A glimpse on several manga series that I’m following right now
Title: 空色 海岸 (Sorairo Kaigan - translates as 'Sky-coloured Shores', or 'Blue Shores' for short)
Author: 山田 南平 (Yamada Nanpei )
Previous work: 紅茶 王子 (Koucha Ouji/The Prince of Tea), まなびや 三人 吉三 (Hanabiya Sannin Kichisan, in Indonesia is published as, ahem, The School Secret Agent) etc
Publisher: Hana to Yume Comics/Hakusensha
The story: Two very different brothers live in rooms on the roof a high school building near the sea. Tanaka Riku, the older brother, is the school’s janitor, but is also an active surfer. The students like him: he’s everyone’s older brother. While Tanaka Tento, the younger one, is quiet and rather reclusive: the high-schooler’s hobby is beach-combing and making handcraft from the things he finds at the beach. Into their life comes Sakurai Tomo, a girl that Tento once met at the beach years ago. What Tomo doesn’t know is that the two brothers hide a painful secret deep inside their hearts; the pain of losing someone they love in the sea.
Comment: I really love Yamada Nanpei - artwork- and story-wise. She can turn the plain, excessively-(ab)used basic ideas into fascinating, smoothly-flowing stories. Her characters are always interesting and well-designed. Especially important: her main female characters are never the annoying Mary-Sue type. (If you think Koucha Ouji is some kind of a love-sim manga, in which all the oh-so-cool boys fall in love with the main female character, then you’re wrong. Only two male characters in it ever fall in love with Taiko - namely, Mika and Assam.) And I love the unique way how she colours digitally.
Other info: In the manga, there is a side character named Yoshioka Anri. If you read Koucha Ouji, you can guess who this character is.
Read some excerpts here.
Title: 乙男 (Otomen)
Author: 管野 文 (Kanno Aya)
Previous work: ココロ に 花 お！！ (Kokoro ni Hana o!!/Heart Blossoms), 悪性 ー アクサガ ー (Akusaga) etc
Publisher: Hana to Yume Comics/Hakusensha
The story: Masamune Asuka’s father decided to become a woman. This traumatized his mother, and so she always tells her son to grow up as a ‘real man’. Asuka does - but he also grows fond of ‘feminine’ things and activities. Follow Asuka as he tries to cope up with both sides of himself.
Comment: A very fresh shoujo manga of one of the most talented young mangaka around. (If I’m not mistaken, Kanno’s around my age. Yes, we’re young.) Again Kanno Aya shows how she can manoeuver easily from dark, violent stories like Akusaga and her Shinsengumi stories to sweet, crisp, funny manga like Otomen. The artwork is top-class.
Other info: ELEX is going to publish Kanno’s debut series, Soul Rescue, next month! Look forward to it!
Title: Weiß Kreuz Side B
Author: 大峰 ショウコ (Oomine Shouko, art) and 子安 武人 (Koyasu Takehito, story)
Publisher: ZERO-SUM Comics
The story: The current installment of the best-selling, widely-loved series, Side B has now reached the fifth volume. Suddenly a man that Free knew very well appeared before Side B - it’s Jack, a member of Side A! What had happened to him?
Comment: The story and the artwork are sometimes shaky; but if compared with Kapitel and Glühen, I like the characters and the relationship among them in Side B more. I know that the characters of the first series are classic and all, but sometimes they get too angsty they’re irritating. I love how Ken and Aya have changed and are now able to interact with their current ‘colleagues’ in ways I don’t find in the previous series. And who can resist Chloe?