Encyclopedia

Manga - V

Skip Beat! GN 17
Although this is the weakest volume to be published so far, Skip Beat! remains one of the best contemporary shoujo manga series—hands down—that Viz Media is currently releasing in English. It is simply not to be missed…especially if you have a weakness for showbiz stories spiced up with a heroine's epic quest for vengeance.

Gantz GN 4-5
Gore and violence rule the day, Kei gets his heroic moment, and the big-breasted hot girl still appears once per chapter even though she accomplishes absolutely nothing.

xxxHolic DVD Box Set (Hyb) DVD
There may be moments of genuine supernatural wonder in this show, but they're too often drowned out by moments of genuine mediocrity.

Jyu-Oh-Sei GN 1-3
Jyu-Oh-Sei, now fully available in well-adapted (if questionably edited) English, is one of the best manga series to see publication this year. The story, developed over the course of a decade from start to finish, is an operatic example of social science fiction, set in a far future where humanity has taken to the stars and colonized other solar systems.

Ōoku: The Inner Chamber GN 1
This mixture of period drama and alternate universe science fiction is easily the single most highly anticipated new series of 2009, at least among the Western fujoshi contingent, and Viz does it justice. But this isn't just for the fangirls.

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue DVD Collection 1
For all its posturing as a gun-toting flesh-fest, Daphne is more interested in lighthearted fun than sex or violence. Which is to say that it's pretty good at the former, and miserable at the latter two.

Romeo x Juliet DVD: Juliet Collection
This version of the classic tale of love and woe may not end with quite the intensity of woe that the original does, but the love is certainly evident and the tragedy still present. It tells a rousing and heartfelt story, backed by an exceptional musical score, which may play better as a stand-alone effort.

Baccano! DVD 4
The closure it brings to the stories of the Flying Pussyfoot passengers makes this volume a must for their fans. And the clever, action-packed insanity of it all makes the whole shebang a must for any fan, period.

Sand Chronicles GN 6
Were you just to ruffle through the pages of a random volume, you would think that this is just another stereotyped schooldays shoujo manga romance. You would not suspect, from the typical, airy shoujo artwork, that the treatment of such themes as out-of-wedlock pregnancy and parental suicide would be placed center stage.

Kaze No Stigma DVD
The first half of this series about a cool and cocky wind magic-user and his temperamental fire magic-user cousin is hardly awful but definitely does not stand amongst the better recent efforts of its type. Weak writing and overripe characterizations eventually cause what little early promise it has to wither.

Pani Poni Dash! DVD 1
Watch it once just to see what happens, watch it again to catch all the in-jokes, watch it as many times as you need to see comedy pushed to its technical limits.