Category: Reviews

Manga of the Month: March

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Maria+Holic by Minari Endo

In an effort to save the ailing TokyoPop I have decided to cover another recently licensed manga that has a charming story and wonderfully delightful characters. Just like Future Diary. OK. I lied. Most everyone is both series is a bunch of horrible human beings. But like Future Diary it turns out Maria+Holic is quite fun.

Kanako Miyamae decides to go to her mother’s former alma mater and all girls Catholic high school. She hopes to find her true love among her fellow students. The first person she runs into on campus is a charming blonde girl named, Mariya Shido and her maid. Kanako instantly falls in love with Mariya only to later find out that Mariya is actually a secret, cross-dressing boy. Mariya attaches himself to Kanako to make sure she does not give away his secret. Kanako learns that the seemly sweet Mariya is a sadistic controlling monster. Will Kanako ever find her destined love? Is it the boy who is torturing her?

This series has something for everyone. Cross-dressing boys, yuri subtext, comedy, drama, and tentacle monsters from the sea. Most of the humor comes from Kanako being a complete and total yuri crazy moron. So you have to enjoy humor at the expense of another because it is almost always at our protagonist’s. The supporting cast is quite amusing with Mariya’s maid who by admission is 100% tsun and 0% dere; the female samurai who does more harm to those she protects than anyone out to get her charges; and the eternally happy girl who can pull anything out of her school bag. I am curious if it will ever focus on the potential relationship between Kanako and Mariya or will it stay pure comedy. But no matter which way it goes, it is a fun series. Please do read this mother up in heaven.

Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning by Kyo Shirodaiya and Eita Mizuno

Ayumu is brilliant in his own right but he constantly struggles with the shadow his brother left. Since his older brother’s disappearance Ayumu and his sister-in-law Madoka are still seeking the truth about the last case he was working on, The Blade Children. When a murder takes place at Ayumu’s school and the words Blade Children are uttered, he he becomes entangled in a world where nothing is simple. Ayumu’s amateur sleuthing is charming and his aloof attitude makes him the right amount of eccentric. Hiyono, the nosey school journalist, sticks herself like glue to Ayumu during his first case eventually becoming his indispensable partner. Her energetic and bubbly nature contrasts Ayumu perfectly. Many mysteries arise during the series, everything from a locked-room murder to riddles and puzzles, each one brings Ayumu closer to understanding The Blade Children. Spiral is an example of one of those rare occasions when the writer is not the artist. This is also the first manga for both creators. In its pages unfolds a good mystery with science fiction elements and a boy detective who, through wit and brains, unravels it.

Manga of the Month: February

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Saint Tail by Megumi Tachikawa

Saint Tail is a short, fun, and a little bit romantic magical girl series. Meimi, alter ego Saint Tail, and her friend Seira, a nun-in-training, spend their time much like wannabe Robin Hoods. Seira finds out what happened and Saint Tail steals back that which has been stolen from the practitioners. However, any good thief must have a rival desperate to catch them. Most of the city, and especially Asuka Jr., think Saint is a menacing phantom thief on the loose. Of course Asuka Jr. has no idea that his classmate, who maybe he is getting a crush on, and the famous thief, who he is also falling for, are the very same girl. Add in some great characters like Sawatari the school’s newspaper man, Asuka’s famous father, and Meimi’s off beat parents for spice. Megumi’s artwork is very charming and the very innocent romance playing out between Meimi and Asuka couldn’t be more appealing. Saint Tail is easily one of the best magical girls!

Yankee-kun to Megane-chan by Miki Yoshikawa

I was sold on Yankee-kun to Megane-chan by the name alone. And I was not disappointed. When I later learned that Miki Yoshikawa had been Mashima Hiro’s assistant it gave me some insight into style and tone of the manga while still retaining a distinct impression that this a unique work. If you like the style of Rave Master you will also enjoy Yankee-kun to Megane-chan’s art.

Shinagawa Daichi is famous for being one of the biggest delinquents at the school. One day Daichi is trying to have smoke on the toilet when his female class representative, Hana Adachi, bursts into the restroom forcing him on the school trip. Although Hana seems like a model class president it turns out she used to be an even bigger punk than Daichi and dumber than him to boot. As part of her new reformed image she is trying to be the ideal student president and solve her classmates’ problems. Soon Hana is dragging Daichi into her bizarre plans as well. Daichi begins to have a crush on Hana but can never figure out if she likes him or not.

The characters are quite charming and well suited for comedy. Daichi and Hana play off each other quite well. Daichi is the prefect straight man to Hana’s insane worldview. Miki Yoshikawa also has a very good grasp of just how long to build up a joke before setting off the punchline. The supporting characters are just as engaging, especially the ultra cute in a punk fashion, Rinka Himeji. I find Rinka intensely amusing and she has her own unique reality that complements Hana’s. There is also a cute little love story between Daichi and Hana that is somewhat slow to develop but that is sort of the nature of romantic comedies. Still Miki shows her ability to take the best of shojo and shonen and fuse them into something great.

Kino’s Journey, The road less traveled.

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Kino’s Journey has a simple structure. Kino is a professional traveler. She goes from town to town and spends no more than three days in any one destination. Each of these towns seems to be considered its own country and has unique peculiarities and customs. She takes in the culture of each country and moves on as quickly as she came. Travelers seem rare but not unheard of and most places seem to make a big production whenever one arrives. She travels on her talking motorcycle named Hermes and protects herself with her professional marksmanship. Her trips to some countries last an episode, other episodes will contain several interconnected stories of her trips to various countries, while other episodes are about what happens in between stops.

Quite literally in the case of Kino, the journey is more important than the destination. Our time with Kino doesn’t start at a specific moment nor does it end in finality. We are merely part of the journey and we only glimpse pieces of it. With the exception of one two-part episode, every piece can be watched on its own without knowing what came before  or what comes after. In fact, we don’t have any way of knowing whether what we are watching is in chronological order to begin with.

Each country is a tool for examining some sort of physiological or societal concept. The world seems to have no set level of technology with near medieval technology in some countries and robots and super computers in others. Most of the stories have an inherently pessimistic view of humanity and society. They usually have a rule or custom that seems logical but is flawed and taken to an extreme. The anime is not just full of inherent pessimism though. Kino just as often will find some beauty or lesson even in the ugliest country. Kino mentions that the world is not beautiful, therefore it is.

At first you are fooled because many of the countries seem peaceful and welcoming, but hide things underneath. Which is a powerful statement about anything, but as the series goes on your naivete wanes. You start to see the darkness earlier; you start to question the smiling towns folk; you start to wonder everything doesn’t have a sinister side. In this way perhaps we are becoming more like Kino as the journey continues. The difference is whether or not you continue on with the knowledge. Some wouldn’t but Kino would and does.

Kino is sort of a valiant stoic cipher almost like a seinen hero. Kino comes off as androgynous and is considered male as often as female by the people she meets. I know that several people were unsure of Kino gender until the 4th episode when it is made perfectly clear. Kino never talks much and never unnecessarily. She will lend a hand to someone in need and even risk her life for another but she does not purposely get involved in the affairs of others. Kino is often cynical and skeptical but you get the feeling deep down she still believes in people and the world. If Kino has one strong driving force and personality trait it seems to be curiosity. She will always investigate something if it seems intriguing and is sometimes the only reason she will interact with anyone.

Depending upon what promotional material you have seen, you can go into this story thinking Kino is either sex. The thinpack cover, in my opinion, makes it very clear from the start. However, Kino acts rather genderless in manner. Her emotions rarely betray what she is thinking or planning. But that isn’t to say Kino has no personality. She certainly sees the world much differently than anyone she meets on her travels. The wonder and curiosity she displays reminds me of a child. No matter what hardships happen on the journey, and they are many, Kino accepts them as a piece of the world she is so anxious to explore. Kino represents the duality of optimism within pessimism. Though we are never privy to Kino’s dreams, I wholly believe she has some.

Hermes is Kino’s sarcastic talking motorcycle. His purpose is three fold. There is the simple fact that he provides transportation to our frequent traveler. The second is to give the otherwise distant Kino someone to react off. Kino is a loner so whoever is her companion has to be someone that she would have to take along. Thirdly, Hermes’ interaction with Kino is the only way to give us an insight into her thought process or emotional state without resorting to out of character monologues or narration. As stated before, Kino is often quiet and stoic. Only someone with a friendly but at the same time playfully antagonistic manner could get any sort of response from Kino.

Hermes is simply essential to the story. In fact there would be no journey without him because he provides the ability to escape. He also drives home the suspension of disbelief as not one person on the journey seems surprised he can talk. Which can also provide some good ice breaks in towns because Hermes is much less inhibited to people. Hermes also goes into hotel rooms, museums, and restaurants without even a second glance from patrons. Hermes is like the audience, along for the ride and taken where ever the whims of Kino dictate.

The director, Ryutaro Nakamura, is a competent guy but I question some of the artistic decisions he made when trying to highlight certain themes in the stories. The director has a habit of transitioning between scenes by cutting to screens of text with the sound of a tuning fork or chanting. The text is almost always something that was said earlier in the episode to drive home a point but it’s often only been said a few seconds ago and can get a bit annoying. It is done in such an awkward manner.

Kino’s Journey is a quiet show and the animation reflects that. It is smooth and uses a lot of long shots of environment creating that wondrous feel of traveling to new places. But when action is necessary those moments are loud and exciting. Though I don’t think they got it all perfect, as Hisui mentioned the frames of text. Also for no apparent reason one episode is not told from Kino’s perspective which struck me as odd and not very purposeful. The opening is great with a song that is whimsical and makes you look towards the road ahead. The series moves between encouraging seeing the world and pulling the rug out from under you. While this may seem like every episode is the same, each has a unique voice. Also we do see some changes in Kino by the end of our stint with her, though we don’t know how it will affect her future travels.

The anime is based on a series of light novels by Keiichi Sigsawa. Sigsawa has written 12 Kino books already and show no signs of stopping of writing for Dengeki Bunko Magazine. The light novels were licensed few years back by Tokyopop but they never made it past the first book. Tokyopop reordered the chapters which I have been told not only angered readers but annoyed Sigsawa. The original books were exceptionally entertaining while being thought provoking. There are also two anime movies, two untranslated visual novels, and a drama CD of Kino’s Journey. In addition, there is a spin off series called Gakuen Kino where Kino is a gun toting magical girl. So for those who read Japanese there is a good deal more Kino’s Journey for you to get into. For everyone else there is just my condolences.

Top 5 Coolest Talking Inanimate Objects
5. Kaleido Stick (Fate/Hollow Ataraxia)
4. Towa (D.N.Angel)
3. Sumomo (Chobits)
2. Tachikoma (Ghost in the Shell)
1. Haro (Gundam)