Mitsukazu Mihara: IC in a Sunflower Book

Wow I haven't been impressed with a new manga in ages! I got this one as part of a job lot and was pleasantly surprised as it was easily the best volume in the bunch.

Its seven, sting-in-the-tail type short stories at heart about the nature of the human condition. It reminded me a little of the wonderful 'Twisted Dark' graphic novels.

In keep those condoms away from our kids we are taken to a not too distant future, where infertility is a real problem. Sex is taught and practised by school kids and this story looks at the effect such a liberal attitude has on kids.

Next we have Iron Maiden a clear case of the abused (here neglected) becoming the abuser.

In the sunflower quality of the integrated circuit - we have an android maid stuck in a household with a very unhappily married couple.

The other side of the barbed wire is the most ponderous of the stories - definitely leaves you hanging. Just what did the girl have in her basket?

Fish out of water is my personal favourite and oddly uplifting. A doctor fishes a mermaid out of a lake and keeps her in his bathtub.

Mr. Mineral is another oddity - its about a schoolboy who calms down by caressing crystals.

Lastly we have alive - about a clone who gets sent into a commune as an experiment and then gets recalled when the owner needs spare parts... or is it...?

Every single story really makes you think and is beautifully crafted. Not my favourite style of artwork, but the stories and characters are really strong and easily carry this, making it one of the best manga anthologies I've come across.