May 20, 2017
From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

New Release!: Revolutionary Girl Utena Vol. 1

30983494 Revolutionary Girl Utena Vol. 1
By: Chiho Saito
Release Date: March 23, 2017
Publisher: VIZ Media; Shojo Beat
Series: Revolutionary Girl Utena #1
Rating:


Sometimes there’s a book I just need. The gorgeous boxed set of Revolutionary Girl Utena was exactly that. I’ll be honest. I’m low-key obsessed with the anime of the same name. I watch it from start to finish a few times a year. Despite this, I never read the manga. Well, now’s my chance! This is the first volume in a two volume boxed set by Be-Papas, the creative collective behind Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Chiho Saito, the mangaka.

And who can resist a beautiful hardcover edition of a manga?

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May 11, 2017
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Wanted

2400167 Wanted
By: Matsuri Hino
Release Date: (Original Japanese) 2005; (English) September 2, 2008
Publisher: VIZ Media
Rating:


I have been on a manga buying/reading spree lately. I’m a little late to the manga scene, at least compared to my husband, and have been trying to make up for it by picking up more or less every old manga I find at used book sales. Wanted by Matsuri Hino was one such purchase. This is a standalone manga from the creator of Vampire Knight. Yup, that’s right.

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May 06, 2017
New & Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Release! Ocean of Secrets Volume 1

33160054 Ocean of Secrets Volume 1
By: Sophie-chan
Release Date: May 16, 2017
Publisher: TokyoPop
Series: Ocean of Secrets #1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


It’s no secret that I love manga. So when I had the opportunity to review a copy of a new manga I’d never heard of before, of course I jumped on it. Ocean of Secrets, Volume 1 is a brand new series by the mangaka Sophie-chan. The cover was full of pretty purples, and drew my eye to it immediately. This volume will be released on May 16, 2017, just a little over a week from now.

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Apr 01, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review: No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 3

18295855 Review: No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular, Vol. 3
By: Nico Tanigawa
Release Date: (Original Japanese) December 22, 2012; (English) April 22, 2014
Publisher: Yen Press
Series: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular #3
Rating:


Here we are again, another volume of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Vol. 3 down. This series by Nico Tanigawa, pen name for the two creators of the series, is about Tomoko, high school student determined turn things around from her middle school days, make friends, and talk to boys. Unfortunately, this is harder than it originally sounded. Already at the start of second term, none of Tomoko’s plans have come to fruition.

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Feb 22, 2017
From Our TBR Pile

Review: No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! Vol. 2

17899412 No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! Vol. 2
By: Nico Tanigawa
Release Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: Yen Press
Series: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! #2
Rating:


Another day, another manga read. This time it was No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa, a pseudonym used by the two creators. The second volume in the series continues with Tomoko’s misadventures in high school. It’s just as fun as the first volume in the series, and one I definitely enjoyed.

Small note here: The title is often shortened to Watamote, which is also the title the anime is known by. This is what I will be using to refer to this volume for the rest of this review. Because the full title is just too damned long. Great title. Perfectly explains the manga. But just way too long.

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Feb 09, 2017
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Ragnarok, Volume 1

1186587 Ragnarok, Volume 1
By: Myung-Jin Lee
Release Date: (Original Korean) 1998; (US Release) May 21, 2002
Publisher: TokyoPop
Series: Ragnarok
Rating:


Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Let’s talk about a very old manga that has graced my husband’s bookshelf since our middle school days. Ragnarok, Volume 1 by Myung-Jin Lee was the first manga he ever managed to convince my mother-in-law was appropriately priced despite the book’s real lack of words in the traditional sense.

So, for a manga that’s been tucked away between multiple volumes of Black Cat and Trigun for the past almost twenty years, how is it?

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Dec 29, 2016
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Wish

936906 Wish, Vol. 1
By: CLAMP
Website: https://clamp-net.com/
Release Date: (Original) 1996; (English) 2002
Publisher: Tokyopop
Series: Wish #1
Rating:


Some of the first manga I’ve ever read was from CLAMP. I’ve read (and watched) the usual stuff – Tsubara: Reservoir Chronicle, Cardcaptor Sakura, xxxHolic. But I never even heard of Wish before I found it tucked away in a used book sale at my local library. I stared at the cover, and wracked my brain, but nothing came up. So I did what any other fan would do – purchase it immediately and worry about details like plot and why exactly I never heard so much as a whisper about this manga afterwards.

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Dec 10, 2016
From Our TBR Pile

Review: No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol 1

17785885 No Matter How I look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m not Popular, Vol 1
By: Nico Tanigawa
Release Date: (Original) January 21, 2012; (English Translation) October 29, 2013
Publisher: Yen Press
Series: No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! #1
Rating:


You know how sometimes you stumble on something that hits so close to home it makes you a little uneasy? This manga does that. Over and over again. No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol 1 by Nico Tanigawa is a story about an awkward teenage girl who loves video games and manga, has trouble making new friends and talking to boys, and isn’t as close to her brother as she used to be.

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Nov 04, 2016
New & Upcoming Releases

Upcoming Release! Review: Disney Manga Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

30795613 Disney Manga Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
By: Jun Asuka
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Publisher: TokyoPop
Rating:


It took an awfully long time for me to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Decades, in fact. I wasn’t quite five when it came out, and my parents banned me from watching it on account of me being too scared. This was probably a smart move in retrospect as I vividly remember being terrified that Halloween by a fellow trick or treater dressed up as a ghost (quite literally a middle schooler under a sheet with two eye holes cut out) and ran down the block, screaming, and refused to believe it wasn’t a real ghost. (Sorry, Dad).

Now, at long last, I can say that I have officially watched the movie. And read the manga.

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