Emily the Strange: The Lost Issueby Jessica Gruner and Buzz Parker Emily the Strange is kind of like Wednesday Addams. She’s got black hair, pale skin, a fondness for dark clothes, and a gloomy, gothic, warped outlook on life. Plus, she’s strange. And funny. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 12th, 2009  Tags: cats, gothic, morbid, sarcastic, surreal |  Category: Graphic Novels, Humor
|  Write a comment | Fullmetal Alchemistby Hiromu Arakawa Fullmetal Alchemist is set in a fantasy version of Europe during the Industrial Revolution. Edward and Alphonse are studying alchemy, a sort of magical chemistry, and decide to use it to resurrect their dead mother. This ends badly: Edward ends up with a prosthetic leg and arm, while Alphonse needs to have his entire body replaced with a body of metal. Edward goes to work for the military, hoping to get access to enough resources to regrow his limbs and his brother’s body. However, the brothers eventually stumble upon a conspiracy and, with the help of some of Edward’s military buddies, have to save their country. You can look it up on Wikipedia. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 12th, 2009 Tags: alchemy, conspiracy, Science, technology | Category: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga, Science Fiction, Steampunk
| Write a comment | Narutoby Masashi Kishimoto Naruto is a hyperactive teenager in one of the best ninja academies in the world. He wants to be the greatest ninja ever, but he’s kind of dumb, easily distracted, and obsessed with ramen. Still, he has a great deal of natural ability, if he can pay attention long enough to use it. You can look it up on Wikipedia. You can also read some of it online at the publisher’s website. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 12th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, Fantasy, funny, martial arts, ninja, school, supernatural, teen | Category: Graphic Novels, Humor, Manga
| Write a comment | Bleachby Kubo Tite Bleach is a series about high school students who can see spirits. One day the main character, Ichigo, encounters a soul reaper (kind of like a grim reaper, but younger) who is responsible for dealing with troubled spirits. The soul reaper is injured in a fight with a dangerous spirit and temporarily gives Ichigo her powers. After defeating the spirit, Ichigo finds that he cannot give the power back. Instead, he has to become a part-time soul reaper. You can look it up on Wikipedia. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] The [library id=richmond] public library has some volumes, but I don’t think they have volume 1 yet. June 10th, 2009 Tags: afterlife, books with movies, school, supernatural | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga
| Write a comment | Love Songby Keiko Nishi An anthology of four short stories by amazing artist/writer Nishi: a story about abusive love, an Edgar Alan Poe-like horror piece, a portrait of a far-future Chinese dumpling maker who dreams of Earth, and a bullied boy who develops astonishing healing powers, becomes a celebrity, and must deal with the consequences. Touching, shocking, and memorable. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 10th, 2009 Tags: abuse, bullying, celebrity, collections | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Horror, Manga, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
| Write a comment | Shrine of the Morning Mistby Hiroki Ugawa This often comedic series, about schoolgirls who serve as shrine maidens and fight evil monsters, gently spoofs other series such as “Sailor Moon.” Several sisters and their school friends use divine magic to protect their shrine, their town, and a distant cousin who has the ability to see the other world. In the meantime, of course, their school gets smashed up by giant monsters and wacky hijinks ensue. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find ItYou’re going to have to check a bookstore for this one. Sorry about that. [librarydate] June 10th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, family, friendship, funny, japanese culture, monsters, school, strong female characters | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga
| Write a comment | Tarot Caféby Sang-sun Park Originating in Korea, this lavishly-drawn gothic fantasy series tells both the overall story of an mysterious tarot-card reader and self-contained mini-stories about the mysterious creatures whose fortunes she reads. Her clients include demons, werewolves, vampires, dragons, and even cats. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[linkplus name=”Tarot Cafe” url=”http://csul.iii.com/search/X?SEARCH=t:(tarot%20cafe)&SORT=DX&l=eng” series=true] June 10th, 2009 Tags: gothic | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manhwa
| Write a comment | Train Man: A Shojo Mangaby Machiko Ocha This single-volume manga is a love story from the point of view of a male geek, who steps in when a drunk man harasses a beautiful woman on a train. She sends the geek a thank-you gift, and he consults other anonymous users on Japan’s hugely popular web-based forum, 2channel, for advice on what to do next. He feels totally outclassed by her, due to his extreme nerdiness, but he also can’t throw away his chance to contact her again. The other anonymous users, made up of various people around Japan, try to help him make up for his lack of social skills, dating experience, etc., giving him the nickname of “Train Man.” The story is based on events that unfolded on the actual 2channel, and despite probably being a publicity stunt, the compelling story (and its lack of copyright) has resulted in several manga, a play, a movie, and a TV series from various sources. This manga is very well translated, especially considering the complications of Japanese internet slang, etc. It’s funny and touching, and one of those rare romances that’s great for people who like love stories and people who hate love stories. You can read the first 30 pages online at the publisher’s website. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] [linkplus name=”Train Man: A Shojo Manga” url=”http://csul.iii.com/record=b23934960~S0″ cchasone=”true”] June 10th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, geeks, japanese culture | Category: Graphic Novels, Manga, Romance
| Write a comment | Mushishiby Yuki Urushibara This is a sometimes strange, beautiful, episodic story about “mushi,” supernatural creatures who are usually considered by humans to be ghosts or monsters, and a “mushishi,” a human who can see and interact with them. It’s the basis for the beautiful, watercolor-tinged Mushishi anime series and a recent live-action film. The mushishi, Ginko, has striking white hair and green eyes due to an incident with mushi when he was a child. He travels from town to town studying the mushi and helping people who have been bothered or “cursed” by them, so he’s somewhere between a scientist and an exorcist. It takes place sometime in the past (Ginko wears a shirt and pants, but everything else indicates the time period is somewhere from 1600-1900), but since the tone of the whole series is a bit dreamy, the particulars don’t really matter. Most of the stories stand alone and aren’t strongly connected to the other stories. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[linkplus title=Mushishi url=”http://csul.iii.com/search/X?SEARCH=t:(mushishi)&SORT=DX&l=eng”] June 10th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, japanese culture, monsters, supernatural | Category: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga
| Write a comment | Paradise Kissby Ai Yazawa By the same author as Nana, this series features an abnormally tall but otherwise unremarkable high-school girl, Yukari. Yukari accidentally becomes the inspiration and main model for a wildly creative fashion-design group consisting of an elegant transvestite, a pierced punk guy with a soft heart, a young woman who wears “sweet lolita” fashion (she looks like a Victorian porcelain doll), and the charismatic, brilliant, bisexual head designer George, who pushes Yukari to become an independent woman. The art is really gorgeous and the story is very entertaining (the characters regularly make remarks about the manga itself, and complain about how much “screen time” they’re getting). Unlike Nana, this series is fairly light, and doesn’t get overly melodramatic. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 10th, 2009 Tags: artists, books with movies, fashion, school | Category: Graphic Novels, Manga, Slice of Life
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