Short Takes: Case Closed, Slam Dunk, and Waq Waq

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This week’s column is all about shonen manga. First up: volume thirty of Case Closed (VIZ), a detective series about a first grader who solves gruesome murders. Next on the agenda is volume five of Takehiko Inoue’s best-selling Slam Dunk (VIZ), a sports manga about a flame-haired rebel who takes up basketball to impress a [...]

Short Takes: Black Jack, Fire Investigator Nanase, and Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit

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Last year, I made a major lifestyle change: I gave up television. My decision wasn’t motivated by disdain for reality shows or Lenten piety, but by the fact I was spending too much time engrossed in The Daily Show, Project Runway, Clean House, and Battlestar Galactica and not enough time reading, running, or practicing my [...]