Category: Manga

Ongoing Investigations: Case #014

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I picked a DVD of the first 11 episodes of the Cyborg 009 TV series from 2001. It is fun and certainly exudes the action combined with gag comedy dynamic popular in the 60’s and 70’s. It makes me long to see the myriad of other animated iterations it has had. It also had an ad card in it for the TokyoPop release of the manga. Which is seriously out of print. 70’s is probably my favorite era for character designs so it makes me sad how little it is appreciated.

I finally started the second GaoGaiGar box set. It start off with the finale of the Four Healy Kings arc. Of course this means the Four Kings finally enact their dastardly final plan and actually take to the battlefield in person as is giant robot tradition. In fact, I would go as far as to say this is giant robot law. They send Go Nagai to your studio to Rocket Punch your staff in the face if you do not adhere to this sacred law. It’s good classic fun and I can’t wait to see what they pull out after this. I am sure it will involve guts and courage on the behalf of the Gutsy Geoid Guard. Also on a side note my roommate has a bizarre crush on Pizza. Which is very odd but what can you do but accept it and move on.

Watched Chocolate Underground up to 12. They have been starting to skip parts of the story, and it takes a little time to get oriented to it. I still like the satirical nature of the story and its portrayal of authority as stupid. Certainly keeps the feel of a young adult novel. But as we near the end, it is getting too rushed.

I’m not sure what my favorite anime podcast is, but I can easily tell you that my least favorite anime podcast is the Weeaboobies. I saw a link to their site off of Destroy All Podcasts DX. Since I enjoy DX I figured if they took the time to post the Weeaboobies podcast it was hopefully tolerable. I was slightly wary with the name Weeaboobies but I had hopes that they were an interesting all girl podcast despite their 4chan-like name. This was not the case. They are an extremely annoying all girl podcast. After their review of The Story of Saiunkoku I knew they were this blog’s eternal enemy. They are free to dislike The Story of Saiunkoku as long as they defend their opinion in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. The review of Saiunkoku seriously made me wonder if we watched the same anime based on the amount they misinterpreted the show or blatantly got facts about it wrong. The rest of the podcast was not nearly as annoying but it was still grating on my soul. I just have a feeling that an all girl podcast will catch on and the Weeaboobies will be Internet celebrities and special guests at cons or on other good podcasts. That is the day the Internet dies a little bit more (than it already has done dozens times before).

I normally stay away from talking about things I don’t like because I don’t want to draw attention to it. But I think in order to understand how bad this Weeaboobies podcast is one must listen though I did not make it to the end. I don’t expect intense research necessarily for all reviews but I dont think I’m asking too much to get the amount of episodes correct. I find it doubly necessary that the reviewer have actually watched the show to give me an opinion on. Shurei goes to the castle to encourage the king to take his responsibilites more seriously. She did not go to be a slut and get pregnant. Funnily enough Shurei and Ryuuki share maybe a handful of kisses in the entire first season. Shurei also wanted to be a court official from the moment we meet her, it did not happen all of a sudden after episode 9. It seemed like they set out to not like the show anyway so I’m not sure why they bothered watching it.

Time Hollow is a fun but very short puzzle adventure game. I beat it with casual playing over the course of a single week (which did include a round trip bus ride from New York to Providence). I feel it almost plays and feels like a visual novel more than an adventure game but there are distinct puzzles that separate it. They Americanized all the character names in the port so I know that will turn off some purists but it was not unforgivable. It’s mostly a fun time manipulation adventure with a psychotic serial killer thrown into the mix. It was a good game for someone who does not want mind-wracking or super obscure puzzles. I never was stuck for too long at any point but I also feel that it will turn off anyone look for a real challenge. They also sprinkle a good deal of short little animated sequences by AIC throughout the story.

Watched my friend play some Y’s Book I from TurboGrafx16. Do you know how you kill monsters in that game? By running into them . . .a lot. It was very amusing. Though the production values for art and music are pretty high for an old title like this. Which makes me wonder if they just ran out of money to make the guy look like he was swinging a sword while running over those creatures. Has anyone watched the anime of this franchise? I know there at least 3 OVA series of it.

Ongoing Investigations: Case #013

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I read the first two volumes of Gakuen Alice and much like the anime I love, love, love it! It is really funny but with enough sentimentality and plot to balance it out. It kind of reminds of a not-quite-as-insane-version of Kodacha with superpowers. We have a plucky, not always very bright, heroine who sets out out reform her unruly elementary school class. She of course has a rivalry with the leader of the rebels but finds out he has a tragic life. Throw in a wide cast of side characters, some mystery, and a campus polluted with strange activity and you have yourself a recipe for fun times. Gakuen Alice is certainly a winner! I am also happy that Right Stuf picked up the anime which may just have to go on the next I Can’t Believe You Haven’t Seen This! panel.

I watched Urusei Yatsura Movie 5: The Final Chapter after I got started on the Anime of the Month. I have to say Urusei Yatsura always bring a smile to my face. Despite the fact that the entire cast besides Ryuunosuke are horrible human beings/aliens you find yourself rooting for them. I love this particular movie a lot. It gave me everything I wanted from the end of Urusei Yatsura. It gives us a full circle ending. It gives us lots of laughs and a little sentimentality. It ties in all the great characters and gives them all a little air time before the finale. I have to mention that I consider the ending of Urusei Yatsura 100% definitive. I’m not sure what people wanted. Did they need a marriage? Ataru and Lum making out with some heavy petting on the side? It’s not that type of manga. The ending is the only thing like a declaration of love we could have ever gotten. And that is good enough for me.

Del Rey’s novel line excited me at first, but I’ve read three so far and have not been impressed. Psychobusters does nothing to change that, in fact, it probably makes it worse since this is by far the worst one yet. The characters have no spark, they are not thought out in the least. The writing is very poor and extremely repetitive. It is hard to explain but it is written like a manga. However, writing a novel and writing a comic are two very different things. I do have the first manga sitting at home somewhere, so I will read that and let you know if indeed the writing lends itself to it.

I watched some more Shakugan no Shana. Ummmmm. Those twins are creepy. Kohaku had warned me to this fact but I feel somethings can only be understood fully when they are seen. Then again the incest twins are creepy enough that you might want to take my word for it. I feel like they want me to feel bad for them, maybe even root for Kazumi Yoshida but I can’t do it. She is just so uninteresting. She is just there to give Shana a romantic rival. I usually like the character who is a good, sweet person but have an unrequited love. For some reason I can’t see why you would want to date Kazumi. Wirhelmina Carmel can come back into the series anytime she wants. She is a character I can get behind. Her similarity to Hisui does not hurt.

Finally read Fruits Basket 20, not sure why I let this one linger on the shelf so long. It was fantastic as usual with the emotions turned up to 11 and I can only guess that the final books are going to stay at that level. I was happy, sad, furious, annoyed, and wistful! Only three left to go and I’m on pins and needles!

I finally finished the Welcome to the NHK manga. It was an enjoyable ride although it was definitely an acquired taste. Welcome to the NHK either clicks with you and you find it hysterical or it just comes off as horrible and mean spirited. I know Narutaki refuses to even try looking into the series and almost certainly with good reason. I find it interesting that the anime, manga, and light novel all start in the same place and then go in different directions and have different climaxes but all end generally the same. The light novels climax was slightly stronger but I enjoyed the manga more overall. Hopefully Funimation will release the last disk of the anime so I can compare it to the rest of the franchise.

Anime & Manga of the Month: October

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Anime of the Month
Urusei Yatsura by Studio Pierrot

Urusei Yatsura is based on an obscure manga by an even more obscure manga-ka named Rumiko Takahashi. Ok that is a blatant lie. But for the amount that people still talk about Urusei Yatsura in the U.S. you would assume this was the case. Which is a shame because it is one awesome anime.

Urusei Yatsura starts with the lecherous and unlucky Ataru Moroboshi getting engaged to the alien Lum Invader after saving the earth by defeating her in a game of tag. Despite Lum being drop dead gorgeous Ataru wants to date all the other women in his life while the super jealous Lum wants to keep her darling faithful…by any means possible. Ataru might be the world’s greatest girl chaser but Lum can fly, shoot lightening blots, and has bevy of gadgets of alien super science. Ataru and Lum lives are only more complicated by various aliens and human who are drawn to Lum.

Urusei Yatsura’s greatest strength is its delightfully twisted cast of characters. Lum herself is an immortal anime icon to Japan and other parts of the world. You will see echos and allusion to the cast in every other Rumiko Takahashi work and a good deal of any other manga as well. From the spoiled over the top richest boy in the world Shuutaro Mendou to the manipulative split personality Alice in Wonderland themed alien Ran all of  Urusei Yatsura’s characters are iconic. Urusei Yatsura is also the most Japanese of all of Rumiko Takahashi’s works. Most of the aliens are based on creatures of Japanese mythology.

So with 195 episodes, 11 OAVs, and 6 movies where do I start. Or rather where should youstart? The answer is slightly unexpected. Start with the last disk. It has episode 194 which has the top 10 Urusei Yatsura episodes in summary with the most popular episode in its entirety. It will give you a good idea if this series is for you. You could also start with the first movie. It jumps right into the action and is consistent in tone with the rest of the series. The second movie might be the pinnacle of Urusei Yatsura but much like Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro it might give you the wrong impression of the series. The 5th movie is also excellent but it’s very silly to start with the end in my humble opinion.

Also Rock the Planet (the 5th opening) is without a doubt one of the greatest anime openings of all time.

Manga of the Month
D.N.Angel by Yukiru Sugisaki

Daisuke is a short, artistic, and energetic, if a bit clumsy, 14-tear-old boy but he has a bit of problem. In his family, all of the first born boys inherit the ability to turn into the phantom thief Dark who is a bit of handful. Hiwatari, a classmate of Daisuke who is hiding some secrets of his own, is determined to catch the thief that hasn’t appeared since almost 40 years prior. Dark has been stealing artwork from the Hikari clan for 400 years but for what purpose and reason? Dark emerges when there is artwork to steal but also when Daisuke’s emotions surge, especially those of love. To make things more complicated Risa, the girl Daisuke has a crush on, falls in love with Dark while Riku, Risa’s twin, starts showing feelings for Daisuke. Not to mention Dark being in love with Riku himself. Plenty of drama and comedy ensues with the help of Daisuke’s family. So begins a game of cat and mouse, art theft, action, magic, mystery, and quite a bit of romance. It has a good pace mixed with artwork that continues to evolve as the series goes on. The relationships are a high point pulling you first one way, then the next, making the complexity very dynamic.

D.N.Angel is a series that garnered popularity in Asuka magazine and has only recently come off hiatus for long-waiting fans. With 11 volumes released in English and just 13 in Japanese everyone who reads it is anxious for its, more than likely bittersweet, conclusion.