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I don't know if the chapters were just short or if I was that engrossed in this manga, but I powered through the nine volumes in a couple of short sittings that left me thirsty for more and yet satisfied with the completeness of the narrative. "Inside Mari" is a fabulous double entendre for a story where the narrator seems to be literally inserted into Mari and, at the same time, the events themselves take us as readers into her life and struggles (even in her apparent absence). The story follows the quest of Komori and Yori as they try to sort out how it is that Mari's mind/soul has disappeared... See full review

This collection of stories draws from the traditional practice of rakugo. The ancient verbal story-telling tradition typically involves a long, complex narrative that seems serious throughout only to end with an often cheesy comic punchline. That's basically what you have here in these eight stories from gekiga godfather Tatsumi Yoshihiro, two dozen pages of build-up to get to a payoff that seems like it belong in a 4-koma. Therein lies the problem. The visual style is pure gekiga classic (obviously, given the author/illustrator) but it doesn't bring with it any of the gekiga narrative heft. Trying to... See full review

Based on the acclaimed film of the same name, Suicide Club bills itself as a reimagining rather than an adaptation of the movie. It begins with the same provocative scene that captivated film audiences but proceeds along a different, more personalized path. The imagery and story telling have all the grit and realism that makes Furuya Usamaru one of my favorite manga authors, but he manages to render the narrative in such a way that makes it not only more straightforward and digestible than the film but also more digestible than many of the plots of his own manga. The "horror" designation in the... See full review

Pages 1-2: introducing generic 20-something boy, introducing generic D-cup girl. Pages 8-10: 'There are so many obstacles to our love." Pages 10-24: all the obstacles (and the clothes) melt away culminating in a steamy, sweaty, mind-blowing climax. Page 25: "Isn't it funny how we almost didn't hook up." Lather; rinse; repeat. Every chapter with a new "cast" of characters. It's episodic and formulaic in the extreme, but if that's the kind of formula that works for you then look no further.

After being introduced to Tamaoki Benkyo's work in Secret Comics Japan and absolutely loving Koibito Play, I had (perhaps unrealistically) high expectations for this manga. It certainly has a lot of Tamaoki character. It's hyper-violent and never shies away from showing you that violence head on. It's also hyper-sexual and only shies away from that when required to do so by Japanese law. The artwork is detailed, graphic, and pleasant to look at even when the subject matter itself isn't all the pleasant. But there the praise ends, because all that violence and sex and beauty floats aimlessly in a senseless... See full review

A series of dark, atmospheric vingettes, this collection reads all too quickly and leaves the reader thirsting for just one more story. It's amazing how in sixteen stories, mostly published in an eight-page format, Tatsumi managed to approach so many themes with such completeness: jealousy, rage, despair, infidelity, and paraphilia. Nothing could be farther from the angst-ridden school days manga that I'm accustomed to reading, and I found that very refreshing. These stories take the dreariness of working-class life in the late 1960s and make it captivating. Relative to the time investment required, few... See full review

You wouldn't think it was possible to sustain years worth of 4-koma comedy based almost solely on puns and animal jokes, but somehow it works. There are few laugh out loud moments, but the gentle comedy is entertaining enough between truly great pages to keep you moving along. The romance is cutsie rather than anything serious, and you shouldn't expect any story. The art is the only truly unfortunate part, since the characters are often so bland and generically drawn that it can be hard to tell who is who if too many are in a frame. Recommended for fans of 4-koma who are easily amused.

A manga for fans of the "Saw" and "Hostel" films, this is torture porn at its most self-referential. But in spite of potentially compelling material (and clearly no qualms about depicting violence or nudity graphically), the execution seems almost unforgivably amateurish. There is compelling social commentary about the de-humanzing effects of technology (and especially social media) hiding somewhere between the gratuitous sex scenes, but it's buried so deep under blood and organ meat that it's not worth finding. The authors plunge bullishly into their climaxes, completely ignoring that... See full review

Masturbation as a form of social action?  It's a promising premise.  Certainly original. (Not to mention every adolescent boys wet dream.)
The problem here is execution, and it is aproblem from the outset.  The most immediately striking feature of this manga is the artwork: it's terrible.  It looks supisciously like the sketches of an art school student, so much so that I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that this is where this piece originated (particularly given the premise).  It is not just unimpressive; it is distractingly bad. The characters are equally... See full review

There are no words to describe the simple, sumptuous, innocent joy of Yotsuba.  Completely out of genre for my usual reading interests, I find myself drawn constantly to this adorable comic delight.  The characters are alive and real without being caught up in the kind of psycho-analytical development that comes with less episodic stories.  The art is incredibly engaging with a simple yet deliberate style. Okay...that was a lot of words, and there could be more obviously.  But this manga deserves the highest possible recommendation for fans of any style, any genre, fans of any age or... See full review

It took me more than a little time to work up a love for this manga, and had I not been in a situation that left me with a lot of time on my hands and nothing else to do, I probably would have dropped it after the first chapter. With that said, this is a really wonderful manga.  Erotic, cringe-worthy, poingant, and occasionally even funny.  The story leaves more questions unanswered than I would like and the art took some getting used to.  The "humor" had a tendency to interrupt some of the most emotional moments in a way that was off-putting.  But I don't know that I have... See full review

This story (~spoiler alert) is about a man who rapes a teenage girl, but it's okay because he doesn't kill her and, upon reflection, she probably liked it anyway.  I realize that kind of rape-victim-wants-it pathology might actually be an attraction for some people, but I just felt dirty after finishing it.  Because it's a one-off, there is no place for further development of the lead character and how she comes to terms with what happened (although, I don't know that I'd be satisfied with how the author would answer the darkest questions being proposed here), so the result is a story that feels... See full review

I read this based on a rave review and a love of high risk game stories.  There is no high risk game here, so don't be drawn in by that.  The connection between the game and death is tenuous at best, and never really explored.  The characters are never developed, even in a superficial way.  The manga is short (its one redeeming quality) which means they rush through the story, leaving it thin and full of wholes.  There is some random rape and violence and gore that is supposed to shock and titilate but it is very poorly executed.  I wouldn't recommend even wasting the short... See full review

A classic take on the murderer in a locked room story.  This is fairly well executed and very well drawn.  There is some rushing at the end to wrap up the story and some of the inevitable "twists" are a little farfetched, but overall this is a very well told story.  The characters could have used some more development, but if you only care about the whodunit aspect of the story and not about any human qualities of the lambs being led to slaughter, then this is a great one to read.  I highly recommend it.

It's really a shame, because this is one of the most beautifully drawn manga I've read in a long time (if you can call graphic depictions of dismemberment beautiful).  There is a lot of compelling imagery here, and the story starts out with some really intruiging set up and characters.  About halfway through, however, it becomes confusing, rushed, and predictable.  All the best plot elements, all the most ominous characters, just sort of fade into the background.  You get some hastily conceived back story, some more or less useless revelations, and then a shallow effort to tie... See full review