Book Review- Psyren vol 2 by Toshiaki Iwashiro

Title: Psyren vol 2

 Author: Toshiaki Iwashiro

Series:  Psyren #2

Published:  January 2012 by Viz

Length:182 pages

Warnings: violence 13+

Source: Library

Summary : Physically drained after surviving his first trip to Psyren, Ageha's psionic powers begin to awaken! Newly reunited with his formerly missing friend Amamiya, now Ageha must meet with a PSI mentor who holds key information about the terrifying rules of the Psyren game!

May contain spoilers for volume one. Which I thought I reviewed, but I obviously didn’t.

Review: Ahega’s been to Psyren again, and while he’d rather not, he’s still going to be called back. However, he’s going to need to get much stronger if he wants to keep on surviving. Luckily, Sakurako knows someone who’s already been to Psyren, and beaten it-her old mentor-Matsuri. Ahega, and Hiryu (Hiryu  Asaga, fellow Psyren drifter) begin to learn how to train themselves to fight Psyren-but they must also learn some other things about the game they’re playing.

I found the concept of this really intriguing, even if very slightly (aka heavily) based on Gantz. And while the first volume wasn’t amazing, I still wanted to read on.

So, most of the action takes place in present day Japan, as opposed to Psyren, like last volume. There’s still a bit of fighting though, to be expected with a shonen manga. There aren’t that many twisty turny plot developments, more world building, explaining the rules of the game and building on what we got in volume one.

As well as the seriousness of the training, we are also treated to a fair bit of comedy. Sakurako’s  treatment of Ahega and Hiryu during their training, and of course, their really bad attempts at trying to master the psi energy. However, none of this detracted from the main plot-which is good, because there wasn’t that much to this volume.

The characters are believable. My favourite was Matsuri-a world famous pianist with a complete disregard for schedules and managing to fight her way through Psyren without dying? What’s not to like about her? Ahega-I’m still not loving him. Or Hiryu. But I do like Hiryu’s hair. They’re good characters, stock ones really, but quite amazing and a little interesting.

The art is good. The shading and drawing style are typical of this kind of manga, but it’s not  my favourite kind of art style. There’s also something out of place with Sakurako’s face. Too soft for her character. And there’s some other annoying little things.

The ending is a little cliffhanger. Someone turns up and we don’t know who it is. Until volume three, anyway.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a nice continuation, but nothing special.

Links: Goodreads

Book Review- Death Note by Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Title:Death Note
Author: Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Series: Death Note
Published by: Viz Media 2005-7
Length: 12 volumes of about 200 pages each

Warnings: the whole idea of being able to kill anyone by writing down their name, mild fanservice if you know what to look for, the big question of is it ever right to kill someone

Other facts: There is an anime. It was published in Weekly Shonen Jump, before being made into tankobon versions in japanese and english.

Summary from Goodreads: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?
Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note's powers as L and the police begin to close in. Luckily Light's father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency and leaves vital information about the case lying around the house. With access to his father's files, Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities. But who is the strange man following him, and how can Light guard against enemies whose names he doesn't know?

Review: A book about a talented student (Light Yagami) being bored and wanting something exciting to happen, finding a note book that fell from the sky during class a black note book and later going to see what it is (a book with a set of rules, the most important of which is that the human who’s name is in this book will die). Light decides that the people who need to die are criminals and starts writing down lots of names with the help of the death notes owner, the shinigami/death god Ryuk. But the police aren’t too happy that criminals are suddenly dying form mysterious heart attacks (not sure why though) and they send the world’s best detective, known only as L, to find the culprit, who is known as Kira. L and Light inevitably meet, and the story becomes a pressured battle to find out L’s name so Light can kill him, and proof that Light is Kira. Later on Light is joined by more Kiras and L’s successors (who have major problems: Mello (who looks like a girl) and Near (who lacks basic life skills). How simple can a plot line get? I thought death note was one of the best mangas I’ve ever read. The plot (though I’ve explained it badly) was fast paced and the tricks that were pulled were things I would never have thought of. It’s realistic in the sense that the things that must happen, do, and the artwork is amazing. One of the cleverest things done with the artwork is that Light grows visually more evil as the story goes on. Though the story is dark, Death Note contains many comic scenes so it isn’t too serious or puts readers off.

Overall: Strength 5 for the reasons above.

Katy >.<

Book Review-Black Butler vols 1&2 by Yana Toboso

Title:Black Butler
Author: Yana Toboso
Series: Black Butler #1&2
Published by: Yen Press 2009/10
Length; 192 and 194 pages

Warnings: Guns, violence, profanity, m/m fanservice, 14+
Other facts: It is also known as Kuroshitsuji. It was published in a shonen, or teen boy's, magazine in Japan in 2006. Yen Press translated  and published it in English. Yana Tosobo has also written Rust Blaster.An anime series and two musicals have been created. The 5th volume comes out in english in may. there are at least 10 volumes in Japan.
Summary from Goodreads: When a terrible fire claims his parents, Ciel Phantomhive must step up as the head of his father's company and as Earl Phantomhive. It would be a lot for the young boy to handle were it not for his faithful butler, Sebastian. Ever at Ciel's side, it seems there's little Sebastian can't do, whether it's saving a dinner party gone awry or probing the dark secrets of London's underbelly. He's almost too good to be true...or at least, too good to be human...
Review: I won’t normally review two books in one review, but seeing as not much really happens in volume one , I m going to so you get the full idea of this manga. The first half of volume 1 is simply introductions, showing the servants being useless and Sebastian being forced to sort them out. The action doesn’t really get going properly until half way through, but when it does, it is rendered perfectly. Volume 2 follows Ciel and Sebastian investigating the jack the ripper killings, ending in the beginning of a fight between jack the ripper and Sebastian that is continued in volume 3. I really like the characters. Sebastian is the butler from hell - literally, he's a demon who's catchphrase is "I am one hell of a butler"- who will make you cake, show off amazing tea pouring skills and kill any enemies in amusing and ironic ways. Ceil is really sweet, although you don't really find out much about his back-story- you find out in the anime though. The rest of the characters are very clichéd, the useless gardener, stupid maid and creepy undertaker, but with distinctive personalities and are very likeable. Some of these characters are pure comedy relief, which is amusing although it can be hard to believe they belong in the same world as the serious things they accompany. I like its setting, Victorian England, and the vague historical accuracy, even though some aspects are questionable: fake eyelashes and chainsaws, anyone? It’s been well translated, even though a lot of the puns require you to read the translation notes as you go along, or you may feel a little lost. Be warned though, there is a fair bit of undertones of  Sebastian and Ciel in...erm, questionable clothes, positions and situations- this  and a certain scene involving a corset and cross dressing springs to mind. The fanservice mentioned above , whilst being awesome as fanservice in anymanga is, detracts a lot from the point of the story.However, the artwork is beautiful and the action scenes are so awesome. The whole series is a mix of history, supernatural, horror,fan service, a little gallows humour, and a lot of crack.


Overall:I give this strength 5 tea because while the subtle SebastianxCiel undertones slightly distract a lot from the main story, in a good way, overall this is one hell of a manga.

Nina xxx