Bakuman Manga Review

How do you follow up a hit manga about a boy who finds a death god's notebook and uses it to kill those he sees as criminals?  A manga so successful that it inspires a hit anime, and not one but two live-action Japanese movies that played in select American Theaters.  Well, you write about two high schoolers who try to break into the world of manga making of course.  From death gods to mangaka.  If you were inspired by Death Note to write your own manga then Bakuman will take on a fun, slightly silly ride into what it takes to create and publish manga in Japan. 

Students Moritaka and Akito have vowed to team up and create a manga worthy of publication.  Both are avid fans of manga, but know little about how to get published.  Though silly at times, Bakuman realistically portrays the difficulties of making a published comic.  Both boys know the odds are against them, but they have the determination to put in the practice, and deal with the headaches of the creative process.  If you are looking for another edgy, dark ride like Death Note you will be very confused by Tsugumi Ohba's new direction.  But if you have always wondered how to make manga you will be fascinated by the details.

Upcoming Teen Events!

Looking for something fun to do at the library? Well mark your calendars, because we have some exciting programs planned for the next two weeks and teens receive raffle tickets just for showing up!

Tomorrow (June 19th, Tuesday) we'll be hosting Yoga for Teens from 3:00-4:00pm in the Lewis Auditorium:

Whether you're an expert yogi or have never been on the mat--you're invited to Yoga 101 with Maggie Taylor from Amara Yoga & Arts. We'll learn fun poses and breathing techniques. Bring a towel and wear comfortable clothes. We'll cool down with fruit smoothies after class.

Are you a teen who likes to draw manga?

In case you didn't know. . . Manga Club and Art Day @ Your Library joined forces to turn June into Manga Month!  

We invite you to bring your own 8 1/2" x 11" drawing to Art Day on June 25th from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium.

Chat with fellow teen manga artists, share drawing techniques, and present your artwork to your peers. Afterward, we'll feature your personal artwork in our 1st floor glass showcase for the entire month of July! Be sure to put your name and contact information on the back of your drawing so we can return it to you at the end of July.

For even more manga fun, join us June 30th from 1-4 pm in the Lewis Auditorium for the 2nd ever Manga Mini-Con!!

Have you ever wished you could go to an Anime Convention? We’re hosting a mini-convention here at the library with tons of cool activities, including a Manga Trivia Quiz, a Cosplay (costume) Contest, prizes, raffles, snacks and more!  

 

Manga Club meets on the 1st Friday of most months from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium. All things manga, with snacks and prize drawings every month.

Art Day @ Your Library meets on the 4th Monday of most months from 4-5 pm in the Lewis Auditorium. Different art activities planned each month.

Any questions? Contact Amber or Joel at 367-4405, or ask for us at the Reference Desk.

Manga Review: Blue Exorcist by Kaue Kato

This month, we're reviewing Blue Exorcist Vol. 1by Kazue Kato, which can be described as a combination of Fullmetal Alchemist, King of Hell, and Mu Shi Shi. It features brotherhood, a dark supernatural element, and plenty of battle scenes.

Rin Okumura was raised by a famous exorcist, but he is actually the son of Satan. Rin, determined to become an exorcist despite his demonic background, enrolls in True Cross Academy. His reserved, studious twin brother Yukio is also attending the school. Yukio is not just the top student, he's an accomplished exorcist. Hot-headed, underachieving Rin has a long way to go to prove himself. Luckily, he has a demonic sword to help him out…

The first volume of Blue Exorcist is fast-paced, with two chapters setting up the story (Rin's demonic nature, starting at True Cross) and a third where they exorcise a demon together. The premise and setting are very cool--demons! boarding school! swords!--but the first volume only provides a taste of the world building. A fan of the series assured us that there is a strong story arc in later volumes that does the awesome premise justice.

Blue Exorcist is also an anime that is rumored to be just as good as the manga, if not better. Either way, fans of action-packed anime will want to give Blue Exorcist a try!

A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori

Because I watch a lot of Doctor Who, I’ve often wondered when and where I’d choose to go if I had access to a spaceship that could travel through time and space. Ancient Egypt? Florence during the height of the Italian Renaissance? Victorian England? 1920s Paris? Nineteenth-century central Asia, however, is a time and place I had not really considered.

Luckily for me, manga artist Kaoru Mori has been fascinated with the Silk Road since childhood. Her manga A Bride’s Story takes place in a nineteenth-century provincial town on the Caspian Sea, most likely in either Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan on modern maps. Her striking, incredibly detailed artwork and the compelling story make this unusual manga an absolute delight to read.

20-year-old Amir, who grew up in a nomadic tribe, gets a bit of a shock when she marries into a settled provincial family: the groom, Karluk, is only 12! The manga mostly focuses on her day-to-day life in her new home and she develops relationships with her young spouse, his extended family, and the English anthropologist, Mr. Smith, who lives with them. Although her new life is fairly comfortable, politics from Amir’s old life have followed her and may now threaten Karluk’s family as well.

Part slice-of-life manga, part historical fiction, A Bride’s Story is mostly a bunch of familiar anecdotes that illustrate everyday life in Amir’s time and place. Readers learn how a house it built, how bread is baked, and how clothes are made, and they see what it’s like to sleep in a yurt or bathe in a bath house. These details never feel forced or didactic, partly because they’re viewed through the eyes of children or outsiders. A hint of tension in Vol. 1 escalates to violence in Vol. 2. More battles and intrigue are clearly on the horizon for Vol. 3.

A Bride’s Story’s greatest strength is the artwork. The clothing, architecture, and landscape are exquisitely drawn. Mori takes great care with the details of embroidery and carved wood. The slow pace and quiet tone, however, might not draw in fans of action-heavy shonen or funny, romantic shojo. This is a manga for anyone who appreciates beautiful art or enjoys learning about often-overlooked places and time periods. I love it and hope you’ll give it a try, too!

Princess Knight Part 1

From Dragon Ball and Inu Yasha to Bleach and Bakuman, manga has been popular in the United States for decades.  Manga has always had a very distinctive style, starting with where it all started in the eary 1950s.  One of the earliest manga artists was Osamu Tezuka.  Nicknamed "The Godfather of Manga," Tezuka was heavily influenced by the work of Walt Disney and is credited with the first ever shojo manga, Princess Knight.

Princess Knight is the story of Princess Sapphire, whose parents needed a male heir to inherit the throne or an evil duke's son becomes king.  When Sapphire was born her parents decided to claim that she is a boy and raise her as a Prince.  Only a handful of people know that the "Prince" is really a girl.  Years later a teenage Sapphire meets a foreign prince and falls in love, but revealing her identity to the prince would mean forfeiting the kingdom to the duke.  Full of witches, pirates, and sword fighting, Princess Knight was one of the first manga with a strong female main character who could outfight any man.  The art style of the manga is very different from what we know today.  It is easy to see the Disney influence but many of the current manga traits are visible, such as large eyes and sweat drops and sparkles when characters feel strong emotions.   For readers who are interested in the history of manga this is a classic and a must read. 

Review: Mangaman by Barry Lyga

East meets West in Mangaman by Barry Lyga, a graphic novel about a teenage boy named Ryoko from a manga comic who falls through a rift and ends up in the "real" world of a Western comic. With his long hair, girlish good looks, and manga style, Ryoko stands out in his new high school. Marissa Montaigne, however, thinks Ryoko is fascinating. But Ryoko doesn't belong in the "real" world, and as tensions between Ryoko and the other Western characters rise, he has to choose between his love for Marissa and the possibility of returning to his own world.

This story is probably not the best story for readers who have never read manga before. Manga fans, however, will love the way the Western characters react to Ryoko's sweat-drops of nervousness, heart-shaped eyes, motion lines, and kung fu battles. There are also tons of jokes about the art of comics themselves. Ryoko sometimes gets confused and walks through panels from right to left, the direction manga is read in Japan. The characters also realize they're in a comic and start jumping around and through panels.

The story packs a lot of plot into just one short volume, so it might feel rushed to readers who prefer a more leisurely pace. But if you're looking for a commentary on the differences between Eastern and Western comics, this story is for you!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol. 1

What can be said about Sailor Moon that hasn't been said before? Yes there are sailor outfits, romantic drama, hidden identities, and an obsession with bedazzled weapons that double as fashion accessories. Yes, some of the catch phrases are a bit cheesy and ridiculous, "I punish you in the name of the moon!" Yes, it stars a clumsy, not-too-smart school girl who transforms into a mystic superhero (with the help of classmates and her talking cat from the moon).

But you know what? It is fun for the same reasons that make it absurd. Sailor Moon speaks to the desire to be more than we think we are. To be more than normal, especially when you feel that you'll never live up to all the expectations that people have for you. It might seem exaggerated and over the top, but it's a wish fulfillment fantasy. And if you're going to dream why not dream big?

This is one of the original star-crossed lover mangas. In the 90s, Sailor Moon was most American kids' introduction to anime and it showed girls that there was an animated program just for them. The newly released Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a re-release of the original manga from the 90s, originally titled Sailor Moon. The new version has made some changes. Bunny, the main character, is now Usagi, which is Japanese for rabbit. It retains the right-to-left reading style of the original Japanese version, while the first printing in America was left-to-right, flipping the art so the book could be read like conventional western comics. The biggest change though, is that the original American printing came in 18 volumes, while the new release will tell the same story in 12. No material is lost, but the story breaks in different places.

If you have read Sailor Moon before, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is your chance to finally own the story. The original release went out of print quickly. For new readers this is a great way to discover the classic series for the first time.

Barratt and Lauren Review...Otomen, Vol. 1

High school student Asuka Masumune is a martial arts expert (nationally ranked in kendo, judo, and karate) with a slightly embarrassing secret: he's an "otomen," or a guy who likes girly things like cooking, sewing, and shojo manga. His life changes, however, when he befriends Juta, a womanizing classmate, and falls in love with Ryo, a girl whose own "womanly" skills leave much to be desired. Before he can confess his love, however, Asuka must come to terms with his dueling masculine and feminine natures.

Both Asuka's mother and Ryo's father have complicated ideas about gender that conflict with their children's. Asuka's fears about being seen as feminine and weak aren't just internal; the adults in the series respond negatively to his otomen interests as well. Juta and Ryo are much more accepting of his adorable bento lunches. While the premise seems silly, Asuka's worries about being accepted are genuine and relatable.

Another great element of Otomen is the way that it parodies shojo manga. One of Asuka's classmates is secretly the author of Love Chick, a popular shojo manga series, and has based his main female character almost entirely on Asuka. The fictional manga-ka is suffering writer's block, however, and tries to find inspiration by recreating manga plots in Asuka's real life. It's both a fun read and a subtle commentary on shojo manga itself.

Fans of shojo manga, especially Ouran High School Host Club, will enjoy Otomen's humor, satire, and sparkle.

Review: Library Wars Vol. 1

Take Full Metal Alchemist and cross it with Fruits Basket and you get Library Wars. In a country very much like modern day Japan, the government has created the Media Betterment Act to round up and destroy all books with dangerous themes. In retaliation the local governments have empowered libraries to form armed militias and literally fight back to protect the right to read. Iku Kasahara has just joined the Library Forces fresh out of college. But before she can be the first woman to join the elite Library Defense Force, where the best of the best take on the most dangerous missions, she has to pass basic training. But her commanding officer seems like he has it in for her; of course if she could stay awake through library classes that might help...

What Shojo fans will like:
1. an slightly airheaded main character, who tries her best no matter what
2. Iku is looking for her librarian Prince who saved a book from the army years before
3. Teasing and hints of romantic tension abound between Iku and her commanding officer, Dojo

What Shonen fans will like:
1. "Punching the bear" during training
2. Iku learning to fight and fire a gun
3. The Library Defense Force is run like a military
4. Hints of government conspiracy and betrayal
5. And, oh yeah, it's full of action and comedy

This comedic, action-packed title will delight both fans of manga and library fans in general.

A must read!

Calling all artistic Otakus!

Hello again.

The Urbana Otaku Manga Club is announcing an art contest for the club avatar, which will be used on all club meeting posters. The avatar must a completely original PG work in color or black and white. The character can be whatever you want it to be as long as it is drawn in the mange style. Submissions should be dropped off in the new manga suggestion box next to the young adult manga books (yes the suggestion box is finally alive and spectacularly decorated by club members). Or avatar submissions can be brought to the club's next meeting on Friday, January 7th when the club will vote on the winner.

In other news. There will be new manga unveiled at the January 7th meeting. We have taken a look at all of the suggestions club members gave us and ordered a bunch of new volumes and titles. The new manga includes the winner of the previous New Manga Contest held in November. The winner was Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba, followed closely by Bamboo Blade by Masahiro Totsuka.

The theme of the January Urbana Otaku Manga Club meeting is a show-and-tell. Bring a copy of your favorite manga, or if you are artistic bring your favorite manga-style drawing that you have done. As always there will be pizza and a pocky raffle.

See you in January Otakus. And don't forget to work on your avatars.

Our own Manga Artists!

The amazing artists of the Urbana Otaku Manga Club....
Next meeting: Friday, January 7 at 4pm.

Urbana Manga Otaku Club Dec 3rd

Calling all Otakus!

The newly formed Urbana Manga Otaku Club will be having its second meeting this Friday, December 3rd from 4p.m.-5:30p.m in the Lewis Auditorium at the Urbana Free Library. We will be learning how to make origami cranes and gift boxes. For those of you who don't want to fold paper there will be plenty of supplies to try your hand at drawing your own manga. The club is open to anyone 6th grade and up. Also there will be FREE PIZZA, and a Pocky raffle at the end of the meeting.

We hope to see you there.

Manga Collection at UFL: Desperately Seeking Feedback

Like manga, but don't see the titles you want? We're trying to fix that.

We have new manga in, but we want your help to decide what else we get. You know best what UFL has and what you want to read. It's your collection. Help us make it better.

Come to the Manga Expo!

Free! Pizza, Prizes, and a Manga Giveaway.

Friday November 5, 4-5:30

In the Lewis Auditorium at the Urbana Public Library

6th Grade and Up Only

Come and see:

8 new series with every published volume, 42 new volumes total (if you want to be the first to see what the new titles come to the Expo, if not we will release the names afterwards).

6 new series to preview and vote on. We have multiple copies of the first volume of each series. Some of those copies will be given away in a raffle at the Expo. The series with the most votes will be the next series we order.

Voting starts during the Expo, but if you can't make it to the event you can vote online starting November 9^th in the comments section of a blog we will post that day. We will also have a new manga suggestion box in the manga section at UFL where you can vote on the previews and suggest new titles. To enter the raffle though you must be at the Expo.

All new volumes will be available for checkout at the Expo.

Additionally, help to decorate the manga suggestion box with your favorite characters.

Did we mention the pizza and prizes? Free manga and other fun stuff.

We're also thinking about starting a manga club that would sponsor more events like this in the future. We are hoping to discuss this in more detail at the Expo.

Contact us with suggestions or questions.

Sayonara!