
Review: Ultraman vol. 9
By Dustin Cabeal
The last volume wrapped up a big chunk of the story and began threading the needle for the next big arc. In a way, this volume feels like a brand-new volume. It follows a new character and introduces not one, but two new Ultramen… damn series is going Ultra crazy with the Ultramen if you ask me, but it always works out.

Review: Astra: Lost in Space vol. 2
By Dustin Cabeal
Typically, in manga, when a group of kids is thrown together, they usually become chums. It takes a volume, but it’s so commonplace that it stands out when that doesn’t happen. Even with some of the groundwork being laid out in the first volume, our group of teens lost in space aren’t the best of friends. There’s some that get alone better than others, and two of them still haven’t integrated into the group at all.

Review: Prison School vol. 9
By Dustin Cabeal
This volume of Prison School changed me. I didn’t come out of it the same way I went into it, and for the first time in reading the series, I became nervous about where the story would lead the ending. Mostly due to this being the best volume of the entire series thus far. With practically every volume the bar is raised, but with the ninth, it makes me re-evaluate all of the perfect scores I’ve given this series. Hell, it makes me re-evaluate every score I’ve ever given because has anything been as amazing as this volume? And if and when you read this volume, I want you to come back here and re-read this paragraph because you’ll probably think I’m a goddamn madman for saying that.

Review: Food Wars! vol. 22
By Dustin Cabeal
Hey, remember the Fall Classic? When Soma was up against Subaru? Yeah, this is pretty much the same thing. The entire issue is dedicated to the build-up of the battle between Soma and Akira. Granted, the build-up isn’t much of the story because Yuto Tsukuda really likes spending a lot of time with the cooking and the judges.

Review: My Hero Academia vol. 11
By Dustin Cabeal
Holy shit this was the volume I was waiting for! After all, this slow building that the story was going through I didn’t expect for All Might and One for All to throw down for real in this volume, but that’s exactly what happened.

Review: Nisekoi: False Love vol. 21-25
By Dustin Cabeal
When I received the 25th volume of Nisekoi: False Love this week, I instantly noticed that it was thicker than normal volumes. Flipping over to the back cover I read the words “Final Volume” and got excited. My problem with many of the middle volumes that I read of Nisekoi was that it had that stretched out feeling that comes with a lot of manga stories that become successful. Yet, much like the way that Raku and Chitoge’s false love turned to real love, I surprisingly fell in love with this story. Part of me hates admitting that, but I can’t deny that it’s a love story unlike any other I’ve read. In particular, because it’s a harem love story in which the boy makes a choice and picks one of the women interested in him.

Review: Astra: Lost in Space vol. 1
By Dustin Cabeal
You can always tell a good story when it fills your imagination with ideas. Upon reading Astra: Lost in Space, I wanted to expand the idea, invent new aspects of the story and go on an adventure of my own. That’s probably weird, but that’s how my mind works. It’s not that I didn’t like this story, in fact, just the opposite, it was just a great idea that made me wish I had thought of it first.

Review: Black Clover vol. 10
By Dustin Cabeal
It’s a complicated feeling every time I read a new volume of Black Clover. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forget that terrible anime adaptation which depicts Asta as a screaming idiot that never stops yelling his shrill, annoying voice. Yet, when I pick up a new volume of the manga, I’m instantly reminded why this is an incredible series that continues to buck the trends of other manga.

Review: Twin Star Exorcists vol. 10
By Dustin Cabeal
The last few volumes of Twin Star Exorcists weren’t great. They were fairly average, but they seemed to mark a new direction in the story in which the battle would be more drawn out and move away from the fast pace storytelling that I had fallen in love with in the earlier volumes of the series. It made me a bit reluctant to return to the series which is why I’m only now getting around to reviewing the 10th volume.

Review: Food Wars! vol. 21
By Dustin Cabeal
The amazing thing about the shonen style of storytelling is that something can reach twenty-one volumes and yet the story hasn’t completed a full year. It also makes me wonder how long I’ve been reading Food Wars! for since I started reviewing and reading this series from the start of the trades. Is it any wonder that the dishes have gotten a little boring.

Review: My Hero Academia vol. 10
By Dustin Cabeal
Unfortunately, My Hero Academia is become a story with cool moments, but not a cool story. At the start, this world felt like a very Japanese take on the modern American superhero stories. It’s quickly changed into a political story, which isn’t bad, but the politics always seem to be set up by attacking children.

Review: SP Baby vol. 1
By Thea Srinivasan
Bodyguards are usually meant for a special set of people who constantly need to be protected. But what if someone asked you to be their bodyguard? Would you take the job if the money and training were great? As someone who isn’t athletic, I would probably get the person I’m protecting in trouble within the first five minutes of being with them. Plus, it doesn’t help that I’m not long and lean like many other bodyguards who tower over the person their protecting. In reality, though, I often see many stories about male bodyguards protecting females specifically. It isn’t often I see a story where a female is protecting a male.

Review: Fire Punch vol. 1
By Dustin Cabeal
I judged Fire Punch by its cover… and the name. Even as a reviewer, as someone that’s constantly surprised by the things he reads, I still judge books by their cover. The thing I have going for me is that I don’t stop there, and still give it a shot. Sometimes I’m right; sometimes I’m wrong. I always want to be wrong, and I’m glad to say that in the case of Fire Punch, I was very wrong.

Review: Food Wars! vol. 20
By Dustin Cabeal
While the return of Erina’s father has provided some great moments, the overall story seems to be lacking a real overall cohesiveness. There have been plenty of loopholes for Soma and his gang to skid by, be it Erina’s father letting her stay at Polar Star or Soma’s challenges. It hasn’t been all bad, but there have been some languid moments.

Review: RWBY vol. 1
By Dustin Cabeal
RWBY is a straightforward concept. The title of the books is not only a combination of the main character’s names but also the colors that they wear. Did I mention it’s straightforward? Starting off as something from Rooster Teeth, RWBY has been one of, if not the only crossover hit to come from American and navigate its way into Japanese manga. The manga is made by Shirow Miwa and is adapted to the manga style both in its characters and the world.

Review: The Water Dragon's Bride Vol. 1
By Thea Srinivasan
This is going to be really strange to say, but seeing a child growing up within a matter of one volume makes enjoy this manga even more. It’s a really bad thing to say when everything is falling apart for one character, but I think that brings more emotion within the reader themselves. It’s almost like they’re a spectator for the godlike author. But really, what I’ve read in one volume makes me hope for more to come.

Review: Takane & Hana vol. 1
By Thea Srinivasan
One 26 year old man with a giant ego and one 16 year old girl with a backbone leads to a recipe of a long-winded, comedic cat and mouse chase. Shoujo mangas are one of my greatest guilty pleasures of all time. Next to Korean dramas, I love the tropes of a good shoujo manga and this one did a decent job of creating its spin with unlikely, fun characters.

Review: Children of the Whales vol. 1
By Dustin Cabeal
When I saw that there was an anime version of this manga, I knew I wanted to at least read the first volume before checking out the show. Now, I’m not sure I can watch the show because I might just stick to the manga. Anytime I read a story that makes me pause and say out loud, “Well, I did not see that coming”, then I’m usually all in on checking out more.

Review: Black Clover vol. 9
By Dustin Cabeal
It's funny how so many of the manga, and really the anime adaptations of the manga, that I’ve been recommending for a few years are finally catching on. Black Clover’s anime adaptation is extremely popular for some goddamn reason. I wrote about why it’s one of the most terrible things to ever be done to a property (read here) and then I gave it the top spot on my Worst Anime of 2017 list (read here). Still, people are coming around on it, be it an inferior version of this fantastic manga.

Review: Striker & Slayer #1
By Dustin Cabeal
Anytime I pick up a comic, and the first page is a wall of text, I kind of just sigh to myself. The wall of text as I call it is a big cheat because it’s conveying information that the creator can’t or doesn’t want to work into the story. It’s common in sci-fi because creators think it’ll speed things up by explaining the world instead of showing it.
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