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.

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!

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.

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.

Well readers, we’ve finally made it to March. And unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you can be sure that sooner or later we will all experience that moment when we know that spring is here. Whether it’s the sign of color returning to the frozen wasteland, or realizing that sixty-degree weather is too hot for a parka, we all know when spring arrives. You know what tells me that spring is here?

Aside from getting intimate with a box of Puffs?

MARRIAGES! While a bit sappy, marriages are the best scenes of spring hands down. Two individuals staring a new journey together, supporting each other as they face all the challenges and obstacles that life throws their way. Just like a bud or a sapling, breaking though the hard earth – ah, what a beautiful sentiment. Of course the bond between the bride and groom has to be strong; otherwise everything about the marriage will just fall apart. Unfortunately for Takanashi Chiwa, she doesn’t have that luxury.

Having to pay off the crippling debts her father incurred on a business venture, Ms. Chiwa is office lady by day, part-time hostess at night. Barely making enough to cover the housing for her and her father, things take a turn for the worst when she retaliates against a customer named Mamiya Hokuto for …calling her out on her crappy lifestyle. Having no idea of the ramifications of her actions (and subsequently being fired from her part time gig) she goes to work the next day, only to be called up to the president’s office. Upon her arrival, Chiwa realizes that the president is the crass customer she threw whiskey at the night before!

You get what you reap, Chiwa. Jack Daniels has no pity on those who dishonor his brethren. Even those below him.

Preparing for the worst, she is shocked to find that he is also accompanied by his grandfather – the patriarch of the Mamiya family. Chiwa is even more shell-shocked when she is told that the Mamiya family will pay off her father’s debts, due to a favor owed to Chiwa’s deceased grandmother. The catch, you ask? Well… the patriarch would like some great grandkids from another one of his possible heirs.

Because adoption is so passé’ these days.

And so begins the newlywed life between Chiwa and Hokuto. Will they find a love so pure between each other that no soap opera can compare? Or will they fight and potshot each other while stumbling through a relationship filled with so many mixed signals, you would think Zoro was the captain of this Love Boat?

Hapi Mari, also known as Happy Marriage, is the brain child of Enjouji Maki. It made its debut in the Josei magazine Petit Comic back in 2009 and is still going strong. A fairly strong romance manga, Hapi Mari has the pull of a soap opera while not overwhelming the reader with lust and heavy theatrics. The series strangely maintains a lighter theme than what one would expect from such a plot line. This may be due to the lack of “difficult” obstacles between our two love birds. The art style of Hapi Mari is simplistic in its execution. Compared with other mangas with heavy tones and high detail, Hapi Mari keeps its style light and easy, without losing the perspective of either the characters or the environment. This style belies the lightness of the story being told.

Character wise, Hapi Mari has all the basic archetypes found in a drama: backstabbing family members, dotting patriarch, ex-wives and ex-classmates that act as possible love interests, convoluted familial bonds, etc… Chiwa is the airhead heroine of our tale – plucky and determined, but has a tendency to cry before solving the issue at hand. Hokuto is the jackass businessman, who swears that the relationship will be professional, but it’s a drama –he falls in love eventually. It’s rare when they don’t.

Still, Hapi Mari caught my eye because of its ease to read. I won’t say you will be taking gasps with every page, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a look, no?

leetNEET Readers!

Who among you is itching to break free and cut loose, but can’t do so because the nearest convention is weeks away!? Fear not – for I have brought the solution!

Descending from the haven of rock heaven in 2003, led by Amaterasu herself, the US has been graced with a musical showcase that has rocked hard and rocked its patrons even HARDER!

What the hell am I talking about, you ask? I’m talking about the annual rising sun band showcase – JAPAN NITE!

Every year, an eclectic selection of Japanese bands and artists gather for a short but epic concert tour across the good old US-of-A. Awesomely exploding onto the stage at the SXSW music conference in Austin, TX – Japan Nite will once again bring to you solid walls of sound!

Hello readers! Welcome to another installment of Manga Hermit! In today’s issue, I feel like revisiting a previous manga. Who here remembers the man who stands above all men, the James Bond of the assassin world, the love child between Jiraiya and Jiraiya (if that was humanly possible) – Ryo Saeba! If the females here are wondering why we’re revisiting that particular specimen, it’s because the impossible has happened: Ryo Saeba… has a child!

The banana does not like lies, Manga Hermit.

Maybe in THIS world it’s “lies and slander”, but that is why you have to appreciate Alternative Universes. Which brings us to today’s subject: Angel Heart! Written between 2001 and 2010 with thirty-three volumes in existence, and brought to you by the same man who brought us City Hunter, Tsukasa Hojo, Angel Heart focuses on a particular “what if” scenario: What would happen if Ryo Saeba actually got married to his partner Kaori Makimura? Apparently, there is a reason why City Hunter doesn’t tie the knot. Within the first chapter, our lovely fiancé is already dead from a car accident.

Congratulations, reader! After so many months of miraculous recovery and therapy, caused by that horrifying incident of having your house explode via plane–sized projectiles, you are finally one hundred percent recovered! Naturally, none of this would have been possible without the medical expertise of that unlicensed doctor your friends found while surfing /b/.

Of course, all of this wouldn’t have happened if you had gotten that plane-crashing-into-house insurance in the first place.

To top it off, that strange but brilliant doctor only charged you twenty-five bucks for the entire procedure and recovery! Looks like you didn’t have to do all that fundraising after all. To celebrate your good fortune, you have decided to fulfill one of your biggest dreams, and make way to the land of the Rising Sun –Japan!

Also home to a good portion of Rule 34 contributors.

You spend your vacation having the time of your life, until one day you collapse for unknown reasons while running around in Akihabara. When you finally wake up in the hospital, a nurse and a translator are there waiting to tell you that you have developed a completely new heart condition. However, the best the hospital can do is to help pay for the flight home, due to that fact that the hospital cannot care for someone in your condition. Just before the nurse can continue another doctor rushes into the room and says:

Don’t listen to these fools; they’re towing the hospital line. Nobody wants to deal with your case because not only is it expensive, but you are a foreigner –who cares about you? But, I’d be willing to help… if you’re willing to take the risk.

And then he gives you that smile that says: “Like you have any say in the matter.”

Several days ago, I celebrated my 22^nd birthday, readers. And like most birthdays, it paled in comparison to previous ones while reminding me of how much older I’ve become.

Remember this place? Remember how awesome it was? Remember how after this, every other birthday sucked?

I’m only 22 though, and even though my diet is slowly but surely making its way to a prune based end – I still have time to make something out of myself. Climb mountains, travel the world, make new discoveries, moon the social elite – because we’re all aiming for that particular trophy : “Achievement unlocked – Bucket List completed.” I’ve still got time… until I turn 28. Then I’m screwed.

Okay, I’ve already nailed number 84 - ”Dedicate my life to comics.” I’ll most likely have number 324 - “Have a respectable career” when I turn twenty-six… Probably will have to write off number 1,986 - “Turn into a jet and fly into the sun like a boss” Achievement. Awww.

Iwamaki Rikitarou has hit that point, ladies and gentlemen. At age 28 he has achieved his true goal in life – absolute freedom! Freedom to live his life any way he wants it, any way he needs it! And yet, all that freedom is failing him right now. His girlfriend is fed up with his laziness and wants to leave him, his band mates don’t respect him and to top it off his dream of becoming a rock star is all but done. (Apparently all great rock stars die between twenty six and twenty eight. Go figure.) Cursing the world and the fate he has been dealt, Rikitarou does what any slacker does – gets wasted. And like most binge drinking runs, he gets into a fight where he is hopeless out classed. With his life flashing in front of his eyes, Rikitarou does the only thing any man with self worth can do…