Manga Monday: Houou Gakuen Misoragumi

Alternative Title: The Beautiful Skies of Houou High
Genre: Comedy, Shoujo, School Life

Art: 4.5 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars

Rating: Teen
Released By: DMP

Houou High is a famous and incredibly prestigious all-boys school. It's also the stomping grounds for the sons of the most well-renowned families from all walks of life, which gives rise to rumors that it holds a monopoly on money and power. Our protagonist, Kei Saeba, ends up enrolling in this veritable garden of blooming amateurs due to her mother's guile. Now she must pretend she's a boy for three years or she "will be erased"!

The person with the purple hair? That's Kei and she's a girl. She's scared of guys and earns the nickname "Barfing Prince" because she throws up when she's around too many.

Manga Monday: Trigun

Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Shounen, Comedy
Art: 5 stars for the anime / 4 stars for the manga
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Rated: Teens+ or 15+ for violence and alcohol

Vash the Stampede is a wanted man with the habit of turning entire towns into rubble. The price on his head is a fortune, and his path of destruction reaches across the arid wastelands of a desert planet. Unfortunately, most encounters with the spiky-haired gunslinger don't end well for the bounty hunters who catch up with him; someone always gets hurt - and it's never Vash. Oddly enough, for such an infamous fugitive, there's no proof that he's ever taken a life. In fact, he's a pacifist with a doughnut obsession who's more doofus than desperado. There's a whole lot more to him than his reputation lets on - Vash the Stampede definitely ain't your typical outlaw.

Trigun discusses religion, morality, pacifism. It's full of irony. And please please watch the subbed version, not dubbed, if planning to watch the anime.

Manga Monday: Pita-Ten

Pita-Ten by Koge-donbo

Misha has just moved in next door to Kotarou Higuchi and swears she will protect him at all costs. Unfortunately, she's not too familiar with the ordinary world, as she is an angel who has lived in Heaven until recently. She has no idea how things work on earth and ends up causing more trouble.

Very cute drawings, but very dark themes. Also Amazon has it for "Young Adults" but the characters are middle grade students. However the characters do not act their age a good portion of the time.

Manga Monday: Full Metal Panic!

Full Metal Panic! written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Shiki Douji
Kaname Chidori’s one of the most popular girls at her high school – unfortunately, it’s her growing popularity off campus she should be worrying about. Unbeknownst to Kaname, terrorists are plotting her abduction, believing she possesses the rare and coveted abilities of “the Whispered.”

That’s where Sousuke Sagara enters the picture. He’s a hotshot soldier from the clandestine counter-terrorist organization known as Mithril – and he’s going undercover at Kaname’s school to try and keep her safe. He may be an ace in the cockpit of an Arm Slave mech, but there’s no training in the world that could prepare him for the warzone of high school.

Really enjoyed the series! Lots of light novels, mangas, anime, and several branches of each.

Manga Monday: Black Cat

Black Cat by Kentaro Yabuki

Two years ago, Train, a high-level assassin known as Number XIII in Chronos, left the secret society to live by his own rules. Since then, Train has been a sweeper, a bounty hunter, catching criminals and bringing them in alive. But his main mission is to find a former Chronos member who killed his best friend.

Again, watched the anime. It was great until the ending. Action with great art.

Manga Monday: Elemental Gelade

Elemental Gelade by Maymui Azuma

"Cou, the bumbling rookie of the "Red Lynx" sky pirate squadron, has just discovered the treasure of a lifetime - a mighty member of the ancient race of Edel Raids. Ren, at first glance, seems to be a shy and defenseless girl, but she holds within her a power that many are willing to kill for. When Cou takes it upon himself to protect Ren on her journey to a mysterious place called Edel Garden, he immediately makes new friends and dangerous enemies."

I watched the anime and not sure of the standings of the manga. But Elemental Gelade (it was Gerade when I first saw it...) is a great action, adventure, romantic story. Cuts to the chase, no filler episodes, but very cheesy at times.

Manga Monday: Seiyuu Ka-!

Seiyuu Ka~! by Minami Maki

Kino Hime is a 15 year-old girl who just started her first year in a high school for voice actors (Seiyuu) called Hiiragi Academy. She dreams of becoming the voice of the main character in one of the most popular series in Japan, "Magic Fighter Lovely Blazers". The academy is the number one school which allows students to make their voice acting debuts and also includes other departments such as general education, sports, music, acting, and art.

But Hime's dream is hard to fulfill. Her voice is not really suitable for a voice actress and her new classmate Kudou Senri doesn't waste time in pointing that out. Will Hime prove everybody, especially Senri, what she is capable of despite the first appearance?

Manga Monday: Love So Life

Love So Life by Kouchi Kaede

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life
Art: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Similar to: Aishiteruze Baby

Shiharu is a high school student who loves kids, lives in an orphanage, and works at a daycare... Until the handsome uncle of two-year-old twins offers her a raise if she'll be their babysitter. Often relying on memories of her mother's actions for guidance, Shiharu quickly finds herself falling in love with her new makeshift family.

Manga Monday: Black Bird

Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi
Art: 3.8 stars
Plot: 2.8 stars
Characters: 2.8 stars
Serialized: Viz Media

There is a world of myth and magic that intersects ours, and only a special few can see it. Misao Harada is one such person, and she wants nothing to do with magical realms. She just wants to have a normal high school life and maybe get a boyfriend. All that changes one day when Misao is attacked by a demon. Her childhood friend Kyo suddenly returns to save her and tend to her cuts--with his tongue! It turns out Misao is the bride of prophecy, whose blood gives power to the demon clan who claims her. But most demons want to keep her power for themselves--by eating her! Now Misao is just trying to stay alive...and decide if she likes it when Kyo licks her wounds.


My reaction: I read the manga up to volume 5 and do not plan to continue the series. There are too many instances where I feel as though only through raping Misao in the later volumes, does one become powerful to be some of figurehead within the demon world. I just can't continue to read something like that.

Vol 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Manga Monday: FLCL

FLCL by Gainax (author) and Ueda Hajime (artist)

Other Names: Furi Kuri / Fooly Cooly
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance??
Art: 3 stars
Plot: 2.5 - 3.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Serialized: TokyoPop
Other: Anime (I watched anime...)
Note: This is one weird @ss manga/anime just to warn you. Rated R or 18+

Naota's life isn't simple: he lives with his eccentric father and grandfather in a two-story house above a family-owned bakery in a town marked by a gigantic factory at its heart. The factory looks suspiciously like a hand iron, complete with a steam release at the top--not the most typical landmark. Life is already strange enough, but to top it off, his older brother's ex-girlfriend starts making extremely suggestive passes at him... and an impish, playful alien smacks him in the head with a bass guitar and then infuses herself into his family.

FLCL Volume 1 / FLCL Volume 2 / FLCL Volume 3

Manga Monday: Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo by Manglobe and Gotsubo Masaru

Genre: Comedy, Action, Historical (yet it has HipHop music...)
Art: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.3 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Serialized: TokyoPop
Other: Anime
Note: Creators of Cowboy Bebop

Manga was discontinued after second volume. So I watched the anime (ratings reflect anime).

Mugen is a rough-around-the-edges mercenary with a killer technique and nothing left to lose. Jin is a disciplined samurai who's as deadly as he is reserved. Fuu is a young waitress with a good heart and a resourcefulness that emerges when you least expect it. These three unlikely companions are about to begin a journey that will change all of their lives.


It's a dangerous quest for a mysterious samurai that will see our squabbling group of heroes get into and out of trouble more times than they can count (which admittedly, isn't very high). From the cynical gentility of the nobles to the backstabbing of the Japanese underworld, Mugen, Jin and Fuu will face threats from without and within as they hurl insults and throwing stars alike. Ancient Japan is about to get a lethal dose of street justice--Champloo style. And it will never be the same.

Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection

Manga Monday: Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop by Yatate Hajime (author) and Nanten Yutaka (artist)

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Comedy, (smidgen) Tragedy
Art: ??
Plot: 3 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Serialized: TokyoPop
Other: Anime (watched Anime instead of reading Manga, which is my recommendation because of the graphics and colors) + Movie

Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed - cowboys on the new frontier. Together this band of interplanetary bounty hunters takes on the jobs that anyone in their right mind would turn down.

Cowboy Bebop Complete Sessions Collection (Anime)
Cowboy Bebop - The Movie
Cowboy Bebop Boxset

Manga Monday: Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex by Aya Nakahara

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo
Art: 3.8 stars
Plot: 4.3 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Serialized: Viz Media
Other: Anime and Live Dram

Risa Koizumi is the tallest girl in class, and the last thing she wants is the humiliation of standing next to Atsushi Otoni, the shortest guy. Fate and the whole school have other ideas, and the two find themselves cast as the unwilling stars of a bizarre romantic comedy duo. Rather than bow to the inevitable, Risa and Atsushi join forces to pursue their true objects of affection. But in the quest for love, will their budding friendship become something more complex? (from Amazon)

Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 / Vol. 4 / Vol. 5 / Vol. 6 / Vol. 7 / Vol. 8 / Vol. 9 /  Vol. 10 / Vol. 11 / Vol. 12 / Vol. 13 / Vol. 14 /  Vol. 15 / Vol. 16 / Vol. 17

Manga Monday: Noblesse

Noblesse by Son Jae Ho (author) and Lee Gwang Su (artist)

Genre: Comedy, Action, Supernatural
Art: 4.8 stars
Plot: 3.8 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Serialized: Naver

He awakens. For 820 years he has slumbered with no knowledge of mankind's advancements and scientific successes. The land which he once knew has become an unfamiliar place with new technologies, attitudes, and lifestyles. Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (aka Rai), seeking to familiarize himself with this era, somehow locates a loyal servant of his, Frankenstein, who is currently the principal of a South Korean High School. Rai decides that this high school would be the perfect place to help him learn about the new world, enrolls, and randomly begins hanging out with a group of students to blend in. But this new world is no safer than the old, and the dignified, bewildered, technologically illiterate Rai finds himself caught up in adventures both ridiculous and dangerous.

This manhwa is a web comic with vertical, color panels.

Manga Monday: Karakuri Odette

Karakuri Odette by Julietta Suzuk

Genre: Drama, Comedy, [smidgen] Romance, Fantasy
Art: 3.8 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Characters: 3.8 stars
Serialized: TokyoPop

"Odette is an android created by the young talented scientist Dr. Yoshizawa. Wanting to find the ultimate difference between humans and his android, Odette decides to persuade Dr. Yoshizawa to enroll her in a local high school. Follow Odette's adventures as she ventures through high school, in search of the true meaning of being a human." (from Amazon)

Volume 1 / Volume 2 / Volume 3 / Volume 4

Manga Monday: Kamisama Hajimemashita

Kamisama Hajimemashita by Suzuki Julieta

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Shoujo
Art: 3.5 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Serialized: Viz Media

Momozono Nanami’s dad, a man with a penchant for gambling, disappeared after accumulating a huge amount of debt. Thus, she was chased out of her house by the debt collectors. When she met a timid boy being chased by a dog, he told her that he’d give her his house. She believed his persuasive talk, but when she went to his house… it turned out to be a shrine. Moreover, a guy with fox ears appeared, which made Nanami even more confused. What will become of homeless and confused Nanami?

Manga Monday: Vampire Knight

Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo, Tragedy
Art: 2.3 stars (do they ever change expressions!?)
Plot: 3 stars (WTF is going on!? Where is this leading up to??)
Characters: ??? (I don't even know anymore)
Serialized: Viz Media
Other: Anime

"Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

Yuki Cross has no memory of her past prior to the moment she was saved from a vampire attack ten years ago. She was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy, and now works alongside Zero to guard the Academy's secret. Yuki believes that vampires and humans can coexist peacefully, but her partner has different ideas..." (Amazon)

Notes: See above. Um, yeah.

Vampire Knight, Vol. 1 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 2 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 3 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 4 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 5 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 6 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 7 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 8 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 9 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 10 / Vampire Knight, Vol. 11

Manga Monday: Soul Eater

I have mauling this over and I have to admit that I suck at reviewing mangas. Therefore I this is basically going to be a feature rather than a "review" per say. You guys probably can't tell the different between the two anyhow xD

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Soul Eater by Ookubo Atsushi

Genre: Fantasy, Action, Shounen
Art: 4.5 stars (different; no one is "pretty pretty"
Plot: 3.5 stars (slow at first, but it is going somewhere)
Characters: 3.8 stars (lack of development, but unique)
Serialized: Yen Press
Other: Anime (ending sucked butt and left out huge developments)

"Maka is a weapon meister, determined to turn her partner, a living scythe named Soul Eater, into a powerful death scythe - the ultimate weapon of Death himself! Charged with the task of collecting and devouring the tainted souls of ninety-nine humans and one witch, Maka and her fellow meisters strive to master their weapons as they face off against the bizarre and dangerous minions of the underworld. But the meisters' own personal quirks may prove a bigger obstacle than any sultry enchantress!" (Amazon)

Note: I like more than D-Grayman. Read the manga--it's a lot better than the anime. The anime has great graphics, but it ended earlier than the original manga so the ending makes no sense.

Soul Eater, Vol. 1 / Soul Eater, Vol. 2 / Soul Eater, Vol. 3 / Soul Eater, Vol. 4