false 10 24 23 true 6325297 read 1 true 1282145 currently-reading 0 true 1282144 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398981 Jason's review of Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 3: 511 Kinderheim
by Naoki Urasawa

Monster is a lot better than Royal Pains. It also predates it by quite a few years.

Are you watching Monster on Syfy? It's pretty awesome. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398667 Jason's review of Rin-Ne, Volume 1
by Rumiko Takahashi

Oh yeah, it's pretty amazing to me that the industry has gotten to the point where that kind of instant translation is possible. I was really tempted to keep up with Rin-Ne on Viz's site, but man, I just HATE reading comics on the computer. After staring at a computer at work all day, the last thing I want to do is go home and stare at a computer again.

I'd definitely say Rin-Ne is worth keeping up with, especially for free. It's just compared to Takahashi's other stuff, it's not particularly special the way Ranma or Maison Ikkoku were.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79399319 to: MPD-Psycho (Volume 1) by Eiji Otsuka
I had read a lot of descriptions of this book as the most disturbing comic you'll ever read, and I thought it was hyperbole. After reading this first volume, I think they may be right on the money.

This manga is the story of a keen detective/criminal profiler who, upon the murder of his girlfriend, starts suffering from multipler personality disorder (the MPD of the title). Some of his personalities still possess the keen intellect of his earlier days, while others are out for vengeance. It seems like a pretty straightforward story, but the gory lengths the story goes to are what sets it apart. The lead character's girlfriend isn't just killed: she's shipped to the police station in a large cooler, her arms and limbs hacked off and a small pump keeping her just barely on this side of heart/brain death. A later murder mystery involves an architect who beautifies his projects be kidnapping women, cutting open their heads, growing plants in their brains, and then planting the bodies outside of the buildings he designs. And this isn't just described, it's illustrated in full, gory detail. Simply put, THIS SHIT IS FUCKED UP.

Given how taken aback I was by the in-your-face gore, it took me a while to get into the book, but I was surprisingly engrossed (sideways pun intended) by the end of it. This really is unlike anything else I've read before, and its strengths as a murder mystery combined with the shear fucked-up-ed-ness of the crimes themselves make for some visceral reading. If it gets much grosser, though, this shit is totally going to give me nightmares. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398981 to: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 3: 511 Kinderheim (Paperback) by Naoki Urasawa
(Combo review of vol.s 1-3)

Dr. Tenma is one of the finest neurosurgeons in Germany and his career is on its way up in a big way. Until, that is, he makes the ill-fated decision to operate on a young boy who has been shot instead of the mayor of Dusseldorf. He thought it was the right decision because the child arrived first, but his bastard of a boss thinks otherwise, and Tenma's career is effectively ruined....until, that is, the head of the hospital dies and Tenma gets his job. Turns out the murder, and countless others, were caused by the boy Tenma saved years earlier, a young boy named Johan who is, basically, the Antichrist. Ten years later, the German police accuse Tenma of the murders, sending the doctor on the lam as he tries to track down Johan, the killer he created by saving his life, and clear his own name.

The 18-volume Monster is the basis for an anime airing right now on SciFi, and the manga is pretty much identical (these 3 volumes actually cover exactly as much territory as the episodes of the anime that have aired so far, oddly enough). Which isn't a problem, really, as that means they're both awesome. It's an over-the-top game of cat and mouse with twists and turns that come fast and furious enough to let you overlook that some are completely obvious and others are completely out of left field. It's a solid thriller in a very Hollywood sort of way, but Naoki Urasawa's subdued art give it plenty of gravitas. This is a fun, compelling little murder mystery, and I can't wait to keep digging into it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398987 to: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 04 (Paperback) by Naoki Urasawa
This next volume of Urasawa's awesome manga series takes things in a decidedly different direction, spending a good chunk of time on vignettes that only tangentially touch on Dr. Tenma's story. That all changes in the book's back half, when Tenma, his (surprisingly non-lame) kid sidekick Dieter, and damsel-in-distress Nina face off against a group of neo-Nazis determined to burn down the Turkish part of town. The neo-Nazes are also on the hunt for Johan, the book's Antichrist figure, whose charisma they think they can manipulate to create the next Hitler. This is one heavy, thought-provoking thriller, and I can't wait for vol. 5 to show up in the mail. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398974 to: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 2: Surprise Party (Paperback) by Naoki Urasawa
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398970 to: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 1: Herr Dr. Tenma (Paperback) by Naoki Urasawa
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79398667 to: Rin-Ne, Volume 1 (Paperback) by Rumiko Takahashi
The first volume in Rumiko Takahashi's post-InuYasha series is decent, but really not up to the high standards of her other series. It seems kind of directionless at this point. It has its charming qualities--the characters are nice, and the standalone nature of the story arcs is definitely refreshing as compared to the eternal InuYasha--but not a whole lot is happening yet. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77935843 Julie Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ 's review of A Wind Named Amnesia
by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Ooh, I forgot this came out. I take it you've seen the anime version? I remember really liking it, though I haven't seen it in probably 10 years. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40266918 Julie Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ 's review of Holidays on Ice
by David Sedaris

I've read a few Sedaris books (though not this one), but by far my favorite was "Me Talk Pretty One Day," the bulk of which chronicles his attempts to live in France as someone who speaks no French. There's still some line-crossing humor so I'm not 100% sure you'd like it, but I thought it was fantastic. ]]>