.hack//GU+ (rank 4)

Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 5/5 (Complete), OOP but not hard to find
Shounen
Genre: Fighting, Videogames, MMORPG

Summary: Haseo is a famous player in an virtual reality game, as a Player Killer who only kills other Player Killers (PKK) known as “The Terror of Death”. His goal is to go after a PK named Tri-Edge, who has somehow put his friend Shino into a coma after he PK’ed her. While trying to rescue her and solve the other mysteries of “The World”, Haseo gets involved with a group known as .hack//GU looking for answers.

Review: This manga was interesting. I did read all the way to the end, but I found it a mix of some very interesting ideas, some sympathetic characters, but also a very rough artwork and story. Like seriously, sometimes the art was absolutely gorgeous, but other times looked sketchy and unfinished, lots of closeups to the point where it’s hard to tell what’s going on, and just sort of a rushed look overall. But when the artwork is polished, it was nice.

The story is interesting. Back before Sword Art Online existed, there was .hack, involving stories about being trapped in virtual reality games and MMORPGs affecting the real world. That being said, for all its flaws, Sword Art Online is the better story, even though the .hack franchise was the first in the now sub genre.

After reading a massive amount of .hack lore, there’s this interesting subplot about a Westworld style world, where a secret researcher in AI and other advancements was funded and sold his research as a MMORPG game engine. But underneath it all lies a new form of intelligent life and has created a game that evolves on its own without the help of programmers.

And yet at the same time there are a lot of Scifi elements that seem outright impossible to exist and the mechanisms and reasons for their existence is never explained.

That being said, even though I find the concepts behind the story interesting, the actual story here is somewhat rushed, messy and leaves a lot unexplained. There’s also a weird pacing thing, where at this manga’s pace it really only should have had one final boss. Instead they defeat the boss by volume 3, there’s like an intermission, and then the last volume features a second boss. It was a really rushed fight, a proper length for this series ought to have been at least 7 volumes.

All in all, I still enjoyed it, but it’s hard to imagine non-.hack savvy readers enjoying this. That being said, at least it’s an actual complete story, unlike .hack//Link.

Recommended: for fans of the .hack franchise. If you are not a fan, I would start with .hack//Legend of the Twilight’s Bracelet manga. That one assumes you know nothing about the game, so it’s a better introduction for new readers.

Rating: PG13: some moderate violence

.hack//Link (rank 4)

Publisher: Tokyopop

Volumes: 3/3 (Cancelled in Japan), OOP, vol 3 is hard to find but not too hard if you're patient

Shounen

Genre: Inside a Video Game, Fighting, MMORPGs

Summary: (from Tokyopop) Tokio Kuryu is an avid gamer who misses his chance to play the new release of the hugely popular online game, The World. His problems are seemingly solved when a mysterious transfer student offers him a black-labeled copy only to be suddenly transported into a game where the legendary hero Kite is battling a brand new evil organization! Now it’s up to Tokio to figure out what’s going on in The World and set it right!

Review: I don’t think I’ve ever roller coasted from excited about a manga series to disappointed so quickly. When I started reading it, it seemed like a solid Shounen title set in the .hack world, like it was going to be a kind of standard- but enjoyable- save the day, beat the bad guys, get the girl sort of story. Unfortunately the series was cancelled.

The Good part: this manga doesn’t require a lot of knowledge of .hack, since everything and everyone is mostly introduced and it stands mostly on it’s own. It does help if you’ve read .hack//GU+ manga or played the games but it’s not necessary. That being said, the quality of the panel layouts and the artwork are much better than .hack//GU+.

The Bad part: Well, the series was cancelled in Japan and they didn’t even give the story time to wrap up, not even a rushed ending. So it just ends on a cliffhanger. Apparently sales of both the game and the manga were so poor, that the creator said on twitter it’s likely it will never be finished. 

The series had promise, it could have been way better than it was with some tweaks here and there. But as it is, nothing is explained, like:

• How did Tokio get transported inside the game by the black disc?
• What’s Saika’s goal, and why does she look like the princess in his dreams?
• Why are the cores and Akashic Records so important?
• What is Schicksal’s goal and why? Why don’t the game admins stop them?

That in itself wasn’t too terrible, but the reveal on Tokio’s special ability was really corny and outright impossible- somehow he can chain fighting move combos from other video games inside The World, which is an RPG. It makes no sense at all, if he’s in the game physically with his real body, he should only be able to do moves that he can do in real life. OTOH, this could have been an extension of his other literally game/reality breaking special ability, but I honestly thought it was even dumber than the power leveling up montage I expected.

Recommended: Die-hard completionist .hack fans only.

Other comments: really blatant pantyshots that feel weird in an otherwise for-kids sort of manga. Also there is a weirdly stereotyped German player who is cringey, to say the least.

.hack//Alcor (rank 4)

Publisher: Tokyopop

Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), OOP but not hard to find

Shoujo (reads like)

Genre: Video games, Friendship

Summary: Nanase hates herself. She leaves her old game guild and joins a new one where both her crush, guild leader Silabus, and the famous Duel Arena queen Alkaid are in, in hopes of changing herself. But how can she change when her past won’t leave her alone?

Other notes: This is a side character’s story in the .hack world.

Review: Based on the cute Shoujo style and the Tokyopop summary involving her crush, Silabus, I had thought this was going to be a romance story where she wins over his love. What it actually is, is a story about friendship and trying to figure out what defines you. The central friendship in the story is actually between her and Alkaid.

Apparently to fully understand the background of where this story fits in the .hack universe, you need to have played .hack//GU (the game). But aside from the fact I thought it was weird that they didn’t explain anything about The World for a stand alone single volume manga, at least the friendship part of the story doesn’t require any explanation. If you know basic MMORPG stuff I think it’s not too hard to follow the basic story-line.

The Tokyopop age rating on this is Teen, but honestly it feels more like a kid’s manga. The art is very cute and Nanase is painfully clueless and lacks basic social skills that elementary school kids have. It also really seemed hard to imagine that was she was originally in a PK guild, and that they got so annoyed at her leaving they harassed her afterwards. She is more like a sort of quiet girl who doesn’t draw much attention to herself in the real world scenes, so it really didn’t make much sense.

That being said, the ending was sweet, even if a lot of things don’t make a lot of sense. If you don’t dwell on it, it’s a decent story about friendship.

Recommended: I think this would be more enjoyable to Shoujo readers who don’t mind a sweet friendship story, but since it requires at least a little .hack knowledge to follow the basic plot, that probably isn’t a very large pool of potential readers. And as far as .hack fans are concerned, I doubt they would be very interested in a story about a minor side character who isn’t very important or very interesting, really.

So all in all... most people can really safely skip this one.

Age Rating: PG

Antique Bakery (rank 2)

Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Volumes: 4/4 (Complete), OOP but not hard to find
Shoujo/Josei
Genre: Slice of Life, Food

Summary: What do an ex-Boxer, a rich Heir to a famous company, a gay man of “demonic charm” and a guy who wears sunglasses even indoors have in common? The most amazing French pastries you have ever set your eyes on! This manga is a series of interconnected short stories all following the lives of those who work at a very unique bakery, and sometimes their customers too. What’s more, the owner has a surprising reason for starting a bakery, even though he doesn’t even like sweets.

Review: So this series is notable for not being Yaoi (but does have a few BL scenes) but has a popular following among Yaoi readers because the mangaka is most famous for her BL work, and also has self published a bunch of popular Yaoi doujinshi based off her own Antique Bakery series.

I have read this manga several times and even though I enjoyed it every time, for a while I couldn’t remember anything about the story aside from cake and pastries that sounded so delicious, that I always finished the series hungry. In hindsight I can see why. While I enjoyed the stories about their pasts and such, the stories all seem weirdly disconnected from the present, they barely ever mention anything again past the first time it was revealed. And the manga basically ends at what would be the end of a first arc in other series.

I saw one review which said frustratingly, that nothing gets resolved. Without spoiling anything, I don’t think that’s entirely fair, because there is some resolution for some of the characters. But the central plot line does ends in a deliberately open ended way for sure.

Recommended: if reading a story about four good looking guys who run a pastry shop appeals to you, then this is the manga. That being said these days mostly BL readers looking to get into the mangaka’s Yaoi doujinshi are the ones who read this.

I think it stands on its own fine as Shoujo/Josei, but be aware most of the stories are about living life and there isn’t much romance, and maybe just a touch of drama, and occasional light comedy.

Other Works from this Mangaka (from Most to Least Popular): 

• Gerard and Jacques (Yaoi)
• Ichigenme - The First Class is Civil Law (Yaoi)
• Ooku (Josei)
• What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Yaoi)
• Lovers in the Night (Yaoi)
• Moon and Sandals (Yaoi)
• Don't Say Anything More, Darling (Yaoi)
• Truly, Kindly (Yaoi)
• Solfege (Yaoi)
• Flower of Life (Shoujo/Josei)
• All My Darling Daughters (Josei)
• Garden Dreams (Josei)
• Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! (Josei)

Audition (rank 3) (manhwa)

Publisher: DramaQueen
Volumes 2/10 (Dropped publishing because of bankruptcy), OOP, but not hard to find
Shoujo
Music, Drama

Summary: Myung-ja Song was the wealthy heiress to the Song-Song Records empire, at least until her father died. He left it in his will she will lose her entire inheritance unless she tracks down 4 boys, now all young men, and has them win the company's talent search debut contest! Together with her old friend, a broke detective girl who looks like a guy, they try and find the guys and enter the contest!

Each boy has a special musical talent: one could figure out the pitch of any sound and make chords with sounds of nature. Another kid has a powerful clear voice that could be heard 1 km away. Another kid would make complex rhythms hitting a stick against a metal fence. And the last one had lighting quick hands and an interest in all types of music.

Review: This story had so much potential and it kills me that I can’t even review the whole thing because it was cancelled. It would be awesome if another company picked this title up. I really think it could have been a moderate hit if it kept up the quality of the story it had at the beginning.

As it is, even the scanlations never finished which is a crying shame. It’s still a decent read, but I can’t really recommend a cancelled series.

Recommended: publishers or scanslators, read this and give me the rest of the story please!

The Other Side of the Mirror (rank 3) (manhua)

Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 2/2 (Complete), OOP, but not hard to find
Seinen (reads like) actually Josei
Romance

Summary: Two down on their luck people meet one day in New York City and spark a romance: Lou, who makes a living by betting he can out drink other guys in bar bets, and Sunny, a prostitute who was abandoned by her boyfriend at a gas station and left to fend for herself. Despite their differences, they feel an attraction to each other and quickly get involved. Will it be enough to turn their lives around?

Review: This series fills me with such conflict. The cover art really attracted me, but at the same time I felt repelled by how emotionless and empty inside they looked. And the title, “The Other Side of the Mirror” was cool, and I had hoped perhaps it was a story about identity or something similar.

Instead, it’s a romance, but honestly... it’s so unromantic. The two of them are so jaded, cynical, burnt out and slightly traumatized by their pasts. The world beats them down and they struggle so much, it is really hard to read, it’s quite depressing. Their worlds seem so hopeless with no chance of escape. They both gave up on their dreams and even the smallest happiness seems beyond their grasp.

Somehow, amazingly it manages to end happily, which was nice to see. Not saying every romance needs to end happily, but it would have been super frustrating to see them start and end still in their super shitty lives.

Other notes: surprisingly, this is a manhua set in New York City (well, volume 1 anyway) and not an OEL, and it reads right to left. The actual main story is really quite short, only 1.5 volumes. The rest of it is 3 unrelated short stories.

Mini Short Stories review: Overall I liked the short stories better than the main story. The best short was “Funeral Procession of the Stars”, a ghost story. It’s way too short to summarize without spoiling anything, so I won’t.

The second best, IMO, was “Peggy” but even though I enjoyed it, it was basically a big tease for BL readers. BL fans will probably find the story to be pretty cruel- it’s the sort of story that offers hope, only to throw it all away.

Lastly, “99 Roses” which was stupid. The first half seems like a fantasy romance, and then the twist ending... was really lame. I don’t see the point of a story that looks set up to be a fantasy romance and then be like... haha fooled you! It’s not romantic at all! It's kind of dumb.

Recommended: All in all, I think Jo Chen is definitely a creator to watch out for, I think she has some serious talent in both writing and art, but somehow I feel like she hasn’t quite managed to make her masterpiece(s) yet.

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas

Volumes: 8+ (Ongoing) (Read: 1-8), In Print

Shounen

Genre: Slice of Life, Fantasy, Family

Summary: Living in an abandoned village in the middle of nowhere, lives a young girl and a mysterious creature that looks like a man with the head of a beast. He warns her not to stray far from where they live, and to never touch him. They live peacefully, but there is a quiet air of mystery and danger that surrounds them. What is going on? And why?

Review: This series has two central parts to it. About half of it is slice of life, showing us the mostly peaceful everyday life with the young girl and her guardian, who is like a father to her. The other half of the story is a slowly unfolding mystery that reveals more and more about the world they live, and the backstories of both the girl and the beast, and those who are after them.

The fantasy style artwork and the foreboding atmosphere is the main draw of the series, it’s not like most manga at all, it reminds me more of western comics and fairy tales, and a slightly macabre bent from the motif of skeleton heads and dark creatures so black that seemingly no light reflects off them. It's a lot like those fairy tales about dark forbidden forests and things that lurk inside them.

The actual story, to give a hint of what it is about without spoilers, is about a curse and the girl who might be very important somehow. 

Recommended: Highly recommended, especially if you like stories about a heartwarming father and daughter-like relationship. Or a more fairy tale-like mystery story that slowly unfolds.

Other Works by this author: (2 one volume collections)
Love on the Other Side: A Nagabe Short Story Collection, The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms

Age Rating: PG: so far this series is safe for younger readers