Bat-Manga!: But I resurrected myself with the strength of righteousness!

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One part manga, one part history, and one part awesome (and often hilarious) memorabilia collection, it’s Bat-Manga! As a fan of the Caped Crusader, I try to get a look at anything I can of him, though admittedly much falls through the cracks. This “Secret History of Batman in Japan” comes from an touts manga from an era of more hilarious Batman adventures riding on the heels of Adam West’s Batman TV show popularity. Even though the manga takes up most of the page, the extras are very nice including a wonderful interview with Jiro Kuwata. This little, or rather large, book is too unique to miss out on.

Bat-Manga is a curious creation in both the history of manga and Batman comics. The Batman manga ran in the Shonen King in an effort of cross promote itself with the 60s Batman television show what had just come to Japan. While the manga was written by Jiro Kuwata the popular author of 8 Man the manga was never popular enough to be collected into tankobon and quickly became an almost completely forgotten title. But years later Chip Kidd, a devoted Batman fan, would discover this little known series and do his best to find what chapters he could. Since there are no trade paperbacks of the Batman manga he had to dig up what few volumes of Shonen King he could find. This means he mostly found a few random stories from throughout the run of the manga and several of the stories are incomplete. To round out the content Chip Kidd has added additional materials like interviews and pictures of Japanese merchandise from the time the manga was produced. All of this meshes together to give you a strange and fascinating insight into a secret chapter in the Batman mythology.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #099

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hisuiconFinishing Dawn of the Golden Witch has just made me anticipate Requiem of the Golden Witch even more than I already did. This seemed like a shorter chapter than most but we got some great scenes so all is forgiven. Battler is now the Golden Sorcerer and running the game with Erika Furudo as his opponent. Beatrice is back but she is clearly not the same Beatrice as before. This chapter really centers around George, Jessica, Shannon, and Kanon. I will say the is a decent amount of evidence for the Shannon equals Kanon theory but I have to hope that it’s all a red herring. Otherwise there are some very unobservant members of the Ushiromiya family. In the end we get another suspended game that ends during the second twilight. I am assuming at this point that if we had all the games go to the end it would be much more obvious who the culprit is. As it stands these game are just supposed to be hints that when pieced together with the first four games give us who is behind all the murders on the island. I still think my final denouement stand the test of the 6th game but we shall see. Part of me wonders if I am like Battler and I am just in denial that one of the 17 could be the murderer. Another part of me feels that many of the themes point to me keeping this seemingly blind faith. We shall see what is revealed in the penultimate and ultimate game soon enough. As a side tangent I now wait for the part in every chapter for a part where Beatrice’s demon hooligans make some trouble for someone. Ryukishi07 has done well in making them lovable characters.

I started watching the TV anime adaption of CLAMP’s X (eps. 1-8). After the first couple of episodes that have plenty of action and foreboding, then we start to learn about each of the stars little by little. Kamui is hard to like at first, but his tortured mind is easy to recognize. Sometimes these episodes can feel a little slow, even though they are interesting, they take away a little from the present circumstances of characters that you haven’t quite gotten attached to yet. Lucky for me, I already have a great love for the cast. However, each moment in the present is exacting, telling, and dramatic pulling you in further and further into this complex and twisted story of destiny.  Continue reading →

The Speakeasy: A Reverse Thieves Podcast – Drink #009

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Anime 3000 presents The Speakeasy Podcast:
Drink #009: The Bloody Caesar, Anime Licensing and the Future

The U.S. anime market of 2000 was clearly not the same market of 2010 no matter how much some people would like that to be the case. A lot about how anime is brought over to the U.S. has changed in the last few years. We talk about how we got to this point and then at the myriad of ways the remaining companies are innovating to respond to these trends. Which of these new methods of distribution will be able to coexist and which will die out? Whose licensing methods will pick profitable shows and who is still picking Rozen Maiden and Heat Guy J style bombs? And most importantly who thought that picking up Blessing of the Campanella was a good idea?

(Listen) (Show Notes)

And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

The Bloody Caesar
6 oz. Clamato Juice
1½ oz. Vodka
2 Dashes Hot Sauce
2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
Celery salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Lime/Lemon wedge
1 Crisp Celery Stalk

Served on the rocks in a highball class. Rim the glass first with a lime wedge and then with celery salt.