Review: WANTED

I was hoping that this book could provide some summer fun in shojo manga form.  What I got couldn't be more different.

WANTED, by Matsuri Hino.  First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

When she was just a little girl in a troupe of musicians, Armeria was touched by the kindness of the young nobleman Luce.  Then Luce was captured by pirates and Ameria spent the next eight years searching for him, posing as the cabin boy Arlo.  She soon learns the terrible truth: her gentle Luce has become the ruthless pirate Captain Skulls.  Can Armeria learn to love a pirate?  Is Captain Skulls capable of telling his wayward admirer how he feels in return?

Review: HINADORI GIRL

Nothing hurts like getting your hopes up only to be disappointed, even by obscurities like this. 

HINADORI GIRL, by Mari Matsuzawa.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2005.

PLOT:

While his scientist father is away on the moon, Yoshiki decides to tinker with his dad's greatest invention: Support Robot Sally 001.  She has a special program that allows her to learn about the world in the same way a child might.  This makes it hard to teach her basic things like cooking and cleaning, but makes her very endearing to everyone save for Yoshiki's jealous and quick-tempered sister Akira.  Can they raise Sally right while fending off the vain scientist Tsukiko who wants to steal Sally for herself?

Review: HIGH SCHOOL PRODIGIES HAVE IT EASY, EVEN IN ANOTHER WORLD!

 Of course, I can't do nothing but review stone-cold classics that are both old and new.  That would just get dull after a while.  This month is also an opportunity me to trash on garbage like this.

HIGH SCHOOL PRODIGIES HAVE IT EASY, EVEN IN ANOTHER WORLD! (Chojin-Kokoseitachi wa Isekai demo Yoyu de Ikinuku Yodesu!), based on the light novels by Riku Misora and character designs by Sacraneco, with art by Kotaro Yamada.  First published in 2016 and first published in North America in 2018.

PLOT:

Seven ultra-talented high school kids, talented in everything from politics and business to medicine and stage magic, find themselves transported to another world after their plane crashes.  Now they are stuck in a fantastical world with elves and beastfolk and corrupt nobles.  They will need to employ all their talents if they want to both repay the kindness of the village that took them in and get ahead in this strange new place.

Review: DICK FIGHT ISLAND

 Look, I'm not above cashing in on social media trends around here, especially if it means righting a wrong from last year's Holiday Reviews at the same time.

DICK FIGHT ISLAND (Hachinin no Senshi), by Reibun Ike.  First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2021.

PLOT:

On the faraway islands of Pulau Yang Indah, eight strapping young warriors are gathering for a sacred tournament held every four years.  Their battles are waged not with weapons, but instead with sex.  The combatants use their bodies and elaborate penile armor to expose their opponents, make them come first, until only one is left to become king of the islands.  Harto is one of those eight young men, having spent the last few years far away at college.  Harto is up against a bevy of hot, well-built men but he hopes to use a secret technique learned abroad to help him win.

Review: PEEPO CHOO

 I can hardly believe it, but this month marks the tenth anniversary of this humble little review blog.  What started out as a mere hobby blog has turn into...well, it's still mostly a hobby blog, but considering how much the manga blogging scene has changed it's one of the few still left standing.

Regardless, it's an achievement that's worth celebrating as part of our usual Merry Month of Manga.  But what theme could fit such a moment?  That's when the answer came to me: to have no theme at all.

Think of this as "dealer's choice," if you will.  There is no overarching theme to the reviews this month beyond the fact that I want to talk about these books, be they bad, good, or merely mediocre.  So let's kick things off with a manga that also defies a lot of categories.

PEEPO CHOO (Pipo Chu), by Felipe Smith.  First published in 2008 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

Milton is just another ordinary black kid growing up in Chicago, but he wants nothing more than to go to Japan.  Surely it will be just as wild as his favorite anime, Peepo Choo, and Milton would finally find a place where he could be himself.  In the meantime, all he can do is hang out at the local comic book store with the other weebs while the store clerk Jody calls them dorks and entertains them with lurid (and entirely fake) stories about his sex life.  The two end up on a store-sponsored trip to Japan, unaware to its true purpose.  It turns out the store's owner is in truth a hulking assassin whose latest target is Morimoto, a yakuza lackey who has styled himself as an American gangsta.  Along with tough-as-nails gravure model Reiko, their stories are about to collide in the most chaotic way possible.