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Stolen Hearts Volume 1
Those attracted to manga for its air of exoticism will find this cute shojo romance especially entertaining. In Stolen Hearts by Miku Sakamoto, Shinobu works as a kimono model, demonstrating some very...
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The Moon and the Sandals Volume 2
Well, that’s quite a switch. It’s as though someone said, “Ok, you’ve established all the characters, with their relationships and believable motivations, in volume one. Now let’s just have them boink...
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Garden Dreams
This collection of four connected short stories by Fumi Yoshinaga has more in common with Ooku than her yaoi works. For one thing, all of the love relationships demonstrated — and there are several...
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Digital Harlequin Manga: The Apartment, Millionaire Husband
Digital Manga, at their book site emanga.com, recently gave reviewers the chance to check out a variety of their titles online. I thought I’d take the opportunity to see what their Harlequin offerings...
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My Darling! Miss Bancho Volume 1
by Mayu Fujikata This cute school story is great “brain popcorn” — something entertaining that only occupies your attention while you’re reading it. No nutritional value, no lasting effects, but...
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Ichigenme… The First Class Is Civil Law
This two-book series follows the same pattern as Fumi Yoshinaga’s The Moon and the Sandals. The first book sets up the situations and the cast, while the second one is mostly about watching them have...
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Del Rey Omnibus Manga: School Rumble 14/15/16
I was curious about the upcoming Del Rey Manga omnibuses (omnibi?). Instead of continuing to publish single volumes for certain series, they’re releasing two (Samurai Deeper Kyo volumes 37/38) or three...
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I Am Here! Volume 1
Hikage Sumino is a shy, plain girl with no friends who is invisible to a ridiculous degree. For instance, she gets hit with a motorbike because the driver didn’t see her in the road while she was...
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Future Lovers
I’ve found the best yaoi series. Future Lovers by Saika Kunieda is so good that I can recommend it without reservation to manga readers (except those put off by the concept of a male/male love story,...
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Arisa Volume 1
I’d previously passed by this series, the newest from Natsumi Ando (Kitchen Princess), because of its lame-duck status, as one of the last releases from the now-departed Del Rey Manga. I recently...
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Young Miss Holmes Casebook 1-2
It could have gone horribly wrong, but by inserting a cute little prodigy into classic Sherlock Holmes cases, I found the mysteries taking on fresh enjoyment for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I...
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Young Miss Holmes Casebook 3-4
Seven Seas’ decision to release this series by Kaoru Shintani in double-sized omnibus form seems even smarter now, since the first half of this book is taken up by one long story, that of “The Hound of...
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Emma Volume 10
I had thought this charming series ended last year, when the title character, a Victorian maid, captured the heart of her beloved, an upper-class gentleman. However, this year saw the release of three...
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The Moon and the Sandals Volume 1
After enjoying the new books by Fumi Yoshinaga, Ooku: The Inner Chambers and All My Darling Daughters, I decided to try some of her earlier works. This Juné manga seemed a good place to start. I knew...
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Solfege
My exploration of Fumi Yoshinaga’s yaoi and shonen-ai manga titles continues with this stand-alone volume. I didn’t like Solfege as much as I did The Moon and the Sandals because it’s more traditional...
View ArticleEmma Volume 8
While the main Emma series concluded with volume 7, this volume continues visiting Kaoru Mori’s Victorian world, telling tales of some of the supporting characters. The first two chapters are a...
View ArticleBallad of a Shinigami Volume 1
by Asuka Izumi; story by K-Ske Hasegawa You may know the term “shinigami” from the popular Death Note series, where the death god is black and goth and scary. Ballad of a Shinigami, based on a light...
View ArticleEmma Volume 9
Like the previous volume, Emma volume 9 contains short stories set in the world and time period of the main story. But you don’t need to be familiar with all the rest of the series to enjoy this one;...
View ArticleThe Lizard Prince Volume 1
The Lizard Prince by Asuka Izumi, a romance in a magical fantasy setting, has enough humor to make it an enjoyable read for the young and young-thinking. As explained in the author’s notes, this book...
View ArticleApothecarius Argentum Volume 8
Argent, the Royal Apothecary, has left the princess in order to seek a cure for his condition of being a living toxin. He’s learned a process that may remove the poisons from his body, but leaving the...
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