Manga Books

This series surprised me. At first glance I thought it would be just another boys-in-love story. Happily it goes much deeper than that. Our main characters, Georges and Robert, had a rocky road from the beginning and its getting bumpier. Yes, we know they care for one another. Yes, we know they belong together. Yet there are outside forces testing them every step of the way. I think that only enhances the story, which keeps getting better and better.

I am eagerly awaiting the next volume(s)!

La Esperanca may be labeled a yaoi novel here on Amazon and by publisher's June Manga, but it certainly is not. It's defintely more of a shonen-ai, but this doesn't really matter to me as the storyline of the series has kept me glued all the way to this treasured volume. Poor Georges has been putting up with the memory of Robert's old love Grace now to the point that it is effecting all areas of his life. It has come time to push for answers, especially when he has come to the realization that his feelings for Robert has him emotionally conflicted and finding it hard to function physically. "A different kind of love": it's that thought that keeps the characters, and me, in limbo that builds to the upcoming final book. I can only hope that the ball doesn't get dropped in the last book as many series tend to do in my opinion by rushing conclusions. As always the artwork is gorgeous in this volume and I look forward to seeing what will happen when the desparately searching Robert finds what I believe will be a very distraught Georges who is about to learn the truth as to why he is linked to Grace.

Legendary Couple is one of the most interesting story I have ever read. It contains full of characters mystery that each of them had the secrets of their own pasts. The story features many different kinds of martial arts which is unique. The Legenadry Couple is pre-sequel story which later return the story telling of another circle of warriors in Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre. Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre mentioned of the two famous warriors who were the owner of two famous weapons, and if you are a fans of Chinese martial arts comic, Legendary Couple is the best place to start the beginning of the story before you move on Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre. I strongly recommend this comic as well as Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre. Trust me. It is worth the money. I did read it myself otherwise I would not have write this review.

This book is based on Louis Cha's famous novel, "Return of the Condor Heroes". It is an excellent story full of interesting characters and martial arts.

This version is well drawn and written. I highly recommend it.

Please note that this is only one of many volumes. So far the first seven have been released as of today (4/04) which covers only about 1/4 - 1/3 of the original book.

Unfortunately, there are only a few ways that an English-only speaking person can enjoy this classic story. There is an older comic style version that is available in Singapore by Asiapac books. There is also a Japanese Anime version that is being subtitled in English. Thats about it.

Ried and Kantz weave a story combining fantasy, dark humor, and gorgeous art in one highly entertaining package as they tell the story of a Unicorn hunter and the efforts of a young naive heiress' attempts to stop her and save the elusive but all too tasty 'meat ponies'.

This story is one of my favorites out of the many graphic novels I've read, and I can only hope the makers revisit Darkwood in the future, for it is a place I would assuredly love to see again.

"Legends from Darkwood" is the best new comic book series in years. With truly brilliant writing and perfect accompanying art, this "Western manga" is engaging, intelligent, exciting and funny. The plot is super-tight (not a hole anywhere); the characters are cool (archetypical, true, but that seems to be the point since...); the story deconstructs quite a few genres without ever getting too cerebral or too tongue-in-cheek (it walks these fine lines flawlessly); and the tone is fresh and inspired (quite an accomplishment considering its well-trodden genre territory). The sometimes silly/sometimes serious approach of this series is something that so few writers/artists can pull off but the duo of Reid and Kantz never misstep. If they keep this up (and there is every indication that they can) they will outdo Jeff Smith's great "Bone" epic, which is no small benchmark. Yes, really.

This is such a fun book. I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. I can't wait to read the next volume to follow what happens to the characters.

I've read the whole complete series of Let's Be Perverts which is 4 volumes long. It states it's for 16 years of age and up due to nudity & sexual themes.

The artwork is beautiful. The author draws people, especially women real well. In between chapters, he draws girls in various sexy nude (from the top) poses. He explains that he wrote/drew these books when he was young and lusted over sex and bodies like most young people.

The storyline is good, humorous & full of sex themes. I will not spoil the story but it is basically about a high school guy who is naive about sexual matters who is accused of being a pervert by accident and tries to shake that image off. Is he a pervert or not is what the story is about. His name happens to be Perverto which is funny as well.

This books doesnt just give you a bunch of monsters to copy,it actually lays out a total creative process for creating your own unique monster concepts. This fact immediately puts it ahead of most of the 'Draw Manga' books in that it doesn't just give you a list of stylistice tips but a whole way of thinking about the subject.

The monster types in this book basically allow you do do a lot of mixing and matching (some examples were an Elephant with a Bulldozer, a human with a hercules beetle, a squid with a shrimp a crab and a stag beetle, and a Kaiju-fied lemur-esque monster with spikes on its tail... trust me when I say that THIS one is a LOT cooler looking than I've described it). Overall, this book allows for the artist to really use their head, as well as their creativity with some of these astonishingly terrifying, and sometimes cute or cool-looking monsters (the Pet Monsters, as this book calls them).

I'd recommend it to anyone willing to think outside the typical anime norm.

By the same author who did 'Girl Got Game' (english title, Japanese title is POWER!!). I work at a bookstore and when I get stuck at the register I pick out manga to read in between customers. I really enjoyed this series because first of all the male character doesn't look like 98% of all shoujo heading males. I thought it was hilarious and I reserved a copy of volume two as soon as it came up in our system. Volume two didn't disappoint and I'm looking forward to vol. 3.
I highly recommend this manga. ^_^

Mariah Approved.

I absolutely loved this manga. It was sweet and funny. The perfect shojo. The description on the back reads:

Chiemi Yusa's high school record is far from perfect. She's already been suspended twice for fighting, and she's not even half-way through her first year! In danger of getting expelled for starting yet another brawl, her teacher approaches her with an unexpected offer: ger her classmate Akifumi "Deranged Devil" Hirata, the nastiest fighter in the whole school, to clean up his act, and her record wil officially be cleared. Reluctantly, she accepts, and immediatly goes on the attack. But as she's waiting for him to retaliate, she discovers that he has more in store for her than just a fight!

This is a very good volume of the wonderful Love Hina series. Many action packed events, lots of high suspence, a new hair do, and the resolution for the feelings of Motoko and Su, on how they feel about Keitaro. A great cliffhanger leaves you wanting the next volume, but keep in mind that the next one is the grand finale of the series. Too all you loyal fans, you will not be dissapointed (except for the new hair style).

This is the penultimate volume of this wonderful manga series. This time around, we finally visit Su's homeland. And all the girls end up fighting over who gets to marry Keitaro. I don't want to give too much away, but the book does end with a wedding. If you enjoyed the previous volumes of this series, you will enjoy this one, too.

I never tire of Yuki Shimizu's Love Mode. This volume concentrates on Aoe Kiichi's love for Naoya! And, of course, it also addresses Aoe Reiji's love for Naoya and vice versa. One true joy of this volume is the insert story, Fly Me to the Heaven. I like the way Yuki Shimizu leaves the ending open to interpretation. Love Mode lovers will not be disappointed.

Love, sex, angst, passion, excitement, intrigue, comical, heart-wrenching , this volume has it all. Reiji's and Naoya's story continues in this excellent volume. Their romance hits a snag and Kiichi is of course there to help and this does provide some hilarious moments. Kiichi's character is well explored here and you just have to love this ever proactive good doctor. We are given glimpses of his romance with his stoic housekeeper and introduced to a mysterious character from Kiichi's past, which I hope means more on Kiichi in future volumes. The waiting is of course over as Reiji and Naoya passionately consummate their love. I love the events leading to it and just have to chuckle at the incident with the sofa.

Their story certainly leaves me one happy and satisfied reader until I come to the separate story involving Seiichi (one of Reiji's sexy male escorts at B&B) and his young client, Tomoki. This story is hauntingly compelling and deeply emotional. It leaves me virtually in tears as it is just so poignant and heart breakingly sad. The mangaka does leave us with a note that we could interprete the ending as we like. But her few final impactful panels in this beautiful, moving and heart-rending love story leave no room in my mind to think otherwise.

Fortunately I am somewhat cheered up by the last 2 bonus stories on our lovers. The first one on my favorite couple, Reiji and Naoya, is sexy and sweet while the second one on Kiichi and his housekeeper is one big teaser!

This mangaka is truly talented in emotions and characters development and Love Mode is one spellbinding series. And now to start from Vol 2 again...

Volume four, which I believe is the penultimate of the series, inserts a new rival (this time for Negishi's heart)... it's not often that we get to see our stoic, plainspoken hero conflicted, and this is certainly one of them as he wants to do the right thing and not be threatened by his musically inclined rival, but plainly is...

Other stories in this volume include a bit of jogging to grow closer, staying apart to feel lonely together, and a new good friend (who we've seen before, but not in this light).

The art is standard fair with plenty of action going on in panel having to do with the current main dialogue or a side topic. The general flow works well, though I could've done without a couple of standard manga cliches (such as "the boy so pretty everyone thinks he's a girl at first").

Most definitely worth it... pick it up (and the rest of the series)... and wish all relationships could be this sweet and honest.

Hoshino and Negishi have been wanting to take their relationship to the next level, but lately they've been at a loss as to what exactly progress in love means. Is it spending almost every waking moment together? Is it being completely honest to the person you love? Or is it making your partner a better person and pushing them to realize their full potential as a human being? After finishing dead last along with his friends (places 421,420, and 419) in the annual marathon race at school the previous year, Hoshino sets his sights a bit higher when he finds out that Negishi finished in 21st place! Then when Hoshino is cajoled into running for student body president and Negishi is enlisted to do a little PR, she finds that Ryo, the girl that has a crush on Hoshino, has more positive things to say about him than she does. Has Negishi begun to take her boyfriend a little too much for granted, and is there a danger of losing him? The shoe is on the other foot later on in the volume as a former classmate named Wakaba shows up to declare his love for Negishi, much to Hoshino's chagrin!

In the 3 volumes that came before this Hoshino and Negishi were living in a bit of a dream world and their emotions for each other made for a very insular and self-reflecting storyline. In volume 4, the outside begins to intrude upon their lovey dovey brainlines in the form of Wakaba and Ryo, and even another girl that Hoshino helps out named Saeki. It's almost like the writer is putting them in a lab experiment and testing how strong their love really is. The character interactions on display are priceless and show what goes on in the minds of young lovers. Both of them are beginning to realize that being in love means bringing out the best in each other, not the worst. The art, while simplistic, is warm, charming, and suits the story perfectly. This is an excellent series.

This is the second volume after the anime (really lets off in volume 5)
Ritsuka-chan's mom has gone completely insane, worried so much that ritsuka is going to be killed, that she locks him away. Of course, here comes Soubi-kun to the resue. But something (or someone) has hurt Soubi, and he wants to run away! This was a super-awesome volume, and a must-have for any shonen-ai (boylove) fan! It's even pretty good for Otaku's too!

I watched the Loveless anime before I decided to read the manga, which was a good move. The manga delves deeper into the story of Ritsuka and his Fighter Soubi. It's painful to see what the little kitty has to suffer to learn the truth about his brother and himself. But he has Soubi there to lend his strength. Although the anime is intriguing, it left me hanging. I can't wait to see how this will end.