Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

The cover of the first volume.
惑星のさみだれ
(Hoshi no Samidare)
Genre Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy[1]
Manga
Written by Satoshi Mizukami
Published by Shōnen Gahōsha
English publisher
JManga (former)
Seven Seas Entertainment (current)
Crunchyroll (digital)
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Young King OURs
Original run April 2005 – November 2010
Volumes 10

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer (惑星のさみだれ Hoshi no Samidare), also known as The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satoshi Mizukami. The series is published in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Release

Satoshi Mizukami began serializing the manga in Shōnen Gahōsha's seinen magazine Young King OURs in April 2005. The final volume was published in November 2010.[2]

JManga began publishing the series digitally in North America in February 2012,[3][4][1] and published five volumes before the company shut down in May 2013.[2] It was subsequently licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment in November 2013.[2][5] Crunchyroll added the series to their online catalog in September 2014,[6] and BookWalker added the series on 18 November 2015.[7]

The series has been collected into ten tankōbon volumes, which were published by Seven Seas in five two-in-one omnibus volumes.[6][8]

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 27 January 2006[9]ISBN 978-4-7859-2605-2[9]4 November 2014[8]ISBN 978-1-626920-85-9[8]
2 27 September 2006[10]ISBN 978-4-7859-2687-8[10]4 November 2014[8]ISBN 978-1-626920-85-9[8]
3 28 May 2007[11]ISBN 978-4-7859-2787-5[11]17 February 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-15-3[8]
4 26 October 2007[12]ISBN 978-4-7859-2872-8[12]17 February 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-15-3[8]
5 26 May 2008[13]ISBN 978-4-7859-2967-1[13]19 May 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-30-6[8]
6 29 October 2008[14]ISBN 978-4-7859-3050-9[14]19 May 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-30-6[8]
7 30 April 2009[15]ISBN 978-4-7859-3153-7[15]25 August 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-69-6[8]
8 10 November 2009[16]ISBN 978-4-7859-3262-6[16]25 August 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-69-6[8]
9 19 May 2010[17]ISBN 978-4-7859-3385-2[17]24 November 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-84-9[8]
10 30 November 2010[18]ISBN 978-4-7859-3518-4[18]24 November 2015[8]ISBN 978-1-626921-84-9[8]

Reception

In 2011, the series was nominated for the 42nd Seiun Awards in the comics category.[19]

Reviewing the first omnibus volume for Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman commented that the story "takes a while to hit its stride, but when it does, putting it down becomes difficult", writing that "underneath the goofy start and typically comedic devices of absurdly powerful girls and talking animals, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is hiding a very dark story" which makes it "feel very different from most of the other shounen series currently available in English." She gave it an overall grade of B.[20] Reviewing the second omnibus, also for Anime News Network, Nick Creamer gave it a grade of B+. He wrote that he was "struggling to convey why this story “got to me,” which is always a good sign when it comes to emotional engagement." Commenting on the art, he said that it was "pretty crappy", but admitted that "weirdly enough, when it comes to the writing, that amateurish execution is actually a strength."[21] He also reviewed the third omnibus, giving it a grade of A- and writing that "Biscuit Hammer is better than it's ever been, a passionate and consistently engaging drama that seems to be getting more heartfelt and confidently composed by the chapter." He commented on the series' artistic improvement, writing: "not only are the characters more consistently drawn (they possibly have bones now!) and overall compositions more dynamic, but the structural understanding of panel flow seems dramatically improved from earlier chapters." He concluded his review by saying that "the writing elevates the story both through its consistent subversion of cliche and piercing individual lines. Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is shaping up to be something truly special."[22] He called the fourth omnibus "less visceral and poignant read than the last couple volumes", but said that it was "still a respectable installment in an excellent manga." He noted that the art remains "“endearingly rough” throughout", and said that the author "has yet to figure out the finer points of human anatomy, or horse anatomy, or tree anatomy."[23]

Rebecca Silverman also listed the series as the runner-up for the "Best Reworking of an Old Genre" spot on her 2015 manga retrospective article for Anime News Network.[24] Charlie Jane Anders of io9 placed the series at number ten on her list of "10 Heroic Prophecies That Didn't Turn Out The Way the Heroes Expected".[25]

References

  1. 1 2 Green, Scott (6 March 2012). ""Hoshi no Samidare" Debuts on JManga". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Seven Seas Adds The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer Manga". Anime News Network. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "JManga Adds The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer, More Harlequin Manga". Anime News Network. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "JManga Adds 2 Works from Fumiko Shusai". Anime News Network. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Green, Scott (11 November 2011). ""Hoshi no Samidare" Debuts on JManga". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Crunchyroll Manga Adds The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer, Kippo to Catalog". Anime News Network. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hoshi no Samidare　The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer / 1". BookWalker. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  9. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 1 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 2 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  11. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 3 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 4 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  13. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 5 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  14. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 6 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  15. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 7 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  16. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 8 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 9 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  18. 1 2 惑星のさみだれ 10 (ヤングキングコミックス). Amazon.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "Japanese Science Fiction Con's Seiun Nominees Posted". Anime News Network. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Silverman, Rebecca (13 November 2014). "Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer GN 1-2". Anime News Network. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Creamer, Nick (24 May 2015). "Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer GN 3-4". Anime News Network. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Creamer, Nick (5 July 2015). "Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer GN 5-6". Anime News Network. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Creamer, Nick (3 November 2015). "Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer GN 7-8". Anime News Network. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  24. ↑ Silverman, Rebecca (11 December 2015). "The Best and Most Memorable Manga of 2015". Anime News Network. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  25. ↑ Anders, Charlie Jane (8 January 2014). "10 Heroic Prophecies That Didn't Turn Out The Way the Heroes Expected". io9. Retrieved 12 December 2015.

External links

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