I Am A Hero by Kengo Hanazawa... A Review

Zombies are here to stay and I Am A Hero Omnibus 1 by Kengo Hanazawa proves that. Think of The Walking Dead in Japan, but with a good helping of horror added in.

I picked up I Am A Hero Omnibus Volume 1 by Kengo Hanazawa because I had read all sorts of great reviews, and read that it won The Shogakukan Manga Award in 2013. It is about Hideo, a 35 year-old failed Manga artist, who is paranoid, afraid of everything and is just your run of the mill kind of guy. He has a girlfriend (sometimes), is obsessed about Manga and works as an assistant to a Manga artist. One day while walking home from work, he sees a car accident. A person was hit by a car, and should have been dead, but instead got up and lumbered away. Strange, huh? And then Hideo witnesses other strange things, until finally there's no question about it, people are acting really strange and attacking eachother... What's a guy to do?! I don't want to reveal too much of the story, but let's just say it ain't easy being the odd man out, but at least you are one of the living. And this manga is a combination of horror, zombie apocalypse and humor. Yes, there is some deadpan humor (no pun intended).

First of all the artwork is wonderful. Very detailed backgrounds and the characters are drawn really well. But, the story itself starts off really slow and it takes probably half the book to build up some speed. I was wondering what I was reading because there wasn't much to indicate any zombies. And there were some weird sexual references thrown in that I can only think is because our main character is a shy guy. But after getting through that slow beginning, and the weird sexual references, the story took off and I was totally on board. By the end of the Manga, I was rooting for Hideo, hoping he could survive... and I think he did.

Of course I Am A Hero Omnibus 1 ends with a cliff hanger. No surprise since this series started in Japan in 2009 and is up to 20 volumes already. Dark Horse Comics aquired the rights to the U.S. version and plans on releasing 2 Omnibus volumes in 2016 (1 & 2) and 1 Omnibus in 2017 (Volume 3). And hopefully they will continue the series until the finish or else we'll have to learn to read Japanese. But, all in all, I would recommend this manga to anyone who enjoys a great horror story, zombies, or just likes manga in general with a good story.

5 Zombies for I Am a Hero Omnibus Volume 1! Volume 2 comes out in October!

P.S. On the cover you see Hideo with his shotgun. It's a bit unusual for anyone to own a gun in Japan, and Hideo is a law abiding gun owner... meaning, he's not suppose to shoot people... living or "possibly" living. He's going to have some "issues" with that.

Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida… A Review

What can you do if you accidentally become a flesh eating ghoul? After the initial shock of finding out you survived an attack, that you don't like regular food any more and starving yourself isn't an option, you try and figure out how to adapt and live. And that's exactly what our 18 year old protagonist, Ken Kaneki, does in Tokyo Ghoul Vol. 1 by Sui Ishida.

As in much Manga, this starts out as an innocent crush on a girl, who in reality is one of the monsters and instead of romance our girl wants her next meal. The characters are well developed and distinctive visually (sometimes in Manga the characters all kind of look the same, but not here). The artwork is nice, and the storyline will definitely hold your attention.

This goes deeper than just a horror story. It makes you question the basis of evil, as Kaneki straddles the fine line of having the body of a ghoul, but the soul of a human. Torn between two worlds, Kaneki is a great protagonist, although a reluctant one. Great story line, great artwork and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now I am hooked (that's what a good Manga series does to you!) and am going to read the next 4 books. Book 5 is out in June 2016.

I would recommend this to any Manga reader who enjoys a bit of horror with a touch of humanity.

Rabbit Doubt by Yoshiki Tonogai... A Review of the 2 Book Manga Series

Rabbit Doubt by Yoshiki Tonogai... There's a game going around Japan called 'Rabbit Doubt'. The premise of the game is that all of the players are rabbits in a colony, and one amongst them is randomly chosen to be a wolf that infiltrated the group of rabbits. Every round, the wolf kills off a rabbit, and every round, the group tries to figure out which of the rabbits is actually a wolf in disguise. Sometimes the kids who play this game decide to meet up in person, and Yuu, Mitsuki, Rei, Hajime, Eiji, and Haruka have done just that. Unfortunately, one of them has decided to take on the mantle of the wolf and has already killed once.

When I read about this Manga, the premise intrigued me. It had something a little "more" than the average Manga story. It's a guessing game, a deadly guessing game, and the reader is guessing right along with the characters involved. And the story is good! The artwork is good too, although at the very beginning I was confusing a couple of the girl characters because they looked so similar. But that worked out as soon as "the game" began...

So, what about the story and "the game"? The start of the story is about this group of kids who play this game called Doubt (or Rabbit Doubt) virtually, on their cellphones, and who decide to actually meet. After they get together, and we start to get acquainted with them ourselves, they decide to go out. Strange things happen and then mysteriously, no one can remember how, they all wind up in this abandoned building. The doors are all locked. Everyone has a bar code tattooed on them, which they are soon to discover can open certain doors. Can they work together to get out of there?! When one of them dies, they know that they are playing "the game" for real and must determine who the wolf is before everyone dies. This pits them against each other to a point, with fingers pointing and accusations flying until they start to try and solve the mystery of who has had the opportunity to kill. And YOU are trying to solve the mystery right along with them!

The story just slowly draws you in until you are turning those pages to see what happens next...

I'm not going to reveal anything here to spoil it for you, just know that this is a 2 book series. Book 1 ends with 2 people and the killer, and we still aren't quite sure who is who, which leads the reader to Book 2, which starts where Book 1 left off and then a killer plot twist (sorry had to use that) half way through the story and another twist at the end! I did not expect the plot twist in the middle, and then another plot twist makes this a better than average Manga. Plus there's a little opening at the end for possibly another story to come along.

Book 1 is 398 pages... Book 2 is 445 pages. It took me a couple of days to read them both, because I just had to keep reading along. I only bought Book 1 at first, but when I got to the end of it, I HAD to pick up the next book, so be warned you'll want to know how it ends and you can only find out in the next book.

*P.S. There is some violence here, so I would not recommend for very young readers.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi... A Review on the series

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi... Long before there were the Hunger Games there was Battle Royale. It is a gritty, violent, artistically beautiful Manga series based on the original book by Koushun Takami about 42 ninth graders who think they are going on a class trip only to discover that they are the new contestants in "the program", a reality tv show that is fought to the death, with only one student allowed to survive. They are fitted with an explosive collar and given a bag of supplies, included with those supplies is a randomly selected weapon to protect themselves or ultimately kill. Every 24 hours, someone must die or else "Central Command" will kill everyone.

The series spans 15 volumes, a movie and an actual book that everything stems from. It is an amazing series, one that will leave you in awe if you can get through it...

I did not know what to expect when I picked up that first book. The premise reminded me of The Hunger Games, but this is not your Hunger Games... this is more. It is an amazing storytelling feat as well, because even though there are 42 students, you will get an intimate look at each one. The character development is incredible with so many in the story, but there are sub-stories and plots, and in these "mini-stories" we get to know each and every one of those students. 

While reading we experience intrigue, mystery, friendship, love, sex, fear, and anger for the children that must go through this program. The story is gripping and even with the violence, you will need to know what happens next. But it isn't all violence, although what violence is here is brutal. There is an underlying story of friendship and sacrifice. And you become invested in some of these characters, hoping that they'll make it out in one piece.

Some of my thoughts on this Manga...
     1. The artwork is beautiful. The drawings are so compelling and expressive, but this also means some of it is VERY graphic. These children die violent deaths.

     2. Even though these are suppose to be ninth graders, most of them appear to be much older, say 17 or 18 years of age. This would also explain some of the blatant sex that exists in some of the pages.
 
     3. I wouldn't recommend this to young children because of the violence, and even with adults, some of this is hard to take...

BUT, the story is gripping, on the edge of your seat kind of reading. The dialogue is great, the sub-plots are captivating. Should you read this? All I can say is that I could not put this down, but the violence gave me nightmares. I read all 15 books in about a week.

5 stars for the story, 5 stars for the violence.

Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga... A Review of the Series

Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga... Let me just say that this is an amazing Manga series. If you love dystopian fiction, this should be right up your alley. The artwork is beautiful, the story is based on actual history with an interesting twist - it's based on Japanese history of the Edo period, where the Shogun is the leader, but the Shogun is not a man as was the actual history in this series, it's a woman. In Ooku: The Inner Chambers, there has been a terrible Red Pox disease that has taken the lives of most of the men before they reach manhood, so the women are the ruling class in this alternate history and it is such a great story! Talk about role reversal!

There are 9 volumes in this series, so far. It is ongoing, with volume 10 coming out in mid-november. Each volume a little over 200 pages, and filled with intrigue, jealousy, revenge, love, sex, friendship and kindness.The story flows through each volume, following the lives, loves and friendships of the ruling Shogun until that Shogun passes the rule to the next in line. It is story rich in tradition and so full of depth that it's hard to believe that it's a piece of fiction. The characters are alive and the story is moving. I am almost through all nine volumes, only stopping briefly to read my book club's monthly selection.

If you enjoy Japanese history, this is a great Manga series! The dialogue is good, the artwork is beautiful, although there was a section that I was having a hard time telling some of the lead women apart, and the story will hold you captive.

What's so cute about Manga? Let me tell you...

It's Manga Week on Chick with Books and we need to talk about cute. When I first "discovered" Manga, I only saw cute. Big eyes, bright faces, and very stylized. School girls with special powers, etc. Then I saw that there was more to it than that. And as this week will show, there are all sorts of genre of Manga. Wanting to read "real" books, I chose to stay away from "the cute"... but then I discovered some cute that I just could not resist...

Chi's Sweet Home written and illustrated by Kanata Konami... Chi is a cute playful kitten out for a walk with her mother and siblings. She's enjoying the outdoors so much that she gets lost. She can't find her mother! She's terrified & scared and collapses in the grass with tears in her eyes. Along comes a little boy named Yohei, finds Chi all alone in the park, and asks his mother if they can take her home. Well, it looks like Chi's too little to be left on her own, but the Yamada family live in a building that doesn't allow pets... OK, they take her home until they can find a permanent home for her... BUT, no one seems to be able to take her, and Chi is so cute, they end up keeping her and this it about her adventures.

Adorable doesn't come close to this Manga series! If you are a cat person, you have to read this! I'm a dog person, with some cat leanings, and I just love this series! The drawings are simple and the stories and fun. Told through the eyes of Chi, and the way she views things sometimes is hilarious, this is simple a must read.  The series continues and book 11 comes out Oct. 10th.

Yotsuba& by Kiyohiko Azuma... Yotsuba is a 5 year old little girl with green hair. The story revolves around her life with her adoptive father and their neighborhood friends. This is another cute, light and fun Manga. Yotsuba has a beautiful sense of wonder and we experience the world around her through fresh eyes. Everything is new and strange to her. The air conditioner and pizza and a multitude of everyday things. And this also hints to the fact that there is something "different" about this little girl. Where did she actually come from? She does have green hair after all... What these stories of Yotsuba teach us is to enjoy the world around us. This is a charming and heartwarming series that is still going strong too. Volume 12 came out last November, so look for volume 13 soon. Yotsuba is silly, charming and lighthearted. I enjoy reading this series now and then. It's not a "must" read for me, but when looking for something "light and easy" these stories always make me smile.

These light, fun, sometimes silly stories are very popular with a wide audience in Japan. These are not reserved for children, but are appreciated and enjoyed by adults. These types of Manga are a great escape that can simply make us smile.

Happy Manga reading... Suzanne

Memoir Monday and The Princess of Tennis: My year working in Japan as an assistant Manga Artist by Jamie Lynn Lao

The Princess of Tennis: My Year working in Japan as an assistant Manga artist by Jamie Lynn Lao seems like a fitting memoir for Manga week. This is on my TBR list simply because it's an inside look at working in the world of Manga. The book is based on Jamie's blog, www.jamieism.com/.

Here's the book description that Jamie shared with the online book sites...

The true story of one girl-- an American living and working in Tokyo-- and the crazy experience of working in a world-famous manga studio. Based on the blog, "Living Tall in Japan."

Not much of a description, but enough to make me want to quench my curiosity of how she landed that job and how those manga books are created. Jamie's blog posts from before the book was self-published are still there and follow her journey as an assistant without having to buy her book if you'd rather just read her blog. The book is the compilation of the blog posts with editing. Here's a great interview with Jamie from Organization Anti-Social Geniuses .

Ever have ambitions of being a Manga artist working in Japan? You can read how Jamie Lynn Lano did it in her book!

*Tomorrow on Manga Week, we talk about 2 series that will warm your heart...