All posts by Shaenon K. Garrity

Manga Review – Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage

Space pirate Captain Harlock, created by Leiji Matsumoto in the 1970s, is an iconic antihero and the center of one of the most vivid universes in manga. Dimensional Voyage introduces a new generation of readers to the Harlock Saga with a story that loosely retells the first …Read more »

Sekirei [Manga Review]

October 9, 2017

Shaenon K. Garrity

“Minato Sahashi is a loser,” begins the back cover text of Sekirei, thus ensuring, according to the ancient laws of manga, that within the first 10 pages a hot, devoted girlfriend with supernatural powers will fall into his lap. In this case it happens literally, …Read more »

[Review] The Case Study of Vanitas

March 26, 2017

Shaenon K. Garrity

Jun Mochizuki, best known as the creator of Pandora Hearts , specializes in gothic fantasy with an elegant Victorian veneer. Her newest series, The Case Study of Vanitas , adds two closely related tropes: steampunk and vampires. In an alternate 19th-century Paris with flying cities …Read more »

[Review] Dragons Rioting

March 25, 2017

Shaenon K. Garrity

As a child, Rintaro was diagnosed with a rare and implausible medical condition, “Hentai Syndrome,” which means becoming sexually aroused can kill him. (“When all his blood rushes to his groin, it will put a sudden and momentous strain on his heart.”) After years of …Read more »

[Review] Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!

February 18, 2017

Shaenon K. Garrity

Kazuma, an antisocial gamer (the other characters call him “hikiNEET,” combining a slang term for shut-ins with a slang term for the unemployed), is killed in an uncharacteristic and ill-advised act of heroism. In the afterlife, he’s offered the opportunity to become a hero in …Read more »

[Review] Blade of the Immortal Omnibus

February 4, 2017

Shaenon K. Garrity

In the Tokugawa period, sardonic swordsman Manji wanders the countryside getting into fights. Thanks to a run-in with the mythological 800-year-old nun Yaobikuni, Manji is infected with symbiotic “bloodworms” that repair every injury, rendering him immortal. As penance for all the deaths he caused in …Read more »

[Review] Neo Parasyte F

December 7, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

© 2015 Hitoshi Iwaaki, Asumiko Nakamura. First published in Japan in 2015 by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo, as Neo Parasyte F. Hitoshi Iwaaki’s manga Parasyte , about an invasion of body-snatching, man-eating intelligent parasites, is one of the classics of science-fiction horror. Since its run in …Read more »

[Review] Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai

November 19, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

“Some cats commit atrocities too cruel to bear. Deeds that are truly infeline.” The latest manga from Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King) is a bloody, hard-boiled samurai drama. The catch: all the characters are cute kitties. In the world of Nekogahara, cats with owners—so identified by …Read more »

Rokudenashiko’s Manga Playfully Challenges Concept of Obscenity

October 23, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

In 2014, artist Megumi Igarashi, a.k.a. Rokudenashiko (roughly, “Li’l Good-for-Nothing”), was arrested for violating Japanese obscenity laws. Her crime: emailing 3D printer scans of her genitals to the backers who supported her crowdfunding campaign to build a full-size kayak in the shape of her vulva. …Read more »

[Review] Breaking the 10

September 14, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

Sean Michael Wilson is a Scottish writer who specializes in collaborations with Japanese manga artists. I’ve enjoyed many of his books, going back to The Japanese Drawing Room, an adaptation of a Victorian travel journal. But his latest work, Breaking the 10, with art by …Read more »

[Review] Wandering Island

August 27, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

© Kenji Tsuruta 2011 / Kodansha Ltd. On one of the countless tiny islands on the edges of Japan, ocean-loving Mikura runs a seaplane freight service with her tough old salt of a grandfather. Then her grandfather dies, leaving her to carry on alone. In …Read more »

[Review] Paradise Residence

June 6, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

Kosuke Fujishima has spent most of his career on one classic manga: Oh My Goddess! , the nearly 50-volume saga of a motorcycle-loving boy and the three Norse goddesses who share his Tokyo apartment. Oh My Goddess! started as a supernatural comedy in the mold …Read more »

[Review] Akame ga Kill! Zero

June 1, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

Akame ga Kill!! is a well-paced, shockingly dark and violent fantasy manga, pitting a group of ruthless terrorist/assassins called Night Raid (aka our heroes) against a corrupt government that makes them look virtuous by comparison. The setup is formulaic—quirky young people with cool powers and …Read more »

[Review] Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi

April 10, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

Yue, a cute bishonen who wears a fox mask like a hat, has lived all his life in a mountain temple. One evening, he descends to the village below to sample its annual festival and finds himself drawn to two other teenage boys: standoffish cool …Read more »

[Review] Horimiya

April 3, 2016

Shaenon K. Garrity

Smart, pretty, and popular, Kyouko Hori is seen as one of the queen bees of her high school. But she doesn’t have much time to enjoy it, because when the bell rings she has to rush home, change into frumpy clothes, and serve as primary …Read more »