (not to be confused with the basketball manga called just Harlem Beat aka Rebound) is something absolutely different and unique in many ways. I enjoyed it all the way through, even during the very predictable happy ending. Its not with out its faults, of course, the plot line is a little weak and there really isn't enough romance to call it shojo. There's bromance out the butt, though, like, every single chapter to the point where you might think this was actually a shonen or even leaning to shonen-ai, but its all good. The main character and his best friend hanging out is amazingly slap stick but then random hot dudes start showing up just to, literally, strip the main

character and, at that point, the bus just keeps driving it's self to the destination four volumes later. The plot though, as a whole, isn't really one to brag about, I'd say it's the definition of loose. At the beginning, it even feels like you miss something important, as it is already an established school and cast of characters that are not introduced to you but are instead just thrown at you all at once as if you have the full back story. It evens out, as much as a gag-filled manga can do with out changing the format. The little things really start to pile up, so at least it's not instantaneous when the end rolls around, and besides its inevitable from the start at how that is going to happen. It reminds me, in hindsight, of the of Duck Prince manga, but with out resorting to cruel and mean humor. If you can look past the fact that it doesn't really advance until a critical incident happens, I think just about anyone can enjoy this manga. Not filled with drama tropes and definitely not like other shojo manga, Harlem Beat is amazingly refreshing.



5/5 For the enjoyment alone, very worth it.

IMO, this big guy and his amazing hair are the best part!

Helen ESP by Katsuhisa Kigitsu

Every year that goes by, I feel like I'm too old to actually like the 4th of July and all its festivities. Its too hot to watch the parade, I'm too poor to afford the stall food, and fireworks have lost their appeal. Maybe I'm just a fuddy-duddy, I guess. Well, if you enjoy it, good on ya, that's what 'Merica is all about. That, and gifs like this one:

Helen ESP by Katsuhisa Kigitsu

Art and story (c) Katsuhisa Kigitsu

Genre: Supernatural, Shonen
Length: 2 Volumes – 18 Chapters plus one extra



           Very clean art, well done in every respect. The eyes are big and clear, and the hair is cute and modern looking. The clothes are detailed enough to be noticed but not

distracting, like real clothes. There is a wide variety in the face shapes and the body types, too, so that every character is unique. Then there is the dog, he's well done too, but at times he seems more cat like in his movements than dog like and the way he is one solid color also feels like less care was put into him than the other drawings.
           Helen is a girl who is deaf, blind, and mute due to an accident that killed her parents, but that isn't the only thing that makes her unique. Helen has an ability to see and interact with things that are out of the range of 'normal' making her world wider than anyone else's even though everyone else seems to think her world is smaller.
           This manga is written by the same mangaka as Franken Fran, and its pretty much exactly the same except it is less in the realm of horror, though some of those elements do leak through at times. As such, I had the same problems and pleasures with it. I'm going to start with the bad, since that is the longer list. Story wise, its a bit choppy, there isn't a feeling of cohesion through out, instead its one story then another story and they always come to a complete end and have no bearing on the next story. So, at the beginning you are just thrown in and at the end there is no sort of closure. Its pretty
disappointing in my opinion, but I like stories to have a definitive conclusion. And it used drawing Helen physically saying things instead of explaining the situation through more pictures a lot, too, which worked for Franken Fran because the situation always had a direct reason (i.e. Fran experimenting on something) while Helen just stumbled into things. The other major problem I had was that Helen's deafness does not come across well, so much so that I thought it was a mistranslation at the beginning until they repeated it several times. The way it is conveyed just looks like people are talking to her and she understands them. Adding her ESP into that and things really begin to get confusing visually, and manga are all visual. So, clearly I had some heavy problems but now, on to the stuff I actually liked. The stories told are innovative and interesting every time, even if they sometimes feel abrupt. The characters themselves are interesting and flawed, though most of them have no bearing on the actual plots, since Helen can't tell them about it. It has a dark sense of humor at times (that’s that horror creeping in) but it also shows a goodness in human nature to balance it all out. Also, since this manga is much shorter than Franken Fran, the choppy nature doesn't get too much on the nerves and can just be fun and light because its only two volumes compared to the eight that Franken Fran has. Its really hard to rate this manga, its interesting but the lack of it being a full story sort of makes it possible to stop at any time or start reading from any where. I'm going to give it the same score as Franken Fran, for the same reasons. Even though I liked it, it has too many problems to score any higher.


2.5/5 Interesting but it does have structural problems.

Barairo My Honey by Tomu Oomi

 I just don't understand page views, I guess, that number just keeps going up and I can't figure out why! Thank you, everyone who has dropped by for every single one of my 2,000 page views. I realize it probably doesn't seem like a lot but for me it really is amazing, and I can't believe I even made it this far. Its been quite some time since I decided to go ahead and do that randomly chosen first post, and I really should go back and do a little editing (where the heck are all the pictures??), but I never thought I'd actually have readers come look, honestly. I just thought its intimidating picking manga, and I hope I can turn someone on to something good they didn't even know was out there, because I really enjoy it when someone does the same for me. 

Barairo My Honey by Tomu Oomi 

Art and story (c) Tomu Oomi

Genre: Supernatural, Josei
Length: 3 Volumes – 13 Chapters


           This is the third time I've reviewed an Tomu Oomi manga, and I've probably said it every time that I love the art style, that I fall in love with the male faces, and it just plain draws my eye, and here I said it again. I'll try to keep the gushing to a minimum, and I assure you it won't be near as bad as it was for Kindan. The faces are always easy to read and the body movements are natural, there were a few times the hands looked a little big. There is a distinct look to Oomi's work, with dark, thick lashed eyes and mouths with the upper lip darkened for emphasis. Actually, the leading man in this manga looks very much like the lead in Midnight Secretary, though much less cruel, which is a positive in my book. The clothes are a little less noticeable in this manga and I'll get into my thoughts on that in the last paragraph. There's really nothing I can complain about, except for the usual lack of backgrounds, but the page compositions really mask that well I think. I know, none of that was very nit picky, but what can you expect, I've praised Oomi every time I've reviewed her work, and even started this blog because I was mad at someone for dissing it so…
           Koume is a working girl at a very small printing press who tends to say whatever she's thinking once her mouth opens, ruining her doll-like appearance. When she's scolded on the street by a man in a suit, she fumes and goes back to work, but it turns out he's the recently returned Vice President of the company that owns her workplace and he's come to shut them down! Koume is convinced there is nothing she can like about him. Then, strangely, when he gets angry a tiger with red coloring (barairo literally means 'rose color') appears and wrecks the place until she calms it down, marking her as the Tiger-tamer to him, the Tiger-master. Now they will have to be together.
           My brother walked by and asked me what the manga I was reading was about and I found it kind of hard to explain it to him. “Well, uh, there's a tiger because its the man's emotions in physical form but only she can see it, so not really completely physical and…” Truthfully, I really enjoy this manga but it's nowhere near Kindan and it's not quite as endearing, either, though the end is very 'aw' inducing. As I alluded in the first paragraph, just as the clothes aren't eye-catching, the story doesn't catch the interest quite as fiercely as the other two manga of Oomi's I've reviewed. The premise is original and the tiger is a fun addition to the mix, it just doesn't force you to see what happens next. The tiger is the best part of this story, actually, and

I mean, seriously, lookit that tiger face.

there just simply isn't enough of him (notice he is in every single picture I chose)! Koume is a good lead, she's mouthy and temperamental, much different than the moony Hisako of Kindan, and her ways of speaking up when Mikage won't make them a perfect couple. The emotions are solid, but there really isn't a lot of conflict to keep up a totally keen interest in the story, really. Some people tend to find Oomi's works boring and this one just may fall on that half of the intensity scale, but this mangaka's way of telling stories full of reality doesn't hit me that way. In fact, sometimes shojo and josei tend to get so overly dramatic that they just wear on the nerves, but Oomi's easy going way really adds to the depth of the romance. Still, Barairo is not the best representation of Oomi's work, even if its still very enjoyable. There's not a lot to overly praise or overly criticize, due to the pacing. The way it is presented is a bit rushed, though you don't really question it as you're going, but at the end it just feels over with far too quickly. Especially after Kindan's long and amorous relationship Barairo feels rather flat. By itself its a really good manga, a complete story, but it isn't Tomu Oomi's best. If there had been copious amounts of that awesome tiger, that would have been a completely different story, as it is its a little generic in plot line with a supernatural tiger thrown in. I still love it, though, and, because Koume is the antique repairer from Kindan's granddaughter, its fun to think about the two couples meeting some day.


4/5 Really enjoyable but a little too quick and shallow for full marks. 

More of that rose-colored tiger love.

Triple Halloween Feature

I've just had no luck with the manga I picked this year. Two thirds of the ones I read were not suitable for Halloween as far as I was concerned even though they had some sort of supernatural element to them and the half of the rest I didn't much feel like reviewing due to either they were just not worth it or some other force stopped me. In one case that was my computer crashing. In fact as I was editing this review, my computer, a different computer, crashed. I'm going to try for one more post on Saturday, but I've got a party to prepare for so it might be the day after, if I can even find one. Blah, blah, blah... random gif.

Black Paradox by Junji Itou

Art and story (c) Junji Itou

Genre: Horror, Seinen
Length: One Volume – 6 Chapters and 2 Extras

No, seriously this guy.

           The art style isn't entirely gothic, but it has a dark look to it for sure with lanky hair and lots of inked in black clothes. The faces are semi realistic, and so is the hair, and there is lots of variety to the characters as well. Just look at that long faced guy, seriously. The art is also very practiced from every angle. The movements are natural and the clothing fit well on the body frames. The clothing isn't all that interesting on its own, though, it is mostly black suits and dresses. The backgrounds are very detailed and the panels are concise and easy to follow. I can find no fault in the art of this manga, except that it looks creepy and unsettling but that is the point so it doesn’t really count.
           A group of strangers meet up one afternoon after making a date over the internet, the purpose of this outing is to drive to a secluded spot and participate in a group suicide. Things aren't entirely what they seem though, and when one member of the carpool notices another vehicle pass them with all the same passengers inside except for herself, things begin to get strange. Is it a premonition or something much more sinister that allowed this vision?
           What the f*** did I just read? No seriously, someone tell me, WTF did I just read?!? Its weird horror manga like this that has made me only read this genre at Halloween. I literally can't comprehend why someone ever thought of a story like this, let alone why they would draw it out so neatly for me to come along and read it. If the rest of the manga was like the first chapter I think I would have been okay, but no, Black Paradox takes a strange turn and then just puts pedal to the metal on this new road. I don't traditionally spoil things but the confusing nature of this manga has forced my hand. Okay, so, when, after the first chapter is over, and the group decides to go though with their suicide pact a second time (I'm not going to explain the first chapter because I actually liked that one) only one of them goes through with it. The other three stare in shock at his dead body before the man throws up an amazing jewel and comes back to life. No explanation later, and his stomach explodes from the jewels, two of the party try to sell these jewels because they are pretty even though they are certain the gems are crystallized souls from another dimension. The afterlife I guess, since the portal opened when he tried to kill himself, thus the crystals are souls. The last of the group slowly succumbs to almost insane fear, but it turns out that’s because a portal to the dimension the other man had in his stomach is opening in her brain, and the other two have portals, too, just in case you were worrying this was all random. In comes an enterprising doctor who operates on them all to get the portals so he can share in the wealth of the shining orb shaped stones that also explode with demonic energy when any force is put to them. Then, it ends with the fact that only they can go through their own portals and the doctor forces them all to gather the jewels. Oh yes, and these gems will, in the future, destroy humanity and the portal jumpers know this because they just do. I'm so confused. Someone, anyone, please tell me why I read this.



2/5 Interesting art, confusing plot.





Emerging by Masaya Hokazono

Art and story (c) Masaya Hokazono...also, ew.

Genre: Horror, Seinen
Length: 2 Volumes – 22 Chapters



           The art style is a semi-realistic with simplistic black iris eyes. The hair comes in all types of

They are clearly passing some message through their eyes here.

true-to-life styles and the faces are of all different shapes. The clothes are nothing amazing, but realistic as well, with good fit and plenty of sorts, though they are mostly hazmat suits from the third chapter onward. What I remember most now that I'm done with this story is the eye beams. Flares of light that exploded from the ocular regions of characters when something needed to be extra dramatic. Other than that, the art is done well, but not with any particularly remarkable detail.        
           When a man explodes in a fit of blood at a crowded intersection, his condition is met with fear and curiosity. The doctors begin to worry and, soon, everyone in contact with him are getting ill with flu-like symptoms and the emergency protocols don't seem to be able to contain or even control the spread of the disease despite all the good intentions that went into them. If a new virus emerges in modern Japan, will the society be able to cope or will they perish through panic and ignorance?
           This manga is a look at the spread of disease in modern society, and how people's fears and over confidence negatively impact it. Its an interesting look, though the ending isn't really realistic, in my opinion. After the recent-ish Ebola scare, I found this almost relevant. Thinking about a sick person spreading an unknown disease or finding a mutated already known disease is quite scary, even for a person like me who doesn't live in a crowded city and that aspect of the story is well shown. Though there were a few things that ruined the illusion of 'what if' for me. The strangest element, a character who is so obsessed with diseases its a fetish, is the worst offender. Throwing a character like that in gives some comic relief to the overall plot but she has no point in being in such a serious story at all. A time reference is also a little hard to pin down, so some of the urgency is lost to ambiguous frame of reference for how fast the sickness is progressing. The infected are quite gross, though, so that helps with spooky feeling you get. It really is about the human factor of the problem, though, so it isn't really that scary though the end tries to keep the creepy going through speculation that I found just boring.



3/5 Realistic germ scares, but nothing really ambitious.




Furou Kyoudai by Yuki Shiwasu

Art and story (c) Yuki Shiwasu

Genre: Supernatural Shojo
Length: One Volume -5 Chapters and a few extras


           The most distinctive feature of this manga is the big eyes, and I really liked that feature, the shape of them give the characters lots of expression, but they can also have excellent detail when the story calls for it. The hair also has a lot of personality, and not just in the main characters, either, their parents are easily recognizable as are the random classmates that only show up in one chapter, I enjoyed looking out for them as much as I liked the main two's looks. The backgrounds come and go,
but not any more or less than any other manga. The clothes aren't really anything special, either, but they add to the ambiance of the story by being mostly dark and heavy school uniforms. I actually really enjoyed the art, it has a uniqueness to it and a quality I find very endearing.
           Kyoko and Daisuke are twins who can never be apart, and while most people misunderstand them, they have very good reasons for sticking so close to one another. Apart, the two of them are weak and ghosts congregate around them causing them to get ill or scaring them, but, somehow, together, they repel such supernatural forces with gusto. While they understand they can't be together forever, the twins can't bare to force themselves apart. How will they cope when one of them finds an admirer?
           Aw, why did this manga end so soon? Its the only one of the three of these that I actually liked. This silly pair of twins deserves many more pages of manga, I tell you! I was worried about this comic at first because the description sounds a little incestuous, but Furou Kyodai is actually just about siblings who literally can't be apart with out being assaulted by ghosts who, as a result, are very close emotionally as well. As a pair, they also have different personalities that match and also go against one another. Kyoko, for example, is the loud mouth, but she also thinks about others kindly. Her 'little' brother Daisuke is the quieter of the pair but he understands people really well, especially when in comes to getting his sister to listen. The two of them together make a pair of 'rushes ahead' and 'is there when she needs him' that allow for not only sensible routes in the plot lines but it also gives up a ton of humor. The goofiness of the situations and personalities shine, the expressive eyes really help in that regard, but I also found myself wrapped up in the emotional aspect of the stories, too. In fact, had there been a few more sad stories in a second volume or something I think I might have teared up a bit. As it was, one chapter in particular pulled my heart strings and I was actually surprised that I had gotten so attached. Seriously, though, why isn't there more of these creepy twins?


5/5 I'd read this again and again.



Another random Halloween gif, cuz I forgot to find a cute panel to add here at the end...

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia by Maybe

I spooked up the blog a little, I hope its not too cluttered now! I was glad to find a manga I liked this time, but I had hoped for something spookier. I'm not much for the horror genre in the first place and it is so hard to find one that suits my tastes completely. The journey continues on, though, the month is far from over.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (Tasogare Otome x Amnesia) by Maybe

Art and story (c) Maybe

Genre: Supernatural, Shonen

Length: 10 Volumes – 45 Chapters

            There's a lot of things in this manga that remind me of Sankarea, and the art is one of them, though, only in small ways. It has the same sort of open faced look to the fresh

faces, with wide expressive mouths and eyes. The body shapes are slim mostly but overall they don't really seem age appropriate when it comes down to it, I assumed I had read wrong when I was told the characters were junior high age instead of high school, especially considering the main girl's physique of a large bust and thighs, I was wrong. Apparently the main character is twelve….? I'm still disbelieving, but these things have happened before, so I soldiered on. The eyes are large and angled, with a deep, dark look, then there are the eyebrows, always visible through people's hair. The brows also have interesting shapes, but I found them distracting more than anything. The clothes are well fitted, and the school uniforms ride the line of traditional while still looking interesting. There is a very modern look to the haircuts, even the old fashioned ones, and they have intriguing shapes, too. Also, it doesn't really matter much to me, but the way the, uh, how to put it delicately, "flesh" of this manga was really well done. The supernatural character of this manga liked to show off her body a lot, and I applauded the way it looked, very natural in a manga sort of way. There was just a little too much of it than was necessary. There were a few times I noticed the hands looking a little out of place, though, either just plain awkward or out of proportion. Still, beyond the cute look the characters project, there is a definite creepy factor to the art. The story isn't particularly creepy, but the ambiance of the whole thing still made it work for this season. The darkly drawn hallways and deeply shadowed classrooms really give the feeling of "creepy school" with out too much gore. Often the eyes looked scary and dramatic, too, though sometimes that seemed out of place with what was actually happening. All together his manga is visually appealing.

            It seems almost bizarre that such a prestigious and hard working school would have so many ghost stories, but the strange eclectic architecture of the grounds leads to many of the sightings and gossip. In it's 60 years of being around, there are even a few rumors that date all the way back to the school's origins. The most well known? That a girl died on the grounds and if you see her ghost, she will haunt you and curse you. Teiichi is a first year student at this school, and has heard the many stories but he doesn't really pay them mind until the maze-like structures get him lost in the oldest building. There, he finds an old mirror, where his reflection looks empty at first, but a girl suddenly appears behind him. She's beautiful, friendly, and... the ghost?!?
            Its hard finding a manga like this one, and, like I mentioned before, Sankarea, where the supernatural elements are treated in a different way than is typically seen. Dusk Maiden may be a little more generic than Sankarea was, but it was still original in a lot of ways I didn't expect. It is an ecchi manga, which I have mentioned several times are not particularly my favorite, and I was also worried it would become a harem manga as well, another genre I don't have much interest in (though it turned out not to really be a harem manga). As I was going about the second volume, a score settled in my head that I thought the manga would be in the end, and that didn't budge the whole time. That doesn't happen often, this manga is what you see in the first volume, and it is consistently that. Of course, that isn't all good, the plot is a bit stagnant at times, a whopping ten volumes when all you need to know is really given to you around the third or fourth and then the status quo is maintained for the rest of it. Some how, that didn't bother me, the plot perpetuated it's self, really. There is the fact that the tenth volume is basically useless, though and I almost knocked this manga down a full number for the ending, as well, but I

suppose there could have been a good following for it or something and so everyone involved decided the end of the ninth volume just wasn't the best time to end it. Either that, or, they were milking for more money, and the ending really feels like the latter here, unfortunately. All the same, I enjoyed Dusk Maiden a lot, even during the slow parts because another facet of the school or of the characters would come through during them. Yuuko the ghost is a fun character all by herself, at once vulnerable and lonely, she also knows her place as a dead being and wants to enjoy the time she has with a person who can actually see her. She is childish and world weary rolled together so that you see so many different sides of her through out the manga. Teiichi isn't as clear of a character, but his easy embarrassment and Yuuko's need to tease him makes for a lot of good times. The two main side characters are fun as well, butting their way into the story, along with a myriad of weird classmates and the like. I laughed, though I didn't cry, I think the story could have leaned more traumatic and still have held up. I really recommend this for manga fans who like cute stories instead of the gory horror ones to color their Halloween.

4/5 Cute but with a nice supernatural darkness to it.

The color pages were really nice, too...