Manga Review: Laddertop

The Laddertop - Gift to Earth's Future

Twenty-five years ago, the alien Givers came to Earth. They gave the human race the greatest technology ever seen— four giant towers known as Ladders that rise 36,000 miles into space and culminate in space stations that power the entire planet. Then, for reasons unknown, the Givers disappeared. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, only a skilled crew of children can perform the maintenance necessary to keep the stations up and running.

Back on Earth, competition is fierce to enter Laddertop Academy. It is an honor few students will achieve. Robbi and Azure, two eleven-year-old girls who are the best of friends, are candidates for the Academy. They will become entangled in a dangerous mystery that may help them solve the riddle of the Givers...if it doesn’t destroy the Earth first!

Laddertop, volume 1 is the first installment in an American manga trilogy written by Ender's Game author, Orson Scott Card, and his daughter Emily Janice Card. It was illustrated by Honoel Ibardolaza. I was offered the chance to review this manga by its publisher, Tor Seven Seas. And I jumped at the chance.

We are introduced first to Azure and then to her best friend Robbi (short for Roberta). Both are middle school girls who are waiting to hear if they get to go to Laddertop Academy. Laddertop is one of four towers that extend up to outer space and culminate in a space station. And one of the jobs isn't something just anyone can do. These people have to be small enough to fit into the work space. Meaning they hire short middle schoolers for this job. And they are very selective. As suspected both girls are chosen and whisked off to training.

Right from the start I was under the impression that Azure was the heroine. She had the stronger personality. I could not have been more pleased when I found out I was wrong. That girl drove me crazy. Robbi, on the other hand, reminded me of myself. The other kids were fun and interesting, and, like many middle grade books, the adults aren't completely trustworthy.

The story started off slow, and a bit confusing, but it soon picked up and ended on an exciting note. I blame that on this being the first volume, thus needing the setup and world building. I'm excited for volume 2 where the story should be even more interesting and exciting. If you enjoy sci-fi and graphic novels, you won't want to miss this one.

Manga Review: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (1)

“Magical Girl Madoka of the Magus”

There exist strange creatures who have the power to grant one wish to each chosen girl. However, in exchange, that girl must then become a magical girl and fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness that are responsible for murders and suicides.

In the city of Mitakihara, a schoolgirl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki are approached by a familiar named Kyubey, who offers to grant each of them one wish in return for making each of them a magical girl. Another magical girl named Homura Akemi tries to prevent Madoka from making such a deal, while Kyubey urges Madoka by telling her she will become the most powerful magical girl. However, contrary to the glamorous notions one would expect, a magical girl finds herself dealing with death, isolation, agony over the value of her wish, and existential crises. Madoka, following her friends, soon sees the darker side of being a magical girl, and because of knowing the truth about being a magical girl, she questions if she should become one as well.

Upon hearing a friend raving about this anime series and how great it was, I decided to check it out. It was only twelve episodes long and not nearly long enough. So after completing that, I decided to check out the manga adaptation. It follows the series almost exactly. I honestly can’t say which I enjoyed more.

Madoka (the one in pink) is a fourteen year old girl, living a normal life with her parents and little brother. Sayaka (the one in blue) is her best friend. They meet new girl, Homura (the one in black), and it’s not long after that Madoka is called to help Kyubey. Kyubey is a small white creature, similar to a cat, but with long floppy ears. He is under attack from Homura. Madoka and Sayaka save Kyubey and instantly see Homura as the bad guy.

But before they can get away, they are under attack of an evil witch. Enter Mami (the one in yellow), a mahou shoujo (magical girl), who has come to defeat the witch, saving Madoka and Sayaka. Kyubey gives both girls the option of becoming a mahou shoujo as well. In exchange for a life of fighting evil, they will be granted one wish… anything they desire. But is a lifetime of fighting witches worth it? And is Kyubey really to be trusted?

Volume one was fabulous, and I’m off to read volume two!

Also, check out this fabulous site, Puella Magi, for more information about this series and spin-offs.

Manga Review: Labyrinth and Dark Crystal

The fourth RETURN TO THE LABYRINTH installment hit shelves last month. It was the final volume in the series. If you're familiar with the 1980's movie Labyrinth, then this is for you. Whether or not you've seen the movie, I honestly think you'd enjoy this. However, if you have seen the movie, it will make reading these that much more enjoyable.

Even after 15 years, Jareth, the goblin king, is still in love with Sarah. And he has been keeping his eyes on the baby. Though, Toby is no longer a baby. Toby is to be the successor to King Jareth's throne. But is this high school slacker up for the job? And is Jareth being fair?

Other lovable characters show up to help along the way: Ludo, Hoggle, Didymus, the worm. "I said 'Ello." And we get to meet a few new characters as well: Hanna the wingless faery and her friend who's basically a baby Ludo.

Synopsis:

The Goblin King has kept a watchful eye on Toby: His minions secretly guiding and protecting the child... Legions of goblins work behind the scenes to ensure that Toby has whatever his heart desires... Preparing him for the day when he will return to the Labyrinth and take his rightful place beside Jareth as the heir to the Goblin Kingdom... That day has come......but no one has told Toby.

While I enjoyed RETURN TO THE LABYRINTH, I loved LEGENDS OF THE DARK CRYSTAL. It follows Lahr and Neffi, two gelflings, whose homes and villages have been destroyed by the garthim. Again, I think this would be more enjoyable to someone who has seen and loved the film, but everyone could enjoy it. The evil Skesis are behind the garthim attacks.

If you've seen the movie, then I'm sure you remember the Skesis often saying "Hmmmmmmm". They say it a lot in these books, and I can hear their "Hmmmmmm" as though I was watching the film. These books take place before the movie, a prequel, and is set at a time when there were more geflings. Aughra and the mystics, make their appearance, of course, making this a thoroughly enjoyable series. I'm sad there's only two books.

Manga Review: Bride of the Water God

I had been interested in reading the BRIDE OF THE WATER GOD Korean manga series by Mi-Kyung Yun. The art caught my eye, as well as the title. As a fan of mythology and folklore, once I heard the words "water god" I had to check it out.

So today, I picked up volume one. I devoured it. I was disappointed that volume 2 was not in stock, but I decided to scour the shelves to see if it was misplaced. It was! So I read volume 2. But that was it.


Synopsis:

When Soah's impoverished, desperate village decides to sacrifice her to the Water God Habaek to end a long drought, they believe that drowning one beautiful girl will save their entire community and bring much-needed rain. Not only is Soah surprised to be rescued by the Water God - instead of killed - she never imagined she'd be a welcomed guest in Habaek's magical kingdom, where an exciting new life awaits her! Most surprising, however, is the Water God himself... and how very different he is from the monster Soah imagined.

So... disappointed, I left Borders in DC to go to the one in Germantown. And woot! They had all five. I grabbed volumes 3, 4, and 5 in one hand and went to read. I got through all three in less than an hour.

I don't usually like to read entire books in a book store, and I only ever do it with manga or graphic novels. And I read them so fast that I barely got to enjoy the art. So...

I do plan to buy them all and read them again, slowly, letting my eyes savor the beautiful images within. Sadly, I can't really gush about what happened, so as not to spoil you. Let me know if you've read any of these and what you thought about them.

Volume 6 comes out this September, and it'll be the first volume with a title: THE MASK RETURNS.

Manga Review: Sanctuary and Challenge

I recently discovered that I loved manga. This happens to be one of my favorite series. It's a part of the WICKED LOVELY series. It's not a re-telling in manga form; it's a completely different story.

SANCTUARY was the first one. The main character is Rika, a former winter girl. She lives in the desert. Why? Because for so long she carried the cold, she never wants to feel cold again. She is friends is Sionnach (Shy) a fox faery, and she has a thing for Jace (a human). The art is amazing and the story is great.


The story gets even better in CHALLENGE. The same characters are in this tale, but we get to see someone else we know from the main series. Jace and Rika's relationship is sweet. Maili is causing more problems than ever. And Shy, as always, is the tricky fox.

Definitly check these out, but don't forget to read the WICKED LOVELY series.!

And here is the full cover art from SANCTUARY. Shy is on the left. Then Keenan, Rika, and finally Jace.

Manga Review: A Little Snow Fairy Sugar and Fairy Cube

So, while I'm on my manga kick, I thought I'd share two trilogies that I just read.

A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR was a sweet little story about a snow fairy (one type of season fairies) named Sugar and a human girl named Saga. Sugar needed help to become a full-fledged season fairy, and Saga was just the girl to help her. It started off okay. The two MCs were always yelling at each other over misunderstandings, but once that got out of the way, and they were able to find a place where they weren't fighting. In the end, I actually cried. I couldn't believe that I cried over such a silly story, but the ending was really sweet. This one is good for all ages.


FAIRY CUBE is not much like SUGAR. It's kinda the opposite. Meaning, it's not fluff. It is definitely not for kids. There is murder and sex, and I would recommend ages 14 and up. It had an interesting twist on some old folklore, but they stayed true to a lot of it. Which makes me happy.

Both of these are worth the read. The first is cute and fun and can be shared with kids. The second is dark and dangerous.

Manga and Anime

I've been reading a lot of manga recently. It all started with Melissa Marr's faery series, WICKED LOVELY, got a spin-off manga. VAMPIRE KISSES, THE FAERIE PATH, and CIRQUE DU FREAK are other young adult fantasy series that have done this. Usually, it’s only a small series. Three seems to be the golden number for these.


There are also several series by Marvel. But I have to recommend RETURN TO THE LABYRINTH or THE LEGEND OF THE DARK CRYSTAL, both based off of the Henson movies made in collaboration with the fantastic artists, Brian and Wendy Froud. Also, fans of World of Warcraft, there is a series called LEGENDS, and THE SUNWELL TRILOGY in manga form. One of my favorites was STAR TREK TNG, THE MANGA. I can’t wait to read MAXIMUM RIDE AND NIGHTSCHOOL.

“Real manga” (as I call it) was originally in Japanese. Which is why they’re “backwards”. We read left-to-right. They read right-to-left. So, to keep the book exactly the same when they translated it to English, they read right-to-left.

One of the most popular authors is Clamp, which is actually a group of four women. I’ve yet to read one of their manga, but as I’ve recently learned, a lot of manga has an animated series… anime! I recently discovered the anime station, Funimation. The only anime I’ve seen before this is Sailor Moon. Anyway, XXXHOLIC, is a very popular CLAMP manga, and I adore the anime. I have a small crush on Watanuki.

I recently read FAIRY CUBE by Kaori Yuki, and I loved it. I want to read another series of hers, ANGEL SANCTUARY. Now, I’m reading A LITTLE SNOW FAIRY SUGAR. Some are silly. Not all of them, but most. I’m anxious to get my hands on VAMPIRE KNIGHT and XXXHOLIC to name a few.

Other anime I've enjoyed is MoonPhase, Peach Girl, and School Rumble.