Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 10

Part 2! Let's see if I can get this published before 2015, eh? It's a race against time!

STORY

I was right. I wasn't prepared for the heartbreak in this volume.

The volume started out with the conclusion of Raikou and Yukimi's conflict, then moved on to Miharu and Yoite's journey, where everything came together in dramatic fashion. And oh, how dramatic it was. The conflict between the main cast and the Kasa was exciting, and the final story of Yoite's past interwoven between the fighting made for a gripping read. And then the finale happened. That single moment was so powerful and so masterfully done. Applause all around for Yuhki Kamatani.

The wrap-up chapter was just as heartbeaking, as the cast all desperately tried to recall everything that had happened.

All in all, this volume was on point for the story. I look forward to see how it progresses from here.

ART & PRESENTATION

There was so much beauty in this volume. I'll do my best to include as much as I can without putting in spoilery pictures. Favorites below!

Yen Press outdid themselves this time around. As well as a solid presentation, they provided a heartbreaking foldout poster at the end. *sniff*

CHARACTERS

The character development in this volume was superb. Everyone gained tons of characterization as everyone lost something dear to them (especially Yukimi. Like, Jesus)

Also, Fuuma was back for a brief moment in this volume. And while he was still being cryptic, he actually wasn't annoying. Amazing! I didn't think it was possible!

FINAL VERDICT

A heartbreaking volume in all the best ways, Nabari no Ou volume 10 brought out the best in Yuhki Kamatani, and I thank her for that. Plus/minus below!

+ Beautiful story
+ Beautiful art
+ Beautiful characters
+ Everything

A+ - BUY IT

Buy it and read it over and over. A story this beautiful simply can't be ignored.

Oh, darn. Looks like it's 2015. Oh well!

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 9

This is the first of two reviews I'm doing tonight! I'm feeling generous since it's New Year's Eve. You're welcome!

STORY

Wellp, I already don't like where this is going. Miharu and Yoite are on their own now, and the Kasa are on the hunt for them. I can also tell that Yukimi is catching to the agreement. Chief Hattori is as well, and the tension ratchets up another few notches. This volume was basically one big chase scene with some other bits spaced throughout. Not that that's a bad thing. The other main storyline this volume was Yukimi's quest. There isn't really much to say about that storyline yet because it hasn't really taken off. That can be saved for next volume, I guess. Some of the best bits were looking into Yoite and Yukimi's past together.

The story is really taking off with this volume. The biggest plot points have yet to hit home, and the present storyline, which has several sub-plots within, is sure to deliver.

ART & PRESENTATION

This was my favorite part of the entire volume. Miharu and Yoite's little 'vacation' scene was filled with all sorts of beautiful artwork. The rest of the volume was fantastic as usual, but that was really the icing on the cake. Favorites below! There's a really nice full page image right at the end, but all the online scans have chopped it in half, so you'll have to trust me.

The presentation is, as always, spot on. My only sliiiiiight issue is that on the cover of volume 8, Yukimi was hearing a brown jacket. On this cover, it's the same jacket, but it's dark blue. It's confusing me.

CHARACTERS

I'm honestly getting a little tired of including this section because every time it'll just be me heaping praise on the beautiful characterization. I've run out of new characters to go over and discuss, so don't be suprised if this section becomes very short in the near future.

Anyway, The characterization is great as usual. I like that Miharu is becoming less apathetic and more caring of people. It almost seems like a completely different series than what we started out with.

FINAL VERDICT

Great volume. Learning more about Yoite is always a treat, and some nice character bits for Miharu and Yukimi tied the knot. Plus/minus below!

+ Beautiful art
+ Great story arc
+ Great character moments

- The story is taking it's time getting to the major plot revelations

B+ - BUY IT

Great volume. I can't wait for the next!

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 8

I'm back! Not that it really matters to a whole lot of people, but I'm back nonetheless. I apologize in advance if this review seems less in-depth than the previous ones. To do the story section of my review I usually rely heavily on the "story so far" segment at the beginning of the next volume. Well, volume 9 doesn't have one of those. I'll just have to wing it.

STORY

Honestly, this was another volume where not a whole lot happened. We started out with some Chief Fuuma creepiness. Thankfully it was relatively short. Kotarou Fuuma is still what appears to be the only weak link in the story. He just doesn't do anything.

Besides that, Kouichi spills his secret to Tobari-Sensei and Raimei, we find out that Tobari-Sensei knows some things of Miharu's childhood and how he came to possess the Shinra Banshou, and Yukimi continues to act all fatherly towards Miharu and Yoite. Oh, and the Gau bit! Hurray! The final bit of the volume shows that Chief Hattori's secretary lady is having some suspicious activities with members of the Kasa.

If I'm correct, this arc will deal heavily with Yoite's past, and I don't think it's all going to be sunshine and rainbows by the end.

ART & PRESENTATION

Three cheers for Yuhki Kamatani! Her art makes a not-very-interesting volume very engaging. There isn't a whole ton of standout art because of the somewhat dull proceedings story-wise, but it's still very nice to look at. My favorite panel is below.

*cries*

Yen Press' presentation is lovely as usual. My only complaint is that my copy's first page is printed to high, and the very tops of the words in the first sentence are off the page. No biggie, though.

CHARACTERS

There honestly isn't much to say here that hasn't already been said. The characters are all deep and well thought out. We get a few new characters near the end with the introduction of the Kasa, but their names are never revealed, so I'll have to go over them at a later date.

It looks like Tobari-Sensei will be departing the story for a little while as he goes off on his secret mission. I'm sort of okay with this, since Tobari-Sensei has only been holding people back in the recent volumes. Don't get me wrong, he's a well written character, he just seems to do more harm than good.

Also, Fuuma's still annoying. All he does is dick around and laugh maniacally. Here's hoping he actually becomes a player in the end.

FINAL VERDICT

This wasn't the best volume of Nabari, but certainly not the worst. It was predominantly setup, but it was still engaging thanks to the deep characters and fantastic art. Plus/minus below!

+ Great characterization
+ Gorgeous art
+ Gau! (I seem to have a man crush on Gau...)

- Sort of slow
- Fuuma still grates, even when he barely appears

B- - BUY IT

Not the best, but certainly worth buying to keep this series going.

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 7

I just discovered the other day that 'Ou' is pronounced "Oh-oo," which means I've been sounding like an arse the whole time and I didn't know it. Oopsie.

STORY

This volume has it all! Rousing action! Plot twists galore! But most importantly, it has a ton of new characters running around who all wear the same clothes who will make you think to yourself... "Who is that again? Have I seen them before? Why did this random guy just make that decision? Oh, right. We were introduced to him a couple of chapters ago before he disappeared!" I thought this was a great volume, there were just too many characters running around that I didn't know, which lead me to be confused throughout a lot of the dramatic moments.

But oh, how dramatic they were.

The moments where I did know what was going on, I was stuck to that book with a solid coat of Gorilla Glue. Not even the second coming of Jesus Christ himself could've torn me away from the action on the page. This volume holds the epic and emotional conclusion to the Alya Academy arc, and make sure you have a stick with you, because by the time it finishes, you'll need one to prop your jaw back up.

As much as it sounds by that first paragraph that I didn't like this volume, that isn't the case. Story-wise, this has been my favorite arc so far. Character-wise... That's a different story.

ART & PRESENTATION

Every panel in this volume must have taken ages to draw. The detail, the backgrounds, the characters' expressions... Everything is flawless. I'll include my favorites below, but there's going to be a lot more than two this time.

Yen Press presentation is spot on this time. The colors are bold, the translation is smooth, the spines line up nicely, and there's a few bonus pages with alternate cover art, which is new.

CHARACTERS

Well, my only issue with this volume lies here. There are simply too many new characters thrown in that don't get enough individual character traits for me to tell them all apart. The only new character I really care about is Shijima, mostly because the plot twist involving her was crazy and also cemented hes as a character here to stay.

The main cast got a ton of development this volume. Standouts include Kouichi (holy crap, that twist) and Yoite. Every character is near and dear to the reader, and that's exactly how it should be. My only complaint was Raikou pointing out that he was feeling like comic relief, which was out of place feeling.

FINAL VERDICT

This volume was insane. The twists and turns of the story, the characterization of or main cast, and the phenomenal art all came together for a great end to the Alya arc. Too bad there were too many secondary characters. Plus/minus!

+ Stunning art
+ Game-changing plot twists
+ Excellent finale to the current arc
+ Great characterization for the main cast...

- But too many secondary characters lead to confusion during key scenes

A- - BUY IT

Phenomenal volume. Seriously. I cannot wait to see where the series goes from here.

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou volume 6

Amazing! I'm posting this a day after I posted the last! It's so nice to have free time!

STORY

Honestly, I was ready for a bit more excitement from Miharu's decision at the end of the last volume. But it all wrapped up within a half a chapter with all the characters basically going 'okay, cool'. From there, Miharu and his new buddies get ready to go off to Kouga, where the forbidden art Daya's scroll is located. Of course, to make things difficult, both the Grey Wolves and the Banten crew are trucking off to Kouga to make for some conflict. Once there, they both go to Alya Academy, where the art scroll is. They also meet a whole slew of new characters, but more on that later.

Yoite and Miharu's relationship still seems weird to me, but I guess it seems less weird now. It's funny. At one point, Raikou points out exactly what I was thinking about their relationship, and I thought that was great.

ART & PRESENTATION

There isn't much left to be said about the art other that it's SO GOOD. Every page has something to look at. I could spend hours reading just a single volume because the art is so good. Even when it's just talking heads, there's always something to look at. Best examples below!

Yen Press' presentation is great, per usual. My only nitpick this time is that a couple of pages seemed like they got printed really lightly. Other than that, everything looks great.

CHARACTERS

Man, this volume introduced a lot of new characters. At times, it was difficult to tell what was going on because of all the new characters doing different things. I'll go over the two most important new characters here.

First is Shijima Kurookano. She's very mysterious, and I can't figure out whether she's friend or foe yet. I hope she's not a disposable character who'll disappear after this story arc, 'cause she seems really fascinating.

If looks could kill...

Next is Subaru Fushita. She's the student body president at Alya Academy, and honestly, she's a little annoying. She's super devoted to the headmaster, which makes her kind of bull headed. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for her as a returning character, since she seems to be very central to the current story arc.

She's the bossy girl in class no one likes

FINAL VERDICT

Well, this volume was mostly just setup for the next, but that's okay, because it was good setup. Plus/minus below!

+ The art is so good
+ A new story and tons of new characters...

- Which can be sort of confusing when you don't know hardly any of them
- Miharu and Yoite's relationship still bugs me (I'll probably just have to get over it)

 B - BUY IT

Even though it's mostly setup, this series has more than earned it's 'buy it' ranking. I doubt I'll ever feel like I need to slap a 'borrow it' on any future volume.

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 5

I received the complete manga set of Fullmetal Alchemist for Christmas! However, I ran out of space on my shelf. Eep! I'll have to build some new shelves. Anyway, in with the review! Hopefully I'll be reviewing a volume a day from now on. We'll see, though.

STORY

The Raimei/Raikou story arc ends with dramatic fashion, and the final chapter leads directly into some new drama. But wow, did the Raimei/Raikou arc wrap up in a heavy way! I'll admit, I actually was really bummed out because of everything that happened in this volume. You know when a story makes you feel stuff inside that it's quality material. And let me tell you: Nabari no Ou has quickly become quality material.

That aside, I do have a small bit of beef with the story. Why exactly are Miharu and Yoite so chummy now? I know about their agreement, but... I dunno. The way that they seem to be attracted (and I hate to use that word, but it fits) just sits wrong with me.
 
There was also some comedic Gold with Miharu and Gau. I'll have it below.

ART & PRESENTATION

Better and better. It seems like the art is going to keep improving and getting evermore beautiful. And it's already beautiful, so the final volumes better knock my socks off. There's actually a note from Kamatani herself that explains how she went traveling and got much inspiration from various places, so that was really interesting. But the art is great. Below are a couple of the best examples from this volume.

It's great. However, I have to laugh at this one panel. The background just looks so impossible!

I didn't realize M.C. Escher was a guest artist this volume

 Yen Press does another great job with the presentation. My issue of the spines lining up is gone. This one lines up much better. Too bad volume four is out of alignment. Oh well.



CHARACTERS


Maaaaan. The characters are really driving this story forward now. There isn't really anyone new or noteworthy that I haven't already talked about, so I'll just go over the three that mattered most this volume. Obviously, it's Raimei, Raikou, and Gau. The back story done on Raimei and Raikou was brilliant. Family discrepancies lead to tragedy here, and that gave us lucky readers some great character moments. And Gau! Oh my gosh! Why?! I hope that he comes back into the story after this arc, but... I'm not holding out much hope. Gau rocks. I need more Gau.

Miharu also had a pretty big character moment right at the end of this volume. I'm interested to see where his decision will lead.

*Note: Accurate emotion at the end of the volume

FINAL VERDICT

This volume was really good. Like, really really good. I can't stress enough how great this series is quickly becoming. Plus/Minus below!

+ Emotional finale to a great arc
+Art
+ Gau's decision
+ Great character moments

- Still not really sure why Miharu and Yoite have such an attraction for each other

This was a spectacular volume overall. The only thing dragging it down is Miharu and Yoite's weird relationship. I give this volume...

A- - BUY IT

Do it now. Seriously. Nabari is so good.

That's all! I'll be back tomorrow with volume 6 (hopefully)!

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Assassination Classroom Volume 1

As of right now I have about 30 unread volumes of various manga series on my shelf, so I'm putting Nabari on hold until I get the last two volumes next week, and then I'll review each volume in one fell swoop. So today, I bring you a review of the bizarre Assassination Classroom (sometimes abbreviated as AssClass). ONWARD!

STORY

The students of class 3-E are in a peculiar situation. An alien octopus (who isn't technically an octopus nor an alien, since he claims to have been born on Earth) who is threatening to destroy the Earth by the time the students graduate is now teaching their class. The mission of the students is to assassinate their teacher!

Sensei's all smiles, all the time

And that's it. As strange as it sounds, that's the entire premise for this manga, which has sustained itself past 100 chapters with no end in sight. But its off the wall wackyness is probably the main draw. In this era of sequels and reboots, a strange new premise is hard to come by, and when it works, it's a real winner.

ART & PRESENTATION

The art in this series, while not sheer brilliance, is very nice. It's cleanly drawn with great backgrounds, good character designs, and smooth and concise action scenes. My only beef with it would be that a lot of the characters have very similar faces. Other than that, it's pretty good. There's really only one standout art bit. It's pictured below.

Imagine if your school teacher made this face

Viz Media does a good job with the presentation. The translation is clean, and the cover is great. The only weird thing is that there is a completely blank page, front and back, right at the beginning of the book. It's weird.

CHARACTERS

The characters in this volume are Sensei and an entire classroom. And there's a lot of kids in the class. That said, there are three standouts.

The first is Koro-Sensei. Even though he's out to destroy the Earth, he's a great teacher. Even while his students are attempting to kill him, he's still giving instruction. He also has a wide array of faces. Based on his mood, his face is a certain color or combo of colors. It's a clever idea, but doesn't always work since the manga is black-and-white.

Koro-Sensei loves all sorts of foreign indulgences

Next up is Nagisa Shiota. He's a trap. Every time he pops up, I have to remind myself that this is, in fact, a boy that I'm seeing. Besides that, Nagisa's not very developed yet. He seems to be the 'main character' besides Koro-Sensei, but we don't know a whole lot about him yet.

*NOTE: NOT A GIRL

Lastly is Karma Akabane. He's the 'bad-boy' character for this series. He's also the best one so far at trying to assassinate Koro-Sensei. We get a bit of development on him in terms of learning about his personality, but not a whole lot.

Surprise, Octoteach!

FINAL VERDICT

Weird. That's the perfect word to describe Assassination Classroom, but it's that very weirdness that is the main draw of the series. Plus/minus!

+ Weird, strange, but totally original
+ Good art
+ Humorous and exciting simultaneously

- If you really don't like tentacles, you aren't going to like this
- Strictly episodic at this point

With that in mind, I give Assassination Classroom an overall rating of...

B+ - BUY IT

Assassination Classroom is a lot of fun. Get into this soon, if you haven't already.

(I don't own Assassination Classroom. All rights go to the author, Yusei Matsui, and the licensing company, Viz Media).

Review - Master Keaton Volume 1

I'm taking a short break from Nabari. I thought I was going to get the rest of the series yesterday, but that didn't happen, because a certain bookseller (I won't name names, but the acronym of the company rhymes with 'wham') decided to split my order and only provide me with about a third of it when it was all supposed to arrive yesterday. But I digress. On with the review!

STORY

The story... Well, there isn't much of one yet. Taichi Hiragi-Keaton is the son of a Japanese man and an English woman. By day, he teaches at a Japanese university, and by night he's an insurance investigator/archaeologist, which sounds like a fake job, but I don't actually know. Basically, he's half-asian Indiana Jones. He gets into all sorts of scenarios because of this job, and often has to rely on creativity and wits to get out of tight spots.

You ever played 'Spoon-Stick Cricket? Try it sometime, it's real fun.

Like I said already, there really isn't an overarching story yet. At most, there's a short arc that lasts a few chapters at most, but nothing that makes for a super compelling read. That isn't to say that the short stories aren't fun. It's just that it's easy to put the book on hold and meander off to do something else after you finish one chapter. It ain't super gripping. Which isn't too bad. If I ever get buried in a book because it's claws have firmly sunk into me, my family members often berate me for not doing what the ask because I'm too busy reading 'some silly backwards comic' again. But I digress.

ART & PRESENTATION

Naoki Urasawa's art style is most certainly an acquired taste. The firs example I ever saw of his art was when I took a gander at Monster. I popped it open and thought "Eurgh! What is this? What happened to my big-eyed, noseless cuties?" But after I bought the first volume of 20th Century Boys for about $3.50 from a used book store and really got drawn into the story, I gradually began to appreciate it more and more. Needless to say, Urasawa is one of my top artists now.

The art in Master Keaton is simplistic, yet exceedingly detailed if you know what you're looking for. Backgrounds usually look like a still life photo, while characters have sort of 'everyman' faces with a wide range of expressions. It's also very 80's manga looking, especially the female characters.

Normally I'd add some standout art moments here, but to be honest, Master Keaton has a lot of talking heads, but regardless, the art still shines in basically every panel.

Strangely enough, my favorite part about this entire volume is the presentation, everything else is great, but phwooh. This volume is gorgeous on the outside. The entire outside cover, front, back, and spine, is covered in a glossy world map over a black background. It's one of those things you can only really see if you tilt it and the light shines on it just right. The title is written in big, glossy, gold letters. There's basically nothing on the back except a small logo, the rating, and the barcode. Nothin' but that beautiful, beautiful world map. Thank you, Viz Media

Look at it. It's byootiful. Bless you, Viz.

CHARACTERS

There are characters practically spilling out of this volume. Unfortunately, most of them only make appearances for about one or two chapters, and then disappear with their story arc. There's only two that really are 'main characters'.

The first, of course, is our titular hero, Keaton! Honestly, Keaton is a great main character. He's relate-able, charming, but not too pretty, and he's just all around likeable. Watching him whip up solutions to problems that seem unavoidable so easily is a blast to read. Oh yeah. At one point he uses complex algebra to determine that a statue is fake and keep a swindling art dealer from swindling more people. Math that I learned in the 11th grade and then promptly forgot completely.

Give him some googly eyes and a pack of gum and he'll make you a pair of roller blades

Next up is Yuriko. She's Keaton's daughter, and is basically a carbon copy of her old man, except she looks like her mom. She's smart, into archaeology and all that stuff, and takes a real interest in all the adventures of her dad. She's sort of bossy, which can make her a little bit grating, but not too much.

"No talking in class!"

FINAL VERDICT

Just to clear this up, because I don't think I mentioned it before, Master Keaton isn't actually by Naoki Urasawa. Just the manga is. The story was written by Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, which is probably why, despite having that very definitive Urasawa art, it doesn't really grip as much as an Urasawa written manga does. Master Keaton is still good though. Plus/minus below!

+ Good fun
+ Likeable and fun lead
+ Stories are entertaining...

- but lack of an overarching plot drags the initial grab a bit
- Great art, but looks dated

And now for something completely different. I'm going to give this one two scores. Shh, shh, you'll see why. I present Master Keaton with...

B+ - BUY IT (For Urasawa fans)

C+ - BORROW IT (For anyone else)

I know, it seems dumb. But it's probably accurate. Its dated art and general lack of an overarching plot are bound to turn some away, but fans of Urasawa's other works are bound to get a bang out of it.

That's all for me! I'll be back to reviewing Nabari no Ou next time!

(I don't own Master Keaton. All rights go to the authors, Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, the artist, Naoki Urasawa, and the licensing company, Viz Media).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 4

Yay! Christmas break is upon me! Hopefully I can crank out a review everyday now, but we'll see. I have a life, remember.

STORY

Whooooo. This is a pretty big volume in terms of content. The Frosty Assassination arc wrapped up in suitably dramatic fashion, and then the very next chapter kicked off what looks to be a very thrilling and emotional storyline. Raimei's brother, Raikou, is back in town. He's murdering people left and right (because reasons), and it's up to Raimei to put a stop to his antics. He's a Grey Wolf, by the way.

Raikou legit murders a dude

Turns out Raikou is murdering these people because of his duty as a Wakachi to uphold honor within the Grey Wolves. Raimei wants to find him so she can finally sort out why Raikou murdered basically their entire family.

Saying anything else would be a spoiler, so I'll stop there. Good story stuff in this volume. Moving on!

ART & PRESENTATION

The art. The art. The art. The art. So good. It's seriously crazy to think that the art has gotten this much better within the span of four volumes. I mean, it took Pandora Hearts about ten volumes to get it's art into great form. Yuhki Kamatani must have put a crazy amount of work into perfecting her form, and it's nowhere near done improving yet. You can almost tell that every panel seems to be slightly better than the last. The feet still look like potatoes, though. Below are a couple of standout moments from this volume.

Yen Press once again does a good job presenting this volume. Everything that I've mentioned before is there. Color pages, solid translations. HOWEVER. Everything on this volume's spine is shifted down about a half centimeter. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it breaks uniform and looks messy.

CHARACTERS

 Raikou is, of course, Raimei's big brother. He has a sort of honor about him, especially with his dealings as a Wakachi. His back story is unclear for now, but I get the feeling that next volume will tell all. He also has pink hair and is obsessed with Red Spider Lilies.

So many flowers

The other newcomer is Gau Meguro. He's Raikou's right hand man and is super devoted to Raikou. He's got a short temper, too. Not a whole lot has been revealed about Gau yet, but he's heavily involved in the Raimei/Raikou storyline. I don't know what it is about Gau, but he's probably my favorite character so far. His funny personality, his character design... Dunno. He's just cool. Gau has really slanted eyes, too, and my only complaint with that is sometimes they look a little too slanted.

Those eyes

FINAL VERDICT

If last volume wasn't good enough for you (for some reason), this volume has everything. Fast pacing, great art, and an involving story. PLUS/MINUS!

+ Finishes one story arc off with a bang and launches directly into another
+ Raikou and Gau are cool
+ Gau
+ Ever improving and beautiful art...

- But potato feet still happen...
- And Gau's eyes can get over-slanted sometimes

 And the score for this volume is...

A - BUY IT

Not 'a minus', but not quite achieving the 'a plus' greatness, Nabari no Ou is a fantastic series that keeps getting better. A solid 'A' for this one. And this is only volume 4.

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 3

Brief announcement before I get this review kicked off. After Wednesday I'll be able to post more frequently, since I'll be on Winter break. But for noooow...!

STORY

This series is so much better when things are happening in the story, and that's exactly what we get with volume 3. No more pissing about like we did in the last volume, it's time for ACTION! Right off the bat, Yae Oda, chief of the Togakushi, approaches the Banten crew with a mission: assassinate this one bloke, and she'll give them another secret art scroll. Oda is special, though. She reads minds.

I can see into your sooooouuuullll.

The Banten crew, Miharu, Raimei, Aizawa, and Tobari-Sensei, agree. However, Tobari-Sensei is having a bit of a tough time. We didn't really know this before, but he's a bit of a pacifist, and has a hard time bringing himself to kill. Thus, the main conflict of the next two volumes arrives, and things suddenly kick into high gear.

ART & PRESENTATION

The art is steadily getting better, too. Characters begin to have more detail, yaoi hands are decreasing in frequency, and backgrounds are getting lusher. It's exciting to see where Kamatani is going with her art, and it's fun to be along for the ride. This volume has it all. Cool and clear fights, dramatic angles, and great mood setting areas for the more peaceful moments. The only gripe I have with the art is that feet still look like triangular potatoes. Below are some of the best examples from this volume.

You know I'm intense because I have really long eyelashes!

"There's WHAT of me on the internet?!"

The presentation is once again exemplary. The color page at the beginning is a neat contrast of black and various bright shades of red, and the spine lines up almost perfectly with volumes 1 and 2.

CHARACTERS

The main five continue to grow as characters, each getting their own little moments in this volume, especially as there is mind reading in this one (spilled secrets indeed).

The first of the newcomers is Yae Oda. She gets quite a bit of development here as most of the main conflict here is because of her TRAGIC PAST (of course). Not that tragic backstories are bad.

Here's my card. Call me if you ever need me to spill your secrets.

Next isn't really a new character, I just haven't talked about him yet. Kazuhiko Yukimi is a Grey Wolf and sort of acts as Yoite's guardian. He doesn't have a lot of development yet, but he has been shown to generally care for Yoite's welfare, despite constantly saying how much he hates kids.

He has those crazy eyes.

FINAL VERDICT

After a bit of a snooze last volume, this volume ratchets up the story and the art in all the best ways. I'm really looking to see where this series is going to go artistically and story-wise. Plus/minus below...

+ Story expands throughout the volume with a handful of key characters and elements
+ Art is getting better
+ New developed characters

- Feet still look weird

That's all this volume! Things are definitely looking up for this series. Volume 3's final score is...

A- - BUY IT

Oh yes. This series is going places. Bring on volume 4!

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).

Thoughts on Black Lagoon Volume 10

Black Lagoon is my favorite action/seinen series ever. It's brash, crude, offensive at times, bloody, profane, and generally amazing. The frenetic and kinetic energy that just oozes from every panel makes for one of the most exciting experiences I've even had with manga. The final story arc of Roberta's quest for revenge had wonderful depth along with exciting and explosive action and concluded the series in a good fashion. Sure, there was still some speculation as to what happened past the end of the ninth volume. What about Revy and Rock? That's the one I wanted to know. Their growing relationship throughout the series was one of the drawing humanistic points that helped readers connect. Overall, however, volume 9 was a good place to end the series.

But then Rei Hiroe thought it would be a good idea to continue.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for more excitement from the Lagoon Traders, but the ninth volume felt like the end to me. Any more, unless it manages to trump the Roberta's Blood Trail arc, will just feel like an epilogue, which I would be totally fine with.

If the series hadn't gone on indefinite hiatus.

I haven't read any of volume ten, as I want to keep it fresh for myself when it comes out in April, but I've been keeping up with the chapters. Chapter 87 told us at the end "TO BE CONTINUED". That was in February.

I understand that maybe Hiroe has simply gotten tired of drawing Black Lagoon, but still. Come on. You can't just leave people hanging like that. If you want to be completely done with it, come up with a killer arc to wrap everything up and end it once and for all. Don't slap a "TO BE CONTINUED" on the end and flip the bird to your fans if it'll never come back. All I ask for is closure, and if it never comes, I'll be very disappointed.

Regardless, I'm still excited for volume 10.

Review - Nabari no Ou Volume 2

Before I bet started, my reviews of the rest of the volumes in this series are probably going to be shorten than the first because I don't want to review so in depth that my assessment turns spoilery.

Without further ado...

Nabari no Ou volume 2

STORY

Not a whole lot happened in this volume, to be very honest. the only real plot progression happened at the very end. Before that, however, we were introduced to the chief of the Fuuma village, which also houses one of the scrolls Miharu needs to control the Shinra Banshou. Unfortunately the scroll was stolen by the Grey Wolves.

Chief Fuuma's a weird guy.

The primary bit of this volume was mainly having the main cast regroup from their clash with the Grey Wolves and introducing a whole slew of new characters. We also have a small side conflict in the middle and learn a bit of back story on Raimei, which is mostly just a teaser for things to come. The final chapter contains a pretty major story element, but I won't spoil it for you here.

ART & PRESENTATION

The art hasn't changed much, but I can tell that the author is getting better the more she draws this series. The yaoi hands are still there, and some proportions still look a bit wonky, but it's still pleasant on the eyes and clear and concise. Below are a couple of standouts from this volume.

Bro... Do you even ninja?

Yoite shade.

As you can see, the art is improving, but it isn't quite fantastic yet.

Yen Press is still doing an excellent job with the presentation. The color page in the front is nice, and the spines line up nicely.

CHARACTERS

Our leads Miharu and Yoite get a bit more development this go round, as do Raimei and Kumohira-Sensei. Speaking of Yoite...

Yoite is a member of the Grey Wolves, and a master of the forbidden art Kira. Kira is, and I'm not joking here, the ability to kill, maim, and otherwise gruesomely dismember and kill people by pointing at them. At one point in volume 1, he legit rips a dude in half by pointing at him. It sounds stupid, but it's pretty scary, actually. He also has a puffy hat.

Not only is pointing rude, but it'll also rip others limb from limb.

Next up is chief Kotarou Fuuma. I talked about him earlier. I'm not sure if I like his character yet. So far all he's done is make trouble for people and generally be an annoyance. We find out that he's quite the womanizer here (what a surprise).

Ladies...

Last is Tojuro Hattori. He's a big TV personality, apparently (Miharu's mom has a big crush on him), but he's secretly the leader of the Grey Wolves. He doesn't really do a whole lot in this volume (along with the rest of the characters), but he'll probably be a big player later on.

Hattori unknowingly spawns 50 Shades type fantasies with middle aged housewives over all Japan.

FINAL VERDICT

This series has a lot of potential, and it's easy to tell, especially with the plot point at the end of the volume, that that potential is about to burst forth. However, this volume didn't really capitalize on that potential. It wasn't bad, but it was mostly just necessary build-up.

+ Consistently improving art
+ Final chapter promises big things to come

- Takes it's sweet time getting to that chapter
- Lots of dialogue and build-up leads to some boredom when reading
- Fuuma is not doing anything except be a twerp at the moment

That's it for this volume. I'll give it a score of...

C - BORROW IT

I want to say buy it, since I can tell this will be a real winner later on, but except for the last chapter, this volume just isn't that compelling.

(I don't own Nabari no Ou. All rights go to the author, Yuhki Kamatani, and the licensing company, Yen Press).