Manga Books

I really like this series.I was hoping this one came out before Bleach at least here in the US.THis was Tite Kubo's earler work before Bleach.I like the character design, the plot , the characters are very intersting and comedy is not bad at all- about the same as Bleach.
Hope they make this into an anime.

In the first volume of Zombie Powder we learned of the 12 Rings of the Dead, the legendary source of zombie powder which can return life to the dead as well as give immortality to the living. Those who seek the rings are called Powder Hunters. Once such Hunter is Gamma Akutabi, a powerful martial artist with a black metal arm that is a terrifying weapon. Gamma is joined is quest for the rings by his partner, the gun-toting Mr. Smith, and the young boy Elwood. After defeating a group of bandits, Gamma has acquired the one of the twelve rings. We get our first hint at just how powerful these rings are when Gamma puts it on...the rings are literally alive and can suck the life essence right out of the wearer if one is not careful with its use.

The trio move on to another town where a ring is supposed to be hidden. Gamma soon finds himself in a battle with a group of thugs who are chasing down a crusading reporter named Wolfina who has been exposing their crimes. Gamma soon sees she can take care of herself, but has not problem assisting the very well-endowed Wolfina. Wolfina thinks the rings are nothing but myths and admits there is a rumor the local hospital is rumored to hide a ring. This is bolstered by the appearance of another powder hunter, the sinister magician/mass murderer, Baragne Balmunk!

Zombie Powder is an action/fantasy set in modern times that mixes in fantastically outrageous characters with lots of humor and outstanding art. Creator/Artist Tite Kubo's art is very crisp and clean and the action is very easy to follow. The characters really make the book. While Gamma is focused on finding the rings, he cannot help but play hero to everyone who needs his aid. Wolfina makes for a beautiful, sexy, and funny foil for Gamma.

This Manga from the creator of the hit Manga Bleach truly has it all!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

If you like comedy, humor, horror, and action then this title is for you!

I LOVE THIS SERIES. It's filled with heart and emotion and coupled with great artwork. The feeling of vastness and numbness in exploring the endless realm of space oozes from these stories. One begins to realize how small we are in the grand scale of the galaxy. The stories in this volume continue the linear storytelling of mankind's advancements into space exploration, so read Volume 1 first! Great great stuff. I'm surprised this doesn't make it on the top 10 essential graphic novels of all time. I mean, I love Alan Moore and all, but he's not the end all, be all to great comic storytelling - sheesh! Try Yukinobu Hoshino's masterpiece, you'll not be disappointed!

Graphic novels are usually overlooked or thought of as the big brother of comic books, but some of them, stand out as surpassing what can be done in either text or art alone.

The 2001 Nights series is one of them.

Imagine the various yet interconnected Arabian Nights tales mixed with a bittersweet realistic hard sci-fi reality. 2001 Nights uses the anime drawing style to deliver stories of mankind's first steps into space.

Each story is set years apart, at the next logical step in the possible evolution of spacetravel. Some are fairly far-fetched (the Devil Planet, about a world made of anti-matter) while others seem sad and poingant (I am Rocket, where a robot probe is given artificial intellegence and sent out to a neighboring star never to find out that it has become obsolete).

But all of these form a wonderful weaving pattern that should be enjoyed by anyone who likes well written stories.

I love it. It couldn't get better than this. 9 different 'faces' about love, each different in time, location, and form of love. Amazing artwork, it blew me away. I had literally cried in some parts, each love or hurt was so distinct, it brought raw emotions out. Recommend it to everyone. Possibly the best in the series.

Buy this book. This is book 3 of the ongoing series. This series is one of the best out there and shouldn't be missed.

This book is really good and I highly recommend it. The story is more interesting than the other 2 books making me want to re-read it over and over. Overall a great read and worth the buy.

Wow! This has to be the best of Kawai's books thus far. I can't stop reading it! It's amusing how Hamtaro is so hopelessly in love with his owner throughout the book. It's not based on the Hamtaro we know from the TV show, but this book is so much better than any one episode from that series. I'm not sure you can say this book is just for kids either. And if you got either of the previous two hamtaro books, and found them to be somewhat of a bore, you'll find this book to be much more enthralling, especially if you're an older reader like me. ^_^

This series is so addicting! Just when I think the next volume can't be more complex and shocking I'm proven wrong. I love it!

I just finished reading this volume and I am totally hooked. I cannot wait till I get the next volume, which will be in January. After School Nightmare is an excellent title and I would always rate it 5+, no doubt about that and we have go! comi to thank for bringing such excellent titles to the U.S.
In this volume, Mashiro is still struggling with his sexuality and feelings but you will get to see him getting intimate with Kureha. I do feel bad for Sou but I truly believe that he is the one Mashiro really wants and not Kureha. I am not sure what will happen in the next volume but I hope things will heat up between Sou and Mashiro.

Thanks again, go! comi.

I liked the first novel and loved the second. I found the second easier to read and understand but still very compelling. Will definately read it again. I have placed an order for the 3rd book with Amazon and this book series looks to have won a place in my collection.

Ai no Kusabi Volume 2 concludes with more questions than answers. The questions about what led Riki, the leader of Bison, from the slums and into the grasp of the Blondy, Iason Mink, are the focal point of the volume, but as a result even more questions are raised.

The biggest question would have to be the details of Riki's time at Guardian and what happened to him and his "friends" there. Dark allusions to their unfortunate fate are made, but the details about some "incident" that keeps being mentioned are still elusive.

Also is the question about the black maket courier boss Katze's true intentions, though to pose that question might be too much of a spoiler for those who have not yet experienced the volume. Suffice to say, his own slum roots and connections to the driving plot of this volume are curious and more than a little ominous.

I do have to pose an issue, aside from questions, about the nature of Riki's relationship with Guy. It is still unclear how they met, and while it keeps being restated that they are "pairing partners" and trust and devote themselves to one another, anything but that is being shoved in our faces in this volume. Riki continues to drift further and further away from Guy and Guy's lack of presense this time around only leaves us wondering what is going through his head during all of this.

And in case any of that was confusing, volume 2 of Ai no Kusabi takes place entirely in flashback to the time before Riki and Iason Mink ever met by chance on the streets of Midas. As the restless 15 year old leader of Bison, Riki keeps searching for something elusive with almost obsessed fervor. Caught by Iason trying to pick-pocket a tourist, and subesequently let go on a whim, Riki, refusing to allow his pride to be indebted to anyone, forces an encounter with Iason that will forever affect both of their futures.

Iason is cold and calculating, but already by the end of the book we can see his own growing obsession with Riki. It's clear that not only is their chance meeting destined to pull them closer together, but also that this closeness will ultimately result in tragedy for both of them.

If you're looking for romantic bits, you're going to be disappointed, but there are a few graphic scenes in this volume: one frustrating and humiliating incident with Iason and a scene tarnished by that one with Guy (one of Guy's few appearances in the volume).

Again in this volume, as in volume 1, the translation is fantastic. But also again, as in volume 1, the entire book needs a good lookover by a proofreader. The language is so smooth and articulate that seeing simple typographical errors was incredibly irritating and off-putting. The illustrations this time around, with the exception of one image of Iason towards the end that was two pages ahead of where it should have been, actually hit in the right places for the moments they depicted. I'm glad DMP mostly took care of that problem from volume 1 and I hope they continue to pay attention to that detail in the future.

If you're looking through this review, having already read volume 1, knowing where this story is headed and still interested in continuing, the book is worth the read, I assure you. If you're looking through this review considering whether or not to start reading the series all together, I say, yes, please do, but go back and start with volume 1. The story is deep, tragic and so wide-scoping that missing all of the detail contained at the beginning will make it harder to appreciate coming this far.

I've heard of the hype and I have heard of the series, but it's everything I expected and more! Air Gear is probably one of the best and maybe the greatest manga series to ever hit the United States since Bleach.

Itsuki Minami is a fighter for the Eastside and has earned the title Babyface. Though trouble has ensued in their city when local gangs called The Skull Saders beat up, destroys and even kill anyone who comes near them with roller skates on. Now Itsuki must fight, protect and skate his way through trouble in order to get his reputation back!

From the same company who created Burn Up and Tenjho Tenge, comes one of the crown jewels of the `Oh Great!' franchise. Though the story is very well put together, the real problem I had was trying to tell apart some of the characters! One character looks like the other in some scenes and it will make you kind of flip the pages back to see who they are.

But overall the story and characters are original and brilliant! It is a must buy for any manga fan looking for the newest great hit!

Air Gear Volume 1 gets five stars out of 5.

My name is Amone. Adios!

To the previous reviewer: huh? Why'd you whip out a college-level thesaurus to write a review? It's a manga. About inline skating. Seriously, Air Gear is a fun series, and the key to enjoying it is...not taking it too seriously!

Okay, so what's Air Gear about? Like most shounen manga, there's warriors and fights, team matches and techniques and backstories and "getting stronger". Think Naruto. With more skating and boobies. "Airtrekking"is an x-treme sport where skaters wear high-tech skates and then battle in teams for territory and fame. In the first volume, Ikki Minami is a 13-year-old junior high gangleader, the hailed "Babyface" of East Side. He suffers a humiliating defeat by the Stormrider (air-trekking) gang "Skull Saders," who then go on to target the friends and classmates he can't protect. His foster family, the Namayoma sisters,(notably Ringo, Ikki's bespectcled childhood friend)mysteriously reveal themselves as the legendary "Sleeping Forest," assisting Ikki in entering the Airtrek world to redeem his pride. Meanwhile, they keep the true nature of their Stormrider identities sercret. But could Ikki be significant to the Air Trek world in a deeper way than first percieved?...

Oh!Great is an amazingly gifted mangaka, who, like his characters who hope to "fly" in the sky, does not limit himself. He is the rare talent who can appeal to a reader in every conceivable way. In Air Gear, there's comradery and friendship, fanservice that'll get both boys' and girls' attention, great fashion illustrations, and furious action scenes. Few are as skillful at anatomy as Oh!Great, who uses his skating theme to depict the human body with such fluid grace it looks like visual poetry on the page. (great for artists looking for references or inspiration.) There's plenty of hilarious cracks and sexy characters, (male and female), and it's all done with a casual good sense of fun.(Those who are utterly terrified by nudity and crude humor, stay away.)

The story only gets better and better as it goes. Each character is notable in his or her own way, and they each get more coverage in later books as Ikki discovers his own niche in the Airtrek world. The plot flows smoothly, a bit trashy at times, really heart-warming at others, and majorly entertaining throughout. Oh!Great is a master at drawing backgrounds, dynamic figures, and character design, so no worries there. Air Gear is the complete package that just aims be fun and nothing else, so those who have no pretensions about enjoying a great peice of work, don't hold yourselves back.

This is book 4 of the Marvel/Epic Comics colorized graphic novel collections

Is the very good book(if can give that name),thats the artistic triumph.That book are the great story on Japanesse(with all that bad or good pages). I love that ,,book,,

The other review of this book says it all, but why can't I say what I want? ^__^
This manga series is a masterpiece. It's deep and cool at the same time. Now, when I say deep, I don't mean like Serial Experiment Lain or something, you really don't have to pay atteantion to know what's happening and/or get the feel of things. It's super-mondo-cool!
The second installment of the series picks up around where the anime OAV (the DVD) lets off. I won't tell you what happens or where exactly it picks up, read it for yourself! :P
(emoticons are stupid, but funny.)
Read it. Read it now. I don't see you buying and reading it! NOW!

What many people neglect to notice is that the anime was merely an interpretation of the manga; not an animated version of it. Because of this, many think the story ended where the anime did, but is not the case. The anime ends right in the middle of book two, which happens to be one heck of a cliffhanger, leaving many new viewers confused (and even angry). This review was written to clear that up for those who recently watched it.

The first two graphic novels can be grouped in this manner:

-The introduction and the growing friendship
-The trials of each girl

The third is most likely about protecting Yuri, but assumptions is a no-no in a review. During book two, Tomizawa starts giving depth to each of the girls, their emotions and fears being the highlights of the novel.

The art style is Tomizawa's usual-- big ears, no noses, that sort of thing. However, the amount of detail that went into some of the more critical scenes is amazing, and definitely gives the surroundings more liveliness.

As for story, it goes almost without saying that it's full of metaphors, symbols, and plot twists. And like usual, leaves you with more questions than answers. If you're someone who's a sucker for instant gratification, you should probably pick up all three at once.

Book two isn't perfect, however. Since Tomizawa intended to have Alien Nine be without a target audience, he ended up alienating both the younger and older crowds. It feels too kiddy for adults, since the characters are all pre-teens schoolgirls who are drawn cutely. It's also too graphic for children, as partial (but drawn vaguely) mutilation and nudity are in a few pages.

If you can look beyond the cute exterior (or embrace it), you'll find a wonderfully deep science fiction manga that continues the surprisingly twisted story of Alien Nine. It's a must if you want to understand the anime's ending.

this book is very good! It shows many characters that are funny and awesome. I recomend you read it cuz.... IT ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!!!!!!!!

In this book it shows about dark Washu that was created by the genuis Washu herself! Dark Washu is controlled by the evil Dr.Clay. Everyone helps her including Sasami, Ayeka (Sasami's big sis), and much more! This series rocks especially this one ... I COMMAND YOU TO READ IT!!!! CUZ IT ROCKS MY SOCKS =p!!!