Just wanted to post the links for the Mangacast and Mangablog sites:

http://community.livejournal.com/mangacast/

http://www.mangablog.net/

I highly recommend these sites for news and views on manga. You can also find the Mangacast podcast on Itunes as well.

Episode 3 is a review of the first dvd volume of Mar, the story of Ginta Toramizu who is able to travel to the fantasy land of Marchen that he has been seeing in his dreams for 102 nights. In Marchen he makes some new friends and harnesses Babbo, the most powerful Arm, on his quest to find a way back home. Innocent and harmless kid entertainment. This dvd was released by Viz and has a list price of $19.99.

This is a podcast review of Volume 1 of The Last Uniform, a manga written and drawn by Mera Hakamada, translated into English by Nancy Barron and Ben Applegate. It is one of the first volumes of "yuri" manga published by Seven Seas under their "Strawberry" line, which focuses on romantic relationships between girls. Don't get me wrong, yuri books can have lots of action as well, but The Last Uniform is definitely a school girl romance title. Innocent, wistful, and funny. Originally published in Japan by Houbunsha in 2005. Rated 16+ and priced at $11.99.

My Rating: A