Greetings, readers. I welcome you to another satisfying issue of Manga Hermit. Now, I’m sure that many of you remember my previous article about bartending, correct? A simple bartender believes that he can create a drink so magnificent, so ethereal, so otherworldly that it would surpass human imagination. The “Glass of the Gods”, if you will. Well, it’s not like we’ve haven’t tried to take down supernatural forces before as a species. Not to mention the ways we’ve managed to do it.

Prime example. Not to mention a good portion of the Megami Tensai series.

I digress, however. While deity hunting is exhilarating in its own right, today’s manga isn’t about that. Today, we’re looking at another attempt at trying to bottle divinity. Specifically, wine. More refined than beer, more restrained than tequila, sweeter than that appletini - wine, that sophisticated alcoholic beverage is what we are drinking today. After all, that is what Les Gouttes de Dieu, translated as the Drops of God, is about.

“If we could… die together… how happy would we be…?” Today, I will be stepping just a little bit out of my comfort zone and will be reviewing an ongoing manga. A relatively unknown artist, Takasaki Yuuki (高崎ゆうき), has created a supernatural yuri manga called Mugen no Minamo ni (To Eternal Minamo/むげんのみなもに). The header image indicates that while there are cutely designed characters, there are also deep and gruesome situations as well. Mugen no Minamo ni 's usage of adorable character designs with dark and heavy tones creates mournful feelings for the main characters as they suffer through their dilemmas. This first impression will cover the first two chapters of the manga.

Welcome readers to another installment of Manga Hermit! In an attempt to counterbalance the sheer amount of testosterone radiating from the flick about one of the most dysfunctional superhero teams to ever exist, this week’s issue is going to be sweet - Soap drama sweet. Passion, lust, desire; all of that and more will parade in front of your eyeballs till you’re itching for another marathon of Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann. This issue’s drama fest centerpiece – Suna no Shiro, also known as The Sandcastle!

Yesterday, a page on Shueisha's Jump Square website announced that there would a Chapter 0 to Nobuhiro Watsuki's Ruroni Kenshi manga. The website indicates that the new chapter will be published in the Weekly Shonen Jump sometime in August. The timing comes as no surprise considering that Warner Brother's live action Ruroni Kenshin film opens in theaters on August 25.

Source: MangaNews

The first thing to greet your eyes when you wake up is the harsh rays of the sun. Muttering curses under your breath, you pull yourself out from under the covers, ready to face another day of mediocrity. Washing up, eating breakfast, checking the news and email – nothing deviates you from the usual morning routine. At school it’s the same thing: class, lunch, class, and then club. Even the people you see don’t change: the businessman who always drops his briefcase on the train, the gossiping girls at the back of the class…every day is the same, day in and out. You can’t help but think these things as you make your way onto the train, only to walk smack dab into a hostage situation. As the gunman takes aim, your life flashes before your eyes and you can’t help but regret that your life will end this way…until you realize that you aren’t in crippling pain. When you open your eyes, what greets you vision is this:

“Either angels have been taking tips from Skynet, or this is the sexiest Transformer ever” you think to yourself.

There's something very meta to be said about a manga about making manga. It becomes even more meta when you're reporting that that manga about making manga is drawing to a close. After a 4 year run in Shonen Jump, the Bakuman manga (which has spawned 2 anime series and has a 3rd one in the works) is ending at chapter 176. The last chapter will run in next week's double issue in Japan.

Source: Japanator

Years ago, before delving into my training as a hermit, I had one heck of an annoying English teacher. He was a tad annoying – the man always said the same words of “wisdom” at the beginning of class, but he did know his way around Shakespeare. In any case, one of the things I came away from that class was that most stories were just clichés. I didn’t quite understand what he meant, until I attempted to read fanfiction. Within the first week I could see so many stories with the same plot lines that it became an exercise just to find something that was remotely new. I bring this point up, for that is what you get with Buster Keel.

Written by Sakamoto Kenshiro in Octobor 2008, Buster Keel is part of the monthly Shonen Rival, published by Kodansha. Our tale begins with the introduction of Keel, an adventurer who needs an anger-management counselor to tag along with him as he searches for a specific individual. Considering that he’s actually an S-class monster whose been cursed into a human form for a good number of years by this “Siva” person, his anger seems justified. Unfortunately for him, Siva is nowhere to be found, so his only clue is his apprentice Ravi and her monster Misisippi “Mippy” Teramoto. A novice adventurer, Ravi is also in search of her master so she can continue studying under him. Though she doesn’t know the reason for his sealing, Ravi joins Keel in his search for Siva, which begins their journey. Along the way they encounter the stoic Blue, an adventurer who specializes in magic. He too is on the search for a specific individual, but for other reasons. Blue decides to join up with Keel, Ravi and Mippy, rounding out the adventuring group Buster Keel!

Hello and welcome to another installment of Manga Hermit. Today’s review, if you couldn’t guess from that tongue twister, will focus upon swindlers. We’re all familiar with swindlers – individuals who take you on a trip, raising you up the minute you start interacting with them. Next thing you know they’re long gone, leaving you with the fragments of the life you used to know. Whether it’s for financial gain, revenge, or sick pleasure – swindlers never let go once they find their prey. In the mind of Takeshi Natsuhara, Japan is filled to the brim with them.

Japan – where a sucker is found every twenty-three seconds.