Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is the second game in the Professor Layton series.

In this game, Professor Layton receives a letter from his mentor, Dr. Shrader, claiming that he has found the Elysian Box. This Elysian Box has said to have killed anyone who opens it. Getting a bad feeling from this news, Professor Layton and his young apprentice Luke set off to Dr. Shrader's home. Upon their arrival, the two find the man lying dead on the floor with no box in sight. Only a ticket for the Molentary Express is present. Purchasing their own tickets for the train, Professor Layton and Luke set off on yet another adventure.

As a sequel to Professor Layton and the Curious Village, over 100 more puzzles, both new and more challenging, are available to be solved. Follow along the story as Professor Layton and Luke uncover more mysteries than ever before!

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Development company: Level-5

Recommended audience: All ages

Prequel: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

The first game of Professor Layton is Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

In this game, a gentleman by the name of Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke set off to the town of St. Mystere to locate the "Golden Apple". Other mysteries begin to unfold as their search goes on.

The game takes times to complete as the fun and challenging puzzles gradually become more difficult to solve as the story proceeds. Many strange yet entertaining characters also appear throughout the game. With over 100 puzzles to solve and a few hint coins available to help, thinking and concentration is definately required for this game.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Development company: Level-5

Recommended audience: All ages

Sequel: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Koko ni Iru Yo!

There's something about a story of a girl having to choose between two boys who like her that makes me want to read it. That wasn't the only reason why Koko ni Iru Yo! (Here I am!) caught my attention though.

The manga's main character keeps a blog about her experiences in life and receives encouragement from two of her followers whenever she needs help and inspiration. When things in her school life seem to be getting better, she soon discovers that her blog could also influence the people she cares about in real life. Conflict occurs as her blog and school life collide.

Recommended audience: All Ages

Author and Artist: Ema Toyama
Release year: 2007
Volumes: 5
Licensed by Del Rey

White Noise

White Noise is a dashing and funny story about the love in friendship. The story introduces Riona, a girl who doesn't like to speak because of her voice and spends her time listening to white noise rather than music. On her first day of high school, she meets two outgoing classmates named Jun and Shichi. She soon finds herself enjoying high school with the two friends and realizes the beauty of friendship.

Recommended audience: All ages

Better Boyfriend

I've always wanted to read a comic about a girl who turns into a boy and a boy who turns into a girl and they both would have never got to know each other if they weren't in the same situation.

Better Boyfriend adds to that scenario with a father who openly loves his daughter too much, a cheerful mother that caused her own daughter to turn into a boy, and an odd grandmother that turned her gang leader grandson into a girl. While the mother and grandmother try to figure out an antidote to the main characters' transformation, Jun and Yupi, the er... heroine and hero (?), have to deal with living as the opposite gender at their high school. As for why the title is what it is, read the comic to find out!

Recommended audience: Teens

Buttersafe

One of the wittiest comic series I've ever encountered must be Buttersafe. The simple character designs add to the clever content. There's no storyline to the comic: it's butter safe.

The creators of Buttersafe comics are Alex Culang and Raynato Castro. The about page at the comic's website states that Alex usually updates on Thursdays and Raynato on Tuesdays. Arthur Culang is a part of Buttersafe comics and "generally keeps Buttersafe from imploding, exploding, or sidesploding."

Recommended audience: All audiences

Kiben Gakuha, Yotsuya Senpai No Kaidan

"Sometimes, we find truth within a rumor." Kiben Gakuha, Yotsuya Senpai No Kaidan is series of mysteries that follows that phrase.

Written and drawn by Furudate Haruichi, the manga stars Makoto, a middle school girl, and Yotsuya, a weird middle school boy who doesn't look like an ordinary school boy and is obsessed with influencing people with scary stories. The story starts with Makoto and Yotsuya solving crimes and mysteries by spreading rumors, but they later find that some of the incidents they've encountered are connected to one mischievous character.

I find the art looks creepy yet fine. The art style works well during the eerie moments. I feel that the events are more interesting than the characters though, but I suppose the characters are what makes the events.

Artist & Author: Furudate Haruichi
Release year: 2010
Recommended audience: Teens

Suits in Suits

Suits in Suits is a set of comicstrips about the four suits of aces. Each ace has a hair style that follows the shape of their suit and they each wear suits! The comic was launched by the incredible Chancake on Smackjeeves late April 2009.

I really like how Chancake used a select few colours rather than making it black and white or colorful. It suits the style and the characters.

Recommended audience: Teens

Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland; a new prison in which the prisoners are forced to fight each other with nothing other than their own blood.

Ganta Igarashi, the story's main character, has been convicted of the murder of all his classmates. He meets a weird girl named Shiro upon entering the prison park; however, Shiro isn't what she appears to be.

Recommended audience: Teen 13+

Author: Kataoka Jinsei
Artist: Kondou Kazuma
Status: ongoing - monthly

Intersexual(s)

The manga, IS (Aiesu), starts off with the story of an intersexual person who is raised as a girl but was born genderless. The character, Hiromi, chooses to move around a lot because she feels insecure about how people do not know that she is actually genderless. As Hiromi develops feelings for a man that has feelings for her, she is struggles to decide whether she should continue being an intersex or get a sex change before the man she loves finds out about her gender.

Some of the chapters in the manga carry stories of different intersexual characters and the stories of people who struggle accepting the concept of intersexuality. I really like how every chapter develops and how each intersexual experience their struggles to fit into society. The chapters on people learning to accept intersexuality are also great reads. The character situations feel very realistic and the characters' developments are often heartwarming.

Recommended audience: Teens+

Given Titles: IS: Otoko demo Onna demo nai Sei, Aiesu, Intersexual(s)
Author and Artist: Chiyo Rokuhana
Release Year: 2003
Volumes: 17

Strays

Strays follows a female lupian --a race of humans with wolf-like features-- and her journey through the once thought peaceful land she knew. Sounds like a serious story, right? Well, Strays has many moments of humour, sadness, and happiness.

The comic is created by Samantha Whitten and Stacey Pefferkorn. Both are artists with exceptional talent (which would explain why the comic looks professionally done).

Recommended audience: Teens+