The setting of this story is in a desert town, Gimmy is a teenage repair guy, and by mistake he loses his siblings as offerings to the local rain goddess. Sora, the goddess usually receives dolls as offerings, but follies occur. Gimmy messes up, but is determined to get his siblings back and that’s where the adventure begins.

This graphic novel has been sitting on my table, and I have read it a while ago. The first volume is a light easy read, definitely fine for the age group, and maybe younger than the 13+ rating it has for it. The plot was fairly predictable, and character designs were drawn quite cutely and moe. Putting together this book, there was parts of obvious fanservice, yet there is a premises with this story that may or may not catch the interest of readers.

There’s one sequence that I liked, and that was the point where Sora was threatening to take back the rain, because she was trying to kick Gimmy out of her home. Since rain is very important, the reactions of the other characters were what I remember, months after reading this book. Some townspeople where confused as to what was happening, but my strongest recollection was of the mayor and it was along the lines of how this brat is a goddess is beyond me.

Since the female character acts like a brat, this would most likely tickle younger readers. The first volume begins a story, and will be concluded in the second volume. If you are a fan of cute Lolita girls, with some light comedy, then this would be a suitable manga for you.

Review by Kris

We all know that breakups are hard. Megumu Okazaki is a popular grad student who is trying to put his life back together after a heart-wrenching breakup. Hisashi Kina is a handsome 3rd year college student who seems to have fallen for Megumu. The two end up in bed together after Megumu runs into his ex. The problems arise when both Kina and Megumu have no idea what direction their relationship is headed. Do they love each other or is Megumu only using Kina as a rebound fling to heal his broken heart?

Another couple, professors at Megumu and Kina’s university, also makes an appearance in their own story. Kikugawa and Shibata attended the same college and now teach at said college together. Kikugawa is quiet and comes across as somewhat aloof. Shibata, on the other hand, is social, personable, and gets along with everyone. This is truly a sweet romance where opposites attract and that if you are truly compatible you can have long, fulfilling relationship.

Suggestive Eyes is definitely the style you’ve come to expect from Tenzen-sensei. The stories are dramatic, romantic and beautifully drawn. But the way sensei presented the story is somewhat interesting. Instead of starting the story by introducing us to the beginning of their story, we jump into the middle of their romance. Kina is unsure of Megumu’s feelings and Megumu wants to end their relationship because he’s doesn’t know what his own feelings are. When we pick up the second chapter its there that we find out how Kina and Megumu met. Megumu is a grad student working with Shibata-sensei and Kina is a 3rd year student. After witnessing Megumu crying over a pack of cigarettes (which Kina actually left in the classroom). Megumu seems to be drawn to Kina but when Kina finds himself being somewhat attracted to Megumu he finds out that Megumu was only interested in the cigarettes. It comes out at a drinking party that Megumu dated a guy that smoked the same brand and the relationship ended badly. Once we finish this story then we continue on with what normally would have followed what happened after the first chapter. It is really kind of confusing if you ask me, but upon the third and fourth readings I found the lineup intriguing.

The couple who really makes this manga worth picking up is the story of Kikugawa and Shibata. They may be professors at the same school but these two have a rather long history together. They started out as classmates. Kikugawa can be rather intimidating but it’s just because he’s quiet. Shibata is bubbly, friendly, and has the tendency to be the center of attention. The two struck up an unlikely friendship and soon found themselves attracted to one another.

With this story I liked how even though this book featured two different couples the two stories are intertwined and the four of them have to interact with the others. I liked the Megumu/Kina story but I would have to say that the better of the two is the one that features Kikugawa/Shibata. It is very romantic, which you come to expect when you read a Tenzen-sensei manga. Her soft, thin lines and excruciating detail make what could be a typical yaoi story something beautiful and entertaining. Tenzen-sensei could illustrate boring instructional manuals and I would automatically pick it up and enjoy it.

The book is up to Juné’s usual standards and is beautiful. The translation seems smooth and I don’t remember seeing any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, but it’s entirely possible that I over looked them because I have to turn off my proofreading mode sometimes. I have to give my thanks to Juné for licensing and publishing works by Momoko Tenzen. She is a gifted mangaka that I recommend!

Review by Lynn Loper

I was born in Delaware, and I’ve never lived anywhere else, but that doesn’t influence my opinion of Flesh and Grass. Until I read the book I had never heard of the settlement at the Hoornkill, and had no idea of the conflicts between the Dutch and Swedes and British and Marylanders and, finally, William Penn, over that area. It’s not loyalty to Delaware that made me like it so much.

This is an exciting story, full of human characters and people brought out of history books as living beings. I’m going to be doing more reading about Cornelis Plockhoy, and what happened in what we now call Lewes.

I especially liked the author’s use of other senses, smell and touch and taste, to describe not only how the main character interacts with the world, but to describe the other characters. I’ve seen sea grass in Lewes; now I can smell it, with an overlay of nutmeg and cinnamon. And I have to find out more about knitting stockings. This left me with a list of things to find out about, which is my criterion for a good story. This is a good story.

Review by Ida Vega-Landow

This is the most charming children’s book I’ve ever read since The Chronicles of Narnia, which the movies do not do justice to! It’s a fictional account of what might have happened to the dog named Jack that author Jack London knew during his brief sojourn in Alaska during the Gold Rush of 1897. This is the same dog on which London based the character of Buck, the domestic dog who goes feral in his classic novel “Call of the Wild”. Dog lovers will adore this book, which gives such loving insight into a dog’s point of view about the behavior of humans. Even a cat lover like me will find it easy to get into Jack’s character and sympathize with him.

Jack is a big, lovable mastiff who lives with Marshall Bond and a group of other miners in a shack on Split Up Island on the Yukon River. He spends his time pulling sleds and guarding the property of his masters on the island. Jack goes through three masters in this book, not all of them good men. Since there were so many people coming and going during the turbulent period of the Gold Rush, lots of things got left behind, passed on to, or stolen by others. Supplies, tents, horses and dogs were valuable assets to gold miners. Smart men knew how to take care of these assets; not so smart ones would wear them out, lose or destroy them through carelessness and stupidity.

The young Jack London came to Split Up Island during the winter of ‘97, along with two companions, to try their luck at panning for gold, as did many young men of that era. When Jack London met Jack the mastiff, the first thing the dog did was go up to the man and smell him, while the man put his hands deeply into the dog’s fur and stroked him. Jack thought that “The man’s hands felt good…and he smelled right”, so he accepted him. This was the beginning of a brief but beautiful friendship.

Jack the dog and Jack the man became very close during that bitter Alaskan winter, so close that Jack the dog saved Jack the man’s life when a runaway horse nearly trampled him in town.

Sadly, despite the deep friendship that developed between the two Jacks over the winter, when the spring thaw came Jack the man was forced to return to his home in Oakland, California after he became sick. For weeks afterward, Jack the dog spent a lot of time on the bank of the Yukon River, looking upstream and whining sadly as he waited for his beloved master to return. But he never came back.

Meanwhile, Franco Stupendo and his two brothers also came to the Yukon to seek their fortune. They needed dogs and didn’t care how they got them, so they stole Jack and another dog from Split Up Island one dark night. Now poor Jack spent his days slaving away with three other dogs, pulling a sled filled with heavy equipment, used as a beast of burden when there wasn’t enough room on the sled for supplies, frequently beaten and forced to go hungry when the food ran short. He spent his nights dreaming of his good friend Jack and how he would return one day to save him from these brutal men.

But it was another good man who saved Jack, a stranger who walked into the Stupendo brothers’ camp one day to feed the starving dogs. His name was Jake Jamison; he took a fancy to Jack and claimed that Jack was his dog and had been stolen from him on the Yukon River. He had to beat up one of the Stupendo brothers in order to take Jack away, but beat him he did, and Jack went happily with his new master, who was as kind as the Stupendos were cruel. So began another beautiful friendship, one that would last longer, as this man stayed to seek his fortune in the Yukon with his faithful dog by his side.

The author divides his time between showing us how Jack London is doing in Oakland, writing what would become his bestselling classic about life in the Yukon, and how Jack the dog does in the Yukon with his new master, who discovers that his new best friend has a talent for finding people who have been buried beneath deep snow by the frequent avalanches. This talent comes in very handy when a little girl goes missing after an avalanche and her frantic mother comes looking for the Avalanche Dog to find her buried child. Happily, Jack is able to locate the little girl, who becomes his good friend, while her grateful mother takes a shine to Jack’s friend Jake.

Dirk Wales gives both Jacks, man and dog, a happy ending in this book, which is charmingly illustrated by the talented Barry Moser. The stark black and white illustrations give a more realistic view of the harshness of life in the Yukon than all the pretty pictures in your average kids’ book. So if you love dogs, or know a child who does, be sure to get a copy of “Jack London’s Dog” for yourself or your favorite young dog lover to while away a cold winter’s night. It’s got the Mom’s Choice Award, and is as wholesome as a kid’s book can get without descending into sentimentality. I recommend it for kids between 6 and 12 years old, who are just getting into the classics and need something more challenging than the average kids’ book filled with brightly colored pictures of talking animals and toys. This book teaches kids about the values of friendship and kindness to animals without being preachy or moralistic. It doesn’t attempt to protect kids from the harshness of life, but warns them that there is cruelty in the world and they had better be prepared to defend themselves from it, as well as those they love. It also shows them that there is goodness in the world, and the company of good people and good dogs can be more rewarding than a pile of gold nuggets.

Review by Linda Yau

Imagine always having the ability to see micro-organisms with your naked eye. What would it be like? Would you embrace this ability, shun it, or would you learn to cope with it? That is how Tadayasu Sawaki lives his life. He stopped speaking about this unique ability, but learned to cope with it. Now the story begins with him starting as a freshman at an agricultural college with his friend Kei Yuki, and this is a story of their experiences.

I have been waiting to read this manga, and I am pleased about this book. There are several reasons why I feel this way; one is because of the cute representations of the micro-organisms. There are explanations, foot notes, and parodies about the behaviors of micro-organisms that live in every day life. Second issue is on the explanation of agricultural science. People hear about farming, and agriculture, but for urban cities dwellers, it makes it harder to realize an education or efforts out there are to provide resources for feeding the planet. Third is the theme or message of a possible way to look for alternative sources in producing food.

In this book there is the introduction of Sawaki and Yuki, along with a colorful cast of supporting characters. My favorite scenes were when the Professor was bringing out the smelliest foods, and the reactions of everyone around him. Also outside of volume 1 being a good beginning of this story, I am not sure how the story would turn out in the rest of the chapters. There has already been a hidden agenda revealed by the professor, and how Sawaki would tie into the equation. His skill of being the only person that can see the cute micro organisms can undoubtedly alienate people. What happens if everyone else finds out of his ability?

There are currently eight volumes in Japanese, and with the second English volume of this series being published soon. Moyasimon is a cute story that would please readers of slice of life, and wanting to maybe take a glimpse into a scientific field.

Review by Kathryn Ramage

“The author is supposed to be chronicling seven generations of a single family, but he tells the same story over and over again. All the characters live lives of selfless duty to the state, get old and die–and then the next generation comes along and does it all over again!”

“That’s the whole point, Doctor. The repetitive epic is the most elegant form of Cardassian literature, and The Never-Ending Sacrifice is its greatest achievement.”

–Dr. Julian Bashir and Elim Garak, in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, The Wire

The classic Cardassian novel, The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Ulan Corac, opens with a dedication “For Cardassia,” and exemplifies the Cardassian ideal of unwavering dedication to the homeworld and placing the needs of the State above personal considerations. As noted by Dr. Bashir’s and Garak’s discussion above, the plot is extremely repetitive and some readers, particularly human ones, might find it a dreadful bore. Fortunately, Una McCormack’s novel of the same name is neither.

McCormack’s The Never-Ending Sacrifice is the tale of Rugal Pa’Dar, a Cardassian boy who made his appearance an early Deep Space Nine episode, “Cardassians.” In this episode, we discover that Rugal was abducted from his family as a small child while his father was stationed on Bajor during Cardassia’s occupation of that planet, left in an orphanage, and eventually adopted by a Bajoran couple. When he is found as a teenager, a custody dispute arises between Rugal’s Bajoran parents and his biological father, Kotan Pa’Dar, who is now an important official on Cardassia. Commander Sisko of Deep Space Nine decides to return Rugal to Pa’Dar.

The episode ends there. McCormack follows Rugal’s life through the next eight years as he comes of age on that militaristic, oppressive world that bears a close resemblance to the one portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984; everyone is closely monitored by listening devices and the Obsidian Order, Cardassia’s intelligence agency, for signs of seditious thoughts or acts. Unquestioning loyalty to the State is of primary importance. And Rugal is as rebellious as a boy who considers himself Bajoran and hates all things Cardassian would naturally be. His father’s repeated refrain is “Try not to get us all killed”–a warning that Rugal ignores at first, since he resents Kotan for taking him away from his Bajoran family and the world he considers his true home.

As the years pass, Rugal does not learn to love Cardassia nor the ideals it upholds (he tries to read Ulan Corac’s novel once, but falls asleep during the first chapter). He does, however, learn to care for things and people on it: his father, an orphaned girl who is being brought up by her relatives, some of the older traditions of the Cardassian people, such as the moving chant his father and girl-friend perform at his acerbic grandmother’s funeral. He understands something of how their world came to be the way it is, and seeks to change it.

For a DS9 geek, this story is a fascinating retelling of almost the entire series, as viewed from someone living on Cardassia during that same time. The episodes related to Cardassia are well-researched, and the story is full of characters and incidents from them. Rugal and his father are acquainted with dissidents who appeared in other Deep Space Nine episodes, and of course have repeated confrontations with Gul Dukat (who stole Rugal from his father in the first place). The Klingon invasion of Cardassia, the Dominion War, and its aftermath are seen through Rugal’s eyes. While I was reading, I kept saying to myself, “Yes, I remember that! That happened in [episode name].” There is little to be seen of the major characters from Deep Space Nine except for Dukat, but Miles O’Brien and Elim Garak both have important parts to play near the end of the story. But it is the development of Rugal’s character as he grows from surly teenager to political activist to unwilling soldier to one of few surviving Cardassians in a war-shattered galaxy that makes this story more than a catalog of previously seen DS9 characters and events. In the end, Rugal comes full circle when he adopts an orphaned human child he finds on a colony world and fights to keep her over the objections of people who believe the child belongs with her own kind. He realizes then that he too is part of a never-ending sacrifice, and not “For Cardassia.”

Review by Ida Vega-Landow

Oh boy, talk about Venus and Mars! This literary labor of love was written by a co-habiting couple in Hollywood, both writers of popular TV situation comedies, both divorced, both crazy about each other, but not so crazy about the little differences between men and women that keep popping up whenever they try to have a serious discussion.

You know, the way she keeps asking “Am I fat?” and getting mad whether he gives her an honest answer (which is insulting) or a flattering one (which is a lie, because people in love should be honest with each other). Or the way he tries to deal with her problems logically (telling her what she should have said or done), when all she really wants is for him to sympathize with her to prove he’s on her side. All the things that drive you crazy in a relationship, that make you swear the opposite sex is either from another planet or just evolved differently from your own sex.

I’ve been there, done that, gotten the tee shirts emblazoned with feminist slogans like “Men just don’t get it!” and “A Woman without a Man is like a Fish without a Bicycle”. I even acquired a man of my own, nine years ago on December 30th, who keeps moaning and groaning that I’m driving him crazy whenever we argue, and who seems too stupid to understand that I wouldn’t be driving him crazy if he hadn’t driven me crazy to begin with!

That’s what makes this book so much fun, yet so frustrating, because I get it, I really do. My problem is that I understand where both sides are coming from. I understand Jenny Lee’s gripes about her man because my man does so many of the same stupid things, as well as every other man I’ve ever met, yet I’m sure these same men will all swear with their hands on the Bible that I’m the crazy one.

I sympathize with Howard Morris because I’ve learned to control my emotions to the point where I can stand back and watch other women acting crazy, thinking “Stupid bitch! I would never say a thing like that in public to my husband.” But when these same women confide in me about the stupid things their men do, I find myself nodding sympathetically and agreeing with them that All Men Are Fools, and if it weren’t for us women, they wouldn’t be able to walk without tripping over their untied shoelaces.

This whole book is a study in “He Said, She Said”, where both sides give you their point of view and demand that you agree with them. And you either agree unconditionally with one of them, because you’re the same gender, or you disagree with both of them, because this kind of emotional upheaval is foreign to you–which means you’ve either never been in love, or your own relationship is so angst-free, O lucky man or woman!–and you don’t understand why these people, if they’re so in love with each other, just can’t get along. Or, you’re like me, able to see both sides of the coin, which makes it both funny and sad that two people in love can’t seem to understand each other.

Take flowers, for example. Jenny devotes a whole section of one chapter to flowers and how important they are to a woman as a token of her man’s affection. She even compares flowers to blowjobs in an effort to demonstrate to men how important they are, though she does replace the word “blowjobs” with the word “pizza” for the benefit of the squeamish, italicizing the word so we’ll know what she really means: “Men love pizza. Most men don’t feel they get as much pizza as they would like. Men would like to have pizza every day. I’m pretty sure if men got pizza every day there would be fewer wars and you could look out your window and see grown men skipping down the street and singing. As we women know, men rarely get pizza every day. In the beginning of a relationship men may get pizza a lot, and may even get pizza a few days in a row or even twice a day if they are lucky, but in general, I’m willing to climb out on a limb and wave to you from above and say that men don’t get pizza as often as they would like. Men in relationships want more pizza.”

You see, guys? We long for flowers the same way that you long for pizza! We both know that flowers and pizza are not essential for survival and are sometimes inconvenient and messy to give, but you still love getting them! As much as we women love to get flowers, unless we’re allergic, in which case we expect you to remember this little fact and shower us with some other lovely and colorful tokens of your affection, like candy or jewelry. And yes, I admit we women are guilty of expecting you to read our minds when it comes to love. Consider it a compliment that we love you so much we take it for granted that you are as sensitive as we are, so of course you would automatically know what we like.

But guys in love make a similar mistake, thinking that the women they love are so much more sensible than other women are. In other words, they expect us to think like men, be as logical, rational and hardheaded as they are. Sorry, guys, we’ve made many advances in the Women’s Liberation Movement, and we can do the businesslike thing when it comes to business. But when it comes to romance, or just plain day-to-day living under the same roof with someone of the opposite sex, we just can’t think like you. Howard laments about this in a section entitled “Why Can’t A Woman Be More Like A Man?” after the song that Rex Harrison sings in the musical “My Fair Lady”. Howard claims that what Rex was really asking was “Why can’t a woman be consistent like a man?” In other words, he expects a gender that is ruled by our emotions and our hormones (yes, even those of us undergoing menopause are affected by hormones, mostly artificial, but still hormones!) to behave in the same boring, logical manner day after day. Why should we? Not all problems are simple enough to be resolved in an emotionless manner; if they were, then there’d be no point in making movies like “Old Yeller”, because nobody would cry at the thought of shooting your faithful family dog after he gets rabies, because it is the logical thing to do when your dog gets an incurable illness that threatens the rest of the livestock, as well as your family.

But I digress, another thing that Howard complains about in my fair sex. We women are capable of jumping from one seemingly unrelated subject to another during a conversation, because all topics are related from our point of view, while men narrow-mindedly insist upon sticking to the original topic. How stupid is that? I’m sorry, Howard and Jenny, but you’re both right, and I refuse to get in between you two. Fight it out in the final draft of your book, since this is only a review copy and you both have plenty of time to change your minds. And don’t remind me that changing one’s mind has always been a woman’s prerogative: men have the right to change their minds too, especially once they’ve realized how stupid–oops, I mean misinformed they’ve been. So long, guys, and good luck storming the castle!

Review by Kris

Food… its something that we all need. Not only do we need it to sustain life but it also is very important to society. We all have dishes that are essential to our culture and one mention of these meals people immediately know where that food comes from. Scotland has Haggis, Russia and borscht goes hand in hand. When you think of Italy pasta comes to mind and where would America be without its apple pie. Even though food is essential you wouldn’t imagine making an entertaining manga out of it. Well it has been done, and done very well.

Oishinbo A la Carte focuses on the Teito Times and their project called the Ultimate Menu. Shiro Yamaoka and Yuko Kurita are the two employees in charge. It turns out that Yamaoka is the son of renowned gourmet and famous artist Yuzan Kaibara. Yamaoka and Kaibara have been estranged for many years and the two don’t get along. They have very different views on how gourmet food should be approached. Yuzan feels that only those with culture and discriminating taste should be recognized as gourmets. Yamaoka feels differently. He feels that everyone should be able to enjoy good food and that gourmet meals can be found everywhere, not just in super fancy and expensive restaurants.

Oishinbo A la Carte is presented in a new and interesting way than most manga series. Usually they start a series with the first volume and follow the stories in the order that they were published. In the case of Oishinbo A la Carte it is handled like the title implies, a la carte. The volumes focus on a food type and each story focuses on that particular menu item. They introduce the series with a very apropos food choice, Japanese Cuisine. Each chapter focuses on a menu item. Not only do you have the food but the interpersonal relationships between the characters that make the manga interesting. You find yourself drooling over the manga while reading the descriptions of the dishes. Not only do you get an interesting look into Japanese culture through the dishes that have been passed down through the generations but the folks at VIZ have provided recipes for a dish or two that were featured in the volume (they may have been included in Japanese volumes but I have no knowledge of that).

Some of the artwork in Oishinbo A la Cart does have a somewhat dated look to it and some of the stories take place several years in the past. Oishinbo is a series that was started in 1983 and is still ongoing. According to mangaupdates.com there are currently 102 volumes out and it’s still plugging along. This is one of the first VIZ Signature titles that I’ve checked out and I have to say that I’m impressed with quality of this release. The books are a little bit bigger than a usual VIZ release (they’re about the same size as a DMP volume). They don’t have dust jackets but have attached flaps that give it a higher scale look. The paper is also a heavier stock and has an heirloom quality to it. The recipe pages are presented in color to make the food look that much better and drool worthy. Because of these features the books are little more expensive but because of the high quality and overall great job in production it is worth the higher price.

For a manga about food I have found myself truly enchanted and I’ve found myself hooked by this series. What better way to learn about a fascinating culture like the Japanese than through their culinary feats!

Review by Kris

Written in the corner of a test Tomohiko Isa catches the note “I love you, Sensei” from one of his students. Isa is a stoic high school math teacher. The surprise comes from who left the note, male student Takashi Homura. Homura happens to be the younger brother of his college girlfriend. It was in this relationship that Isa discovered that he was gay and he figured that Homura was using this as a way to get back at him. Bombarded by Homura’s constant sexual attacks he discovers that Homura’s love confession was in fact real and had no idea that Isa was gay.

Isa doesn’t have a lot of experience with matters of love and struggles with the fact he’s falling for his student who is ten years his junior. Homura on the other hand wants to appear to be grown up and be a suitable partner for his lover. Isa reluctantly agrees to start a relationship with Homura. Homura, being the youthful soul that he is, is ready and raring to go whereas Isa, being a responsible adult, wants to take things slowly. Will these two be able to overcome their obstacles and truly love each other?

You may recognize the work of Yaya Sakuragi-sensei. She is the artist behind BLU’s Tea for Two which is a great read all in itself. Because I’ve been enjoying that series I was really looking forward to Hey, Sensei? and I wasn’t disappointed either. It is a very sweet story with humor and romance and dealt with very human emotions. I found it very endearing that these two were both trying very hard to impress each other. Isa was constantly reminding Homura of their age difference and Homura was always trying to act older than he really is. It seemed that as soon as they admitted to themselves that it was ok to be who they really are their relationship really improved.

One thing I really liked about this release was the art. Sakuragi-sensei creates manly looking men. There are no girly looking ukes in this story. I find myself drawn to characters that are drawn lanky, lean and long. That’s exactly what you get from Sakuragi-sensei sexy, tall, manly characters. Another thing I enjoyed was the short personal comic in the Afterword. It has nothing to do with the story at hand but it gives us a little glimpse into her life. In regards to the physical look of the book it’s typical Juné. With Sakuragi-sensei the larger size makes it much easier to enjoy her art. But that’s just me.

I really like this title and can see myself reading this on a regular basis. If you like sweet romance, manly looking characters, and the teacher/student scenario doesn’t bother you I recommend this title. For another view be sure to catch April Kimm’s review.

Review by Linda Yau

Kaoru Miyagi is a bartender who found luck when an elderly benefactor gave him a job at the branch Tachibana restaurant. Fast forward eight years later, he is the manager of the restaurant. Enters the restaurant’s newest chef, Kasuga, and he is very interested in Miyagi. Kasuga also knows of Miyagi’s past that definitely changes his world, when reality comes to light.

I made a several observation thoughts prior to reading this book. On the cover, there was an addition that I noticed. Gracing the covers of several Juné’s recent publication is a boarder and label clear to readers that this is a Yaoi manga, so there should be no surprises to any reader who picks up this book. Would that compel you to purchase or walk away from the book? This boarder scheme does make it easier for people to differentiate.

On the back, with the story’s description, there is a picture of Miyagi, Kasuga, and Kazuki – the benefactor who gave Miyagi the job. Initially, I though there was going to be an older man and younger man story. This is a plot device fetish that I found in some Japanese yaoi manga, an ojisan and younger man pairing. I thought that finally Juné was going where other yaoi publishers didn’t. This expectation was not true though. Sorry to burst the bubble of the perv in most of the hardcore yaoi readers.

But yes I do enjoy this typical yaoi story, it is a sweet and romantic manga in terms of personal realization. Other than the picture disappointment, my disappointments in the book wasn’t as bad as what I thought about some other titles I read recently, and the way Kasuga wooed Miyagi was quite cute.

I am not sure how questionable ratings would be, but I actually thought this was more of a 18+ book. Yes there is no scenes of explicit drawings, but the drawing of sex, and obvious nudity was more so in this title, than a lot of other 16+ title I have read. Perhaps I am becoming slightly jaded, but the sex scenes were more, and with the sounds and scenes depicted. Hmmm..

Also the setting was slightly off, so if you expect this to be a food manga, as I initially thought, with a recent rereading of Eat or Be Eaten, then this is the wrong. More in the department of the relationship and personal conflicts than there is the depiction of food drawings. There is a short author’s afterward, questionnaire and relationship chart at the end of the book.

Review by Kris

Manhattan Love Story is a collection of related vignettes tied to a midtown flower shop. Dan “Diamond” Loving is the manager of a flower shop in midtown Manhattan that is owned by his lover Rock Melville. Rock is a powerful CEO and is rather busy so the time that the two of these men is few and far between. They love each other but Dan has a hard time dealing with not being able to see his lover as often as he would like.

We also get stories featuring Dan’s employee Kanan who falls in love with a Japanese high school student who is in town visiting family, Kenji’s (the Japanese high school student) nephew falling for his teacher, and Rock’s secretary Jessie is dating an old college friend of Rock’s. Jessie met Louis at a bookstore he was working at. This is the couple that adorns the front cover.

I had high hopes for Manhattan Love Story because Momoko Tenzen-sensei happens to one of my favorite mangaka. I find her stories calming and interesting and her art, though sparse, has a very classy, high art feel to it. With the cover of this manga you definitely get that impression. But once I cracked open the book I found that this is one of sensei’s weaker titles. The main character Dan honestly looks like a flat chested girl (which really comes across on the back cover). He also acts somewhat girly. And the names Diamond and Rock, how cheesy is that. I realize that you can get some pretty bizarre names here in the states but I think sensei’s pushing it a bit. I did like the stories with Kanan and Kenji (the Japanese student) and Jessie and Louis’s story, although I would have used a different spelling of Jessie (the spelling used seems to be the more feminine spelling, I would have used Jesse which is much more masculine looking.) But the story that sinks this volume is The Angel and the Hydrangea, the teacher and student story. Normally I’m not too against this particular plot device because they are usually dealing with high school students. But in this case we are dealing with a teacher and a thirteen-year-old. Not only is he sleeping with several of his students, but seems to be obsessed with the young boy. Creepy! Many of the titles that I’ve read, sensei uses teacher love on a regular basis but this one just crosses the line. I know when I was thirteen I wasn’t looking to hook up with my teachers (most of them were old anyway). I feel that this story drags down the entire volume.

You can tell that this is one of sensei’s older titles because when you look at her newer works (like La Satanica also published by Juné) the art style has changed. The characters have very sharp chins and extremely long faces. She’s definitely improved over time but her art regardless of when it was drawn has always attracted me. I am so glad that Juné has decided to license many of her works. She is definitely one of my favorites and whenever I get my shipment of review books I always save hers for last because I enjoy her work so much (unless I get a Makoto Tateno book in the shipment then that is the last one I read). Sadly with the case of Manhattan Love Story I can’t praise it like I wish I could. I just found The Angel and the Hydrangea so distasteful that it tainted my opinion of the rest of the book.

It is beautifully published and I love the cover (with the exception of the clashing pink bar on the bottom, but it was published before Juné got its new makeover). But a beautiful book doesn’t make it worthy of your time. I can’t really recommend it because of the shota aspects of the third story. The rest of the book is OK but it’s not stellar. I’m leaving the decision up to you!

Review by Kris

There is a somewhat strange tradition at the all-boys Fujimori Academy. Instead of having a more traditional style of mascot (you know something along the lines of Jaguars, Cougars, Spartans, Bees, etc.) they have the Princesses. A few of the prettiest boys are chosen to dress in drag and cheer on the various clubs on campus. Mikiyo Tsuda introduced us to the Princesses in her series Princess Princess and continues the concept in Princess Princess Plus.

Kiriya Matsuoka and Tomoe Izumi have been chosen to be this year’s Princesses. Both decide to take on the job but for various reasons. Being a Princess has a few perks but is also very hard work and the two new princesses will have to go through a crash course to learn the ins and outs of the job. And their new drill sergeants are none other than last year’s princesses Tohru Kouno, Yuujirou Shihoudani, and Mikoto Yutaka. Becoming a princess is hard work but Matsuoka and Izumi take it all in stride and work very hard together. But things change very quickly when Izumi invites himself over to Matsuoka’s house. Matsuoka and his siblings lost their parents when they were young and they live in a small apartment. Izumi on the other hand was born into a very rich family and wants for nothing, except a true friend. Izumi assumes that because he and Matsuoka are now princesses together the two should become close friends. But when Izumi tries to get to know Matsuoka better, his plan backfires and soon Matsuoka comes to despise Izumi. Things get so bad that even the previous princesses notice that something is wrong. Will Izumi and Matsuoka be able to set aside their differences and become friends, or will pride continue to get in the way?

Princess Princess Plus is one of the first books released by Digital Manga Publishing’s Doki Doki line. Doki Doki is a partnership with the Japanese publisher Shinshokan (in Japan Shinshokan publishes the manga magazines of Wings, a shojo mag, and Dear +, a boys love magazine). This line seems to focus on shojo and boys love titles aimed mainly at a young adult level (Juné and 801 Media titles are geared toward adult readers). For their first book Princess Princess Plus isn’t too bad of a choice.

Mikiyo Tsuda has created an entire universe that these characters inhabit. There are a couple of spin-offs that feature the Princess Princess characters (The Day of Revolution, Family Complex, and of course Princess Princess). The original Princess Princess series was published by DMP and contains five books (if you are interested in reading Ginger Mayerson’s review of this title click here). In the original series the story focuses mainly on the job of being a princess and stars Kouno, Shihoudani, and Yutaka. In Princess Princess Plus the princess responsibilities take a back seat to the personal story between Izumi and Matsuoka. Matsuoka has a huge complex because he lost his parents when he was young and his older brother works as a host to make ends meet. Izumi, on the other hand, is the only child born into a very wealthy family. Because of this wealth he is generally taken advantage of by his friends but he yearns to find a friend who will see him for him and not for the money his parents have. The point of this story is to watch the friendship between Matsuoka and Izumi blossom.

With this being one of Doki Doki’s first titles I was looking forward to how they were going to look production-wise. The books are the same size as 801 Media titles (sister company to Doki Doki) but have about the same quality and price point as a Juné title. Another nice feature is that instead of using a bar on the bottom of the book to brand it they used a nifty scroll pattern with the Doki Doki logo in the corner. One thing I did wonder about was how they were going to handle the under the cover comic. Mikiyo Tsuda is famous for throwing in a gag comic underneath the dust jacket. With this title there is no jacket but luckily it is printed at the end of the book.

Overall I did enjoy this title because the story focused on the interpersonal relationships between the characters whereas the original series seemed to be focused mainly on the princesses’ duties and costumes that they wore. The personal stories seemed to be secondary. It is assumed that you’ve already read the first five volumes of the original series so they figure that you know the basics of the story (like why they have princesses as mascots as opposed to anything else). This can be read as a stand alone title but it does make more sense if you’ve read the first series. It is also a one-shot because Tsuda-sensei mentions in her ending comments that she’s done all she can with it and it has been a very fulfilling project for her. This is one that Tsuda-sensei fans won’t want to miss. I will however make the comment that you may want to avoid this title if you don’t have a thing for cross-dressing in your manga. It can get tiring after a while. While I’m not a rabid Tsuda-sensei fan I found this to be a fun title that is a great distraction from everyday life!

For another point of view be sure to check out I-hsiu Lin’s review.