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While most yaoi mangas are weak on story and are primary just for fan service and eye candy, Embracing Love feels like it's on a whole different level. Admittably, there are a few scenes that DO feel like fan service, but overall, this series keeps on track as a "love story" which evolves as a couple.

Compared to other yaoi stories, this one feels more mature. And not only because of it's more graphic nature, but because of the age, life experiences these characters have from the start, and their aging evolution of their relationship throughout the series.

This is one of the few yaoi series where when they're intimate with each other, they're TRULY making love in that scene. And has not been drawn purely for fan service/eye candy alone. In other series, getting each other to bed might be the climax and the "happy ending". But with Embracing Love, that's simply not the case. Here, you see a relationship that needs work from both partners to be a success. And how it's not totally clear which one is the uke or seme. Nor (later on in the series) does a relationship built on love have need for such labels.

As I read through the volumes, I kept seeing aspects of myself from both main characters. And at certain times I also see my husband through them as well.

I have high respect for Youka Nitta after reading this series.

This is my second favorite yaoi after Yamane's Finder series. Katou and Iwaki are rival porn stars auditioning for the same part in a more mainstream film. However, the producer decides that to earn the part, they have to have sex, with each other. Iwaki wins the part, and also Katou's heart - if he can only convince Iwaki! A fabulous romance with good character development and lots of hot, explicit sex.

Nitta draws beautifully, and the story is original. Highly recommended.

Iwaki and Katou are both porno star. But Katou is at the beginning of his career and Iwaki instead is on a turn: quit or pass on more mainstream film. To both is asked to auction for a leading role in a film about a gay relationship and they have to make love together. Iwaki gets the role but Katou's success seems not to have problems. An year after, Iwaki and Katou has the chance to work together in the television adaptation of the movie, and they start a strange relationship where Katou pushes to have a real affair where Iwaki tries to quit everything.

Embracing Love is a continuing series arrived to 6 volumes till now. It's really good. Both Iwaki and Katou are adult, not young teens, so the relationship between the two is more serious and complex than the normal yaoi. Seme and uke are not net characteritation here. Iwaki is serious and not easy to reveal his feeling. Katou is passionate and open, he brings the rein of the relationship and forces Iwaki to "accept" his presence in his life. Sex between the two is very hot and the plot is preatty realistic. Reading this yaoi I have really had the feeling to read a complete work and till 5 to 6 volumes I have still the desire to read more and I'm waiting for the six volume to arrive.

this is about two adult film actor who are rivals. they compete for a role in a movie by making love to each other. From there it only gets better. Iwaki wins the role but he doesn't like the fact that people think he is gay and that he is playing the part of the female. He invites katou over for a challange for the male part and sparks start to fly. katou makes love to him and now he's hooked. when they are caught kissing and it is in all the papers he is mortifide and trys to avoid Katou but still gets caught up in his web. At the author's house he admits only to himself that he doesn't like seeing Katou making love with anyone else. At the same time Katou admits to himself that he has feelings for Iwaki.
when they are wrapping up the end of the series Katou makes love to him for real without anyone knowing but the two of them. It is to funny. I would go on but this is just some of the highlights of the book this book just keeps geting better and better. The only problem is the dates for new vol keep changing. I just can't wait that long to buy the book it is a must read. love it, love it, love it

This is one you MUST read. By now it's been around for quite a while, and if this is your first time hearing about it, get it. A surprisingly realistic theme set behind Nitta's beautiful artwork makes for an amazing read. Don't let the description scare you. Although the story revolves around two porn stars, you'll be amazed at how Nitta is able to draw the audience away from that fact and into the true feelings of the characters. Of course, not enough can be said about the erotica in this book. It is perhaps more explicit than almost any other yaoi manga -- leaving little to the imagination. But even so, every such scene serves only to draw the readers deeper into the emotional bond between the two characters. A hint of comedy and a sprinkle of "fan service" make this a classic. So don't hesitate. Just get it. Trust me...you'll love it.

If you are a die-hard SW fan, like me, you need to read this.

"The Hidden Enemy" was good. It gives the endings for Luminara, and a glimps in-between Quinlan Vos's life before his turn to the dark side and after the purge.

"Into the Unknown" was a good showing of what being a Jedi in the Dark Times was like. It also brings in 2 charecters, Bomo Greenbark and Dass Jennir, who are very important to the Star Wars universe between episodes 3-4.

"Purge" was alright, but was very predictable. I could tell from the first couple of pages what it would be like. Probably the only not so great story in this comic.

Takes place during and after Episode III, action, suspense, mixed in with some tear-jerker moments. The Jedi are on the ropes and the knock-out punch is about to be delivered. Also includes the "Purge," excellent early Vader story!

If you are a life long fan of Star Wars and comics you have to read this Clone Wars saga to really understand and appreciate the gap between the last two movies Star Wars II (Clone Wars) and Star Wars III. It is amazing how differently you will look at the last chapter and especially the last 30 minutes of Star Wars III the movie after the buildup in this Clone Wars comic series. One of the most well written movie tie-ins I have ever read and I read tons of comics. Must have.

This is a great series! Absolutely worth to begin an excellent Star Wars series! The art is great and there are a lot of details and things to watch in these magazines.

The book is a good collection of stories on how the fall of the Old Republic and the fall of the jedi order after Episode 3 of the movies. I will admit that most of the stories are a bit short for my taste and a bit open-ended to boot, but overall not to bad. Great artwork and compelling stories.

I received this book as a gift, sent to me by my friend Carol Howard. After putting it in the mail, she sent an email to let me know "a special book" was coming. She didn't want to spoil the suprise by telling me the name of the book or its author, so here (with her permission) is how she described the book:

"It is a great book by a very famous author and by the time you finish this book your consciousness will be changed forever. You will never look at the world in the same way ever again if you sit down and read the book all the way through in one sitting especially. But beware, you will experience small tremors and convulsions in your body as you read through this book for it has a profound effect on the consciousness and really gets the energy going. I don't want to tell you the name or the author because I want it to be a surprise. But he is very famous and has a cult following and is hailed by critics as one of the most original thinkers of our time. This book definitely lets you see into parallel universes and stimulates creative thinking among other things. So I really hope you like it and I also hope you save this email so you can tell me if I described the book accurately to you."

Next day she added: "...don't worry, even though the writer and the book have a cult following and it is very cathartic, the followers are not too rigid because it is about stuff that everyone can relate to, and also has a lot in it about animal communication and their view of our world that is often revolutionary and startling."

Well, I was surprised, to say the least. Although her description was completely misleading, it was also completely true! As she'd warned, I indeed experienced "tremors and convulsions" (of laughter) and all the rest. I laughed out loud. Then laughed again when I re-read Carol's email description.

By the way, of all the cartoons in this volume, I had only seen two before. But your mileage may vary.

In summary, this is a great book that I was lucky enough to get from a great friend with a great sense of humor.

It was an ok purchase. I am a die hard fan of far side as it appeals to my sense of humour. However, it had about as much duration as the average archie comic and left no lasting impression. No desire to re-read. Overall a fair book.

i can't tell you whether or not to buy this collection, you either like gary larson's work or you don't. and if you know his work, and everyone does, you already know if you want this. it's a winner. and has a brief intro by stephen king--it comes to no surprise that king is a fan of the far side. they seem to fit together.

I'll write the review for this book as soon as I'm able to stop laughing.

The Far Side Galleries are literature's version of greatest hits CDs. This edition is even forwarded by Stephen King.

The artistic masterpieces in this one come from the books Brides of The Far Side, Valley of the Far Side and It Came From the Far Side. It may be cheaper to buy these books individually instead of this gallery so compare prices before purchasing.

The advantage of owning the galleries is that some cartoons are full page size which is three times the size of the original books. Not all cartoons are full size though just some.

Classic cartoons contained in this one such as dogs looking at slides with one pointing to the screen, "Now in this slide we can see how the cornered cat has seems to grow suddenly bigger, Trickery! Trickery! Trickery!" Another has a guy waking up with a post it note on his left foot where his toe should be with the words "Went to market" on it. The classic human parody of nagging where a bear demands of her husband who has No. 8 shaved into his fur, a huge tag with no.8 on his ear and a needle sticking out of him "Late Again! This Better Be Good!"

Is this book better than other galleries? Well that's a matter of opinion, different ones appeal to different people. Should you buy it? Yes!

Gary Larson is a twisted, demented personality and we are all better for it. His cartoons are some of the most absurd, yet hilarious concentrations of humor that have ever existed and this collection is no exception. Nothing is too sacred or too bizarre to escape the drawing and writing tools of this master. If you have a macabre sense of humor or can tolerate one, then you will love this book.

Far Side really doesn't need a review. It's hilarious and anyone who has ever read it will agree with me. It's a classic! My favorite one from this book is the fear that no matter where you are, a duck a watching you. Too funny!

Gary Larson has created the funniest cartoons in the history of mankind. Unlike other comics you do not need to read them in a series as each individual cartoon tells its own hilarious story in a stand alone fashion. Therefore you do not need to have read the previous volumes to enjoy this edition to its fullest.

Fourth in the series of Far Side collections, the 1994 originally released Gallery 4's cartoons come from the smaller books Wildlife Preserves, Wiener Dog Art and Unnatural Selections. This volume is forwarded by Robin Williams who gives a four paragraph opinion on Larson and his work. Far Side Gallery 4 also have a unique cover where the lenses of the woman's glasses have been cut out, meaning when you open the cover, still viewing the exact same drawing, the glasses are on their own on the next page. This however does mean Gallery 4 has the most fragile cover of all the galleries.

A mixture of four comics to a page and full page comics make up this volume, most are black and white but with the occasional coloured pages every now and then. Classic Far Sides in this volume include aliens with the moon landing astronauts in a jar about to shake the jar to see if they'll fight, the hospital for mothers whose children stepped on sidewalk cracks, the famous Mr Ed verse Francis the talking mule debates, punk accountants and many more hilarious cartoons such a chicken reading a sign on the other side of the road saying Why Do You Need a Reason?

This like all Larson's work is a must own!

This book is a real HOOT!

I guess the thing that makes Larson's cartoons so different is that his mind is just a little further off in space than where most of ours dwell.
Reading a whole book of these cartoons is a very different thing from looking at individual cartoons over an extended period.After 10-15 pages your mind tends to get climatized to this thought process and his cartoons almost start to feel like the normal ,rather than perverse, way to look at things.
We all need this exercise in mind-stretching and it is great to do it with humor.
I strongly recommend it to anyone who is not already a fan of Larso;myself for instance,at least until now.
If there are a few cartoons in the book that you did not "get";it simply means your mind is not totally warped yet.Just keep at it,you'll make it!
Enjoy !

Gary Larson is by far the most genius, the most innovative cartoonest ever to hit the world. This gallery has a forward by Robin Williams and tons of Larson's best work. You can't not love his sense of humor (and definitely check out the Prehistory of the Far Side).

I own this series in Japanese, and it is a wonderful read! It has all the important elements of a good shoujo manga: it is romantic, twisted, with a shoujo (in the traditional meaning of the word) involved in finding a new family and love triangles galore. It is just a very fun read, no matter the language!

That book is so amesome!! I can't put it down. When I bought it, I started read it about an hour. Believe it or not?

Let me tell you...I don't mean to spoil the story... Yuki, Kyo, Shigure and Tohru went back to the house from vacation. (Oh man, Kyo and Yuki gotta TALLER! Whoa!) Kyo wanted to be with Tohru until the end of his life. Tohru made a call to Kazuma which Kyo's father..err foster father!? She wanted to talk with him about how to break the curse. Tohru thought she was really selfish, but she really wanted to break a curse. Kagura realized why she pushed herself to Kyo and it called force love. But she does love him. She told Kyo everything and Kyo didn't say 'I am sorry;, just say thank you. Kyo was only the one friend to Kagura. Kyo never "like" Kagura. Kagura remembered when she saw Kyo's true form, she just ran away. In volume 6, Kagura watched Tohru ran after Kyo when he was true form. That made Kagura realized how she was stupid because of running from Kyo. Anyway, Kyo was just now single and wanted to be with Tohru and love her a lot. Of course, Tohru didn't know...YeT!? Hmm at school, the parent-teacher conferences, Tohru's grandfather couldn't go there because he had thrown his back. (I think.) So instead of, Shigure would go to her grandfather's place for parent-teacher conferences. Shigure wanted to see how Tohru's teacher's face when she sees Shigure. Between them, it was so funny. Um in the end page, Saki liked Kazuma when she saw him walked with Kyo to parent-teacher conference. Kyo shouted that he don't want to her be his mom. Hahaha! ^^ I hope you don't mind that I told you too much...ehh...

If you don't read this Fruits basket, go read the volume one. If you don't read this volume, go buy it!!! IT IS SOO MUCH!!! YiKes!!! =D

it's amazing that furuba has managed to stay so funny for so long, as I have read the entire series and I must say-- it's all down hill from here. I don't mean the quality of the manga goes down--the story line gets sadder and sadder, but some of it remains gutbustingly funny. In this volume, Tohru-kun, Kyo-kun, and Yuki-kun prepare to go back to school and for their parent teacher confrences. Tohru visits her grandpa in the hospital (he threw out his back)and he brings up painful part of her past. Tohru also pays a visit to Shisou-san (whom Hana-chan may have a crush on)and learns the more about the Sohma family's eternaly patronizing curse. kagura and kyo have a heart to heart about why kagura has forced herself on Kyo all these years, and Yuki starts his term as the new class president--could he have found a new love interest? it's true that the mystery surrounding the Sohmas is yet to be uncovered, but when Akito reveals a shocking secret in a later volume, a clue to their existence begins to unravel. Furuba is not--as I once suspected--'fluffy'-- it's hardcore, heartbreaking, and hilairious, and it succeeds on very level. One of the greatest manga series ever.

there's two manga i turn to, when i need cheering up Azumanga Daioh and Fruits Basket. Fruits is funny and sweet. And I'm so enjoying the further development of the characters past the anime series. consider me a lifetime fan!

Well, let me just begin by saying that i am totally in love with fruits basket!!! (especially kyo...and kureno, i suppose)This is by far, my favorite book in the series. This volume is filled with drama, especially when yuki meets up with rin, and realizes something about her that he never knew. and what happens when haru shows up? Also, kagura takes kyo on a date, and has an emotional confession about the reason why she always loved him. It truly brought tears to my eyes. and of course, it's hilarious when shigure goes to tohru's parent-teacher conference in place of her grandfather. (her teacher is mayuko, shigure's ex-girlfriend) well, you're just going to have to find out the rest for yourself. GET THIS BOOK!!!!!!

I'm so far a huge fan of this series, & the earlier volumes are easily some of the best. This volume is no exception. The artwork is adorable, the characters (while a little cliched at times) are likeable, & the storyline is decent. At times some of the cutesy may get to you, but as long as you take it in stride, it's ok.

(I'm not going to bother recapping the series, since it's so well known.)

Would I recommend this to a friend? To some, yes. This type of manga really only appeals to fans of shoujo, so die hard action & shonen fans probably wouldn't like this series.

I own this series in Japanese, and it is a wonderful read! It has all the important elements of a good shoujo manga: it is romantic, twisted, with a shoujo (in the traditional meaning of the word) involved in finding a new family and love triangles galore. It is just a very fun read, no matter the language!

I love Fruits Basket. It is really awesome, and I love Yuki! Anyway, I have something to say to Mew Pretear. If you had the smallest inkling about Fruits Basket you would know that its nickname is Furuba. Guess what? It was made up by the creator. She says so in either book one or two. So I suggest that you actually think before you try contradicting a fact.

I though this book was very good in this one it starts out with them at the summmer home place that Shigure brings Toharu, Yuki,and Kyo and since no of them can drive Hatori drives them there. When they get back they later find another member of the Zodiac, this time it's Kisa the one cursed by the tiger.
Trough out the book there was a lot of funny parts...but I was reading this in school so every time I can to a funny part I had to restrain my self from giggling in the middle of class(do you know how weird that would seem...). But I thought it was an Awsome book I rate it 2 thumbs up err... I mean 5 stars ^.^' .

Shigure decides to go to the Sohma family lake house for a much needed vacation, and to torment his editor. He invites Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo.. And persuades Hatari to come along as well (because he's the only one with a drivers liscence. This episode deals largely with Yuki and Kyo's changing relationship, and how Tohru deals with. At the Lake house Ayami Sohma shows up out of the blue. The rift between him and his younger brother, Yuki, is tested once again. He also reveals to Hatari that his former fiancee, Kana, has gotten married.

While out on a walk together Yuki and Tohru encounter Hatsuharu Soma carrying a small tiger. This turns out to be another member of the Sohma family, Kisa, also a member of the Chinese zodiac. When Kisa's mother comes to retrieve her it is obvious that she needs a much needed reprieve from her daughter's curse, so Shigure allows Kisa to stay with them for a few days. Kisa soon bonds with Tohru.

Kisa's mute behaviour causes some concern for the Sohma family, and for Tohru as well. Momitchi Sohma reveals the root of Kisa's silence and a letter from Kisa's instructor proves to be too much for Yuki. Then Hanajima suddenly invites the Prince Yuki fan club to her home after they ask to write a newspaper column about Denpa waves. President of the fan club, Motoko Minagawa has ulterior motives, and Hanajima doubts it not. Hanajima's little brother and his ability to curse people is awaiting for them at the house.

Much to Tohru's shame and dismay she fails one of her mid term exams and has to attend a make up test day. Under this stress her body becomes susceptible to a cold and the Sohma family becomes concerned that she is pushing herself too hard and force her to spend her illness in bed convalescing. Kyo proves to be an apt nurse when he makes her a cure all he loathes, and listens to Tohru reveal her anxieties about graduating high school and why it is so important to her.

Again...I am hopelessly addicted. I'm going to stop telling people to read this anymore. If you have read all of my other reviews of the manga so far, you already know how much I love it. Go read it for yourself. It's wonderful.

This is just a collection of Garfield comics you can get off the Garfield website. There isn't even any of the new stuff with Luz and John ending up together.

A great book if you like Garfield. I like the cat and the dog too. I didn't like how the man put the collar on the dog, it was cruel of him.

I have been a long time Garfield fan. While sometimes the strip seems to fall a little short, by and large it stays consistently funny. What I especially have liked about Garfield in recent years is that Jim Davis seems to have really cultivated his taste for the bizarre, so recent Garfield strips have often had a Far Sidian quality to them. This can especially be seen in the recent books, including this one.

I think this is a good book if you like garfield. I like when the dog and garfield dance. I didn't like when the men put the shock collar on the dog,that was mean of them.

While i don't have this book it still souds delightful!!!! After many years Garfield still puts a smile on your face! In this book it celebrates that as Garfield get older he still probaly the same and with his good and funny attitude. so enjoy as many others will enjoy i too!

Get Fuzzy is a great comic strip, and having it on your desk every day is great. If you've ever had a daily comic calendar (i.e. Far Side, etc), then you know what to expect. Great for cropping and hanging up on a cubicle wall when you find an especially good daily.

I can't start my day until I read my Get Fuzzy calendar. We have a network of Fuzzy lovers at work and we pass the pages around, keep our favorites and share our chuckles.

Get Fuzzy has to be the funniest strip of all time. Darbey Conley hits the mark every time when he picks up his pen. His material is fresh and always thoughtful. You can't go wrong with it.

I first received this calendar as a gift, from my daughter, a couple of years ago...since then, it has been a regular purchase, every year! I love Darby Conley's strip and this is an easy way to keep up on what his "characters" are up to, day by day!!

I get one of these every year. If you're a Get Fuzzy fan you'll love it. If you're not, get it and you will be!

Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City is the second collected volume in the Girl Genius series, with material from issues 4-6 of the comic. It's also the first of the series in full color, which is welcome; the color works much better than the B&W art.

In general this volume works better than the last - the art has only occasional hiccups, mostly from the tendency towards wild over-exaggeration of character's expressions - a good fit for the book, but overplayed at times here. More importantly, the Foglio's continue to room to their imagination, and the "mad science" part gets better as the comic develops.

There's great pacing here as well - both the backstory and main story unfold at a good pace, and revelations around the characters are built up. While probably not the best volume of the series, it's an improvement over the first and probably the best place to start. ****

Girl Genius Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne & The Beetleburg Clank (Girl Genius)Girl Genius Volume 2: Agatha Heterodyne & The Airship City (Girl Genius)
I found the first two in this series to be well drawn and have a very good story. I will be sending this very good juvenile fiction to my daughter.

Great fun, as are all of the Heterodyne books - I especially appreciate the "overdrawn poking-fun-at-Gothic" artwork throughout, and the "biographies" of the contributors. On a side note, thanks to these, one of my friends is actually trying to build a dirigible... oh well!

One slight problem with several of the Girl Genius volumes - the binding is very weak, and I've actually had to get Amazon to replace this one, as it fell apart when I opened it. Luckily, Amazon is simple and easy, and this one isn't their fault - the publisher is being scrooge-ish with their glue. Examine carefully when they arrive, and don't hesitate to send them back for replacements. This series is too good, and too compulsively readable to miss! (or to suffer with bad copies... )

Return to the world of adventure, romance, airships, mad scientists and power hungry Nobles. Agatha Clay, now on the giant airship Castle Wulfenbach, wishes she could leave. Pretending to be the lover of a soldier while surrounded by monsters, angry constructs and talking cats is not her idea of fun.
But getting away isn't as easy as it might look when traveling thousands of feet about the ground while hostage to one of the most powerful men in Europe!

Phil and Kaja Foglio are marvelous. Girl Genius has an engaging, complex plot line; intriguing premise; characters full of personality; and great art - detailed, beautiful, very expressive, and always keep an eye out for what's going on in the background. There is lots of humor in the Foglios' work, with the text and art working together perfectly. The only downside is waiting for the next volume to be published!

grickle is nuanced and subtle. it gets down to gritty reality, but is colored with optimism. there is a difference between cheese that you get at some crappy supermarket in the bronx, and cheese imported from switzerland. this is like real swiss cheese. or greek yogurt, or austrian chocolate. it is chockful of wholesome homicidal urges, and faces reality with a wistful, dreamy, yet quirky longing. grickle, boy am i glad i found you!

Annable's fresh humor and honest wit shine in this collection of short comics. You can't help but relate to his endearingly odd characters. Somehow, Annable conveys more than just emotion in them, which is an impressive feat in itself given the deceptively simple artwork. But he manages to portray their conscience and their deep-rooted fears and hopes as well. I love how adeptly such subtle themes of loneliness, self-doubt, relief, and satisfaction are packaged into such an enjoyable work of twisted humor. Do yourself a favor and read it more than once. It is at once leisurely, funny, clever and insightful, so you might not be able to catch all that the first time around.

Reading this book is like hangin with a good friend. There are things about him (the book and its diverse characters) that make me think of me. Other things make me think, I'll never fully understand why he does what he does? Would I find myself in similar situations? If I had a cupcake, would I hand it over to wee man? Is every diversion from the norm a fulfilling life experience? Sure it is. And so is my friend Grickle.

It's got range, it's got scope, it's got depth, it's got grasp, it's got cute fuzzy aliens, it's got charming homicidal ghouls, it's got pathos, it's got instant photography, it's got a fish.

There's this knock on the door, so I go and answer it, all right? And there's this copy of Grickle standing on the mat looking really pissed off. It doesn't even say "Hello" or "Hey you!" or nothing. It just jumps on my chest and starts wailing on me. Bam! Bam! Bam! And so I'm, like, "what the f*ck?" I try to tear it off of me, but I just get a bunch of paper cuts all over my hands. Paper won't tear. Too tough. Next thing you know, I'm on the floor crawling around trying to get out my lighter, but it sees me reaching for my pocket and it kicks it away. I gotta tell you, I was scared. Anyway, just when I thought that was it, lights out for old Alphonse, the book sees the copy of Grickle I got last month ago off of Bruno. It hops off of me and kind of grunts an apology. I could tell it was all embarassed and sh*t. Then it just takes off. Never seen anything like it.