Manga Review: Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan: Precious Lies

Title: Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan: Precious Lies
Author: Iruma Hiruma, Satou Atsunori
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Seinen
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: Based on the first volume of a seemingly obscure series of light novels, this manga is the story of a boy and a girl who go by the names “Mii-kun” and “Maa-chan”. The two share the trauma of having been the victims of a kidnapping eight years prior and because of it, neither of them have all their screws in the right sockets. This is especially so for Maa-chan as she herself has kidnapped a pair of kids for no apparent reason. Between this and the serial murders that’s been taking place in their town, Mii-kun has his work cut out for him when it comes to resolving the problem Maa-chan’s gotten herself into. The author weaves a delightfully unique story with the fascinatingly screwed-up characters, unusual plot and his masterful use of implicit and explicit information. The misdirection of the mystery actually relies on the reader’s ability to put two and two together as the author uses unrelated implicit bits of information to make us fill in the gaps in the whole picture. I myself couldn’t help but be amazed at how brilliantly I got fooled by this since I only had my own assumptions to blame for being wrong. Sure, the presentation could be blamed for a few of the points(the killer’s identity comes to mind) in the story but I’m certain that the original novel was much better about it considering how many filters the version I read went through. It’s really a shame that they didn’t go on and adapt the other nine novels in the series cause there’s a good reason why the series has won a couple of awards.

Manga Review: Doubt

Title: Doubt
Author: Tonogai Yoshiki
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Psychological
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: D
Characters: C
Humor: C
Action: B

Impression: What do you get when you cross the Saw franchise and some paper and ink? Saw, the manga! That’s the easiest way you can describe this and I’m sticking to that. There are a number of slight differences though: 1)The victims are stuck in the same building that the schemer is and they have to figure out who it is 2)There aren’t really any of the cool murder devices like in the movies. 3)The schemer is NOT an old man in a wheelchair talking through a creepy puppet. I had high hopes for this series when I accidentally read who the mastermind was on TvTropes but when I actually got around to reading this I found that the plot falls flat on the premise. The mystery aspect of the series was poorly handled and depended on everything going right and all the victims being complete idiots. If anyone had bothered to think things through or done one thing different then no one would have died. In fact, the one person you’d expect to actually do something right stupidly ends up HELPING the mastermind’s plan succeed! The scope that the series covered was quite underwhelming given the elements that were there by the end and I would rather read more about the mastermind than the so called “mystery” that the manga provided. Seriously, the true identity of the mastermind alone was at least ten times more interesting than the actual plot and I would have enjoyed a series from their point of view.

Manga Review: Arisa

Title: Arisa
Author: Andou Nasumi
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Shoujo, Mystery, Romance
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is about a pair of twin sisters, Tsubasa and Arisa, who have been living separately after their parents divorced and the mystery that surrounds the eponymous character and the strange game that her class plays. Shortly after reuniting with each other, Tsubasa impersonates Arisa at her school for a day and discover just how envious her school life seems compared to her own. However, a dark secret lies beneath the bright happy exterior of Arisa’s class as she apologizes her to her sister and lets herself fall out of her own window right after Tsubasa shows her a letter that was left for her in her shoe box. Wanting to know the reason behind her sister’s actions, Tsubasa starts impersonating Arisa at her school only to find that her class has been engaging in a secret game of chance called the King’s Game that rewards the winner by granting whatever wish they desire. A pretty interesting shoujo series this one. The manga starts off very strong with a mystery premise that just pulls you right in and keeps you guessing as to who the King really is. I lament the fact that this isn’t a dedicated mystery with the clues quickly being unraveled after their reveal. Though the shoujo style does add to the reading experience I would have liked a slow build up of clues to instead of using the reveals to flesh out the characters. Definitely a series worth checking out but mystery buffs might be annoyed with how the author handles their main point of interest.

Manga Review: Crimson Shell

Title: Crimson Shell
Author: Jun Mochizuki
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Art: B
Originality: C
Story: C
Characters: D
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is a prior work of the author of Pandora Hearts with a premise that’s reminiscent of her current work in nearly every way. The story features characters with designs that are carbon copies of various characters in Pandora Hearts and the mysterious powers with big drawbacks thing albeit with semi-sentient plants rather than fully sentient monsters. The story isn’t very inspired but it does possess the same air of mystery and suspense in Pandora Hearts has so it maintains a very nice mood to go with the plot. Speaking of which, it’s about this girl with revered powers and the people around her in the mysterious organization she’s a part of and the betrayal of someone very close to her and the truth behind her origin. That having been said, the plot likes to change it focus in every one of its six chapters and the characters get adapted to the plot rather than being the driving force behind it so both of those aspects suffer quite a bit from it. Scenes that were supposed to deliver the payload from all the build-up ended up being very cheesy and highly predictable so it’s hard to feel for any of the characters here. Pandora Hearts’ prototype lacks the full version’s solid characterization, the annoying mood whiplashes and tries to make up for it with a very schizophrenic plot. Not exactly worth a recommendation here.

Manga Review: Baba Yaga

Title: Baba Yaga
Author: Kizuki Akira, Satou Nanki
Release: Quarterly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Psychological, Mystery, Yuri
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: A
Action: B

Impression: Baba Yaga is the story of a few kids who all went to a camp together and experienced their own life-changing events while they were there. These events are all linked to the mysterious disappearance of a young woman who was there at the camp with them and each of these kids grew up to be the way they are as young adults because of what they experienced then. It features a whole slew of messed-up characters and a mystique that borders on the supernatural but so far stays grounded in reality with a much more convoluted and twisted truth behind both the events and the way the characters treat them and each other. It’s quite a fascinating read really as the layered story and depth of the characters just pulls you right into the twisted little world that the authors have portrayed here. Not one to be missed for fans of either of these mangaka as I find it to be their best collaboration yet. Only real downside to this manga is the slow release rate of new chapters but it's excusable as it seems they put that time to good use here in this series.

Manga Review: Fourteen

Title: Fourteen
Author: Kazuo Umezu
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Seinen
Art: A
Originality: S
Story: A
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: Good god this manga is freaky. Fourteen is about a chicken-man hybrid being born from a vat of genetically modified chicken meat as a curse from the animals of the Earth. Humanity’s dominance now permeates every fiber of the entire planet and it is now a mere shadow of the beautiful world it used to be. The chicken-man becomes deeply involved in events that will shape the future of humanity as the oncoming apocalypse approaches ever closer with a series of mysterious disasters that will all culminate in the extinction of the human race its last generation of offspring finally reach the age of fourteen. I kid you not when I say the first volume will freak you out with its excellent scenes flavoured with equal parts of horror and grotesqueness. The rest of the horror never comes as close as those first few do but they’re still pretty disturbing all the same. Despite its out of date style, the artwork works amazingly here and will just pull you right into the terror that the author infused into his series. I’m even willing to look past at all the research the author didn’t do since what really matters is the fear and not the fact that the author gets so many things wrong that political and economical minded people will want to bang their heads against the wall. This manga rises above its apparent lack of research and, in my honest opinion, does more than just rival Junji Ito’s brand of horror making it an absolute must read for horror lovers. Incidentally, I’d just love to see SHAFT pull out an anime of this. Shinbo’s crew is perfect for this series.

Manga Review: Shiki

Title: Shiki
Author: Ono Fuyumi, Fujisaki Ryuu
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Supernatural, Mystery, Horror
Art: S+
Originality: A
Story: S
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: S

Impression: This is a manga adaptation of novel about a village that’s way out in the country that suddenly finds itself plagued by a series of mysterious deaths that pop up at a daily rate. The story focuses on how the villagers are affected by these deaths and their attempts at overcoming the unusual situation they find themselves in. Though only a select few in the village actually manage to grasp at the truth behind these deaths, most of the villagers already suspect the strange new reclusive flamboyant family that has taken up residence in the equally ostentatious western styled castle-mansion found at the top of a hill in their area. Of course they’re right on the money about this as they really are… vampires! I really don’t consider that to be much of a spoiler though, the hints are far too obvious for anyone miss this so anyone who didn’t see that coming at all should be very ashamed of themselves. As the story itself encompasses the villagers rather than any one character, you don’t really see anyone that truly qualifies as the main character. There are a few characters that are more prominent than others in the manga but that’s mostly because their personalities and actions make them stand out amongst the huge cast of colorful personalities featured inside. This allows for an intensely gripping storytelling style that’s imbued with plenty of suspense and a dark ominous atmosphere of mystery(despite how obvious it is what’s really going on). It plays out like a quiet horror movie that you just can’t help but keep on watching. You just get pulled into the whole thing and can’t stop yourself from until you get to the very end. I absolutely recommend this even if you aren’t into any of the genres it falls under but not until you can get your hands on everything from start to finish as the suspense just eats away at your sanity.

Manga Review: Zennou no Noa: The World of Lost Memories

Title: Zennou no Noa: The World of Memories
Author: Ono Youichiro
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: Two years prior to when the story takes place, a mysterious incident occurred in Tokyo that caused over a million of its residents to suffer amnesia and lose memories of who they were before the entire event. Those who have lost their memories because of such are now living in an underground city beneath Tokyo called the Tokyo Geofront and are called KID’z due to the childlike nature of the majority of the victim. One such victim is the protagonist, Ikurumi Noa who stands out among them for having an abnormally high level of intelligence even after losing his memories. One day he finds himself involved in a chase after a suspected arrest only to find out a bombshell of a revelation about his former self – he was the one that caused the memory loss incident. Once that happens, we learn more and more about the character and how he’s not all that he appears to be even before he learnt of this vital piece of information. Being an expy of Lelouch, he goes and outsmarts the officials with over the top and unbelievably shrewd plans using his wits and gadgets to come out on top. It’s not just him, the entire setting and flow feels like it was ripped straight out of the second season of the hit series and retooled as another story. I basically see this as a cross between Code Geass and Flashforward with its main character being Lelouch without his Geass and the Blackout-like incident that started it all. Another similarity it shares with the American tv series is the fact it seems to have been cut short at a paltry three volumes despite having a formula that could easily make it a very popular series with a fanbase that would have shared many members with that of the Code Geass fanbase had it gone further. Definitely worth checking out if you liked either of those series.

Manga Review: Paradox Blue

Title: Paradox Blue
Author: Nakanishi Tatsurou, Nini
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Mystery, Fantasy
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is an interesting new series we’ve got here. It seems to be a monthly manga adaptation that’s set in an alternate world where the human race has been plagued by these supernatural beings they call angels that appear before them to ask them riddles that will determine their fate. A correct answer will have the angel reward them with a miracle of some sort but failure to answer correctly in time will bring a disastrous catastrophe down on everyone in the nearby area. The story seems to revolve around a student council of some private school and their encounters with the angels. The thing that makes this series stand out is the fact that the 4th wall is completely torn down to encourage the readers into thinking more about the riddles the angels pose to them. At first I thought it was because this was the adaptation of some visual novel but it turns out it’s a manga original and that it’s going for something like R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books. Basically this manga is Evangelion x Seitokai no Ichizon x Goosebumps x Umineko no Naku Koro Ni and it looks to be an interesting read. I’m really looking forward to the last boss’ confrontation cause Izanamiel looks like she’s going to be an interesting opponent for the kids to deal with.

Manga Review: Amnesia Labyrinth

Title: Amnesia Labyrinth
Author: Tanigawa Nagaru, Natsumi Kohane
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural, Slice of Life
Art: B
Originality: B
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is about the young heir of an infamously influential family who after two years of boarding school has returned to his family’s hometown and his three sisters whom he had left behind for certain reasons. All three have their various circumstances and roles in their family but all three hold affection for the main character that go far beyond the norm that sisters usually have for their older brothers. What’s more, a string of mysterious deaths have been going on in his hometown during the summer that just passed and he is dragged into investigating the suspected murders by an energetic ponytailed classmate with a talent for gathering information. This series is written by Tanigawa Nagaru of the Haruhi light novels and it demonstrates his skill with writing up interesting characters as well as cementing the fact that he has ponytail fetish. Compared to his most celebrated work though, Amnesia Labyrinth has yet to prove its mettle with its story, humor and originality. Characters are definitely set up for some interesting developments but as far as I can tell, this heading down towards a split-personality thing ala Tsukihime with the supernatural elements toned down a bit. Morality and taboos appear to be the main motifs behind this series but the slice of life elements kind of get in the way of that. However, I’m willing to bet all the lighter moments are there to be twisted into something much darker and more twisted than what’s been shown so far. It’s really just matter of waiting for new chapters to see how good this will turn out so I’m hoping that the author doesn’t get writer’s block like he did with the 10th Haruhi novel.

Manga Review: Jabber Wocky

Title: Jabber Wocky
Author: Hisa Masato
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Fantasy, Seinen, Mystery
Art: S+
Originality: S
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: S

Impression: This is about a femme fatale from the UK who gets dispatched to take care of a little theft problem regarding a royal artifact in Russia but there’s more to this scene than meets the eye. Turns out that the artifact in question holds a secret conspiracy about a race of beings that have descended down from the thought to be extinct Dinosaurs. They secretly coexist with the human race in small numbers having been given roles and territory for their service to the leaders of the world. Ambushed by this surprise, she looks to have been sent on a suicide mission when an unexpected ally shows up to help her – a multi-pistol totting humanoid longcoat wearing Oviraptor called Sabata with a penchant for classy lines. Yeah, he’s just that awesome. It’s set in probably either the 18th or the 19th century and done in film style noir giving it an incredibly dramatic feel. The characters themselves are very interesting and provide even more class to the already huge degree that the art contributes to the series. They have the many quirks about them that show us what they’re made off but it’s the little interactions they make that make you realize just how interesting these personalities are. Sure the style it’s done in can be very confusing and it takes a while to get used to it but it really provides a very unique reading experience for anyone that chooses to give it a shot. Trust me on this though, it is a very interesting read.

Manga Review: Nijigahara Holograph

Title: Nijigahara Holograph
Author: Asano Inio
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Seinen, Psychological, Mystery, Fantasy
Art: A
Originality: S+
Story: S+
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This story is set around a field in a small town, several characters who knew each other in the past and the mysterious incidents that connect them all. To put that into perspective, this is “Lost” in manga format sans the island, the polar bears, the magnificent bastard Ben and the sudden genre shifts. That being said, it’s just as confusing as “Lost” if not even more confusing than that TV series. There lies a discrepancy in the confusion however. By that I mean the delivery as the mind screwiness only really hits you right at the end of this manga guaranteeing at least another re-read. The story is told in anarchic order so we get to see how the much the characters have changed over time and it is this unique storytelling method that makes what would have been a straightforward and dull story a unique and intricate tale instead. There isn't even really proper conclusion for the events in the story but all the plot points involving the various characters and their connections are resolved by the end of the book. No doubt his best story to date and given the guy’s track record, that’s not an easy feat. Believe me when I say these following words:

This stands nowhere near good nor has it landed anywhere great but this story, however tragically short it may be, has not only reached the realms of storytelling mastery but sits there comfortably on its throne. This is Asano Inio's Masterpiece!

Manga Review: Liar Game

Title: Liar Game
Author: Kaitani Shinobu
Release: Weekly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Psychological, Mystery
Art: C
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This manga is about a girl who gets into a shady tournament where huge amounts of money are at risk and losing would mean suffering as much as 100 million yen in debt. In order to make up for a blunder caused by her naivety, our main character seeks help from a man who recently got out of jail on charges of defrauding a massive conglomerate. The both of them must now figure out a way to keep themselves out of debt while investigating the true nature of the liar game. This is an incredible manga that I avoided simply because of the art but that might have been a blessing in disguise because it was still early in its life. By that I mean you really want to wait for a whole bunch of chapters for an arc are done otherwise you’ll hanging onto these really, really suspenseful cliffhangers every week. There are plenty of twists in this manga but the only occasion where I wasn’t able to follow it was during the team match at the airport which was REALLY confusing – I don’t understand what they did exactly to win even now. I absolutely love the games in these ones and would love to take part in an actual event like those of the liar game - sans the risk of debt of course. Basically you’ll love this manga if you enjoy strategy games or psychological warfare but you’ll most likely be confused at some of these strategies the characters use.

Manga Review: Bungaku Shoujo to Shinitagari no Pierrot

Title: Bungaku Shoujo to Shinitagari no Pierrot
Author: Nomura Mizuki, Kousaka Rito, Takeoka Miho
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Mystery, Psychological
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is about a former novel writer who has had a traumatic experience in the past and quit because of it and spends his days at school with his senior, a literature girl who literally eats the pages of books she likes. He writes her a snack everyday and after enjoying the treat as it should be enjoyed, she goes on to chomp down on it going as far as to comment on the flavor. It's based on a light novel series and each novel detail in a case involving someone who has some sort of complex issue that they have to figure. So far I've only been through the first arc but it's been proving to be an interesting story with some very unique ideas. I can relate to some of the guy's difficulties with responding to other people because I have my own way of looking at things. It's not like I don't understand why they do but it's more like I'm also watching a different channel at the same time if it were to be explained using tv channels. The Kara no Kyoukai analogy about psychics in the third novel if you're familiar with that work. In any case I find this manga to be deeply intriguing and the pacing to be addictive. It really is a pain to have to wait for new chapters for mystery manga.

Manga Review: Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

Title: Tasogare Otome x Amnesia
Author: Maybe
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Supernatural, Mystery
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is about a guy who meets a girl called Yuuko who claims to be the spirit of the rumored girl who was killed in an old abandoned section of their school. She does not seem to remember much about her life before she was killed and the guy wants to find out more about the circumstances behind her death so she establishes a club for that purpose. The mystery element of this manga is quite interesting as part of the mystery is to find out about the girl’s death and the other part is whether or not she’s telling the truth of who she is as she appears corporeal to the guy and the story is told from his point of view. That means any hints that show up isn’t actually conclusive and only adds more to the mystery. She even changes clothes like a normal living human so it’s really more interesting to guess whether or not she’s really a ghost. It takes a cliché and spins a tale with the characters breathing life into the story.

Manga Review: $100 is too Cheap

Title: $100 is too Cheap
Author: Yamamoto Kazune
Release: Oneshot
Status: Finished
Genre: Shonen, Mystery
Art: C
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This oneshot focuses on a girl who works as bounty but wants to become a sheriff and a barkeep who gives consultations for a fee. Her town is full of bounty hunters so there’s a huge number of candidates for the newly opened vacancy position as one of the sheriffs despite there not being any advertisements for the positon. In addition there is a mysterious bounty of -$100 that is bugging the girl and she consults the barkeep about this. This is a short, concise and amusing story with excellent storytelling and an amusing twist at the end of the story related to the negative bounty. I do recommend this as it’s a quirky and amusing story.

Manga Review: Darker Than Black: Shikoku no Hana

Title: Darker than Black: Shikoku no Hana
Author: Iwahara Yuji
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Mystery, Fantasy
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is the continuation to the Darker than Black anime so it picks up six months after Hei destroyed the Hell Gate destruction device where he’s chasing down a contractor that’s causing trouble by offering regular people the chance to turn into contractors with his powers. Hei’s all alone with Yin and they’re running out of supplies and equipment as everyone is after them. It’s very nice read for fans of the anime since it’s giving us a look into the aftereffects of the events of the anime’s ending. It’s proving to be an interesting read even if you have never watched the anime so I do recommend it would recommend it to anyone who likes a darker version of the super-powered humans concept.

Manga Review: Spiral Alive!

Title: Spiral Alive!
Author: Shiroudaira Kyou, Mizuno Eita
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Shonen, Mystery
Art: A
Originality: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is a spin-off of the original manga where a normal girl is going after a guy who likes a girl who one of the blade children. It starts off with the characters about to take part of some big event but then it skips ahead to some time later when the event is regarded as some sort of case that was significant. Characters from the original manga start to appear at this point and the spotlight goes to them trying to figure things out instead of the main characters of the spin-off. It never reaches the awesomeness of the original manga but it does act as fanservice for those who liked some of the side characters from the original manga once it hits the second part. It doesn’t really fill in any gaps from the original manga so you don’t have to read this to get a better understanding of the main story.

Manga Review: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Title: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna
Author: Shiroudaira Kyou, Mizuno Eita
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Shonen, Mystery
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: S+

Impression: This is about a young genius who encounters a series of murders related to a group of special children called the “Blade Children”. These blade children are known to be highly gifted at some field and have natural born talent in criminal activities. The young man’s brother who went missing years ago is related to them somehow and both sides want something from the other. Despite all the awesome mind-screwing mysteries and traps that the author has given to its readers, I must say that a huge portion of this manga is focused on the kids being introspective and angsting about their circumstances and that really gets annoying at certain points. A little bit over some time is okay but the author made a really bad decision to focus a whole of it for four chapters over someone who was going to kill the main characters but didn’t want to. It came off as INCREDIBLY cheesy and unbelievably dull since they did nothing but talk about the guy for four whole chapters which has enough pages for an entire volume. It’s comparable to the “endless eight troll” that KyoAni had the guts to pull (Which I thought was an awesome feat) since faithful followers had to bear with the same old recycled cheese for months. Thankfully the scans are available in bulk way past that point.

Manga Review: Hohzuki Island

Title: Hohzuki Island
Author: Sanbei Kei
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Mystery, Seinen
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is about a pair of orphaned siblings who come to a small island to live at a school for kids with family troubles. There’s more to the island than that as an incident with a child who previously lived there has sparked distrust between the kids and the adults. It starts off with a flash-forward where the two siblings are running away from someone who’s hunting them down followed by the sequence of events that lead up to that scene. The characters are quite interesting as each child has their own circumstances for being on the island. So far it’s been an interesting read so it’s a manga to keep an eye out for.