7 Billion Needles Volume 3
Story & Art: Nobuaki Tadano
Publisher: Vertical

 It’s funny how oblivious I am to some things when I read.  I had one of my students point out something interesting after he read the first three volumes of 7 Billion.  It seems that the stories were inspired by the novel Needle, which was a golden age sci-fi story by Hal Clement.  Now I have never read any of Clement’s work but I know that Dan is a huge golden age fan when it comes to sci-fi.   After defeating Maelstrom in battle, Hikaru now has absorbed Horizon and Maelstrom into her body.  But you can’t have a fusion like that without having side effects on planet earth.  It seems the longer Hikaru is around life is changing before her eyes.  With weird mutations and dinosaurs roaming the streets it seems that Hikaru’s troubles are just manifesting.  It seems that evolution has taken a step back and this story shows us what happens when the order of things is put to a halt by an outside source.   Once again, I really enjoy how the author mixes horror with the “Let’s go!  Yay!  We can do it!” human spirit that is prevalent in anime.  For example, Nobuaki draws really gross symbiote organism tentacles absorbing other creatures, but will also have the main character and the two cosmic powers inside of her believe in love and that they can conquer evil.  Hey, like Sailor Moon meets Urotsukidōji!  J  Except…., no sex.   Finally, I really admire his facial artwork when things get serious.  There is one more volume left, but I can see myself reading this series over again in a couple of years, so it’s definitely worth owning. A-

Chi’s Sweet Home Volume 5
Story & Art: Konami Kanata
Translation: Ed Chavez
Publisher: Vertical

 The formula for these books is a very simple and straightforward episodic chapter that leads to the next chapter.  Nothing really continues and there really is no main storyline leading to a definitive ending.  But seriously, who needs that one the manga is so adorable and colorful and every page that I read melts my heart even if it’s just Chi sitting around licking his legs or sleeping.  I guess I’ve always been a cat person and this book is proof that I am.  The stories for the most part in this volume are still being told through Chi’s point of view.  In this volume Chi gets lost after playing in a nearby park.  Every once in a while, she will think of her mom as well and comes very close to meeting her, so I hope she meets her in the next volume.  She has moved into a new house and in this volume she is exploring every room in this house.  She also gets a visit from a neighboring outside cat that tries to cause a little havoc in the Yamada’s new place.  While the artwork is simple, it is really cute and energetic. It is cartoonish, but the characters aren’t drawn in the stereotypical manga style. The characters are very expressive and their facial expressions are sometimes right down hilarious. I think the best recommendation I can give for this book is that when I showed that I was reading to my class, a 9^th grade boy who’s into rap asked, “Can I read it?” and he actually liked it.  I adore all of Chi’s facial expressions; they should make a Chi toy that has removable faces and you could change them every day.  Yeah!  B-

Clean Freak: Fully Equipped Volume 1
Story & Art: Touya Tobina
Translation: Monica Seya Chin
Adaptation: Lianne Sentar
Publisher: Tokyopop

 I think the neatest thing about reading manga is that even after reading the genre for over 20 years I still have no idea what to expect.  For instance from the title alone, I thought this book was going to be a story about an OCD character that likes to keep everything clean.  Then I look at the cover and realize maybe it’s a superhero team that fights dust and pollution.  Like I said, at this point in manga it can go anywhere.   So hey who knew, I was kind of right.  The story is about Sata Senda and his compulsive cleanliness due to an incident with snotty poles leading to a roller coaster.  Now he is a sixth grader that packs anti-bacterial spray and all kinds of freaky masks and clothing.  Everybody else who happens to be normal is afraid to get around the little guy.  That is everybody but Anna Aiuchi, the cute girl, who goes out of her way to invade his personal space.  So the two start talking about life and society and begin to get close.  I think the thing I found most interesting about this manga is that the main character is really an obscure choice of a main character.  Usually characters like Sata are used as sidekicks or background characters so it’s interesting to see him take the spotlight.  While most of the story is pretty funny, some of it gets repetitive and sometimes the jokes just fall flat with their payoff.  What I do really enjoy and find funnier than the story is the artwork.  Just goofy images of the character in stylized imaging makes the story funnier to read.  It did manage to keep my interest to see if Sata might get a friend or not.  B-

Pavane for a Dead Girl Volume 1
Story & Art: Koge-Donbo*
Translation: Lori Riser
Adaptation: Barbara Randall Kesel
Publisher: Tokyopop

I’m not the English major in the family that would be Melanie, so when I read the title I had no idea what a pavane was.   To be perfectly honest, I had to look it up.  It’s a stately dance dating from the 16^th century.  After reading the book I guess the title makes more sense. The story is about two different people in search of love and something called the Tears of Maria (we’ll get to that in a minute).  At the end of the Meiji era in Japan Nanao Kaga attends a music school in Tokyo to search for her true love: The mysterious Prince of Harmony!  After all, his violin skills inspired her to take an interest in music. Having never been in Tokyo she gets lost easily and has a run in with Misaki Kanda, a little girl that carries around two bunnies with her, who happens to attend the same school.  As fate would have it she meets Takenomaru Sagami (the violinist) who is on a quest for Tears of Maria. Pretty much these tears are his life essence.  He gathers them from women who have become infatuated with him.  He marks Nanao with a brooch.  So the story is kind of confusing at first, but as it progresses you start to get a feel for the characters and get caught up in the story.  It’s a weird task to gather these Tears and to be honest at times Takenomaru doesn’t seem like the type of character that would be doing this.  He is almost a comedic character with his forgetfulness and huge mistakes he makes.  It’s a different type of book and I didn’t think I would like it.  By the end I was hooked and wanted to know what Nanao’s future will be.  I will definitely pick up the second volume and recommend anyone to give it a shot.  A-