Kia Asamiya Books

This is the start of a great series of comics. Kia Asamiya at his best with a very intriguing Star Wars volume. Just imagine a Japanese Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Jar Jar Binks. Kia also captures the enemies such as Darth Maul and Darth Sideus. With the podrace beginning at the end, it just begs you to get the next one! -Sideus

This is the start of a great series of comics. Kia Asamiya at his best with a very intriguing Star Wars volume. Just imagine a Japanese Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Jar Jar Binks. Kia also captures the enemies such as Darth Maul and Darth Sideus. With the podrace beginning at the end, it just begs you to get the next one! -Sideus

I love manga, I love Star Wars, so it goes without saying that this is a perfect combination. The Storyline is followed great in this two part set of graphic novels and I love the animation used. Most of the characters I think were well dipicted. It was really neat to see them in a whole different style. I highly reccomend this to anyone interested.

I found a copy of this a while back at this little comics store near where I lived, and read it. I liked it so much that I started to search for one of the autographed copies, which I just recently purchased. Kia Asamiya's art is incredibly detailed, the story is rich, and this makes a wonderful addition to anyone's collection of manga. Dark is formidible while being adorable at the same time (I identify with the lack of directional skills!), and all of the other characters manifest traits that make them just as interesting. Buy this book!

I really liked this series it will make an excellent addition to any manga fan's collection! It's a great fantasy/action series. Dark (the main character) is a young swordsman in training who ends up becoming the phantom-saint of the red phoenix, but in order to be accepted as a true phantom saint he must arrive in Oukoku in a short amount of time, being helped by his spirit-guide Kyo. Too bad Dark has no sense of direction, and he keeps running into dangerous people on the way! It's a great story, with great artwork, and keeps getting better! Plus this is the original version! If you liked Lodoss War, you'll luv this too!=)

The graphic novel/comic genius of Asamiya has earned him fans of previous Dark Angel manga fantasy graphic novels, and this, covering Leen's Destiny, continues the story. Familiarity with the prior novels will lend to an appreciation of this ongoing story of Leen, the Phantom saint of the Blue Dragon who battles evil. The comics are in black and white, the action is unrelenting.

This is a very simplistic series of books. I must admit though, that the simple feel of the manga makes the series more enjoyable. Sometimes I grow tired of wading through the heavy and more realistic titles out there. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of anime and manga, but every now and then it's nice to stop reading a mental buster and pick up something more light - kind of like the difference between Gerald's Game and Harry Potter ~_^

Some people find "Steam Dectives" to be a bit too simplistic, considering other works from Kia Asamiya. However, one must remember that this manga was created for his son, and really is made to be one, enjoyable romp. The main character builds model trains and cars; this is supposed to fun for the most part, not deeply psychological.
Also, if you're not one for the art, then by all means, just don't read the manga. I for one, adore Asamiya's art. Also, if you pay attention, he simplified his usual style for this series, to give it a more cartoony feeling. The big buttons everyone wears are even a salute to "Inspector Gadget," where he was an inbetween animator.
The characters are wonderful. Narutaki is a great hero. Showing bravery where'd you expect a hero to, but then every so often we're suddenly reminded that he is, after all, just a young boy. Ling Ling might be a bit on the weak side for a few people, but I've gotten rather sick and tired of kickbutt female sidekicks. And Le Bread and Lang Lang are just cool villains. When you have a villain dressing like the Phantom of the Opera, with a sidekick nurse who believes death is the best solution to pain, you've got a great rogue gallery set up.
This isn't for everyone, I'm sure. But this series is great for someone who wants to sit back, and just enjoy a pleasant read.

I like the whole idea of the steampunk genre but it's SO hard to execute, and so I was really hoping alot when I took a look at this series, but, it was really [bad] and didn't make anysense and I thought it was so cheezy that even a little kid would be disappointed by this.

This is a very good book. I got it hoping for something to last me a while, but it was so good I read it in less than 2 hours. A very good bit of mystery for the young reader. But I suggest parents look over this in a book store before sharing with children because of a shower scene. It's not explicit though. It doesn't show anything really, but it may offend some parents.

Steam Detectives suffers from the simplicity of its stories. Although it's not quite on the Scooby Doo level of simplicity, it's not nearly far enough above it. The villains are of the masked variety, with nonsensical schemes and goals. The steampunk--high technology based on steam power--setting is interesting enough (if derivative, considering the recent wave of steampunk stories), but it's really wasted. It's not so much that the stories here are bad; rather, there just isn't enough to them.

The art can either save this book or harm it. I've never been a big fan of Kia Asamiya's artwork--the noses of his characters are just too big for their faces (in length and width), and it doesn't appeal to me. Steam Detectives doesn't suffer this nearly so much as other stories (Silent Moebius, for one), but the artwork is also simpler and more stylized. My recommendation: click on the cover art to get a larger view of it. That's what the art looks like, except the book is black & white. Some people love the look of Kia Asamiya's artwork, so take a look at it and decide.

As seen in the cover picture, she will experience a trauma of great horror that will scar her body for the rest of her life. It shows how powerless the hero really is to save.
But aside that, the story's still is a bit of a take it or leave it and jumping in on the third book without the preceding ones will loose yourself in the narrative. Check out "JUNK~" if your interested in a "what if~" super hero that takes in the real possibility of the selectee being a vindictive punk.

This manga is similar to the Guyver, however there is a twist. The twist is the fact that the main character faces the decision of how he wants to use his new ability. Unlike other stories, where it is determined that the main character uses their powers for good. This manga is worth the investment and is very intriguing.

Pretty Maniacs' second volume again follows the exploits of young Miss Shinano (the younger sister of Maniac Road's main character Takezou) and her quest to honor the otaku spirit by keeping her high school's manga club alive.

That's not so easy as her all-girls school is about to turn co-ed by merging with an all-boy's academy who just so happens to have their OWN club... one with more members and a charismatic reader.

But all is not lost, Shinano even gets her own devoted fan... in the form of an effeminate kohai (younger student) who isn't too adverse (maybe he's just that weak willed) to get the male members of the manga club to dress up in cross-play for an all-boy maid cafe for the school festival. There's even a sequence at the Maniac Road with appearances from Haruna, Aoba, and Isuzu (the three aspects of female fandom from the first series).

The art and flow is just about the same ole Kurihashi goodness, so no complaints there. My only wish is the the insulated stories had as much insight as the previous volume, let alone the originating series, Maniac Road.

All in all, a decent book for fans of the series, and worth a read in it's own right, but not without going through the rest of both this series and the previous series (Maniac Road) as well.

Shinano's all-girl school prepares for a shock as it merges with an all-boys high school. Even as female students have visions in their minds of yaoi love affairs, Shinano's manga club faces a more practical concern: the boys school also had a manga club and in typical male chauvanist fashion they think they have first dibs on the facilities. While trying to strike compromises with the boys, the two groups must come up with what they want to do at the school festival. One of the funniest bits of the book is when Shinano and Isuzu break a full-size hand-crafted anime character statue and must do everything in their power to piece it together again. And we all know what happened to Humpty Dumpty. And when Shinano and company attend a special event for one of their favorite anime shows, they're in for the shock of their lives. Another funny part is when the manga club comes face to face with their favorite anime voice actresses and find them wanting.

The best thing about Pretty Maniacs is that if you read it and you are an anime and manga otaku, you feel as if you're reading about your own life. I've been a fan of Kurihashi since the previous series Maniac Road, and I hope there are more manga out there of this quality. The art is well-done and NEVER grows cluttered or hard to follow. All the lines are clean. The characters are great within the context of a comedy comic, but you shouldn't expect complexity from a book like this. The only complaint about Pretty Maniacs is that there is only one more volume after this.

DARK ANGEL really caught me off guard. One minute you're in a fantasy world of babes and barbarians and suddenly you're faced with WWII tanks and armor-clad superhero types. The best part is that none of it really matters because it's all such fun.

Asamiya is able to combine many disparate elements and blend them seamlessly into a pretty straightforward narrative, and that's no mean feat. His art, as usual, is stunning.

DARK ANGEL 4 is an excellent read.

Mangaka Kia Asamiya, the creative mind behind Silent Mobius and Nadesico, seems to have hit his mark again in the latest volume of his Dark Angel series, continuing the adventures of angelic warrior Dark (yes, that's really his name) and his cute fairy companion Kyo.

Sidetracked from his quest by the abduction of Kyo and the theft of his sword, Dark must get both back. But he can't do it without getting past a group of mechanical thieves known as the Gairana. And Dark can't complete that task without the help of a rag-tag team of fighters with old scores to settle. As the battle ensues, Dark's hidden power awakens and it will change the warrior for better or for worse.

For the manga newbie, the left-to-right format of this version of the manga is a breath of fresh air. For the manga buff, this book has enough riveting plotlines and manga archetypes to keep you happy; enigmatic heroes, ridiculously powerful foes, cataclysmic battles, and sexy heroines who can't seem to keep their clothes on. While it's fairly easy to pick up and read, the manga suffers from one major drawback-there are sound effects on nearly every single panel of every page, which not only prove annoying but distracting. And those with an untrained eye may miss a few details in all of the action. As an added treat, the manga also features a seven-page cover gallery where Asamiya's stunning artwork shines.

All in all, Asamiya fans know what they're getting here, and they won't be disappointed. Those who are into manga in general should give Dark Angel a try (Starting with Vol. 1, of course).

We are all dreamers. Every one of us has yearnings, aspirations, or fantasies of becoming people that we will never be or doing things that we will never do. Isn't that one of the primary reasons that we read comic books, to vicariously live through another and experience a moment or adventure that we ordinarily would not? Most of these are innocuous, innocent diversions that allow us to escape our humdrum and dreary everyday lives. But what would happen if someone took this to an extreme, and were actually able to physically become the person and object of their desires? This is exactly what Batman is about to find out. At the heart of this cautionary tale are the dangers of dreams turning into obsessions, and what a nightmare they can be. The epic scope and feel of it is reminiscent of a Jeph Loeb Battale, replete with plenty of rogues, or "faux foes" in this particular case. Part of this story centers on everyday people who want to be the Joker, Two Face, Catwoman, even Batman himself. Who among us hasn't dreamed of that? The plot is intriguing with a futuristic angle to it, complete with the final classic confrontation between Batman and his mysterious antagonist. Blade Runner, anyone? This was the first manga book that I had read, and the differences to American comics were negligible, the most obvious being the black and white artwork, which helped give it a more serious and noirish tone. The writing, although somewhat exposition filled, was highlighted by witty dialogue and quality characterization. Yuko Yagi was adorable as the driving catalyst of the story. Kia's unabashed adoration of Batman and his character as expressed through Yuko and the rest of the players is a pure joy to behold. There is a moral to this story, and while we should heed Kia's warnings about dreams and obsessions, life is just too damn short. Dream on. Dream until your dreams come true.

I first saw this at a Barnes and Noble here in town, and like a previous reviewer, got hooked by the story while perusing the pages. I enjoy manga and anime in general, but it was still a bit of a shock seeing the Dark Knight's world drawn like this. But once the story gets going, I didn't even notice the different style and readily accepted the presentation. Some have complained about the story, but I found it interesting enough to plow through the book in one night. Considering the length of the graphic novel, it was a bit of a feat. It is a fascinating international take on Bats, and if given a chance, could turn into a favorite for many fans.

Kia Asamiya is perhaps one of the best Japanese illustrators out there. His legend is revered in his home country. With the great interest of manga in the American culture, it was only a matter of time before hot shot name would undertake the works of a classic character. Taking up Batman, however, was going to be a challenge.

The Bat is an extremely dark character that revels in the night. Though the Japanese don't have a problem with dark themes in the likes of Vampire Hunter D or even Akira, seeing crisp, clear art depict that darkness was going to be a challenge. Asamiya, howver, succeeds in creating and weaving an intricate, though maybe superficial at times, story that pits the Bat with a crazed fan(atic). The story moves from Gotham all the way to Japan and showcases most of Batman's rogue gallery. Though, unlike the great detaila nd plot of the Long Holloween, the characters are not really into the plot of the story and don't play a major role to advance the story. The most lost potential happens when the Joker meets up Batman to help him find the major villain of the story. That scene just fizzles and does not peak much interest.

Like most manga, the story is very laid down with no major surprises. Unlike Ameican written or themed comic concepts, manga does not challenge the reader. A great read and a nice story, though not a major contributor to the great Bat mythos.

While I don't think this is the best Batman storyline out there, let me explain the five rating. I like manga. The art is so fantastic, the characters so detailed. Asamiya is a fantastic artist. He draws the Joker so well. By giving the Joker a wild smile, yet with grimacing eyebrows, Asamiya portrays the character as a homocidal lunatic masquerading as some harmless clown. That is exactly what the Joker is. When Manga doesn't always connect with dialogue, the amazing thing is that the art itself is a form of characterization.

The eyes, the lines, the perspective, are all elements of drawing that can add an effective element to creating a character. In a comic book, you have visual aids to help you picture the character. In America, I think the dialogue and writing are superior; however in Japan there is little question that the art is superior. The characters, by their mere appearance on the page, lend some insight into what lies beneath the character in a metaphysical sense. That is how good the best manga art is.

However, the story itself is a very interesting, and creative one. Someone has the ability to recreate Batman villains at the genetic level. Due to the havoc it wreaks on the body, however, the "villain" mummifies within two or three days. Who is behind this strange development?

Someone who is utterly obsessed with Batman! Someone who takes the saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" to the next level: He wants to become Batman!

The art is just so well done, and the story is pretty darn good, too. If you want to experience Batman in a new, and interesting way, and you are a manga fan, I recommend this book.

Criteria to produce manga:
1:All foreigners (ie. non-Japanese) must be represented by drawing inordinately (almost comically) outsized noses.
2:There must be a scene involving the heroine in the shower/female nudity (possibly with "sensitive" areas obscured for those sensitive Western readers.)
3:America must be portrayed as a utopia of pop culture and global trendsetting.
4:America must be portrayed as an ultra-dangerous urban hell.
5:The story should have minimalist dialogue.
6:The story should contain soundeffects for even the most trivial of actions (eg.the shuffle of a skirt on a seat,the sound people make when they want to sneeze etc.)
7:You should,it seems,stay away from Western comic book heroes.
The problem with Kia Asamiya`s take on the Batman myth is that it just isn`t Batman.It looks wrong,for a start.While the author may cite Jeph Loeb as an influence ("The Long Halloween"),perhaps taking his cue of giving Bruce Wayne a rather Roman profile as a character trait,Asamiya turns it into a caricature.
While Two-Face may look like a fair approximation of the classic villain,he doesn`t sound like a stilted public-schoolboy/half baked philosopher in any of the stories I read before this.
While any new take on The Joker is more than welcome (stop using him as a miniscule cameo character,DC people!) he never spoke in the polite stiff and overly mannered tones of Asamiya before.And isn`t the point of The Joker that he`s supposed to be funny?Hideous,but nevertheless funny?
And that`s just it.Kia Asamiya wrote "Child of Dreams to introduce/reintroduce Japanese readers to Batman so it`s not the Batman we all know and love.What works in the West doesn`t always work in Asia and vice versa (just look at "Batman:Hong Kong").I should know,I live here.A fair apportion of blame must rest with the translator (who if his blurb is to be believed really should have done better).
Perhaps Mr.Asamiya thought he was being terribly clever and postmodern but at the end of the day this was a misjudged attempt that just doesn`t work.

This was actually pretty decent. More in the Bubblegum Crisis mode, except extradimensional sorcerous aliens, not mutated androids. Same sort of deal, but a fair bit more teamwork and experience on the AMP - funny name, insurance company fights Lucifer Hawk aliens. So, a touch of Lovecraft, a chick with a much friendlier version of Stormbringer, some dead ghostly parents, and a super strong aggressive cyborg cop, well, probably because those are de rigeur. I'd read the others if I stumbled across them, no problem.

Ok I haven't read the manga but I saw the anime. Now I am an action fan so that's why I gave it such a low score. I thought the story line was dull and characters were only 1d (meaning not to realistic) I would say shut up with crud and just do something else. If your someone who doesn't like the fighting and like people sitting in their beds conplaing this is your manga.REMEMBER: this whole review was based on the anime but in less the manga is completely different I would rate it the same. So I say zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

I like this book, but the art was very crowded, making it difficult for me to tell what was going on. It was hard to discern which character was which, but I sorted it out eventually. This is a wonderful series--I just wish the art wasn't so complex.

Silent Mobius was one of my first Graphic Novels. I recommend it to everyone interested in Manga. If you're just getting into it, Silent Mobius is a good start. If you've been collection Manga for a while and you're into Science Fiction, pick up Silent Mobius. It's a good series. I suggest you start with Vol. 1 and work your way up, it's easier that way.

Silent mobius has good art and real good characters. It lost one star becouse it the story line lacked a little but over this is a good novel and is worth picking up.

I like seeing bad guys go good once in awhile. And here it actually makes sense. The story keeps me entertained and although people seem to be going crazy over it I'm enjoying these stories alot. Anyone on to volume 3!

Ok, Chuck Austen had his moments. He added some interesting ideas to the X-men cannon. The secondary mutation thing was quite well done, except for iceman whose secondary mutation was something he could do for ages only he couldn't do it anymore. Ne clearly didn't do his homework. The highlight of Austens run was his turning juggernaught into a good guy, it really worked.
The basic plot is that a bunch of similar mutants club together and set to become the dominant mutants species. In this case it is wolf mutants led my Maximus Lobo. The idea is that mutants will divide into wolves and angels etc. seperate species based on thier powers. interesting enough but it is underdeveloped here. Insteaed we get wolverine taken out like a novice to show how dangerous these mutants are and then Angel proving he is as hard as wolverine, by hitting silly wolf mutants over the head with a stick. He should have thrown it and said "fetch". Its just badlyu written, fortunately Austen does know how to pace his stories so the reader is swept along without too much thought, until after.
The art is pretty ugly, rough edged manga inspired drivel. actually thats a bit harsh it is clear and the story is easy to follow.

These issues contain some very poor characterization, plotting, dialogue and art. The story involves extremely uninteresting mutant werewolves, who, defying logic, are involved in Warren Worthington's corporation. The characters do not act like themselves. They are completely changed to fit the plot and to add unneeded melodrama to the story. The dialogue is embarassing to read and the art does not flow with the story.

Popular opinion says that Draco is Chuck Austens worst Uncanny XMen arc, which is saying alot since his whole run has been terrible. But the truth of the matter, according to me at least, is Dominant Species is his worst. Vaguely defined villains (are they werewolves, are they mutants, both?) take over some office building that Warren Worthington owns. Its really as exciting as the premise makes it out to be. Its terrible. Bad characterization, nonexistant motivation, and poor artwork to further obscure any sense of whats going on (for some reason fog takes the place of backgrounds through most of the arc, which makes even less sense because as i said it takes place in an office building).

If you want to read good X-Men stories go read some of Grant Morrison's New X-men books, or go read Essential X-Men 1 and 2. This crap by Chuck Austen gives the X-Men brand a bad name.

This is the story where Austen really shows us what he can do. It seems as if he made it this bad on purpose.

Essentially, his point is that groups that mutate similarly have to stick together for some reason. And he illustrates this point with a group that has no personality whatsoever. Aside from Maximus Lobo, not one of them says anything that they aren't just repeating.

And as if it isn't bad enough, there's Kia Asamiya redesigning the costumes. It's like being stabbed immediately after someone shoots you in the lung.

These costumes are bizarre. Lorna's has two sets of black wings (one on her head). Archangel's has a red loincloth.

If a copy falls from the sky, I still say that you should set it on fire immediately, and be glad.

Or, simply put: DO NOT READ.