Tag: Slayers

Ongoing Investigations: Case #129

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So I stumbled upon the first two translated chapters of the that latest installment of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Part 8 in the series has been named Jojolion and it lives up the amazingly to the high standard of insanity set by the previous iterations of the series. I mean the panel above sums it all up rather well just in case you never read a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga before. It is set just a little after the March 11 Earthquake and Tusnami disaster in Japan. Yasuho Hirose lives in a town that was hit by the tsunami and since that day has had strange unexplained pillars called Wall Eyes popping up all over. One day Yasuho is walking by a cluster of these Wall Eyes when she stumbles upon amnesiac, only wearing a sailor’s cap, with a VERY unusual body. She eventually agrees to help this peculiar man discover who he was and what caused him to lose his memory. This manga has all the hallmarks of a proper Jojo’s manga including an odd but captivating art style, unusual almost inhuman poses, strange and inventive powers, off kilter and amusing humor, and off course musical references. If I go too much into the plot it would ruin some of the fun surprises (like what is so unusual about his testicles) so you should check it out for yourself. For all the hardcore Jojo’s fans it seems that the main character’s name might be Yoshikage Kira which is also the name of the antagonist in Jojo’s part four. Whether this is red herring, just a nudge and a wink, or a connection to part four has yet to be seen.

I finished up World’s Greatest First Love with much jubilation! This was an unexpected treat for me this spring season. It is not a mind-blowing new take on romance, in fact it is incredibly predictable, but that didn’t prevent it from being fun and charming. With the multiple couple perspective it takes on as the series goes on, it helped keep things from becoming too two steps forward one step back for Onodera and Takano. I especially liked the editor who meets the younger bookseller. The resolution for Onodera to stay a manga editor as well as his realization that he has feelings for Takano is acceptable but could easily continue. Since I liked the other couples too, I hope there is another season still to come. Looking forward to the second OVA as well.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #128

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Blade of the Immortal 23 finally came into my hands, every time one of these comes out it seems cause for celebration. It takes far too long. This volume is still a transitional book as everyone starts to get in to position, and much traveling occurs for each group, for the final act to commence. This book actually doesn’t feature Manji and Rin all that much, despite their very recent reunion, instead putting the focus on the Itto-Ryu and Habaki’s deathrow Rokki. Since Anotsu and gang are fleeing, they set a number of traps for their pursuers. It is nice to see Magatsu around again, though I had to laugh when Soma attempts to take him on solo, better luck next time lady. There are also some tender and powerful moments between Maki and Anotsu. A good volume, as usual, but mostly a set-up for things to come.

If anyone was ever curious the person who does most of the links on the blog is me. In doing so I often stumble upon little bits of information like the existence of the  Slayers – The Hourglass of Falces manga. A complete 4-chapter story that is unusual in the fact that it has the standard Slayers crew we all know and love plus Luke and Milina from the later novels that were never translated. Lina and company are shipwrecked on a tranquil little island that has an idyllic town of friendly people. Due to the strange currents around the island they cannot causally leave. As they look for a way off the island a busty pirate shows  them there is something more sinister going on behind this utopia. Oh and there is one other major difference between this and the normal Slayers stories people are used to: Massive amounts of T&A. I don’t know much about Milina but Amelia’s breasts are definitely increased to be Naga sized and there are frequent panty shots. So the fan-service is distinctly on display in the manga. The story is a nice little story that is reminiscent of some of the better filler arcs in a regular Slayers TV series. It even manages to tie together the first and second series of Slayers novels. I just wish they toned down the gratuitous fan service.

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L: Consulting Detective and Other Great Anime Spin-offs

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hisuiconA common complaint I hear about series is that the main characters are bland but the side characters are far more interesting and nuanced. It seems almost epidemic in shonen fighting. In fact Shonen Jump just started a spin-off magazine whose whole purpose is to put the spot light on some of the more popular minor characters in their magazine. The announcement of Super Strong Jump was just the catalyst we needed to bring out one of our post ideas from the back burner about our favorite side characters who would do just as good if not better in their own feature title. Remember that Gunsmith Cats’ Rally Vincent is a spin-off from the original Riding Bean series and look how far she has come.

This post has been brewing for a while, and is by no means a complete listing. But before it got totally out of hand, we had to think of which characters could really use their own stories beyond the fact that we just like them a hell of a lot. This is mere sampling of some of the great side characters that we’re pretty sure could hold their own in a series. Eventhough the title of this post mentions L, he already has a spin-off albeit a bad one, so we’ve come up with a list of other great spin-off options! Oh, yeah, 1/3 of our picks are still detectives though!

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