Dragon Ball Z (Manga)

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Name: Dragon Ball Z
Type: Manga

Author: Akira Toriyama

Books: 26
Genre: Martial arts, science fantasy, comedy
Age Rating: 13+

Review:
Saiyan Son Goku and his friends are back, and their enemies are bigger and stronger. Join them as they fight together using Chi to locate their enemies and defeat them in epic battles!

This series was violent and full of team fighting, much like Yuyu Hakasho, or, on a different approach, The Avengers. It had a more science-fiction approach to it mixed with humor (though it was more subtle than most). There wasn't a lot of plot to the book, but it was entertainment in the fact that it gave me something to read. True to its martial arts' nature, there was never a dull moment, and the scenes between fights were short-lived. Its main focus was the battles between Son Goku, his friends, and opponents that became stronger with time to balance out the strength of the main characters, who are all pretty much invincible.

There was some language in the series, but it didn't divert from the character development, and there were no other inappropriate scenes other than the violence. It had its funny moments, and I thought it was full of weirdly miraculous yet somehow still predictable scenarios. The way everything always worked out in Son Goku's favor was a bit unrealistic despite the many "evil defeats good" fake-outs. The Dragon Balls themselves did not really follow their own rules. There are a lot of convenient loopholes the author introduces to keep the main characters alive. You only get three wishes from the genie? No problem--just have it summoned again! The Dragon Balls can only raise someone from the dead two times? No problem--just speak Namekin! Another eye-roller was the fact that everyone kept their "true" power-level concealed until the fights progressed. Just as you think someone is about to be beaten, they laugh and say something along the lines of: "This isn't even my full power, yet! Haha, this is my REAL form!" or, "I've never been able to show anyone my true power before! Behold: my REAL form!" and then they proceed to become even stronger than they were before.

The series picked up after the whole thing with Cell was ended and Son Goku died. (To be frank, I didn't even believe that he had been killed for good even though Toriyama says so in his beginning author's note, and the cover of the volume itself has Son Goku saying goodbye. He died too many times.) I appreciated the break between fighting scenes, and it was fun to see how all the characters developed over a time-jump of seven years. To sum it all up, this was a good series, as far as action/martial arts manga go, and it will appeal more to boys than girls. That being said, I'm a girl, and I enjoyed reading them, so you never know!

Mature Content:

• Violence- Intense battle sequences
• Sexual References- Master Roshi is a pervert. He finds women attractive and sometimes touches their boobs.
• Profanity- "Piss" and "Damn" and "Bastard"
• Spiritual- The characters rely on "Chi" a type of spiritual sensitivity power
• Some of the character have magical abilities
• There is a character named "Lord of Lords" who is the "god of gods" of the planets combined
• The character Dende is referred to as "god" several times
• Many of the villians are demons

Personal Note:

Piccolo and Dende were my favorite characters.

Yuyu Hakasho (Manga)

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Name: Yuyu Hakasho
Type: Manga

Author: Soshihiro Togashi

Books: 19
Genre: Action, supernatural, martial arts, mystery
Age Rating: 16+

Review:
Yusuke Uremeshi is a brawling 8th grader who gets into fights and is known as a troublemaker until he dies saving a young child from a car accident. As a ghost, Yusuke is guided by Boton who tells him he gets a second chance at life if he does good deeds. 

Because of extreme violence and some language, I recommend this series to more mature kids. There were also some mild sexual references as well, but the rating is mostly for violence. The series started off kind of sketchy, and I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. But I did end up reading it despite its mediocrity, and was disappointed that I was unable to finish it due to limited books at my local library and licensing to reading online. It wasn't very memorable or overly interesting to me personally, which is why I gave it 1 star.

The main character experienced positive development-going from bully, to defender, and I liked his frenemy-type relationship to his "arch rival," Kuwabara. The romance was a little odd; I didn't feel too much chemistry between Yusuke and Keiko at first, but I ended up rooting for them. Most of the plot was focused around fighting, which was fine, but I would have liked to see a bit more story and get more background on the characters. Still, it is a pretty good fighting manga, which seems to be popular with young readers (especially boys).

If you aren't comfortable with talk of "psychic" or "ghosts" or "spiritual abilities," and the battling against spirits and demons, that is a main theme in the book so it might not be for you. The reader should understand God's truth in regarding these things as well as true spiritual warfare. It is important for them to be able to differentiate between fact and fiction. Again, it wasn't really spiking my interest too deeply, but it was a pretty good manga for boys of the appropriate age.

Mature Content: 

• Profanity- "Damn," "hell," ass," and "bitch"
• Sexual References- Yusuke (and once Kuwabara) grabs Keiko's boobs, butt, and pulls up her skirt and comments on her underwear
• Spiritual- Talk of battling demons and spirits as well as "spiritual powers" and the "spirit world"
• Later on, characters use "spiritual powers" to fight against enemies
• Violence- Battles and fight scenes both in school and against evil spirits

Personal Note:
This was the second manga series I read after Fruits Basket.