Category: Manga

Ongoing Investigations: Case #018

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So I have been watching Toradora! and got up to episode 5. So far I have enjoyed all them as much as the first. Taiga is still amusing, Ryuji is still girl fantasy fodder, and I have been surprised by the fact that Yusaku has not been clueless. I have to agree with Narutaki’s assessment that Toradora! seems more like a gender neutral romantic comedy rather than the shonen romance it clearly is. I know Narutaki was shocked when Ami Kawashima turned out not to be in love with Ryuji. I imagined him doing a doubletake when I informed him this was the case. I am interested in reading the light novels if they ever get licensed. People who have read them seem to love talking about how much better they are.

Finally volume 4 of Hissing has hit shelves! I really appreciate Yen Press continuing many of Ice Kunion’s manhwa titles. We are really getting into the thick of things as Sun-Nam finally realizes he has a connection to Da-Eh’s family. That could complicate things for these recent love birds. Ta-Jun still dominates as my favorite though I seriously doubt he will win the girl. He will be a bit of a monkey wrench in it all I suspect. Hissing is one of the better manhwa being released state side and continues to be funny and charming. The 5th book is coming out later this month and just one more volume to go after that!

Mirror Moon has completed their fan translation of Fate/Stay Night. So, this means I have started the third and final path, Heaven’s Feel. I personally find Sakura the weakest of the heroines but I hardly dislike her as a character. She is so mild compared to the rest of the cast. It is also the most disturbing of the Fate/Stay Night scenarios. With penis worms, rape, and re-grafted chopped off limbs it goes out of its way to be a unsettling. But it is still good to get a little deeper insight into the mechanics of the Fate/Stay Night world. Also more Rider equals more love. But then again Saber gets the short end of the stick in this path which is not fun. One of the high points is the Tiger dojo’s when you die. Loliburuma Panzer Corp. sums it up quite nicely. It also makes me wonder why there are not more Taiga figures.

Three of my favorite shojo manga-ka are starting new series within a couple of months of each other! Arina Tanemura who is best known for Full Moon wo Sagashite starts her new adventure and romance series titled Sakura-Hime Kaden in December. Nana Haruta, who’s work has not been licensed in the U.S., starts a new serial in January. And Maki Yoko, you may know her series Aishiteruze Baby, will start a new work in February. All of this is happening in Ribon, which is why it remains my favorite monthly manga magazine! All of these writers tend to write shorter series, in the under 10 books range, which I really like. I will report back when I can get my hands on these works!

I sampled the first episode of Baccano! on Funimation’s web site. I have been interested after hearing about its unique setting (1930’s America) and unusual storytelling techniques. A young girl named Carol is trying to piece together how a strange series on seemingly unrelated mysterious incidents are related. Her boss and her trade theories which leads to us cutting back and forth between stories. So far I can’t say that any one story stood out as great but I am interested to see how they all connect. There is also an obviously supernatural element to the story. It was considerably less violent than I had been lead to believe. There is violence and bloodshed but I guess I have become desensitized because nothing in the first episode phased me.

Let me just say, “Thank you Shonen Jump USA!” The past two months of it have been some good chapters for Bleach. Just finished chapters 224-226. We are in a slight break from the impending Hecto Mundo arc. Visoreds with Ichigo have been dominating the pages, whoo-hoo! As well as some Urahara (you clearly know I can’t ever be disappointed with that), Chad training, and Ishida reappeared! Oh the joy! Not sure when this streak will end but I am happy with what I have gotten for the moment.

Despite owning it for quite a while, I got to reading The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Wind. It was a good read although nowhere near as epic as the first Twelve Kingdoms novel. The first book was a girl surviving in a fantasy kingdom and eventually gaining the throne. This book is the story of Taiki and him learning who he really is and taking the responsibility of being the guardian animal of a Kingdom. I know Narutaki was super happy about there being more delicious Keiki in this book and him getting more screen time. This story is set before the first book which can make several things quite confusing especially when people are only referred to by their position. I only knew about it becuase I looked it up for Narutaki when he was reading the book.

Anime & Manga of the Month: November

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Anime of the Month
Magic User’s Club OVA by Triangle Staff & Bandai Visual

When aliens invade the Earth and vaporize all of the advanced technology that could beat them, who would you rely on? If you said a weird group of high schoolers that belong to a club that practices magic you get a gold star. Magic Users Club is wacky and youthful through and through. It is simply there to be enjoyed. Sae is our main character and she is eager to learn magic but has a klutzy nature that tends to get in her way. However, she has a lot of power if she could only harness it. With a little help from the club president (also her intense crush) and her faithful, but cynical, friend Nanka she may just save the world. While Sae is at the forefront, everyone in the cast adds to the pot which keeps the humor high. The prez is a lecherous pervert; Aburatsubo is the handsome good at everything guy; Nanaka doesn’t even believe in magic; and Akane just about never shows up. Like with most shows like this, some real romance is sprinkled in. The president doesn’t just have Sae after him but also Aburatsubo who by the way Nanaka is completely crazy about. Can we say this club is dysfunctional? Magic Users Club is a simple treat with a lot of humor and a little romance. And with just six episodes it continually delivers fun every step of the way.

Manga of the Month
March Comes in Like a Lion by Chika Umino

Often just by hearing a plot you can take a good guess at who has written a manga. Sometimes an author goes in an unexpected direction when they release a new work and you would never guess that the same manga-ka had written both works. March Comes in Like a Lion is somewhere in between these styles. It is a distinctly different work but not a totally unfamiliar one for Umino.

I first became a fan of Chika Umino through her major debt work Honey and Clover. A popular josei drama set around the lives of students at an art college. March Comes in Like a Lion is the story of an orphaned, professional Shogi player in a seinen magazine. While in a different magazine with a different setting Chika Umino’s josei style is still unmistakable especially considering that Young Animal is the magazine that runs Berserk. It has a seinen story structure while still having the humor and character depth that you would expect from Chika Umino.

Rei Kiriyama supports himself by playing shogi professionally. He is a quiet isolated young man whose only human contact outside of shogi is a young woman named Akari. She and her two sisters, Momo and Hinata lost their parents and live with their grandfather. We slowly see Rei’s world expand as he interacts with these three sisters. The only group working on this manga have only scanlated up to chapter 6 so I am hoping that they can start up again soon.

On an amusing note Chika Umino recently did a limited edition cover for the 33rd volume of Berserk and Kentarou Miura is doing an alternative cover for March Comes in Like a Lion in return. So far it has been Chika Umino’s cover has been very tongue in cheek so I expect nothing less in return.

Ongoing Investigations: Case #017

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Ai Morinaga saw a clearly untapped niche in the manga market and capitalized on it. Japan did not have (and needed) a manga about abusive homosexual human/frog relationships. The Gorgeous Life of Strawberry Chan fills this void as only it can. It has the standard Ai Morinaga fascination with mean-spirited comedy told with jerk-faced characters. For some reason she does it in a way that I enjoy. I think a good litmus test of your enjoyment of Strawberry Chan is the fact that Strawberry Chan’s owner sticks a straw up his butt and inflates him like a balloon to blow off stress. If you find this funny then try Strawberry Chan. If that makes you feel anything else you might want to go elsewhere.

I mentioned last week that I have been reading a lot of anthologies and a stand out one was X2. This series of shorts is done by the manga-ka of Monkey High! which I recently gave a glowing review of the first book. It captures the sweet and funny moments of new love. It was fun and hopeful and it gave the characters enough of a life that I could understand their feelings in a such a short amount of time. I also ready SOS which had a good range within its pages. We move from happy but dark underneath, to sweet and sad, to hopeful. But one deals with first love in its own way. I particularly enjoyed the last story involving a shooting star, but I am just a sucker for such things.

Maria-sama ga Miteru shows that your lesbian Catholic school fantasy is most probably not as interesting as you would think. I bought the first boxset due to Nozomi Entertainment getting some oddball shows which I encourage with my wallet. Also I have seen that it’s one of those super love it or totally hate it shows. I did periodically crack up with the thought of a roving band of bad girls that go through the school and jump girls to improperly tie their ties and get them in serious trouble. They would never physically hurt them. Heavens no! The disgrace of an off center tie would be worse than any physical pain. Other than that it always seems like it wants to be an over the top drama fest but never dares break the carefully constructed placid world. Slow and subtle are the watchwords for this show.

Man, this show. I grant it that the second episode was mildly better than the first but still it struck me as rather boring. Everyone is proper and quite and it made me crazy! I just wanted to leap through the TV and cause a ruckus! Even the most outspoken and wild girl is still whispering her wildness. It doesn’t move into comedy and it isn’t outlandish enough to be a over the top drama. I am kinda of curious to watch a little more just to see if they can actual get me to feel any sexual tension in this show which there wasn’t in the first two episodes.

Pani Poni Dash! is the exact opposite of Maria-sama ga Miteru. The show has no time to smell the roses because it has the next joke to get to. Pani Poni Dash can be subtle at times. In fact, it’s easy to miss the subtle humor because of the in your face kind going on. There is constant blackboard comedy in the background which is often non-sequitur but sometimes sets up jokes. All the various characters are rather amusing but I can’t say that I really have a strong love for anyone. The ADV pop up liner notes are really well done but are best watched after you have seen the episode once through without them on.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama is everything it should be. A ridiculous, over the top, shojo romance comedy. Misaki is the first female student body president of a recently made co-ed high school. She is an insane hard-ass who is trying to reform the guys. At the same time she is desperate for cash because of her family situation so she has a job at a Maid Cafe. Obviously she wants to keep this a secret but one day her biggest rival Usui happens to see her in uniform. Let the games begin! In only 8 chapters this is what I have learned about Usui, our male lead, he is of course really hot; he is the best student in school; he is also the most bad-ass fighter in the school and probably elsewhere; he is a master chess player; he can cook like an Iron Chef; he can jump off the roof of the school and only have scratches; and he can show up anywhere at anytime (they actual reference and make fun of this fact). I love that it doesn’t just go half way to insane, it is full-throttle!

One Piece came out with it’s newest popularity poll. Nami is back to were she belongs. She will never overtake the popularity monster that is Chopper or the immovable three but at least she is not the least popular of the Straw-Hat crew. I guess they had to remind everyone that she has nice tits and they all come back. Traitors! Your Nami love should be about more than that! I found it interesting that Brook has become popular so quickly but when you are a talking skeleton with an Afro then the only surprise involved was that I was surprised. I was also amused that Vivi was so high on the list because as far as I can tell many American fans still hate Vivi with an unfounded passion.

I wrote up a little blurb on 4chan for the Chunnel. I tried to stay about as neutral on 4chan as possible. I tried to mention both the good and the bad. I know there was so much more I could say but 4chan is big enough and strange enough that you could write a series on scholarly papers on it.