Manga Fans Unite! Opening Day - Easy Reading Titles for All Ages

By David Rasmussen
28th Jun 04

Aria GN 1, Pretear GN 1 & To Heart GN 1 (ADVManga)

Good day, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is David Rasmussen.
Residing from the Big Island of Hawaii (United States of America) I am primarily an Anime/Manga Reviewer (sometimes reporter), and when I am not here plying my reviewing trade I can be found at www.comicworldnews.com also doing the reviewing thing.
Here, for Anime Boredom, my focus will be on mangas.
The title above? It's a play on the name of my first Newsletter I used to self-publish (Anime Fans Unite!).
Ok. It's time to get this show on the road. And to start it off we'll go easy with abit of light All Ages reading that I recommend.
Aria Graphic Novel 1 (ADVManga)
Pretear Graphic Novel 1 (ADVManga)
To Heart Graphic Novel 1 (ADVManga)
First off, who gets the credit for this week's review. Because I feel thanks should be given to those who helped make each and every review possible, so here we go…

Who gets the credit?
Aria GN 1 & To Heart GN 1 - Thanks to the people over at Right Stuf International for having these in stock for me to purchase!
Pretear GN 1 - Thanks to the people at ADVManga (Robert Boyd, Media Relations, etc) and the USPS for this review!
Cover artwork for all three titles - Thanks to Right Stuf International's website where I got the images from.

Ok. First off you'll notice I don't use a "ratings" system. I never do that.
I see it like this : the best person to rate this title will, of course, be… you. You're going to be deciding whether or not to add this to your collection so the one who is best suited to give it's score should be, of course, you.
I'm going to give you the vitals on it, and tell you my thoughts and opinions on each title.
That being said the rest is up to you. Whether I like it, love it, or just plain don't know what to do with it is one thing, but in the end it's up to you to decide whether a said title is your taste or not.
I'm just here to show you what's out there, and recommend to you what I think is the "Essentials", the important titles everyone should have in their collections, for you to pick up.

Ok. Without a rating system how do I do business? Like this.
1-The vital statistics of the title. That's first to tell you more about the title in the technical sense.
2-The rundown on the Graphic Novel or issue itself. What's going on inside.
3-The "Breakdown", the specific good/bad points of it. That wraps the review.

No points, just good knowledge and opinion. The rest I leave in your capable hands.
Now let's get to work, shall we?

Pretear GN 1 (The New Legend of Snow White)
Aria GN 1
To Heart GN 1

Next Time
Week 2 is coming up, and we return with more reviews. Let's see what the coming weeks will bring.

Next Week
Theme - It's All About the Guns Week.
Every week I'll roll out three titles for review. A triad review continuing next week with three titles that have lots and lots of gunplay intermixed with it's humor, action, and plotting overall.

Chrono Crusade GN 1 (ADVManga) - Set in the time between WWI and the Great Depression, it seems the United States of America is having a necromancy immigrant problem… those wacky demons! Good thing the church is well armed and considered dangerous against evil in this world… if only they can keep one of their numbers from being more harm than good though. You'll see the devastation and the hope next week.
Gunslinger Girl GN 1 (ADVManga) - Get saved by a shadowy organization, get the non-optional "elective surgery" and free brainwashing to become an effective killing machine (however on the bright side it does seem to be covered by most major medical insurances, under their Black Ops coverage…)
Too bad the "victim" in question is still a young girl, with a young girl's heart. Guess she might have a little humanity left in her after all. But we'll see that in action next week.
Trigun Maximum GN 1 (Dark Horse) - A few years have passed since Vash the Stampede blew a hole into one of the moons over this Wild West meets Sci-Fi world. Where has he been since then, and what about the other secondary characters, not to mention…
We reunite with the cast, and touch bases sometime later as Trigun becomes Trigun Maximum.

Two Weeks
Theme - When Secret Organizations Attack
No, it's not the name of FOX's next Reality TV special… though it just might be sooner or later… nope, it's a week of reviews where you find out that there's been strange things going on that nobody's known about for… what… months? Years? Decades? Thousands of years?
When Secret Organizations Attack and wage war on the Earth.

Aquarian Age GN 1-2 (Broccoli Books) - Nobody bothered to tell the world at large that a secret war was being fought on the planet for thousands of years. So what's a little more secrecy amongst combatants anyway? What is the war about, and why is the return of a girl named Mana to her hometown cause for concern? You'll find out.
Mahoromatic GN 1 (TOKYOPOP) - Just like Yukikaze (BANDAI) we have another war with aliens which nobody knows about… but unlike Yukikaze at least the aliens didn't get followed all the way back to homeworld by their vengence ridden "prey" who set up shop on their homeworld to continue the battle.
This war, however, was fought with android soliders rather than military might… and sheesh, if Mahoro is any indication of the "troops" used they were very cute soldiers.
So why has Mahoro, one of the "best of the best" decided she'd rather be a maid than live her life as an intergalactic solider? Find out in two weeks.

Three Weeks
Theme - Galaxy Angel Week
The name of the week says it all, doesn‘t it.

Galaxy Angel GN 1-2 (Broccoli Books) - Been watching the Anime from BANDAI/Broccoli? Checked out the manga yet? If not now is a good time to do just that. With only one more book to go this July befor the long hiatus in the storyline so that a different Galaxy Angel book can premiere in September I can't imagine a better time to jump in and try this series out.
(NOTE - If I can I'll squeeze in Graphic Novel 3 into this review if I can get ahold of a copy by my review deadline. Otherwise another title will take the third slot this week)

And now this important disclaimer.
You know the above? Well the above of course doesn't reflect other factors that might happen over time… for instance new items might come in for review from either ADVManga, TOKYOPOP, DARK HORSE or other sources for example and they will have to be worked into the schedule.
That means it could change at any time. Just so you know.
Also I might not be able to get ahold of a title in time, so that might also affect the dynamics of a review.
Otherwise that is, once again, that. Another week has come to a close. Ok. Now you all take care and we'll be sure to meet here again next time!
So, bye for now, and always remember to keep those horizons open, expand your knowledge and tastes, and try out new things! And be sure to make sure you take care of yourself because I'll want to be seeing you next time! Bye!

-- David Rasmussen 28th Jun 04