Tag: BECK Mongolian Chop Squad

Ongoing Investigations: Case #006

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I read BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad volume 12 and I have a feeling it is going to get the ax with the way things are going at TokyoPop. It’s a shame because we are finally getting to the story past the anime. Everyone is getting ready to tour in America and saying their goodbyes in Japan. It’s is essentially a transition book but Harold Sakuishi keeps it entertaining. BECK is such an amazing manga I can’t see why people don’t care about it. I guess music manga falls in the same category as sports anime and manga. It is one of those genres that people love in Japan but won’t give a chance in the U.S.

Watched Macross Frontier episodes 15, 16, and 17. It has certainly become a show I don’t want to miss a moment of. Obviously we are getting closer and closer to the end and it still keeps me guessing. Still haven’t seen the person who is the main villain. For a few brief moments I thought the love triangle was on equal footing, but not so much now. Sheryl and Alto have to spend some more time together in the next couple of episodes or there is no way you could convince me he would end up with her. I’m inclined to believe he won’t anyway (good!). I have taken to laughing at the karma I feel is biting Sheryl in the butt. Speaking of love, Cathy and Ozma have to be my favorites to see on my screen! It is kind of like if you ever wondered what would have happened if Roy got together with Misa.

We might not necessarily know who the head honcho of the bad guys is but we do know who his two lieutenants are. Oh episode 17 was just awesome for so so many reasons. If you were not sure that Ozma was a Fire Bomber fan this episode all but shows you his Fire Bomber fan club card next to his Mylene wall scroll. I loved the repeated use of Try Again. Even if we never get that Basara cameo we all want this was more than good enough. I want to mention more reasons why 17 was awesome but that is spoiler country. Sufficed to say more love letters to the all the Macross franchise. Oh and take that Sheryl fans! Take that! Cry while you listen to Don’t Be Late!

Finally, finally, finally picked up the first book of Vagabond. I must have been saying I was going to for over six months. Ended up being pretty good, I wasn’t totally blown away by it but it was definitely good and good enough to pick up the second (hopefully in less than six months from now). Inoue’s style seems to lend itself to this story, gives it a more gritty and real look. Also was glad to see the color pages in tact!

I read volumes 6, 7, and 8 of Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel recently and I have to say it’s a pretty good series that is totally falling through the cracks. It’s a Gundam series with a female protagonist. I know that is heresy but they make it work and are not consumed by the vengeance of Red Comet-sama himself. Ecole du Ciel starts after the end of the original Gundam series and is currently in the middle of Zeta Gundam. At least I think they are up to Zeta Gundam. Feel free to slog through the Universal Century timeline to prove me wrong. There are side notes to get you up to speed about certain major events but I feel they are more reminders to people who have watched the original than explanations for neophytes. Don’t be discouraged by that. This is Asuna Elmarit’s story as she fights in the Universal Century. Major events from the TV series are referenced but Asuna’s story is always her own. Characters die left and right, named characters are clearly not safe. It is a character based story but it is still a war story. Another  series that is probably getting the ax now that Tokyopop is dropping stuff left and right. It’s a shame because there is not much out there like this.

Read books 28 and 29 of Samurai Deeper Kyo. After book 28 I was like, why am I reading this? After book 29 I was like, this is why! I am so tired of groups of villains randomly showing up, now we are onto the four elders. Oh wait the girl they fight in the beginning of 28 is a EX-four elder. SIGH. Then we have three crazy magicians. UH. Oh look an elder finally! He has 10 levels of speed. WHAT? I will be glad when we are actually at the last bad guys, but I’m sure we will have to make it through more groups of villains first. Who is next? The five mahrajs? Thank goodness for all the excitement and bloody battling in 29. Plus a critically injured Yuya, spoiler you say, I think not. I mean can the girl do anything except get hurt, kidnapped, or possessed? This series is a complete roller coaster from bad to good. It is far and away too long, but it’s a shonen fighting series so why I am so surprised? But I keep hanging on because I love Demon Eyes Kyo, can’t help it.

My Heavenly Hockey Club keeps reminding be of Ouran High School Host Club if it were written by Ai Morinaga. I like Ai Morinaga but damn. The similarities are too much to be coincidence. They both have poor girls going to a school of rich kids. They both have tomboyish, sarcastic main girls. They both have a girl who is blackmailed into joining an otherwise all boys club. They both have clueless club leaders that are in love with the main girl. They both have twins that no one can tell apart. There are definite differences in the humor and the writing but you can’t even pretend that My Heavenly Hockey Club is trying to be super original.

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Anime and Manga of the Month: May

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Manga of the Month
Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya

When John Fuller of New York’s branch of Kinokuniya was asked which manga sold best in Japanese but did not do anywhere near as well in English his answer was Nodame Cantabile. At first he thought it was because there was no English language version of Nodame Cantabile but Dallas Middaugh of Del Rey pointed out that they where in fact releasing the English version of Nodame. So why is Nodame selling like hotcakes in Japanese but not here is the U.S.? It’s clearly another example of the difference between Japanese and American tastes but I’m not so sure it should be. They are missing out of a hysterical manga.

Nodame is the story of a eccentric, slovenly piano student named Megumi Noda. She is in love with the genius piano student Shinichi Chiaki who wishes to become a world famous conductor. The story itself is of how their mismatched personalities interact with other equally bizarre student as they try to make their mark in orchestral music world. I feel this is the perfect transitional manga to go from the world of shojo to the world of josei. It has much of the humor and feel of a shojo manga while retaining the story structure and emotional maturity of a josei manga.

There is a live action TV series, an anime, and several video games all based on the manga as well.

The interesting thing about Nodame Cantabile is that Nodame and her story is loosely based on a real person. Apparently Tomoko Ninomiya saw the a picture of a messy piano student’s room and was inspired to pitch the idea about the life of such a student to her publisher. Ninomiya dedicates each book to the real-life Nodame. In fact, she keeps in contact with her and even bases certain story lines on her real life adventures. I think this is partially why the characters in Nodame feel so real. Rumor has it that Narutaki is loosely based off of Nodame as well.

Gyabo!

Anime of the Month
BECK Mongolian Chop Squad by Madhouse Studios

Koyuki saves a strange looking dog and much to his surprise it changes his life. He meets Ryusuke, a quite talented guitarist for his young years, who inspires him to learn guitar. He also later meets Maho who eventually encourages him to sing because she recognizes his talent being a singer herself. As Koyuki grows and finally enters a band with Ryusuke at the helm we become part of the struggle to get discovered. Any story involving music can be greatly enhanced by a medium with sound, especially when it is done well. BECK is a great example of this, it really comes to life on the screen as Koyuki discovers his love and talent for song. You can feel the uncertainty of stepping on stage and the triumph as the crowd cheers. The interaction of the characters boasts angst but also truth, and as friendships are formed and tested a mighty cast appears. The last few episodes of the series are incredible uplifting and you can’t help but want BECK to succeed. The animation is good, the story is honest (albeit over the top), and the music is great (gotta love that opening by Beat Crusaders which sets a great tone for the series). And you can buy the series in a little min-amp box, how cool is that?

Narutaki & Hisui VS. 2007

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This is pretty self-explanatory, we are looking at what we loved or hated from 2007. There was a lot going on, even with the decline in licenses in the U.S. there were still some great shows released! And Japan hasn’t been letting us down either. Not that is any surprise.

The Harold and Maude Award or Favorite Classic Manga Release:
To Terra
It is so rare to get older, 70’s titles. But I feel it is even rarer to find old shojo titles,
hopefully this will be changing in the next few years. It was nice find a serious, sci-fi story that had a solid story and characters. While looking at real world issues, it doesn’t losing any of its charm coming from the fantastical elements.

Ode To Kirihito
“Ode to Kirihito is moving, tender and engrossing. Also very, very odd.”
—Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman and Anansi Boys
If Neil Gaiman likes it, it has to be good. At 832 pages for $25 you definitely get your money’s worth with this classic Tezuka work. One of Tezuka’s more mature works, it follows the story of a doctor who contracts a disease that makes him more bestial than human. It then becomes his quest to restore his humanity and at the same time is a examination of what makes someone human.

Burn this Book or Worst Thing I Read:
Rurouni Kenshin: Voyage to the Moon
I think I was a bit spoiled because the first translated light novel I read was Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow, and it was well done. This one was either translated horribly or just not good to begin with, unfortunately I will never know. The characters seem odd in prose form; the movements were very stilted and awkward; the fight scenes were boring and matter-of-fact. There seemed to be zero that reminded me of the greatness of the manga series.

Pretty Face
“Rando struggles to be a good “big sister” to Rina as fate conspires to put him in one disastrous situation after another. When pants start coming off, and half-naked women start crawling all over him for the thinnest of reasons, Rando must use all his karate wiles to avoid being exposed as a complete weirdo. Meanwhile, will the mad Dr. Manabe succeed in his plan to remove the last remnants of Rando’s manhood…or will Rando remove Dr. Manabe’s brains with his fist? It’s 7.5 inches of manga heaven!”
-Ad copy for Pretty Face Book 2

I admit I have not read this per-say but all the ad copy for it makes it seem so very bad. It’s like the most messed up shonen romance show premise I have heard in a while. Even Boku to Kanojo no XXX and Midori Days seem sort of cute compared to Pretty Face. Maybe it’s really good but everything about it makes me not want to give it a chance.

Hot, Wet Nobu or Best News of the Year:
Death Note Movies
Death Note movies have been licensed and the third movie (all about L) is coming out in Japan! They may even get a big screen release here in the states. Really loved these two films and am anxious to watch them again and own them for myself! Also can’t wait for the new movie, surely only made because they realized too late that everyone really loved L in the series and not Light. Yay for L fan service!

ImaginAsia getting into Anime
ImaginAsia really seems to understand how to pick up and distribute older and/or niche series and actually make a profit. If anime companies are going to continue to license older series and distribute them on DVD, they just might have to do it how ImaginAsia has been doing it.

DearS Season 2 or Worst News of the Year:
Geneon closes down
Bye, bye Geneon. I for one am very sad to see you go. Especially in mid-release of some good shows! They did a quality job and picked up some beautiful, but not super marketable shows.

Okiku Furikabutte made into anime
I guess it would be too easy for me to pick Geneon’s death as well; so I’m going with Okiku Furikabutte being made into an anime. What I have seen of this show makes it seem like moe for girls. It is nothing but shota yaoi doujinshi fodder and a side order of actual baseball manga. The main character is a useless crybaby and everything seems to be designed to be eaten up by horrible Fujoshi.

Just Shut You Mouth Already or Things I Wish People Would Stop Talking About:
 Nymphet Controversy
Kodomo no Jikan! It is a horrible thing but seriously what else is there to say about it that hasn’t been said yet? Could there be a week gone by where this topic isn’t broach yet again.

Why fan-subbers are saints and heroes
I know that part of the industry’s problems come from their inability and refusal to adapt to the fact that the internet changes everything; but that does not make every fan-subbing group a bunch of faultless white hats and untouchable heroes. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Fan-subbers can be cool and do a service to the American anime community but that does not forgive the bad groups that don’t follow the rules of proper fan-sub etiquette. It also does not mean that fan-subs are only good and that they don’t sometimes hurt American fans on certain levels.

Peanutbutter and Relish Sandwich or Show I Unexpectedly Liked:
Hayate the Combat Butler
Hayate no Gotoku! It just sounded kind of “eh.” But after a friend of mine described the first episode to me, I was laughing out loud, and I had to see it for myself. It’s so wacky and ridiculous that it infectiously makes you laugh. So, while it isn’t some earth scattering series that will change your life, you can bet you will have a lot of fun watching it.

Kekkaishi
I expected Kekkaishi to be a generic shonen fighting show. But I think it takes the tried and true shonen formula, then tweaks it enough to make it something that stands out from the pack. Kekkaishi’s focus on the romance while not making it overbearing is refreshing. Also every episode seems to add to the world and plot without seeming like a stall for time. Then the fact that the female character is not just a damsel in distress or eye candy. Added to them not pulling punches and killing characters. All this and more makes it a very unusual and refreshing show. Too bad no one cares.

Can You Stop Playing That Please or Favorite Opening:
 “Sha la la -Ayakashi NIGHT” by Saeka Uura
This is a tough one. I really love the song in the Gundam 00opening (it is L’arc-en-Ciel afterall) and also loved the catchy tunes from Lovely Complex. But overall awesome? Guess that would have to the Kekkaishi opening. It was one of the first things that got me curious about the show, so it was good enough to draw me in. The song is really fun and since I have sought out the artist to hear more of her stuff.

“Brand New World” by D-51 (One Piece opening 6)
The opening to kick off the Ennis Lobby section of the Water 7 Arc is an upbeat and fun opening for One Piece. I think the opening really gets you pumped while really encompassing the spirit and flavor of the series. I’m just warning you that the opening is sort of filled with spoilers so if you have not finished Water 7 you might want to hold off on watching the opening.

Wowza! or Hottest Character:
The Men of Saiunkoku
The majority of the male cast from Saiunkoku. Unless they are an old guy, there isn’t a bad face to be seen in the court! And even the old guys were good looking when they were younger. Not only is this series full of historical type drama and romance it also boasts lots of eye candy!

Revy from Black Lagoon
Damn! Revy would probably kill you as soon as you look at her, but who cares? She is HOT. She is a very competent mercenary and the way she handles herself just makes me think that she is a goddess drenched in a gown of blood. She is also built like a brickhouse and that never hurts. In a time of moe, she is the antithesis of helpless and under-aged; she is a breath of fresh air. Or more like a breath of smoky spent shells and cigarettes.

All Those Sacrificed Goats Were Worth Something or Best License Announcement:
 NANA TV
NANA TV series. PERIOD. Awesome story, awesome characters, awesome music. My only really complaint about the series is it doesn’t finish the story since it is an ongoing manga. But it was a delight seeing my favorite characters moving and to hear the music. Any music series is obviously made better by having an anime counterpart.

Honey and Clover
Even though I have mixed feelings about the ending of Honey and Clover, it is an excellent josei manga and a well done anime. We get so little josei in the U.S. that any of it is welcome. Very well done josei is even better. I really want this show to have a vocal fan-base because the more diversity there is in the U.S. market the better it is for fans in general. Hagu is love.

The Micky Rooney of Manga or Best Short Manga:
 Penguin Revolution
I actually wish more series were in the 5 to 7 book range. I am always anxious for a storyteller to tell their story, in a complete fashion, but then to move on to the next great story! I want to say Penguin Revolution, but it hasn’t finished in the U.S. yet and I haven’t read the last 3 books (out of its 7). But I really like the story thus far, combining hilarious capers with a bit of mysticism and romance. Her other series Land of the Blindfolded, also released in the U.S., was along these lines but the mysticism was more prominent.

Wanted!
Wanted! is a collection of short stories by Eiichiro Oda. These were written before he started One Piece. There are 5 different stories including the second version of Romance Dawn that was the prototype for One Piece. It’s an interesting look into how his style and storytelling has developed. You can also see that Oda takes certain aspects and characters from his earlier works that later incorporates them into One Piece.

Sometimes Shipping From Japan is Worth It or Favorite Piece of Merchandise:
 Bandai’s Athrun Zala 1/8 figure
My brand-new Athrun Zala 1/8 figure. It is all mine! MINE! The loveliness of his face made only better by his perfect pose. Okay, maybe I’m bias.

Max Factories’ Fate/Zero 1/8 Saber
It’s Saber. She is wearing a Suit. She has an awesome sword. If you don’t like that then I’m not sure we can be friends.

Here is My Room Key or Favorite Convention Guest:
 Tomokazu Seki
Tomokazu Seki who was at Otakon was so great! He did so many voices and gladly did special parts from the series for the audience. He was super kind and gracious. I almost injured myself getting his autograph and after I go it he even said something that I requested! He was all around an awesome dude who also happens to always be voicing characters I love.

Katsushi Ota
If nothing else, it’s a sure sign that we are one step closer to getting Kinoko Nasu as a guest at a U.S. anime convention. He seemed a likable guy and to be an interesting, well articulated guest. The fact that he gave me two book of DDD just because I was was a big fan was really gracious. And that he took my picture and promised to pass it on to Nasu made my day. I really hope Faust does well here in the U.S.

Mr. John Holmes Award or Best Packaging:
 Beck Box Set
It would have to be BECK. The box for the DVDs looks like a mini-amp! It has some weight to it and the top of the amp opens to put the DVDs in. I just love it. It also came with stickers and all the DVDs come with guitar picks. How fun and appropriate. I don’t buy boxes much anymore unless they have some unique feature and this definitely has that.

Saiunkoku’s box set case
It’s a classy little box for a very classy show. It is shaped like a jewelry box and it has a ornate red ribbon on the front. I like how it folds open and has the fan-like disk sleeves. It also just looks very nice on a self or a desk. I’m not sure I would buy a box like this for every series I pick up, but it seems very right for this series. It’s a shame that Saiunkoku is in limbo right now. If anyone else picks up the series, I would probably still put them in this box.

Spewing Milk Out of my Nose or Funniest Manga:
 Nosatsu Junkie
Nosatsu Junkie is definitely a shojo romance but it is surpassed by its hilarity. Between the dual personalities of Umi, our male lead, and the serial killer expression that our main character makes whenever she tries to smile and look cute, it is a laugh a minute.

Nodame Cantabile
Nodame is such a fun character that she could be in any manga and just make it funnier. Combine her with Chiaki and it makes comedy gold. They play off each other very well. The best part of Nodame is the characters are real enough that you feel that they could be actual people you could meet. I guess in part that comes from Nodame actually being based on a real person. I’m sure that Narutaki will agree with this assessment almost as if it seemed that parts of Nodame were based on parts of his life.

I know there haven’t been many articles this month. But with the end of the semester, holidays, and whatnot it just wasn’t possible. Next year will be a whole other story! Look forward to it.