Manga-styled fan service
924594
I was lost at first due to the books being printed in the style of manga (from right to left), though each book explains just how the book should be read.

Something that has to be considered is that the story on these books do not follow the one from each game. Instead, tey are stories based on each game. It's a fun way to experience a game that you've already played.
173368
I would love to make it short saying simply "i love it", but it wouldnt work for someone who saw the anime (just like me).

The manga, in some ways, differs with the anime so it makes actually pretty fun to read, like a fresh air for a well known room; i wouldnt say its a completely different story, because its basically the same, but its great for us (the ones that saw the anime) to see how some elements can change to enjoy the manga, even if we know where is headed.

It certainly has more mature themes; the horror, that is well known in the anime, take the next step by showing some crude images that the anime didn't dare; as for the sexual themes, its everyone desicion how to understand the scene; in my point of view, its great to see how much they did care for them, although i wouldnt surprise they draw that for fan service.

It has its drawbacks, although is fun to read it, it feels that something is left in the way, the story is the same but the way the things get interconnected has lost part of its mistery and smoothness, thats the only way for me to describe it.

In the end, every great anime deserve to has its other point of view, and although something is left in the way; the way the things are going are great.

I have high hopes for the rest of the story; and hope not to get a bad impression later on.
1946644
This review is on the first volume, not the story as a whole. This review is also spoiler free.

In the first book of the series we get an introduction into the writing style and the setting. For me, the pacing moved a little fast but it's nice to watch kind hearted people try to do things for each other. I'd have liked to see a slower development, especially given that this series appears to have run for 8 volumes thus far. The friendships between three of the main characters (minus HImari, the titlur character) is sweet and I'd definately like to learn more about how they came to be. The ending left me wanting to know more about Aoi.

The art style is pretty standard to Shojou manga with big eyes. The expressions on the characters in this book seems to focus on the mouths rather than body language which gets some ... interesting results. Considering I'm still interested in where this series ends up, I'll be looking for the 2nd book. It's not incredibly high on my list of MUST reads and it took me a while to get to this book in the first place, but I definately wouldn't take it OFF my TBR. I'm treating this like a television show: if I don't love it by the 5th book, I'll be dropping the series.

The book came on time and packaged well although I think Amazon needs to work on using smaller boxes for books. It makes me feel bad when I don't order 3 or 4 at a time. Also it came damage free, so there's that!
1268958
I think other reviewers have covered the outline of "who" and "where" so I'll just skip to adding a few notes of what may just be matters of personal taste.

First, I find the stylized art to be clean and graceful, which is tremendously appealing to me over styles where it seems gobs of ink are slathered around in lieu of basics such as proportion and dimension (as they apply to manga characters, that is).  Detailed carnage?  Yeah.  But not over-kill for this genre.

The storyline is meandering but not pointless.  There's definitely the feel that we're gathering all the loose ends - and building the character personalities - for when we're shown the bigger picture.  So far it's kept me interested enough that I'm looking forward to reading v3.
4187538
Ahh I love it so much! Every page is so beautiful. Including two posters in the art book as well, but I don't have the heart to take them out  My all time favorite manga artist  So glad I bought it >\\u\\<!
1530472
***This volume was supplied to Constant Collectible, a nerd website I write for, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.***

This series will be problematic to your to-be-read list. Be warned.

Bungo Stray Dogs is a series where the characters are very loosely based off of real-life authors. Real-life Japanese authors, to be exact. Real-life Japanese authors you're probably not familiar with, to further increase the accuracy of my above statement.

This creates To-Be-Read-List problems for two reasons: 1) This series is really good, so youll want to read all of them. Of which there are 12 (only 2 of which are currently in English). 2) Youll end up wanting to read all of the books by all of the mentioned Japanese authors. Of which there are many.

But you know what? Its worth it. This series rocks. As does this particular volume.

Bungo Stray Dogs is a prime example of a manga that manages to be action-packed and serious while also making you laugh. This volume has the perfect balance of action, character development, humor, and world-building.

Each character has his or her own quirks, which keeps the relatively large cast of characters from blending together. We met a few new people since volume 1 and they're all intriguing. They each have very distinct looks, as well, something that the illustrator (Sango Harukawa) did that excellent job of emphasizing.

Speaking of which: This manga has exceptional artwork. I could look at it all day.

The world that this series takes place in is fascinating. The urban, modern-day setting goes very well with the supernatural skills that most of the characters possess. Its also a cool touch because that the characters are based off of 20th century Japanese authors, each having personality traits or magical skills that are nods to their respective authors. Its interesting to see how these traits translate into a modern day, supernatural setting. Massive points to Asagiris creativity.

The literary nerd in me is making me want to read up on my Japanese literature. That being said, you absolutely do not need to know anything about Japanese authors to enjoy this series. It is very self-contained, though it is made even richer if you happen to possess outside information.

I cant wait to read more of Bungo Stray Dogs and am impatiently waiting for volume 3 to be released in English.
4895057
One of my favorite manga series. Arrived in perfect condition. Have you ever thought, "I could really go for an action adventure fantasy comedy cooking manga"? To that, I say, "What extremely specific taste!", and then quickly shift your focus from the rack of Toriko manga and over to this excellent series.
2356687
Hard to say just how to rate this. Mostly I just wanted to let buyers know what this consisted of.
It's a fan book for the Oreimo (the short name) anime, which lasted one season. It is all in Japanese, which I don't read.

If the wide bars on the cover, blocking part of the view, make you suspect nude pictures inside - well, that's not the case. This is the slipcase cover, the actual book cover shows Kirino and Kuroneko in very skimpy bikinis. Honestly for me this alone is worth the price. Very few of the inside illustrations are anywhere that revealing. The TV show itself didn't really indulge in "fan service", and this book is true to that.

Inside, there is a 20 page illustration gallery, most of them full page. Then a map of the area where the characters live. Then 20 pages of photographs of the voice actresses for those two characters. Followed by Character Guides for all the main characters (a few pages each), including photos of, and interviews with, their voice actors/actresses.

Next are episode guides, two pages for each of the regular season episodes, and the additional episodes which are in the Oreimo DVD/Blu-Ray package. These are accompanied by several small scenes for each.

A few pages go into Kirino's and Kuroneko's favorite characters, Scarlet Witch Meruru and Maschera, respectively.

There's lots of other little details - like illustrations and I guess brief descriptions of all the other games that are shown in the series.

Fan books for TV shows are not really my thing, and even if I could read Japanese I probably wouldn't care about the interviews anyway. But, I'd say it is a really well done package. So I'll give it 4 stars.
1810549
Love the art. Ayano Yamane is an awesome mangaka and story telling. I can't wait for more of this series,
2084290
First off, this book is MUCH tamer than the main High School DxD books. The most suggestive thing about this whole book is the cover.  Sure, there are a few boob jokes, but over all, the manga is pretty PG-13 (as there is no detailed nudity to speak of, and Issei's usual barrage of dirty jokes is completely absent.)

The manga is really just a small collection of short stories focused on Asia and Koneko working together.  There is no real story arch, just small, goofy adventures, and outside of Asia and Koneko, none of the other main cast members do much.  So, if you are already a fan of the High School DxD series, then this is a must read, as it is a chance to see two very fun characters outside of the usual Rias and Issei driven plots of the main series.  If you are not familiar with the world of High School DxD then you should probably hold off on this book and start with the first season of the anime, or the first volume of the manga.

These stories have one real goal. To be cute. They are cute. Very cute. The art is simple, but pretty, and the characters are all recognizable, while still reworked to fit the more playful, adorable style of the stories. It is also nice that this book is a bit of a break from the near constant fan service of the main series.  Considering the stories told here are all from Asia's perspective, it isn't much of a shock. There is a little fan service here, but most of it just consists of the two main characters wearing cute cosplay style costumes (one story has them working as magical girls in an amusement park, one has them as waitresses, one has them at the pool.  You get the idea.)

This book is purely for fans of High School DxD. It is a light, fluffy bit of side story goodness that sets out to create something fun and cute, and succeeds.  Recommended.
1128356
The Official Character Book to Bleach is a nice buy for fans of the manga as well as the anime. I myself only own a few manga volumes (Tank'bon) as I'd rather watch the story instead of reading it. If I hear the anime follows the manga, then I am usually in favor of that anime, because I think there is a lot one can miss when just reading the story via the manga.

This book, done in manga style, reads left to right, actually has some of the Bleach panels inside, and the overall book gives a run down of the first 21 volumes of Bleach. There are two main styles, as I have grown to call them) in this book. The first is a character profile, which shows a drawing of that character and other information such as birthday and their zanpaku-to's name. Some characters like Ichigo appear many times throughout the book. Secondly, some of the pages have a black background with white writing, and instead of focusing on characters it will focus on parts of the story instead.

If you are a big fan of the anime like myself then I would recommend getting this book. Now that the first three uncut box sets are out, that follows the first 21 manga volumes, then this book will act as a guide. You could read this book along with watching the episodes to help fill in any information you may have missed while watching the anime. Or you could read this book after watching the first three box sets, like I did, to help refresh all that had happened. I was quit surprised that I did miss a lot of things in the anime that I got out of this book!

Another reason why I recommend this to fans of the anime is because there is a lot of stuff that happens in Bleach! You have the main characters, and then you have all the 12 Captains and even a lot of members of the squads that make it into the storyline. That is a lot of people to remember! When the story leads into special moves, like kido spells, and zanpaku-to names, it's easy to forget which character can perform which move (especially gets complicated with bankai!)! One more thing that this book has helped me with is the actual names of the people. Some other animes that I have watched (like Naruto and DBZ) have easy names to remember. The names in Bleach, to me at least, seem harder to pronounce and to remember. So if I was reading this book I would definitely get tripped up on a lot of the names, but after watching the anime and then reading this book, I can almost fly through the 300+ pages with ease.

Overall this Bleach Character Guide is well done. Besides getting a refresher (and really if you haven't read the manga or watched the anime buying this book would be pointless), the book also has other short stories, guides to kido spells, an interview with creator Tite Kubo, as well as a poster (that is actually kind of hard to get out of the book!) and stickers! If you're a fan of the anime and or manga, shill out the cash to get this - you won't regret it!
2268478
I guess I would call this book seriously escapist. I would call it manga without graphics. The target audience seems to be males, given there's a fair amount of fanservice. Having said that, i became attached to the characters, and the plot moves quickly enough that I was really flipping pages toward the end. No spoilers, I'll just say the author left me wanting more. A lot more.
4704133
not the most amazing story and horrid American voice acting. this is a series that is full of fan service and caters pretty much to any anime fetish. not in the most tasteful way either. but i love it. loved it enough to buy it. the art is amazing too. vivid and characters are amazing
2657993
Originally posted at Nagareboshi Reviews [...]

First of all, forgive me: how does one review a hentai manga? I suppose like any other manga - but hentai's main purpose is to get one's rocks off, and I usually don't review materials like that. Still, for Project-H and the efforts of manga-ka Zukiki, I shall do my best!

Zukiki's Happy Girls is a good enough start into English language hentai, as it is a collection of short stories with 'happy' endings. The stories in the first half of the book are loosely collected and don't have a shared theme; however, the stories in the second half actually share a core cast of characters, the four 'seasonal' sisters described in the book's summary. While the first half is entertaining enough, the second half is where the strength of the book lies.

I don't want to say that the first half of Happy Girls is about women hooking up with dudes and banging but - um - it is. A lot of them involve missed connections and second chances, like Hidaka, the woman who comes back to her teacher Takeuchi five years later, determined to impress Takeuchi and win his affection. Then we have soccer ace Haruka, whose drive for a 'special move' draws her closer to computer nerd Kawakami, whom she shares a surprising connection with.

My favorite story not associated with the season sisters would have to be Big and Small. An overweight chef at a popular restaurant, Maebishi, finds an unlikely friend and ally in the very petite waitress Hatsune. Despite her always hanging around him, Maebishi doubts that such a cute girl would like him in such a way as that - until Hatsune proves him wrong! As someone who adores unusual romances and major size differences in couples, the story of Maebishi and Hatsune hits all the right notes and manages to be both sweet and spicy.

Then we get to the actual happy girls of Happy Girls, and a story arc actually emerges through all the costumed play and fluid-drenched sex. We have four sisters who are finding their own separate paths, moving away from each other as they create their own stories with the various men in their lives. One is married, one will get married, one's hung up over an old flame and one's chasing an old boyfriend, but they all somehow find time to have dinner together like sisters - but this, too, maybe be over sooner than later.

It's a surprisingly poignant angle, considering the majority of the pages are spent on the sisters getting physically acquainted with their boys. I found the most interesting of the sisters to be the married sister, Haru (the spring), the one who sometimes forgets to put her skirt on and is the cute klutz of the group. For references' sake, she's the Mihoshi (Tenchi Muyo, y'all!) of the four sisters, only with more gratuitous fanservice.

The artwork for Happy Girls is pretty average, although Zukiki has a good handle on facial expressions and none of the women seemed disastrously out of proportion, nor did any of their chest sizes strike me as being on an inhumanly large level. There seemed to be an unnatural amount of fluids and Zukiki seems to have a thing for having their women ejaculate directly at the reader's perspective, like some sort of sleazy 3-D manga effect. But hey, guys use condoms in this manga! And that's pretty cool! Practice safe sex, y'all, it's the smart thing to do.

As an introduction into the world of Project-H, who is striding to become North America's leading provider of English language hentai manga, it's not a bad way to start. As with all one-shot collections, some stories work better than others and a few really don't do anything for me at all, but overall it's decent and it grabs the attention on multiple levels. And really, for a hentai, if the reader doesn't stop reading before the happy participants on page 'finish', than it's a win. Add to that some surprisingly entertaining stories and an H-manga take on family dynamics, and Happy Girls is a textbook win.

For more information on DMP titles, releases, and the latest news, visit the Digital Manga Inc.'s website:[...]
4656403
~4/5

I wasn't too sure what to expect with this spin-off, but being a fan of Noragami, it was a given that Id be picking it up. I thought it would be more of a parody, or comic strips with the characters. Instead, its actually just short stories about the characters, and they're not all comedy-based.

Yato tries to help someone, he tries to teach someone a lesson, tries to become a top-seven god, someone tries to kill him and then write a non-fiction book about him. My favorite chapter, though, is when Yukine gets a survey for shinki about their god, and he learns there are other options out there. The ending, where the gods get the surveys with comments and feedback from their shinki, is quite sweet. That one still makes me smile.

This was a really fun side volume, funny and sweet. The humor in this series is great, balanced evenly with the serious and heart-warming moments. I look forward to reading more.

[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]
4564371
When I saw in a magazine that Ms. Jun Mochizuki is making a manga about steampunk and vampires, I knew I had to check it out. I enjoyed her previous series, Pandora Hearts, and so far I'm enjoying this one too. I also have a weakness for white-haired anime/manga boys 

As far as the story goes, it's the usual vampires vs humans, (though it's not the main focus) but I'm hoping something more will come of this particular story. The artwork is beautiful and distinct enough that I knew it was Ms. Mochizuki when I saw it in the magazine. The book itself has a nice feel and smell as well. For the main characters, they have a dynamic (Vanitas wants No to be his "shield" but No is only following him for the book) that play off each other's personalities, though both have had lighthearted (and cute) moments as well. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it!
2820764
Obviously, this book is not a translation in the usual sense of the word.  It is a translation, however, into a different visual realm.  Manga is a Japanese art style used in comic books (the animated equivalent being "anime").
  For those who want to introduce the Bible to kids 5-13, this would be a good way of doing it.  The art is quality.  I recommend it!