Another weekend, another self-published manga review. Make sure to check the doujinshi tag for previous installments!

The doujinshi in this week’s post are not from Comitia, but actually from a store! I stopped by Comic Zin in Akihabara with a friend visiting from Canada this week, and of course I couldn’t stop myself from getting a few for myself.
Zin is a great store, because they, unlike a lot of other stores, have the erotic, “adult” doujinshi  in a completely different section (read: floor) of the store. As others have pointed out, Akihabara is full of porn, mostly because it attracts more male otaku than female (which is not to say there aren’t boatloads of BL doujinshi to be had here too). We visited a few other shops too, but weren’t able to find such a good selection of original, non-adult books as Zin had. The West Shinjuku Zin store, by the way, is a fantastic shop as well, and has the adult- and all-ages books clearly separated (albeit next to each other).

On to the books.

1. Kuwagata by Higurashi Mikio

Kuwagata, which translates into “stag beetle,” is a book about two boys, rambunctious Yusaku and quiet Takaya, spending their summer vacation in the countryside. In the opening scene, they race into one of the boys’ grandfather’s house with their catch of the day, a huge stag beetle.
Catching large beetles is a hugely popular pastime for young boys in Japan, where insects or all shapes and sizes are ever-present, and is a popular ingredient of the romanticized “perfect” boyhood summer.

The beast clocks in at 10cm, beating the previous record of their friend Hana – at which point we start to notice there is a wheel missing from the tricycle. Hana has been away at the training camp of her tennis camp, a fact Yusaku laments vocally.

Hana finally returns the next day, surprising the duo at the creek where they have been hanging out. After she whacks Yusaku over the head with her racket for criticizing her tennis club activities, they get the chance to present their grand victory (the beetle), and she is… utterly unimpressed. Hana is portrayed as, physically as well as mentally, more mature than the boys, and it quickly becomes clear that the relationship between the friends is going to change in a big way…

This book is from 2007, but personally I didn’t feel like it shows its age at all. It tells a universally recognizable story of the very beginnings of puberty. While the boys, particularly the taller one, are still quite noticeably still children, we get a hint of their development as well when Takaya clearly shows an interest in Hana that goes beyond friendship (and promptly gets heckled by Yusaku for it).

Kuwagata is 20 pages in A5 format, and sold at Zin for 324 Yen. The cover has a beautiful matted finish with a hint of a pearl shimmer that really brings out the blue of the sky and water. The art, while not likely to win any awards, is very fitting for this youthful slice-of-life story.

The artist: Higurashi Mikio (currently going by Ukiwa Yoruno) on Twitter, Pixiv
Kuwagata at Comics Zin

2. TUBB:　桶の狭間で (TUBB: In between the tubs) by Kasahara Tetsuro

Unlike the other books I’ve been showcasing, this one is actually a side project from an established Manga creator. Kasahara Tetsuro is best known for the manga Rideback, and has been published pretty consistently since 2000.

Oda is a newcomer at a security outfit called “Cucumber” in the distant future, using robotic exoskeletons called “TUBB” (Technical Utility Body Build, nicknamed “tubs”) to protect their clients. It’s a fairly dystopic world, where desert abounds and global warming has triggered the evolution of gigantic insects. He has been there just short of a month, but is already thinking of quitting, largely due to his insufferable superior, Imagawa.

But not all of Oda’s colleagues are as horrible: There’s also Nohime, who despite her cute looks is by far the most capable of the TUBB operators due to her military background. True to form, Oda is smitten with her and trots along into hazardous situations obediently.

Cucumber’s mission du jour is the escort of a team of engineers set to inspect a power plant (power transmission from space via microwaves, in case you were wondering. They encounter a gigantic beetle called a Rhinodon, and with Nohime preoccupied with subduing a panicked Imagawa, it’s up to Oda to cut the beast down to size with his trusty chainsaw gun.(!)

As I said before, Kasahara is a published pro, and it definitely shows. The art in TUBB is fantastic, the pacing is just right, and the even with the limited space, every single character is relatable and likeable.

The story finishes with Oda looking down at the handily dispatched Imagawa, and the narration saying “I never imagined that I would be shedding tears over this guy only a few months later.” I have yet to find a sequel to this, I honestly don’t think there is one… Dammit Kasahara!

TUBB is 36 pages long, A5 size, with a matte, textured wraparound cover. Zin is selling it for 630 Yen.

The artist: Kasahara Tetsuro on the web, Blog
TUBB at Comic Zin

And that’s it for today! As always, I welcome feedback and interaction, so I’d be happy if you liked/reblogged, or even commented. Questions and suggestions are welcome!