Looking for Manga? Try Justmanga.com

Manga can be an expensive hobby, and while I love going to Borders and inspecting the books firsthand, it can be really frustrating to find bent corners and creases in the binding from people just reading the manga and placing it back on the shelf. I don't know about anyone else, but I want my manga to be in perfect condition. Also, the bookstore may not carry the particular volume needed in a series.

So for anyone looking to purchase good quality - but discounted - manga, I highly recommend www.justmanga.com. I have ordered several times from their website and the manga is always in excellent condition. Not only that, but every order comes with free book covers and orders over $39.99 receive free shipping. And unlike the full retail price you'd pay at the bookstore, justmanga.com always has at least a 10-15% discount of the price of the book. What I also like about justmanga.com is the reward system. For every $10 you spend, you receive 100 reward points, which you can collect and redeem for various anime collectibles.

Finally, justmanga.com has also set up a Virtual Manga Bookshelf, allowing members to go in and add titles of manga to their personal bookshelf, making it a whole lot easier to keep track of large manga collection. Every time you make a purchase from the website, your personal bookshelf will automatically update itself.

Review: Absolute Boyfriend

Absolute Boyfriend, by Yuu Watase, is about a high school girl named Riiko Izawa. Riiko wants so badly to have a boyfriend, but every time she confesses her feelings to a boy, Riiko gets rejected. On her way back home from school, Riiko finds a cell phone, and returns it to the owner, who happens to be a salesman. When he offers to reward Riiko for finding the cell phone, she says that all she wants is a boyfriend. Riiko is given the URL to a website for a company called Kronos Heaven, that sells "figurines." Unable to resist the free 3-day offer, and the really handsome picture, Riiko orders one.

The next day, Riiko gets a huge package delivered to her apartment, and out drops a full-size, naked figurine. Once the figurine becomes activated, Riiko discovers she's accidentally ordered from the "Nightly" Night-Activity Lover Series. Yup, exactly what the name implies...

When I first started reading this book in the store, the story was amazing. It made me laugh and you connect with Riiko right away. Sometimes it can take one or two books before a series picks up, but with Absolute Boyfriend, you're hooked by the first chapter. Don't let the cover turn you off from this series. Trust me, I know it's embarrassing. Walking up to the counter, the book stuck in between other books...like I was buying a naughty magazine or something. ^^;;

Anyway...

Riiko's facial expressions are priceless. All in all, the series is a great read. Maybe it's just me, but I was a little disappointed with the last book. I don't know, I guess I was hoping for something more. But Absolute Boyfriend is still a must read. 9 out of 10.

Infinity Studios: Publisher M.I.A.

One of the most frustrating things about reading manga/manhwa is starting a series, only to have the publisher discontinue it.

But even more frustrating is having a publisher completely disappear, period. It seems like no one really knows what happened to the manga/manhwa publisher Infinity Studios of Richmond, California. The company released manhwa such as A Kiss For My Prince, Cafe Occult, and Unbalance Unbalance.

In the case of A Kiss For My Prince, two volumes were released, and I waited diligently for the next one. It's a beautiful manhwa, with a storyline that pulls you right in. But after almost a year of not seeing the third volume on the shelves of either Borders or Barnes & Noble, I started searching online to see what was going on.

And I couldn't find anything! Wtf Infinity Studios? Your website doesn't even work anymore. I read somewhere online that perhaps the Infinity Studio's website had been hacked, but come on now, it should have been fixed by now. Apparently the last time anyone saw their website updated was December 08, and then *poof*... gone.

The least they could have done is released a statement saying they were going out of business or closing in order to regroup. Something! So now, fans of these beautiful manga/manhwa are just stuck, hoping that another publisher will pick up these series and finish them. (Please...I'm begging...Someone, anyone?)

Review: After School Nightmare

Nothing's better than a gender-bending love triangle. After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro, is a series about Ichijou Mashiro, who attends an elite co-ed school. One day, the school nurse tells Mashiro that in order to graduate, he must attend an after school class and pass. What the nurse doesn't tell Mashiro, is that in order to pass, you must come face to face with your worst nightmare, all happening in a shared dream world with other students.

One of the interesting aspects of this dream world is that every student is seen as their true self. For Mashiro, it means that the upper part of his body is male, while the lower half of his body is female. And all the other students in the class can see him this way.

Mashiro has been hiding the fact that the lower portion of his body is female, and has been living his life as male only. It isn't until he starts taking the class that his secret gets out. The series gives you and interesting look at gender and male/female relationships.

Throw on top of that, two students, one male & one female, pulling/competing for Mashiro's affections, a hint of incest, and disappearing students, After School Nightmare makes for a very interesting read. Sometimes it feels like some of the characters could have been fleshed out a little more, and the series is 10 volumes to finish, but other than that, the books kept me hooked. It's definitely a good psychological thriller and satisfying. I'd give it 8.5 out of 10.