Thoughts: MAL Manga Challenge

MAL Manga  Challenge Round One:

So, on the message boards of MyAnimeList is having a manga reading challenge.  Here are all the titles I read and some quick thoughts on them.  I enjoyed this so much I am doing a second round.

Read a one-shot: Metropolis (KURODA Iou)

A re-imagining of Tezuka’s Metropolis. Honestly, I can’t remember this one well, so I’d say you can give it a pass.

Read a manga published before the 90s: Yume no Tsuzuki

A sci-fi story that is heavily dated by technology and fashion.  It was alright.  I can’t tell if the short length helps or hurts this one.

Read a manga published after the 90s Omoide Emanon

This one was really good.  Nice art and interesting story.  About a woman who has generational memory of the earth’s history.

Read an award-winning work: A Cruel God Reigns

A 17 volume series from Moto Hagio?  Yes, please.  But this one can be really emotionally draining so be prepared for that.  Here is a write up I did for the Hidden Gems of Manga club:
Ever wanted to read something emotionally challenging? Then Zankoku na Kami ga Shihai suru (A Cruel God Reigns) is most certainly it.  A seventeen volume series from manga great Moto Hagio this is the story of two teens Jeremy and Ian deal with abuse and dark secrets.

The story starts with Jeremey living with his single Mother in Boston.  They happen to meet Greg Roland.  A good looking, single, wealthy man from England.  Jeremy’s Mother is smitten with him right away and Greg pushes for a fast marriage.  But this is only the start of a chain of moves that Greg has to entrap Jeremey has he soon starts to sexually abuse him.

Soon, they go to England and here Jeremey is trapped.  It is apparent something is wrong with Jeremy but he won’t say anything because he wants his Mother to be happy. Things start to unravel when Jeremy tinkers with his Stepfather's car.  His Step-Father and Mother died in a car accident soon after. But was it Jeremy’s tinkering or was the car defective from the start?

After his Father’s death Jeremy’s new older step-brother Ian learns about all the abuse his Father has done.  Ian can’t believe it, and it forces him to deal with thoughts and feelings he has to never had to deal with before.

Can Jeremy and Ian keep it together and move on?

Read a manga by your favorite author/artist: Hohoemi No Nichijou

Bohra Naono is my all time favorite BL/Yaoi creator.  I love her art. Her stories are cute, feature older men, and the supernatural quite often.  Really, right up my alley.  This was a volume of cute one-shots.

Re-read a manga: Tokyo Akazukin

I was pretty obsessed with Benkyo Tamaoki art at one point and had read this years ago.  I was wondering if it would still hold up.  Not so much.  I would say it is best explained as supernatural exploitation.  I would say if you are not already super familiar with anime and manga this is just a huge no.  Even, if you are familiar with anime and manga stay away unless you like guro and lolis (and not just lolis being cute but uhhh you know…).

Read a manga by Osamu Tezuka: The Twin Knights
Well, this got me to finish up Princess Knight since this is the sequel to it.  I liked this one a bit more than Princess Knight since it comes off way less sexist.  Princess Knight had a whole thing with boy hearts and girl hearts.  And without her boy heart Princess Knight would lose all her strength and such.  None of that here, just girls getting to be badass.

Read a manga that is tagged with a genre you dislike: Pato-ko Ikkimasu! (Car)
I was looking for anything short and fully translated about cars.  This was pretty unremarkable

Read a debut manga: Puzzle+

Supernatural mystery seems right up my alley but this title was a bit wonky.  It wasn’t bad but I do feel the shortness of this one kind of kills it.  Sometimes, it was hard to tell what was going on.

Read a manga that became a prototype for a longer running series: NOiSE

I’ve tried to get into Tsutomu Nihei’s (Blame) works but I never seem to be able to.  This wasn’t bad, in fact I think I liked it a lot more than his other works but the story is still kind of muddied in it.

Read a manga with a target demographic that does not apply to you: Burning Hell

A manga about terrible people being terrible.  Another title that feels like an exploitation piece.  Does have really nice art though.

Read a manga with a target demographic that can apply to you (i.e. josei if you're a female in her 20s, etc): Insufficient Direction

Written by the manga creator who is married to famed anime director Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion).  This is as slice-of-life as you can get.  It is cute but doesn’t really add a whole lot of insight to Anno (other than he is a huge dork but I didn’t need to read this to know that).

Read a manga that has a main character of gender opposite to the demographic (i.e. female lead in a male demographic): :REverSAL

This was a cool sci-fi manga about being trapped in a game (yeah I know too many).  I enjoyed this but it suffers from being too short and doesn’t allow for tension to build up.

Read a manga with a score of or below 7 in MyAnimeList: Cyclic the Love
This is a one-shot that I didn’t remember anything about until I looked it up again.  So, I can say pass this one up.

Read a manga that starts with the same first letter as your username: Blue Heaven
This is good if you are looking for some fast paced action but the plot kind of gets muddled.  Art was nice.

Read a manga that someone on your friends' list rated a 10: Lunar: Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari
Three short stories about the Lunar universe.  Surprisingly good.  The art is very, very nice.  And the none of the characters seem to be characterized correctly.

Read a manga that has a main character that is a professional in his field (doctor, detective, embalmer, etc): Uchi no Tantei Shirimasen ka?

This was a cute yaoi title about two detectives.  It isn’t going to set the world on fire but it was enjoyable.

Read a manga that has a one word title: Zansho
A volume of one-shots.  Some were pretty good.

Read a manga with children in it: Hana Meguri Goyou!
This manga is really a mess.  The story is kind of all over the place.  And while the art isn’t bad the paneling is just awful and is hard to tell what is going on a lot of the time.

Read a manga about food: Bambino!
I think this is the real winner of all the titles I read.  It was really enjoyable and I powered through 15 volumes in one night.  Here is the write up I did for Hidden Gems of Manga:

This time we dive into the world of being a professional chef.  Shogo Ban has never wanted to do anything else with this life this be a professional Italian chef.  But he has only worked in small restaurant in a small town as help.  Can he make it in on the most popular (and busy) places in Tokyo?

He gets there and promptly nicknamed Bambino (baby) by the other chefs.  Watch as he has to work 12 hour days; deal with abusive co-workers; give up on some relationships in his life; and travel to America. Learn a bunch of Italian phrases related to food!

If you like cook shows or contests like Chopped or Cutthroat Kitchen this is a must read.

Read a manga about war: Joan

This is a manga about a woman who is kind of obsessed with Joan of arc and wants to follow her path.  It’s a weird manga.  It isn’t bad but a manga about Joan of arc  herself would have been more interesting.  It’s by the guy who did the character designs for the original Gundam.  So, it is pretty nice looking.  It is also in full color which is pretty cool.

Read a manhua: Chicken Cutlet Princess
Manhua is the Chinese counterpart to manga and comics.  This was a cute and stilly romance story about a girl who really likes chicken cutlets and the boy who thinks she is a complete weirdo.  Cute fun fluff.

Read a manhwa: I Will Grant You Three Wishes

Manhwa are Korean comics. Another one-shot that left almost no impression.  At least it wasn’t long?

Read a horror, sci-fi OR fantasy manga: Madness

This is a fantasy yaoi title (which I wish there was more of).  It was pretty decent and had actual plot and even (gasp!) female characters.  Story is a bit muddled but overall not bad for what it is.

Read a webmanga: Noblesse

So, I wanted to read one of those webtoons that everyone is talking about.  A webtoon is pretty much the Korean equivalent of a webcomic.  Noblesse is one of the big ones everyone talks about, and is about vampires, so that was the one I choose.  It wasn’t bad and I enjoyed it a lot but it has some serious issues with power creep and a sort of rinse and repeat plot.  But it does have a good sense of humor done right to break up the tension in the story, it never feels out of place (which I find pretty impressive).  It also has a number of great character moments, which help elevate the series a lot.  The art is also full color and very pretty to look at.  

You can check a lot of these webtoons @ http://www.webtoons.com/en/

Thoughts - Sailor Moon Crystal

Okay, I am cheating a bit with anime, but I wrote down these thoughts and I thought I would share them. I finished Sailor Moon Crystal. And it was ehhhhhh. I didn't dislike it as much as others on the internet seem to. I think it does end up showing what were the strong points of the original series though.

The art/animation is seriously lacking. I do think I'm a bit more indifferent than most of the fandom was about this. But as I've been watching a ton of anime lately, I can say it doesn't stand up to today's standards. And I think as a big anniversary event, everyone thought they would try and make it look awesome and it looks kind of blah. The old show may not be up to today's standards either but you can see they put a lot of effort into it for its time and what it was.

Characters is where I think Crystal really shows what the strong point in the original series was. Because in Crystal no one but Sailor Moon, Chibi-Usa, and maybe Mamoru get any real character development. The other girls get personalities but almost no screen time to show those personalities off. The original might have a lot of filler but it was used well to expand the characters and make you care about them. (I feel like even the live action Sailor Moon did a much better job with the other characters).

Story is hard for me to judge. I did start re-watching the original a while back but didn't get that far. So, I can't tell if the case is I've gotten older so the story just doesn't hold up as well for me or if Crystal was just that lacking. I do think it is a show that if it had a stronger team working on it, there could have been a much stronger final product.

I will say the one big improvement with this show is Chibi-Usa is actually tolerable and actually pretty likeable by the end. They manage to really tell her story in a way that better explains her back story. Which explains a lot of her behavior. Also in this case, less episodes mean less screen time for her to be obnoxious.

Thoughts: Collecting Tips - Buying Used 2

Okay we have covered how to get used manga in real life but what about online?

The Internets

Don't want to be bothered going out to all these places?  Then online is the place to go.  The two retailers I'd suggested are Amazon Marketplace and Half.com. Often titles will be very cheap on both sites, but key is to remember shipping.  On Amazon used books can start at a penny and on Half.com books can start at seventy five cents.  Amazon Marketplace is different then normal Amazon and you will have to pay shipping, at least $3.99 per book. Half.com's shipping starts at $3.49, the real difference comes in when you buy multiple books from the same seller.  Half.com will reduce the shipping in about half for each subsequent book from the same seller.  Amazon Marketplace even if you order all your books from the same seller, each will have the same cost of shipping as the first book.  If you are looking to order more then one book at a time I highly recommend pricing it out on both sites.  A lot of the time even if the book costs more on Half.com the total cost will be lower due to shipping.  Also always try and get as many book as possible from the same seller for that reduced shipping cost.

Also, with these sites watch out for over inflated prices.  Sometimes a volume or a whole series is legitimately expensive because it went out of print and had a low print run.  Sometimes though sellers use bot programs to control the pricing, like being the cheapest for sale but only by a penny. Sometimes books will become super inflated, in the case the best solution is to wait for the seller to realize what has happen and hope they lower the price.

Another place to try is eBay. If you are just shopping around for some manga to buy eBay can be great. A lot of the time whole series show up in lots to buy. Just make sure you check around on other sites to see if you are getting a good deal. Now, if you are looking to fill out certain titles it can be a bit of mixed bag.

What if you just want one volume of a series from the middle of it? Or the title you are looking for is a bit more unusual? Then you can try eBay's saved searched.  You just put in a search you want and every time something new comes up under that search eBay sends you an email.

Another online outlet for buying used manga is Live Journal selling communities like Garage Sale Japan, Anime4Sale and Anime Shopping. Again this is a shot in the dark but is great place to find whole series and random volumes for great prices.  It's always a great way to unload your own stuff.  All you need to do is sign up for a Live Journal account.

Next time I'll talk about trading for want you want!

Thoughts: Collecting Tips - Buying Used 1

Okay we got buying new manga down but what if want to buy used, here are some tips for that. First why even buy used? If there is an old series that now seems interesting used maybe the only way to get it.  Also used is a great way to pick up stuff for cheap.

Brick & Mortar

One place to try is your local used book store.   Much like going to conventions to buy this can be a huge crap shoot.  Some used book stores have a great section of graphic novels with manga for good prices, others well not so much.  The nice thing about the used book store is you can take books you have laying around in for credit to use on picking up stuff you want.  Used books stores sometimes end up in weird places so it might be worth Googling it to see if any are in your area.

Then we go back to the local comic book store.  If you are familiar with your local shop then you will know if they carry used books or not.  While back issues of single comics are common, used volumes of graphic novels and manga not so much.  It can't hurt to ask though.

Another shot in the dark is a book sale.  These are local events held by generally by libraries (but other places also) selling off a huge mass of used books for super cheap.  I've found some very interesting books at sales like this but the manga kind be kind of iffy.  A lot of the time the people running the book sale don't know where to put manga so you may have to look in children's and sci-fi sections.

Another brick and mortar store I would highly recommend is Book Off.  Book Off is a Japanese chain of used book/video game/DVD etc. stores.  Currently there is one store in New York City, five out in California, and two in Hawaii. They will often have a good selection of manga in English, anime DVDs, and art books.  Most of the manga here runs about $5 dollars or less.  When I was visiting friends out in LA I think we visited almost all of the stores in the area.  I brought back more stuff from Book Off then I did from Anime Expo that year.  I also make sure to stop in the New York store every time I'm in the city.  Now, what if you don't live close to one?  Well you get someone else to look for you, which I'll get to more in a another post.

Thoughts: Collecting Tips - Buying New

So you want to start collecting manga or you are collecting manga but looking for a bit more help?  Here are my best tips when it comes to collecting.  Some of these might seem like common sense but sometimes you might just not think of it.

How did this all get here?!

Buying New

So, if there is a series you really want and it is going to come out soon or is currently coming out, pick it up as soon as possible.  Yes, a lot of series devalue over time but there are many cases of a great series going out of print (OOP) shortly after release and having super jacked up prices.  So, often to avoid headaches I suggest getting titles as they come out.  This might seem expensive but there are way to save money.

One thing not to do is buy from a big box retailer.  Not that I hate Barnes & Noble, but there other ways and places to acquire manga cheaper. One of those is to try your local comic book shop.  Local shops often will give a deal if become a "subscriber." You order so many titles a month (with the plan to get future volumes) and the store gives a discount on all these titles.  Generally in the range of 10% to 20%.  Since manga isn't monthly for the most part, you will have to talk to the store owner about making arrangements.  Most of the time store owners are more then willing to make a deal with you.  Also even if you don't see your favorite manga at the local store there is a good chance they can order it in for you.

Another great way to get new manga cheap is Amazon.  It is almost always discounted to some degree.  I just looked up Sailor Moon Volume 1 and it is 35% off.  Now another great thing about Amazon is pretty much everything over $25 dollars will have free shipping.  I just wait for about three titles I want to come out and order all three at once for the free shipping.  If you have Amazon Prime then you don't even need to worry about that.  If you are a student you can get a free six month trial of Amazon Prime no less.

Another online retailer that is worth trying rightstuf.com.  They often have sales from different publisher that give for around 33% off.  They also have a Got Anime? Purchasing Club Membership which gives an additional 10% off.  Though unless you are ordering over $49 dollars you will have to pay shipping costs.

One last suggestion for buying new is buying new titles at cons.  This can be a crapshoot though.  Some publishers like Vertical sell all their books at a great discount ($10 a piece for books that run $16.95 sometimes) but you have to hurry to the dealers room right away to get what you want.  Other dealers may offer discounts on newer books also.  There are also deep discount sellers with deals like 10 for $40, on new but slightly older titles.  Where the more you buy the cheaper it is.  If you are in the dealers room you can put your books together for an even better deal. If there is something you are really jiving for, it might be worth a look.

Next time I'll talking about getting those series you might of missed out new in "Buying Used."

Thoughts: Otakon 2012

Another con, another haul.  Otakon this year was interesting for me, it was the first year I did two costumes and the one that I went to least amount of panels. Also it was freaking hot.

Friday I was dressed as the titular Franken Fran.  Which was interesting to say the least. As a manga only character I didn't expect a ton of people to know me (though at least a few people did).  What I didn't think of, was that most people would think I was dressed as female Stein from Soul Eater.  (Which is kind of funny because after I made my head bolts I made the Stein screw for one of my friends.) The costume was much hotter then I expected.  With the long wig and lab coat I had to stop shopping at one point in the dealers room.  I'm not sure if it was just the heat or if I was having hot flashes (I have some hormonal problems).  I still got a pretty good haul despite all this.

Saturday was interesting to say the least... I don't think I did much other then wear my costume and do a little shopping.  My friends like to get pictures in the Otakon Photo Suite early in the morning but things got all screwed up. I got in my Glados Potato costume later then I had planned but I figured it would be fine because we would be starting late.  Ugh, no so instead of 12 pm we did the shoot at around 5:30.  I was in the costume in the early after noon but after a couple of hours of wearing it I just couldn't do it any more and deposited in a friend's room in the Hilton for a bit.  I then did some more dealer's room and artist's alley shopping.  Which when much better, I was less hot and I felt like people were being way less pushy then on Friday.  I went and retrieved my costume but getting anywhere in it was a challenge.  I had a porthole view but it was so low I could only really see the chest area on people.  I tried going down and escalator and never before had I been so scared to try.  Luckily, a guy talked me through it.  Then I found out the Hilton skywalk bridge was closed (for what reason I guess I'll never know) so I had to go outside again.  Once that costume gets hot, it stays hot.  Even with a fan inside, it was like being in a mobile sweat lodge.  I did finally get my photos taken but I had to get out of the costume a.s.a.p. after that.  My legs are still sore from it.

On one hand I never want to wear this freaking this costume again but on the other had I'd like to try again and do it better.  It wasn't as last minute as the Fran costume but it was still done under a month.  My friend did the wire frame, batting, stuffing, and fabric.  I did the wires, clips, and face plate.  I guess we will see, for a winter convention I don't think it would be so bad heat wise.  Though we would have to figure out how to set the porthole so I can see faces instead of chests.

Sunday was the only day I went to a panel that wasn't my own.  I went to the Vertical panel, which I try to go to every year.  They are publishing some interesting stuff this year, Wolfsmund looks pretty cool and some how they ended up with the job of printing Queen's Blade art books (even Ed didn't seem to enthused by this).  Also Twin Spica is going out of print because of poor sales which is pretty sad, Ed quoted numbers and it was abysmal.  Remember if you really want a title to come out here buy it!

I ran two panels myself.  Both of them were 18+ this time around.  I did a Go Nagai panel, which was a rehash from last year but with more 18+ content.  Last year I managed to be informative this year I managed to wave my hands around a lot and spout stuff.  I tried, but it just wasn't with me this time.  It didn't help we ran into technical difficulties. My netbook only has HDMI out so I told my co-panelist to bring his laptop (we used his last year).  There is where we ran into a problem it was a different laptop but only had HDMI out also.  Fuuuuuuuuuuuu... Luckily the con staffer  and the audio guy called for a HDMI converter and I call my friend for her laptop.  Of course pretty much everything comes at once.  I tell my friend we don't need her laptop and she leaves.  Only my co-panelist's computer won't duplicate the screen.  Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.... I call my friend again and she runs down her laptop, again.  Fortunately we got there early enough that we were only 5 minutes late to start. It went pretty well, we had some laughter and we didn't have any one really get up to leave (which is always a good thing).

Saturday said laptop friend, another friend, and I ran a yaoi panel called Sugar & Old Spice.  Two of us had previously done it at MangaNext.  Only at MangaNext it was the same time as the rave and so only three people who really loved yaoi showed up.  Otakon we packed a room (a small room but still a room).  My friends were very prepared but I was not so much.  I knew the stuff because it is stuff I am very familiar with but I should have had notes.  Still we filled the time pretty well and had people asking us all kinds of questions.  It was cool.

As for the actual haul it was:

Printed yaoi web comics
Star Fighter - 1 & 2
Teahouse - 1 to 3


Manga
DMC  - 5 & 6
He Is My Master - 5 & 6
Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~  - Omnibus 1 & 2
Lament of the Lamb - 5

No Longer Human - 2 & 3
Ooku - 4
Sakuran
Sensual Phrase - 9
Three Wolves Mountain
Velveteen & Mandala
Venus Versus Virus - Omnibus (4 to 6), 7, 8

Other
Mine Turtle t-shirt
Persona 4 Arena t-shirt (My friend got it at E3 but she gave it to me at Otakon)
Tanto Cuore playing mat

Some of the manga came from a friend who got it at a local store to her for super cheap.

Over all a weird but interesting year.

Thoughts: Rumikio Takahashi great mangaka or greatest mangaka?!

Rumikio Takahashi great mangaka or greatest mangaka?!  LOL, no... I really don’t get people who think she is the greatest female mangaka of all time.  I don’t hate her works like I do CLAMP because I do think her work has merit.  In fact a lot of important merit, just not greatest of all time merit.

I can seriously argue she is not the greatest female mangaka of all time.  I mean really?!  Historically important?! Sure.  Important to otaku culture?  Hell yeah. But the best?  Hell no.  

Moto Hagio, Riyoko Ikeda, and many other members of the Year 24 Group?  Yes, I feel that many of their works have a depth from other literary sources that more otaku influenced works do not have.  Since their influences come from more outside sources where otaku works tend to come from inside the culture.  

Not that these works are not interesting and can be intelligent in their own right but they start to really cause a catastrophic feeling.  These otaku works are created by otaku for otaku and make otaku feel safe.  This is their world and outsiders can't touch it.  But much like with the gene pool you need outside influences or things start to get distorted.  

When I read works like Glass Mask and Rose of Versailles there is a feel that these works are written for everyone and they are influenced by many works not just other manga.  Works by Takahashi just don’t give me that feeling, they give me the feeling they are for Otaku.  For every enjoyable and decent title like Otaku no Musume-san there are a ton of other samey generic title filled with Otaku tropes, so Otaku can in some can indulge in a dream life without having to really work on making their own life better.

Okay, I’ve kind of gone off the subject...Rumikio Takahashi’s early work is important and did help create otaku culture as we know it but lacks a quality it make it stand on its own anymore outside the culture.

Thoughts: Otakon 2010

Going to cons always messes up my schedule (and my eating habits) for sometime before and after the con. I'll get back to the real content soon, I kind of promise. So, I was at Otakon, this past weekend. I can't say it was too exciting, only once in the time I have been going (10+ years) that there has been a guest I wanted to see (Kouta Hirano), so I mainly go just to hang out. The problem being is most of my friends moved to the west coast this year so there was only 3 of us in our group. We had a really good time though. I got to hang out with some of my other “peeps” I know on-line which was awesome.

I love going to cons for the shopping. I think one can kind of take it for granted today just how easy it is to get anime/manga materials today. Not just in the arr I'm a pirate way either, but getting actual goods is so much easier today. It used to be if you wanted the really awesome stuff, you had to go to a con to get it. Now you can order so much stuff on-line the dealers room isn't as big of a deal. I have to say though there is nothing like instant gratification. I like going through stacks of art books finding one so awesome I didn't even know I had to have, but I have to now! Sadly, this year I was pretty cash strapped at the con, so I didn't get much, but I did get some good stuff.

Before the con I talked to on of my on-line friends who hit up a used book store in her area. She picked up these for me there (at three bucks a piece!):

Honey and Clover 4,5
The Embalmer 2
Lament of Lamb 3
20th Century Boys 4

A little out of order but the deals were to good to pass up really and they are all in great shape. It was also awesome to meet one of my on-line friends. She bought 56 volumes of manga at the con! I dream I can do that some day! I think my best was in the 20-30 range.

At the con I picked up:

Twin Spica 1
Black Jack 11, 12
Age Called Blue

Though when I got home I realized I didn't have Black Jack 10. It is not a huge deal, as Black Jack has no real reading order. It's just the were on sale for ten bucks each! That is a six or seven dollar savings! Because I bought thirty bucks worth of stuff from Vertical, they give me a really pimp bag.

The only other think I got was the Higurashi visual novel from MangaGamer (and a free boob mouse pad lol).

Probably my smallest haul from a con ever but some good quality stuff.

I sat in on the Vertical panel. They have some more surprised Tezuka stuff coming and are looking to get more stuff from the '49s out there (which would be so awesome).

During Q&A someone asked about Go Nagai, in which Ed Chavez confirmed that they would like to release some of his titles but Dynamic Pro wants them to start with Maou Dante and they feel that is to much of a risk to sink capitol into, but maybe someday. I still need to review that one (but it means I have to read it again, lol) but I can understand where Ed is coming from on that one.
I will work on a real post of next time!

Thoughts: Quickie on Ikki 2

I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow
This is basically about a guy in his forties quiting his job to become a mangaka except instead of having drive and ambition he spends most of his days fucking around. His father berates him all the time and his teenage daughter is doing what she can to take care of herself. It doesn't sound like much and it is one of the slice of life titles were not much happen but there are these moments of incite about life that are really brilliant in this manga. The art is similar to Tokyo Zombies as it looks more like someone's notebook scribbles but I think it's charming.

Kingyo Used Books
Is a manga, about selling manga, that highlights a different manga in each chapter. There are several characters but so far it's be mostly introductions and light back story on them. I can't say I feel really attached to any of them. What makes the title interesting is all the different manga it talks about. Each chapter features something different from the ultra rare to to greats and give a little incite about each of them. It's a cool title if you like to learn more about the history of manga (which I do) but if you don't I'd think it would be kind of a dud. The art is nice and well done but I fine it lacking a certain appeal to be (maybe it's not very stylish?).

Saturn Apartments
This one is slice of life...in space! This is another one of those titles with really languid pacing. The main character is a teenager who has lost his parents but the people around him have been good in taking care of him. Life on this space station though isn't all that it is cut out to be as there are lower and upper levels that divide jobs and class between the people. The main character Mitsu takes on the the difficult job of window cleaner not only does he have to learn his job but about the other people working around him, and general populous of the station. I really like the art in this one, it is very cute (every had big round head and is kind of stumpy) but had a lot of detail (there are some damn impressive backgrounds).

Hmm, this time around not the most exciting titles but they are all enjoyable if you like slice of life.  If I had to pick a current favorite out of all the Ikki titles I have read it would have to be After School Charisma.  Like I said it starts out awkward but really grows into an interesting and intriguing plot.  The slice of life titles just don't provide that and the narrative in Dorohedo isn't as strong.

Thoughts: Quickie on Ikki

I’ve been feeling a little off, so though I would do something a bit different this week and give you my thoughts on some of the titles on the Ikki website. This is a website with 100% legit translated manga to read online from Ikki and Viz. Sadly they don’t leave all the chapters up, which I really wish they did. I’ve missed out on a few series because I wasn’t fast enough.

After School Charisma
I really dig this title. It starts out pretty awkward, most of the characters are clones of famous people. In the first few chapters the author really makes sure you know that this bishonen is Sigmund Freud or this beautiful girl is Florence Nightingale and such by saying his/her full name repeatedly. The basic plot is about a high school rising clones of famous people with the idea of letting go back out in the work to "do good work" (it is still a little mysterious at this point). Problems arise when some of the clones don’t want to do what their originals did, and other die just like their originals. Like I said the start is really awkward but this title really comes into its own as an interesting mystery. The art in this is also top notch.

Dorohedo
This had been a title I wanted to read for a while. I had read Q. Hayashida’s adaptation of the Maken X video game and while maybe not the best adaptation the art and strangeness really had me intrigued. That is pretty much the case here with Dorohedo, I’m still not 100% what is going on. There are wizards who mutate people and a dude with a Lizard head who wats to find out who did that to him. But really to me the story in this case isn’t all that important. This is a title where it is to much more about the world and characters that live in it. It’s kind of steampunk if speampunk was actually dystopian like cyberpunk. The art is gritty and kind of chaotic but I really enjoy it for those reason but I know it turns some people off.

House of Five Leaves
I had really loved the anime Ristorante Paradiso based on another work of Natsume Ono which came as a surprise to me. Right now I can’t say how much I like House of Five Leaves it has very slow pacing and I feel only now in the second volume am I getting a real feel for the characters. Still it’s been interesting and I like her really strange and somewhat awkward art. Somehow it is very anime/manga style but not like any other anime/manga.  I have yet to check out the anime adaption of this but this might be one where I like the anime better as was the case with Ristorante Paradiso.

Next week I'll finish off the list but all of the titles I've listed are worth checking out.

Thoughts: What is going on here?

Ugh, I am a bit annoyed. It seems Viz has listed volume 19 at the final volume of Bastard!!. Much like cake, this is a lie. Considering it is still publishing in Japan and is up to volume 26. This is a series have been collecting since 2003. (Holy, crap seven freaking years). My volumes are from so long ago that my first five volumes are in the large size Viz used to publish in (though it seems they have returned to this size for some of their signature line). It is even more annoying that recently Viz stated they would not be canceling any of their product lines. Volume 19 doesn’t even come to any conclusion.

I hope Viz hasn’t really canceled Bastard!! Even a really long delay between volumes would be better. (Though they have been close to a year apart recently). I want to give people my money for this title in a format I can read. Really!

While I don’t know any numbers, Bastard!! always did well at the comic book store I worked at. It wasn't a Naruto or One Piece but I thought it sold pretty solidly. Though said store was in a very middle class white suburb that grew up on heavy metal. Maybe some marketing in some metal mags would work for it... I just don’t want to see it go.

It's seems that few other titles from Viz have gone on a long hiatus or have stopped completely, like Oishinbo. Hopefully some new will come out of Viz. I'd rather know for sure what is going on.

Thoughts: Sometimes it's just inappropriate

Oh, Black Jack you scoundrel...uh what? I was reading volume 9 of Black Jack when I came across this panel which made me literally laugh out loud. Out of context this is pure comedy gold. “A family suicide? Exactly what I've been waiting for!” Just what every doctor has ever wanted! Did Black Jack want his family dead? Or someone else's family dead? How often do you get a full family suicide?

I'm not going to say it was translated wrong, because hey I don't know Japanese, but this just seems so...well wrong. Didn't someone translating it or editing it go “Hey maybe this isn't a good idea?” This had to pass though a few hands before print.

Even in the context of the story it is pretty fucked. Black Jack plans to show someone up by fixing a child's illness. To fix said illness child needs a full skin transplant. Conveniently after Black Jack shows up and states he will stay for how ever long it will take he gets the call. After which he fixes said child and said person is like OMG! Black Jack you so awesome! I understand in a short story sometimes a plot convenience is needed since the idea is the moral of the tale, but this is to way over the top into brokenly unrealistic. I mean at least make it seem like Black Jack had to wait a while for appropriate skin to show up. This was like fucking magic, really terrible magic...

Ack, this weekend ended up being a bit more crazy then I thought it would be. While I started work on a review for another title last week, I didn't have time to do it. It's something that I want to be awesome when done so it might be a couple weeks before it surfaces. As next weekend I will be at PAX East playing the video games, so most likely I won't be posting.

Thoughts: What a twist!

So I’ve been meaning to write in this blog forever now, here are some insane ramblings of mine.

In the many years I have been reading manga, I have had issues with CLAMP. I think the ending of Magic Knight Rayearth scared me for life. After that I just had the hate out for CLAMP and could never understand the really devoted CLAMP fans. In fact today I still can’t really understand. I personally think their art has also gone down in quality since the days of Magic Knight Rayearth, which I think would be the only big draw.

It’s been many years since, I first read Rayearth to completion. A couple of years ago Tokyopop came out with an omnibus edition of the first series which I bought. Hey, 10 bucks for 3 volumes worth of stuff, why not? Right? I did end up enjoying it a lot more then I thought I would, though I still found the ending a frustrating.

I did like a lot of things about it, it had really nice art with good screen tones. The fantasy setting was unique enough to be cool. In the structure of a Magical Girls show they did some interesting things (magic mechs lols) to give it a different feel from stuff like Sailor Moon or even Cardcaptor Sakura.

What I was not too crazy about was the total lack of any depth to any of the characters, and no character development. That isn’t really a surprise though, at three volumes, Magic Knight Rayearth is more about an action story then anything else and it does that well. So after reading Magic Knight, I felt less hate for CLAMP, though I still wasn’t really one over.

Now reading Magic Knight Rayearth II was a bit more of a painful experience. The art was still nice, but they story just seemed lost in a swamp of fantasy garbage. How a lot of things worked in this fantasy realm didn’t make sense, just how did that road thing work? Though I have found this kind of fantasy story leads to muddy and confusing elements that end up dragging the story down, such as in the title Planet Ladder. Then the twist end with our pal Mokona made me want to scream and throw the book at the wall. Which I might have, I can’t remember now. Once I calmed down though, I do have to think that this is a title written for kids and so I can kind of understand the silliness that last twist. Though, when I remember CLAMP being really big a lot of people where in their late teens and early 20’s and I have to think what were you people thinking. (Though the truth could be said for me when I recently watch some movies I had seen as a teen and went what was I thinking?).

So I thought that would be my last dealings with CLAMP ever and didn’t think much about it after that until this weekend when I was at Anime Boston. Sunday I had some time before my flight back and I didn’t have much to do so I was in the manga library and picked up Cardcaptor Sakura, since they had a good chunk of it to read.

So let me start of by saying I’m not any more of a CLAMP fan now then before I started. Now it wasn’t bad, and I don’t think it suffers from some of the same problems the second half of Magic Knight Rayearth did, but in some ways it bothers me more, especially in its second half.

Really the first half of the story is a cute magical girl story; I like how they just jump right into it without the whole origin first. I like the secondary and minor characters they are cute and for a kids story well rounded enough but not earth shattering. I think the art isn’t as nice as Magic Knight Rayearth but it’s still very nice. Though I am still blown away buy the minor sub element of the 4th grade girl engaged to her Teacher, WTF?! That is a total Gah! funny face moment. The twist at the end of the first half of the story is cute and not head pounding painful. Over all if it ended there I would rate the series better.

The second half of Cardcaptor Sakura end up being rather superfluous, they could skip over most of it and gotten to the end love part at the end of the first half and it would have been just as fine. Really the second half is the “bad” guy forcing Sakura to use her power to make the cards change and become her own. Then there is a pseudo last battle at the end which is basically another test for Sakura. Why though? It seems like it should lead into a third story arc where Sakura fight some great evil, power, ninja turtles etc. just something anything. Why test someone in a story if there is no real point to the test? I’ve tested you for testness sake! It almost seems like CLAMP got bored of working on this title and just wrapped it up so they could move on to other things.

So in the end of this long rambling entry about CLAMP, I think this is my issue with them comes down to, they have lots of great ideas but the execution always falls flat for me. Then I just get annoyed. Maybe someday I’ll have better luck but for now I’ve had my dose of CLAMP for a long while, because too much has been know to cause brain hemorrhage, and psychosis.