As per usual with a Kei Toume production, Momonchi is dominated by inner monologues and unnoticeable-yet-amiable characters. What this means for the average reader is a manga with no resolution or character development. What this means for the Kei Toume fan is another great reading experience with beautiful colored artworks, or an engrossing work that will no doubtedly occupy our minds with countless hours of fantasy wherein we undress the heroines from the shackles we call clothes.

I don’t really know how else to enjoy this series. Still, no matter the reason or method to your madness, it will prove to be worth the hour or two (maybe three) reading through this nonchalant piece of real fiction. It is a very light-hearted comedy, so don’t expect anything like incest or rape as you might expect from an average manga.

The plot follows the life of Momo Okamoto as she perseveres through her post-high school days attending an art prep school, following in the steps of her artist father. As you might guess, the low-life deadbeat left his family to pursue his art and Momo grew up hardly knowing him. Though that is the case, she does not hate him or harbor any resentment towards him. In fact, it proves to have quite the opposite effect as she feels closer to him now that he is gone. Let’s not point fingers, she’s not the brightest of heroines. If I had to give her an archetype, it’d be the ditzy short kid who has trouble staying awake for lessons. Of course she would pursue art, the lazy wench.

I am kidding. Probably. Possibly. Huh… what was this article about? Oh yes, the plot is about her dealings with love, or lack thereof. In the end, nothing really happened. I hope you enjoy the irony as much as I do.

Tegami Bachi is an ongoing stylized fantasy manga by Hiroyuki Asada. Also known as Letter Bee, the story is of government letter carriers known as Letter Bee who risk their lives in a dark land called Amberground. A Letter Bee named Gauche Suede finds his letter to deliver, however this time it’s a living person named Lag Seeing. Lag is a special young kid who desires to become a Letter Bee himself and to know what happened to his missing mother. Lags mother was actually taken and is believed to be in the capital city that the artificial sun hovers over. Danger arises between cities as deliveries are often interrupted by large beetle like living armor known as Gaichuu that attack them. Luckily for Letter Bee, they are equipped with special guns (Shindanjuu) that fire hallow bullets (Shindan) that are filled with the shooter’s heart.

Wonderful characters and strong words are well supported by the many attempts to get emotions from the reader. Words like amber, love, and heart are used a lot. Volume one gives the impression that Gaichuu are remains of people who’ve corrupted their hearts and that taking of Lag’s mother was planned so Lag can become strong. Memories are openly revealed when a Shindanjuu is fired and that’s what makes Tegami Bachi special. I am emotionally attached to this world of endless night.

Each volume has lush purple, silver, and cream colors support the feel of the environment. Perhaps repetitive coloring is used on purpose for keeping a nightly vibe while you read. The artwork is stable and characters are fairly close to the mangaka’s colored illustrations. The author makes a pretty interesting comment about how he hopes you read Tegami Bachi enough to where pages are worn. The guy keeps his favorite books nearby whenever possible.

Volume one is out in English by Viz with two chapters. There is a 28 minute anime special from a Shounen Jump tour that was streamed officially with English subtitles titled Letter Bee: Light and Blue Night Fantasy. Hopefully the anime will be distributed by Viz soon after episodes air with the upcoming TV series this fall.

I was organizing my closet today and I stumbled upon volume five of Shoujo Fight. I was practically estatic as I had finished reading volume four about two months ago. I wasn’t aware I owned more. My happy schoolgirl squeals made it hard for me to read more than a few pages at a time, but once my spasms died down I just lay on my bed staring at the pretty cover. more…

While most hip young people were masturbating to comics by Tamaoki Benkyou back in the early 21st century, I was eating through my family’s collection of Chef Boyardee from post-Y2K scare like crazy and accumulating needless amounts of energy that I needed to waste on something… anything. It was actually 4 years after that when I of course stumbled across TAGRO-sensei. more…

Ninjas have been a popular subject in manga and anime, even before Naruto took the world by storm and polluted the youths with delusions of summoning giant frogs and doppelgangers. So perhaps it should not come as a big surprise that Del Rey has gone and brought another “great” title to America.

Ninja Girls, otherwise known as Rappi Rangai in Japan, will be the latest ninja fecal matter to adorn the shelves of young boys and middle-aged men in America come August 11, 2009. Having read the first volume, also known as a tankoubon by weeaboos, nearly a year ago, I think this will be another grand addition to the already shallow manga assortment found in bookstores. The story is rather ordinary and uninteresting, so I won’t bother going into it here. I’m sure many reputable sites have already announced this manga’s acquisition by Random House’s less-reputable cousin years ago, so this isn’t even worth posting.

Unfortunately, I own six volumes of this (that’s right I buy my manga) and feel pissed that I went and bought the Japanese version when I could have waited four months and just read it in Borders like I usually do. Oh well, there isn’t a way to turn back time so at the very least writing this article makes me feel like it wasn’t a complete waste of my money. So where was I? Well, who cares. The art is pretty, and the covers are nice; though it isn’t original, and frankly the characters all look plain… so what I really want to say is don’t bother buying this one. I already paid for your share of this fantastic manga with my own purchase.

Japanese lesson for the day. ku-no-i-chi – means ninja. female ninja. Do yourself a favor and jump off a bridge.

Dosei Mansion is a so far four volume science fiction manga by Hisae Iwaoka. It is unlicensed, but there is or was a live action adaptation movie in the works. You can find the author’s site and illustration gallery here. The latest announcement there is for the cover art of Apple Light’s Pocket of Rain album. Apple Light is a group that a lot like The Pillows, but more tame.

The basic story idea is of a young boy named Mitsu who lives in the lower and poorer area of a huge flying ring structure where people live. Mitsu graduates middle school, but his father dies and leaves him with the job of cleaning the flying ring’s windows. Humanity now lives in such places because everyone decided to no longer be allowed to step foot on Earth. The story takes its time and the artwork is flawless (see link above). Maybe there can be enough buzz or people bugging publishers to get the manga into English.

Apple Light – Pocket of Rain Amazon Japan
Volume one of Dosei Mansion Amazon Japan or beNippon