Danielle Leigh
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Kimi Ni Todoke vol 3
Today’s romance comic, Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me To You, features a simple but moving story about a group of young people getting to know and care for each other
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Alice in the Country of Hearts vol 1
Today’s “romance” manga is not only a shojo re-telling of Alice in Wonderland (which I just know will annoy MarkAndrew to no end!) but a great commentary on the inherent creepiness of “harem” titles.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Our Kingdom: Arabian Nights
I’m going to take advantage of the fact we’re heading into Valentine’s Day territory and review a bunch of romance-themed yaoi and shojo manga over the next two weeks. Today I look at the terribly darling (and I don’t use those words lightly) yaoi romance Our Kingdom: Arabian Nights.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — 20th Century Boys vol 6 and 7
While volume 5 remains the high point of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, volumes 6 and 7 boldly forestall resolving the central mystery without sacrificing plot development or pacing.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Black Butler vol 1
Although Yana Toboso doesn’t strive for realism — far from it actually — her portrait of a 19th century British butler and his young charge is energetic and intriguing.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — King of RPGs
Being a non-gamer, the primary lesson I take away from reading King of RPGs is that everyone’s personal nerd culture is absolutely sacred to them.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — not simple
Natsume Ono’s first comic to see print in the U.S. — not simple — is a powerful and haunting work. Luckily, we won’t have to wait long to see more from her later this year.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Yaoi Sunday!
Today I review two recent yaoi releases which both chart the rocky road two friends take on their way to becoming sexually and romantically involved.
Manga Before Flowers — Manga Vocab!
This column is an attempt to address the fact that I often use manga vocabulary I don’t always explain when I write reviews or talk about manga in this forum. I assume (probably quite incorrectly) that if you are reading my posts you already know the terms I use most frequently. But recent comments from our wonderful new columnist Kelly Thompson made me think that I should probably explain myself a little.
The following is a list of words I often use — in the future I’m thinking about creating a list of words from anime / manga culture I don’t tend to use and explain why.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Natsume’s Book of Friends vol 1
Yuki Midorikawa instantly becomes one of my favorite new comic book creators with her charming and sensitive portrayal of a young man who bridges two very different worlds — the human and the supernatural — in Natsume’s Book of Friends.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Raiders vol 1
Any comic with a title that references the first Indiana Jones movie and adds flesh-eating zombies is more than a little bit of okay in my book.
Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Butterflies, Flowers vol 1
There are two things everyone should know about Viz’s new series Butterflies, Flowers — it is one of those rare examples of true josei to be found in the U.S. marketplace and it is also an extremely funny comic.
Manga Before Flowers — My Year in Manga
End of semester madness and holiday travel kept me from regular updates on the blog but I can’t let the whole of 2009 go without some commentary. So you all get a list of manga released in 2009 that meant something to me. It isn’t quite a “best of” list, nor it is exactly a “favorites” list either. It’s a little more complicated than that but I find that this format better reflects my experience of manga in the past year.
Manga Before Flowers — Best of ’09 lists!
Although I feel I can’t do a top ten list of manga from 2009 until I read a few things (GoGo Monster and Red Snow are the titles that spring to my mind instantly), the truth is even if I read those books my top three will probably remain the same — Ooku: The Inner Chambers, 20th Century Boys and Pluto (and I’m pretty much boring even myself at this point).
Anyway, instead of offering my own list this weekend I thought I would direct everyone to a few excellent “best of” manga lists that are well worth checking out.
Manga Before Flowers — Recommendation Post #8
Alex Scales has an interesting challenge for me — he asked, “What are some manga you would recommend to fans of the Vertigo line of comics?”
When I think of Vertigo I immediately think of titles with excellent plot “hooks” that first catch the reader’s attention and dynamic storytelling which keeps it. I think of titles that often go over well with indie-comic book lovers even if they are released by a very mainstream entertainment company. In other words, I think of titles which clearly come out of mass culture, but also maintain a strong sense of individuality.
