Short Takes: Dorohedoro, Vampire Hunter D, and A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer

If I were to draw a Venn diagram with three circles — “horror,” “fantasy,” and “things I like to read” — the overlap among these categories would be very small. As part of my year-long effort to stretch myself as a reader and reviewer, therefore, I decided to take a gander at three titles that mix elements of horror, fantasy, and a genre I do enjoy, science fiction. First up is Dorohedoro (VIZ), which is being serialized on the SIGIKKI website; next is Vampire Hunter D (DMP), a manga adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s illustrated novels; and last but not least is A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer (Dark Horse), a Kikuchi prose double-header.

DOROHEDORO, VOL. 1

BY Q HAYASHIDA • VIZ • 176 pp. • RATING: MATURE (18+)

In a city aptly named “the Hole,” wizards — or “Magic Users,” in the series’ parlance — have been kidnapping and performing grotesque spells on unsuspecting humans, killing some and maiming others. Among the few to survive such an encounter is Caiman, an average joe who ended up with a crocodile’s head and a person living inside him — literally. (One of Caiman’s favorite activities is forcing wizards to peer down his gullet to talk to the man within.) With the help of Nikaido, a feisty short-order cook who rescued Caiman from the brink of death, Caiman prowls the city’s slums in search of the Magic User who transformed him into a scaly monstrosity.

Continue reading »

Short Takes: The Apartment, How to Seduce a Vampire, and Otodama: Voice from the Dead

One of the things I love about the DMP catalog is the sheer variety of titles: where else can you find Bambi and Her Pink Gun, Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist, and Selfish Mr. Mermaid peacefully co-habiting? This week, I thought I’d explore some of DMP’s latest offerings, focusing on the bishier end of the spectrum. First up is The Apartment, an adaptation of a Harlequin Romance novel; next on the agenda is How to Seduce a Vampire, a story about a bloodsucking hairdresser and his favorite source of O negative; and last but not least is Otodama: Voice of the Dead, a crime drama about a hot guy who hears dead people.

THE APARTMENT

BY RYO ARISAWA, ORIGINAL TEXT BY DEBBIE MACOMBER • DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING • 128 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)

The Apartment is a prime example of what I call the “tomato, tomahto” romance, a story about two people who discover common ground despite their inability to agree on the pronunciation of oysters, pajamas, or potatoes. In this case, those two people are Hilary, a twenty-three-year-old trust fund girl with an independent streak, and Shaun, a soldier looking for opportunities in the civilian world. The pair unwittingly rent the same apartment, reluctantly agreeing to become roommates until Shaun can find a new pad. Not surprisingly, their lifestyles clash: Hilary, a professional flautist, is neat and likes Rossini, while Shaun is messy and likes — quelle horreur! — country music.

Continue reading »

Devil, No. 1

WARNING! I discuss plot points from the final scene in issue one. I wouldn’t exactly call them spoilers (well, only in the sense that they spoiled the story for me), but if you’re the kind of person who gets antsy when reviewers divulge such details, then I suggest you check out these spoiler-free reviews at Comic Attack! or Bloody Disgusting News in lieu of reading mine.

When I visited my local comic shop yesterday, I noticed the first issue of Devil shelved alongside Alice in the Country of Hearts, Megaman, and Panic x Panic. Dark Horse has been aggressively promoting this four-issue mini-series as a Western comic with an otaku-friendly pedigree, a collaboration between manga-ka Torajiro Kishi (Maka-Maka) and Madhouse Studios (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll, Trigun). I read a short preview online, and while the premise didn’t grab me, the sharp, noirish illustrations did. Curious to see if Devil was more interesting than those first four pages suggested, I bought a copy.

Boy, was I sorry.

Continue reading »

Short Takes: Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Rosario + Vampire and Slam Dunk

Earlier in the week, I examined three manga for the under-twelve set; today, I review three seinen and shonen titles. The first, Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs (VIZ), focuses on the Woofles Pet Store, where exasperated owner Teppei works side-by-side with the ditzy but dog-savvy Suguri. (She’s so devoted to canids that she wears a collar around her neck.) The second, Rosario + Vampire (VIZ), plays like a cross between Nightschool and Love Hina, documenting the romantic and supernatural misadventures of a human who accidentally enrolls in a school for monsters. And the third, Slam Dunk (VIZ), is the sports comedy that put Takehiko Inoue on the map and introduced Japan to the pick-and-roll.

INUBAKA: CRAZY FOR DOGS, VOL. 14

BY YUKIKA SAKURAGI • VIZ • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+) • 220 pp.

Let’s face it: Inubaka has flaws the way some dogs have fleas, from a heroine whose naivete comes dangerously close to stupidity to the manga-ka’s over-reliance on traced drawings of fancy breeds. But Inubaka also has plenty of heart, from its on-point messages about owner responsibility to its poignant depictions of human-dog relationships. In volume fourteen, for example, Suguri once again allows sentiment to trump sense, aggressively lobbying Teppei to mate Noa with Lupin. Teppei demurs, pointing to the large number of unwanted mutts in shelters as a compelling reason to neuter Lupin, not breed him. When Suguri persists, Teppei resorts to an experiential learning exercise: Suguri must find a good home for a shy, abused dog before Teppei would consider a Noa-Lupin pairing.

Continue reading »

Short Takes: Bloody Kiss, Maria Holic, and X-Men: Misfits

This week’s column looks at three recent shojo and seinen titles. Up first: Bloody Kiss (Tokyopop), a romantic comedy about a girl who inherits a house — and two vampire roommates — from her grandmother. Also on the agenda: Maria Holic (Tokyopop), a boarding school comedy with a cross-dressing twist, and X-Men: Misfits (Del Rey), a shojo-fied take on the perennially popular Marvel franchise.

BLOODY KISS, VOL. 1

BY KAZUKO FURUMIYA • TOKYOPOP • 192 pp. • RATING: TEEN (13+)

“He can’t kill me! I have stuff I have to do today!” So says Kiyo, a perky law student who discovers that the house she just inherited from her grandmother is occupied by two male vampires, both of whom have designs on her neck. Kiyo seems more annoyed than surprised by her unwanted house guests; in her eyes, the handsome Kuroboshi and Alshu are nothing more than an impediment to her career goals. The vampires, however, each view Kiyo as a prospective “bride,” or blood source, and endure repeated insults and karate chops pursuing her. When she isn’t squabbling with Kuroboshi and Alshu, Kiyo has a full schedule: she fends off an unscrupulous real-estate developer, takes a job as a nightclub hostess, and makes decorations for a school dance, all while pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer and clearing her father of a crime he didn’t commit.

Continue reading »

Review Redux: Canon, Vols. 1-4

The eponymous heroine of Canon is a smart, tough-talking vigilante who’s saving the world, one vampire at a time. For most of her life, Canon was a sickly but otherwise unremarkable human — that is, until a nosferatu decided to make Lunchables™ of her high school class. Canon, the sole survivor of the attack, was transformed into a vampire whose blood has an amazing property: it can restore other victims to their former human selves. She’s determined to rescue as many human-vampire converts as she can, prowling the streets of Tokyo in search of others like her. She’s also resolved to find and kill Rod, the handsome blonde vampire whom she believes murdered her friends. Joining her are two vampires with agendas of their own: Fuui, a talking crow who’s always scavenging for blood, and Sakaki, a half-vamp who harbors an even deeper grudge against Rod for killing his family.

By the middle of volume two, however, nothing is quite how it initially seemed. Canon finds herself embroiled in an all-out war between full-blooded vampires and half-breeds like Sakaki (he had a human mother and vampire father), as well as an internal power struggle among the undead’s elite. Though she’s drawn to Sakaki — he’s handsome in a broad-shouldered, Seishiro Sakurazawa kind of way — she questions his truthfulness: was Rod really responsible for slaughtering her friends, or does Sakaki know more than he’s telling?

Continue reading »