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Published by Kadokawa Shoten Selected Brief Updates by Rika Takahashi
Reviewer's note: Not all manga anthologies in Japan are weeklies
like JUMP and SUNDAY. In fact,
a majority of publications are actually published only once a month—and
virtually evry publisher in Japan has some form of a monthly anthology for
boys and another for girls. EX will periodically cover
approximately half of a random issue of a random magazine every so often;
but these synopses, unlike the ones for JUMP and SUNDAY, will not be a regular column.
by CLAMP Overview: Suzuhara Misaki is a seventh grader. On the day that she moved to Tokyo to attend junior high, she discovers the virtual fighting game that uses hand-crafted dolls called ANGELIC LAYER—and she instantly falls in love. She immediately makes her own Angel named Hikaru, and enters an ANGELIC LAYER tournament after a few practice sessions. This Issue: Seto Ringo is amazed at the novice Misaki's
performance on the LAYER, and sets forth with her
ultimate attack where her Angel, Ranga, damages Hikaru without touching her!
Misaki is at a loss, until Hikaru slips on the field and ends up receiving
no damage from the attack. She then realizes that Ranga is using a sonic
boom to injure Hikaru. Misaki controls Hikaru so that she escapes all the
sonic booms, and she KO's Ranga using the attack that
Ringo used earlier in the round. After the bout, Misaki encounters a
mysterious boy who says her fighting style is similar to someone
else's.
by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki Overview: This series should need no explanation to most EX readers, or to readers of the English version of this manga published by Viz. Because the plot order and other subtleties differ between the manga and the anime, it should be noted that in the episode previous to this, the three Children defeated Sahakiel (the Angel in anime episode 12). This Issue: Misato is furious that Shinji almost screwed
up the last operation, and heads down to the locker room to give him a piece
of her mind...but she gets trapped in an elevator with Ryouji during a
blackout. Meanwhile, the three pilots decide to walk to the bridge of the
Geofront in the dark (complete with Rei being the guide and Asuka grumbling
about it). Once at the bridge, Asuka decides to drag Shinji out to find
Misato, after hearing that Misato was alone with Ryouji when Maya last saw
her. While Ryouji reminisces about his relationship with Misato in the
elevator (and she looks for a way out), Asuka asks Shinji if he had ever
kissed Rei. When Shinji stammers, Asuka offers him a kiss—but as you
might expect, the lights come back on and the elevator doors open, much to
the dismay of the two couples in compromising positions.
by Tennouji Kitsune Overview: Yorun, on his way to the Heavenly Martial Arts Contest, had to defeat the water-dragon that threatened the town of Lubeedo. Yorun confronted the dragon, which turned out to be much larger than he had thought. However, once he realized that the dragon was attacking ships because it wasn't meant to live in shallow waters, Yorun convinced the dragon to live further out in the ocean and thus saves the day...or so it seemed. However, the dragon burnt to death when the ocean instantly evaporated, thanks to a mysterious man of the God clan with large wings. The man attacks Yorun, but he manages to escape the attack and then Denirumo reappears in front of him. This Issue: Denirumo tells Yorun that Spike is waiting
for him at Samero, where the Heavenly Martial Arts Contest will be held,
and Yorun faces the mysterious winged figure. The mystery man, Baryutoa,
says that he will fight Yorun not to defeat the man who will kill God, but
for Ellisis. Baryutoa tells Yorun that he cannot save Ellisis. After the
battle, Yorun decides to head to Kerumee instead of Samero, and there, he
sees two kids, Alutia and Melutia, who claim that they can read people's
minds.
by Oshii Mamoru and Fujiwara Kamui Overview: Although this is a new serial in ACE, it hardly is a new series—rather, it is a continuation of the decade-old short series by the same authors. Many years have passed since the war was lost. The battles between the government and the rebels have escalated into open city battles, creating uproar among the civilians. Even the elite from the special police attack team, known as "Kerberos", are about to finish their missions... but for what cause? This Issue: One of the Kerberos is assigned to combat
training with another military group. After the training, she asks one of
the group members why he didn't shoot, and he answers that it was because
it was only training and because he was taught never to fire first. This
causes her to think about when it is "good" to kill another—whether
it is in self-defense, or to combat the status quo...whether it is in times
of peace, or in times of need. But what do they fight for? What is the
will that they fight for? She meets this soldier one more time at a military
show, where he spots and salutes her, knowing that the next time they meet,
they will be enemies.
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