This comic has such an awesome story! Such a cool idea! But unfortunately it was kind of hard to follow. A lot of dialogue and close-up shots of faces, it's easy to get lost as there are few really unique establishing shots. There's a bit of same-face going on with two of the female characters and a lot of hopping around in time. You are warned about the time hops with font that I kept reading in the Babylon 5 voice: "The year was 2374. The place: The Vihaan II."

The art style is good and very reminiscent of mecha anime (I thought of "Big O" while my partner thought "Gundam"), the colors are bright and are sometimes your only clue as to who in the heck is talking. Very reliant on blurring the edges for a cheap and quick depth-of-field illusion and sometimes a bit hard to determine what's what and who's who.

The ending did make me gasp and immediately open up volume 2...

....which was not fun at all.

OMGGGGGG, too much dialogue! I didn't give a honk about these characters! Everything that I loved about volume 1 was not in this volume. Everything that made volume 1 confusing made this triple-y so.
Needless to say, I think I'm done with this series. Sigh, I really loved the idea but this volume sucked any fun or intrigue I was having with the series.

Always a cute read full of cats and simple anime/manga tropes!

I think this is my favorite one so far. It had me chuckling more than the others and I feel like it was more heartfelt. Always adorable and full of cute cats and an easy read.

I needed this book in my life! Fantastic! Everything that horror should be with the "good for her" ending that I love so so much!
Starts out Mean Girls, becomes Midsommar, and ends Suspiria. I am here for it. I loved every minute of this book!

Thank you Caitlin for the recommendation!

TW: Trypophobia

4.5 because that was a fun mystery that made for a great audiobook. I like how it's not only a "whodunnit" but you don't even know who was murdered! I don't read many murder mysteries so if that's been done before, it was new to me!

And the end:

Spoiler

I can't remember if I read this book originally before or after my first trip to Japan in 2008. Probably before. I've been a big Dave Barry fan since the Cincinnati Enquirer would publish him in the Tempo section in the 90s.
Anyway, it's been a while since I've re-read any of his stuff published in the 90s. So before going into this book written in 1992 and reading it in the 202x's know this:
1. The economic bubble had just collapsed in Japan in 1991. Prices are much much better and more affordable nowadays. Still, if you can get Random House Publishing to fly you there first class on JAL, GO FOR IT! Holy heck, first class on JAL costs about $25,000 these days! Go with economy for about $900 RT to get you to Japan.
2. 90s humor can be cringe as some of it did not age well. You know what I mean. Most notably for me are the references to preferring suicide over [insert comedic situation here]. 90s Angie had not yet lost two close people in her life to suicide yet so it was easy to brush off when she read it back then. Also, there was definitely the use of the word "transvestite" in this book. Ah, the 90s.

Now, with those things in mind my final analysis of this book is: I still love it. Dave still has me laughing out loud. His observations still ring true even 30 years later and after I've had the pleasure of visiting Japan 5 (soon to be 6) times! I especially enjoyed his slightly more serious summary of his trip to Japan, and what he thinks of our differing cultures, at the end of the book.

Good job Dave Barry, you'll always get many laughs out of me!

Same manga-ka that did Coyote, so I'm already a huge fan of the art. As for the plot line... it's intriguing but this is the first time I've read a BL where one of the main characters is a straight man? And that is a thing for the other men that work at Shangri-La? Not my exact cup of tea but interesting.

I enjoyed this a little more than book 2 as we are suddenly in the middle of a mysterious stalker who knows about Phi's past.

Hmm, this series seems to have been durdling about for a while. I think I'll continue it out of obligation, plus Cavo is adorable, but Liam is just too much of a jerk sometimes.
Also the art is so-so.