Originally, vol. 12 of “The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service” was supposed to come out back on June 8, according to Amazon.  Then I got a notice stating that it was going to be delayed until July 14.  Delays like that aren’t uncommon, so I took it in stride.  Earlier this week, I got another notice […]

The stakes were raised for Claire and her companions at the end of the previous volume.  With the advent of a god-sized Yoma, I was a bit concerned that mangaka Norihiro Yagi had raised the stakes too high and left nowhere for the story to go without some deus-ex-machina intervention.  I should’ve had more faith […]

There are comics that start reading with the expectation that they’ll be good.  There are also comics that I go into with the expectation that they’ll be bad.  There are also a very few that I go into with the expectation that, “This is going to be one of the best damn titles of the […]

This volume begins with a very pleasant surprise:  two full-color cast recap pages that introduce you to the main characters and elements of the story and their place in it.  While Zoichi and Fuyu need no introduction at this point, the other parts were very welcome in a series where clarity isn’t its strongest suit.  […]

The latest volume of “Twin Spica” arrived in the mail last week.  This volume continues on in much the same manner as the previous ones, so I really don’t have anything new to say about its contents.  What is interesting about vol. 7 is its appearance:  this is a much thicker volume than usual.  It’s […]

I was telling a friend over the weekend how Vertical’s publishing efforts have reached the point where Dark Horse’s manga used to be for me.  In short, they’ve produced such consistently interesting and entertaining works that I’m willing to pick up something from them by an author or a title that I might not be […]

And so, all good things must come to an end.  That’s the case with this concluding volume which wraps up its tale of alien entities, evolution and friendship in much the same way that “The Incredible Hercules” did with “Chaos War.”  That is to say that it raises the stakes while building on what has […]

We’re going back to the old school for this one.  Now when I say “old school” I mean the old school of manga being released in America.  Back in the days when series were published one issue at a time.  Back when being an action manga set in America was considered a selling point.  Back […]

Fortunately for its reading audience, the “breakup” between artist Moritaka and writer Akito only lasts a couple chapters before they reunite to continue their plan to take the manga world by storm.  There’s really nothing else to add as, after that speed bump, the series maintains its usual level of quality with this volume.  Though […]