Category: Manga

Ongoing Investigations: Case #078

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Okay, so by now I don’t really need to say why we were watching Detective Conan movies, right? It is just a part of life! Why are we watching them out or order? Because we can! So began the watching of Detective Conan Movie 2: The The Fourteenth Target. It seemed to be perfect timing as Hisui started to ask me questions about Ran’s parents past and before I could add my two cents the movie starts to reveal a bit of their back story. This is the first of the earlier movies that we’ve watched with any such actual plot for the series rather than being a fun jaunt. This also has the amazing ability to make Kogoro seem cool in his day. As the pattern for the deaths is revealed things just keep escalating until a beautiful and watery finale. I have to say, the reason behind the killings is neigh impossible to figure out, but that is not to say it is an unbelievable reason, just hard to deduce.

I was recommended to watch Detective Conan Movie 2: The The Fourteenth Target as these movies can be watched in any order we decided to go back and take a look at this one. This being the fourth Conan movie I have watched, I know how to “properly” watch Detective Conan. You would almost never be able to guess the motive of the killer; they never give you enough information to figure that out in any movie I have seen so far. In this movie I was able to deduce who the killer was and I think that is what you should be aiming for if you attempt to solve the mystery like I do. The movie itself starts with various people that Kogoro Mouri having attempts made on their lives. At the scene of the crime there is a clue left that ties into a playing card motif. But of course like any good card trick there is more to all of it than meets the eye. Overall it was a solid Conan movie. The last action sequence at the end was fairly epic as a Detective Conan movie ending should be.

I had the chance to play through a good amount of Mega Man 10 as Proto Man on Easy Mode. The game is unsurprisingly a lot of fun, especially thanks to the less-frustrating-but-still-not-always-easy Easy Mode. However, the real enjoyment comes from the quirky stages and bosses of which my favorites include Strike Man with a baseball motif and Sheep Man with static electricity power! Though unfortunately Sheep Man’s power that you gain kind of sucks because of its terrible accuracy and execution. But for the most part all the others work well and have that element of innovation present. There is a lot of fun attached to this game and it lends itself to people (me!) who may not be good at Mega Man games.

I made a guest appearance on the Otaku in Review Podcast entitled Sleeping with Hisui. The podcast starts with me talking about how the blog gets its name just in case you have never heard the story. We then move into talking about what they are watching. I talked about Future Police Urashiman; Jon Ingoglia mentions Tears to Tiara; and Scott Spaziani rounds it out with Sora no Woto and his mixed feelings about the show. As some point I go into a little rant about Gundam Unicorn not having a DVD release. I thought I brought up some good points but Scott had some poignant counter arguments. Jon talks about various anime related iPhone apps after. We then wrapped up the podcast with my worst panel experiences and general panel philosophy. We covered an eclectic but interesting number of subjects and I don’t think I rambled on as much as I usually do.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #076

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We got a copy of Foiled from First Second Books last week, I was rather excited because it was penned by Jane Yolen! Her imagination and description would surely lend itself to being made into a comic. Just as I hoped, Mike Cavallaro achieved it wonderfully. The art style is this wonderful hybrid between comics and American cartoons. Aleria isn’t a typical teen-aged girl with her kind of rye look at the world, but she is quite relateable in her semi-awkwardness, slightly odd parents, and geeky slant but no real place to fit in. In fact, all of these make her more alive than some exaggerated contemporaries, nothing is totally normal but nothing is too off the wall in her life. But what sets her apart (even more?), besides her attitude, is that she is a fencer and a very good one at that. And of course that is where the story really begins and ends as her latest fencing sword (or as she would yell WEAPON!) was a thrift store find with a weird jewel on the hilt. Throw in a new boy at school, some table top role-playing, and the appearance of a world that rests on top of NYC chockful of mystical creatures and you have a wonderful, fun, and magically little book. The magical world is such a strong element, but it doesn’t really come to the forefront till more than half way through. This was really my only complaint, yes it is important to establish Aleria’s (what she would call) mundane, every day life but with only one book you really want to have the fun of the other world sooner. So this should be remedied by making a sequel!

The first thing that popped into my mind when I read Foiled was Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (and I loved Neverwhere). Not that the average but slightly extraordinary person who learns that there is magical world underneath the mundane world is a utterly unused storyline but the allure is one that makes it an evergreen concept. Jane Yolen takes this old framework and writes an excellent story for young girls as well as a good fantasy story in general. Aliera is a great protagonist who is a strong female character but vulnerable and awkward enough to be easily identifiable. Her passion for fencing and the way it integrates into the story on both a storyline level and a symbolic level give it a smart feeling while also giving it a cool energy. I especially liked how each of the chapter titles used a fencing term with accompanying art that set the tone for the chapter. I will agree with Narutaki that for a single book story they could have picked up the pace in introducing us to the magical world. It’s not that the beginning should be cut short but I too would have liked to see the fantasy elements pop-up earlier. If nothing else it proves that the story is begging to be turned into something longer.

I received the first book of My Darling! Miss Bancho from CMX this week. The story revolves around the ridiculous (which the manga-ka freely admits) reverse harem that occurs when Souka transfers into a tech school filled with nothing but male delinquents. On one of her first days she accidentally takes down the bancho (boss/gang leader) of the school and by their rules that now makes her the new bancho. Cue wacky antics. The story so far is a fairly amusing series of sillyness mixed with some shojo cliches. I felt he pacing was a little off, especially getting the whole ball rolling, maybe it’s just personal taste but it would probably serve the story, and the humor better, to have her take out the school’s bancho right in the first few pages. Just about every guy in her class is enamored with her (and the entire school is pretty much bowing down to her and hoping for her favor) so she gains a couple of minions who act equal parts crazy and devoted. The main love interest is the leader of the sophomores, Katou, who is sort of a mother hen to the rest of the guys and vows to protect Souka. Souka is kind of a middle-ground heroine so she isn’t too engaging unfortunately. Despite the fact that she takes out the previous bancho, she isn’t particularly tough or feisty, if she were this story might be pushed to more funny heights. So really, while amusing and having its good moments, My Darling! Miss Bancho doesn’t really push its silly premise far enough to make it a rip-roaring good time.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #075

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I continued my journey with Detective Conan in watching the 4th Movie, Captured in Her Eyes. This one clearly makes Ran the focus of the movie but by giving her amnesia after she witnesses a police woman being shot in front of her as part of a series of attacks against police officers. So most of the movie is Conan trying to get her to get her memories back so she can remember the shooting while trying to simultaneously to solve the case.  I got a better insight into every one’s relationships as they tried to explain to Ran who they were. The story is weaker the the last movie but I still found it enjoyable. The story starts off strong with some action and murder and sort of coasts in the middle. The end gets exciting again and has some great chase sequences with a solid finale. Everyone role in this movie was more organic integrated than the last movie which was nice to see. Not the first Detective Conan movie you should see but definitely not one you should skip over either.

Captured in Her Eyes is strangely able to show Ran at her weakest and show her kicking ass in a properly dramatic scene. At first you may think, Ran sees murders all the time as does anyone involved with Conan! However, this time around she was close to death and what’s more, she has seen the killer’s face. There is a much more personal element in this movie, even in the mystery itself as one of the officers targeted is a recurring character. This movie also showcases a little of Ran and Kudo’s connection, not that it isn’t obvious, but it’s not always central and in this case there is a desperation on Conan’s part. For better or for worse, those are the best parts of movie. The mystery itself is enticing for sure but the figuring of it out isn’t as intriguing. Though this is all saved by some really incredible animation sequences including one of Conan skateboarding down this giant ice slide thing and then almost immediately after a nice boat chase scene! Enjoyable of course, but Capture in Her Eyes is more memorable for the animation than anything else.

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