Category: Detectives

Bat-Manga!: But I resurrected myself with the strength of righteousness!

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One part manga, one part history, and one part awesome (and often hilarious) memorabilia collection, it’s Bat-Manga! As a fan of the Caped Crusader, I try to get a look at anything I can of him, though admittedly much falls through the cracks. This “Secret History of Batman in Japan” comes from an touts manga from an era of more hilarious Batman adventures riding on the heels of Adam West’s Batman TV show popularity. Even though the manga takes up most of the page, the extras are very nice including a wonderful interview with Jiro Kuwata. This little, or rather large, book is too unique to miss out on.

Bat-Manga is a curious creation in both the history of manga and Batman comics. The Batman manga ran in the Shonen King in an effort of cross promote itself with the 60s Batman television show what had just come to Japan. While the manga was written by Jiro Kuwata the popular author of 8 Man the manga was never popular enough to be collected into tankobon and quickly became an almost completely forgotten title. But years later Chip Kidd, a devoted Batman fan, would discover this little known series and do his best to find what chapters he could. Since there are no trade paperbacks of the Batman manga he had to dig up what few volumes of Shonen King he could find. This means he mostly found a few random stories from throughout the run of the manga and several of the stories are incomplete. To round out the content Chip Kidd has added additional materials like interviews and pictures of Japanese merchandise from the time the manga was produced. All of this meshes together to give you a strange and fascinating insight into a secret chapter in the Batman mythology.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #099

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hisuiconFinishing Dawn of the Golden Witch has just made me anticipate Requiem of the Golden Witch even more than I already did. This seemed like a shorter chapter than most but we got some great scenes so all is forgiven. Battler is now the Golden Sorcerer and running the game with Erika Furudo as his opponent. Beatrice is back but she is clearly not the same Beatrice as before. This chapter really centers around George, Jessica, Shannon, and Kanon. I will say the is a decent amount of evidence for the Shannon equals Kanon theory but I have to hope that it’s all a red herring. Otherwise there are some very unobservant members of the Ushiromiya family. In the end we get another suspended game that ends during the second twilight. I am assuming at this point that if we had all the games go to the end it would be much more obvious who the culprit is. As it stands these game are just supposed to be hints that when pieced together with the first four games give us who is behind all the murders on the island. I still think my final denouement stand the test of the 6th game but we shall see. Part of me wonders if I am like Battler and I am just in denial that one of the 17 could be the murderer. Another part of me feels that many of the themes point to me keeping this seemingly blind faith. We shall see what is revealed in the penultimate and ultimate game soon enough. As a side tangent I now wait for the part in every chapter for a part where Beatrice’s demon hooligans make some trouble for someone. Ryukishi07 has done well in making them lovable characters.

I started watching the TV anime adaption of CLAMP’s X (eps. 1-8). After the first couple of episodes that have plenty of action and foreboding, then we start to learn about each of the stars little by little. Kamui is hard to like at first, but his tortured mind is easy to recognize. Sometimes these episodes can feel a little slow, even though they are interesting, they take away a little from the present circumstances of characters that you haven’t quite gotten attached to yet. Lucky for me, I already have a great love for the cast. However, each moment in the present is exacting, telling, and dramatic pulling you in further and further into this complex and twisted story of destiny.  Continue reading →

Ongoing Investigations: Case #098

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I decided to rewatch Avatar: The Last Airbender S1 which I saw during its original TV run, but through circumstances never was able to catch the rest of the series. Since that was so long ago I thought I would refresh my memory before tackling the rest. I stay impressed by what I remembered from it, there is a good flow in the pacing from episode to episode and the weaving of the story is done thoughtfully. Aang, Katara, and Sokka play off each other using their strengths from natural ability to caution making the journey memorable and deeply felt. I also really enjoyed how they were able to give you backstories within an episode without taking you out of the moment, this happens most notable when Zuko’s uncle tells the story of Zuko’s past to his crew which also cemented him as my favorite, my soft spot for redemption seeking characters continues. Speaking of Uncle, the cast of antagonists are well realized, easily becoming some of the more complex on canvas, creating a large world scope but never forgetting to stay true to the main heroes. The balance of action, danger, mystery, and humor solidifies why this show is addictive. And the ending of the season is magnificent, closing out the first part with enough to feel satisfied but make you desperate to see where it will all lead.

hisuiconThis week is a week of me finishing of some decent length titles. Slayers Evolution- R is really just the 2nd half of Slayer Revolution. This is obvious in the fact that it keeps the alphabetical naming scheme that the last season did. The season begins right were they left of still trying to revive Pokota’s kingdom which requires them to find the Hellmaster’s jar with Rezo’s soul. The first few episodes have them find a woman whose soul is living suit of armor with amnesia named Nama. She is obviously supposed to be Naga the Serpent but they keep up the running gag of never having Naga meet any of the regular Slayers cast. We have the end of Zuuma’s plot line, the resurrection of Rezo, and a rematch between Lina and Ruby Eye Shabranigdu. Overall it kept up the same good will that the last season did. It still was never a good as the first two seasons but I did enjoy myself immensely. I found it interesting that both Revolution and Evolution- R  go back and tweak stories from the novels that the last seasons of Slayers skipped for one reason or another. I wonder how well these two season did because there is still some novels that have yet to be adapted so I would be tickled pink to see some of the later books be adapted into anime as well. Continue reading →