Well, that was interesting...

My mother got in a car accident tonight. (She's okay, no injuries.) Her car is pretty bad off even though it was an extremely slow speed collision. The scariest thing is why she got in accident. My mother is a diabetic, and she was having a low. She ran into some guy who was parked in front of a store (he said she was going like 10 miles an hour at most.)

I'd just gotten home from work when I got the call about it. My father was about 2 hours away, but his number was the only one my mother could remember well enough to give to the cop on the scene. My Dad gave the nice officer my number and the phone was ringing as I came into the house. I grabbed my mother's Life Vial out of the fridge, its a little container that has all her medications, doctor's info and critical medical history on it, and dashed around the corner to where the accident happened.

The paramedics said my mother's blood sugar was 23, normally you want your blood sugar to be between 70 to 145 on the high side. My mother usually is best at around 100, anything lower she starts getting impaired. 23 is very low, as in couple of numbers lower and you're in a coma. Everyone's symptoms are different when they have blood sugar lows, but with my mother her vision gets impaired, she gets confused and her motor skills all but disappear. So basically there was a zombie driving my mother's car. She could have very easily killed herself or someone else.

My mother is usually very good about controlling her sugar. She tests, takes her medicine, keeps to her diet and exercises regularly. Today she didn't eat her cottage cheese at lunch because she snacked on some extra fruit and it nearly killed her. The universe is strange and unfair.

Samuel L. Jackson is the !#&%-ing Messiah.

I got back Sunday night, and I had a good time all weekend. I'll post more about it later, but I have to share a dream I had early Sunday morning.

I regularly have very vivid and strange dreams, but this was something else. In my dream Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) was the Messiah, like as in the second coming Messiah. But she didn't want to be, it was way too complicated. So she gave her messiah powers to typical Action movie guy, Bruce Willis. He was playing a role kind of like his old action movies, and in my dream he wasn't Bruce Willis he was Action Movie Guy. He was even wearing a dirty wife-beater and looking battered.

Of course Mr. Action Movie Guy had no use for healing and wine-making or any of the other abilities of the Messiah and also didn't want them. So he passed them along to a homeless guy, played by Samuel L. Jackson. And as the dream closed there was this news report playing on tv. It was the kind of thing they play at the end of a movie to wrap things up just as the credits start to roll. They were talking about the "Miracle of the ATM vestibule," and how a homeless man had been handing out granola bars from a never-ending box of bars. "And lo, the box of twelve became many."

So, in other words, Samuel L. Jackson is the mother!#&%-ing Messiah!

I'm In DC!

Did I mention that I was going on a trip at any point? I don't think I did. Hmn. Anyways, I am in DC visiting my Best Friend Shelly (we both have the habit of mentioning the title "Best Friend" any time we talk about each other. Hence to be shortened to BF Shelly.) Supposedly this trip is to go to AnimeUSA. I'm going as an actual con-goer! No AA table, which means I'll actually be able to see the con. Wow, what a switch. This trip is really an excuse to have some time with  BF Shelly before she gets stationed off in Mexico for her next posting. The Anime con is just a bonus.

I took two days off from work, so I was able to fly in Thursday morning. The flights were uneventful in my opinion, but bumpy enough to give some of the other passengers a bit of a scare. On both legs of the trip people asked me how I could just sit there and read as the plane bounced around. You'd think they never flown on a puddlejumper before. They're always like that.

I got in the early afternoon and conked out on BF Shelly's couch until she got home from work. Then she gave me my housewarming gift. For the house I don't have yet... But it's awesome! She and Alan brought it back from Benin (small West African country). It's a small, round, teak coffeetable/side table, completely hand carved. The top is carved with leaves and underneath, nestled between the legs, are four large elephants. The elephants come out and are actually four mini-tables! How cool is that? BF Shelly watched the craftperson make it and said that it was all carved without the aid of any kind of power tools. I just can't imagine how they do it on such a large scale. There will be pictures of this table at some point.

After eating dinner (sushi at a local restaurant) we went with her husband Alan to a Reverend Horton Heat concert, Reverend Horton Heat is a rockabilly musician with a wicked sense of humor. (I like his song "It's an interracial homosexual cowboy kind of love.") There were two other bands playing Kentucky Pussy, a southern rock band, and Hank Williams III (son of Hank Williams Jr) who had a band I can't remember the name of. Kentucky Pussy was entertaining to watch and their lead guitarist, a very pretty long haired girl, was really amazing. She also had excellent "metal" hair that she expertly rocked out. Hank Williams III was really good, starting off with some rock country (I liked "It must've been those Pills that I took" and his cover of Cocaine Blues) and then bizarrely segueing into death metal, Very, very odd mix.

Bizarro moment of the night? Watching people mosh to Reverend Horton Heat's steel guitar rock version of Greensleeves.

This doesn't mean I can go shopping.

The manga storage situation had gotten pretty bad. Even with Shelly, Coworker1, Coworker2 & Spouse, and Dreaming0 borrowing large chunks of books (at one point I counted and had over a 100 books lent out) I still had piles of books on the floor because I had nowhere else to put them. I can't tell you the number of time I tripped over a stack and sent them sprawling across the floor.

My small studio apartment was seriously starting to look like Yomiko Readman's apartment in Read or Die. Not quite so bad as to have to worry about crushing death by manga, but getting closer. So I decided to take stock and figure out what else could I get rid of or move to get them homes.

I couldn't give up my computer desk, or my workbench. I sleep on my couch (no room for a bed...). My kitchen is full of art supplies and fabric. I already rebuilt my coffee table to be a bookcase. Hmph. But! I do have three book cases full of vhs tapes.

I can't even remember when I last watched a VHS, plus I have a lot of duplicates. There are series that I re-bought on DVD. It was definitely time for a purge. But before I can purge I need to see what I actually had. So I spent most of this past weekend putting one book case into Movie Collector (a database program) and packing them away in boxes.

I managed to fit 143 tapes in that bookcase. Now, Movie Collector searches IMDB, Amazon and their own user submitted database to pull info and covers based off title and barcode on movies. I'm sure this works pretty well with recent movies. But 10-15 year old anime VHS? Not so much, no. So it was mostly manual. If you're curious as to what I was watching 10 years ago, feel free to take a look.

I always knew there were tapes on that shelf I'd never watched before too, because when I worked at Blockbuster whenever a used anime tape went on sale I bought it. (I got 40% of tapes marked $2. It was more of a "why not" situation.) But I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a pretty small list. I always thought I'd wasted a bunch on things I hadn't watched, but half the stuff on that list I got free (Last Labrynth and MezzoForte for example) and the rest I didn't pay more then a $1 for. So really only a "waste" of about $6 bucks.

All 143 tapes fit nicely in three Office Depot paper boxes too, which leaves me a nice empty bookcase! Well, not empty any more. I've already got it half full with just stuff that was laying around on the floor. The lent out books would fill up most of the rest of the first layer. And my "unread" shelf is packed flat with the bottoms facing out (so I can get 4 rows instead of three), so if they were properly placed that would probably fill up the rest of it.

So, even though I have a bookcase with gaping holes of space. I CANNOT GO SHOPPING FOR MORE MANGA. I have nearly a 100 books on my unread shelf. I can't even fit anymore books on my unread shelf! It's packed tight. I've got to institute a no more manga till that stuff gets read rule. (and stick to it.) So Borders, please stop sending me $5.00 rewards certificates and 30% coupons.

My Manga brings all the Bankers to the yard...

So, I am building a manga cult in my office. It wasn't intentional, but it kind of snowballed. It started off with just lending books to one of my co-workers. Her request, anything that has a little romance in it. That is not hard, it pretty much only cuts out some of the sports manga and a few others. After reading a few, she added the addendum that she didn't want to read any series that was unfinished. Also not a problem as I have plenty that are done.

Second co-worker saw me hand a stack to first co-worker and mentioned that she once saw an anime called "Ranma 1/2" and did I have anything like that she could borrow? I told her I had had the manga of Ranma 1/2, so lent her that. The "The Wallflower", then a couple others.. and now she's on Midori Days. Coworker's husband, who also works at the bank but for another business unit, has started to read the books she's bringing home and wants more. He's requested GTO. (Good choice!)

Third coworker has listened to me and coworkers 1, 2 and coworker's spouse talking about manga and wants to try it. So tonight I'm picking out a new completed series for co-worker one (I'm thinking Kare Kano, romance and completed), bringing back The Wallflower for Coworkers husband because he didn't get to finish what I'd lent to his wife before she brought it back before bringing in GTO. And I have to pick out something for coworker 3 and am rather stumped. What do you pick out for a guy who's favorite tv shows are "Desperate Housewives," "Dexter" and "Heroes?"

Manga a Day: xxxHolic Vol 10

Amazon.com: xxxHOLiC, Volume 10: Books: Clamp ISBN: 0345496833 ISBN-13: 9780345496836

Wow. Something happened! I love xxxHolic, but most of the story has just been hints and suggestion buried in the random stories made up of Yuko's customers and Watanuki's misfortunes. I think it might be time to go back and re-read the previous volumes. I think I caught most of the clues about Himawari, but I'd like to see if there are ones I missed. Plus I'm curious about something...

I think most people have read this already, but I figure it's only polite since it is a a rather recent book... so spoilers for vol 10 and random fanfic-type speculations below this space...

 

 

 

 

 

So I know that Himawari is a jinx. I'd suspected as much from volume two or so, but the main question was it intentional, accidental and was she even aware of it. I'm glad it wasn't intentional, but I don't know if I'd call it accidental. If Himawari knew that she caused these problems, dangerous problems, it seems to me she's still culpable in some way. It's like someone having an incurable infectious disease, easily caught, hanging about people. People are going to get sick. Even if most people recover easily from the illness, there are some who don't. Some who die. Do you have the right then to be around people?

At the same time, what is Himawari supposed to do, live in a bubble? Never talk to anyone but her parents? Besides which, how far does her "jinx" actually go? If she had an livejournal and you put her on your friends list, would your computer crash? Would LJ delete your journal in a mistaken fight against porn? Doesn't seem very fair to expect her to be alone because of something she can't control. (And I find it an interesting parallel to the lonely Kohane, who is alone so she doesn't decrease her powers.) It does seem to be a cumulative effect, the more you're around her the worse things get for you. So, should she never have a good friend or a relationship? Besides, I like her. I don't want her to be unhappy either.

Anyway, it also makes me more curious about Domeki too. He seems to have a need to protect Watanuki, like when he tries to keep Watanuki from seeing the dead body, and I wonder why. I know it's CLAMP, so the popular theory is that they're "in love," but that's rather boring. I don't like them as a couple. Another reason to re-read, because I feel like I've missed something. I'm also curious about Domeki's grandfather... and also why all the men have women's names. "Haruka?" "Shizuka?" For a moment in book nine I thought Domeki was going to turn out to be a horribly butch woman in disguise. First they reveal his name is Shizuka and then there's a picture of him in a kimono. Scary moment. As a random comment, I like that you can almost automatically tell Domeki and his grandfather apart merely by body language.

This book also gives me ideas for fanfiction... a story between Watanuki and Himawari. The revelation in this chapter makes it nearly impossible for them to be a traditional "couple," which makes it an interesting challenge. How do you portray intimacy when there can be no physical intimacy? Mmmm....

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, CLAMP, xxxHolic

Manga A Day: The Embalmer Vol 02

Amazon.com: Mitsukazu Mihara: The Embalmer Volume 2 (Embalmer): Books: Mitsukazu Mihara ISBN: 1598166476 ISBN-13: 9781598166477

The first volume of The Embalmer was a collection of short stories just loosely connected through the main character Shinjyurou Mamiya. This volume still has mostly stand alone stories, but instead of focusing on the people Mamiya embalms most of the stories focus on him and the characters introduced in the first volume. Mihara has an interesting writing style. You could take just about any of these stories by itself and be satisfied. But when you mix them all up together you see slowly emerging history is revealed. There isn't much hint at a future yet, but the past is interesting enough to make me want a another volume.

The first story is about a cat. Or maybe it's about Azuki's feelings for Shinjyurou. Or it could be about one of Shinjyurou's first embalming jobs. Or maybe it's about finding home or what's important to you. This is why I'm liking this series, I can read it over a couple times and find new things in it every time.

The second story is a slice out of Shinjyurou's rough history as a half-American, half-Japanese son of an embalmer. It's also about his first love. It's probably the most straightforward story in the whole book. I still found that there was a lot being said in between the lines about Shinjyurou's personality as it is now and as it was then. It was interesting to see his mother too, and a lot was said about his father and he didn't even appear.

The third story is really creepy and neat. Most of the story made me wonder where it was going. When the catch is finally revealed you wonder how you couldn't have seen it before. I really can't say much about it without totally spoiling it. Chapters four and five fall back into the rhythm of the first volume with an "Embalmer's Christmas" tale, and a story of a boy searching for family. The last story is about Dr. Koyuki, the pretty woman doctor. I thought she was just a throw away character. But it seems that no character is just "there" in Mamiya's life.

Manga A Day: St. Lunatic High School Vol 01

Amazon.com: St. Lunatic High School (Yoru nimo Makezu!) Volume 1: Books: Majiko! ISBN: 1598169440 ISBN-13: 9781598169447

Oh god! The cute! The cute is so cute it's evil. The story is simple, Niko-chan and her older brother are poor and hardly making ends meet. They haven't even been able to afford to pay rent in the past six months. So when her brother spots and offer for a teaching job that comes with lodgings in house with a bath and garden, they sneak out in the middle of the night, no questions asked. When they get there they find the "house" is a shed, the "garden" is the school grounds, and the bath is shared with the school. But the school is rich, super exclusive and Niko-chan is excited to find out she'll be able to go. That is, unitl she finds she has to take night classes and the classes are full of demons and monsters!

The mangaka Majiko! (I think the ! is part of her name) has a really engaging art style. It borders on the super deformed, with everyone having rounded bodies and simplistic faces. The expressions tend to be exaggerated. Everything is just dripping with cute. But since the story is a silly gothic fantasy it really mixes well. Her monsters are inventive too. I love the Pumpkin-headed guy and the penguin-looking kid. (Easter Island Statue Head kid is fun too.) Genders are bit difficult to determine (not just among the skeletons and other monsters in her class). Until Niko addressed her older brother by "older brother" I assumed he was Niko's older sister. I'm still not certain if the school nurse is a woman or an effeminate male. 

Her layouts can get a bit cluttered too, and the panels a little jumbled. But I like her style. I can't think of a good word to describe it other than "chunky." She's fond of thick black outlines and bold black and whites. Since a lot of it takes place at night, there's quite a bit of screentone but she keeps it from getting muddy.

The story is just plain fun, and it's nicely all ages. Tokyopop has rated it T (Teen, for ages 13+) but I can't imagine why. There isn't any sexual humor, no swearing, and the only minor violence is no worse then you'd see in your typical after school cartoon. There may be monsters, but none are particularly scary. I can only wonder if it's because of something that happens in a later volume. I hope that Majiko! doesn't try to turn this into a serious book, it's really great as a gag manga.

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, majiko!

Manga A Day: Alive - The Final Evolution

Amazon.com: Alive 1: The Final Evolution: Books: Tadashi Kawashima,Adachitoka ISBN: 0345497465 ISBN-13: 9780345497468

The back of the book reads: "Suicide Virus - A strange virus is making it's way around the globe, causing it's victims to commit suicide-and becoming a lethal pandemic in less than a week. Now a group of Tokyo teens who have survived the outbreak are wondering why they are still alive." Except they don't even suggest that the suicides are caused by a virus until a good two thirds through the book, and even then it's just a passing comment. There are suicides, and people dying in interesting and explosive ways. However it, mostly, happens "off-screen" so while there is some gore (severed heads in silhouette anyone?) it's not overwhelming.

The art is crisp and clean and the artist Adachitoka is very fond of rich and full backgrounds. When a character appears against a blank background it's for effect, not laziness. The character designs are distinctive and even minor characters have a lot of personality. There was a scene where people are being interviewed on TV about the suicides they'd witnessed. There are only three people but the scenery around them and their design just leaps off the page. Even the bullies that only get a couple of panels are drawn well.

The story is a bit disjointed, but they tried to pack a lot into one volume. You have the familial histories of main character Taisuke and his sister Yoko to get through. It also describes Taisuke's childhood friends Megu and Hiro, how they're connected to Taisuke, and their schoo lives. Plus there are all the suicides and the mysterious people who seem to know what's going on. Now that the basic character development is out of the way, I hope it gets a bit more coherent. I have to say that I was impressed that it didn't feel very rushed or weighty, despite all the exposition they packed in.  

Now that that exposition is out of the way it will be interesting to see how the meat of the story develops in future volumes.

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, Alive

Manga A Day: King of Cards Vol 01

Amazon.com: King of Cards: Volume 1 (King of Cards): Books: Makoto Tateno ISBN: 140121312X ISBN-13: 9781401213121

Main character Minami decided to start playing "Chaos," a collectible card game similar to Magic or Yugioh. By pure chance the beginner's set she picks out has the rarest card in the game, "Sahgan the Sorcerer." Now any player who's anyone is itching to engage her in a match to get it from her. Reading the back of this book didn't elicit too much interest, but I gave it a chance because it was brought out by CMX. CMX has a pretty good track record for putting our some quirky interesting releases. I didn't think I'd like Omukae Desu or Recipe for Gertrude either.

I found this a pretty bizarre choice, even for CMX. This book seems dated. The artwork looks old, older then 1998 when it was first published in Japan. The story line seems to try to capitalize on the now dead CCG craze of that same time by making up a game to base the story around. The story is about as interesting as watching someone play magic or the pokemon card game. In other words, not very interesting. But without the artwork or story to save it wonder why they brought this title over. I'm also trying to figure out if this Makoto Tateno is the same Makoto Takeno of Duex/Aurora's Hate to Love You and DPM's Yellow, both Yaoi titles.

The author admits that the first chapter was meant as a short story, but readers at the time responded to it. As a short story I like the concept fine, the following chapters don't do as well. They are very formulaic, Minami is challenged by a strong player. They usually make a snide comment about a technique or worthless card. Her cousin Tamotsu, who she looks up to, coaches her on how to play. The night before the game she has a dream that Sahgan appears in. The next day she wins the game using whatever card or technique the strong player dissed.  Plus, it's revealed after the fact that the card/technique was also in the dream.

The blurb for the next book indicates this title is going into a more fantasy realm with Minami entering the world of the Chaos cards. This might break it out of the rut the stories are in. I'll give it another couple of books to see if it develops into something interesting.

The book also include a short story based on Sudoku (though they just call it Magic Square in the story). It's a murder mystery. I wonder what she'll write about next? Crossword puzzles? Deathmatch over Rubix Cubes?

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, king of cards

Manga-A-Day: Quickie Reviews, Two Weeks Worth of Manga

In the past two weeks I stopped posting, but I didn't stop reading. I'm going to go through the regular stuff first and then put the yaoi at the end so people who want to can skip over it.

Land of the Blindfolded Vol 8 & 9 :  These two volumes finish out the series. It had a satisfying end, and it's a pleasure to read a story that managed to have angst and growth without any real villains. I also liked that at the end, they didn't try to pretend like everyone would have no problems with their abilities, but that in the end their own actions determine how they're treated. Plus I like that Namaki got chapters of his own right up to the last volume.

Penguin Revolution Vol 4: By the same author as Land of the Blindfolded, Penguin Revolution continues to please. The premise of this series is the silliest thing ever, but the characters are so appealing I can't find it in me to care. Yukari is my favorite kind of heroine, focused, tough and sweet as pie. I really hope we find more about Mokoto. And also, I hope that Watanuki the manager doesn't disappear. He's a completely minor character, but I like him.

The Devil Within Vol 01: The main character, girl, loves little boys. In the biblical sense... not that she actually has, but she'd like to. She hates men, thinking that they're all demonic devils after watching a porn tape of her father's (who is named Satan) when she was a little girl. Now her father has said she must pick one of three "devils" to be her husband. But she's found a little boy to love living downstairs (conveniently he only looks like grade-schooler, he's actually 15). It's really bizarre, and the pacing and panel layout is confusing, but it has this square cat thing that looks like Domo-kun so I'll give it at least another volume.

Love*Com Vol 2: Cute! That is the image word for this series. It's nice to read a story with such a normal and realistic plot. Everyone remembers what it's like to be awkward and self-conscious in high school. This book is about that, but with cute art and lots of funny faces. I love Koizumi's fish face.

Tramps Like Us Vol 13: Lots of loose ends tied up in this volume. There is a lot of sweet and sugary moments between Sumire and Momo. I like that Hasumi didn't disappear the moment Sumiere made her choice too. I'm kind of wondering what will happen in the last volume as it seems like there really isn't much more to say in this story.

Heaven!! Vol 01: This book is by the author of Girl Got Game!! (Power!! in Japan). It's completely silly and fun. I hope it doesn't try to get serious because that's where Girl Got Game totally fell apart. This author is good at silly, I was giggling through most of this. Plus, it's got possessed stuffed monkey.  Everything is better with a monkey.

YAOI stuff:

La Esperanca Vol 4, 5, 6, & 7: If you like boy's love with plot and angst and little to know touchy-feely stuff. This is the series for you. This story is angst, angst, angst and just when you don't expect it (except you really do) more angst. It art is pretty though they go a bit far with the religious symbols. Also, I get annoyed with the way the characters mouths move around on their faces.

Don't Say Any More, Darling: Oh Fumi Yoshinaga, I can't hate you even when you do bad things. This is a collection of short stories of varying quality. The artwork remains consistently good, but the plots fall far short in the first two stories. Of course, if all you want is pretty men having sex, you'll probably love the first two stories and hate the last three. I loved the last three, one of which isn't yaoi at all and especially the last one which is just funny as heck before smacking you in the face with sweet melancholy.

La Vie En Rose: More pretty men having sex. It's a collection of short stories very loosely connected by a bar the characters all frequent/work at. This might claim to have a plot, but it's a dirty, dirty lie so don't you believe it. If all you want is mindless shagging you'll like it, if you like some purpose to your smut you'll probably find it as dull as I did.

 

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, yaoi

Been a While!

I didn't quite reach my goal of thirty Manga-A-Day posts. I made it to twenty-five before getting swamped with work. However, several of the posts covered more than one book so I'm only counting it as a half-failure. Plus, I plan to resume now that I'm back from MangaNext, the other distraction I had from posting. I'm going to start with a quickie review of what I've read in the past two weeks after this post just to keep my manga-a-day posts separate.

I got a table last minute and spent most of the past weekend sitting and selling buttons. I didn't do anything much con-related. I went mostly so I could visit with my friend Elina, and we left the con every day at 8 to go eat and I never had the energy to go back and try to join in on anything. I'm kind of curious what happened staff wise because I saw almost none of the same faces from last year.

The highlights were:

1) Hero-worship from the hordes of teens and tweens who shopped my table. I spent most of the time away from my table responding to calls of "HI, Button-lady!" getting bowed too. It was surreal. At one point a girl asked me in a hallway if she could hug me, and after she did ran away crying "I hugged the Button Lady!"

2) I got an Arcee Transformers Gashapon at random in the dealers room. Arcee is one of the few "girl" Transformers, and the only that became a cast regular. She was never made into a toy because her character design was made for the movie first and couldn't actually transform if produced as is. They did make a toy of the motorcycle version of her, but it's just not the same. I always wanted an Arcee toy, and now I got one and I got it on my first try in a blind Gashapon set! She doesn't transform, but she is pink and blocky, just like in the cartoon.

3) The cute and much too young guy who did magic tricks and flirted with me on Sunday. He was probably all of 19 or 20, but flattery is nice to hear from time to time. Plus, he was cute in a Momo from Kimi Wa Petto kind of way. And his magic tricks were really good! 

No Manga Post Today!

 I had an "emergency" button order so I didn't have time to read a manga today. So instead I'm going to share a funny webcomic link I came across a couple days ago.

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

It's called "DM of the Rings" and here is the premise from the site itself:

Lord of the Rings is more or less the foundation of modern D&D. The latter rose from the former, although the two are now so estranged that to reunite them would be an act of savage madness. Imagine a gaggle of modern hack-n-slash roleplayers who had somehow never been exposed to the original Tolkien mythos, and then imagine taking those players and trying to introduce them to Tolkien via a D&D campaign.

It's a webcomic, made with screen caps from Peter Jackson's LoTR trilogy, that ran from September 2006 to September 2007. In that time the creator Shamus pokes, prods and shamelessly rips into every tabletop gaming joke and exposes every plot hole in the LoTR trilogy. If you've ever played D&D, or known someone who has, or happened to hear someone talking about gaming, you'll find this funny.

There are so many things that are annoying about table top roleplaying. The endless math, the people not paying attention to the DM, the DM putting the story on rails and not letting you off, people not staying in character, people staying too much in character...

Some how it's a lot funnier when it's Aragorn and Legolas fighting over who gets the loot or Dave, er, Frodo deciding he'd much rather be a Jedi then a Hobbit.

My main recommendation for reading this comic is to make sure to read the author's "DM notes" at the bottom of each comic. They're hilarious and on point. Then read the comments by the readers. They start off laughing along and then devolve into incredible geekiness that is sometimes funnier then the comic itself (and the comic is pretty darn funny.

Manga A Day: Land of The Blindfolded Vol 7

Amazon.com: Land of the Blindfolded - Volume 7 (Land of the Blindfolded (Graphic Novels)): Books: Sakura Tsukuba ISBN: 1401210171 ISBN-13: 9781401210175

I like CMX, I like the titles they choose to publish. Put they hit one of my pet peeves with land of the blindfolded. They changed the design of the spines on the books halfway through! Books one through five have white spines with a bit "CMX" on the top, a little thumbnail image on the bottom and then the volume number in a white, large font against a green. Then books six through nine have green spines with a little logo on top and a little volume number in a dark green half circle. That means when they're lined up on a shelf together they don't match and look like two different series. This has nothing to do with the quality of this book, but it annoys me. And now to talk about the book.

In Land of the Blindfolded there are people who are born with talents to read the future in the past. Kanade sees flashes of people's future when she touches them, she can't control it so she never knows when it might happen. Arou can read the past with a touch and has great control. Namaki can see the future like Kanade but can control it turning it on and off with a touch. By this book they've mostly come to grips with their abilities.

Kanade even goes so far as to decide to confess to her best friend Eri about her abilities. At the same time Arou's uncle, his mother's brother, Sou turns up after a seven year absence. He invites them all, Eri and her boyfriend, Namaki, Kanade and Arou to a hot spring. He shows Arou to a house where his deceased mother had lived. By touching places and things she touched in the house Arou can see glimpses of his mother, which is a siren call he has battled since he was child.

They seem like really simple storylines, a confession and a temptation, to take up a whole book. There was a cute fall festival chapter that got the ball rolling on the entwined storylines, but it is mostly Arou sitting in a room by himself and Kanade trying to get Eri alone so she can confess. Tsukuba is good at slowly building tension without making the story drag or feel boring. I don't think many could pull that off. I like the subtle hint of threat she gives to Sou at the end to hook you into the next book. It's not a cliffhanger, but it defintely makes you want to read the next one even though there isn't a current obvious storyline that carries over to the next book. Oh! And two people manage to do the old "opps wrong gender bath!" mistake, for a little fanservice.

I really like the artwork in this series. This volume is fun because, between the fall festival and hot spring, there were a lot of kimonos and yukata. The girls look cute and the boys look handsome (and you can even mostly tell them apart!) I'm especially how the expressions are done. Tsukuba uses her characters' eyes to do most of the work. They narrow, widen, go blank, distant, or intense, usually with the clever application of screentone and detail. Instead of using super deformed characters to express extreme emotion, she'll just deform their eyes turning them into dots, dashes or making them disappear completely. It's very engaging and expressive without being distracting.

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, land of the blindfolded

Manga A Day: Pretty Maniacs Series Review

Amazon.com: Pretty Maniacs Volume 1 (Pretty Maniacs): Books: Shinsuke Kurihashi ISBN: 1588993205 ISBN-13: 9781588993205

Amazon.com: Pretty Maniacs Volume 2 (Pretty Maniacs): Books: Shinsuke Kurihashi ISBN: 1597960160 ISBN-13: 9781597960168

Amazon.com: Pretty Maniacs Volume 3 (Pretty Maniacs): Books: Shinsuke Kurihashi ISBN: 1597960179 ISBN-13: 9781597960175

Pretty Maniacs is the sequel series to the three book series Maniac Road. It stands pretty well on it's own, but there are a few jokes you'll miss if you don't read both. They're both in the spirit of other Otaku themed books like Genshiken and Comic Party. The first series focused on the Kinushima sisters and Takezou the otaku who helps restore their Akibara store to it's former glory. In this sequel, Takezou has left to build up the US location of the Cauliflower store (an obvious parody of the famous Broccoli.) His younger sister Shinano has gotten into a local high school and seeks to find fellow "maniacs" like herself.

The first series was written like a primer on Otaku life. It had chapters on models, doll-making, games... and explaining the fans of each. This series has a less defined focus, and has a slightly more plot based focus. I say slightly because the plot seems to be "Let's make a manga club." That goal is accomplished in the first book.

The second book has the Shinano's all girl school combining with a boy's school. This means that the manga clubs from both must now combine. That's resolved pretty quickly and the other chapters are more or less filler. (How can a three volume series have one that's mostly filler?) The storylines are typical of a high school manga, with a school fair storyline, and a love letter storyline. The love letter storyline is my favorite, it has the most interesting "hook" at the end. The last two chapters get back into the otaku vibe with a focus on reality vs. fantasy (i.e. Voice actors don't look like their characters) and otaku pros vs amateurs. Also, misunderstandings with friends.

I think it's funny that "Otaku" stories are becoming common enough that they have their own cliches. Taking on Comiket (or whatever they call it in that universe), the American otaku, graduating club members, cross-dressing. Volume three hits all of them to varying degrees. I do like this series, but compared to Maniac Road it feels very watered down. I think it's because that the author was much more familiar with the subject matter of the first books. I think it's easy to write about being an otaku loving otaku things when you are one. 

This series really shines the most when it is focusing on those little aspects of geek life that ring true to fans. One of my favorite things about the first book is when Shinano finally finds a fellow "maniac," they find their tastes are totally different. Shinano likes the original Gundam, Yura likes G-Gundam. Shinano plays the newest games, Yura likes the classics. Shinano likes the original Kamen Rider, Yura likes to pair the riders together in yaoi couples. I think most fans (of anything) have had that experience. You run into someone who knows what Anime/manga is, get excited, and then find out they're a One Piece fan and you're Naruto fan, or you like Snow Fairy Sugar and they like Bible Black. Sometimes it's just not enough to both like anime.

I also liked when the fans were arguing which "P Hyoro" character is the best. One of the characters turns to another and asks if they shouldn't try to break it up. He says that one of the pleasures of being a fan is arguing about the characters with fellow fans. Since most fandoms I know do spend lots and lots of time in character arguments this rang very true. It's for these little bits that I would recommend the series, though I think the first series, Maniac Road, delivers this kind of feeling much better.

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, pretty maniacs

Manga A Day: Gerard & Jacques Vol 2

Amazon.com: Gerard & Jacques Volume 2: (Yaoi): Books: Fumi Yoshinaga ISBN: 1598165429 ISBN-13: 9781598165425

There was no manga post yesterday. Bad day at the day job totally wiped me out, so I took a nap. When I woke up I planned to review Gerard & Jaques Vol 1. But I got halfway through my copy when I discovered that I had a defective volume! About halfway through it would go three pages of chapter 4, then a couple of chapter 6, and then some of chapter 5, and then back to 4. -_- On other words, Friday sucked all around. So I decided to skip my Manga A Day post and go back to bed. But I had read a copy of Gerard & Jacques Vol 1 about a year ago, so I decided to go ahead and read and review Vol 2 today.

Gerard & Jacques is a yaoi love story set against the backdrop of the French  Revolution, which only becomes important in this second book. In the first book Gerard, a commoner but a wealthy one, visits a brothel that specializes in young men. The owner asks him to be the first customer to a young aristocrat boy. Jacques had been sold by his family to cover his father's gambling debts after his death. Gerard, after er...breaking him in... pays to redeem him and tells Jacques to make something of himself. Some time later Jacques ended up working as a houseboy for Gerard.

At the start of the second book Jacques has graduated to manservant and is in his twenties. Jacques' mother, her fortunes having improved after remarrying, tracks him down. She and her new husband want to adopt him into their family. Jacques must decide if he wants to live a life of ease as an aristocrat or stay as a servant of Gerard. Their relationship is mostly platonic at this point, despite the way they met and some inappropriate touching in vol 1.

Gerard is shocked when Jacques returns. He found a dirty secret about his childhood and is crushed. Gerard, who'd been getting stinking drunk at the thought of him leaving, declares that he'll love him more than any stupid mother or father could. He starts to prove it, but they are interrupted.

The next day Gerard doesn't remember much of it, other that Jacques is staying. Jacques can't forget and begins to fantasize every night about Gerard. The slightest contact causes him to blush and explode. (Literally! As in "Kaboom!") At last he can't take it anymore and crawls into bed with Gerard.

Things take a dramatic turn here, with the reintroduction of Raul De Amalric who had been part of a threesome relationship with Gerard and his wife in the past. He had betrayed Gerard with his wife, and continues to visit mischief on him. (Surprise! Sex!) Also, the French Revolution happens.

The artwork is great, as usual for Yoshinaga. I especially like the detail she put in the period costumes. She has her usual fondness for detailed characters floating against white space, but she does some beautiful establishing shots of period French Architecture and interior design when necessary. She's got a bad habit of posing her characters in painful looking embraces in this book. There are a lot of instances of exposition "bombs" in this story too. In the space of a page five years or more will pass. Jacques or Gerard will explain, in a huge bubble that takes up half a page, how much time has passed and what they've all been doing since then.

It throws off the pacing, and compared to the first book, feels very rushed. It makes me wonder if this was planned as a longer story and then chopped up to fit in a two book series. Despite that, I'd still recommend this two book series because it's a head above most other yaoi.

Your Three Words

I found this on the website for the CBS tv show <I-Caught>, a show on viral videos. This is one they made themselves taking three words of advice/wisdom/ life details and setting it to music. Keep a watch for the girl around the 2 minute mark. I don't know who she is, but I think we'd be friends.

Manga A Day: Yubisaki Milk Tea Vol 05

Amazon.com: Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 5 (Yubisaki Milk Tea): Books: Tomochika Miyano ISBN: 1598168908 ISBN-13: 9781598168907

Yubisaki Milk Tea, it just gets squickier and squickier. How many uncomfortable storylines can you pack in one 180 page book? I think Yubisaki Milk Tea has gone for the record, I can't imagine what they'll pack into the next volume. Lets count of the squicks, shall we?

In this volume:

Yoshinori makes out with his sister
Yoshinori's sister throws herself at Hidari's father (again)
After being interrupted while having sex, Yoshinori dresses up as yuki to masturbate.
Kagami, Hidari's (14/15? year old) best friend has been letting an adult guy take nude pictures of her
Hidari offers to let Kagami use her for sex as an apology for not being in love with her
Yoshinori, as Yuki, takes erotic nude pictures of Kagami
In a bonus side story, Minamo, Yoshinori's classmate, reveals that her brother used to make passes at her in middle school.  And she liked it.

Diiiiiisssstuuuuuuurbing. I can't imagine what they're going to do in the next book. Everyone is so mixed up. None of these things are particularly frowned on by anyone in the story. Everyone is so lonely that they're just throwing themselves at anyone who shows them a bit of attention.

The delicate and sketchy artwork set off the story. Almost half the story takes place at night or in darkened rooms so there is a lot of screen tone and shadows. At times it makes the artwork look muddy. The characters at times look alike, sometimes only set apart by hair color and length. In one scene where Yoshinori and Minamo are kissing, it's hard to tell who is who.

This isn't a book for everyone. It's provocative and disturbing, but shows surprisingly deep flashes. It's not just a perversion-fest. It's the kind of book I'm afraid of some parents group finding on the shelves and using as a rally cry against manga, because it would be easy to just see the raw sexuality. It's easy to miss the soul searching and exploration because of all the sexual fumbling going on by the cast.

This book felt like it was going in a million directions at once. It seemed to fly a bit off the track set by the earlier books in the attempt to shock as much as possible. I want to see if they can pull it back on track with the next book.

Manga A Day: Yubisaki Milk Tea Vol 04

Amazon.com: Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 4 (Yubisaki Milk Tea): Books: Tomochika Miyano ISBN: 1598162934 ISBN-13: 9781598162936

In the last volume of Yubisaki Milk Tea, main character Ikeda Yoshinori decided that he was going to break up with high school classmate Minamo to "protect" his childhood friend and middle school senior Hidari. Plus, he decided that he still liked dressing up in women's clothes and even if his voice was now changing he was going to keep at it. It's honestly the only book I can think of where cross-dressing isn't used as a comedic foil or contrivance to complicate love, but for drama instead.

lj-cut text= "I wonder who the intended audience is of Yubisaki Milk Tea is supposed to be."

This is such an odd book. Yoshinori is a young man battling puberty and what it means to be a male with male desires. Hidari is a young girl who desperately wants to grow up and be "adult." Minamo is a shy girl just starting to make connections with other people. "Yuki," Yoshinori's alter-ego, is the only person who seems to have it "figured out" and Yoshinori is just playing a role.

Some of the storylines in YMT disturb me. Pretty much anything with Hidari as a character I find squicky. She's in middle school, only about 14 years old, and she is thrusting herself into adulthood as quickly as possible. In the first chapter she hyper-sexualizes herself by first consciously flashing Yoshinori while they play ping-pong and then later going to his room and stripping. However, as much as it makes me uncomfortable to watch this child try to act like an adult, her actions ring very true. Everyone knew someone in middle school who was just trying too hard. The fact that she freaks out as soon as any of her advances work is also very realistic. Girls that age are curious, and they can be forward. And no, they aren't ready for it, but just try to get them to admit that!

I'm more disturbed by Yoshinori's reaction to Hidari. I don't expect a guy to have no reaction when a girl, one he's admitted to having feelings for already, strips down in front of him and offers herself up. When she starts crying and saying "No!" (and she's 14!!!!!!!) I'd expect him to stop. At least he feels bad for it later. Of course he uses it as an excuse to spend most of the volume dressed up as "Yuki." As Yuki, Yoshinori completely sublimates his male desires, often thinking how disgusting boys are for having lustful thoughts. For all the characters in the book Yoshinori is the most immature. He's completely unwilling to grow up and uses his alter ego as a way to escape.

Both Minamo and Hidari know about Yoshinori's secret. Minamo, who was scared of boys, used it as a way to be comfortable with Yoshinori. Hidari treats Yuki and Yoshinori as two different people. People who don't know about his secret are his best friend Wataru, who has a crush on Yuki. Yuki seems to have feelings for him too, but if it's exactly romantic I don't know what it is. I think it's easier for Yoshinori to have tough conversations as Yuki, like girls aren't expected to be as tough as boys are.

The whole book seems to be about Yoshinori taking it easy. Everyone else is growing up around him. He seems to be chafing at it a bit by the end of the volume. Everyone seems to be giving him a free pass too. I hope in future volumes that he toughens up a bit, and people stop making excuses for him.

Technorati Tags: manga, manga reviews, yubisaki milk tea

Manga A Day: Vampire Doll Vol 01

Amazon.com: Vampire Doll: Guilt-na-Zan Volume 1 (Vampire Doll Guilt-Na-Zan): Books: Erika Kari ISBN: 1598165194 ISBN-13: 9781598165197

It's cute. And, well... it's cute. There isn't much else going for Vampire Doll. I don't mind when a book is only meant to be funny and cute. A manga (or book, movie or TV show) has only one job "be entertaining." Not to be the cleverest, the deepest or most artistic, it just has be an entertaining way to spend your time. Vampire Doll just barely squeaks into the entertaining category. But hey, the art is cute.

A hundred years ago dread aristocrat vampire lord Guilt-Na-Zan was sealed away in a cross by a master exorcist. Now, in present day Japan, Kyouji, the descendent of that exorcist has resurrected the fearsome dark lord... in the form of cute little girl wax doll. Kyoji's purpose? To have her wear cute clothes and do housework and chores so he can focus on his many hobbies, like reading magazines about cute girls and making weird dolls. 

Being in cute body of a young girl has severely limited Guilt-Na-Zan's powers. Where before Guilt-Na-Zan could summon a tempest, now as Guilt-Na-chan he can only summon showers of candies and flowers. Before he could summon the beasts of the night, now he can summon a horde of cute plush dollies.

If being house servant to a bully and an idiot isn't bad enough, Kyouji has a twin brother who is an even bigger idiot. With a large collection of cursed objects he doesn't know how to use, Kyoichi (who calls himself lord Night Veil) is trying to get the cross that Guilt-Na-zan was sealed in so he can use Guilt-Na-Zan as a servant instead. Luckily, when Guilt-Na-Zan drinks Tonae, the sweet and guileless little sister of the twins, he can temporarily regain his form and fight Night Veil off.

I have nothing to complain about with Vampire Doll's artwork. The handsome guys are handsome, the cute girls are cute, cute, cute. There are backgrounds, well drawn even, when they're needed and they don't abuse the screen tone. The characters are distinctive. Even when Kyouji doesn't have his glasses on, you can't mistake him for his twin, even though they are "identical."

Vampire Doll does have some good gags. Vincent, the bat turned human, is a very fun "dumb handsome guy." And I especially liked the storyline where someone was draining the wickedness out of the schoolboys at Tonae's school. It's a mad scramble to catch the culprit before the school becomes a breeding ground of boy's love characters. I just wish that all the chapters were that entertaining. I hope in future volumes that the storylines improve. However, this one is going to go on the bottom of my "to buy" pile so it might be a while before I revisit it.

Technorati Tags: manga, manga reviews, Vampire Doll

No manga post today...

I'm tired from fighting to restore my website. Everything should be up and working now. Yay! I've gotten really good about backing stuff up and it took me less than 24 hrs to get everything, including my interactive stuff back up. I even had a chance to post my chapter of the weekly Fruits Basket chapter discussions.

I also got an email from someone distressed that the forum was down so they couldn't read the chapter discussions. Someone who isn't Hymina, Ysabet, Dreaming0 or me! So people who read and write the summaries, and lead the discussions, we are being read and they are appreciated. Now I just wish the lurkers would unlurk. We are friendly! We don't bite unless we're asked.

Manga A Day: The Embalmer Vol 1

Amazon.com: Mitsukazu Mihara: The Embalmer: Books: Mitsukazu Mihara ISBN: 1598166468 ISBN-13: 9781598166460

Mitsukazu Mihara is well known in the Goth-Loli community for her manga Doll, but this is the first work of her's I read. Now I must go out and buy everything of hers she's ever written. I thought The Embalmer would perhaps be a mystery story, with the main character Shinjyurou Mamiya perhaps solving the reasons why the people he's embalming had died. I could not have been more wrong. Embalming turns back the hands of time.

Each story is a little vignette about the people Mamiya embalms. You could take each story as a stand alone story and be completely satisfied. The author makes little notes about the embalming profession and why it exists. It's a bit of reverse culture shock to a western reader, where embalming is a normal aspect of the death and grieving process. The little anecdotes that are meant to explain why embalming exists helps us to understand why it's uncommon in Japan.

There is no doubting that this is a morbid book, in almost every chapter someone dies. Mihara doesn't pull any punches either, I was tearing up over more than one of these stories. The one with the father who died of tuberculosis struck me especially hard. But it's never gruesome, there is no gore or bloody corpses. Mihara's lovely and stark artwork only enhances the melancholy nature of the story. There is almost no shading in her visuals, telling the story in a bare black and white. This could have had the effect of making everyone look like a cardboard cutout in a less experienced artist's hands, but Mihara's artwork is rich with depth.

Each story's pacing is spot on, unrushed and uncluttered. Mamiya's personality leaps off the page. The reader is just as interested as the landlord's daughter to learn more about him. It never feels like the story is suffering for not telling revealing all about him right away. The blurb for the next book promises to delve into how he got into the profession and I look forward to it.

Technorati Tags: manga, manga reviews, mitsukazu mihara

Manga A Day: Category: Freaks Vol 1

Amazon.com: Category Freaks Volume 1 (Category Freaks): Books: Sakurako Gokurakuin ISBN: 1588993000 ISBN-13: 9781588993007

Category: Freaks volume one is a collection of creepy stories about "freaks" who feed off of the pain and misery of humans. "Freaks" seem to be something like ghosts or demons, but they come about because of the dark and nasty emotions of humans. But there are creatures who can destroy them, something called "Stands." The main character, though I use the term loosely, Asagi Nanami is a Stand and runs a Paranormal Investigation firm. He looks like a middle school student but it hasn't been revealed how old he or his grade school looking bunny girl sidekick Tokiko actually are. His chief researcher is a college student named Amano. They also have an assistant, Mahime, a typically clumsy and cute college age girl who is sometimes the self confident Yahiro. I don't know if it's a spilt personality situation with her, or if Yahiro is some kind of supernatural being sharing Mahime's body. Over all, I'm confused.

Each story is rather straight forward, something nasty starts happening to humans and Nanami and crew find the Freak and take care of it. The Freaks are pretty varied, volume one has a golum-looking thing in a corporate office basement, a sex god with a penchant for maids, and a giant teddy bear version of Jack the ripper among others.

However Nanami usually just appears and the beginning and end of the stories. He makes comments like he's getting orders from or answers to someone else, but you never find out who that is. Things like Tokiko's penchant for gobbling down the remains of the freaks, or Mahime's personality switch aren't explained at all. They also don't explain Izumi, the eyeball thing that lives in his stomach. They only give a sketchy explanation of what the Freaks and Stands are, not enough to get a good understanding of them. I hope that they'll be explained in future volumes.

I like the creepy atmosphere Gokurakun establishes in the stories, but I feel they rush to the conclusion a little too quickly. Each story is contained in just one chapter, meaning a lot is packed into thirty odd pages. This is one manga I think would be better as an anime. The audio and visuals, properly executed, could make up for the short length of the stories. I have to say I really love Nanami's snarky know it all attitude.  He looks like a middle school student, so I picture him sounding like Hiro from Fruits Basket. He's subtly funny.

The artwork varies. The girls in this book get loving detail, and there is a fair share of fanservice throughout. Anyone under 30, male or female, look attractive. Anyone older, especially older men, look like caricatures. Being a horror book the author does give a lot of detail to the backgrounds, setting up a nice dark vibe. When Nanami uses his "Stand" abilities the artwork takes on a cool abstract tone that I really enjoyed and it's something that would really look neat animated.

If future volumes develop a plot to connect the stories together, and explain some of the unanswered questions, this series could be really entertaining. If it doesn't, the disconnected stories could quickly fall into a boring "monster of the week" format with no tension. I hope the stories become longer too. I think with two chapters they could make a much creepier story.

Technorati Tags: manga reviews, manga, catagory freaks

Manga A Day: Othello Vol 7

Amazon.com: Othello 7 (Othello (Del Rey)): Books: Satomi Ikezawa ISBN: 0345484398 ISBN-13: 9780345484390

 Well, that's over. The basic plot of Othello is that wimpy Yaya becomes headstrong  bringer of justice Nana when under stress. The only thing that is the same about Yaya and Nana (besides that they share the same body) is that they both want to be singers. Satomi Ikezawa does comedy well, so in the beginning of the series when the personality change was played up for laughs the series was pretty good. But as the series wound to a close and Ikezawa tried to insert drama and pathos the unrealistic nature of the story made the series fall flat.

Haven't they ever thought of consulting a health professional?"

In the last volume of Othello Yaya finally found out about the existence of Nana. She was so shocked that she retreated completely giving up control of her body to the Nana personality. Love interest Moriyama for some reason wants the whiny and helpless Yaya back instead of sassy and strong Nana. Also, they decide to keep it to themselves instead of, you know, talking to a doctor.

In this volume Shohei, former lead singer of Yaya's favorite band Juliet, turns up again with an offer to produce Nana. He wants to record an album with her and have her perform in the "Rock Japan" concert. Nana jumps at the opportunity, but has trouble writing her own lyrics for the song Shohei wrote. She finds the lyrics Yaya wrote for the song and tries to pass them off for her own. But since she doesn't understand the feelings behind them can't perform it properly.

Moriyama immediately recognizes the song as Yaya's and helps Nana bring out Yaya to perform it. Through the power of music Yaya and Nana start to reconcile their two personalities and decide to work together to perform. But now that Yaya is stronger Nana can't just take over like she did before, she has to wait until Nana is asleep. Things come to a head when Shohei's ex-bandmate sabotages Nana/Yaya's chance to perform in the concert.

Nana goes on rampage, but Yaya interferes when she tries to administer justice. Together they manage to get the chance to perform and even get the ability to switch back and forth at will. They go on to perform kick ass despite a bout of nervousness on Yaya's part.

The story is okay, if you don't take it to seriously. There are plot holes by the megaton, and I feel like they shouldn't have tried to make it a serious story at all. Ikezawa's art is sketchy and undefined. Besides the typical manga standard of "no background is a good background," the characters themselves are rarely drawn in detail. They have next to no shading and the inking has no difference in line weight. This makes the characters look very flat. Ikezawa is fond of drawing the mouths exaggerated to express the characters emotions. It's kind of ham-handed but it gets the point across. It works better in the comedy portions.

 

Technorati Tags: manga, manga reviews, othello

Manga A Day: Skip Beat Vol 8

Amazon.com: Skip Beat! Vol. 8 (Skip Beat (Graphic Novels)): Books: Yoshiko Nakamura ISBN: 1421510251 ISBN-13: 9781421510255

Yoshiki Nakamura, oh how I love thee. Skip Beat is one of those books where I finish the volume, run to Amazon to check when the next one is out (not until November!! ;o;) and then consider reading the series so far over again. The story is that engaging. I'm going to read this book again when I'm finished writing this review.

Yoshiiki Nakamura's artwork has improved a lot since her previous work Tokyo Crazy Paradise, and it wasn't that bad then. She still only has about four different faces that she uses for all her characters, two female and two male. But attitudes and body language of the characters (and hairstyles) are distinctive enough to keep you from getting confused. I did have a little trouble in this volume when Kyoko and Mimori were in their angel garb since they had the same hair and clothes. The fact that Kyoko's eyes and chin are just a bit sharper then Mimori's wasn't really enough to distinguish them.

I really love how she uses a character's whole body to express their emotion. You might not be able to figure out who's who from their face, but you can't mistake them from the way they carry themselves in a panel. She also doesn't fall into the manga style trap of having only one "happy" (or sad, or angry) face for her characters. Kyoko especially is as readable as a book. You can plainly see from her expression and carriage when she gets her hopes up, when she's feeling sad, when she's angry. And I love Kyoko's grudge spirits.  They're so evil and cute at the same time. 

 Nakamura is also of the school that you should never draw a background when a screentone will do instead.

In this volume Kyoko continues to act in Sho's Promo clip as an Angel character who has to kill his Devil character. In the last volume she completely overwhelmed Mimori and shocked Sho with  the level of her acting. After promising to crush Sho with her acting she's quickly knocked down a peg when she flops during the pivotal murder scene. The problem being, as an angel, she's supposed to be conflicted about killing the devil. But Kyoko is obviously enjoying choking the life out of Sho too much to make that work.

She calls her acting friend and fellow "Love-Me" section member Moko for advice. When she gets Moko's voice mail, she calls Ren for advice but leaves a weird message on his phone. Moko calls back and helps Kyoko get into her character's head. Kyoko again performs and overwhelming performance.

Everyone is curious about her relationship with Sho. Their bickering, taunting and Sho's unusual interest in her make everyone wonder if they are or were dating, despite their denials. Sho doesn't seem to really know what's going on himself. He keeps saying he doesn't care about her but everyone sees that he treats her differently.   

It doesn't sound like much to take up the bulk of the book, but I was eagerly turning each page. I also really love the care even side characters get in Nakamura's book. Mr. Yashiro, Ren's manager, is great. Nakamura helps express what the stoic Ren is feeling by having Yashiro react for him or about his actions without making it seem obvious or forced. The bits with Ren's cellphone, both Ren's reaction to getting Kyoko's call and the threat at the end by Yashiro, were a treat to watch. More please!

Technorati Tags: manga, manga reviews, skip beat

Manga A Day: Hands Off! Volume 8

Amazon.com: Hands Off! Volume 8 (Hands Off!): Books: Katsumoto Kasane ISBN: 1595321608 ISBN-13: 9781595321602

Three teenage boys, three flavors of ESP. Yuuto can read auras, Tatsuki can see the past by touching objects, Kotarou is an empath and healer. Both Tatsuki and Yuuto can boost their powers by touching Kotarou.

No, it's not yaoi.

Honest! It's not. It's not even boy's love. Yes there are really touchy feelie guys, but Kotarou has a girlfriend. They kiss and everything! Yuuto is a total ladies man for most of the series before settling down to chase after one particular girl. And I'm not sure if Tatsuki realizes that people come in two flavors. That being said, the chapter image for chapter 47 (an angelic Kotarou holding an injured Tatsuki in his arms) is the gayest thing I've ever seen.

Besides that the story comes to a more or less satisfactory end in this final volume of the series. At the end of volume seven Tatsuki had been kidnapped out of his hospital bed. Kotarou and Yuuto search for him, thinking he'd run out on his own. Tatsuki nearly escapes and overhears someone saying that it would be better to wait "until the two were together." Then they dump him on his front doorstep.

Guessing that they want to kidnap him and Kotarou together he enlists Yuuto's help in keeping Kotarou away while he tries to hunt down the people who kidnapped him. The "secret psychic organization" that popped up around book 5 or 6, reappears and you can't tell the good guys from the bad guys. Of course, trying to keep Kotarou out of the mess just makes him more eager to dive right back into it.

The ending feels rushed, you never get to really find out who or what makes up the secret organization that is so interested in Kotarou and Tatsuki (or why they're ignoring the pretty powerful Yuuto completely.) They never explain if there are two organizations or if Udou and Kiba are just renegades. Or why, exactly, Tatsuki's head explodes.

TATSUKI'S HEAD EXPLODES

Ehem, anyway... there are loose ends. But overall most of the main questions are answered, like why Tatsuki developed powers and how it's connected to Kotarou.

The artwork in Hand's Off is very unusual. The faces and eyes are all very sharp featured. Everyone's head kind of looks like upside down triangles. The eyes stretch wide across the face, foxlike. (Look at the cover above to see what I mean) It's a style that you usually see in beginning artists. But unlike an inexperienced artists the proportions are consistent and the panels uncluttered. It's very distinctive, and very suited to the brooding she has her guys do. It looks a bit strange on the girls, but there are only three of those so it's not a problem. I'd be interested to see other works by this artist, just to see how she draws other characters.

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Manga a Day: Recent Manga Purchases

In response to seangaffney on livejournal's question "What manga YOU have gotten recently?"

According to my book management software, BookCollector, I have bought 64 volumes of manga since August 8th. They are (in alphabetical order):

Banana Fish Vol 10 -18 by Akimi Yoshida published by VIZ, Gang wars in NY in the 80's, plus global drug conspiracies that have their roots in the Vietnam war. Good stuff. Plus, some boy's love...only not. Eighteen is the final volume, it will be interesting to see if they can really tie up all the plotlines.

Black Knight Vol 02 by Tsurugi Kai published by Blu. Yaoi, with way more story then sex. I have one and three. Needed this one to close up the gap. Set in a fantasy world.

Chrono Crusade Vol 08 by Daisuke Moriyama published by ADV Manga. Finally going to finish this up. And I think it's a miracle, ADV actually published a complete series. It's got Nuns with Guns. What more could you ask for?

The Devil Does Exist: Vol 04-11 by Mitsuba Takanashi, published by CMX. If their parents marry they'll be brother and sister, but why should that stop their relationship? By the same manga artist as Crimson Hero. Volume eleven finishes up this series.

Dokebi Bride Vol 03 -05 by Marley published by NETCOMICS, see my manga a day posts. Weird Korean mythology.

Flower Of Life Vol 02 & 03 by Fumi Yoshinaga published by DMP. Slice of life high school comedy. Posted in the Manga A Day

Fruits Basket Vol 17 by Natsuki Takaya published by Tokyopop. Because, duh, Furuba.

Gerard & Jacques Vol 01& 02 by Fumi Yoshinaga published by Blu. Yaoi. Bought because I'm on a Fumi Yoshinaga kick and sadly she does way more Yaoi then non-yaoi. Her story telling is good either way.

Guru Guru Pon-Chan vol 04-09 by Satomi Ikezawa published by Del Rey. If a dog becomes a human girl and you fall in love with it, is it still bestiality? Cute comedy that completely ignores that question. Volume 9 is the final volume. By the same author as Othello.

Hands Off! Vol 08 by Katsumoto Kasane published Tokyopop. This title wants to be yaoi when it grows up. (It's not, it just hints at it now and then.) There are 5 flavors of psycic in this book and they don't get along. Last volume in the series.

Happy Hustle High Vol 05 by Rie Takada published by VIZ. Last volume of this high school comedy romance. Thank god that's over.

JUNJO ROMANTICA Vol 02 & 03 published by Blu, Yaoi with lots of "surprise sex." I started the series, now I have to keep reading it. I'm obsessive that way.

Kare Kano/His and Her Circumstances Vol 18-21 by Masami Tsuda,Tokyopop. I read these in scanlation along time ago. Dutifully buying my volumes in english for happy re-reading.

La Esperanca Vol 05-07 by Chigusa Kawai published by DMP. More Yaoi, this time in an all boy's boarding school. I'm surprised this isn't a more common setting. I think this finishes up this series. Pretty art for a fairly standard story.

Land of the Blindfolded  Vol 08 & 09 by Sakura Tsukuba published by CMX. Psycics collide and find romance. Volume nine finishes up this series.

The Moon And Sandals Vol 02 by Fumi Yoshinaga published by DMP. Yaoi, more of my Fumi Yoshinaga kick. Its one of the few Yaoi books I've read where people actually think about real life things like having to come out to your parents and/or trying to explain to co-workers that just because you're not dating a woman, you're not single.

Othello Vol 07 by Satomi Ikezawa published by Del Rey, Spilt personalities, they fun way to date two girls at the same time! Final book in the series.

Oyayubihime Infinity Vol 06 by Toru Fujieda published CMX. Final book in the series. Past lives collide with present day in this story. I'm sad it's over.

Peach Girl: Change of Heart Vol 05 by Miwa Ueda published Tokyopop. Girl who looks ganguro seeks love. Trouble ensues. I have the rest of this series, but was missing this book.

A Perfect Day for Love Letters Vol 02 by George Asakura published by Del Rey. Second and last collection of short stories about love.

Pretty Maniacs Vol 02 & 03 by Shinsuke Kurihashi published Dr. Master Productions Inc. Before there was Train Main, Comic Party or Genshinken, there was Maniac Road. then there was Pretty Maniacs, the sequel. Geeky girls geek it up in a family run Akibara store. Final volumes.

The Queen's Knight Vol 05 by Kim Kang Won published by Tokyopop. I bought 6 without buying five, closing up the gap. Girl is whisked to another world to become Queen.

Shout Out Loud! Vol 03-05 by Satosumi Takaguchi published by Blu. Cute boy's love series about a baby-faced actor (who plays Uke roles in yaoi dramas), who simultaneously has to deal with his 17 year old son showing up on his doorstep and the advances of his drama co-stars. Read it in scanlations, buying the series now for my collection.

Skip Beat! Vol 08 by Yoshiki Nakamura, published by VIZ. Comedy, love and revenge in the Japanese idol market. Anyone who isn't reading this should be. Good fun all around.

The Tarot Cafe Vol 05 by Sang-Sun Park published by Tokyopop. Mysterious fortuneteller is involved with supernatural creatures. Not done yet, but who knows when more will be out.

Tramps Like Us Vol 11 & 12 by Yayoi Ogawa published by Tokyopop. Woman keeps boy as pet. Getting close to the end now!

Yubisaki Milk Tea Vol 04 & 06 by Tomochika Miyano published Tokyopop. Boy dresses up as girl for fun, gets into romantic entanglements with multiple girls. Fanservice-y but still manages to remain sweet.

I went on a big "let's finish up these dangling series" kick on Amazon. I wanted to finish out a few more, but Amazon's cart doesn't like when you put over a 100 books in their cart.

My manga-a-day posts will resume tomorrow, and I'll probably be doing most of the titles on this list (the ones I haven't done already.) I'll try an avoid posting a weeks worth of Banana Fish all at once though. 

So many manga, so little room...

I spent yesterday cleaning up my apartment a bit, which for my consists of mostly trying to get all books up off the floor/and or any other available flat-ish surface. I've managed to get all my manga up on their bookshelves. I would celebrate more about that except that my bookshelves are not completely full to the brim. That means if the 50 or 60 books I have currently lent out to people come back any time soon, I will have no where to put them. I'll be back to stacking books on the floor next to the bookcases. I don't like to do that,  since I live in a basement apartment that could and does spring leaks occasionally.

My 'regular' books are even worse off as there is absolutely no more room on those shelves. Usually I keep one shelf (or rather one layer of one shelf, because I stack in two layers) free to keep all my unread books together. Then when I want something to read I just cruise over and pluck one off. But now my unread books are stacked up on my end table, because I had to use that space for read books that had no home. There were more of those then unread, so goodbye unread shelf.

Must renew house hunt so I can have more space to store books. Plus, it's probably not a bad idea to go through my regular books again for a purge. I hate doing that though, because as soon as I get rid of something I want to read it again. 

Manga a Day: Oyayubihime Infinity Series Review

Amazon.com: Oyayubihime Infinity: Volume 6 (Oyayubihime Infinity): Books: Toru Fujieda ISBN: 1401213073 ISBN-13: 9781401213077

Has anyone else read Oyayubihime Infinity? Why not?! Go read it! The final volume, volume six, has just come out so you can get the whole series and read it in one go. CMX has been putting out a lot of great, unusual titles that I feel are being lost among the sea of Tokyopop and Viz titles. Besides Oyayubihime Infinity, I'm enjoying their release of Emma, Cipher, and Recipe For Gertrude. It's getting to the point that when I see it's put out by CMX I'm more willing to give it a chance. I'm sad that Oyayubihime Infinity is over, and I hope it was popular enough to bring some of Fujieda's other titles over.

A friend told me that  Oyayubihime means "Thumb Princess," meaning the title translates to "Thumb Princess Infinity." The premise is pretty simple. There are people in this world who are connected by destiny. In previous lives they were unable to fulfill their destiny to be together and are reborn in this life to meet again. To mark these people they have an unusual butterfly birthmark on their thumbs.

In the beginning the main character, Kanoko, is unaware of the significance of her birthmark. She and her sister, Mayu, were both born with it and they use it to make promises on to be together forever. They are daughters of a famous actress, though their fathers are different. Mayu is being raised by her mother to be an actress even though she's shy. Kanoko spends her life coaching and "producing" Mayu, helping her awkward sister live up to her good looks and star power heritage. Kanoko doesn't speak to anyone in class, living in her own little world and txt-ing her sister all day on her phone.

That is until her classmate Tsubame, her class idol, notices her birthmark. He's been  having memories of his past life ever since he was little. When he grabs Kanoko's hand and put their marks Kanoko has a vision of her past life. In a past life Tsubame was Sukeroku and he's searching for the reincarnation of Agemaki, the woman he committed a lover's suicide with in the past in the hopes of meeting again the next life. Now that he's found Kanoko, he believes they should immediately start dating and announces it to the whole school.

But it's not that simple. Kanoko doesn't remember her full life, so she's not sure if she is Agemaki. It could be her sister, who also has the butterfly birthmark. Or it could be Mike, Tsubame's middle school ex-boyfriend who also has a birthmark. (They dated until Tsubame realized their memories of the past life didn't match up.) It turns out that there were several people who were born with the birthmark, each with their own baggage from a past life.

The thing I love about Oyayubihime Infinity is there is actually two stories going on at the same time. One is in the present where Kanoko gets increasingly snarled in the search for people marked with the butterflies. Another is the past with Agemaki and Sukeroku and the people who's lives they touched. They reveal the past lives in pieces like a puzzle.

But even if Agemaki and Sukeroku find each other again, are those two people obligated to fulfill their promise to be together? Is it true love if you're loving out of obligation? Can you believe that your lover loves you for who you are now, and not the past you? Is that even love at all?

It's a wonderfully complex story, and plus it's got cute art! Fujieda's character work is really appealing. Sometimes she goes a bit heavy on the screentones and her panels can be a bit crowded. But overall, there is a sweetness to her artwork that really shines through. The characters are all round and soft without looking super deformed. I don't know she manages to make them look high school age when they've all got pudgy cheeks. I especially like her drawings of the past lives of Agemaki and others. Agemaki was a Geisha, and much of her story centers around geisha life. I love Fujieda's Geisha pictures. I wish she would draw a true period drama.

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