On a morning in 1959 of a terrible typhoon, Asa runs to fetch the doctor for the delivery of her mother's twelfth child. On the way back home, Asa finds a burglar escaping a house with his loot and confronts him, so he kidnaps her, thinking she's the daughter of the wealthy doctor. Her kidnapper has just recently turned to a life of crime in a moment of desperation. He was a hero in WWII, a successful pilot who always brought his team home, but now can't afford a pilot's license. The two seek shelter from the terrible typhoon in a metal shipping container, and when they emerge, everything along the harbor has been destroyed. The pilot and Asa try to find their way back to her family's home, but Asa, ever compassionate, suggests they find a way to deliver food to those stranded on rooftops while they look for her family. The pilot steals a plane, Asa convinces a restaurant owner to make lots of rice balls, and the two drop the care packages from the plane using balloons tied to plastic bags. As they near where Asa's house should be, they make a startling discovery that means more than the typhoon was at work wrecking havoc on the town.
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Sakura continues to collect Clow Cards in a few new adventures. Her class gets a new substitute Math teacher, Kaho Mizuki, and it's someone from Tōya's (Sakura's brother) past. She can make predictions, and often they come to fruition. Syaoran warns that she is incredibly powerful, and tells Sakura not to trust her, but Sakura has a warm, floaty feeling evey time she talks Mizuki-san. Mizuki is the daughter of a local shrine family where Sakura tries to buy a charm, but instead she, Syaoran, and Tomoyo get sucked into a maze. Then, the school goes on a field trip to the beach, and one of Sakura’s classmate scares her with a ghost story about a test of courage that happened inside a cave on the very beach they're visiting. The next day, Sakura’s class has to do the same test of courage, and Sakura is petrified. When classmates start disappearing inside the cave, it's up to Sakura to figure out why and save them all.
Illustrated by Hippolyte
A young man and his younger sister flee their home in The Low Country, which is being ravaged by violent bandits, and try to immigrate to the High Country and on to another place they call The Other World. Along the way, they are kidnapped by an ogre who forces them to work in his factory or risk being eaten. Upon escaping the factory, the siblings and two other refugees travel together, all trying to make it to a better life. The story is told through the interview of the Older Brother, who is being evaluated for whether he can enter a country or not, and he is surrounded by the shadows and memories of his loved ones who he’s lost along the way. 
Red Blood Cell-san is determined to make it around the entire respiratory system without the help of other cells. After numerous times getting lost and having a guardian angel in White Blood Cell-san help her from the shadows, she finally makes it all the way around for one cycle! Then, we go to a different cell who is in his apartment, dividing himself to make another cell. He finds another cell who is playing practical jokes on white blood cells and Killer T cells. The practical joker turns out to be a rhinovirus, wanting to infect all the cells and cause the Cold. Later, White Blood Cell-san fights tirelessly to help the cells of a hair follicle fight off the bacteria that causes acne. Lots of other white blood cells have tried and failed, but White Blood Cell-san isn’t a quitter!
Vol 4: The Crystal Kingdom by Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy, illustrated by Carey Pietsch
The trio is on another mission to bring back another relic, a transmutation stone that is acting kind of like King Midas. It's currently on a floating laboratory that is slowly being consumed by pink crystal that transforms everything it touches. With their favorite team of Regulators (including Killian and Carey), they travel to the laboratory in special space suits to keep out any crystal particles that might transform them. They have to find the transmutation stone and save the laboratory before it's engines can't handle the weight and it crashes to the planet below, which will turn all of that into crystal too. Just in case that isn't all too complicated, Kravitz, an agent of Death, tags along to try to right the wrongs of people escaping death, which includes most of the people on the laboratory! 
Adapted by Naoshi Arakawa
On a record-breaking snowy day, eight classmates arrive at school like it's any other school day. When no one else shows up, including their teacher, they begin to wonder why. They check the doors and windows - all sealed shut - and realize the clocks and their watches have all stopped at the same time - 5:53. A mysterious phone call plays back voices of frantic adults, and they finally put it all together; they are stuck in the moment when one of their classmates took their own life, two months ago on the last day of the school's festival. The problem is, none of them can remember who it was who committed suicide. When something unexpected happens to one of them, they realize they are in a race against time and a potentially malicious spirit to regain their memories and piece together what happened. 
Mia and Theo continue to try to get the fortune teller to help them find a magician to help Mia, but the fortune teller refuses once more. Mia and Theo catch him after he's been ruffed up by a street gang, and Theo gives him some salve to help with his bruises. They learn that his name is Nora, and he has a "partner", a little ferret named Tama who "helps" Nora locate lost items. It turns out, Tama is extremely attracted to shiny things, and usually steals them, then Nora uses his "fortune telling" powers to help "locate" the item that Tama has stolen. The thugs come back and kidnap Nora. Mia, Theo, and Tama plan to rescue him. They turn out not to be the best rescuers, and Mia once again loses control of her magic, making it even more pressing that they find someone to train her.
Vol 3: Flame War, illustrated by Chris Samnee, colored by Matt Wilson
After the attack in his family, Owen decides that there will be no stopping the barrage of ninjas from coming, so he decides to travel to the Temple of the Scorched Earth to get involved in the fight once again. A fierce ninja lady attacks Owen on the plane but bursts into snakes just as he’s about to fireball her into oblivion. No one in the Scorched Earth clan has any idea who she could have been or how she disappeared. The Scorched Earth clan attacks the Temple of the Flaming Fist, with the help of some of Owen’s old foes and a couple friends. The two sides clash in an epic battle that finally brings us into the chamber of the dragon everyone talks so much about, but what they find there isn’t what anyone expected. 
Illustrated by Tarako
God has a team of designers at his disposal who will make all manner of creatures based on a very limited scope - things like a mammal able to eat leaves off tall trees (which results in a giraffe), or something “adorably uncute” (which results in the koala). The designers, all sharing a name with one of the planets, each have their quirks when designing animals: Mr. Saturn’s greatest invention was the horse, something he tries to reinvent for everyone challenge to limited success; Pluto makes terrifying animals but is also very fixated on how her creations will reproduce; Neptune makes all kinds of amphibious animals; and Jupiter has become the official taste-tester, making sure delicious animals have extra protection or defense mechanisms. At the end of each chapter is a note on the main, real, animals that were designed, providing some educational content for readers. 
Most of you will probably be familiar with the plot line and don’t need summary, but if you do, read on.
Macbeth is a decorated war hero, fighting in wars for the king of Scotland, Duncan. After one such battle, three witches appear to Macbeth and his friend Banquo, promising titles and even the crown in Macbeth’s future. Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to leave things up to chance, so she convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan in his sleep as he stays the night in their castle. The king’s sons flee, afraid for their own safety, and Macbeth is made king. He is driven mad by keeping his crown and destroying anyone who could take it away from him, plunging the kingdom into terror. A force led by Macduff, another noblemen, gather strength from other nobles and even the King of England in the hopes of unseating Macbeth. 
This spin off of the main story of Cells at Work is about a baby body with baby cells, and all of them are drawn in a chibi style (large eyes, puffy cheeks, short limbs). The main characters in this are Red Blood Cell (Chibi) and F, a type of red blood cell bearing Hemoglobin-F which is more effective when the fetus is in the womb. By the end of this volume, we also meet a White Blood Cell (Chibi), who, unlike his counterpart in the main series, is a big scaredy cat but still does his job in defending the baby’s body. The baby cells must fight off infection, with some help from Mother's Milk, as well as figure out how to navigate to the lungs once the baby is born.
Chise accidentally puts Elias under a strong sleeping spell, and she seeks counsel from Angie to brew a counter-potion to wake him up. The process of making the potion tires Chise out, and she sleeps for two days to recover! In her dreams, Chise connects with the powerful menace, Josef, who is searching for a way to successfully recover or replace his severed left arm. Meanwhile, two dragon chicks from Linden's aerie find themselves in trouble after wandering away at night, and they are kidnapped by dragon poachers. Chise, Elias, and three alchemists agree to help find the chicks and bring them back to the aerie. Chise's skills at making "friends" helps the group locate one dragon chick at a rarities auction house. They enter as potential buyers and plan to pool their money together to buy the chick, but the panicking young dragon escalates the situation to a dangerous level.
Vol 12, Dionysos, The New God
Dionysos is the child of Zeus and yet another mortal, who was tricked into death by jealous Hera. Hermes delivered Dionysos to the Satyrs to be raised, where he learned to be boisterous and have lots of fun. As an adult, Dionysos discovered the beauty of fermenting grapes and drinking it, and he brought his madness-inducing liquid to several mortal cities. He wasn't always thanked for sharing his drink, though! Tragedy also seems to follow Dionysos and many people around him die unexpectedly, prompting a trip to the Underworld. 
Somewhere in the world, someone is trying to raise the terrible demon lord, Gyumaoh, which made all the Yokai (demons) on Earth even more violent than before. A Buddhist monk, Genjyo Sanzo, and three warriors, Son Goku, Sha Gojyo, Cho Hakkai (all of whom have some Yokai blood in them), are tasked with stopping the revival and putting things back to normal. They travel through the world in a tiny dragon that can transform into a Jeep, and fight many battles along the way. The son of Gyumaoh tries to thwart the warriors, and he sends several of his henchmen to stop them or slow them down long enough for the revival to go off as planned.
Illustrated by Nao Emoto
Five high school girls comprise the school’s Literature Club, where they read deep, intellectual books, but always there seems to be references to or full on scenes of sexual coupling. This strikes each of the club members fairly differently. You’ve got the prude who is very vocal about not liking these scenes, the budding writer who wants to understand coupling more so she can include them in her manuscripts, the hot girl who wouldn’t mind some sexual coupling of her own, and two friends who seem to be on the same wavelength - it’s just not something they’re interested in right now. That is until Kazusa walks in on her hot neighbor boy doing something naughty, then sex seems to be all around her. Is she really as ambivalent about the whole thing, or is she as intrigued as some of her classmates? |
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 site
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