This series manages a tricky balance of the creepy, unsettling, and even heartwarming with its third volume.  It’s biggest surprise turns out to be relevant to the plot in ways you wouldn’t expect as the old woman introduced at the end of vol. 2 turns out to actually be Shiva’s aunt.  Yes, the same one […]

What kind of dungeon-centric cuisine can you expect to experience in this latest volume?  How about broiled kraken parasite — with sauce!  There’s also a meal made from grilled bits of kelpie, an undine boiled with tentacles into a stew, tentacle gnocchi with giant frog meat, and porridge that was made from rice floating around […]

Could it be?  A volume of “Murcielago” that doesn’t contain anything to aggravate or offend me and focuses only on providing gleefully violent fanservice?  Well, you could argue that there’s some transphobia in the representation of the figurehead of the cult at the center of this volume and Kuroko engages in some more questionable behavior […]

Seven volumes in and Kore Yamazaki’s “The Ancient Magus’ Bride” remains one of the most entertaining titles I read.  It’s mix of excellent characterization, meticulous worldbuilding, and imaginative storytelling is something I continue to look forward to with each volume.  While you would think that the mangaka would have her hands full with this title […]

After vol. 17 spent its last couple of chapters setting things up for Nagisa and Karma to pull a heist on the International Space Station, I was expecting some slam-bang action to be in the offing.  That’s… not what happens here.  The two middle-school-kids get the drop on the astronauts and after some posturing and […]

Does this volume lead “anywhere interesting?”  Well, it starts off by introducing us to Kei’s mother.  She’s a ruthlessly blunt and pragmatic person who has some choice words for her son in regards to the situation he has found himself in.  For a series that usually winds up going down the most conventional path I […]

It’s taken a few volumes but we’re finally back to this title’s expected level of quality.  The focus is, however, still almost exclusively on Pariya and her rocky road to engagement with Umar.  Pariya’s all for it, except that she finds herself at a loss when it comes to talking casually with the boy.  What’s […]

Yeah, it’s been quite some time since I’ve mentioned this series.  What happened?  Well, the series never really got out of its groove of providing familiar and competent modern adventure stories with a dash of action and/or archaeology.  It’s the kind of thing that goes down smoothly enough thanks to writer/artist Naoki Urasawa’s storytelling confidence, […]

The second volume of this early 20th century adventure manga has an interesting mix of the nice and the nasty.  Much of the “nice” involves former soldier Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto and tween Ainu huntress Asirpa hanging out at her village.  We get to learn plenty about the Ainu culture, such as how the size of […]