Manga Monday!

Coming at you a little later than normal today, I ate something that disagreed with me last night (and got absolutely no sleep because of it…) so spent today in bed! Anyway, here we go…

‘Burst Angel #1’ – Gonzo and Minoru Muaro



One thing that I really love about Manga is how all of life’s problems can be solved by the introduction of leggy blondes with guns. In this book, bullied school kid Takeru begins to overcome his issues once he meets the two leggy blonde mercenaries that are holed up in his bedroom. Jo is the crack shot and Meg is the one who keeps getting kidnapped by mistake, facing down bullies at school is one hell of a lot easier once you’ve faced down gun toting cyborgs on the mean streets…
I loved reading this book, it’s action packed and laugh out loud funny the whole way through. ‘Burst Angel’ is also a really touching read on more than one occasion. The artwork is very clearly laid out on the page and you’re never in any doubt as to what is going on. I’ll be reading more of these :o)

‘Peace Maker #1’ – Nanae Chrono



This one has been sat in the pile for far too long and the arrival of ‘Peace Maker Kurogane #1’ made me decide to give both of them a go together. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that but more on that later…
Tetsunosuke is the orphaned son of a diplomat who wants to gain revenge on his parent’s killers by joining the Shinsengumi, the unofficial police force of the Shogunate. When their secret is revealed though, Tetsunosuke has a decision to make. Will he allow his rage to send him on the path to demonhood or will he be able to set it to one side and pursue through more honourable means…?
You never get to find out the answer to this question as #1 is very much a scene setting piece where you are introduced to all the main players and their motivations. There are a number of characters to get to know, perhaps too many for me to keep track of. I certainly had trouble keeping them all separate in my mind (especially when the artwork isn’t clear who’s who…) but the story is an engrossing one that demands your attention. I think I’ll give this one at least a couple more books to see how it turns out…

‘Peace Maker Kurogane #1’ – Nanae Chrono



I completely missed the bit that said ‘Kurogane’ and read this as a continuation on the ‘Peace Maker’ story. Big mistake to make, I was propelled three months into the future and found out more about the ‘Peace Maker’ series than I really wanted to know without having read it first! I’m not going to give too much away here, in case you want to go ahead and read ‘Peace Maker’, but suffice it to say that there is a new threat for the Shinsengumi to face. ‘Kurogane’ is another scene setting piece and, as such, suffered from the same problems that I had with ‘Peace Maker’. There’s enough going on here to make this a series that I want to read more of but I’m going to see how ‘Peace Maker’ turns out before tackling this series…