Category: Comics

Ongoing Investigations: Case #048

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I picked up a copy of No Girls Allowed from the MoCCA Arts Fest. After hearing a bit about it online, I was pleasantly surprised to see the artist there selling copies along with some of her other work. The price was less than the intended amount and how could I resist an anthology of real cross-dressing women throughout the ages. I had also not heard of many of them which is certainly a tip of the hat to the book. Eventhough all the stories are written by the same author and then drawn by the same artist, some are much better than others. The story of James Barry a female doctor was by far the most developed and Esther Brandeau was also good while Ellen Craft seemed to have the least fleshing out leaving you wanting. The stories are made for a young audience and I think that is important to know going in. Overall, I learned a bit and was also entertained so my 8 bucks was well spent.

Disappearance Diary is an autobiographical manga by Hideo Azuma, the man often considered the the father of lolicon. He tells stories from four very different times in his life. We see him when he was homeless, when he worked as a pipe-fitter, when he worked as a mangaka, and when he was in a rehab clinic. Hideo gives us a sneak peek into his life during many times in which he was at his lowest. He mentions right off the bat that he is going to focus of the humorous and interesting parts of the bad times. It helps keep what would otherwise be a bleak and depressing manga enjoyable and lighthearted. Overall the aim of the manga is to entertain you while showing why he had to run away from being a mangaka and what the results of the decisions he made were. The art is simple and cartoony which has a distinctly retro feel. Disappearance Diary shows you that you can tell a powerful story (and a true story) while still being fun and light. This is an amazing manga that everyone should read. As a side note, the more I learn about manga the more I have to tip my hat to any mangaka. The lifestyle seems amazingly harsh. Even if I had the skill and opportunity to be one I’m not sure I would have the strength. I recently found out there is a sequel called the Depression Dairy. I am curious to pick that up as well.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #045

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It time for more the part of Ongoing Investigations were I show you what toys I bought. First up is new two newest Portraits of Pirates. The set seems to have back in black as the theme. The first is the newest member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Brook. He is a skeleton, with an Afro, a top hat, and a suit who plays the violin. If this combination of words does not make you want a figure of him, I am not sure what I can say to sell you on it. He comes with a sword cane, a tea cup, and his tone dial. Also you can also pop open the little compartment in his skull and keep the tone dial in there which I find an amusing attention to detail. In contrast we have Rob Lucci. Another man in a black suit with a top hat but with a completely different tone to the lighthearted Brook. Rob also comes with his pigeon Hattori and his mask. I really think that as the Portrait of Pirates series has gone on they have really come into their own. While Rob is  not as complex as some of the latest entries into the series he is well done and really captures the essence of the character. Brook is complex and customizable for a static pose figure. I am a little surprised that they decided to make Rob instead of the more popular Kaku.

Picked up Spiral’s seventh volume. There are some bigger points that start to uncover themselves here, just hints but it is expected to come slowly. Ayumu taking on brute force verse his logic is great. It also randomly reminded me of the L movie where they sort of imply that violence can beat brains as well. I don’t think I would normally notice that but since I watched that and read this so close to each other it stuck out. I also like that Ayumu is admitting his brother is manipulating everyone like a puppet though he just plain doesn’t want to think so. I also found a couple of moments with Hiyono possibly revealing there is more going on under the surface. Has me curious. Looking forward to more as usual.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #042

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I eagerly finished the last volume (book 7) of Penguin Revolution. The final scenario in this book is a little over the top, but not out of tune with the rest of the story. Most of the revelations came in the couple of volumes before this so we get a lot of forward motion here. Both Ryo and Aya push themselves to out do the other on the stage and of course their internal battle over Yukari continues. Ryo realizes he has a romantic rival when he finally recognizes his own feelings. I would have liked the ending to be more concrete but it was still a happy one. Highly recommended as is anything by Sakura Tsukaba! I can’t say enough about her ability to meld romance and comedy with a little supernatural. I hope CMX releases whatever she decides to do next, would also love to see a collection of her one shots!

My theme this week is OVAs. I guess I will cheat by starting with the Haruhi ONAs. There are two Haruhi ONA series, Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyoron Churuya-san. I generally find the Haruhi-chan shorts amusing. The episodes remind me of the type of humor you would see in a comedy doujishi. Nothing in the series has had me on the floor laughing but so far all the episodes have brought a smile to my face. I find it interesting that they made Yuki a total visual novel otaku in this series. While it is funny, it makes me wonder if there is any basis for this in the novels. Speaking of Yuki the mini Ryoko Asakura that is staying at her apartment brings up the odd Japanese fascination with making miniature version of characters for omake. A great trivia question would be who was the first character to be portrayed in this fashion. Nyoron Churuya-san on the other hand is just bizarre. It is best summed up as Everyone Hates Churuya-san. It is  the story of a cheese-loving, super-deformed Tsuruya going around and being ignored or abused by everyone in these extremely non-sequitur sequences. It has very dry humor which I usually like, but not this time. Their ideal release would be as DVD extras on a boxset of the second series of Haruhi.

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