IT'S HOLIDAY TIME!

 

The end of the year and holiday season is upon us once more, and that means it's time for another round of our Annual Holiday Review Extravaganza!

That means that once more I'll be posting reviews of some of the most notable and notorious manga to come out in 2025, once a day from December 1st all the way to Christmas Day.  Of course, the best way to keep up with these reviews (along with all the rest) is to follow our Bluesky account or to join our Patreon if you're not doing so already.

Another good reason to follow us on social media is so you can enter our annual Holiday Review Giveaway!  I'll be stuffing a $25 Bookshop.org gift certificate in the metaphorical stocking of one lucky reader chosen at random.  All you have to do to enter the giveaway is tell me about your favorite manga of 2025.  It doesn't matter whether it was long or short, brand new or older than you are - so long as it was new to you, it counts.  You can either leave a comment below on this post or at the pinned post on our Bluesky account anytime between now and the end of Christmas Day 2025.

I'm looking forward to your comments, and I hope you in turn are looking forward to the reviews and hopefully enjoy a peaceful holiday season.

Review: MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING: BLIND TARGET

 So my friends over at Giant Robot FM claim this is the best of the Gundam Wing manga they've read, but can this humble one-shot manage to rise above the rest?

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING: BLIND TARGET (Shin Kido Senki Gundam W: BLIND TARGET), based on the franchise created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate, written by Akemi Omode with art by Sakura Asagi.  First published in 1998 and first published in North America in 2001.

PLOT:

In the months following the end of OZ, the boys of Operation Meteor try to settle back into civilian life.  This fragile peace is shattered when Quatre is nearly killed by assassins.  It seems that the remnants of Treize's White Fang faction want to overthrow Relena's government in the name of space colony independence, but they need the Gundams to do so.  Thus, the five former Gundam pilots must find a way to stop them before they start a new war.

Review: EUREKA SEVEN: GRAVITY BOYS & LIFTING GIRL

During the brief time period that Bandai Entertainment tried to be a manga publisher in the US, the majority of their titles were manga spinoffs to the shows they licensed.  They clearly hoped that name recognition alone would carry them, but titles like this one demonstrate why that strategy didn't work.

EUREKA SEVEN: GRAVITY BOYS & LIFTING GIRL (Eureka Seben Guravuiti Boizu & Rifutingu Garu), based on the original story by BONES and script by Dai Sato, with art by Miki Kizuki.  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:

Sumner Sturgeon comes from a rich family and everyone expects him to follow in his father's footsteps and join the military.  Sumner himself doesn't know what he wants to do with his life.  What he does know is that he loves lifting, a sport where people surf on the air.  He'll even sneak off-campus to participate in secret tournaments, although his real goal is to observe the rising star known only as B.B.

In truth, B.B. is actually Ruri, a poor girl who poses as a boy so she can get around the rules and use her lift boarding skills to get herself out of the slums.  The two meet by chance, the first of many intersections between their very different lives and what lifting means to them and those around them.

Review: BRAIN POWERED

I guess it's finally time for me to look at this manga adaptation of one of the worst mecha shows in history, albeit from a surprising source.

BRAIN POWERED (Buren Pawado), based on the story by Yoshiyuki Tomino with art by Yukiru Sugisaki.  First published in 1998 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

The earth is under attack as massive, strange discs rise from the bottom of the ocean, bringing destruction in their wake along with the strange organic robots inside them.  A mysterious group known as Orphan is gathering as many of these plates and robots as possible, to study them for reasons known only to their leaders.  Yu Isami doesn't care about any of that, though.  His parents may run Orphan, but he just tries his best to keep his head low and do what he's told.

When his beliefs are confronted by a mysterious pilot named Hime Utsumiya, he choses to defect and joins her on the giant floating fortress called Novis Noah.  There they nurture the robots (known as "Powereds") like children, working in partnership with them like parent and child to oppose Orphan.  

Review: I WAS SOLD DIRT CHEAP BUT MY POWER LEVEL IS OFF THE CHARTS

It's mecha month once more, and that includes isekai manga.  There's been a recent spate of isekai light novel adaptations featuring mecha and this is...certainly one of them.

I WAS SOLD DIRT CHEAP BUT MY POWER LEVEL IS OFF THE CHARTS (Class Saiyasunede Urareta Orewa, Jitsuwa Saikyo Parameter), based on the light novels by RYOMA and original character designs by Susumu Koroi with art by Cambria Bakuhatsu Tarou.  First published in 2021 and first published in North America in 2025.

PLOT:

For Yuta and his classmates, it was just supposed to be an ordinary class trip. Then their entire bus was magically transported to another world expressly for the purpose of being sold off as slaves.  Those found to possess a high magical power (such as Yuta’s crush and his best friend) are sold for a fortune to nearby lords and kingdoms to pilot powerful, ancient mecha suits to fight their own petty struggles.  Those found lacking are sold off for practically nothing for cheap labor…like Yuta.  What Yuta doesn’t know is that his magic levels are so strong that they could not be accurately measured.  He’ll unwittingly use that power to escape slavery, make some friends, and eventually find his way into the cockpit of one of those magical mecha on his own terms.