[Lightning Star]

Alright, so after posting about Special A, I began to think of how perfect it would be to share about all the secret gardens in the manga world. I know of quite a few that aren't as popular as Naruto, Bleach or Death Note, yet are just as quality. Though it may be easier to find fan service for the later, it's always good to keep an open mind and have diversity.

So my first review for today is: Soul Rescue by Aya Kanno

http://comicsmedia.ign.com/comics/image/article/752/752162/soul-rescue-20061221034100324-000.jpg

"When angels are supposed to epitomize all that is perfect in love and mercy...where does a rogue angel fit into it all?

Renji is one of heaven's most powerful but overly violent angels. As punishment for going too far in the last great battle against the demons, Renji is banished to Earth...His mission? Saving 10,000 souls! But for an angel who's never known anythiing outside of fighting, there maybe nothing in Heaven or Hell that can save him..."

from the back of Soul Rescue Vol. 1

I've been eyeing this pretty piece of work for a couple of weeks, and I finally decided to get it. The action is intense, the artwork is beautiful, the story line is captivating, and the side kick is hilarious. Though the artwork is somewhat Shojo-ish, the manga can be suited for either guys or girls.

Rating: 8/10

[Laharl]

yay manga thread :P

i'll start off with Gintama

http://libsyn.com/images/sesho/gintama_1.jpg

Artist: Hideaki Sorachi
Publisher: Viz
Genre: Comedy/Sci-Fi/Historical
No. of Volumes: unknown

Back Cover:

Nobody with naturally wavey hair can be that bad

The Samurai didnt stand a chance. First, the aliens invaded Japan. Next, they took all the jobs. And then they confiscated everyone's swords. So what does a hotheaded former samurai like Sakata "Gin" Gintoki do to make ends meet? Take any job that comes his way, even if it means losing his dignity....

Sleazy alien moneylenders, monsters on the rampage, and a ticking timebomb may all be in a day's work for Gin, but a drop in his blood sugar level means trouble for everyone!

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I got into the manga of Gintama after watching the excellent anime, the manga loses none of the quality, its side splittingly hilarious, the art is great and the characters are genius, Sorachi is an excellent manga-ka. I believe 3 volumes have been released in the US and the scanlators are upt o something like volume 7 and the raws are annotingly up to volume 21

Rating: 9.5/10

[Folcon]

Here is a good one, its called Pantheon High

http://comicpants.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/pantheon-high-cover.jpg

Back cover

Welcome to Pantheon High, home of the Fighting Chimeras, divine league basketball champs two years running. Keep at 'em, Coach Hercules!! As a demigod, you'll get the best education a child of Greek, Norse, Japanese or Egyptian divinity can receive here at our Los Angeles-based campus. You may have heard prophecies or seen visions of a great doom looming over the school, but the End Of All Things is no excuse for Tardiness and absences will go on your permanent record. The challenges at a school for demigods are great, but if anyone can face them it's the students or...Pantheon High!


Basically the story revolves around a school for kids whose parents are gods, and they all have powers or talents that relate to their parentage. Namely, it focuses on a group of four; Grace, daughter if Tyr, the Norse god of war; Yukio Takahashi, son of Benten, Japanese goddess of Luck, Love, and the Arts; Aziza El Ra, daughter of Ra, god of the sun and ruler to the Egyptian pantheon; and my personal favorite, Griffin Pierce, son of Hades, Greek god of the dead.

Volume one basically introduces the characters and their powers, but as far as I have seen, no other volumes have been published yet.

I give it a 7.5/10 because subsequent volumes are not out yet, that I have found.

[Arkarian]

Woot, there may not be enough space for them all!!!
Firstly Yokohama kaidashi Kikou
http://images.stage6.com/channel_images/yokohamakaidashikikou/096f134738f3bfb26e7facbeb7fb68cb.jpg

It's set in a twilight age of mankind, most technologies are dying out as are the people who use them, the sea level is rising and new plants and animals are appearing. Small communities make up the bulk of human habitation. The story follows the life of a robot known as Alpha who was left in charge of a small cafe in the absence of her master. Wonderfully done, it relies on imagery more than conversations to build the worlds setting, sometimes not a single word will be used in an entire chapter.
Unfortunately as far as I know the series, 14 tankoubons long, hasn't been translated though scanlations do exist.

[Laharl]

next up: Shakugan no Shana

http://www.kingscomics.com.au/catalog/images/prodimg/img5772.jpg

Artist: Ayato Sasakura, Yashichiro Takahashi
Publisher: Viz
Genre: Action
No. of Volumes: unknown

back cover

Saving the World is easier than falling in love

Yuji Sakai is beginning what he thinks will be another boring year of school. But everything changes when the world around him stops, the surrounding people are engulfed in blue flames, and doll-like creature begins sucking them up! Before Yuji suffers the same fate, a young redheaded girl with a sword appears and saves him. Yuji is drawn into the struggle between these creatures from another world: the Crimson Denizens and the girl Shana, called Flame Haze. He too, has a crucial role to play in the conflict, despite the fact that... he's dead!

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there really hasnt been much released of the manga (despite the anime being on its second series), volume 2 has just been released recently and volume 3 is on its way. As for volume 1, its a strong opening volume, good action scenes, some funniness at the school and some interesting plot devices brought up. Really looking foward to future volumes (when they eventually get released >:[ )

Rating 9/10

[Arkarian]

Next up a manga known as 3x3 Eyes
http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/3x/3x3ecog3.jpg

Author/Artist: Yuzo Takada
Publisher(eng): DarkHorse
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Adventure, Romance
No. of Volumes: 40

Cover of magazine issue 3 of 5 (volume 2)

A monster work spanning 1987-2003. The story is about a man named Yakumo Fujii who becomes the immortal slave of the last of a species of immortal 3 eyed beings. This immortal, named Pai, saves his life by making him immortal, they then begin to travel together as Yakumo Fujii attempts to find a way to become human once more. Many obstacles beset them including Pai's split personality and a variety of other malignant beings intent on acquiring Pai's immortal existance.

I've only read the first 5 volumes or so, so I can't vouch for the rest of the series but with between 10-15 chapters per volume you can be sure of a long read. The series has been translated into roughly 10 languages (apparently) so appears popular elsewhere. The story does not skimp on violence and Yuzo seems to take delight in detailing the poor Fujii's various plights. Fujii can go through a lot before going down (being eaten at one point, with the chewing and everything) but he manages to get back on his feet as it where. So if you've a stomach for it and can find it have a gander.

[Laharl]

next: Last Fantasy

http://www.theempire.com.au/images/2006-03-03/Last%20Fantasy%20Volume%201.jpg

Artist: Creative Hon and Yong-Wan Kwon
Publisher: Tokyopop
Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
No. of Volumes: 5

Back Cover:

Drei von Richenstein and Tian, two unlikely heroes, embark on an adverture filled with excitement, intrigue and a bit of comic relief! They have quite the talent for making allies iinto new enemies. Their (mis)adventure pits them against ferocious ogres, vengeful red dragons, an army of soldiers and even an age old rival. But leave it to Tian and Drei to make sure this adventure isn't their Final Fantasy...

In this laugh-out-loud parody of all things RPG (and we dont mean "Really Powerful Guys"), no gaming franchise is safe!

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Very funny, a hilarious mockery of all things RPG, such as the main mage's character's inability to cast anything other than fireball, i've only read volume 1 because i havent been able to track down the others, but they have been released, if your an RPG/Fantasy fan and up for a laugh then this is essential!

Rating: 9/10

[Arkarian]

Another one this one's called Pretty Face
http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/images/articles/prettyface1.jpg

Artist/Author: Yasuhiro Kano
Publisher: Viz Media
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Shounen
No. of Volumes: 6 (3 translated so far)

Magazine cover from Japan chp. 9

A martial artist known as Randoh Masashi gets into an accident and destroys his face. He wakes after a year in a coma to find the worlds best plastic surgeon has reconstructed his face into the only identification he had on him at the time, a picture of the girl he's secretly in love with, Kurimi Rina. Randoh tries to return home only to find his families gone away, Kurimi Rina finds him and mistakes him for her lost twin sister Yuna, Randoh decides to find the real Yuna while trying to keep up the appearance that Yuna has indeed returned home.

A silly love comedy with all the usual piffle; nosebleeds pratfalls and mistaken loves gallore in this relatively small series. Well worth it for the comedy moments.

[Laharl]

the thread lives!

Yotsuba&!



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Yotsuba_vol1_cover.jpg

Artist: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: ADV
Genre: Comedy/Slice of Life
No. of Volumes: 7 (ongoing)

Back Cover:

School's out for summer, and Yostuba's out her mind! She's new in town-she could veery well be new to the planet Earthand with no knowledge of the world around her along with an unnatural fear of air conditioners, this green haired gal has her neighbourhood spinning out of control!

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i love this manga, its so funny, follows the adventures of overly curious charismatic 5 year old as she explores her new neighbourhood. Its really well done by an excellent manga-ka in KiyohikoAzuma (Azumanga Daioh). up to volume 5 has been released in english and i've read and loved all of it, definately one of the best comedies put there

10/10

[Lightning Star]

[color="#9933cc"]Hah, the loveless one made me think of the the shounen-ai/neko-boy manga. But from the cowboy hat, I don't think its the same one :P

Anyways, new one for the ladies (if there are still any on here... ._.)

name: Silver Diamond
Artist: Shiho Sugiura
Genre: fantasy/action
Rating: T

http://www.popcultureshock.com/wp-content/uploads/manga/silverdiamond1.jpg

Back cover: Rakan is a lonely orphaned teen with an unusual attraction to flowers and plants. Chigusa is his surprise guest, who arrives mysteriously one day out of nowhere. Together, these two uncover secrets about each other--including the fact that Rakan may be a special prince who Chigusa insists on protecting at all costs! From master storyteller Shiho Sugiura, comes a unique tale of adventure and emotion as two unlikely friends try to get used to new surroundings...and to each other.

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MY synopsis: Okay, so the back cover makes it sound so freakin girly, it's not funny. So it is a little girly, 'cause of the emotion. The main character, Rakan, cries in the first volume. But it's not like, annoying uber feminine girly boy cry, it's like "Oh my god you just got shot in the chest and you're really special to me" cry. This kind of reminded me of fruits basket, but even better, because Sugiura has a way of creating characters that you can't help but love. None of them are annoying, they're all unique, and because chigusa and and Narushige are from a different world, their reactions to things like the alarm clock (a wailing, crying creature) and an oven (a fire breathing creature of death) are hysterical. And when Rakan hugs Narushige, and Chigusa walks in, he just automatically walks up and puts his arms around them all, thinking its just a morning ritual, a thing that humans normallly do.

This is definitely one that I would say the chicks should check out, and guys, if you don't mind a little bit of hinted shounen-ai. I'd say the comedy is well worth it. I'm surprised Tokyopop didn't classify it as comedy, it's freakin hilarious. But on the other side, there's a lot of action and blood. I can't count the number of times Chigusa gets shot. Okay, so the guns are made out of plants, but you'll have to just see the story why that is. It's really not uber girly like it seems.

The only con is that it goes a little slow. Unlike Naruto, which I can finish a volume in 10 minutes, this one takes time to get through, and I've put it down once or twice to go do something else. But seriously, that's the only flaw.

I'd give it a 9/10