Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the same format as Lily's movie thread. Post reviews for manga, manhwa, manhana, comic strips, graphic novels, ect. I am going to request that if you are doing a lesser-known comic that you post a link to scanalation or official site and that if you haven't read the whole serise, you say that somewhere in your review.

I should write some reviews, since I started the thread, but I'll do that later.

Kage says: i don't know if we are allowed to post links to scanslations Mahou... I highly doubt it though. So for now... that line is going to be... striked
Mahou: I think if it is unlisensed you are allowed but the ToS page isn't working for me. The have scanslation sites in the link list, I don't think they would let that if they weren't allowed.

Anyway this is the the format I'll be using, I'm putting it here so I can copy/paste it. If anyone else wants to use it they can do the same.
Title:
Type:
Genre:
Creator:
American Company:
Read:
Summary:
Review:
/5

[reserved until further notice to put up Prince of Tennis (Sorry I have to), Hands Off!, and Yakitate!!Japan.]

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Suspense/Sci-Fi/Mecha/Religious
Volumes: 9
Review: The manga delivers the same great story and design that the anime originally blessed us with. However, what the manga gives us that the anime doesn't is very very noteworthy: MORE INFORMATION. The manga provides a much deeper view into the meanings of everything in the Eva storyline as well as a few scenes that happen aside from the main story. Religious symbolism, the in-depth view of human emotion and existence, and a lot of cool robot vs. monster action are all covered. If you're a fan of the Eva series then you owe it to yourself to pick this manga series up.
Rating: 10/10

To Heart
Genre: High School/Romance
Volumes: 3
Review: A good manga that spawned from a good anime that spawned from a great series of dating-sim games. To Heart is a very short yet quite fulfilling manga that covers the blossoming relationship between Hiroyuki and Akari. With help from their high school friends Multi (a robot maid), Lemmy, and others, they finally overcome their nervousness and get together. The artwork is cutesy style and makes the high-school students look like they're in elementary but it works out once you get used to it. If you need a fun and affordable series to take on a trip, then To Heart is your ticket.
Rating: 7/10

Ai Yori Aoshi
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Volumes: 9+ (Unfinished)
Review: Ai Yori Aoshi is a story that follows the hidden romance between Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba. The two are to be wed but are forced to keep their love a secret in fear of sabotage to Sakuraba Conglomerate since Kaoru is from a lower status. The two live with Ms.Miyabi in a hotel style mansion and soon a number of characters come to inhabit the residence. The American Tina, the cute little Chika, and the clumsy yet determined Taeko all make for a very lovable cast. The only disappointment that I find in the manga is the overexposure of what be called "fan-service." While a short depiction of nudity from time to time is bearable, this manga seems to go out of it's way to portray the female characters fully exposed at every opportunity and it really only serves to destroy the innocent story that lies underneath. Without the senseless nudity, perhaps this title would have received a better rating.
Rating: 6.5/10

Title: Garfield: In the Mood for Food
Type: Comic Strip, selection
Genre: comedy
Creator: Jim Davis
American Company: Baltine Books
Summary: Watch Garfeild eat food and grow fatter!
Review: This selection is just a rehashed version of a bunch of comics, completely useless if you have the collections. It does provide some ocassional laughes, but the humor is generally sophomoric, which is traditional of the franchise.
3/5

Shoujo Jackpot continues...

Title: Hand Off! (Sono te Wo Doker)
Type: manga
Genre: drama/comedy
Creator: Kasane Katsumoto
American Company: Tokyopop
Read: 3/8
Summary: Kotarou Oohira, effeminate bishounen and basketball fanatic, moves in with his Grandpa in Tokyo to attend a coed school whose students he hopes will be less ... judgmental than his all-boys school in he country.
Kotarou's aloof cousin Tatsuki Oohira, also living with Grandpa, immediately gives Kotarou a hard time due to the fact that Kotarou unknowingly gave Tatsuki an unsettling postcognition when the two of them were children.
Along with the help of Yuuto, a friendly classmate with the ability to see emotional auras around others, the three end up finding themselves in some dangerous mysteries surrounding their school and members of the community. Tatsuki and Yuuto find out their respective ESP abilities are heightened when they touch Kotarou, so they don't hesitate to do so when tracking down kidnappers and the like. Since Kotarou isn't informed that Tatsuki and Yuuto have psychic powers, he reacts like most teenage boys to the physical contact -- he screams, and hits, and tells them where they can put their slimy hands. And so our story is born ...
Review: Often mistaken for shounen-ai, the only boy's love in this manga is plutonic. The stories are episodic, but entertaining. Kotarou seems to be one big danger magnite. The majoy characters are well developed but I sometimes wonder why the grandfather is rarely seen.
4/5

Title: Hiatari Ryoukou
Type: manga
Genre: romance/comedy/sports
Creator: Mitsuru Adachi
American Company: N/A (the scanalator that I read it from, still hasn't taken down FMA despite it being liscense and released. Until they do, I won't post their link)
Read: 5/5 (complete)
Summary: Kasumi Kushimoto has a boyfriend oversees and is starting high school, but since the school is far away from her house, she is staying at her aunt's bording house where she finds herself face to face with four male housemates! When she and Yuusaku Taksugi accidently see each other naked, she burns him an effigey, but soon she attracted to his boyish charm.
Review: Despite how it may sound, there are no bishounen in this manga and the only fanserive happens in the first two chapters. It was published in two seperate magazines and it is pretty obvious. The first 3/4's are slow paced, slice of life drama, with comdedic characters and love triangles. The last fourth puts the romance on hold until the last chapter, and mainly foucouses on short, situational comedy with the supporting cast. If it had ended after it finished in the first magazine, I would have given it a higher rating.
3.8/5

Title: Candy Candy
Type: manga
Genre: romance/historical drama
Creator: Kyoko Mizuki and Yumiko Igarashi
American Company: N/A ( scanalator )
Read: 9/9 complete
Summary: Candice White is an ophen who one day meets a young Scottish baggpiper while she was upset. She calls him her prince, but she never sees him again. She hopes to get adopted and have a family of her own, but instead she gets taken in as a compainion for a rich brat who always plays mean tricks on her but soon she befriends the neighbors who make her world a little brighter.
Review: I had a hard time writting a summary for this. There is no real comfined plot, it simply follows a good twenty years of this girls life. The cast of characters is broad and each one is unique. As Candy passed through all the stages of her life, the reader finds theirself wanting Candy to find happiness.
Created in 1975, it was one of the difnintive early shoujo titles but it will probally never make it to American shores due to it's copyright issues. Article
5/5

[ Message temporarily off-line ]