Tag: manga

2018 Manga Selections

RKasa

January 7, 2019

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Two years have passed since my 2016 Manga Selections, and now I’m finally going to come back at you with a whole new slate of recommendations. Since that post, I’ve finished most of the manga featured in that older article, with the exceptions being the still-ongoing My Hero Academia, Wandering Island, One-Punch Man, Vinland Saga, and Yotsuba&! (all of which are still great), so the time was right. As in 2016, to qualify, I had to have read at least one volume during the past year (and therefore, the fantastic Ooku: The Inner Chambers will once again have to wait for a future installment).

To refresh your memory as to how this is all set up, the series are presented in alphabetical order, and this year, for the first time, my top three are ranked at the end. After each manga’s title is the author(s), then the North American publisher, the first year of Japanese serialization, and the number of volumes I’d read up until the end of 2018 (followed, in parentheses, by the total number of Japanese volumes). Series printed in omnibus or other special editions are denoted with an asterisk (*), but the numbers reflect the original volumes as they were first printed in Japan. Finally, all of the cover images used here came from Right Stuf or the publisher’s website.

Tales of Tales (and Other Games)

RKasa

July 5, 2018

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We’re now just past the midpoint of 2018, and although I’ve met my personal gaming goal for this year, my Backloggery progress index is in the negative, thanks largely to some Switch pickups (and a gift), and the usual Steam Summer Sale. I’ve been playing a little bit of everything—action and turn-based JRPGs, indie puzzle and adventure games, and a couple of newer entries in long-running franchises—but there’s always too much good stuff out there to catch up on.

My major gaming goals these past couple of months were to beat Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth and play through Tales of Vesperia. Despite a generic setup for the final boss battle (which, on the plus side, had awesome music), the former game was excellent—it’s easily one of the best, if not the best, in the core series. There was none of the overworld stuff that was first introduced in the third game and padded out the fourth (and most boring) entry. Instead, Etrian V is a straight-up dungeon crawl through the massive tree Yggdrasil, much like the first two games. That’s not to say this back-to-basics approach didn’t include any new elements, the best of which is the addition of in-dungeon food gathering and cooking, which gives one more options for healing and lessens the need to warp back to town whenever health and standard support items run low. On top of that, each dungeon strata’s gimmicks are novel, the story is quite good, and the mapmaking and other series hallmarks are as fine-tuned as they’ve ever been, including in the postgame, which is still tough as balls. This dungeon crawler fan highly recommends it.

New Year, New Manga

RKasa

February 28, 2018

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You might have noticed that I didn’t put together a “Manga Selections” roundup for this past year, like I did for 2016. This is mainly because so much of what was on that list would only be repeated. However, I’m considering doing one for 2018, as since then, I’ve finished—or am close to finishing—a handful of series.

That said, I’ve been itching to try some new stuff. This continues to be a great time for English-translated manga, with many new titles coming out on a regular basis. I recently tried a bunch, all of which made their English-language debut in 2017 or 2018, and have reviewed some of them below.

These reviews account for only about half of the new books I’ve read so far this year. Two of the others—the one-shot orange -future- and the first volume of the ongoing Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle—are continuations of previous series, and excellent ones at that. Another pair, the first volumes of Hatsune Miku: Future Delivery and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students, are middling media tie-ins. What remains in these reviews are the original titles, which have nothing carried over from previous manga series or franchises. Any one of them should be accessible for those looking for something new.

The Promised Neverland, vol. 1
Kaiu Shirai (story) and Posuka Demisu (art), Viz Media (Shonen Jump label)

Although it’s the newest critical darling from Weekly Shounen Jump, this series didn’t quite click with me. The premise, laid out in the first chapter, is solid: a group of kids at a lively, yet unsettlingly weird, orphanage accidentally discover the horrible truth about what happens to them when they leave for new homes. This truth is frightening and fantastical, and lends itself to many questions. However, the rest of the volume consists of plodding suspense and small, sometimes bland, revelations about the orphans’ circumstances.

The orphanage itself is mostly dull and it doesn’t help that the plot suggests that any true excitement lies beyond its borders, a world which we barely get a glimpse of. The three main characters, who strongly resemble the heroines of Magic Knight Rayearth in their personalities, make plans and toss off theories at a regular pace; however, there’s little that foils or contradicts them so far, which lessens the tension. Aside from the fact that this is a non-romantic Jump series with a female lead, the most interesting character is the orphans’ caretaker, whose side of the story is teased every now and again, making it clear that she knows much more than she’s letting on.

The Promised Neverland has clearly set itself up to be a slow-burn cat-and-mouse tale of mystery and escape, but neither the setting nor the cast are engaging enough to want me to get the next volume right away. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this series is that Posuka Demizu’s talents seem wasted here. I picked up her artbook, Pone, last summer, and her strongest works in that are detailed fantasy worlds filled with objects. She’s not as good with characters, but this is a very character-driven series. In a more suitable artist’s hands, perhaps I might’ve wound up liking this first volume more than I did.

If you want to check out The Promised Neverland for yourself, the first three chapters are currently available for free on Viz’s website.

Spirit Circle, vol. 1
Satoshi Mizukami, Seven Seas

In a completely different turn of events from The Promised Neverland, I liked the first volume of Spirit Circle much more than I expected. The mangaka’s previous series, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, was enjoyable enough, but going by this first volume alone, Spirit Circle is shaping up to be even better.

Middle-schooler Fuuta can see ghosts, a power which annoys him more than anything else. He is fascinated by the pretty new girl in school, Ishigami, who has a spirit companion named East. As it turns out, Ishigami has carried a serious grudge against Fuuta through several previous lives, which the latter begins to become aware of.

I haven’t read many stories about reincarnation, and, after reading some other reviews of this volume, was afraid that this one might be too complicated to follow, but my fears proved unfounded. This tale is expertly told, with the transitions between past and present handled smoothly. Also, the characters are extremely relatable and believable, which makes getting into the story that much easier. There’s not much more I want to say about this, in part because I don’t want to accidentally give something away, save for the fact that I can’t wait until the next volume.

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, vol. 1
Natsumi Hoshino, Seven Seas

And now we’re back to a series that I wanted to enjoy more than I actually did. Plum Crazy! is a slice of life cat manga that is currently up to an astounding seventeen volumes in Japan. However, even with the cat-centric premise, it turns out that I am still rather picky when it comes to the slice of life genre.

In this series, a cat named Plum lives with an ordinary high school student and his airheaded dance teacher mother. One day, Plum finds and rescues a tiny kitten, whom the family later names Snowball. However, this kitten does not get along with Plum much at all. In fact, Snowball has a habit of biting Plum to relieve stress.

So, we have two cats—one cute but dour, and one cute but bratty—and a small cast of mildly amusing humans. Their misadventures include one where Plum follows the son to school, and another where Snowball starts chewing on wool clothing. These stories are okay, but don’t have that special spark that is required for the best slice of life manga. On top of that, I have mixed feelings about how Plum and Snowball sometimes test the boundaries of “real” cat behavior, mainly in their interactions with their human companions. Overall, this first volume was an enjoyable read, but I don’t see any compelling reason to continue.

My Brother’s Husband, vol. 1 (omnibus ed.)
Gengoroh Tagame, Pantheon

The most recent first volume I read turned out to be the best of the bunch. My Brother’s Husband is an intimate, heart-wrenching snapshot of LGBT life in Japan, and is masterfully crafted to boot. The story starts when a single father, Yaichi, receives an unusual houseguest: a Canadian named Mike whom he’s meeting for the first time. Mike is the widow of Yaichi’s twin brother, Ryoji, who had recently died back in Canada. He stays with Yaichi and his young daughter Kana, getting to know both them and the town that Ryoji had left behind.

Yaichi clearly has mixed feelings about Mike, and the late Ryoji, and wrestles with them throughout the volume. He does his best to be a good host, but has trouble fully accepting Mike, and, as a result, starts to reexamine his relationship to his twin. Kana, on the other hand, does not share her dad’s ingrained prejudices, and loves that she has a Canadian uncle (in part because “Canada” sounds a little like “Kana”). As the story goes on, other characters start to appear, some more accepting of Mike than others. Meanwhile, Mike’s visit doubles as a mourning process for him, and through certain sad scenes, the reader gets a real sense of how much Ryoji meant to him.

Tagame has been creating manga for decades, and it shows. The artwork is crisp and expressive, and the panels flow together smoothly, with a deliberate pacing that’s appropriate for this sort of real-life drama. Pantheon’s presentation—a Chip Kidd-designed hardcover with dust jacket—is suitably outstanding. This first book collects volumes one and two of the Japanese edition, and the second and final omnibus is due out in September of this year. It may be worth it to wait until then to pick up both volumes, but at the same time, this is exactly the sort of high-quality, groundbreaking manga that should be supported. Either way, My Brother’s Husband is well worth reading.

And Then…

RKasa

August 21, 2017

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I’ve been reading Osamu Tezuka manga the past few days; namely, a couple of the titles published by Digital Manga Publishing via one of their ever-present Kickstarters. Under the Air was the first; a seinen short story collection, it’s one of the better Tezuka books I’ve read in awhile. After finishing that, I started Melody of Iron, another anthology, but with a long title story (100+ pages) and few others, instead of many short tales. Though nowhere near the level that Vertical lavished on their Tezuka volumes, the localization and printing quality of these books is pretty good for DMP. However, after three backed Kickstarters, I may be done with buying new series from this company.

For several years now, DMP has had a reputation for turning to crowdfunding whenever it wants to print—or reprint—just about anything. Not only has this been the case for niche titles, which is understandable, but also reprints of their biggest hits. One prime example is the BL drama Finder, which is so popular that new volumes would often hit the New York Times’ manga bestseller lists back when they had them. Perhaps this overreliance on crowdfunding was a reason why Finder‘s Japanese publisher terminated its contract with DMP. Many of their readers haven’t been too happy with them either; their books tend to get delayed and often have unreasonably low print runs, and their lack of communication on classic manga Kickstarters leaves much to be desired (on the other hand, a BL Kickstarter of theirs that I backed—mainly for reprint add-ons—had timely updates and great communication overall, though I don’t know how they’ve been since). On top of all that, they have practically no distribution—it’s hard to get many of their books even through a manga specialist like Right Stuf—and it seems like a fair number of their former employees didn’t like the place, either. Although a handful of Tezuka fans have damn near succumbed to Stockholm syndrome when it comes to DMP, I sort of hope that Tezuka Productions’ deal with them is the next one to be terminated.

Anyway, back to the manga itself: as is customary for most all Tezuka printed in English these days, there is a disclaimer at the start of these anthologies that basically says that the depictions of various races in these works are products of their time, and that they should be seen as such. I would suggest to Tezuka Productions that they start mandating this sort of thing for gender depictions as well. Tezuka’s depictions of women are interesting at best but are more often problematic; Princess Knight and Message to Adolf have been some of the worst offenders for me, personally. The women in Melody of Iron (so far) and Under the Air are a bit more standard for Tezuka: not much more than love interests, wives, and/or relatives.

On a whole other end of the gender depiction spectrum, there’s the 1997 shoujo TV anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. This series, about a girl who was inspired to become a prince when she was younger, and the duels she finds herself embroiled in to win the hand of the “Rose Bride”, borrows heavily from both the magical girl genre and “girl prince” stories like The Rose of Versailles and the aforementioned Princess Knight to create something new. I talked bitprophet into watching the first dozen or so episodes with me—the Student Council Arc—and fortunately, he was intrigued enough that we ended up going through the whole show. This was my second full viewing of the series, so I was mostly interested in catching little details I had missed the first time around. Turns out that there were many: Anthy’s smiles, the consistent theme of animals in the humorous “Nanami episodes”, various spoken lines, even more props and objects. It remains a dense, character-driven series that requires a patient soul to fully deconstruct. This is a series where even its greatest weakness—its relentless reliance on reused animation, and indeed, entire scenes—ends up working in its favor. It’s glamorous while adhering to a certain routine, a routine which could be subverted at any moment. It’s the high drama and messiness of adolescence whirling around its simultaneously bland and eccentric title character in a series of duels accented by a primitive CG castle and hard rock choral music with strange lyrics. There’s nothing else quite like it, and I’m glad I watched it again. As for the other versions of the Utena story, a rewatch of the movie is being planned, and I’d already reread both manga series earlier in the year, thanks in part to a gorgeous new box set.

And now, games! After beating Persona 5, I tried Wolfenstein: The New Order, but sadly found that it is not to my tastes, being a methodical shooter more in the vein of Call of Duty than the classic high-octane Wolfie I had been accustomed to. However, I found myself absorbed into Puzzle Quest, enchanted by Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, and mildly amused by Mountain. I also played a pair of mediocre sequels in the forms of Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, the latter of which was not nearly as bad as I’d been led to believe. There were also a few short Steam games—Quest of Dungeons and the two LostWinds adventures—which were okay. Then, there is the beautiful mess of Nier.

Nier is about a doting dad and his sickly daughter living in the far future of what is heavily implied to be our own world. It also stars a cynical magic talking book, a foul-mouthed huntress wearing the most ridiculous outfit in video games this side of Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, and a sweet and dangerous boy. It’s considered to be one of the best works to come out of the late cavia inc., a studio that was generally known for average-to-bad games with crazy plots. All the best parts of Nier involve spoilers (or, at the very least, things worth discovering for yourself), and I’ve only played the first ending so far, so I’ll just say that cavia doesn’t disappoint and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come. In addition to its entertaining storytelling, Nier has a striking visual aesthetic that strongly recalls ICO and other Fumito Ueda games, a soundtrack that absolutely deserves its stellar reputation, and some excellent voice acting. However, it also has some janky animations, alternately fun and annoying combat, meh sidequests, forgettable farming, and bad fishing. It is not a great game, but at the same time, it is. Nier is a weird, wonderful exemplar of gaming’s B-tier and I’m looking forward to getting the rest of the endings, even the one which erases your save and prevents you from playing it again (well, at least with that one account…).

Aside from Nier, I’m currently playing NotGTAV, a crudely-drawn, humorous, and extremely British variant of Snake. I’m also playing my first Nintendo Switch game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. One of my greatest regrets in not ever getting a WiiU was missing out on Mario Kart 8, so I was delighted when this Switch port, which includes all the DLC, was first announced. It’s a damn good Mario Kart game, with an unbeatable spread of both new and old levels, including a great Bowser’s Castle, a pair of killer F-Zero-themed courses, and personal favorites such as Music Park and Grumble Volcano. My only real complaint so far is that the new Rainbow Road is somewhat underwhelming. It’s also still a little weird to see non-Mario-themed elements, like the characters Link and Isabelle (and those F-Zero tracks), in a Mario Kart. Otherwise, the little tweaks they’ve made are mostly great, and I’m having a good time. I’ve recently started the 150cc Grand Prix, after clearing 50 and 100cc, and will devote my attention to those courses whenever I’m not diving further into the craziness of Nier.

2016 Manga Selections

RKasa

January 16, 2017

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Since I reviewed a selection of games from the previous year, I figured, why not do manga as well? Unlike with the games list, there are few true “old” titles here: most officially debuted or had ongoing volumes printed in English in 2016. Sorry that this post is going up so late, but I’ve had other things distract me in the meantime. Still, better late than never!

As with the Games Selection, a bit of explanation is needed for the setup. The series are presented in alphabetical order, with no rankings whatsoever. After each manga’s title is the mangaka (if there is more than one, they are in order of writer/creator and artist), then the North American publisher, the first year of Japanese serialization, and the number of volumes I’d read up until the end of 2016 (followed, in parentheses, by the total number of Japanese volumes). Series printed in omnibus editions are denoted with an asterisk (*), but the numbers reflect the original volumes as they were first printed in Japan. Finally, all of the cover images used here came from Right Stuf or the publisher’s website.

Honorable Mentions
– Jaco the Galactic Patrolman – for its humor, whimsy, and inspired Dragon Ball connections.
– Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer* – for its low-key, almost slice-of-life approach to modern fantasy heroics.
– My Hero Academia – for its fantastic blend of Japanese shounen and American superhero (with a small touch of indie) styles of comic art.
– Queen Emeraldas* – for its dreamlike treatment of the “space opera” genre.
– Wandering Island – for its detailed, sort of Ghibli-esque telling of its simple adventure plot.

Assassination Classroom
Yusei Matsui | Viz Media (Shonen Jump label) | 2012 | 12 (out of 21)
The kids in Kunugigaoka Junior High’s Class 3-E don’t have a lot going for them. The other students bully and ridicule them, making them outcasts in their own hyper-competitive school. However, they have a chance to turn their fortunes around thanks to a secret government project in which they will receive a huge cash prize if they assassinate their teacher Koro-sensei, a grinning octopus-like creature who has destroyed much of the Moon and threatens to do the same to Earth. Koro-sensei, by the way, is a shining example to his profession, and through his lessons and various other adventures—the best of which often involve one-upping the horrible student body and administration that treats Class 3-E as outcasts—the kids come to love him. This complicated love/target relationship is at the heart of Assassination Classroom, and along with the gags, action, great ensemble of characters, and crisp, clean artwork, it makes this title one of the best that’s come out of Shonen Jump in recent years.

Emma
Kaoru Mori | Yen Press | 2002 | 4 (out of 10)*
A tale of forbidden romance between a maid and a wealthy merchant’s son in Victorian England, Emma is rife with period detail, quiet moments, and breathtaking drama. I had originally read the first volume, then localized by CMX, several years ago, but only came back to it recently, and after the twists and turns which led to a crescendo in the fourth volume, I’m eager to keep reading until the end. The setting and characters appear to be the results of some painstaking research, yet there is also a Japanese flavor in the leisurely pacing which is a hallmark of manga. Some of the finely detailed art can be shaky at times when it comes to the basics, but otherwise, this is a very good slice-of-life drama.

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto
Nami Sano | Seven Seas | 2011 | 4 (out of 4)
The other school comedy on this list also stars an admirable oddball. However, this time, instead of a teacher, it is a student. Sakamoto-kun is cool beyond cool; a tall, suave wunderkind of mysterious origin who always seems to have the right approach to any problem. In this way, he makes the best of bad situations, gently guides his classmates in positive directions, and earns the admiration, or at least the grudging respect, of everyone he encounters. The art is strangely gritty for a shoujo manga, but also lends it a realistic quality which helps make Sakamoto‘s world more believable, and Sakamoto-kun himself stand out more. Sakamoto is humorous and inspiring, and at four volumes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and ends brilliantly, tying off the final loose ends left.

My Love Story!!
Kazune Kawahara/Aruko | Viz Media (Shojo Beat label) | 2011 | 10 (out of 13)
Shoujo romances tend to be well-known for their drama and endless questions of will-they-or-won’t-they. There is drama aplenty in My Love Story!!, but where it differs is that the hulking Takeo Goda and petite Rinko Yamato become a couple by the middle of the first volume. What follows, then, is a cute and hilarious tale of their relationship, and all the little milestones they take along the way. Another, perhaps more remarkable, thing which separates My Love Story!! from most other shoujo is that the main point-of-view character is male. Goda is a somewhat clueless but extremely likable hero, and the scenes with his best friend Makoto Sunakawa are frequently enjoyable glimpses of an honest and true male friendship. Given the rough year that we will all undoubtedly face ahead, I highly recommend this series as a joyful escape. I will be sad to see it end—the final volume should come out in English later this year—but will be rooting for Goda and Yamato the entire time.

One-Punch Man
ONE/Yusuke Murata | Viz Media (Shonen Jump label) | 2012 | 9 (out of 12+)
In a generic city, an aspiring hero and all-around normal guy named Saitama does a simple but intense training regimen and ends up losing all his hair, but gaining so much strength that he can defeat any enemy with a single punch. He eventually gets noticed by a few others—most notably the straight-laced cyborg Genos and villainous ninja Speed-o’-Sound Sonic—and soon winds up in the world of professional superheroes. Originally based on ONE’s webcomic, this funny, action-packed tale of an unlikely hero who makes up for his apathy for the formalities of pro-level herodom with heart and dignity is well worth checking out. The art is astonishingly good, too.

Orange
Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas | 2012 | 5 (out of 5)*
A school drama with a science fiction twist, Orange is a tale in which its introverted protagonist, Naho Takamiya, receives a letter from her future self, who tasks her with preventing a small-scale tragedy. The constantly lingering question of whether or not Naho can pull this off, saving her classmate Kakeru Naruse by following her future self’s detailed instructions, kept me on the edge of my seat. There’s a romance angle as well, and all of this is ferried to the end by a wonderful supporting cast. I must note that although this is an excellent drama, one of the early spoilers carries a trigger warning with it; read this review if you want to find out more.

Otherworld Barbara
Moto Hagio | Fantagraphics | 2002 | 2 (out of 4)*
This is a difficult one. It begins with a peculiar island where a young girl frolics with her friends, people can fly, and the residents are insulated from an ongoing war. Then it shifts to a “dream pilot” named Tokio Watarai, who takes on a curious request involving a girl who has slept continuously for years on end. Also, Watarai has an estranged son, Kiriya Kitakata, who has problems and concerns of his own. There is cannibalism, psychic phenomena, a Martian connection, and the constant recurrence of the term “Barbara”, usually as the name of an island which may or may not actually exist. Tying all this surrealism together is the most appropriate art style possible: collage-like, loose-bordered shoujo. Otherworld Barbara is most definitely an acquired taste, but if if happens to be yours, it is a fascinating one.

Princess Jellyfish
Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics | 2008 | 6 (out of 16+)*
If you like to laugh, loudly and often, this is one manga you don’t want to miss. In the first volume, our heroine, the jellyfish otaku and NEET Tsukimi Kurashita, has a chance encounter with someone from the direct opposite end of the social spectrum: Kuranosuke Koibuchi, a rich, stylish, attractive, crossdressing guy. Somehow, they become friends, and when Kuranosuke learns that the charming old building where Tsukimi and her otaku compatriots live is in danger of redevelopment, it triggers a whole big mess of adventures as he attempts to save it. Every single damn member of the cast is funny, and a few take us down some particularly hilarious turns as the story goes on. Kuranosuke sometimes acts a little too pushy in a believable but unlikeable way, especially early on, but otherwise, this is a fantastic series which I can’t get enough of.

Vinland Saga
Makoto Yukimura | Kodansha Comics | 2005 | 14 (out of 18+)*
An ongoing masterpiece by the creator of Planetes, this is one of the most violent manga I’ve ever read, and also one of the most pacifist. Thorfinn is a young Icelandic boy who, thanks to some tragic events, gets swept up into Askeladd’s band of bloodthirsty Vikings. Over the course of many volumes, we not only see plenty of limbs lopped off, but also Thorfinn growing and changing through his interactions with his fellow warmongers, a captured prince, and others. In the second major story arc, which completed in volume 14, Thorfinn’s situation has changed drastically, and over time, he does as well. Vinland Saga is currently the best seinen manga you can buy in English, which is no small feat.

Yotsuba&!
Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press | 2003 | 13 (out of 13+)
The adorable slice-of-life comedy Yotsuba&! isn’t undated as frequently as it used to be, so new volumes, when they happen, become even more of a treat. This series, about the adventures of an eccentric little girl and her family and friends, is charming up the wazoo, very funny, and sometimes even carries an air of nostalgia, depending on whether or not you had similar experiences when you were a kid. It’s lovely just to look at with its panels bursting with detail—and not just in the backgrounds, but the objects and animals as well. The humorous scenes are frequent, and they’re paced and executed with expert precision. Yen Press’ localization has also improved over the years, though it’s still nowhere near as good as when the now-defunct ADV Manga published the series. Yotsuba&! is a rarity in manga: a high-quality series which can be enjoyed by just about anyone, no matter how old they are.

Wrapping Up Various Things

RKasa

May 18, 2015

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Just got back from Portland yesterday. It was an exhausting trip, filled with plenty of walking and foodie’s food. I had wanted to write this post either right before or during the trip, but a lack of sleep got in the way. However, I managed to catch up, somewhat, last night, so here I am.

To start off with, at the beginning of this month, I beat Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abbadon, an action RPG which has one of the longest titles of any game I’ve ever played. In terms of both gameplay and plot, it was better than the first Raidou game, which I beat earlier in the year. New features—such as the ability to summon two demons at once; better accessibility to the Gouma-den, where new demons can be fused; and a negotiation system which, despite its usual tediousness, is the best I’ve seen in all of MegaTen—were quite welcome, though some repetitive elements stood out as the game’s greatest flaws. By that, I don’t mean the reuse of much of the previous game’s assets, which I didn’t mind at all. Rather, what bothered me was the overdone recapping, and even more, the obviousness with how the story’s branches were handled. Every so often, roughly once a chapter, a character would ask a rhetorical, philosophical question that basically asked Raidou to choose between revolution and the status quo. The answers to these ham-fisted questions don’t matter until the very end of the game, and even then, there is one final barrage of inquiries right before the branching path is settled upon. Despite these nitpicks, Raidou 2 was a decent game, though hardly the best MegaTen I’ve played.

A few days afterward, I finally finished reading a manga series which I had first sampled over fifteen years ago: Barefoot Gen. My first experience with Gen came with a copy of Volume 2, picked up cheaply at a certain bookstore in Philadelphia. Some years later, I picked up a used copy of Volume 3, but I didn’t buy any more of the series until last year, when I picked up the first and fourth volumes. Around then was when I learned that my older volumes were heavily abridged, and that the current edition, published by Last Gasp, is complete and uncut. Therefore, I repurchased volumes 2 and 3, and, later on, the last six books as well.

A semi-autobiographical tale inspired by mangaka Keiji Nakazawa’s childhood, Barefoot Gen tells the story of Gen Nakaoka, an elementary school-aged boy who survives the atomic bombing of his hometown, Hiroshima. By the end of the first volume, the bomb has dropped, and the story truly begins. Subsequent volumes find Gen making new friends, being discriminated against, and raging at not just the Americans who dropped the bomb and occupied Japan, but the Japanese Emperor and politicians who were so eager to wage war in the first place. It is, as noted in the always excellent ANN column House of 1000 Manga (spoilers in link), an angry manga, and sometimes, especially toward the end, Gen’s anger gets to be a little too much. The last few volumes are rather tedious at times, even as it explores the Japanese side of things during the Korean War; as a sign of the plot wearing thin, the final tragedy that befalls Gen and his group is one which, startlingly, doesn’t have much of a direct tie to the atomic bomb. Gen is also a violent manga; atomic bomb aside, it hews to the shonen manga tropes of its time, with lots of hitting and fighting, often between adults and children. Despite its pacifist message, seeing Gen so eager to physically fight people who dismiss his anti-war views is more than a bit disarming. Also, without giving anything away, in one of the later volumes Gen does something in the name of his personal philosophy that is so lacking of empathy and maturity it’s astounding. It’s an important manga, probably the best I’ve ever read about Japan during that era, but it’s also rather dated, and at least one of the included forewards was undesirably diversionary from the manga’s basic premise. It might’ve helped if the manga was broken up into chapters, as they were originally serialized, but instead, the manga flows together as one long story, broken up only by its separation into ten books. I recommend the first few volumes, but if you don’t want to stick with it after that, I really couldn’t blame you.

After Gen was wrapped up, and between new volumes of Nisekoi (aka the harem manga for people who normally dislike harem manga) and the always charming and hunger-inducing What Did You Eat Yesterday?, more games were played! I started, and am still playing, a Japanese copy of Picross DS, which I picked up on the cheap during Play-Asia’s annual Spring Sale. There’s nothing much to say about it besides that yeah, it’s Picross, though the zoomed-in 15×15 puzzles took me a little getting used to, not to mention the menus in a language that I can’t understand very much of. Right now, I’m currently stuck on a couple of flower-themed puzzles in Normal mode, though I’m sure I’ll push through them soon enough.

I also cranked through a few short games on Steam. First up was Escape Goat, a room-based puzzle game a la Adventures of Lolo and Toki Tori. It’s a solid entry in this genre, structured to encourage experimentation, and with precise controls and well-designed, if sometimes frustrating, puzzles. If you like this sort of game, as I do, you’ll like Escape Goat—enough said.

Second was Octodad: Dadliest Catch, whose controls were the opposite: intentionally difficult to master. This game, about an octopus trying to live as a normal suburban father in a nuclear family, revels in the ridiculous. Everyday tasks, such as mowing the lawn or picking out the perfect apple at the supermarket, are much harder when your arms and legs are tentacles and you want to blend in with actual humans. The story takes some interesting turns, and although I felt somewhat partially robbed of my final victory due to where a certain object landed, I found Octodad to be a neat little game overall. The pair of included bonus episodes were worth playing through as well.

The third short game I played through before leaving for Portland was the shortest and least interactive of the bunch: a wordless visual novel called A Bird Story. Produced by the developer of To the Moon, this is a similarly sentimental journey. In it, a young boy, who goes through the motions at school and is interested in flight, rescues a bird. It’s kind of cloying at times, and because of that, whether or not you’d like this would depend on your natural tolerance for such things. Thankfully, the length is just right, and most everything about it is simple and straightforward.

Now that I’m back, and catching up on my sleep, I think I’ll continue going through some other short games in my backlog, which I may or may not write about here. I also picked up Legend of Dungeon again recently, which has improved since the last time I played it, thanks to some patches. It’s now not as unfair as before, though it still lacks some of the refinement and balance of better roguelikes. Goat Simulator is also in my “Now Playing” list, though I’m not sure when I’ll go back to it.

I also may start the last unplayed PS2 game I have left in my backlog (if you don’t count Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, which I’ve put up for sale): Sakura Wars: So Long My Love. I may start that this week, depending on how I feel; we’ll see. At any rate, it’ll definitely get played sometime soon.