Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law - A Review

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Title: Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law Vol. 1

Author: Yoshie Kaoruhara

Publisher: Kodansha

Rating: 3/5

I promise this isn't becoming a manga blog, though I will be posting a few more manga reviews in my capacity as a Netgalley reviewer. Today's review is of Kei X Yaku: Bound by Law Vol. 1, by Yoshie Kaoruhara, published by Kodansha and available May 14th.

Kei X Yaku has a clever title. Kei is the first part of keisatsu, police, and yaku is from yakuza, the Japanese system of organized crime. Put together, keiyaku can mean "contract" (Kei X Yaku pg. 160, Translation Notes). The main characters, Ichiro, a policeman, and Shiro, a member of the yakuza, find themselves in a strange contract-- faking being boyfriends to solve the apparent murder of a woman who matters to both of them. 

This is just the beginning of the series, which has been in publication in Japan since 2019. I think the first volume sets up an intriguing premise, one that will especially appeal to fans of "odd couple" pairings and tense mysteries. The first chapter moves rather quickly and it isn't exactly obvious what the opening event has to do with the story at large until later, which was confusing at first. Since this is a BL (Boy's Love, manga centering on romantic relationships between men, also often called yaoi), the two main characters are bound to get together at some point-- volume 1 just has tension. However, it's a good start and will leave BL fans, and fans of crime drama, excited for more. 

The art is decently skilled, though not exactly groundbreaking-- which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's not a niche genre work where more unique drawing might be expected. Some panels give us chibi versions of Ichiro and Shiro, as do the bonus comics between chapters that have a more slice of life tone.

Overall, I'm intrigued to see where the story goes and how the relationship between the leads will progress. 

Highly Recommended Review: Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki

 As promised in my previous post, it's time for a first on this blog-- a review of a manga series. Today I'd like to talk about Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki. I must admit that starting this review is a little difficult. How do you begin to talk about something that's captivated you as much as this series has me? 

To make things easier on me and my readers, I'll start at the beginning. Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki is a manga adaptation of the Faust legend, especially based on the work of Goethe. The series was originally run in Itan, a josei (manga aimed at an adult female audience) manga magazine owned by Kodansha. The unique premise is, as suggested by the title, the legendary Johann Faust was actually Johanna Faust, a charismatic if very eccentric lady scholar who is the subject of many rumors and myths. At her side is her demon Mephistopheles, who has been her companion since the two made a contract during Johanna's youth. The pair have a complicated relationship, to say the least -- Johanna's mission through the series is to reunite Mephistopheles' body parts that have been scattered as a punishment for his actions, in order for her to finally punch him in the face. 

A cover of Itan highlighting Frau Faust

The crime of the demon Mephistopheles? Making a human immortal. The terms of the contract were
that, at Johanna's death, Mephistopheles would take her soul. When the time came for her to die, instead of taking her soul, the demon made her functionally immortal -- able to survive what otherwise would be deadly, but each time being worn down a little more. For his transgression, Mephistopheles was quartered and imprisoned by the Inquisition, and is only with Johanna in partial form. One hundred years after this bargain gone wrong, we meet our protagonist searching for a demon piece and meeting a new companion, a boy named Marion who aspires to be a scholar himself. Marion, our Point Of View (POV) character gets dragged into Johanna's mission and from there we learn that the legends of Dr. Faust, which are present in the world of the manga, are based on the real Johanna, though some details have changed and many others have been exaggerated. 

Now for my impressions. No doubt every reviewer has a book or film or album that has impacted them so much that they cannot simply write a review of it. This series is it for me-- how can I, in an at least semi-professional manner, review something that has, to put it bluntly, rewired my brain?

Frau Faust is so unique it's hard to know where to start describing it.

While Goethe's is the only version of Faust that Yamazaki stated was an influence, it's hard not to see echoes of Marlowe's Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Berlioz's Damnation de Faust, and even the original published legend, the Faustbuch. This is on top of the references to even older traditions-- the demons Ino and As are inspired by Greek and Abrahamic mythologies respectively. Goethe references are not limited to the more famous Part One-- one of the main characters is a homunculus created by Johanna and her research partner Wagner, much like the one created by Goethe's Wagner in Faust Part Two. At the same time, Yamazaki doesn't limit the story to a straight retelling of the legend and creates new characters and plot lines to keep the series fresh. It's a great example of the transformative aspect of the Faust legend where each incarnation adds something to the mix but the central story remains identifiably Faust.

Manga is a visual medium and the art of Frau Faust is striking. Yamazaki, best known for another fantasy series, The Ancient Magus' Bride, is an expert at creating weird and wonderful beings. Her design for Mephistopheles is truly unique, taking nothing from the traditional red-suited figure of Goethe and instead being all her own. He cuts a dapper and mysterious, almost gothic figure in his oversized overcoat with checkered lining, dark indigo according to the covers of the books; a long black ponytail, and a mask reminiscent of a plague doctor-- perhaps a reference to the plague that Goethe's Faust's father tried and failed to cure. 

The thing that stands out the most in this series is the relationship between Johanna and Mephistopheles. While the plot is based on Goethe, especially with their contract framed as a game or a bet, their relationship is more like the one portrayed in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. The two of them are locked in a codependent partnership that is equal parts violent and tender (after all, Johanna's goal is to punch Mephistopheles in the face, and he's the one who ended her life to begin with!) Their relationship, and how it reminds me of Marlowe is a topic worth its own post so I'll leave it for another day. 

Frau Faust is one of those series that you never want to end, but it ends all too soon-- the series only has nineteen chapters, split into five tankobon (volumes of manga consisting of chapters gathered after serial publication, the most common way of reading manga in the West). There was never an anime series and the only other material are three short bonus books (one being a picture book retelling of the Faust legend) that were never translated into English (oddly enough, they were translated into German) and the delightful art cards that were included with special editions of the Japanese tankobon. It is also hard to find fan engagement, though it does exist. This makes it all the more exciting when I discover a lone piece of fanart on Instagram or Pixiv or find someone else online who loves this series too. It may be obscure, but it isn't unloved, and it quickly became my favorite version of the Faust legend. I highly recommend it to fans of the Faust legend, monster/human relationships, and those interested in manga with unique art.

Collection Development for Absolute Beginners

Have you ever wondered where your library gets all of its books? They must magically spawn there on the shelf, right? 

I hate to be the one to break it to you but there are no Book Elves that magically summon all the library books. 

Or, rather, there are people who summon the books, but it's a lot less magic and a lot more reading reviews and putting in order requests. These people are selectors and are responsible for collection development for their sections. Recently, I was made selector for my library's adult manga collection. 

Before I officially became a selector, I had already been helping one of our other selectors with a project. My coworker, I'll call them A-chan, is the selector for the Teen graphic and manga collection, and they asked for my opinion on the manga in the Adult collection and if I thought there was any that could be moved from Adult to Teen. Since they didn't have the time to look through the collection, I checked out several piles of manga and read through them over a break. In total, we moved 26 series from the Adult collection to Teen, having found that they'd be appropriate and interesting for younger readers. And we were right-- as soon as we put Mob Psycho 100, a comedy series, on the Teen shelf, a patron checked out every volume we had.

Soon after this, my manager, who at the time selected both adult manga and graphic novels, asked if I'd like to take over selecting adult manga. I've been a manga enthusiast for years, so this prospect excited me. December of 2023 was my first month of picking manga and I've been keeping my eye out for books that would be good to add to the collection.

So-- what's the process of selecting material for the library? 

 

Trade magazines like Booklist have reviews for general 
materials-- most of what you see at the library has
probably been reviewed in publications like this.

First, it's finding it. For more general books, like nonfiction, fiction, and children's material, reviews can be found in publications like Booklist (https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist) and Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/). For more specialized material, like manga, I have to look for specialized reviews. Sites like myanimelist.net and anilist.co are great for up to-the-minute reviews from readers and for tracking new and upcoming releases. Professional reviews can be found online on MyAnimeList and Anime News Network (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/) and in print in the one remaining anime and manga magazine in America, Otaku USA (https://otakuusamagazine.com/). Knowing what to select is easier if you're familiar with the area already -- I was already into manga before becoming a selector, so I had a place to start. This is all to say if you're a library selector, make sure you familiarize yourself with your area, even if it's not within your personal interests. It makes it a lot easier to know what people are going to want to read if you're not blindfolding yourself and throwing darts for next month's selection.

Reading Otaku USA Magazine

Before I started getting new books, I had to find out what we had in the collection already. To do this I made a spreadsheet of all books in the catalogue. The list then was expanded to include the total number of circulations and the number of circulations in 2023. This helped me gauge how popular individual volumes are, which suggests to me which series should be continued and what should even be weeded. 

Click to enlarge

I found that among our most popular series were Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Spy x Family, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, and Chainsaw Man. This gives me an idea not only of what to continue selecting in the future (in fact, the first book I selected was a replacement for a missing volume of Chainsaw Man), but what genres and themes are most interesting to our patrons. Drama, action, and romance top the list, followed by a nonfiction memoir, slice of life, and horror. 

This list also helped me weed material that hadn't been checked out for too long-- one series totaled over 20 volumes but had barely been checked out, with most volumes never even circulating once, so it was weeded, making room on our sadly very small bookcase. I only have so much room and I have to keep adding new books to the collection, so some things have to go. This is all part of collection development-- deciding what should and shouldn't be in your area of the collection. Sometimes you have to kill your darlings like that. Weeded books get put in the Friends of the Library book sale-- so make sure you check the sales, that book you love might someday be there waiting for you.

Now that I've found what I have and what I no longer need, I'm free to start selecting what I should add. Our library orders most of our books through the distributor Baker & Taylor (https://www.baker-taylor.com/) and this is the exciting part-- getting ready to order my books.

A book page on Baker & Taylor

Here I can search for books and add them to my cart. Carts are then transferred to the librarian who handles the actual purchase-- all I have to do is choose what I want and send them on to the purchaser. This system may differ between libraries. When the books arrive at the library from the distributor, I decide what the spine label should be and pass them on to the cataloger, who then passes them on to processing to get them ready for going on the shelf.

More about manga

When I told one of my friends, best known to this blog as my Research Assistant N, about this job, I was asked a good question. "What does 'adult' manga entail?"

Manga is published according to demographic: shounen and shoujo for teen/young adult boys and girls, and seinen and josei for adult men and women. Some shounen and shoujo are aimed at an older teen/young adult audience that puts them into my territory rather than the Teen selector's. In English, the term "adult" manga suggests "adult" themes of violence and sexuality, which, just like in Western graphic novels, do exist in manga. However, manga is a very popular form of media in Japan with hundreds of topics, so there's something for everyone. Many seinen and josei manga deal with adult life-- jobs, family, and things adults experience that wouldn't appeal to younger readers. Very few kids want to read about working in an office. Likewise, shounen and shoujo focus on topics younger readers relate to-- school and coming of age stories are common, even in fantastical settings. 

Since my area is for adults, I focus primarily on seinen and josei manga and some shounen and shoujo aimed at an older, young/new adult audience. As I mentioned above when talking about my analysis of material already in the collection, I found that action and drama are our most popular genres. This information tells me what to pay attention to-- otherwise we would all just order whatever interests us personally. There's an old saying in broadcasting that "many a station has gone bankrupt playing the owner's favorite music." The same goes for choosing books. 

Sometimes a series I find would work better for the Teen collection-- that was the issue earlier last year when my coworker and I started going through the Adult collection and finding series that fit better for younger readers. Sometimes it's the opposite, recently I was given a book my coworker had initially intended for Teen only to realize it fit better in the adult collection. 

That's about all I have about selecting for now, though I can go more in depth in the future if anyone is interested. Next time, I'm going to write a review of a manga that's absolutely captured my heart, Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki, and later I will be reporting on my experiences cataloging every cemetery in my home county.

Until then, happy reading!

This Year at the Library (Or, Where I've Been, Part 2)

 I initially intended to write a post about things happening at the library every month. My last posts were in 2022, over a year ago, so you can tell how well that plan worked out. My job at said library has kept me busy for the past year, and I do have some updates about my various projects.

First, my main project since Fall 2022 has been making an index of cemeteries in the county. This project, when completed, will have a physical book for library patrons to reference, as well as a website, and will contain information about every cemetery and known burial site in the county. The website is about 75% finished and I'll make a full post announcing the launch of the project as soon as it's ready to be viewed by the public. 

Second, late in 2023 I was given the position of selector for manga for the adult collection. This is a perfect fit for me considering I've been a manga and anime enthusiast-- dare I say it, even, an otaku-- for years. This has introduced me to the realm of collection development, which is both intimidating and exciting. I'll also have a full post describing this experience soon.

Until then, take care of yourself.

This Month At The Library - August, 2022

As can be guessed from the title, I'm going to try to make this a monthly feature. This Month At The Library will be updates on life at my home library, sometimes in-depth, other times brief. Today, let's check in on our monarch butterflies in the Children's Department.

One of our caterpillars, which I've taken the liberty of naming Eric, has entered its chrysalis. The shell is still mostly opaque, but in some places it's starting to show through, so it still has a few days to go. You're doing great, Eric!

When a caterpillar goes into its chrysalis, it becomes literal goop before it reforms into a butterfly. So remember, you may be a pile of goop before you reach your goals, but that's just part of the process. You can do it.

Caterpillar 2, who I've named Carle, got a new leaf of milkweed while I was on desk yesterday. Carle has been a Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is its job, so well done Carle. It seemed to be slowing down, and wasn't very interested in the new leaves at first, and I had to help it along to a new leaf. We think that's a sign that it's getting ready to attach. Keep up the good work, Carle!

While on desk, I read to the future butterflies from an educational book, How To Be A Butterfly by Laura Knowles and Catell Ronca. 

It was very edifying.

This Month at the Library: July's Staff Picks

The last year has been incredibly busy for me, since I've been working at the local library in a number of positions. I haven't had much time to sit down and write the kind of long articles I would like to (and after that insanely long review of The Green Knight you're probably thankful. But don't get comfortable, I fully intend to subject you to a deep dive into Jurassic Park and the writing of Michael Crichton in the future). This month also experienced the bane of every librarian's existence: bad eyesight, which significantly cut down on my reading and writing. However, I have new glasses and what's more, July was my birthday month (was, since I'm finishing this up in August).

At our library, every month there is a staff birthday, the said birthday staffers get to take over one of the displays with their recommendations. I thought it'd be fun to discuss my recommendations and my reasoning behind them-- what appealed to me about them and what may appeal to you. As explained by NoveList, a book database from EBSCO, "Appeal is a way of determining why people enjoy the books they read."[1] So, why did I enjoy these books, and why might you enjoy them? This list is in no particular order, and I was obviously limited to only books at our library, so consider this a list of what I might recommend if you were to stop me at work and ask me for a random suggestion.

Note: while we were allowed a potential 10 items, only a few would be chosen by the person in charge of the display due to space available. I've included the books that got on the shelves. I was also informed that I could not, in fact, display the CPR dummy from the Library of Things as one of my staff recommendations, so consider this my endorsement of our vinyl and polyurethane friends dedicated to CPR education.

The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

This book is, most simply put, an animal fable starring a rooster and his barnyard fighting against evil. At the beginning of creation, God sealed an evil creature called the Wyrm underground, but now it's out and it's up to Chaunticleer and the other animals to defeat this literal hell breaking loose. The main character, Chaunticleer, as well as his wife Pertelot, and the fox Lord Russell, all come from Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale," and the book draws inspiration from John Milton's epic Paradise Lost, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and the Bible. The title refers to the Dun Cow, a legendary creature from English folklore, as well as sharing its name with a real (though unrelated) medieval Irish manuscript, Lebor na hUidre. Wangerin weaves a unique cosmology and musings on the nature of God, good, evil, and leadership into what at first seems like a standard Redwall or Watership Down -style animal novel. While it is based in part on Christian scripture and tradition, it doesn't beat the reader over their head and it can be enjoyed regardless of religious interest.

I recommend it to readers who: like allegory, comparative literature, Early Modern poetry, and warrior chickens. Must be in the mood for a story more intense than Narnia since it gets dark. Also be ready to take notes. 

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi

The source for the 1985 OVA Vampire Hunter D, which has become a cult classic of both anime and horror in general, is the long-running novel series of the same name. The series is a mixture of horror, science fiction, and western-- taking place in the far future of our world, after the rise and fall of our vampire overlords. The eponymous D is a mysterious, miraculously powerful and handsome dhampir (half vampire, half human) who occasionally lends his vampire hunting services to the people of the Frontier. The worldbuilding is endlessly fascinating and expanded upon throughout the series-- and has plenty of Easter eggs for fans of horror, like "Summers Montague" and "T. Fisher" being authors of books on vampires (based on the real-life folklorist and apparent vampire believer Montague Summers, and Terence Fisher, the Hammer Horror film director). D himself is a great protagonist -- stoic, steadfast, and equipped with a deadly blade and a wise-cracking second face in his left hand. He's a gunslinger (or swordslinger?) who hunts monsters rather than outlaws.

I recommend it to readers who: enjoy vampire media like Dracula, Hellsing, and Castlevania, like sci-fi elements and futuristic westerns. Liking cool, stoic male protagonists is a plus. Must be looking for a fast-paced ride through the weird and the wonderful.

How to Bake an American Pie by Karma Wilson

It certainly has been... a few years here in my home country of the United States. While I won't discuss politics or current events, suffice it to say it can sometimes take some work to remember the things we're promised about America when we're young -- liberty, equality, unity. Wilson's picture book is a rhyming set of instructions for the baking process, guided by an adorable dog and cat team. Raúl Colón's soft, colored pencil-style artwork perfectly accompanies the text, with such ingredients as a "crust of fruited plains" and "spacious skies" (like in the song "America the Beautiful," get it?), as well as more intangible things like meekness and might. Perhaps we should review this recipe and adjust our baking as needed.

I recommend it to readers who: like baking, American history, and children's books, especially those with intricate rhymes and complex ideas. It will probably appeal to you if you have a likewise complex view of patriotism, or would just like to see a cat and dog baking.

Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Midnight In the Garden is a nonfiction-novel that not only is a cult classic for fans of true crime and Southern Gothic, it's been so influential in Savannah, Georgia, that it's known simply as The Book. The setup is simple: Berendt travels to Savannah to write a magazine feature on the work of historical preservationist Jim Williams – who, partway through the book, is accused of murder. This introduces the outsider narrator, and the audience, to the world of Southern Gothic – the houses are old, the characters are eccentric, everyone has secrets, Spanish moss hangs from the trees, and there’s hoodoo to be done. Savannah is portrayed vividly, so much that the Book is often attributed with more than doubling tourism to the city[2]. It’s the perfect mix of literary true crime and American regionalism and is a quick read (I read it in one sitting) that never the less will leave an impression.

I recommend it to readers who: like true crime that centers on one event, Southern Gothic and Southern Regional literature, and stories with unusual characters where the narrator is the straight man. Also recommended as a relatively short book that won't take too long to read.

Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn

Finally, we return to horror and myth with an anthology of Lafcadio Hearn's work on the kaidan, or strange stories. Hearn was an unusual character -- born on a Greek island, raised in Ireland, and spending time in the French East Indies and United States as a journalist before finally settling in Japan, he had a deep interest in folklore and ghost stories. This collection is a crash-course in the best of Japanese weird tales, including Hoichi the Earless; yuki-onna, the snow woman; and Botan-Doro, the Peony Lantern. These will be familiar to readers interested in Japanese culture, especially Hoichi the Earless, which is the basis for the 1965 film Kwaidan. Hearn's strengths lie in his eye for detail and his interest in the very nature of fear-- he takes a whole chapter to reflect on his own childhood experiences of the sensation. However, there is no explanation for why the cover of this book appears to have a decapitated Bobby Hill.

I recommend it to readers who: enjoy folklore, Japanese culture, and good old-fashioned ghost stories. The chapters can be read on their own, so it's good for when you just want a quick read.

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[1] “Appeal Terms,” EBSCO Help, accessed July 30, 2022, http://support.ebsco.com/help/?int=novp&ver=live&lang=en&feature_id=Appeal.

[2] W.C Wertz, “20 Years After Midnight: A Look Back,” South Magazine, October 7, 2017, https://www.southmag.com/20-years-after-midnight-a-look-back/.

Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life: A Review

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Title: Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life
Author: Cheryl Blackford
Illustrators: Cover by Stephanie Son, interior illustrations and paleoart by Ellen Duda
Rating: 4/5

Mary Anning is the single most important paleontologist you’ve never heard of. She discovered the first Plesiosaurus, the body of the first Ichthyosaur, and the first pterosaur outside of Germany. She first identified the “bezoar” stones in the stomachs of fossils to be coprolites (fossilized feces) and figured out that Belemnoids, an extinct cephalopod, had ink sacs like its modern relatives. Her specimens are among the most prized possessions of the Natural History Museum in London. And she barely received any credit in her time and today is barely known.

Cheryl Blackford, herself a geologist, sets out to address this in her middle grade biography of Anning. The book begins with a prehistoric interlude with the doomed ichthyosaur that would someday be discovered by the Anning siblings, Joseph and Mary, followed by a chapter introducing Anning and her excavations-- from there, the biography is chronological. The biographical style is somewhat inconsistent. The introduction with the ichthyosaur and the first chapter, "Crocodile or Sea Monster?" show signs of wanting to be a narrative biography: "Thirteen-year-old Mary Anning had been hunting for an elusive treasure for months.”[1] This stands out because the rest of the book is a typical facts-only biography with no other narrative sections. This may be because the copy I read is an uncorrected proof, so this may change between now and its forthcoming publication in January, 2022. Despite this uneven opening, the rest of the book is well-organized by general era of Mary's life, and it's not cluttered by sidebars or unrelated images. 

Duria Antiquior, a more ancient Dorset, by Henry De la Beche, based on specimens discovered by Mary Anning[2]

Part of the fun for me is the inclusion of historical images. While I love paleontology in general, I find the early years of the science especially interesting. I'm fascinated with how people viewed prehistory before our modern understanding-- for example, when the Annings found their first ichthyosaur (a process that took a year, between 1811 and 1812), the only point of reference people had for the strange discovery was the crocodile. Because there were only limited specimens and research into these creatures was in its infancy, artistic reconstructions look a little goofy today, but I find them charming. Even more useful for the young reader learning about Anning are the exquisite sketches she made of her finds. It really gives the reader an impression of Anning’s dedication to her job. One thing I didn’t know was that, since she couldn’t afford books or journal subscriptions (an issue independent scholars still face to this day), she would painstakingly copy out whole articles by hand on whatever material available. Something about this particularly struck me. The paleoart by Ellen Duda in this book is very nice and serves to contextualize the fossils as living creatures well, but I was disappointed there were no illustrations of Anning’s era like on the cover. This I think is a similar issue to the inconsistent writing—the book feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be.

These style issues aside, Fossil Hunter is a good, accessible introduction to the life and work of Mary Anning, and will hopefully influence young readers to learn more about the early years of paleontology, as well as about the woman who so often has been forgotten in discussions of this history.

---

[1]Blackford, Cheryl. “Chapter 1: Crocodile or Sea Monster.” In Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life, 3. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, forthcoming. 

[2] Henry De la Beche. Duria Antiquior, a More Ancient Dorset. 1830. Watercolor. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duria_Antiquior.jpg.