All this month our friends over at Ani-Gamers have been posting articles in honor of one of the most distinguished and important figures in anime and manga history: Osamu Tezuka. Evan also sent out an open call for anyone who wished to contribute to the site-wide celebration. He had a good deal of reviews but not that many pieces of analysis. So we answered with a brief discussion of Osamu Tezuka’s famous Star System. It is a short piece, an introduction really, to what exactly the Star System is. We then go on to talk about the different ways creators have gone on to use its influence. So have a look at it and the plethora of other Tezuka-themed pieces at Ani-Gamers!
Bandai Entertainment Manga Website, A sample-sized review.
In an effort to explore new article ideas for the blog we have decided to test the waters reviewing various anime related web sites seeing what they provide the fandom and maybe give some suggestions of what they could provide their audience in the future. We have done this once before in a similar manner when we looked at the Crunchyroll website and are trying it again with The Bandai Entertainment Manga website.
With the growing popularity, need, and proliferation of official anime and manga websites, it seemed only fair that we add it to the repertoire of reviews we do here. There are a lot of sites out there providing all kinds of services to this will be used to highlight (or chastise when appropriate) some of the great resources out there.
The first thing I always look for is how easy is it to find the site? The offical site for Bandai Manga is the 4th on the list in a Google search and 2nd on the list in a Bing search for “Bandai manga.” The first site that comes up in both searches is the main Bandai Entertainment site. This would be fine except there is no easy link between the two pages. Some where in the manga section of the main Bandai page should be something informing me that I can learn more at the manga site. On the flip side there was an ad for the Kurokami anime led to the main Bandai Entertainment site but there should have been something more substantial to link the two pages on this side as well. The website itself was easy to navigate and pleasant on the eyes. There is no real flash or pizazz to it but this also made it very easy to find what you were looking for which is always one of my highest priorities. My major complaint is none of the series have overall descriptions. A quick paragraph or two saying what Gundam ooF is about instead of having to click on individual books to learn about the series as a whole would be most helpful.
I have to agree that I thought finding the site was a lot harder than it should be. The first thing I noticed was that the main page isn’t very welcoming, nor does it have anything to unique to it. The top is the news section, which is appropriate, but not if it is only going to be updated so sparsely (the last, and only, update is from February 22). Navigating around is quite easy as it all lies on the left-hand side. However, if you click Contact there is no page or option, it just tries to send an e-mail (but if don’t have a program like that operating you have no idea that anything has happened) and just brings you back to the home. Though it impressively sends the e-mail directly to Robert Napton. The manga section is very simple and while the manga series would really benefit from descriptions, each manga has a lot of information about the books themselves. The novel section is slightly better as each has a story description without needing to click to see it. However, none of the books link directly to their previews if they exist, you have to go the previews section separately. I think adding either a shop or atleast linking to places to purchase the books (which they do on the main Bandai website) would be a good idea.
Ongoing Investigations: Case #080
Despite all odds we have gotten Gosick: The Crime with No Name in the U.S. so we decided to give it a look after enjoying the first book. After Victorique solves the case of a stolen plate for Kazuya they both find an ad in the newspaper that summons them to the town where Victorique’s mother was born. They must solve several deaths in town as well as a famous death that occurred many years ago. But this is an odd and isolated town with many secrets. I was slightly disappointed in the mysteries in this book. The author did not tie them together like the mysteries in the first book. The town was very odd but I think I rolled with that fact much more than Narutaki. I enjoyed seeing Kazuya and Victorique again as they are lovely characters but I would have like to see them in a stronger story. Still I had a good time and the story answered some questions while stetting up future stories. I also have the distinct feeling that the odd nun at the beginning of the book is set to be a reoccurring character for better or for worse. After reading this I am really curious to see the Gosick anime that has just been announced. I fear that we will not be getting any other Gosick novels any time soon but until someone picks up the manga the anime will have to do for our mystery fix.
The fact that a second Gosick was released at all in English is in itself something to be grateful for. The story starts off very much like the first as Victorique solves a case in mere moments. Only this time around the thief ends up as a traveling companion for our two detectives. Three more travelers join their caravan as the larger mystery involving Victorique’s mother rears its head in the strange mountain town they are bound for. Some things about this story kept me from fully enjoying it. Not the least of which was that is was painfully obvious who the culprits were in each mystery. Considering that Victorique is supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes like detective, I should almost never be able to deduce who the culprit is. The friendship between Kazuya and Victorique which I found amusing in the first book is stilted and borders on cruel in this second installment. The dialogue is also really clunky, not sure if this is just a rushed translation or not. Gosick 2 didn’t capture me like the first even though it should have because learning anything more about the eccentric Victorique is welcome. I am glad Gosick got another volume released, but I wish I could give it a better review.
Reverse Thieves 