Words Of Truth And Wisdom: The Spoilery One
Written by Alethea and Athena Nibley

NOTE: This column contains a spoiler concerning TOKYOPOP's volume 17 of the manga Fruits Basket (currently up to volume 20), so if one has already read that far, the contents herein should not contain plot-spoiling information. As usual, the column also contains words of truth and wisdom, and was processed in an environment that also processes peanuts. Any readers allergic to truth and/or wisdom and/or peanuts may wish to continue with caution. ...
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Death Note Collector's Edition Hardcover v1
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Each company has its own share of Essentials, titles you must own. VIZ is no different, having a few more Essentials than your typical manga company. I would have to go through my books and past reviews just to think up of a dozen titles, but off of the top of my head I have Read or Die, Nana, Naruto (even if I don't read that title I still think it's Essential), Full Moon O Sagashite, Shaman King, BoBoBo-BoBo BoBo-BoBoBoBo... BoBo-BoBo Bo... (That...
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S.A. v6
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

This new volume of S.A. is quite a lot easier to follow than the previous one (at least for a reader in my position, with these being the only two volumes I've read), something it manages by simply having fewer of the characters around. It centers mainly on Hikari's efforts to keep Kei's family from forcing him to leave their school and study abroad, although she's still incredibly unaware of her own feelings for him as anything but a rival. It's...
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The Gentlemen's Alliance † v7
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

In return for a business loan of 50 million yen, the prestigious Kamiya family gave their daughter Haine away to the Otomiya family. Haine, now an Otomiya, is appointed to the student council of the exclusive Imperial Academy, a private school for the aristocracy. Even though Haine is of proper lineage to be on the council, she finds herself struggling to find her place among the many secrets of its elite members, especially those of the president...
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Seven of Seven v1
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

There's just gotta be a limit to what can and cannot be called a "Romance" title. Some sort of guideline or rule set or something where you say "this is a romance" and "this is not a romance," and despite the fact that we have a main character in love with a guy in this title, this should NOT be considered a romance by any stretch of the term... though I don't think my Editor will allow me to list it under genre "Comedy/Fan Service..." maybe until...
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Vampire Knight v1
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Vampire Knight (from VIZ's Shojo Beat line, one of my favorite lines from VIZ) is certainly a romance... that doesn't make it a title I'd recommend, but it's a romance. Behold! In a world of vampires and humans somebody has made a school that is split into two worlds of "light" (day) and "darkness" (night)... and no, there's no room for a Xavier or Dumbledore reference since while they had their viewpoints on humans and mutants/magicals, they never...
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Sand Chronicles v3
Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane

The third volume of Sand Chronicles in split into only two chapters, which take place during the summer and autumn when Ann is 16. As she heads home to Shimane for the summer vacation, Ann is looking forward to seeing her boyfriend, Daigo, for the first time in a few months; on the other hand, she also feels irrationally guilty because their friend Fuji unexpectedly kissed her right after the last time she and Daigo saw each other. The combination...
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All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku One Shot
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Ah, nostalgia strikes again. Yeah, whenever I come up with a review from my past you'd become worried that I'll once again wax poetic on the title. Here's one title that I enjoyed when the first OAV series came out... for about the first half of its run, which ended when the second half came out and it was less spunky and cute and more fan service and... whatever. Gosh. What the hell happened. Didn't help any that I got excited again with the coming...
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Times 2 (X2) One Shot
Reviewed by David Rasmussen

Ah, love. According to this VIZ one-shot, "When you're in love, life feels like it's multiplied Times Two (x2)"… I wouldn't know anything about that since I'm not that kind of reviewer (who is). But one thing I do love is a good romantic comedy, or a good romance with humor… which is a romantic comedy. Or a good sho(u)jo. I like that too… yeah, I don't know why VIZ continuously drops the "u" in Shoujo. Go figure. A gathering of five short stories...
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Mushishi v4
Reviewed by Joy Kim

Ginko is a mushishi, an expert in the primordial life forms known as mushi. He does not have any unusual powers of his own, aside from a tendency to attract mushi and to see them while some others cannot. As he travels around Japan, studying mushi-related phenomena, he draws upon his wits and logic to help those whose lives have been affected by mushi. Volume 4 of Mushishi offers five more stories about Ginko's journeys. As with previous volumes...
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Words of Donald and Goofy: Cosplay
Written by Alethea and Athena Nibley

This time I think we'll talk about a different kind of translation: cosplay. You may ask, “How is cosplay translation?” And I would answer, “Because when you make a costume of an anime character, you translate their outfit from a two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional real outfit.” And then you might say, “Oh, I never thought of it that way! That's kind of neat!” Or you might say, “...right. Whatever. (Weirdo.)” But either way, that's...
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Spotlight: Hunter X Hunter (The Conclusion)
Written by Barb Lien-Cooper

Previously, on Spotlight: http://www.mangalife.com/features/SpotlightHunterXHunterPart.htm We now return... to Spotlight Volumes 6 and 7: We Don't Need Another Hero, We Don't Need To Know The Way Home/All We Want Is a Life Beyond The Battle Tower Hunter X's creator is also the creator of YuYu Hakusho, and these volumes are where it starts to show. Now I've never read YuYu, but my husband got me hooked on the anime. I bring this up because...
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