NetGalley Review Grab Bag Volume 2

Today is another collection of short reviews for NetGalley ARCs, mostly manga but also a couple Western graphic novels. 

I received free ARCs of these books from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

---

Title: Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp

Author: Rosie Knight

Illustrator: Oliver Ono

Rating: 5/5

Published by IDW and available August 20, 2024, Monster Island Summer Camp is every kaiju fan's dream, getting to be friends with Toho's iconic monsters. The setup of a summer camp being magically connected to Monster Island is fun and a hearty dose of nostalgia for the Showa series. It's nice to see disability representation in the form of multiple characters, not just one. The plot is intriguing and leads to a great climax and makes me hope for this to be a series. Bonus points to illustrator Oliver Ono for managing to make Manilla cute and not terribly ugly as he was in the old movies. The whole thing is a treat for fans of Godzilla, like myself.

---

Title: Suzume Vol. 1

Author: Makoto Shinkai

Illustrator: Denki Amashima

Rating: 2/5

Published by Kodansha and available September 24, 2024, this is the first volume of the manga adaptation of the 2022 film of the same name, directed by Makoto Shinkai, most famous for Your Name. Full disclosure that at the time of this writing I haven't seen the movie, just read this first volume of the manga. It definitely feels like it's based on something and I think readers will get more out of it if they've seen the movie. On its own it didn't grab me and in parts was confusing, like I was expected to already understand everything happening. It probably works better in movie form.

---

Title: Godzilla: War For Humanity

Author: Andrew MacLean

Illustrator: Jake Smith

Rating: 4/5

Published by IDW and available September 17, 2024, Godzilla: War For Humanity is a collection of episodes published separately. I just couldn't resist another Godzilla comic (see my comments about Monster Island Summer Camp). And what a Godzilla comic-- this will definitely please G-fans with deep cut references to MOGUERA, Jet Jaguar, and several other classic kaiju. The art is really colorful and expressive and reminds me of the alt comix style rather than the traditional realistic American art. The drawback is that some of the panels are a little hard to follow and the plot sometimes moves a little too quickly and I think the "war for humanity" title could be expanded upon more within the themes, but overall it's a fun adventure. Bonus points for including more obscure kaiju like Gorosaurus and Manda. Man I'm a nerd.

---

Title: Vampire Otaku's Love Bite Vol. 1

Author and Illustrator: Julietta Suzuki

Rating: 4/5

Published by Viz Media and available October 1, 2024, Vampire Otaku's Love Bite asks the age-old question "What if a vampire was an otaku (someone obsessed with something, generally Japanese media)?" Hina Arukado (Arukado is the Japanese spelling of Alucard), is a Romanian vampire obsessed with a vampire anime who moves to Japan to live her otaku life. Hijinks ensue. This first volume was a cute introduction to what should prove to be a fun series that will appeal to fans of either the weird and the wonderful (the vampires) or the self-referential humor and commentary on that other mysterious recluse (the otakus). Hina’s experiences will feel relatable to members of fandom. The art is cute and expressive and the characters all look unique, so this should please shoujo fans.

---

Title: Pupposites Attract

Author: Hono Natsuna

Rating: 4/5

Published by Kodansha and available August 6, 2024, Pupposites Attract is something I've never read before-- a dog manga (I've read plenty of cat manga). This is a cute romance centered on two dog owners and their very different dogs and approaches to dog ownership. Dog fans will enjoy the look into human-canine relationships and romance fans will like the growing relationship between the human leads. Ideally, the audience will enjoy both aspects. It's also nice to find a josei series in the wild like this, since the josei (adult woman) demographic is often overlooked.

And, perhaps most importantly, the dogs depicted are absolutely adorable and feel like you could reach through the panels to pet them.

---

Title: Hirayasumi Vol. 2 

Author: Keigo Shinzo

Rating: 5/5

Published by Viz Media and available August 20, 2024, Hirayasumi Vol. 2 is the followup to a book I reviewed previously. I really loved the first book in this series, so I was excited to get to review the second. I'm pleased to say it's just as good as the first, perhaps even better. This is a series about a laid-back character in a world of stress and anxiety and Hiroto's calm rubs off on the reader, even as it manages to influence the characters around him. The art is unique and all the characters are well-written, and this volume expands on the supporting cast as they experience anxiety, marital strain, and grief. One interesting feature of this series is the text narration, which is uncommon in manga, but here moves the story along and gives insight into the characters. It's an iyashikei (lit. "healing", a genre that focuses on soothing and healing the reader) and moves at a day-to-day pace that we all need from time to time.

Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography! - A Review

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

Title: Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography!

Author: Fumiyo Kouno

Rating: 5/5

It's that time of the month again -- time for some book reviews for NetGalley. Today's book is Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography! by mangaka Fumiyo Kouno. Published by Udon Entertainment and available September 3, 2024, Giga Town is a unique encyclopedia of the symbolism and artistic shorthand of manga. Called manpu, these additions to the base art express movement, emotion, sound, and many other things-- in his introduction to the book, Matt Alt describes them as "a visual code for understanding the ways in which Japanese artists see and portray the world."

This visual code is illustrated in a series of 4-koma (four panel) comic strip, each strip illustrating a particular manpu. Helping us understand the symbolism are a cast of frogs, rabbits, and monkeys as a tribute to the Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, a series of ancient Japanese scrolls depicting whimsical animals acting like humans, often considered a spiritual predecessor to modern manga. This collection of manuscripts is what gives the book its name, Giga Town. Each comic is accompanied by a short explanation of the symbol, with added cultural context when needed. The illustrations are charming and the skill in which Kouno recreates the Chōjū-giga animals is impressive, she's a great mangaka best known for In This Corner of the World. 

This guide will prove indispensable to manga readers, whether seasoned otaku or new fans. I especially liked the visual component-- too often I read books that only describe visual media and don't include examples. Giga Town understands that manga is a visual medium and any discussion of it needs example images. The cute illustrations are fun and follow in the footsteps of early Japanese art will be appealing to both newcomers and people already interested in the historical art. I really enjoyed my time with this guide and already hope I can swing this as nonfiction manga, rather than a nonfiction work on art, so I can order it for my library collection.

Netgalley Manga Review Grab Bag

Today I’ll be posting some of my Netgalley reviews in a single blog post, rather than separately. This way, we can get them all out of the way at once and I don’t have to write a full post for something I may not have much to say about, and if you're not interested in manga you can easily skip this post.

I received free ARCs of these books from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

---

Title: I See Your Face, Turned Away Vol 1.

Author: Rumi Ichinohe

Rating: 2/5

Published by Kodansha and available May 7, 2024, I See Your Face, Turned Away is a shoujo high school story about teenagers being unable to express their feelings or even pinpoint what they feel. The dialog is a little choppy and I felt through much of it that I was just hearing parts of conversations rather than being privy to the characters’ thoughts and experiences. The art is serviceable realistic shoujo, but the two boys of the friend group look too similar suggesting that character design wasn’t a priority. There is some interesting commentary on beauty standards in the form of Hikari, the main point of view character, thinking she’d be more attractive with a double eyelid than a monolid, but this isn’t focused on for very long. Other than that brief nod to something deeper, this introductory volume didn’t grab me.

---

Title: The Beast Player

Author: Nahoko Uehashi

Rating: 3/5

Published by Kodansha and available May 14, 2024, The Beast Player is a shounen fantasy based on the novel of the same name taking place in a fantasy world similar to Central Asia. The protagonist, Elin, comes from a culture that raises a species of crocodilian dragon called the toda. The world and their creatures is interesting and beautifully drawn, reminding me of Studio Ghibli's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The opening plot regarding Elin's mother is a bit predictable, straying into Dead Manga Mother territory, though as always this is a setup to the hero's journey for Elin. Overall, I'm intrigued to see more of this world and how the story progresses, and see how the title ties into the story.

---

Title: Alley

Author: Junji Ito

Rating: 2.5/5

Published by Viz and available July 23, 2024, Alley is a collection of short stories by the modern master of Japanese horror, Junji Ito. This was my first time reading something by Ito, and while I can definitely see his skill, I wish I had been introduced to him via one of his other works, like Uzumaki, since this was just okay. Ito's style of horror may just not be mine-- things simply happen and there isn't a sense of rising terror or suspense in these short stories. This may just not be his best work, as I've seen other reviewers have similar opinions as mine on this volume. This should appeal to fans of supernatural and urban horror, as many stories are centered around town locations, as well as body horror-- while the writing may be a bit weak at times, the art is always atmospheric and captivating.

---

Title: Hirayasumi 

Author: Keigo Shinzō

Rating: 4/5

Published by Viz and available May 21, 2024, Hirayasumi is a seinen slice of life manga staring an easy-going part-timer and his anxious art student cousin. I was instantly drawn into this beautifully illustrated, sweet story about life. This was definitely my favorite of the handful of volumes in this review batch. The omniscient narrator adds a lot to the story. This will definitely appeal to fans of slice of life (a manga genre focusing on day-to-day life) and anyone wanting an emotional but gentle read. 

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.