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まほらば (Mahoraba) Vol. 7
Mahoraba is coming to anime! Too bad they've gutted the original CD drama cast, which I really though fit the characters, for a new batch of seiyuu. But, Yui Horie plays Tamami which is a surprise as Tamami a bit evil but I don't think she's ever had a bad role. I just hope the others can do as well as the CD drama. This volume has a lot more emotions than the previous volumes combined. A bit unexpected for Mahoraba, but a welcomed change. This volume has a color first page and a bonus manga with Natsume. 33. シロクロミケトラマフィア (Black, White, and Calico Tiger Mafia): Haibara's puppet and his voice, Johnny has been stolen by a cat, so the gang tries to find the culprits. They discover that there's a gang of kittens roaming around. Tamami tries to scare them away, but they only leave when Kozue feeds them some olives. 34. 暮れ (End of the Year): The year's almost over and each member of Narutaki apartments is doing their own thing. Sayoko goes to the park and meets an artists who carves wood. She makes a carving of Asami before her stomach growls and leaves. Momono is on the phone with her boyfriend and is surprised that Haibara/Johnny know about him. Tamami and Kozue are at school and Ryuushi hangs out with his classmates at the game center. 35. 気持ち (Feelings): Ryuushi's friend at school asks if Ryuushi's ever been in love and tries to find out what he is feeling himself is love. Back at home, Kozue has become the male-phobic Yuriko. To cope, the other girls dress Ryuushi up in a wig so that Yuriko can deal with him. After some talking, his wig is accidentally removed and she passes out/changes personality. Tamami sees Kozue on top of Ryuushi and asks to talk to him alone. She tells him she has something important to say and asks how long he's going to live in the apartment. 36. 告げる夜 (Informative Night): Tamami tells Ryuushi that she loves Kozue and do anything in the world to make her happy. She then asks how he fells about her and he responds, almost nonchalantly, that he loves her too. She brings up the fact that Kozue's multiple personalities is a sickness that needs to be cured, even if it means ridding Saki, Nanako, Natsume, and Yuriko, but she feels sad in preparing herself for the sacrifies. Ryuushi assures her that they'll find a way not to have to do that. After their discussion, Tamami cries in Momono's arms explaining that she lost to Ryuushi. 37. こころ１(Heart 1): The next day as he's thinking over the conversation he had last night, he realized that he's actually in love with her and had already confessed. After school, Tamami lets Ryuushi walk Kozue home, but he starts acting strangely around her. 38. こころ２ (Heart 2): Tamami is alone in the school building and the president of the occult club comes and talks to her. After school, Tamami meets with Kozue who tells her that she's her best friend. |
Title: まほらば (Mahoraba) Vol. 7 |
一撃殺虫！！ホイホイさん (Interceptor-Doll Hoihoi-san) LE
I really liked this manga. It's unfortunate that it's only one issue, but it's been running for the past three years so I guess all things have to come to an end. The format of the manga is similar to a 4 panel comic, but each "episode" is one full page. Some stories are multiple pages. Despite being disjoint though, there's a cohesive plot that prevails throughout the book very much like Azumanga Daioh. The limited edition comes with a 10 minute anime. For $30, it's kinda expensive, but the anime is hilarious, mostly because it follows some of the funniest moments in the manga. The book also has a full complement of design sketches and color illustrations. This story revolves around 油壺 (Aburatsubo), a typical otaku who spends all his money on these little dolls, Hoihoi-san and Combat-san who are programmed to kill bugs (mostly roaches). The store where he frequents for his addition is a pharmacy with a clerk, 出羽きみ子 (Kimiko Dewa), who also likes cute dolls, but doesn't like Hoihoi because of the bugs it kills. Lastly, the third focus is with the owner of Mars Pharmaceutical, the creator of the Hoihoi-san doll and competes with Kinryu, the people who create Combat-san. The plot is simple, but would take forever to explain. Some of my favorite story arcs are when Kimiko puts a "reserved" sign on the last Combat-san she has in stock, thus fending off Aburatsubo from purchasing it and buying it herself. Of course, Combat-san is a bug-killing machine and she ends up becoming afraid of it too. He manages to sell her returned item to Aburatsubo. I also liked the the arc where she goes with her friend Mutsumi to Doll-ke (Doll Market Convention) and she has to deal with all the otaku there and meets Aburatsubo. And of course, the "romantic" ending topped it off perfectly. |
Title: 一撃殺虫！！ホイホイさん (Interceptor-Doll Hoihoi-san) LE |
Crossover Vol. 2
I like the action in this volume so far. Not much with the romance, but it's okay. There's still 5 books to go. However, I have a sense that the basketball game their playing in the last chapter is going to take a few chapters to finish. That might become a drag. There's a bonus chapter with a mix of fantasy and basketball. 6. フツーの武器 (Ordinary Weapon): Team St. Mariannu has some locker talk and practice a few plays. 7. 誤解 (Misunderstanding): The team travels to the IH competition with the school's cheerleaders. Unlike the basketball team, their cheerleaders are national champions. However, the girls don't like Natsuki since they remember he's the one who saw them in the hot springs in chapter 1. At the hotel, he meets Hayato again. Hayato offers to carry his bags despite not knowing how Natsuki is. Natsuki sees his former teammates who still are bitter that he chose Mariannu over Fujinohara. 8. 証明 (Proof): Natsuki and his former teammates exchange some words before going their separate ways. It's almost game time and Mizuki tries to get the cheerleaders to watch it and support their team. Only one of them, Moe, does so. The game starts between Mariannu and Sasayakita with no one in the stands as the crowd only shows up for Fujinohara games. 9. 空転 (Idling): They play the first quarter, but Natsuki seems very unfocused and keeps on losing the ball. 10. 告白 (Confession): During the break, Natsuki tells him teammates the grudge between him and the opposing team. In particular, he tells them that he turned down Fujinohara. This gives his teammates some pride and they play better in the second quarter, which in turn also makes Natsuki play better. 11. 復活 (Revivial): Mariannu wins by the score of 89 to 51. After the game, Natsuki doesn't get the see his former teammates before they leave, however, they do sign his jersey the same way they signed his middle school jersey. 12. ２つの未来 (Two Futures): Natsuki's team wins their second game. At night, Natsuki keeps on practicing and meets Hayato. Natsuki boasts that he's going to defeat him. 13. 檸檬の味 (Taste of Lemons): They enter the next game, playing against Fujinohara and for the first time, they see the stands filled with people. Mitsuki brings out the lemons and Natsuki reaffirms that they're gonna beat their opponent. 14. 高校一年生 (High School Freshmen): The mayor of the town has come to cheer on Fujinohara, like everyone else. The game starts and the coach for the opposing team decides to just use his first-year students against Mariannu. The game starts and Natsuki shows his speed and skills. |
Title: Crossover Vol. 2 |
KaNa Vol. 4
Quite a shame, quite a shame. This story got prematurely cut off with a pretty lousy ending. I had planned on getting the novels as the previous books were pretty good, but I'm a little more ambivalent now. This volume comes with an bonus short parody story. 23. 飛騨へ１ (To Kida 1): Ookubo and Minami are at Kida where the two headed beasts roam. The two of them ask for cooperation, but they get rejected. Minami then unleashes the Ring of Solomon upon them, forcing them to comply. Meanwhile, Kana and Yuji prepare for their journey to that mountain. 24. 飛騨へ２ (To Kida 2): Kana and Yuji take the bus, but Ro decides to go by foot as he's not allowed on the bus. Meanwhile, there's talk about erecting a new Tower of Babylon. 25. 飛騨へ３ (To Kida 3): Kana and Yuji get off the bus at their destination and Ro happens to be there too despite having walked. They reach the shed of the leader of the two headed beasts. Back in the city, Ookubo still has some feelings for Yuko and almost follows her at the train station. 26. 飛騨へ４ (To Kida 4): The two of them get an unfriendly welcome and Yuji gets captured and an arrow strikes him. 27. 飛騨へ５ (To Kida 5): Kana goes berserk and after she kills everyone, she finds out that Yuji's Hihirokane had protected him from the arrow. With his dying breath, the leader of the beasts apologizes for being possessed and hands Kana, who he calls Babylon, the keys to the Amafune. 28. 勇気 (Courage): Yuji explains that after they disposed of the beasts body, Kana took the ship to Babylonia. His life is back to normal, but he still has memories of her. |
Title: KaNa Vol. 4 |
フルーツバスケット (Fruits Basket) Vol. 10
I really didn't know why Mayuko was introduced into the story. Maybe she serves as encouragement for Hattori, but it seemed a bit sudden to introduce another character into the story. I guess I should be interested in Yuki and the hat, but I can't say that it's something that has perked my curiosity just yet. No bonuses in this volume. 54. The group is vacation at the Sohma beach house, minus Shigure who is currently meeting with Akito. As Yuki looks on, watching Tohru, Hatsuharu, and Kyo play in the water, he is reminded of what Akito told him as a kid, that he'll always live in darkness. At the end of the day, Yuki takes a timeout on the sofa and gives a subtle hint to Tohru that she'll be the one who "saves" him. 55. Kisa and Hiro arrive at the beach house and Kisa ends up sharing the room with Tohru. She asks Tohru why she has a picture of her mom in this temporary room. Tohru says that it's because they'll be together. The next day, Tohru drops her wallet and Hiro picks it up. As he returns it, he makes a comment about Tohru having a mother-complex. While Tohru acts like it's not a big deal, Kisa scolds Hiro for being insensitive and doesn't talk with him for a while. They eventually make up. 56. Shigure pays a visit to a local bookseller, whose daughter, 白木繭子 (Mayuko Shiraki) is in charge of for a day. Mayuko used to be Shigure's girlfriend a few years ago and so they talk a bit about their past. Mayuko used to be friends with Kana, Hattori's old girlfriend. She and Shigure got together because Mayuko was getting jealous of her best friend's blossoming relationship and in fact, had a crush on Hattori herself. Mayuko was also there when Kana found out about Hattori's eye injury. After Shigure leaves, Hattori shows up at the store. 57. They find out that Shigure was the one who set up their meeting at the bookstore. She doesn't have the book he ordered today, so she asks him to come back tomorrow. The next day while Mayuko is being nagged by her parent about not being married, Hattori shows up and she runs outside with him. She gives him the book and listens to Hattori, but takes offense when Hattori says he can't ever be happy. 58. Kisa and Hiro find out that their mother is pregnant again, and so they talk about their new sibling. As their going to break/eat watermelons, Tohru thinks about everyone else's parents. She asks Kyo about his family, and Kyo tells him that his mom died in an accident. He then asks her, to which she tells the story about breaking watermelons with her mother and how her mother broke a pot instead. Meanwhile, Yuki finally meets Akito at the beach. 59. The find out that Akito is in the area, so everyone except for Kyo and Tohru go pay a visit. When they don't come back, Tohru goes outside to look for them and sees Yuki standing on the cliff. They talk and Yuki reflects on the time he gave her his hat and admits that he's in love with her. |
Title: フルーツバスケット (Fruits Basket) Vol. 10 |
Hiyoko Brand Vol. 4
I had forgotten about this series until I saw volume 5 at the bookstore. Like the previous volumes, the story is really weak, but the art is excellent. There's a lot more nudity in this volume, but as it's a Young, everything besides the breast is censored. My gripe in this volume is that Asami is too indecisive. She's married already, she doesn't need to be a flirt! Bonus comes with a postcard and a few color pages that contain quite a bit of flesh. After the film shoot, Asami finds out that Iwazaki (who people call Ero-zaki) is brother of Iwazaki, the teacher. At home, as she's waiting for Ichimaru, she gets a phone call asking her to be with him as he's doing his observations. However, she goes to find that Iwasaki-sensei is with her husband and runs off in jealousy. He comes home, trying to calm her feelings with some lust, but Asami doesn't allow him. At school the next day, Iwazaki comes up to Ichimaru telling him that she knows the two are dating (but doesn't know their married) and while she says she'll keep it a secret, she recommends that they break up. For the next few nights, Ichimaru and Asami try to be like husband and wife, but Asami's younger brother, Sasuke always gets in the way. |
Title: Hiyoko Brand おくさまは女子高生 (The Wife is a High School Student) Vol. 4 |
美少女戦士セーラームーン (Sailormoon) Vol. 12
It's finally over! I thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out, but I understand the message that it was trying to get across. Overall, I liked the story. Unlike the anime, there weren't extraneous episodes (some of which I liked though), but still, it feels like there were places where the story could have been tightened up. I guess it's just the fact that it's a girl's manga that it's kinda obligatory to have more dialogue than needed. Bonus is the stickers with the images from the last 4 covers. 55. スターズ６ (Stars 6): Sailor Galaxia came to power after leaving her pathetic planet and falling towards the dark side. Sailormoon has dreams about some Zero Star and a Galaxy Cauldron, although she doesn't know what those things are. She later tries to find the 4 outer scouts and find out that they've been defeated and their Star Seeds taken away. With the help of the Starlights, Sailormoon decides to go to the Zero Star to find Galaxia. 56. スターズ７ (Stars 7): As they approach Zero Star, the three cats get defeated, causing a ripple effect into the 30th century. Chibiusa and the Amazoness Quartet decide to go back to the past. Meanwhile, the Starlights have been defeated by Sailor Rete, the one who also killed the cats. However, her twin, Sailor Munemoshune (sp?) tells her sister to stop. They explain that they're fighting now, but hope for a peaceful future. However, the two of them soon get eradicated by a stronger enemy and the Starlight's Star Seed get taken away. The only ones left are Kakyuu, Chibichibi and Moon. 57. スターズ８ (Stars 8): The three of them move on and see the graves of the Sailor Soldiers with their graves being dug as they look on. They get caught, but Chibiusa and the Quartet come and free them. They continue to Galaxia's castle, but first they have to go past Sailor Phi and Kai. They kill Kakyuu and the next enemies they face are the defeated Sailor Scouts. 58. スターズ９ (Stars 9): Tuxedo Mask makes an appearance and orders the scouts to kill Sailormoon. The Quartet and Chibimoon all get defeated. Of course, Moon doesn't want to fight and gets nearly killed when Chibichibi gives her the power and eliminates the false scouts. She runs inside and sees Galaxia, Mamoru, and the super star crystal formed from the Star Seeds. 59. スターズ１０ (Stars 10): Moon has the final showdown with Galaxia in front of the Galaxy Cauldron, the place where stars are born. Galaxia gets defeated, but not before Sailormoon finds out that Chaos lurks inside the Cauldron and the way to defeat it is to destroy the Cauldron, but that would mean terminating the place of birth for the stars. Chibichibi transforms into her true self, Sailor Cosmos. 60. スターズ１１ (Stars 11): Cosmos, the future entity Sailormoon will become, has always regretted not finishing off Chaos when she could, so that's why she came back in time to do so. However, after witnessing Moon, she realizes that she could never destroy the Cauldron. So, with her powers, she restores all the Sailors and allows Usagi and Mamoru to live out their lives. Oshimai! |
Title: 美少女戦士セーラームーン (Pretty Guardian Sailormoon) Vol. 12 |
フルメタル・パニック！ (Full Metal Panic!) Vol. 4
Up to this point, I think the action is pretty good, but the relationships between Kaname, Tessa, and Sosuke needs a little work. The romance part of it isn't coming out for me. This volume has another Kaname foldout and a longer self-manga by the author. 21. 想いでが一杯！ 宗介が先輩に完敗！？ （前編） (Full of Memories! Sosuke Defeated by an Upperclassman!? First Part): Kaname meets one of her old upperclassmen, Fuwa and they plan to go to the amusement park. Sosuke doesn't know what's going on, but Kaname has not been herself lately. Kyoko Tokiwa tells him to accompany her on the day the date is suppose to happen and they stalk Kaname. Kaname has a run-in with some drunk gang members and Sosuke, not wanting to be revealed but also not wanting to have her hurt, dresses up in a bear costume and fights. 22. 想いでが一杯！ 宗介が先輩に完敗！？ （後編） (Full of Memories! Sosuke Defeated by an Upperclassman!? Last Part): After the incident, the security guards are hot on Sosuke's trail. Kaname pulls him aside and confesses to this stranger in a bear suit. She tells him about why she's been acting depressed recently. 23. 開けてビックリ、聞いてビックリ、君は誰！？ (Opening Surprise, Hearing Suprise, Who Are You!?): During an unexpected visit, Kaname goes to Sosuke's apartment and finds Tessa just coming out of a shower. She runs off thinking there's something going on between the two of them. However, what she doesn't know is that Tessa has just fortunate escaped with a prisoner, Takuma Kugayama, from a terrorist group and is staying in Sosuke's place. 24. 泣いた大佐に対策なし！？ (Nothing Against The Crying Colonel!?): As expected, the members of Takuma group come to Sosuke's place looking for him. After defeating the lone scout, they decide to move the prisoner to a safer place. Meanwhile, Tessa is crying as she feels like she's useless, especially after allowing some of her men to get killed from the place she escaped from with Takuma. They arrive at Kaname's place where Kaname recommends that they go to the empty school building. 25. 宗介の決意 (Sosuke's Determination): One of Kaname's men, Karinin (sp?) wasn't killed, but captured by the terror group. The leader explains to him about the origins of their organization, how it was born from a group of abused children, and tells him that they kept him alive so they can extract information about the Lamda Drive. At the school, both Tessa and Kaname get captured and so the enemies ask Sosuke to exchange Takuma for the girls. Who will he pick first? 26. 宗介よ、無事でいて！！ (Sosuke, Be Safe!!): Sosuke picks Tessa first, much to Kaname's disappointment. As they release Kaname, fighting breaks out and Sosuke gets knocked out. The two girls get taken away to a ship where they meet the leader, who happens to be Takuma's older sister. Sosuke and his comrades plan to go after them. |
Title: フルメタル・パニック！ (Full Metal Panic!) Vol. 4 |
Girls ブラボー (Girls Bravo) Vol. 4
The DVD box is on it's way and I'm only half way done with the manga. I was reading the reviews on Amazon and many say that there's no plot to this series. I can concur with the manga. However, not everything needs a plot and as long as each episode is executed well, it's not a problem. Color pullout of Lisa, Miharu, and Ebi and an extra manga chapter are the the bonuses. 20. Fukuyama has stolen "embarassing" items from Miharu, Koyomi, and Kirie and makes them play a treasure hunting game to recover them. Kirie is particular angry at what was taken from her and plays the game with determination. They eventually recover their goods, but Kirie never reveals what the picture was to Yukinari: a picture of her as a child having wet her bed. 21. Miharu and Koyomi realize that it's April Fool's and thinks that it's a day when humans lie, so an "I hate you" means "I love you" and vice versa. Confusion ensues as the people and the Selen misunderstand each other. Yukinari only finds out about her reverse meanings after she becomes gleeful when Yukinari tells her that he hates her. 22. Lisa has a plan to rid Yukinari of Miharu and Koyomi by given them a cake that will shrink them into the size of dolls. Unfortunately, Yukinari eats it too. Kirie comes over and dresses them up as cute dolls, Lisa and Fukuyama both come over later on and make their claim. But eventually, they get restored to their normal sizes. 23. It's sports day at school and Fukuyama is up against Koyomi in ping pong. Koyomi is surprisingly good, so Fukuyama distracts her with embarrassing talk right when she's about to hit the ball. Yukinari tells her just to think that the ball is Fukuyama's face. With that, she regains her dominance. 24. Kirie has a dream about the three girls being secret superheros, the Phantom Bunnies going against Fukuyama. 25. It's Tanabata time and everyone is putting up their wishes. While in the bath, Miharu sees a creature get teleported to earth. She wants to keep it and changes her wish to becoming the owner of this creature who she calls Ebi. 26. Lisa finds in her spell book that the last ingredient for love potion is a creature similar to Ebi, and so she tries to trap it. However, she's reminded of an incident in her past where she found a dying kitten and her heart softens. |
Title: Girls ブラボー (Girls Bravo) Vol. 4 |
Gunslinger Girl Vol. 3
I get a sense that this series is wandering a bit. I don't feel a plot going besides the fact that people from Pandania are being killed off one by one. Found out that Joze is short for Joseph, although I never thought that was an Italian name. Nothing much in bonuses except for a colored first page. 12. Kaleidoscope: Joze has come back from a trip to France and Henrietta goes through his stuff to see what he's brought back for her. She finds a kaleidoscope that has the name "Louis Antoinette Laure" and thinks that it's Jozes new girlfriend. She feels better when Claes explains to her that the name belongs to someone who has already died, so the kaleidoscope is second-hand. 13. ピノッキオ１ (Pinocchio 1) : After finishing a hit and reluctantly having to kill the young daughter of his target, a young assassin, Pinocchio comes back to his hometown of Montalcino. At home, he's neighbor, a young girl named Aurora, looks up to him as a big brother although he doesn't tell her what he does for a living. When he comes to his apartment, he finds someone snooping around and kills him. Pinocchio's boss and a leader in Padania, Christiano has called for him and the pair, Franco and Franca, to keep guard on a munitions during their next operation. 14. ピノッキオ２ (Pinocchio 2) : Using the lead from the missing officer, Toriella and Hirusha are sent to investigate. Toriella meets Aurora on the streets and she naively tells Toriella information about Pinocchio. After Toriella leaves, Aurora wanders into Pinocchio's apartment and picks up a gun laying there. Franca sees this and immediately thinks she's one of the young girl assassins from the government. 15. ピノッキオ３ (Pinocchio 3) : Franco tackles the unsuspecting Aurora and the three of them decide to just tie her up. Toriella and Hirusha move in and after some scuffles, Toriella is left unconscious on the ground. However, Pinocchio doesn't kill her because as he's said from the previous chapter, he's not good around girls. Franco and Franca make their escape too. After she awakes, Toriella feels terrible for having failed. 16. Sever the chains of retaliation: Bruno, the guy who disposes of bodies for Padania, is asked for his services one last time. Angelica hasn't fully recovered, but is asked to go out on a mission again. Marco tries to find out the whereabouts of Pinocchio and through his investigation, he learns of Bruno. During an operation, Angelica freaks out and has to be sent to the hospital. She asks Rico that when the operation continues the next day, she wants to be the one to make the last shot. Rico doesn't keep this promise, but it's okay as Angelica got praised by Marco already. 17. Retiring Tibetan Terrier: The group is asked to protect a higher up who is being targeted. Meanwhile, Henrietta's kaleidoscope breaks and is sent to a local repairman to get fixed. Unbeknownst to them, the repairman is part of the opposition. |
Title: Gunslinger Girl Vol. 3
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