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Ongoing Investigations: Case #064

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I already loved the second Professor Layton game merely because so much of it takes place aboard a steam train! And quite nicely the scope of the mystery is much broader than the first though there are still some strange towns and townsfolk about. All the great things from the first game are in tact with some nice new additions. Once again I don’t find myself overly concerned about the mini-games but they are fun. However, it can’t be denied that I have done a small bit of complaining about this game. Most annoying is how the game treats you like a complete and utter moron. There are literally times when you look at the map and it says in big letters “GO HERE” and this combined with the constant conversations about “let’s go such and such” or “now let’s go back to so and so” takes a toll. The only other big trip up I’ve had so far is that a major puzzle required me to look at the instruction booklet. This is a portable game for crying out loud, how many of us carrying the instructions with us? But these things aside, I am finding it quite enjoyable and look forward to solving this mystery.

Deka Kyoshi is a manga Kindergarten Cop with a twist of the supernatural. Toyama Narita is a gentle giant of an undercover cop sent in as a new homeroom teacher. The teacher he is replacing committed suicide and the police feel that it is linked to something more sinister happening at the school. On Toyama’s first day he finds that one of his student named Makoto is being bullied. It seems that Makoto can see demons that make people do bad things has become labeled as a liar and a weirdo. Toyama helps Makoto and comes to believe that Makoto has an odd form of synethesia that lets him see emotions as physical forms. So Makoto starts to help Toyama with his investigation but is there a simple scientific explanation or can Makoto see actual demons? The formula for manga seems to be that someone in the class will be emotionally distressed with a after school special problem. Makoto will see the demon that is haunting them and Toyama and Makoto work together to help the student who is in trouble. There also seems to be a sinister boy who is promoting the growth of said demons and is most probably tied in with all the problems at the school. The art feels like a 80s Shonen Jump series despite the fact that it came out in 2006 in Flex Comix. I don’t mind it but I know that is a turn off for some people. The stories themselves are cute and entertaining thanks to Toyama and Makoto being a good team. Toyama comes off as bad-ass when he needs to be and we are slowly seeing Makoto grow as he works with Toyama. The series is not a must read but it is an excellent choice if you want a light supernatural mystery.

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Ongoing Project: Detective Series List

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It is not always at the forefront but this is a detective themed anime/manga blog. In that spirit we have decided to create a small database of detective series. Every title on the list is a anime or manga that has a detective as the star of the story. Sometimes the detectives are professional, some times they are amateur detectives, and some are reluctant detectives who find themselves embroiled in a mystery. The only real requirement is that the mystery or mysteries they are trying to solve be a major part of the plot. Titles that have a one shot mystery like episode 30 of Hayate the Combat Butler are not listed for they are not true detective series.

Please feel free to send suggestions of titles to add to or remove from the list. In fact, we implore you, we need help! This is a work in progress.

*We have not watched/read everything on this list* 

Ballads of the Earth and the Moon: After War Gundam X, Newtype Dolphin . . . ’nuff said.

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All the various Gundam shows come together to make a strange animal. They are all part of the same franchise but are radically different from each other. One of the odd things I have noticed is the two types of Gundam fans in the U.S. There are Universal Century purists that are usually older Gundam fans. They either hate Alternate Universe Gundam series or are extremely harsh judges of them. New Gundam fans tend to judge all the Gundam series on their own merits and flaws which I prefer. I remember hearing nothing but bad things about After War Gundam X back in the day. It was supposedly a horrific show that was the lowest point in the Gundam series. After I watched Turn A Gundam which also had a bad reputation but found it to be my favorite Gundam series I decide that maybe I would give Gundam X a chance. This was reinforced by various friends on Twitter assuring me that it was worth a shot I plunged into the unknown.

Gundam X begins after the apocalyptic end of a war between the Earth and the colonies. During the climax of the war the colonies dropped themselves on the earth killing 99% of the population. Fifteen years later the environment is somewhat stable again and people are just starting to making decent headway in the rebuilding of Earth. Garrod Ran is hired to save a kidnapped young girl named Tiffa Adill with mysterious powers who was taken by mercenaries. But the people asking Garrod to rescue her might not have her best interests at heart. While rescuing Tiffa Garrod also finds an amazing pre-war mobile suit called the Gundam X. This suit is just as mysterious and powerful as Tiffa.

Garrod Ran is a likable chap. I like describing him as if you took all five Gundam Wing pilots and made them one guy with Duo being the main and strongest template. He is a loner but usually easy going, energetic, and resourceful. He goes through periods where he is depressed and angry but he’s fifteen. It would be highly unrealistic for him to be any other way. Garrod has an aptitude for piloting but does not start out as an ace and it is implied that he has done some piloting before the show begins. Tifa Adill is sort of a stock mysterious girl with powers but she is a well done version of that archetype. It turns out she is a Newtype but unlike in the original Gundam series she never uses her power for combat. She is a quiet and odd girl who cuts herself off from everyone else. Although it is never stated, you know that Tifa has been unable to live a normal life ever since she discovered her powers. Still she is a good and kind person who wants to help others but is not always sure how to interact with people in order to do so.

Eventually Garrod and Tifa wind up on a ship called the Freeden. The captain, Jamil Neate, was a war hero who now goes around saving Newtypes while earning a living as a mercenary and scavenger. He is a quiet father figure for the crew who is trying to atone for several major sins committed during the war. The rest of the crew is a tightly knit group that slowly integrate Garrod and Tifa into their family. They are a varied bunch from the ditzy blond helmswomen to the the 12 year genius mechanic. In the first episode we are introduced to Witz Sou and Roybea Loy who start out as independent mercenaries but they quickly become full members of the crew. They usually fight along side Garrod in lesser Gundams while providing him the advice of a pair of older brothers. I would be remiss in not mentioning Paula Cis, the spunky tomboy that saves Garrod at one point and later allies herself with the crew of the Freeden. She was obviously supposed to get a deeper back story and more screen time but Paula is a victim of the show getting the number of episodes cut. Which is upsetting because Paula Cis reminded me of a mixture of Sayla Mass and Allenby Beardsley. In other words, pure awesome.

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