Manga Books

Volume 14, which happens to be one of my favorite volumes starts with the Budokai tournament being completed. The volume revolves mostly around Negi , Chisame, Chachamaru, Kotaru, and Ako. After the tournament is over Chisame wants to learn more about what happened at the actual tournament and after having conversations with Chachamaru it is revealed to her that Negi is a wizard, but she is not the only one who drew to that conclusion as Haruna also finds out too. This volume also includes the date between Ako and Negi (as the cover gives that away) as well as a bit of history behind Ako. The volume has includes 2 Pactio's cards being created and ends with Asuna finally having the courage to ask a certain someone on a date. It's Negima at it's best, what are you waiting for get this volume now!

Note: Recommended for fans of Negima. Newcomers do yourself a favor and buy/read the series from Volume 1-13 that way you will understand why this manga series is so awesome.

The adventures of Negi Springfield continue. It is day two of the Mahora Festival. The Budokai Martial Arts Tournament is over, so we get away from the action that characterized the last three volumes, and we get into the realm of romantic comedy. Negi uses his time travel device to live through the day more than once, in order to spend time with several of his students. A lot of time is spent developing the character of Ako Izumi, who we previously didn't know too much about (that's her on the cover with the blue/purple hair). Ako is in love with Nagi, who is Negi after he makes himself look older. Then Negi spends time with the Library Exploration Club. Two of these girls are in love with him, which leads to romantic comedy complications, of course. It's all very cute and funny, and I found this to be one of the most enjoyable volumes of this series.

For awhile now Akamatsu-san has given us adventure but this issue returns back to romantic comedy for our 10 year old little hero. Good thing he's only 10 because if he was just a bit older with all these girls swooning after him this would turn into a hentai book pretty quickly. I know I would do something if I was in his shoes! Also Akamatsu-san does beautiful work on the women! Really good work ;-)

Now that the Budokai Competition is over, Negi Springfield is doing what he does best -- helping his students, and brooding about the message his father left him. The fourteenth volume of Ken Akamatsu's is slower and more character-driven than the volumes preceding it... call it the calm before the storm.

Ako has had a massive crush on "Nagi Springfield" (an artificially aged Negi) ever since she saw him. But he accidentally shatters her self-esteem when he walks in, and sees what she's most ashamed of -- and before Ako knows it, her entire day has been destroyed. So it's up to "Nagi" to repair the damage he's done, reversing time and and giving Ako the best date of her life...

But Negi also spends time with other students, such as the tea-serving robot Chachamaru, feisty dog-boy Kotaro, and the embittered technogeek Chisame. But things get even more complex when Haruna and Chisame reveal that they know Negi is a wizard, and Yue's growing crush on Negi -- whom her best friend Nodoka also likes -- comes out into the open. What's more, Takahata moves up the time of his date with Asuna...

After all the fighting of the Budokai, it's nice to see Akamatsu isn't neglecting his characters. Though a few hints of Chao's sinister activities are still here, most of this volume is devoted to some of the less prominent students at Mahora, and Negi's ongoing efforts to make them all happy.

While there's some fanservice (the mass spillage at the tea party), Akamatsu spins some unusually poignant, un-comedic stories -- Ako's belief in her ugliness and insignificance, Negi's meditation on his father's prerecorded message, and Yue's struggle not to "betray" her friendships. Don't worry, there's still plenty of humour -- one chapter starts in a particularly funny manner, with Haruna showing a full-length comic page showing how she could torture her friends for hiding wizardry from her.

Akamatsu's usually slapsticky, detailed art takes on a simple beauty when we see things like Ako examining her scarred back, or Yue and Nodoka hugging in the flooded Library Island. And fans of gorgeous men will enjoy the sight of Negi and the Inuyashaesque Kotaro roaming Mahora as mature young men.

But the character development in this one particularly belongs to the students, who are explored in more depth. The antisocial Chisame gets shown in a new light in this one, as does the increasingly emotional Chachamaru, and the shy, unhappy Ako -- who looks at herself in a new light thanks to Nagi. Even the gung-ho witch-nurse Takane shows some new dimensions.

The fourteenth volume of "Negima" could be considered a calm spot of character development and friendly fun, right before things explode...

So this is it. Volume 14. I've been waiting for this one since I bought all thirteen volumes in one sitting way back in February. This one's by far the best yet, and it's got quite a few twists in it.

The story begins with Negi finally escaping from the Budokai tournament and just wanting to have some peace and quiet. First, he has a brief conversation with Ku:nel about Nagi, then Ku:nel disappears and Negi heads over to Chachamaru-san's nodate. He's ambushed there by Class Rep and the others who watched his matches- and there's plenty of fan service here, including some neat little panty shots from Class Rep and the others. The paparazzi is after Negi, though, so he ends up taking one of Chamo's age candies to escape. Problem is, Chisame now knows that Negi is a wizard!! Like Asakura, however, she agrees to keep Negi's wizarding a secret. The rest of the first part details Ako Izumi's concert with Kugimiya's band, and her cheer-up date with who she thinks is Negi's "cousin" Nagi, but is actually the "older" Negi!!! The second part begins with quite the shocker: Haruna has found out about magic and Negi being a wizard, also!! She attempts to pactio with Negi, but couldn't, due to the fact that Chamo hadn't drawn the magic circle yet. (FYI Haruna actually gets her artifact relatively early on in the actual anime series, but this manga only briefly mentions Negi pactio-ing with her.) Not only that, but a deep and dark secret is revealed- one that might threaten to tear two best friends away from each other for good...

This one's more of a romantic comedy compared to the past four volumes, in which the Budokai tournament takes center stage. Nodoka's cute as always, and Akamatsu's at the top of his game with some quite humorous moments involving spilled tea. An excellent way to continue the series; I must say I'm quite addicted now. In fact, I'm reading volume 14 as I type this!! =)

Enjoy!!

~andy~

I will keep it simple and just say i really enjoyed this book. The art style is diffrent and sweet. I love the girls big cute shoes and the beautiful backround settings. I really don't think a manga/anime fan could be dissapointed with this book. vibrant pages of cute anime girls with their own names and bios make this book a pleasure to add to my collection.

I have NEVER regretted Buying This! The art style is so unique and cute. There are alot of Loli-pictures but its good for refrence material!
There is one naked girl pic in a Artclass Setting. Its not drawn in a offensize way. Theirs also quite a few girls wearing dress shirts and (...). Its still a very good Artist and Worthy of Buying~ !
Please Buy this and get Kao Yun's book too! (

I love this one of the whole entire series. I love the way the artist make characters about it and how they draw the characters. Now only if they could make a show based on this..........

i find this to be the best edition of this series so far. Not only does it have far less fan service, the art style is ver original. I love the beatiful art in this book and could look at it all day. Do your self a favor and pick up a copy.

This is by far the BEST of the New Generation of Manga Artists series. It beats them all in terms of originality and charm.

The best quality I consider in this book is Renga-san's use of backgrounds. He uses up most of his canvas in a majority of his pieces with city scenes (something I'll always have trouble with ^^;;) or images relating to the character's personality (like my favorite, a cute girl with stereo equipment).

As for the characters, most of them are girls (one or two boys are thrown into the mix). The design is very unique and appealing, especially with the big eyes; the lines up close are pretty rough, so if you're sensitive about line quality, you might not be satisfied...however, I'd say they are far from unprofessional. As I mentioned with backgrounds, Renga-san does a lot with bringing out his characters' personalities; there's bonus profiles of some of them in the back of the book.

Unlike most of this series, there's no exaggerating body parts in this edition. There is quite a bit of unnecessary underwear scenes, some so random you wonder why they're even there.>__o;; Only about three of them are near provocative. All in all much tamer then the previous artist books.

I still love this book after 2 years...still use it for reference. It says in the back comments that Renga-san might consider doing another book in the future, and I would be happy if he did. He already has a nice portfolio site (http://rengaworks.hekatoncheir.net/). Anyway, highly recommended book for any budding artist!=D

This has got to be my all-time favorite manga. This book has seven stories, some of them continuing the one before it. Each story has a good plot, and the artwork is so cute ^_^! Don't buy this just because Fuahno and Misaki are on the cover, though. They don't appear in the Manga at all. This book is one that you can read 500 times and you're not sick of it. I had a horrible cold last year (I could barely move) and I read the Sasami story at least 35 times before I could stand up again. If you think you know Tenchi Muyo, and You don't own this, you're wrong.

Oddly enough, I bought this as my FIRST manga in the series. I've seen every episode of every Tenchi series, and even two out of three movies, and this book is so good!! It's a book of 7 various stories. All seven stories are worthy of the name Tenchi Muyo, and all are very cute! Being a RyokoXTenchi fan, I loved 'Powerless', and also Washu-Chan being my favorite character, I also enjoyed 'Washu the Sleuth', and 'Petty Annoyances'. Yume has got to be a new favorite, and the only thing that got to me, was Neither Funaho, nor Misaki were in the book, *pouts and points to cover* But over all, this is now one of my favorite books. Also, you will see a familiar face in 'The Ferrous Chef', *smiles*

If you are a Tenchi fan, you will love this manga! It also portrays the characters perfectly! I found page 16 particularly funny, *snickers*...

This one is cute and pretty funny. It's constant with the TV series and doesn't go off-course with the character personalities and remains readable throughout the entire book. Buying it was pretty much worth it. It's entertaining.

The gangs all here in the 8th book of the No Need For Tenchi Serise! Yume comes to visit Washu at Tenchis Grandma's place and all heck breaks loose. Also Sasami goes to Tokyo in a cooking compition. This book is just a wonderful!!!!!!!

Chef Of Iron is the eighth graphic novel of the No Need For Tenchi series based around the first Techi anime series. It contains seven chapters telling five stories. In chapter one, Tenchi starts behaving oddly, so Washu starts spying on him. In chapters two and three, a laboratory mishap leaves Ryoko without her powers. In chapters four and five, Sasami competes in Iron Chef style show. In chapter six, we get a few thoughts about the world of Tenchi through yosho's eyes. And in chapter seven, Yume returns for a trip to the hot springs. This is a must read for any Tenchi fan and actually deserves five stars, but I took one away because the cover shows characters who don't appear in this book

I know I know, this is one of the most sugar sweet manga series there is out there, but I just can't help myself. My heart just melts for the sweet Belldandy. In this volume Keiichi must race against an American couple to win money for his broke motor club. The race is quite interesting especially when Belldandy passes out from using too much of her energy. Also the motor club finds the Shinden a plane prototype thatw as made for WW II, but never made it to the air, but with Keiichi's help its dreams will come true. Also, Demon first class Mara makes her first appearance using Sayoko in a plot to foil whatever the goddesses do. The most interesting story in the book is the title story. Urd makes a love potion that she intends to give Keiichi and Belldandy, but Tamiya makes her drink it, Then she is falling into any guys' arms who metions cherry blossoms. Weird but wonderful stuff. kono manga yonde kudasai!

Easily the best of the first three Goddess books, "Love Potion No. 9" is another fun-filled escapade through the world of Belldandy and Keiichi. As always, every character is designed with care -- even the despicable Sayoko has her own special charm. This ability to give each character individuality is Fujishima's greatest strength, and it's what sets him apart from other manga artists.

Every chapter in "Love Potion No.9" is delightful; Fujishima's gentle but wicked sense of humor can be found sprinkled throughout the pages. Urd's lovestruck rampage is simply wonderful, as is Belldandy's reaction to Sayoko's videocamera voyeurism. (I'm not saying anymore about it!) And of course, just wait until you get to meet the S&M club ...

This graphic novel contains five stories in the popular "Oh My Goddess" series. The life of Belldandy and Keiichi continues to be explored with a powerful new foe to interfere in their life together.

The first tale is about Sayoko and Aoshima's attempt to discover Belldandy's secret. The second tale is slightly longer and deals with Keiichi and Belldandy racing as a team for the Nekomi Tech Motor Club in an off road race. Meanwhile Aoshima attempts to prevent them from winning. The third story covers Aoshima's attacks on the Nekomi Tech Motor Club by opening his own club and destroying their club house. Belldandy discovers a buried Shinden experimental plane from WWII which the club must repair in time for the school festival.

The fourth tale has one of Urd's love potions backfiring on her with humorous results. The final tale is a longer one and introduces us to the demon Mara. Mara is out to prevent Urd and Belldandy from doing as they please on Earth and her target is Keiichi.

Bottom line: Another good graphic novel that is a must-have for OMG fans. The intoduction of Mara as a powerful foe to the goddesses is a good one.

Fujishima sensei's artwork is incredible! He has a deft touch with humor; presenting some truly risque things in a gentle way -- making you see the humor even as you agree with the characters' shock. There are some sweetly sentimental moments tucked away in these amusing tales and you'll enjoy each and every one. From here on out Dark Horse dutifully follows the original Japanese manga so if you want to find out where this story is taking you, you better start buying!

In this, the second volume of "Oh My Goddess", Keiichi and Belldandy participate in a big race, Keiichi and his motor club pals must repair the airship 'Shiden II". Urd also experiments with a love potion with silly results. And we are introduced to the evil Demon.

The book contains "Oh My Goddess" Part I issues four and five, Part II issues six, seven, and eight, and "On a Wing and a Prayer" and "Love Potion #9".

As usual, "Oh My Goddess" has a undeniably charming cast of character. Belldandy is the cutest, kindest Goddess around, and Keiichi's timid nature only makes "Oh My Goddess" even more charming. Even Urd, who is is constantly trying to get Keiichi and Belldandy in bed, never got on my nerves.

The pace for the plot is great, espcailly in "The Secret's Out" and "What a Miracle". Suspense is involved, and the plot unravels quite well. "Love Potion No.9" didn't have that degree of storytelling, and it didn't need it. Instead it focuses on humor and choas.

In this volume, we meet Mara, the demon goddess, and Sayoko's desire for the elimination of Belldandy are revealed.

Anyone that enjoys comedy and is looking for an easy to read manga, marked with beautiful art, should get themself's a copy of "Oh My Goddess!". It's not as charming as the first one, but who cares?

Eiichiro Oda, One Piece: The Oath (ViZ, 1997)

It's time to conclude the Baratie storyline-- or is it? The pirate who got himself a free meal in For Whom the Bell Tolls has turned out to be a member of Don Krieg's crew-- and Don Krieg has just returned from the Grand Line, giving Luffy some much-needed information while he continues trying to recruit a cook for his crew. Meanwhile, interesting things are going on in the chapter endpieces (the "Buggy's Crew: The Aftermath" bits that you thought were just Oda having some fun doodling) that could end up having major consequences as time goes on. One Piece is as strong as ever. ****

Awsome,funny,exciting,insterting,what else can I put for it?All I got to say is...It was the funnist book I've ever read!!!!!!It was amazing!!!!!!It was soooooooo...GREAT!!!!!!!With a capital G-R-E-A-T!!!!!!!I couldn't stop smiling of laughter!!!!!"Nami,my love!!"(quoting Sanji.)that's soooo funny!!!!!I think Sanji is the funnist person in the book!!!!And he also loves another girl named Roxxanne?!!!!Ah,come on!!!!!What a ladies man!!!!!!!Also,Zolo was really brave and couragess agiants Mihawk.I'm surpriesed.He wasn't even afraid to die!!Now that's courage!!!But man!!!!!Sanji is the best!!!!!!!I reapet:Sanji is the BEST!!!!!!!!With a capital B-E-S-T!!!!!!!!Ok,I'm done.

This book is very good I just can't stop reading it, every page is cool. It has a lot of action and twists and turns to keep one your feet. I think this is the best on so far!

I can sum this up in one word: kewl. It starts out with Luffy's employment as choreboy to the Barate Oceangoing Restaurant and then the appearance of Don Krieg, leader of 50 pirate crews. He prepares to challenge "Red Shoes" Zeff for his logbook of his travels at the Grand Line, when suddenly a mysterious new character appears, the world-renowned Dracule "Hawk-eyes" Mihawk. Zoro has been waiting his entire life to defeat this man, and so he challenges him to a duel. I won't spoil it, but you have got to get yourself a copy of One Piece: The Oath. Luffy only uses two Gum-gum moves - Gum-gum rocket and giant scythe - but the swordplay is unbelievable. Zoro displays several of his best moves, Onigiri Demon Cut, Tiger Hunt, and Three Sword Style --- Secret Move Three Thousand Worlds. Make sure to pick up a coupon before you buy this manga!

Picking up from where vol. 5 left off, vol. 6 of One Piece finds the Staw Hat crew aboard the ocean restaurant Baratie, where Luffy has to work as a bus boy after injuring the head chef with a rogue cannonball.

Honestly, the Baratie arc is one of my least favorites, as there's not much variety in the scenery and the battles become very dragged out. However, vol. 6 contains a host of important plot points that are essential reading. Don Krieg, the villain of the arc, is introduced. He's one of the few villains who doesn't use devil fruit powers, and instead relies on technological weaponry. The other new pirate is "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk, one of the seven most powerful pirates on the ocean. His honour duel with Zoro is the centerpiece of the volume, and further develops Zoro's motivations while just being a really cool fight. Finally, during the chaos Nami steals the Merry Go (Going Merry) and takes off, setting up the next storyline in the saga. Oh yea and Sanji, the next Straw Hat crew, is also further spotlighted. There's a lot going on here, making vol. 6 worth picking up.

I've been a long time fan of the Peace Maker Series and I was looking forward to the release of the fourth book when I came back to America. Book Three left off at probably one of the most climatic moments I've seen an any manga I've ever read so I was extremely disappointed when the book never came out. I would love to know of a way for ADV to hear my and probably other people's complaints of not releasing the book. If anybody has any ideas post their comments for a review of this book

ADV Manga has been inconsistent with publishing licenses it obtains from Japan. They obtained the license for "Taimashin" a great 11 volume manga series. I bought Vol 1 and waited for Vol 2 with anticipation. The publish date came and went, and my order went from preorder to backordered. I searched Froogle in vain. Finally I found a posting on a Manga forum saying ADV Manga had quietly dropped Taimashin. Quiet indeed. Now I see the same thing happening with Peacemaker Kurogane. If you check, you will see that Amazon shows this title was published in Aug 2005. And now you will see that Amazon.com says it will "normally ship within 4 to 6 weeks". I am not holding my breath. This is exactly what ADV Manga did with Taimashin. I have written ADV Manga to express my concern. I have received no reply, and I still see no sign that Peacemaker Kurogane Vol 4 will actually be published. I encourage all fans of the series to write ADV Manga and express concern.

I agree with the other reviewers. I love the series Peacemaker and was looking forward to the release of the fourth book. But alas no such luck. I ended up canceling my order for the book I placed in September after 2-3 delays. For people thinking about buying the book and waiting the 4-6 weeks you should wait to see if the book will actually be produced (check the ADV website) or until reviewers say they got their book.

I'm really disappointed that it hasn't come out (just like everyone else) The series is WONDERFUL. I think it's really nice to see a samurai series written by a woman, and personally, I think all the deeper emotion insights is amazing beyond belief. Plus, who can say no to that artwork? It was the reason I picked it up in the first place!

But also in regards to the series in Japan, I looked at Anime News Network, and saw the release dates for the volumes in Japan. Vol. 1 to Vol. 2 was a 4 month gap, but Vol. 4 to Vol. 5 was a 13 month gap, Vol. 5 having come out in March of 2005. Has the series ended with 5 Manga? Or is it longer then that? Has Chrono started a new series? Or has she just lost the momentum for this series?

Still, the Manga is fantastic, please read Shinsengumi Immon Peace Maker before though, otherwise the story is really hard to make heads or tails of. You end up just kind of ignoring vital information because you hope it will be explained later on. (I know, because I found out only recently about Shinsengumi Immon Peace Maker)

So please, read it!

I preordered vol. 4 of Peacemaker Kurogane about 6 months ago, still haven't got it (and received no delay notification from Amazon either). So I agree with the reviewer above that ADV most probably dropped the series halfway. Ah well, the tragedy in Peacemaker Kurogane doesn't hit as hard when you haven't read the previous series and learned to love the characters.

Another good addition to the peach girl series. Though the books seem to be getting progressively less realistic, they're still fun.

Peach Girl #6 is one of the best books in the series. I got it before I got Book 5, and 4, and I still understood it!

It begins with Momo, waking up in a hotel room with Goro. he tells her they did the deed, and she doesn't believe him. Meaniwhile, Toji is runnning to the rescue. And MEANWHILE, Sae is there for the whole thing. I won't spoil it for you, don't worry! This volume is VERY dramatic, with a LOT of TLC from toji to Momo, and a LOT of unbelieveable things Sae has done. You will NOT BELIEVE how complex her plan was. This book may not be for everyone. It has some verbal profanity, and at the end there's something....distasteful. But the end is a super-duper cliffhanger....But it's an amazing book!

Momo wakes up in a hotel room to find herself naked and with a man...and not just any man (certainly not her own man Toji), it's Goro, beautiful boy, model, and boyfriend of Sae...and it looks like he's gone all the way with her. As if being taken advantage of is bad enough, but suddenly the door burst open and in comes Toji, Kiley, and the school nurse Misao. Toji attacks Goro for all its worth and Misao comforts Momo, who doesn't know if she has lost her virginity or not but feels ashamed nonetheless.

At Misao's home Toji admits that he and Sae were in bed together kissing, but it stopped when he realized that she wasn't Momo. Kiley brings up the fact that it all seems too convenient, Sae being in his bed and Goro trying to bed with Momo. He believes they were the victims of a set up and decides to launch the ultimate revenge on Sae...to give her a taste of her own medicine, with Toji and Momo's help.

This manga just slipped from teen rating into adult, in my personal opinion. I mean, come on, a friend tries to get revenge on her friend by convincing her boyfriend to date rape her? And what's worse, in order to get back at her they hire an actor to make her think the same has happened to her? It seems that this is not something that Momo would go through with... I mean, sure she might get her revenge, but not by making Sae think she had been raped... just as she had for a while... Overall though, it's still a very good read, but this scenario made it fall a little short of perfect, in my opinion... I still plan on reading the story, but now I feel as if I need to expect the plot to be unbelievable, whereas it seemed entirely plausible before.

In the last volume you were left off with Momo waking up in a hotel room, not knowing where she was or how she got there, and finding Goro (a super hot model that is head over heals for sae: a vicious copier of Momo that only tries to steal every happy thing in Momo's life). In this volume, Momo is scared to death at the thought that she might have been "deflowered" by Goro. With the help of Kiley, they figure out that Sae is behind it all. Kiley has thought up a clever plan to get revenge against Sae, and all works out fine until something very wrong happens. I won't give away the ending but this is a book you surely don't want to miss.

When we last saw Momo, she woke up naked in supermodel Goro's room to him asking, "Are you happy Momo? I gave you what you wanted." In volume six of Peach Girl, the big question is, Did he or didn't he?, then What to do next?
As Toji runs to Momo's rescue, he luckily runs into (or rather, is run over by) Kiley and Nurse Misao. Putting aside the immediate question of why are Kiley and Nurse Misao driving together at 1AM, they rush into the hotel room where Goro is holding Momo, and the drama begins. With help from Misao's words of wisdom and comfort and Kiley's conniving brain, Momo and Toji are able to piece together what has happend during the night. Once the stories are cleared up, Kiley is at his all time best, pointing out that when dealing with Sae, head on approaches are futile; the best way to deal with her is to take revenge.
This volume of Peach Girl is full of more drama than comedy. However, the comedy made me (literally) laugh out loud. There is some verbal profanity in this volume, so some more sensitive readers may be offended. The sexual references that are common with Peach Girl are discussed frankly, including a shocking yet funny image of Sae closing the story. All in all, this is the Peach Girl you know and have come to love, only this time Miwa Ueda is not holding back.

Peach girl is one of the sweetest manga I've ever read.
Having gone through many of the same issues with lost love and back stabbing friends I found myself really bonding with the main character Momo.
Every teen girl should pick up a copy as their next manga must have!

The amazing series continues in the original Japanese format! I don't want to spoil what's goin on but this is my favorite manga series of them all as a great cheesy teen romance that keeps you hooked right in the story! I highly, highly, highly, recommend this manga and I'm pretty convinced if you buy it you'll enjoy it.

Peach Girl is my favourite of all manga. It has such an intersting story line, interesting characters and AMAZING art. Miwa Ueda has real talent for showing emotions throw Japanese Anime. I have volume 3, and have read one and two, and I could read them back to back, over and over. I can't get enough!

Momo has had a change of heart. Despite the fact that she had lingering feelings for Toji she has moved on and is now in a relationship with Kiley, the man who helped her through all of her prior romantic grief. Things are not as wonderful as they should be though. Momo's former friend (and enemy) Sae is on the warpath, trying to insinuate herself into Momo's life again by supplanting nasty rumors about her and Kiley, while rubbing into Momo's face that she and Toji are dating.

To make matters stranger there is a bizarre interlude with Nurse Misao that has left Momo skeptical about Kiley's feelings. When he says Misao and his older brother used to be an item is he really telling the whole truth? And what's worse, why does he have an old photo of a woman that may be Misao and him? And who is the strange girl that Kiley is meeting up with in the bookstore in secret?

I'm so happy, "Peach Girl" is back in all of it's angst y goodness. And this series proves to be better than ever. I am so utterly excited that not only are Momo and Kiley dating (finally) but that we now get to have an insight on who Kiley really is...and he seems to be much deeper vessel than we formerly gave him credit for. This playful individual has a dark side and a past and now that Momo is getting to know him better we finally get to venture into that side of him. Joy. On the other hand Toji has diminished into the shadows, but I am certain he will resurface, most likely whenever Sae plans something nasty on Momo.

Fans of Peach Girl rejoice... the second series is as good as the first, thus far.

Momo and Kiley are together! Kiley remains a true Wily-Kiley with his interest in Momo, but he definitely shows his sweet-side throughout the book. And, as always, he's the character which makes the comic funny and worth reading. Sae takes a back seat in this volume, appearing (I believe) only once, but we find our villain when Kiley's old girlfriend shows up...and appears ready to reclaim him. We learn some of Kiley's past in this volume, and also get a deeper side to him, as well. This Volume will leave you craving the next, seeking resolve to the many new mysteries which surface in this book. This volume (and in fact, the entire series) is probably one of the most re-readable. I frequently pick it up and read it all again, unlike some of my other manga, which is good one time through, then gets old.
This volume is written in the original right-to-left format. The benefit of this is that none of the artwork has been flipped, or altered. The downside is that, if this is your first encounter with this style, you will most likely get confused and dizzy trying to figure out the order by which to read the panels (but don't worry, you get used to it after a few pages or so, and there is instructions in the book).

My over all impression was this was hilarious. The fact that the premise of the story was "To be the evil president" maybe behind it. Be ready to fall down laughing at some point. The art was great (though chests look odd to me). There was good interaction between the characters with more than one couple in the story. There were several graphic with somewhat explicit scenes. Also be sure to look under the dust cover and the end dust cover book flap. :)

This one reminds me of Waru, not the plot but the tone. Fast paced, amusing with laugh out loud moments, certain scenes outrageous, this Yaoi is one very enjoyable read. I like both the "goody-goody" President, Mutsuki, and the caring Torri. They are very compatible, their romance sweet. The various supporting characters are equally refreshing, Mutsuki's sadistic brother, Matsuki's love struck chauffeur, Torri's 2 crazy brothers, the cool mysterious lawyer, all spicing up the delightful, hilarious and whacky plot. The sex is tastefully drawn, with well defined muscular bodies, which I appreciate. I love this mangaka's artwork, which is most distinct and lively.
I will certainly look up more from this mangaka with her own very distinct and unique story telling and artwork style.

Mutsuki is the young president of a family business; he is a good president, but his late father wanted him to be an evil president, and Mutsuki had sworn on his father death bed to maintain the promise. But now, ten years later, he is still a good boy, and every time he tries to do an evil deed, he chickens out. More, he also suddenly faints. One of this time he is rescued by Torii, a younger man, but with more confidence than Mutsuki. And when Mutsuki tries to seducing Torii to do an evil deed, he ends up seduced himself.

The graphic is interesting, pretty original and different from others I read. The male characters are decipt in good detail, even if Torii is a bit to like Mutsuki's brother, sometime I confuse the two. Actually the graphic is the main interest in this manga, since the story is pretty clear and not very much more than what I wrote.

There is a sub story that is also quite interesting, among Mutsuki's brother and the chauffeur, but I think it would deserve a bit more of space. In the end then, the author lets us see some more details on Mutsuki's lawyer.

All in all I'm happy to read this, the love story is sweet and romantic.

I have to say that the previous review hits all the right marks, my only "but" in this story is that the brother and love interest sometimes looked the same. And the chest muscles were hilarious... literally: " (___) (___) "!!! The plot is not that interesting or original, it contains the usual plot twists and turns: kidnappings, jealous siblings, etc., but the characters are endearingly funny. The chibis are just too cute, and the "President's" attempts at committing evil deeds are just hilarious! This is something to read when you feel like laughing, and it is a nice add to my BL collection.
I will now look out for other works by this author.
By the same author:
Ruff Love

I have been a fan of Tamaki Kirishima for a while now. Most of her work, and I wish there was more, has not yet been licensed in English. It's worth seeking out through fan scanlation sites. Snap this one up while you can. If, like me, you are a fan of yaoi with salary men, you will not be disappointed.

Her artwork is a little different - no flowers or girly ukes here. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, though. She moves effortlessly between the erotic and the comic. And speaking of the erotic, the artwork is refreshingly graphic - no blank spaces or Ken-doll bodies in Kirishima's work. The side characters and sub-plots are also engaging and leave you wanting more.

My only quibble is with the translation. I was able to read the first two chapters as fan scanlations before this project was licensed, and the fan translations caught more of the subtleties of the original. But if you haven't read the prior translation, you probably won't be bothered by this. As I said, the differences are subtle. In all other respects this is a superior edition - a must-have for any yaoi collection.

it was entertaining to say the least.

not a 'WOW' but not a 'suck' either. it probably deserves a 3 star, but when i think of all the utter crap that is out there... this one ranks pretty high in comparison. (there are not many books that warrant the whole 5 star rating)

I love Youka Nitta's "Embracing Love" series. It is one of the top 3 hard yaoi series available, and is more or less a straight up romance. This, however, is not so simple. At first, I was a little off-put. The minister isn't very likeable, and the diplomatic storyline really requires attention. A person actually has to read this manga carefully to follow along. Not because of poor translation or misplaced bubbles, but because the language is that intricate. I quickly realized this could be Nitta's best work. The artwork is her typical high standard, with clean lines and well defined backgrounds. The men are attractive (and look suspiciously like Iwaki and Katou;), and undeniably male.

Nitta obviously did some research for this title. The conversations between the ambassadors are clever and have a lot of innuendo and hidden meaning. The story revolves around a young up and coming diplomat. There is a vicious rumor that he uses his body for negotations instead of words. However, readers learn that he truly is a brilliant diplomat. Those rumors aren't completely off-target though. He is hiding a scandalous secret - just not that! When another young diplomat, who happens to be the brother of his fiance, learns his secret he seduces him. And then proceeds to play mind games with him throughout the novel! This is what makes him not so likeable. However, the minister has demons of his own that make him crave destruction as much as success and he needs someone to love him. And I loved how Nitta shook up the traditional yaoi roles. The young diplomat is the seme but it's the minister who's obviously in control. Delicious.

The interplay here is fabulous. The sex isn't as frequent as in "Embracing Love" but it's actually a little more graphic and surprisingly crude at one point. These two men are having an affair that could destroy them. And they know it. They are complicated characters in a complicated plot. Nitta includes a note at the end that this was intended as a stand alone, but she loved the characters so much it will continue. Phew..boy are we lucky! I would have given this more than 5 stars if I could. I hope volume 2 comes quickly. Highly recommended!

Shiraishi is a young diplomat for a Japan's embassy in Thailand. Here he has the change to work with Yoshinaga, a very young diplomat whose genius and political ability helped him to make a fast career. Yoshinaga is also Shiraishi's sister fiancee, even if the engagement is more a interest bargain than a matter of love.

When Shiraishi sees Yoshinaga in a night club kissing another man, he has puzzled feelings: he is angry for a man of Yoshinaga's level to be so open in public, but he is also worried for his family and sister. So he corners Yoshinaga and pretends some explanations to a scandalous behavior. Instead Yoshinaga justifies all his unethical moves due to the context and moreover, he kisses also Shiraishi and soon after they start an affair, putting also Shiraishi in an embarrassing position and bonding him to not reveal anything otherwise he will put at risk also his career.

Between Shiraishi and Yoshinaga there is a strange relationship: obviously they are very attracted from each other, but both Yoshinaga than Shiraishi seem not willing to give up their career for love; on the contrary Yoshinaga has no intention to break his engagement with Shiraishi's sister, and Shiraishi seems right with having an extra marital relationship with him, betraying not a mere other woman, but his own sister.

The story is pretty complex, the graphic detailed and rich; this is, according to the author, only a first volume of several others, even if the American publisher released it as a one stand volume.

I have read a couple of Youka Nitta titles but I can say that this one is my most favorite. Both main characters are hot and sexy that I couldn't get enough of their love time together. The sex scenes are hot and juicy, though they are not as frequent as her other books.

The ending was left open and I am so, so happy that the mangaka decided to continue this title and hopefully the second volume will be out soon. I can't wait!

great art and, above all, a great story! definitely a must have for all yaoi lovers!