The first seventy-two pages of this volume have something you don’t normally see a lot of in manga:  COLOR. Artist Kenji Tsuruta painted these pages himself and they look pretty great. It’s a lush vision of a rural mountain area which has an inn and a pond nearby.  It’s by this pond that Atsushi, who […]

The story goes that one night “The Immortal Dragon” broke up ten rival Yakuza factions in one night.  Barehanded. Then he disappeared without explanation the following day. What could cause such a man to walk away from the Yakuza life?  Why, to walk the path of the househusband of course! Tatsu found the right girl […]

No, the title here isn’t as punny as I thought it would be.  It’s still the best way to advertise that things have aligned such that the newest volumes from this particular creator have wound up in my review pile.  So it’s time to take them out at the same time. Mob Psycho 100 vol. […]

I blink for a minute and now I’ve got two volumes of “Thunderbolt” to review.  That’s not a bad thing as vols. 11 & 12 represent a major turning point in the narrative.  It’s clearly seen in vol. 11 which focuses exclusively on Darryl and his comrades as they defect from Zeon to Sojo Levan […]

Hey, it’s me again.  The guy who reads graphic novel adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s works rather than the original stories.  I know I’ve said I’ll get around to reading them eventually, but today’s not that day. Instead, I’m here to talk about the latest Lovecraft adaptation from Gou Tanabe.  Dark Horse had previously brought over […]

As far as titles go, this is probably the most straightforward one you’ll see this year.  It’s about Honda-san. She’s a bookseller. She’s got a human skull for a face. That’s not as strange as it sounds when you consider that her co-workers have paper bags, gas masks, and knight helmets for faces themselves.  It’s […]

I was kind of holding out hope that this current storyline was saving its craziest stuff for last.  As it was involving some Japanese practitioners of Christianity and we all know how Japan has treated that religion with nothing but the greatest respect over the years.  Regrettably, that doesn’t happen as the juiciest stuff winds […]

The ideal review for this volume would be a .gif of me shaking it with the words “MAKE IT BETTER” flashing at regular intervals.  Three volumes in and this series has managed to distinguish itself from mangaka Tsutomu Nihei’s previous work in that it’s the most conventional and straightforward thing he’s done to date.  That […]

This has been a penultimate-y year for volumes, it feels like.  “Black Science,” “Paper Girls,” “The Wicked + The Divine,” “Curse Words,” “Prison School,” “East of West,” and “Happiness” are all series that have seen their next-to-last volume released this year.  You can now add “I Am A Hero” to that list and it’s one […]