Tokiyuki Hojo’s main antagonist may be charismatic (and possibly demonically possessed) warrior Takauji Ashikaga, but he gets an acceptably devious stand-in with Sadamune Ogasawara.  He’s the governor of Shugo Province and has a major beef with Tokiyuki’s benefactor Yorishige Suwa.  So Sadamune decides to crash a dog-shooting competition (it’s not as bad as it sounds…) […]

Hayao Miyazaki is internationally famous because many, if not all, of the anime films he has directed are certifiable classics.  In addition to these films, the man also found time to create the greatest work of comics ever made, “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind,” over a twelve-year period.  While I’ve recommended a lot of […]

It’s the second round of testing for First-Class Mages, and it’s being devised by a… pacifist?  Sense, the proctor of the exam, is also someone who has never had anyone pass one of her tests before.  Which sounds strange when you consider that this one has the relatively straightforward goal of just having to make […]

The battle with Keiji Mogami is all but over, except for the cracking of Mob’s psychic shell to see the ultimate power that lurks inside.  I’m sure mangaka ONE will be back to show us the implications of this later on, but the focus for this volume is on the relationship between Mob and his […]

The kaiju decided to take the fight to humanity in a big way at the end of vol. 3.  Not content to simply attack humanity in its cities, they decided to take on the defense force at the home of its third division.  Unfortunately for the kaiju, that isn’t just the place where protagonist Kafka […]

The hope was that Yor’s duty as a bodyguard on a cruise ship would deliver the comedy/action goods and that’s (mostly) true for this volume.  Garden, the organization she works for, has been tasked with guarding the wife and son of a recently murdered head of a criminal syndicate.  There’s a price on their heads […]

The final act of this series continues the momentum from the previous volume as Tsurumi and his men seek to escape the flaming brewery with Asirpa in tow.  This results in another one of the chase scenes that this series does so well as multiple parties chase the disguised army members through the town.  This […]

It’s only been a little over two-and-a-half years since the release of vol. 11.  That’s progress, right!  Well if you’re looking for an explanation as to why the second decade of “Black Lagoon’s” serialization has been more sporadic, the lengthy interview at the end of this volume with mangaka Rei Hiroe and his editor will […]

This is the only series where I could say that the previous volume ended with one of its primary characters having parts of his body flash-frozen to the inside of a car and call it “business as usual.”  That’s not to say that such a thing, or the resulting battle of wits involving Mista and […]