Midweek Manga Reviews: Fairy Tails and more folklores!

Bastard!! Vol. 16
Story & Art: Kazushi Hagiwara
Translation: Kaori Kawakubo Inoue
Adaptation: Sean McCoy
Publisher: Viz

All hell broke loose literally with the release of the last volume. This volume doesn’t back down from all that intense action either. Hagiwara has finally found an art style that he is comfortable with and the action sequences have never looked better. Dark Schneider is still roaming in hell chatting with Satan while Lars, Zakk, and the others continue to fight the Seraphs. Lucien attempts to convince the Angels that human beings are worth saving but his calls for mercy go unheard. Meanwhile, Yoko comes to the realization that she is the one who has been protecting Lucien the whole time, not the other way around. Nei, Gara, and Kall-Su continue hacking into an ancient computer and find out the cause of the Great Destruction that lay waste to the earth years ago was not the work of demons, but of angels! They also come to realize the God they had been worshiping was in fact the real evil destructive force on the planet. And finally the angel Michael emerges, but what exactly does that mean for our heroes? Dear God, this book is so full of adrenaline, every time I’m done reading it I want to go to the gym and work out for hours. The heroes have never looked better and the women are bouncier than ever. I have loved this book from the beginning and continue to push people into buying it. My only gripe is the time the books are released every 3 to 4 months is just not fast enough and instead of putting explicit content stickers on the front of the book, now they are just part of the cover. Like I said small gripes and nothing really to complain about a great book. A

Fairy Tail vols. 1 & 2
Story & Art: Hiro Mashima
Translation & Adaptation: William Flanagan
Publisher: Del Rey

When I looked at the cover for some reason I thought this was going to be a great manga. The artwork reminded me a lot of One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda and I loved the use of colors and placement of the characters. Then I looked at the creator of Fairy Tail and noticed it was Mashima, the same guy that brought us Rave Master, a manga I have been following since volume 1(I had no clue it has been over in Japan for three years now). Now I got really excited about reading the book. It seems that using magical schools have become a common theme since Harry Potter made it big, the way I see it as long as the characters are interesting and there is a well told story, count me in! Del Rey has decided to release both volumes 1 and 2 simultaneously. In the world of Fairy Tail some people have the power to wield various kinds of magic skills. These mages can take on special jobs for very good pay, but only if they are part of a guild. That is the sole purpose of a guild to join so you can take on job.