Scanlation Get: Pansy

I know it’s been a while, I have been busy (mostly playing Fallout: New Vegas…) but I’m going to try and get back on the wagon again. This time I bring you a title I just finished recently called Pansy by Mariko Okumura. It’s a historical fiction (though starts to drift a little into light fantasy by the end) shoujo title from the late 80s. Pansy is a feral girl, recently found in Africa, living in the wild being raised by chimpanzees. Mark Animal the young man, who found her, takes her back to his European-esque home country of Roland to study her. Pansy meets a slightly older boy than herself named Edo (who in one of the more obvious turns in the story is the prince of the country) who loves her free spirit. Upon hearing the Traumerei played memories of her past start to awaken. Quickly though events start to roll changing Pansy’s life even further. The story of Pansy quickly turns into one of high adventure and political intrigue.

At first it’s just something small as Mark’s fiancé being jealous of Pansy and having a local reporter take photos of the girl acting like a monkey. Soon she is embroiled in the affairs of the royal family as the throne is being usurped by Edo’s jealous cousin Wirald. Something is always happening to Pansy and new people are always coming in and sometimes old characters come back for a surprise. It is what really made this manga really enjoyable though was I never really knew what was going to happen next. So much crazy crap happens, but because Pansy just rolls with it all it just seems to work. She gets lost, becomes a maid, and might be from a noble family. Then when everything looks like it might work out just fine, BAM! everything she has is destroyed. Pansy ends up doing a little bit of everything and ends up in trouble a whole lot but she remains a strong lead through it all.

The writing is kind of odd, while there are story arcs and they have a somewhat normal structure the overall story isn’t so structured and it kind of rambles on into the series next event. Also while most of the story would be considered historical fiction towards the end the story introduces a country where the nobles worship Satan (at this point I gave a hardy WTF?). This apparently grants them some magic powers like staying young and seeing through a crystal ball like a security camera. It’s kind of odd but at that point so many other barmy things had happened I just kind of rolled with it. I also have to note that the scanalations of this series are from different language from the original Japanese. So, it is a translation of a translation and early on it really shows. In the first few chapters the wrong forum of various pronouns are used. Thankfully over the course of the scans the translation gets better.

The art is well done but pretty typical of 80s shoujo so looks a bit dated today. Thankfully, it’s a period piece so it isn’t as dated as some other titles of the time. The art is well drawn and a lot of the formal clothes have very nice details to them. These are drawing you can see that some care went into creating them. I’d also say the screen tone used in this title is very well done, not too much and done with care.

I got to say I enjoyed this title way more than I thought I would. I finished off all eleven volumes in just a couple of days. It was almost like playing Civilization expect instead of one more turn it was one more page just to see what crazy thing would happen next.

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.

Scanlation Get: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (YKK) by Hitoshi Ashinano is a title that embodies the line “It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.” The story takes place after some great disaster, the seas and risen, and much of the world is in decline. People just going on living like always, living a rather laid back pace of life. The main character is a robot named Alpha and she runs her owner’s seaside café. Where her owner is, no one knows.

The story mainly revolves around Alpha and her adventures but sometimes it drifts off into stories about the side characters. It is hard to describe the plot of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou because it is one of those slice of life titles that have no real strong ongoing story. It’s just the life of Alpha taking care of the café, visiting friends, and the stories of the supporting cast. A nice laid back life that seems really pleasant. As I read YKK I kept imagining what it would be like to go to Alpha’s café and enjoy a cup of tea.

If this sounds boring to you, then this title will be to you. Action is almost none existent, YKK makes Azumanga Daioh look like Crank: High Voltage. For me what really made this title overcome the slow pace is the really great atmosphere that drives it and the likable and nuanced characters. Every character was very distinct emotionally but outrageously or in your face.

I enjoyed the art in the series it, but I wasn’t in loved with it. It has a really warm quality, the backgrounds are very well drawn, and it works well in context with the story. It is just that I wouldn’t run out and get an art book for it and I LOVE art books. I think the layouts are great, though. The panels are fairly simple but the contents inside each panel is composed incredible well. Many of the panels would make a nice framed piece of art on their own.

I enjoyed this title a lot it has a very dreamy quality that is hard to quantify. If you enjoy then slice of life genre this is a must read. If you think slice of life is boring as fuck, run as far away and as fast as you can get from this.

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.

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.