One Piece 3-in-one collections?

We all know Viz is speeding up the release of One Piece in 2010 in a big way, but I just came across another One Piece release they're doing. On the Simon & Schuster website, where Viz's upcoming licenses and releases are often listed even before they're announced, there are listings for several One Piece volumes entitled "One Piece: East Blue 1-2-3", "4-5-6", "7-8-9", and "10-11-12", at a price of $14.99 (3 for the price of 2), which covers the East Blue saga (hence the title). I'm not sure if they'll be VizBig releases, but I doubt it, considering the price. It's probably meant more for new readers to play catch-up, and omnibuses are great for a series as long as this one.

From what I've read of NYAF reports, they didn't mention anything there, but the Simon & Schuster listings are usually true.

Bleach vol.27

I've been looking forward to this volume for quite a while, as it marks the beginning of a new arc in Bleach.
The first few chapters pick up where the last one left off with the gang fighting some Vizards, and most notably, Urahara jumping in...oh and Orihime running into Ulquiorra. But Urahara fights! He's one of the coolest characters in the series, so any time he gets to fight is a treat. His fight is kind of silly, involving some of his gadgets and whatnot. And speaking of the coolest Bleach characters, Shinji also steps in for a bit!

As for the main part of this volume, like last time, Orhime is once again the true star of the volume. Ulquiorra has come to take her to Hueco Mundo, and threatens to kill her friends if she resists, but he allows her to see one person to say goodbye to (in an invisible form). She chooses to go see Ichigo, of course. After finding out that she is missing, Ichigo and Renji's group want to go rescue her, but the leaders of the Soul Society decide she is a traitor and not worth the trouble of rescuing when they have bigger things to worry about. Obviously, this won't stop Ichigo.

There were several scenes that I really loved in this volume, the biggest one being Orihime's goodbye to Ichigo. Her speech is touching and fittingly (for her character) somewhat childlike. The other great scene is Tatsuki confronting Ichigo about Orihime's disappearance, in addition to the secret's he's been hiding. Tatsuki is a character I really like and who hasn't had much screen time, so I was happy to see her get down right pissed off about being left in the dark, especially when it involves Orihime.

Things were pretty tense this volume, and the stage is set for another epic arc. Yes, this looks to be yet another mission to save a damsel in distress, but this time it feels like there's more at stake, partly because Orihime seems like a much more innocent and vulnerable character than Rukia (and also much more of a mystery because of her powers), and partly because she's being sent to evil central. Either way, I'm sure there will be some great battles along the way.
Once again, I wish Viz would speed up its release a bit.

Pluto vol.3

Three Astro Boy posts in a row! This volume is mainly split up between two stories: A group of robot haters who have it in for Gesicht, and Uran's encounter with a strange bum.

The Gesicht side of this volume is actually one of Urasawa's infamous tangents. It is about Gesicht, but we don't seem him all that much. It's actually about the group of robot haters mentioned above, who wear pointy white hoods (...subtle). One in particular has a grudge against Gesicht (I won't say why), and plans to bring him down. This storyline adds two things, one being a new layer to the future presented in this manga. As obvious as the real life reference might be with the hoods and all, it makes sense that their would be those prejudiced against robots being integrated into society, and those who would take that prejudice to the extreme. The other thing it adds is a clue regarding Gesicht's missing memories and why they would have been erased.

As for Uran's story, anyone familiar with the original story (or any of it's anime adaptations) knows that Uran plays an important role, and they will immediately where this volume is headed. Still, Urasawa's take on it is great. It also includes one of the most interesting uses of color I've ever seen in a manga.

Other highlights of this volume include the seventh super robot, Epsilon, a semi-good glimpse at Pluto and what his abilities are, and a robot that barfs a bunch of robotic bugs!!!
I was also pleased to Abracadabra (aka Kino from "The Third Magician"). Abra is changed into "Abullah," but Tawashi calls him Abra Cadabra at first. He only appeared in one Astro Boy story, so he's not the type of character I'd expect to make it into Pluto, much less in what seems to be a very important role. I actually recognized him first because of his sideburns, which is what stood out to me about Kino. This new character adds another piece to the puzzle by showing us that someone might be pulling the strings, and that Pluto might just be a pawn in a larger plan.

In other Urasawa news:
MONSTER is coming to Syfy's Animonday block in October!!!!! I've never seen or read Monster, so I'm excited about this.

Reborn! vol.11

The fight for the Vongola Rings has started!
Members of the Varia show up earlier than expected, even though not everyone from Tsuna's side is prepared. Their attack is stopped, though, by a message from the 9th Vongola boss himself, saying that the conflict will be settled in the form of a tournament. The first two fights are for the Sun Ring and the Lightning Ring.

Usually, I don't like it when a shonen manga introduces a tournament into the plot. It just feels like there's some bit of danger taken out of it by having organized fights, and they end up throwing in a bunch of characters that aren't really important, and sometimes the fights might not involve any of the main characters at all. It feels like a story shortcut; instead of thinking up a plot where this encounter would happen, the author just tosses everyone in an arena to take turns. However, I don't quite mind it as much here for two reasons: 1. This isn't like most shonen tournaments because the fight is only between two groups, meaning only the main characters will be involved. These fights were going to happen anyway. 2. Reborn is bananas. It can get away with just about anything, just by virtue of the fact that the core concept of the series is absolutely ridiculous. The reaction is this:"Geeze a tournament? Flinging the salt from evaporated sweat off your arm like bullets(not kidding) ? Oh wait...this is that series about the talking baby hitman and the Japanese kid trying to become and Italian mob boss. Okay, I buy it. A tournament isn't that farfetched."

While it would've been more interesting for this arc to go like the beginning of the volume, with the Varia chasing after them, these fights were gonna happen anyway, so it doesn't really matter if it's being done tournament style. It doesn't feel like a plot shortcut, because the scenario for everything was already set up before the tournament was even introduced.

As for the fights themselves, we get two of them: Ryohei's and Lambo's. I'm glad Ryohei's came first, because...it's Ryohei. He's the least important of the group, and while his fight was interesting (the salt thing I mentioned), it was the one I was looking forward to least. I was really looking forward to Lambo's, though. He's one of my favorite characters, so I loved him getting the spotlight. It only lasted two chapters (both fights wrapped up relatively quickly), but his fight was very eventful and creative, and just pure fun to read. Electric powers, time travel? Good times.

The art has improved in leaps and bounds from the first few volumes. The art was somewhat awkward and amateurish at first, but Amano has really hit her stride now, and her character designs have become much more stylized. However, a bit of that early awkwardness still remains, especially when she draws her characters at certain angles. It's not very noticeable, but it's there. But like I said, it has improved. Lambo's fight in particular is very well drawn.

This volume was pretty exciting, and I can only imagine it getting better from here. I can't wait to see the rest of this arc. I just wish Viz would release this series faster!

Rin-ne Ch.1-14

Rinne is the newest series by Rumiko Takahashi currently being release by Viz at The Rumic World. It's about the adventures of a student/shinigami name Rinne Rokudo, and Sakura Mamiya, a girl who can see ghosts.
When this series started, a lot of people (myself included) were expecting some sort of Inuyasha/Bleach mashup. The first chapter didn't exactly disprove that either, with Rinne fighting an evil spirit and all. But then the series went on, and each chapter has involved Rinne and Sakura dealing with some ghostly problems, but nary a bit of fighting. Instead there's been comedy, and an ever growing cast of silly ghosts.
While most were expecting the next Inuyasha, what we actually got was the next Ranma 1/2 or Urusei Yatsura. A shonen series with some action but with the true emphasis on comedy and silliness. And I'm definitely not complaining.
It's a nice, lighthearted series, and the chapters feel light and breezy, going by quicker than expected, which is part of what's made it so readable. Only recently, was a villain/rival character introduced, but he's mostly been a source of more gags.
When I first heard about the series, I thought what Viz was doing was awesome, but I didn't think I'd follow it. Now here I am, months later, having read each chapter right on the day they came out. Each story has been light fun, though nothing amazing. But it's been pretty enjoyable, and I love the clever ways Takahashi uses Japanese folklore in her story (the blog on the manga's site does a great job of explaining a bunch of references). I can't say it's a must-read though. I don't think I'd buy it when the actual volumes come out either. But who knows, it might develop a really interesting main plot in the future.

For now, it's a very fun, light series, and it's worth at least checking out. If you're a Takahashi fan, it's a no-brainer (and you've probably read every chapter already).

Dogs: Prelude vol. 0

Shirow Miwa's Dogs is a prologue to the series Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, introducing the four main characters: Mihai, "the weepy old killer" back in town to settle a grudge, Badou, a photographer on the run after obtaining a dangerous scoop, Naoto, a swordswoman seeking to avenge her parents's murder, and Heine, a seemingly immortal gunmen helping a mysterious girl with wings.

Each character's story is mostly independent from the others, with the exception of Badou playing a part in Heine's story and appearing in the background in Mihai's story. The quality of the stories improves with each one. Mihai's is the only one that is a bit on the boring side. His tale focuses on his reunion with his ex-protege who killed his lover. We get the details of their past and their confrontation. It's an okay story, though not particularly exciting.
Badou is sort of the the comic relief of the four, making his story the lightest and silliest, though with a nice bit of action.
The last two characters have the most interesting stories, and not coincidentally, their stories are both two-parters. They're also the only two characters whose stories point to a larger story beyond this volume. Naoto's is another "dark past" story, though it ends with a bit of a twist regarding the target of her vengeance. Heine's story is definitely the coolest and the most action packed, and it also has sci-fi elements which none of the others have.

Miwa's character designs are pretty sharp, my personal favorite being Badou for his hair and the eyepatch, as well as the mysterious Giovanni that appears at the end (stylish, enigmatic guys with bowl haircuts are SO in right now). The action (and there's plenty of it), is all really well done, and each chapter has it's share of striking images. The one fault that kind of bugs me is how there is a bit too much blank space. There a few spots throughout the books were there are huge blank areas. A small blank space is okay to indicate a change of scenery or passage of time, but there are some in here that are a bit too big. Do it 2 or 3 times, and it would add up to an entire page's worth of space unused. Within the panels themselves, there is sometimes not enough details, or any at all, in the backgrounds. There's a very thin line between using open space in a panel to highlight what's there and that open space just seeming like a void, and Miwa walks that line very dangerously. But it's a small nitpick, and it actually suits the overall style of the series. There was a recent anime adaptation of the stories in this book...and it honestly doesn't feel right in color.

This book is slightly oversized, which seems to have become Viz's standard for seinen. Extras include a doublesided poster, the front being the four characters nude from the waist up (which I don't imagine would be particularly titilating to anyone, as they all look rather gaunt), while the back has a nice image of Naoto in an action-y pose. There's also a short funny comic at the end.

With Trigun over, it's nice to have another gunslinging action series to read. While the story isn't particularly special (yet), it's done very stylishly, and for now that's enough. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes and how these 4 characters end up together.

Shonen Sunday and Ikki Comix are up and running!

So much manga goodness, I barely know where to start.
Ikki- Dorohedoro, Bokurano: Ours, Saturn Apartments (this looks amazing), I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow, and Children of the Sea are up with more series coming next week.

Shonen Sunday-Arata the Legend, Maoh: Juvenile Remix, Hyde and Closer (this has a mobster Teddy Bear!), Kekkaishi (I'm guessing this one is just a preview), and Rin-ne are up.

I don't really like reading stuff on the computer, and I'll most likely wait for the print versions for the ones I'm really interested in, but it's awesome to have the option.

Karakuri Doji Ultimo ch.2

Ummm:

....Yea. Anyway, this chapter starts off where the last one left off, with the modern-day Yamato coming across Ultimo in an antique shop. We also find out this is taking place after the one-shot, when Ultimo got knocked out and landed on a mountain. As soon as Yamato goes near him, Ultimo awakens and starts talking about reincarnation and time travel...and then a few pages later a bus is cut in half. Okay, maybe it didn't happen that fast, but that's what it felt like. Ultimo spouts off all this information and Yamato, much like the reader, is left dumbfounded. Yamato and his friend leave, and get on the aforementioned bus. Vice appears, cuts the bus in half, then he and Ultimo face off yet again.

There's talk of masters and such; apparently the Karakuridoji need someone to be their master and Vice seems to have found one. All the stuff Ultimo was talking about seems like it could really be interesting. Time travel and reincarnation could make for some good stuff, but not when you talk about it for a few seconds without explaining much. I'm sure they'll eventually slow down and elaborate on these things, but for now, they aren't. Ultimo and Vice fighting each other still looks cool, but we've seen enough of that in the first chapter and the one-shot, so by now they should give it a bit of a rest for some story. Peeking ahead, it looks like other Karakuridoji will appear, which is a great thing. You can't have the same two characters fighting each other over and over again. Like last time, there's still potential for a cool series, but it's not quite there yet. But anything with buses getting cut in half can't be bad, right?

Manga Starts on Sunday!

This news is old by a few days, but I wanted to mention it. In case you haven't heard, Viz is starting up an imprint for Shonen Sunday (much like Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat, and Signature). Shonen Sunday tends to have some hidden gems (like Kekkaishi), but it rarely has megahits on the level of Shonen Jump (at least in the US), aside from maybe Inuyasha. There are a few series currently running in Shonen Sunday that seem interesting, but I'm secretly hoping for some classic titles like Patlabor and Urusei Yatsura (which Viz previously released for a very short time well before the manga boom), as well as stuff like Touch or Ushio & Tora.
Viz has already released several Sunday manga, like Inuyasha, Case Closed (Detective Conan), Kekkaishi, Hayate the Combat Butler, and MAR. It won't be a magazine, just a name, but bringing them all under the same imprint will create an assocation between the titles that probably wasn't their before, and will hopefully improve their sales. I guess pretty soon the likes of Inuyasha, Kekkaishi, and the rest will bear an SS logo on the spine (driving collectors of those series crazy with a logo change midway into the series). Viz has really been doing some great stuff lately. First One Piece being sped up by a lot, then Ikki Comix, now this? Keep the surprises coming! They were kind of lackluster at AX, so they should've made this announcement then...unless this is some sort of pre-Comic Con announcement which they'll elaborate more on there. There's nothing official yet, but the website they've put up has images from Maoh! Juvenile Remix, Hyde & Closer, and Arata Kangatari, so I think it'd be safe to assume those will be headed our way soon. Good job, Viz!

Bleach vol.26 The Mascaron Drive

After the mostly Ichigo-centric volume 25, 26 gives us a look at what everyone else has been doing to get ready for the coming war. In the midst of this all, Urahara tells Orihime that she shouldn't get herself involved and isn't fit to fight. Later on, a group of Arrancars come to town much earlier than expected, but their true motive for this visit is not what any of our heroes are expecting.

Orihime is the true star of this volume. She and Chad have always been the anomalies in Bleach because of the their powers, so I'm glad that the story (and the characters) are taking notice that Orihime's powers are freaking weird. Unfortunately for Orihime, the wrong people are taking notice. As for Chad, Urahara wonders to himself about the nature of his powers for a brief moment.

There are quite a few interesting moments in this volume, starting with Hitsugaya and Momo's chat at the beginning of the volume, where we find out that she's kinda damaged since we last saw her (which was...getting stabbed in the gut by the man she loves). She still thinks there's an explanation for the betrayal!!! Kubo does a nice job of making her look frazzled: sweaty, shaky, bags under her eyes, and stroking her arm like a scared child.
Other intesting scenes include everyone's favorite Quincy archer (he hates you!), Uryu, training with his dad. I like how's he had to fight with gadgets ever since losing his powers, though he probably won't need them much longer. The training in this arc has been handled well. Ichigo got a chunk of chapters devoted to his, and that was necessary because he had to do a lot, but Kubo has done a good thing in reducing everyone else's training to a only handful of scenes where we don't really know (or need) the specifics.
I also really enjoyed seeing Rukia and Orihime being friends. It's always been clear that they get along, but we rarely see them interacting together while not in the presence of Ichigo, so it was nice seeing them having fun together and Rukia giving her a good ol' pep talk.

As for the villains' side, we get to witness the creation of an Arrancar, Wonderweiss, through a loophole in the Hogyoku's seal. That bit really needs some more explanation, and there also needs to be more explanation about the Arrancars. Are they all made from the Hogyoku? If not, what's the difference? Hopefully, we'll get these answers soon.
Other new Arrancars include Luppi, the girl...err guy on the cover, who's taken Grimmjow's spot in the Espadas. I'm more intrigued by Wonderweiss, though, who's just plain weird.
Both of the newcomers get involved in the fight at the end, but the highlight of these battles is Ichigo's rematch with Grimmjow, where he gets to show some of the results of his (unfinished) training, and it's pretty darn cool, let me tell you. Then we get a short tease of Urahara getting involved as well!
The volume ends with a cliffhanger, with Orihime having a very unfortunate run-in with someone.

The art, as always, is great, and the characters are super stylish. (Really, who the hell trains in a suit and fancy shoes? The Ishidas, that's who)

Overall, this was a good volume with some neat character moments, but it still has that in-between feeling. We know a new arc is about to begin, so this volume, especially the ending, left me more with a feeling of anticipation for what's to come.

Karakuridoji Ultimo Chapter 1

I don't plan to review every individual chapter, but I thought I'd give my thoughts on the first chapter from the recent Shonen Jump.

In case you don't know, this is a collaboration between comic book legend Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King). It's something of a big deal, and it's getting one of the quickest releases of any manga ever. It started just 2 or 3 months ago, and now it's already here in the USA!

The one-shot from a few months back took place in the present day, and was simply a big fight between the main character, Ultimo, and Vice. This first real chapter takes us back into the past, not quite to their origin, but to the first time they wake up. Dunstan (Stan Lee's past life?) is an old man traveling with a cart containing two large boxes. He gets stopped by a group of bandits who want to steal whatever he has. They open the boxes and they contain two karakuridoji (they're like mechanical puppets...basically robots) one which is ultimate good (Ultimo) while the other is ultimate evil (Vice). They awaken and fight each other. The end of the chapter jumps forward to the present and we see characters that look a lot like the bandits from the past, and it seems like, for whatever reason, their destinies have been tied with Ultimo since that day in the past. Well, they don't say that exactly, but that's the conclusion we're meant to assume.

This chapter showed some potential, though I'm not quite sold on it just yet. It's definitely better than the one-shot since this actually gives us a plot. And gone are the old school narration text boxes that were in the one-shot. They were nifty as a throwback in that one story, but it would have been grating if it were throughout the entire series. One thing that I really didn't like in this chapter was how they kept repeating the "ultimate good" and "ultimate evil" thing. They laid it on a little thick. It's the only place where I can sense Stan Lee's hand in this. Otherwise, I'm dubious as to how involved he is in this project beyond the core concept. Also, the motivation for their creation was a bit iffy (just to see whether good or evil ulitmately wins). Vice seems like ultimate evil, but Ultimo seems to be more a judge of goodness, rather than ultimate good himself, otherwise he wouldn't have been so quick to threaten Vice's life. I didn't get the sense of him being the kindest person ever.

The most interesting part was the ending in modern times. The idea of the bandits being reincarnated and tied in some sort of fate with Ultimo and Vice is interesting, and that's the aspect I'll probably be looking forward to as the series goes on. It'd be cool if we see them reincarnating several times throughout history and always getting involved in Ultimo and Vice's struggle. There's a lot of potential for a nice twisty plot with that kind of thing, so this could turn out interesting.

Takei's art doesn't seem to have changed all that much since Shaman King. If you've read Shaman King, you pretty much know what to expect of the art style, which is nice, unique, angular style. The action was pretty neat, and I really like their designs when they fight. Vice undergoes a full-body transformation while Ultimo's gauntlets (which have a cool pattern) transform into various weapons. Hopefully there will be several different types of transformations they can do.
The one thing that really bugged me was Ultimo's design. The fact that his face is slightly androgynous doesn't bother me one bit. I've seen enough anime to be more than accustomed to that. It's that shirt(?) he wears. No, it's not a shirt. It's a slutty club top! It's ridiculous. Takei could have chosen so many different things for him to wear on his upper body. Anything. The top could have a back, and that alone would make it slightly more masculine.

So yea, this is definitely more of a prologue since it seems like the real story will take place in the modern setting, but it was interesting enough that I'll keep following it.

Excelsior!!!