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.

Review: A Drifting Life

So this week is a review of the title is A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Let me start off by saying, this is a the first title in a while that I enjoyed a whole lot. This manga is an abundance of elements rolled up in one. First and foremost it's a biography of Tatsumi's life, which I feel he really managed to capture different moments in life. I really felt what he was feeling at different points in the story. I felt very drawn into manga, I felt like I could see everything going one before me. An example of this is when he is at Kyoto University to take the entrance exam. He starts to take the exam but the weight of all the numerous things going on in his life at the time drive him to run out in the middle as a whirlwind of emotion overcomes him. I felt almost dizzy during it, I was so drawn into the story. I can't say much about the title as a biography, I really haven't read that many. If they are all this engrossing though, maybe I should read more of them.

Next it is also a view of post war Japan in daily life and pop culture. It really gives a feel for Tastsumi's daily life growing up with his family and going to school. The title as presents the good and the bad of his family in a balanced manner. Sure his Father did some rather idiot things, he isn't painted in a stereotypical bad Father light. (I also learned from this title that during the early post where period Japan used vehicles powered by coal...Sakura Wars makes so much more sense now!) The story also often takes short breaks where Tatsumi will interject with what is going on in pop culture at the time. These make great reference points to the time of the story and to give a general feeling of the world at the time.

On another level it's also a history of not just Gekiga (what Tatsumi is known for) but of manga in general. We see him and his brother doing short four panel strips, admiring early Tezuka, and discussing what manga is. And trust me all of the different people he meets along the way have a different meaning of manga in their hearts. I also got the feeling for just how much western works influenced manga (here's a secret...a whole fucking lot). Tatsumi goes to the movies often and works to incorporate the style of narrative from his favorite films into his work. There is also a great point in the tale where we learn how much on of the first hard boiled novels really influenced Gekiga and manga in general.

The art is a pretty unique style, on one hand it's undeniably manga and Japanese but on the other hand it's not like any art style we see today. It does hearken back to a different time of manga, a time I've only really ever dipped my toes into really. The art is rather expressive and well done and I do think it does a great job of helping immerse one into Tatsumi's world. The problem being is that it doesn't look like today's manga and that will most likely be a turn off for every but the super serious manga fan, or the alternative comics fan.

That being said this is a title that is really worth checking out if you are a anime/manga fan just for the rich history it goes into. With the parts that talked about Osamu Tezuka, really gives life and understanding to the knowledge of just how important he was. That being said this title is really about Gekiga which is another cornerstone that has influenced anime/manga. Without Gekiga perhaps much of the anime/manga anyone who grew up in the 90's loved wouldn't have existed.

A biography is at it's in essence a slice of life story and this was one I felt really engrossed in. It really gave off the feeling something important is happening around these people but even they are a bit oblivious to it. I wanted to meet these people he worked in and live in this world though, there was just some much energy. A sensation that they were on to something. This title is a must of any serious fan of manga, it's also worthing looking at for the personal look of post WWII Japan.

Final Verdict: If history class was this awesome...I would have learned more.

Scanlation Get: Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou

Another quick one this week as March Madness holds a complete different but appropriate meaning for me. I'll do my best to continue to update weekly but things are a bit more hectic then I was planning them to be originally.

This week is another smut title. I want to say it's more tasteful then Akuma na Eros but it might not be for completely different reasons. The title is Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou plus its two sequel series Zoku - Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou and Kindan no Koi de Ikou by Tomu Ohmi (Midnight Secretary). Our leading lady Hisako is a fairly stereotypical character. She pretty much is the prototypal shy, demure, and fairly dependent on others type. There are a few elements of her that break the mold, she is an adult women in her late 20's (where often these titles are still about high school girls), she had a real hobby (jewelry crafting), and she isn't and office lady (she works in an antiques shop). While not very forceful she can be very firm with the rules and about lines not being crossed. What really makes this title different is the supernatural aspect of it, her boyfriend.

Hisako's boyfriend is Yato a wolfwere?! Yes, a wolfwere he is a wolf who turns into a man under the magical power of the moon and who has lived for over 300 years. He is fairly typical character for this type of role. Though he is a lot nicer then most male leads in smut manga though. In fact he seems a lot more like 'real' dude then a lot of the uber creeps some of the girls fall for in these titles. Though this is where some of the most questionable content comes in. Most of his time is spent in wolf form and when the moon starts to become full he can turn into a man. So the question of bestiality does come up in the manga often enough. Fortunately and thankfully, it never goes there.

Since they are a couple who already live together, most of the series conflict comes from outside sources. Many of the stories are about other men who want Hisako, her over protective brother, a wealthy man who wants Yato in his collection, or ghosts from Yato's past. It's a nice change of pace in this genre where all the conflict is about getting the couple together. Most of the chapters are self-contained stories but some do go on for a few chapters but there isn't a whole lot of continuity to remember. What is also interesting is that her hobby and place of work is often worked into the stories almost giving them a slice of life feel but are mixed in with stories of the supernatural. I really like the mash up of the various elements and they work together well.

The art is very shoujo, but for me on the better end. Screen tones are used much better then I would say in a lot of shoujo titles. There are still a lot of backgrounds of flowers that plague so many of these titles. The panels are loose in a more typical shoujo fashion but have good flow. The drawing in this series is fine. Though I don't think anyone would have Tomu Ohmi as there favorite artist.

Over all this is a fun fluff series. Best read a chapter or two at a time. The main characters are likable enough and I really enjoy their relationship. As a smut series it's pretty mild. There is some sex, and if I remember correctly all of it is consensual, which is a huge rarity in the genre. If you have ever been curious about these genre but didn't want rape and dickertry this is a good place to start.

Scanlation Get: Tantei Gakuen Q

Okay, I am all moved, though I still have a ton of boxes to unpack.  Which like 90% of them are manga.  I was hoping in the new place I'd be able to fit in more book shelves. I under estimated just how much furniture I have though (also baseboard heating is a cock blocker).  Doh!  Anyone need a microwave cart?  Maybe I can fit a bookshelf in the pantry...

This week's title is in one of my favorite genres, mystery.  It is something I didn't realize I liked so much until a few years ago when I watched the Agatha Christie anime. I was then like hot damn, now that I think about it I really like mystery.  When it comes to mystery and manga/anime it tends to be a lot of teen boys, closed room, and being trapped on islands.  There is a lot of precedents for this, Yoshihiro Tatsumi (A Drifting Life) was doing a lot of mystery one-shots,  in the 1950's, of this type before getting gekiga rolling.  It can get a bit old but in short bursts I find this style of mystery wonderfully enjoyable. I could wax on more about Japan and mystery manga (I ran a mystery manga panel at Otakon and Anime Boston one year...) but I'll stop and talk about this week's title.

Which is Tantei Gakuen Q (Detective Academy Q) by Seimaru Amagi and Fumiya Satou.  It is one of these formulaic mystery manga like Detective Conan or Kindaichi Case Files.  Though it has a bit of a twist, it's about a group of students going to detective school.  Not just any group but the top class at Dan Detective School known as class Q.  It is kind of like Scooby-doo without the dog and every one has even more of shtick.  Lets's see... super computer geek?  Check! A guy who is a martial artist and has good intuition? Check! The mysterious guy who is up to something? Check!  A cute girl with a photographic memory? Check! And a main character who is just good at everything but seems like a total dope?  Oh so check!  They never really are more then the shtick but they still comprise a fun group of characters and their strengths and weaknesses are played into the plot pretty well.  It being more about a group of people rather then a single person helps to mix it up a bit and helps build a story where a bunch of different tactics are used to solve a case. The school angle is also played in with a rivalry with another class and working to keep their spots in class Q.  It is a nice added element that helps break of the monotony that some of these titles fall into.

Titles like Conan, Kindaichi, even Murder She Wrote fall into an annoying mystery trap them selves. Who would want to meet these people?  Wherever they show up people die!  Poor Jessica Fletcher imagine all the death she must have seen her lifetime!  With Tantei Gakuen Q being a detective class it gives them a legit reason to investigate a murder, often there isn't even a murder!  Amazing!  It might just be a set up for a class test or they might just be studying a closed room crime or such.  They manage to mix up the different story arcs pretty well, which helps to keep it fresh.

The art is very anime esque, strong lines, and not to much screen tone.  It's a pleasant enough style but I don't think it will wow anyone but it is surly more well drawn then a lot of stuff out there.  Interestingly the artist Fumiya Satou is the same artist for  Kindaichi Case Files.  If you have read Kindaichi it looks almost the hundred percent the same. (Those would be two titles that would make for a good cross over).

This isn't a title that will win over new converts to the mystery genre but if you already like Kindaichi, Conan, or even  Agatha Christie it's worth a look at.  Two interesting tidbits:  The first is when my friend was living in Japan a few years ago he said the anime adaptation of this was airing and that it was huge.  It was everywhere and the middle school kids he was teaching were talking about it all the time.  The second is that apparently Seimaru Amagi  is the pen name of Yuya Aoki who wrote Get Backers.  Uh, WTF?!...Brainsplosion!

Scanlation Get: Animal X - Aragami no Ichizoku

This week is a title I just discovered not to long ago myself, a title from 1990, called Animal X by Ami Sugimoto.  This series has three parts, the first part subtitled 'Aragami no Ichizoku'.  This part is four volumes long and is what I will be covering today.

When we first meet our main character Yuuji is pretty effeminate and pretty much a living doormat.  He's engaged to get married to a his childhood friend.  She has always been the one to take care of him, since he was to wimpy to do anything himself.  Of course he couldn't even ask her to marry him, it's an arranged marriage that they are both fine with.  He works in a science lab where he has been pressured into some strange experiments.  On top of all this some strange teen shows up in his room and wants to mate with him!

This kid is Minato who is not only on the run, he isn't even human.  He is from some dying race of beings known as the Dinosauroid.  He thinks Yuuji is not only of them but a  female one to boot (he can smell it. WTF?).  Head strong and brash he is on the run because he killed some yakuza while visiting the city to see where humans live.  He is also a major dick to Yuuji in the early parts of the manga (luckily this doesn't last to long). 

From here Minato kidnaps Yuuji to take him back to his people to mate with him.  A fate Yuuji is not very happy about but being a doormat he can't seem to stop it.  This doesn't last for long though as the two of them end up on the run as a huge conspiracy of events unfolds around them.  Scientists are after Yuuji and both the yakuza and another clan of dinosauroids are after Minato.  Much of the four volumes are them on the run.  Which is pretty exciting as these types of stories manage to keep tension pretty high though out.

What is interesting is as the story progresses so do our characters.  Yuuji starts to be less of a doormat and much more of a fighting participant in his destiny. Minato matures a lot and starts to be much less of a dick.  They form a fairly believable relationship while on the run.

I was also shocked as this was one of the only manga I have ever read where someone was raped and they are really upset about it.  I'm not joking, this isn't that common.  Most of the time characters just brush it off or even fall in love with the rapist!  (Really, Japan WTF?!)  So, I have to give Animal X points for that, it also ends up being rather important for the plot later.

The best comparison I can come up for this title is Banana Fish.  It is far more sci-fi but they both are pretty hard-boiled shoujo tales.  Both have mostly male casts, and where the main characters are run for a good portion of the story.   Also, the uh... gayness.  (Apparently a really bad ass shoujo title can't be shoujo unless there is an inordinate amount of gayness.)  If you are a dude and read Banana Fish because it is awesome, (that makes you awesome also) then this title really is no worse.

The art in this is also very nice.  It's still a bit 90's but it still holds up very well do to the fact it is very detailed and well crafted.  The art doesn't really look like typical shoujo.   The panels are very solid and well formed.  The characters are detailed and don't fall into the typical bishonen style.  Also the screen tone use is very well done, something I find lacking in a lot of shoujo titles.  The art style really seems like something that would run in the seinen anthology magazine Ikki then in Asuka CL DX.

Hmm, I think that is one of my final thoughts on this title.  If you like the stuff running in Ikki, good chance you would like Animal X also.  It is a well written alternative style manga that is not pretentious.  As I also stated before it holds a lot of similarities to Banana Fish. It is well worth checking out if you liked Banana Fish.

*Note: Most likely I won't be posting anything next week, as I am moving to another state this weekend.  Weeee!

Scanlation Get: Historie

I'm in the process of moving for a job in another state so a lot of my time is being taken up by that right now.  I will still try to update weekly but I think there will only be Scanlation Get! for a few weeks.

This week I am keeping up the theme of “Serious Historical Fiction” with Historie.  A title by Hitoshi Iwaaki who is best known for for the sci-fi manga Parasyte.  This time we delve even further in the past in to ancient Greece with the life of Eumenes.  This is a man who served in many functions in his life including being secretary to a king, a general, and a scholar. Historie is told from the point of view of Eumenes who is a bright and very smart youth (something he puts to good use).  He is also friendly and kind, often willing to help those in need.  Early in the story his life takes several twists and turns from having a strong and wealthy family, to being a slave, and then meeting Philip II of Macedon which again causes his life to change drastically.  We also meet other famous historical characters such as Aristotle and a young Alexander (as in The Great) as Eumenes interacts with them. 

A lot of the drama created in the series is based on besting the opponents intelligence.   Eumenes often gets out of trouble by being smart and avoiding a fight.  Another source of drama is with the many different cultures interacting with each other and how their cultural mores cause conflict with each other. So once again, this series can be kind of dry for those who are not into that type of story, but for those who are it's great. (I find cultural sociology highly entertaining in and of it's self, so I eat this stuff up).

The art in Historie is an interesting topic onto it's self.  The characters have decent designs that are functional but nothing that will wow anyone. If you have seen Iwaaki's other work Parasyte the characters look pretty much the same just in period appropriate clothing.  What really steps up the art in the series is the amount of detail in it.  A lot of manga titles use screen tones which include pre-made backgrounds like generic modern cityscapes.  For a titles like Historie, or Cesare they are no pre-made backgrounds all of these have to be drawn in (which I give some serious cred to the mangaka for, because this type of stuff is time consuming).  There are many location framing panels or panels with hundreds of soldiers drawn in painstaking detail.  Though for Historie this is where things get kind of bizarre.  If you are reading it the from the anthology magazine it runs in often a chapters will not be properly inked in.  Everything is basically there, it just looks rough.  In the collected volumes  Iwaaki goes back and finishes all of the art and the difference is huge.  The amount of detail in some of the location panels is bewildering.  Every little building in a classical city will be drawn in and with some detail.  Over all I enjoy the art but it will definitely turn off some.  Also it may be worth waiting for the scans of the collected volume to read.

Once again this isn't a title for everyone but for those who like historical or serious stories it is a very good read.  Also if you like Iwaaki's other work Parasyte, I highly suggest reading this.  Both of very different but both handle a lot of interesting moral themes very well.

Scanlation Get: Cesare

The new Scanlation Get! is Cesare, which is a title that aptly calls its self “Serious Historical Fiction”. (This title is serious business!) Mangaka Fuyumi Souryo (Eternal Sabbath) did research with a Dante scholar to bring the life of Cesare Borgia to the manga page.

The story is from the view of the character Angelo da Canossa who has recently arrived at a cloistered school for the children of nobles, or the rich and powerful. Smart, but naive in the world of political intrigue Angelo is left at a disadvantage when the different students associations begin to play for power within the school. Through a series of events Angelo is saved by Cesare. Angelo is immediately captivated by him. Cesare is charismatic, smart, and outwardly kind. Though he lives in a harsh world of hidden darkness where even the smallest slight can cause immense political danger. Cesare has keen political sense he wields with surgical precision in all this darkness. It is through Angelo we learn more about Cesare, allowing us to see both the light and darkness of this character. There is a lot of maneuvering, and manipulation of power with the various associations within the school.  This leads to a lot of political intrigue in the title.

The art in this is marvelous, there is a huge attention to detail in every page. The clothing is period appropriate which means lots of ruffles and darting, all of which is drawn in detail. Each association has very distinct clothing also, which is very helpful in a title with a number of characters and sides to take. Cesare features many framing panels, to help define the setting, which are drawn in such detail it is astounding. Every character has a simple but unique face, and the detail in some of the hair is just insane. Over all an outstandingly well drawn title.

Ceasare reminds me a lot of Rose of Versailles (only more male) which had a similar story telling device with Oscar and Marie Antoinette. What makes Rose of Versailles and Cesare interesting was the wheeling and dealings of the nobles at court (or in the case of Cesare the students at the school). I will admit Cesare maybe to dry for a lot of people as most of the “action” is in fact political maneuvering and intrigue which leads to people talking...a lot. The “action” is in the “words” (Shakes fist). Though for anyone that likes “Serious Historical Fiction” I would highly recommend it.