Manga review of Negima Volume 1 by Ken Akamatsu. Translated by Hajime Honda. Adapted by Peter and Kathleen O'Shea David. Originally published by Kodansha in Japan. Published in US by Del Rey, $10.95, Rated OT, 16+.

10 year old Negi Springfield has just graduated from magic school when he receives his mystic diploma which dictates a student's career. Negi has been assigned as a teacher in Japan. He arrives at Mahora Academy as their new English professor, replacing the popular Takahata-sensei. He gets off to a bad start with one student in particular, Asuna, who just happens to have a crush on Takahata. When she finds out he is being replaced by Negi she becomes hell-bent on getting him fired. Imagine her surprise when she finds out Negi will be rooming with her and her roommate, Konoka! One limit put on Negi is that nobody can find out about his magic abilities. If someone does, then he could be kicked out of his training and maybe even turned into a hamster. But you know Asuna is going to be watching him like a hawk for any type of weirdness she can take advantage of. And I haven't even mentioned the other thirty girls in his class.

My Grade: A

Manga Review: Gunslinger Girl Volume 3 by Yu Aida. Translated by Amy Forsyth. Originally published by Media Works in Japan. Published by ADV Manga in US, $9.99, Rated 16+.

One of the Social Welfare Agency's agents has gone missing while on the trail of a mysterious new threat. I know it doesn't sound frightening, but the name of this threat is....Pinocchio! No, he's not the wooden puppet but seriously, his skills as a cold-blooded killer make him a match even for the Agency's cybernetically enhanced girls. He's been enlisted to help the terrorist forces of the Five Republics in their efforts to rebel against the government. The girls are sent into action against these forces and in an effort to protect an important political leader.

While action is never far away in Gunslinger Girl, since Volume 2 this series has taken a more quiet and less bloody route in its storytelling. This is a good thing. Here we get a focus on the forces that plot against the Agency and all sides of the conflict seem to get an even break in terms of motivation. It's very hard to see it in terms of bad guys and good guys (or gals). Since both sides are willing to do atrocious things to better their causes. Buy it for the action, the intrigue, and the poignant relationships. Highly recommended!

My Grade: A

Manga Review: Gunslinger Girl Volume 2 by Yu Aida. Translated by Eiko McGregor. Originally published in Japan by Media Works. Published in US by ADV Manga, $9.99, Rated 16+.

Volume 2 of Gunslinger Girl has less violence and more character development than the first installment. We start off with the backstory of Claes and end with the backstory of the first girl agent, Angelica. The most touching moments of the series are when the girls remember their humanity despite all the conditioning they receive to rid them of it. Even some of the adult handlers begin to question whether they are on the right side. The middle section of this volume deals with the Agency trying to stop mad bombers and rescuing the money man of an underground organization. But the plot is interspersed with quiet moments such as the girls going out in the dead of night to enjoy a meteor shower, and the tragic story of Angelica, whose own father tried to kill her for insurance money. The same Angelica whose memory is completely shot due to the massive amount of experimentation that was done on her.

The premise of Gunslinger Girl is quite disturbing but it does show how adults corrupt the world of children with no regard to their welfare at times. In a war against terrorists just how far would people be willing to go? What is the difference in sending 18 year olds to fight and die? Are they any less children than the girls we see here? Another poignant thing about it is that all the girls seem to have been unwanted, in some cases, even by their own parents. And that they cling to their handlers and to each other as the only family they have. Yu Aida never exploits the plot. I think the author is trying to show how a blank slate can be turned into a killer if properly trained. But there is something in the souls of the girls that is trying to fight its way out and reject this whole messed up situation. Thought provoking manga!

Check out Podcast Episode 90 for an audio review of Volume 1.

Podcast 101: Anime dvd review of the first disc of the Buso Renkin Box Set 1, Episodes 1-4.

Kazuki Muto is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is witness to an attack by a Homunculus, a shape shifting human eating monster, on an innocent schoolgirl. Kazuki bravely dies in an attempt to save the girl. She ends up being a Alchemist warrior named Tokiko, who is in the business of exterminating Homunculi. She kills the monster and then revives Kazuki by replacing his heart with a kakugane, an alchemical device that gives its bearer the power of the Buso Renkin, a weapon that takes different forms depending on the mind of its owner. Kazuki decides to join in Tokiko's battle to rid his town of the murderous Homunculi.

My Grade: B

Podcast Episode 100: Psycho Busters Volume 1 manga review. Manga by Akinari Nao. Story by Yuya Aoki. Translated and adapted by Stephen Paul. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Del Rey, $10.95, Rated Older Teen 16+.

Kakeru is a boy bored with reality. He lives mainly through computer games and is just waiting for something exciting and incredible to happen to him. With his mother and sisters gone on vacation to Hawaii and his dad off on a business trip, Kakeru has the run of the house. That's when a ghostly but cute girl appears naked in his room, asking him to come to where her real body is. Kakeru doubts whether he should go but then reminds himself that this type of adventure is exactly what he had been asking for. He quickly becomes involved with psychics on the run from a government facility that grew and used them for their own covert reasons. Joi, the leader of the psychics, declares that Kakeru will save the world, whatever that means. Meanwhile, the psychic hunters are closing in.

My Grade: B

Podcast Episode 99: Manga Review of Dance in the Vampire Bund Volume 1 by Nozomu Tamaki. Translated by Kenji Komiya. Adapted by Katherine Bell and Adam Arnold. Originally published in Japan by Media Factory. Published in US by Seven Seas, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+.

Mina Tepes, princess of the vampires, wants to found a vampire settlement off the coast of Japan. After she pays off the nation's budget deficit of 1000 trillion yen, she makes the goverment construct a man-made island called Tokyo Landfill #0. Mina then holds a press conference announcing her intentions. But there are some elements, both human and vampire, that want her dead. It's up to Kaburagi Akira, a young member of the Earth Clan, to protect her life.

My Grade: A-

Podcast manga review of Color of Rage. Story by Kazuo Koike. Art by Seisaku Kano. Translated by Naomi Kokubo with assistance of Jeff Carlson. Originally published by Koike Shoin Publishing in 2004. Published in US by Dark Horse, $14.95, Rated Mature 18+.

George and King, two slaves, have escaped from their servitude on a whaling ship only to find themselves washed up on the shores of a Japan in crisis. A volcanic eruption has just recently killed 20,000 people, and a poor harvest is causing famine across the land. Peasants have begun rebelling against their masters or abandoning their farms. Neither of which sit very well with the nobility, who count on the farmers to work their lands. George, who is Japanese, can fit into the situation very easily. But what to do about King, an African American, whose skin color alone will cause the two to stand out? It's not only his race that brings unwanted attention. King believes that he has to stand up against anyone that oppresses their fellow man. Even if it means killing a lot of corrupt lords and government officials. King and George fall into adventure as they seek for a place where people are judged on their own merits, not by race or money.

My Grade: A-

Heavenshield Volume 1 by Ryu Blackman podcast manga review. Published by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated Older Teen 16+.

In this vague sci-fi adventure, the evil and demented General Oz has escaped from a high security prison to lead a military coup even as important members of the government are being killed by the Green Light Assassins. Enter Sepulveda Ramos, or Carrot, as she is more commonly called. Carrot is a prostitute who also takes up the government's dirty work as a secret agent. She has been charged with finding out what the connections between all the world's major players are and to find a way to preserve the government in some sort of working condition. If this means killing a few people, she can live with that. She also has a personal grudge against Oz, since he killed her boyfriend 3 years ago.

My Grade: F-