Unlike its predecessors in this series (Cup Noodle and 240Z), Project X - The Challengers - Seven Eleven - The Miraculous Success of Japan’s 7-Eleven Stores is relatively restrained in its adjectives. The thrust of this story is the development of the convenience store, driven by youthful amateurs, and the way it revolutionized the retail [...]

I am completely astounded that this series has put out at least 20 volumes when all of the stories are the same. Then again, when I realize that the point of every one of those stories is to show cute girls in compromising positions, it’s a little more understandable. Here’s the formula: shy nerdy guy [...]

Sae was the bad girl in Peach Girl, the story of how a teen girl named Momo overcomes stereotypes to find love. And when I say bad, I mean BAD. Sae didn’t think anything of having Momo drugged and date-raped in order to steal her boyfriend. So seeing her as the heroine of a new [...]

In this original graphic novel by Queenie Chan, twin girls enter a remote boarding school in the Australian wilderness. From the beginning, there’s an air of something wrong. The girls are warned that they must pretend they’re not twins, only sisters, because of an odd prejudice on the vice-principal’s part. Their aunt, headmistress of the [...]

Kei is a schoolboy so cute that even his best friends can’t resist hitting on him. When he passes out and is taken to the hospital, it’s revealed that he’s really a girl, genetically. He decides he must live as a female, hoping that his unusual choice will bring his family arguments to a head. [...]

Like an episode of a good television serial, the latest edition of Case Closed may not be outstanding or unique, but it is entertaining in a fashion consistent with the series overall. (The most recent entry in the series I previously reviewed was Book 11.) First comes the conclusion to the last case from the [...]

As the book opens, it’s New Year’s for Ran and her friends. Ran’s competing in temple contests to win good fortune and prizes. Sensible friend Miyu wants to earn money with a part-time job. Her sense of responsibility and ability to take care of herself contrasts with Ran’s approach to life: Ran relies on others [...]

Schoolgirl Sahara stumbles across demon boy Gertrude as he’s recovering from a battle. He’s a patchwork, assembled out of other parts and magically enlivened by a recipe, and he is searching for the instructions that brought him to life so he can destroy them. He’s the usual type of outsider in this kind of manga [...]

In the future, the world has been united in one empire. However, the emperor has died, and his scientists are trying to clone him to keep the empire together. The clone escapes and winds up, a blank slate, trying to survive with the aid of two others. He’s got an unusual marking in the middle [...]

At the end of this volume comes an author’s note that mentions that the next volume, Book 10, will be the last in the series. Even before I read that note, though, I suspected that we were getting close to the end. There’s such a feeling of transition throughout, as characters act more maturely and [...]

I’m still enjoying the competition demonstrated in this story of a girl’s attempt to build a volleyball team, but this entry wasn’t as much fun as the earlier volumes. There are two reasons for that: the first is my memory. The book opens with the girls’ volleyball team finally forming and playing together. There are [...]

Kat has just moved from the Midwest to New England, where her dad is the new science teacher at a private school. When a break-in at the science lab puts his job in jeopardy, Kat and new friend Mouse are determined to find out who’s responsible. It’s a familiar setting, with plenty of welcoming hooks [...]