We open on a castle under siege, and Lady Talli receiving the final words from her father, Lord Borin, before he sends her and her noble knight, Alan, off on into the wilderness on a speedy horse. Cunning archers see the fleeing pair, and one lands an arrow in the horse’s haunches while other soldiers on horseback pursue. Lady Talli and Alan manage to evade capture in the next town over with the help of a bumbling old man and his grandson. The two agree to take Lady Talli to the port in exchange for lots of money. Lelo, the grandson, and Pavel, the old man, have some secrets of their own - Lelo is a highly skilled fighter with unnatural speed, and Pavel used to be a famous adventurer and treasure seeker. The four are helped along the way by true believers who recognize Talli for who she really is: a descendent from the Moon Goddess, and the last Summoner.
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Sakura finally collects all the Clow Cards, and doing so triggers the awakening of Yue, the Judge and second guardian of the Clow Cards whose power stems from the moon. We also get to find out what Mizuki-sensei’s roll is in all of this. Once Sakura passes the final judgment, she’s ready for some peace and quiet around Tomoeda Elementary. She goes into the 5th grade, and a new transfer student from England joins her class. Li-San was going to go back to Hong Kong, but there’s something off about Eriol, the new kid, so he’s sticking around. There’s also a new student in Tōya’s class, and she is super high energy and a little sweet on Tōya. When it starts raining only over Tomoeda for several days, Sakura sets out with her guardians to figure out what supernatural power is causing it, but she might have uncovered a new enemy in the process.
Sakura’s family goes on a weekend vacation to a lake house, and Sakura befriends a nice old man at a much larger lake house next door. He serves her tea and gives her one of his granddaughter’s dresses. It turns out that he’s related to Sakura, but he doesn’t reveal himself to her. Then, it’s time for the annual talent show, and Sakura’s class is going to put on The Sleeping Beauty play. The teachers decide to cast roles by playing the ladder game - Sakura is cast as the prince, and Li-san is cast as Aurora! But the play isn’t without incident as another Clow Card shows up to challenge Sakura. We also learn how her teacher, Mizuki-sensei, is involved with the Clow Cards as she reveals herself to Kero-Chan.
Manpachi and Momoji the Badger travel to the mountain where Manpachi was born, but Momoji also knowingly takes Manpachi away from Senzou and endangers him. When the two get to the mountain, all the creatures are sleeping and covered in snow. The two are almost immediately attacked by a dormouse in human form, who accused the two of them of disturbing the mountain’s restorative sleep. Before the dormice can fully attack Manpachi and Momoji, the goddess of the mountain reveals herself and explains why she has put everyone in a sleeping state. Manpachi give the goddess a kind of pep talk, and she has restored faith in her abilities. Later, the wolf pack investigates a murder of a cat, and suspects an illegal substance was used to cover rhe murderer’s tracks. They question Momoji and find out a stash of the substance was stolen from him when the wolves first apprehended him.
Illustrated by Mia Ikumi
Earth is under attack from aliens who are disgusted by the way humans are destroying the planet. They infect animals with chimera properties to make monsters. Ryô Shirigane, a rich high schooler, and Keiichirô Akasaka, a “café owner” and researcher, want to protect the world from these aliens. They infuse five girls with “red data” animal DNA - DNA from endangered animals - to become warriors against the chimera animals. When they’re not fighting, the girls work at Café Mew Mew as a way to gather information from customers. Ichigo is the first warrior to awaken to her transformation powers and found by the two guys, and she must find the other four teammates while fending off attacks from Kish, one of the aliens who has keyed in on Ichigo. Ichigo also has to juggle her time with her crush, Masaya, who is also interested in endangered animals and saving the planet.
Vol 1: Disciples of Avan 1, illustrated by Koji Inada
Dai is the lone human inhabitant of Dermline Island, which has become a haven for monsters after the events of the original Dragon Quest series (which is summarized succinctly for any reader who may have missed out). Dai has befriended many of the monsters, who are mostly well-behaved wild creatures now. A few quests of adventurers find the island and try to make names for themselves or cash in on fortunes in monster bounties, but Dai thwarts them at every turn. Everything changes when a dark power reawakens and bends the creatures back into the murderous monsters they once were. A powerful hero saves Dai and the island, but even his substantial power may be no match for a reawakened Dark Lord.
The Oates move to Newfoundland to be closer to their family and to help console a branch who just lost a loved one. Not long after, a creature of darkness lurking in the woods kidnaps the youngest daughter, Beth. While the adults scour the forest for the child, the other Oates children, Ben and Lynn, decide to take matters into their own hands. Armed with a flashlight, they venture into the forest and are transported to The Elphyne, a world in between Earth and the next, where fae and other magical creatures live, and where the magic and imagination of children can shape the entire world. The two must overcome their own fears and use the magic to their advantage to save their sister and rid the word of The Corruption that is destroying entire populations of magical creatures.
Illustrated by Tri Vuong
It's starts as just another day for Grandpa of going to the store to get more tomatoes for Grandma's best Spaghetti, but when a machine boy falls to Earth, Grandpa must summon his karate skills of his youth to save everyone. He ends up awaking the heart of the metal boy, who goes on to train with Grandma in the karate arts. Machine Boy loves helping others, even if it's mostly rescuing cats from trees, and listening to his favorite crime-fighting superhero band. A little piece of Machine Boy breaks off and becomes fairly sentient, and Machine Boy keeps him as a pet, but the piece quickly outgrows the hiding place and then turns into a ravenous machine-eating robot who begins to devour parts of the city. Machine Boy, an unlikely friend from school, and the super band team up to get the robot under control and save the city.
Illustrated by Robin Robinson
While Isabel's upbringing among the elite of San Francisco in wake of the Great Fire may have some considering her fortunate, neither of her parents particularly know how to interact with her, and she is often told to be "seen, not heard." While visiting her sculptor father in Carmel for the summer, Isabel mysteriously traverses the veil between the fairy realm and the human realm, and she immediately gets pulled into a life-or-death quest that will determine the outcome of a brutal war between the two halves of fairydom: seelie and unseelie. She quickly makes a few friends who also want to see her quest fulfilled, and she'll have to rely on them and her strange magical abilities to deliver a stolen necklace to the princess of the seelie.
Nicola is a human girl and a struggling witch, saved by the demon Simon, who now finds herself traveling incognito in the Demon World, where humans aren't allowed. The two of them make a bit of an odd couple as they travel around. Simon peddles trinkets and some possibly fraudulent pieces in his attempt to make a living in what can sometimes be a hostile world. He tells Nicola about the stereotypes in the demon world and she successfully finds beings who buck his stereotype, which encourages Simon to be less judgmental. While searching for rare mushrooms, Nicola finds a little clough demon and tries to keep him as a pet, but the call to rejoin his kind is stronger than their little bond. In a Demon Hotel, seeing ghosts is thought of as good luck, but that doesn't mean Nicola isn't scared of them.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this siteRatings, Audience, and Subject Tags
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