Tag: Twin Spica

Ongoing Investigations: Case #141

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I got to read Gen Manga volumes 3 & 4 back to back. Reading both volumes in succession makes me realize that the storytelling in Gen is somewhat compressed compared to your normal mainstream manga experience. While the storytelling still has a distinctly manga feel you don’t get the impression that the stories contained within are assuming they are going to run for 20+ books. They seems to be primed to end in a book or two but could run longer. Mainstream manga seems more designed to run for a long time but could be cut short if forced to. The individual chapters still have a more manga styled decompressed flow but chapter to chapter it seems more compressed. But all the compressed vs. decompressed storytelling talk from Ogiue Maniax might be why I am noticing it more. Vs Aliens is still my favorite story in the anthology. It has a very quirky story with some unusual twists every chapter. The only problem is that is quickly coming down to the big reveal of what is actually going on. If the final reveal is lame is going to really hurt the overall story. The boxing story is Wolf is still solid but I am not sure if I really care for the added element of the hyperactive flat chested girl vs the distant chesty girl love story. My feelings on KAMEN are still up in the air as I am interested in the story but not deeply invested. There is a promise of a big fight scene in the next chapter. How well the fight is pulled off I might help me solidify my feelings. I still don’t really like Souls. Volume three ends one arc and volume four starts a new arc. Volume three ended a bit lighter than I assumed it will but this genre has just never been my cup of tea. In volume 4 there is a one shot story called Sorako. This really feels like an American indy comic. It is the story of a small town girl who feels trapped in her small life under the backdrop of looking for her dog that ran away. It is slice of life in a way that really feels like an American comic more than a Japanese style of same formula. Gen is still an interesting experiment in the U.S. It has the feel of a doujinshi anthology but will a more consistent schedule. I am curious how well it will do here.

With great elation, I started the new season of anime by watching Bakuman S2. We start the season with Ashirogi Muto waiting for their editor to come to the studio to go over their contract for serialization. It is an exciting time and they are also invited to the Shonen Jack New Year’s bash. This episode is really about them getting acclimated with their new positions, getting assistants, and meeting some new people as well as getting to know others better. It is mostly a set-up for things to come and I can’t wait for those things!

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #139

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I finished the last 4 episodes (9-12) of Sacred Seven today and I feel pretty good about the series. There are some series you watch that make you want to run out and tell everyone how wonderful they are. Then there are series that you enjoy and would recommend but are not that earth shattering. Sacred Seven is distinctly in that second category. But I had a fun time and that is always the most important thing for me. The fights were always vibrant, energetic, and well choreographed. We got a love story, a save my sister in a coma story, and a revenge turned to redemption story. We defeated a bad guy and there were some sad deaths but most everyone made it through. There was even a nice bit of falling action. In refection a bit of the mythology of the Sacred Seven world goes totally unexplained but it is mostly there to set up the story and the fights scenes. It is not like it leaves you with all these unanswered mysteries. It is just that it concentrates more on telling the current story than giving you all the mechanics of how the powers in this world work. With a 12 episode show that is probably for the best. I enjoyed my time with Alma and Ruri and would recommend the show to anyone who wants a bit of light self-contained fun that does not do anything original but does it in an entertaining fashion.

I read one of CMX’s last releases, Stolen Hearts vol. 2, which just made me miss them a lot and lament that this cute series will never be finished. Here we continue the story of Shinobu and Koguma as they further their relationship. Shinobu meets the rest of his family including three handsome brothers with less crazy hair. I really enjoyed her getting to know everyone more and there is a lot of humor thanks to it (the grandmother cracks me up!). I wasn’t crazy about the oldest brother crushing on her and messing with Koguma. But all is made well again when they go on a trip together and experience their first kiss. Stays fun and cute, plus it is nice to see a pair in a relationship.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #121

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I know I could have talked about the shows that ended with the Winter 2011 season but this week I decided to talk about three really odd things and save my feelings on the shows wrapping up for next week.  My first pick is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic because I had to understand the strange cult of the Bronies that has formed around this show. Let us get the most important detail out-of-the-way first. This is a cartoon for little girls. It is a very well made cartoon for little girls but make no mistake it is a cartoon for little girls. As someone who watched and loved HeartCatch PreCure! I have no problem watching cartoons for little girls but let us call a spade a spade. There seems to be this odd Touhou Project effect where fans have this strange obsession with filling in all the details of a world. It also creates this strange phenomenon where the fans of the show seem really proud of how ashamed they are of watching the show. That said there is a lot to like about the show. The animation is wonderful and really shows how far flash animation has come over the years. They do their best to make everyone extremely expressive which makes this show infinitely screencapable. The humor is often actually funny. The stories are often super simple considering its target audience but it is rarely patronizing though they do  restate the lesson at the end of every episode in standard kids cartoon style. And now some random observations. As One Great Turtle so succinctly pointed out Fluttershy is the most moe pony ever and I noted that Rainbow Dash is the Tomo Takino of the show. Overall it is a wonderful show to watch with any younger female relatives you have as it is a show you can enjoy together. Apparently it also appeals to older nerdier male audience and there is nothing wrong about that but it is so so very odd.

Twin Spica vol. 5, you surprised me! In a good way. This installment starts giving us some history and the revelation in it, while not totally clear yet, was not on my radar in the least. On that note, this book deals a bit less with Asumi though we do see the continued developement of Kiriu the boy protester she met in the last volume who is focused on quite a bit this time. At this point we know who Asumi is so branching out is nice. And the game of survival they are thrown in during the last couple of chapters adds some great tension while bringing the past and present back together.

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