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.

Scanlation Get: Crows

I have to admit this week’s title is one of those golden little guilty pleasures for me. I’ve always loved stories about delinquents, the yakuza, and such. I also love stories where people beat the living shit out of each other. Crows by Takahashi Hiroshi is an almost perfect package of delinquents and shit beating.

Suzuran is an all-boys high school that in which the student population is total made up of trashy youth who feel society has no place for them (It might sound bad but it really reminds me a lot of clique of people I hung out with in high school). The main character is a transfer student known as Bouya Harumichi is a bit of an ass, who likes to spend his days looking at nudie magazines, and tends to wear a jacket with no shirt on (oh, so classy…). He is damn good at fighting though. Which is good since 90% of this manga is fighting. The other 10% is made up of posturing and hanging out with friends. Most of the plot involves some way to get in a fight, who is the strongest student, other school moving in on different territory, and etc. The plot never gets complicated but that doesn’t matter. This is title about friendship and beating the shit out of people. Crows does this well and manages to balance a lot of the violence with light humor (even if vast amount of it is about getting diarrhea from drinking milk).

The art is a little old fashioned as the series started in the 90s but once again this is a case where I find it very charming. It is also nice to see how much better it gets by the time the next series Worst starts. Half of the art is about the faces; from the goofy to the deadly serious they are all really well done here. The other half is all about fighting; sometimes it makes me cringe just thinking how some of the impacts in the story would hurt.

Currently Crows combined with its sequel series Worst are some of my favorite titles right now. I can’t say Crows will blow your mind but if you are someone who enjoys the something more visceral this title is a true winner. I also enjoyed the fact that while over the top it tends to say far more realistic in nature then a lot of its brethren delinquent manga. If you like manga with a lot (and I mean a lot) of fighting and story about high school delinquents this is a must read.

Scanlation Get: Glass Mask

Once again it is back to the 70's with my next pick Glass Mask by Suzue Miuchi. I kind of have a love hate relationship with shoujo. I want to love it, but I find much of the shoujo titles from today boring with flat uninteresting main characters. Honestly if the character's personality is picked from the stock of “I want a boyfriend” or “I want to be a bride” I don't want to read it. In fact it makes me want to punch it in the jeans. (Now, American romcoms I'd punch right in the kidneys.) I do love a lot of shoujo from the 70s or even the 80s, where female characters have big dreams and big goals. In Glass Mask our heroine Maya ends up with big dream of being the actress who plays the role of the goddess in the famous play the Crimson Goddess but before she can ever do so she must master thousands of roles.

I am recently re-reading this. I had read quite a few volumes but I can't remember where I left off. (I only stopped reading being the scanlator at the time got a C&D letter and took everything down. I was rather sad this was my first long term scanlation I had gotten into and I really loved it.) One of things I am enjoying is just how much I remember things. Like when Maya sat out in the rain purposely to get sick to play Beth better in Little Women. There have been titles I have read and really liked them at the time but when I go back to think about them I can't remember anything. Considering, I last read Glass Mask six years ago my memory for this is surprisingly good, which I think says something for the title. I am looking forward to rereading certain parts that I enjoyed the first time.

The main character Maya is played off as average and kind of dumb. Even her mother tells her she is useless. All Maya wants to do is watch dramas and plays. She will even go to some extreme measures to get tickets to see a play. She jumps into the Yokohama bay early on for one. It takes former Crimson Goddess actress Chigusa Tsukikage to see that even Maya has talent and with training she could aspire to be the Crimson Goddess herself. Maya then goes for a ride of a life as she trains but many things go awry often no fault of her own. Her rival wants the role of Crimson Goddess herself; the rival acting school with stop at nothing to close Tsukikage's school; and the chairman at Daito Entertainment will do anything to the rights to the Crimson Goddess play.

There is romance involved in the story but there is a lot of development even before it is seen and Maya always takes acting before she does boys. She is determined to see her dream and won't stop until she gets there.

The art is very 70s but well drawn. It relies more on strong line work then screen tone which is something I really like. (I feel to many shoujo titles insert random screen tone to fill up space.) The panel layouts are nothing amazing, but are clear and strong in conveying the story. Where it suffers the most is the clothes. They were fashionable for the time now they are really out dated. Apparently, as some point the mangaka went back and re-drew the older volumes but that seems like and exercise in futility to me. Clothes almost end up out dated (though I got to say Paradise Kiss holds up surprisingly well) unless they are the most generic clothes ever. I hate when manga and anime take the generic clothes route though, it has no personality. I'd rather watch or something out dated looking and feels like it has life rather then some lifeless and generic.

Rereading this title reminded me how much I love this title. If it ever came out in English I'd buy every volume. I like reading stories about girls and women who aspire to great heights and Glass Mask certainly fills that role.

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.

Scanlation Get: My Girl

Holy crap, I don’t think I can take much more of this. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy the slice of life titles and the surprise father trope, but after several weeks of it I need a serious change of pace. This week though won’t be that change in pace. In fact this week’s title My Girl by Sahara Mizu is pretty much the bible of “by the book” on this trope. Not to say it is bad, because it’s not, but it is the least original of the bunch I have read so far.

Kazama is recently out of college, working, and living a single life. When one day news comes that his girlfriend from high school has died. At the funeral he finds that she had a daughter, which is his. Apparently, the young girl’s Mother decide to study abroad and be a single parent as not to bother Kazuma with it, who was still in high school at the time. Kazuma takes in this young girl Koharu in and takes care of her.

I can’t say much else without getting to far into minutiae. Kazuma is almost a blank slate; he is not that great at this job, he really loved Kazuma’s Mother, and he tries to take good care of this little girl. Kazuma is cute, a bit sad her Mother died, and is sweet and innocent. Personality isn't their strong suit. Events happen at a lackadaisical pace and the story has great atmosphere that draws you in when reading. The problem is afterward it didn’t leave me with really feeling anything.

Now the art is where I thought this title stands out a bit more. It really fits with the atmosphere of the story. The characters are lively and have a wispy quality to them. The panel layout are also nice.  They are loose, but are laid out in an interesting manner, and have an energetic quality to them.

Like I said, at this point I’m getting to my fill with these titles. Sadly, My Girl doesn’t tread any new ground and I think it suffers for it. So much so I can easily make comparisons to the previous titles I have covered. High school girlfriend leaves to be a single mother? Otaku no Musume-san. Young single man meets a girl he has to take care of at a funeral? Bunny Drop. I could go on. The problem being is that titles like these are going to have similarities. I just feel this one doesn't have enough personality to get beyond that fact. I still enjoyed it and thought it was good, but I was left with the feeling it was insubstantial overall.

Review: Bunny Drop

Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita is another title that uses the surprise father trope to tell an excellent story. Here we have the bachelor Daikichi whom upon going to his Grandfather's funeral he finds out he has an Aunt he never knew about. Also she is only six years old. Apparently, Grandpa had been taking care of this girl Rin but never let his family know. What is even more mysterious is that Rin's Mother never shows up to the funeral. It's up to the family to decide what to do with her, but no one wants to bother with her. In a fit of annoyance with his family Daikichi declares he will take care of her and takes Rin home.

From here we get some of what is typical of these types of stories. Daikichi must learn to take on a whole new type of responsibilities and how to care for a child. Daikichi ends up being pretty selfless and Rin is over all a very good child. The interest comes in from a few things like Daikichi's family learning to accept Rin; Rin learning to come out of her shell; and the mystery of who is her Mother. The mystery aspect really sets this series bit more apart from the others. A lot of time is spent trying to figure out why the Mother isn't in the picture, who she is, and just where is she at and what is she doing. It helps to keep this title fresh.

I would have to fault the art in this in many of the same way I did for Hotman, but for some reason it doesn't bother me as much here. The character designs I find appealing but the character are drawn fairly simplistically and some what stiffly. Some panels have some interesting background but there then there will be pages of panels with little or no backgrounds. The panel layouts are okay, they have fairly strong structure, but they feel unnoticeable. Which can be a good or a bad thing, in this case I think it works for the title. You just feel the story and are not taken in by the art.

I really liked this title a lot. While I didn't say much about it, I'd say out of the surprise father titles I have covered so far it's my favorite. It pulls you in emotionally with out doing cheap tricks to do so. Also being a fan of mystery I like the angle of the missing Mother it adds an interesting element to the story that also has emotional impact.

Final Verdict: Cherry is my favorite flavor.