01.22.10
Posted in Anime, Manga, Ongoing Investigations, Toys, Video Games Tags: A Study in Murder Part 2, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Kara no Kyōkai, Stolen Hearts, The World I Create, Yotsuba&!, ひぐらしのなく頃に, よつばと!, らっきょ, タチコマ, 小大熊大小熊, 幻燈師シリーズ ボクの創る世界, 空の境界 at 10:00 am by reversethieves
Ah, Tachikoma, how I longed to have you for my own for so long. Okay, so he is a little far from having the real deal, but I’ll take what I can get. He is die-cast metal, I was a bit worried there would be a balance issue what with that huge back end, but no problem! The articulation in his legs is good and his feet and hands are fully poseable. As you can see his crouching position is quite nice. However, his arms don’t fair as well. If I try to give him a sort of excited yatta Tachi pose, they don’t really reach high enough and tend to pop off. But overall he is a good size and detailed making him one of the best I’ve seen avaliable. He also comes with software that allows his to say phrases and light-up and move a little. Though the CD is for Japanese PC only (which of course you can get around).
I recently got a copy of Stolen Hearts by Miku Sakamoto from CMX. Shinobu Okuma is a super short girl who accidentally spills milk all over an expensive kimono that the frightening Koguma brought to school with him. He shames her into working at his grandmother’s kimono shop where she slowly sees that he’s a sensitive guy and not the wannabe Yakuza everyone thinks he is. It is a cute story. I was a bit surprised that by the end of the first chapter Shinobu and Koguma are a couple. Part of me wonders if this was supposed to just be a one shot story that was popular enough to get turned into a series. The first chapter could so easily be self-contained. The characters are solid and entertaining. Everything works really well when Shinobu and Koguma are interacting. My main problem is the story tends to lean on shojo tropes too much and whenever it does so it is at its weakest. The story really shines when its characters are doing something a little outside the mold. It’s a fun read but it is not going to win over any new fans to the genre. I did find the teen rating on the back quite curious. This manga is super chaste. Maybe it gets racier down the line but so far the most anyone does is some hand holding. The only fan service is traditional Japanese clothing service.
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01.08.10
Posted in Anime, Cartoons, Live Action, Manga, Ongoing Investigations Tags: 5 Deadly Venoms, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, so bad it's good, The Princess and the Frog, Town of Evening Calm Country of Cherry Blossoms, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, ひぐらしのなく頃に, ファイブディーズ, 夕凪の街 桜の国, 遊☆戯☆王5D's at 11:00 am by reversethieves
I had trouble putting into words how I felt about Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms. It was powerful yet quiet; whimsical yet jarring. This story involves people who lived through the atomic bombings of WWII and the generations that come after them. But instead of being about the bombings proper, it’s really about their lasting meaning and effects. These are personal anecdotes the first of which is a poignant and sad, while the second is about understanding and the future which is a nice way of contrasting them. It would almost seem patronizing to see the first story play out happily. However much these bombings bring a string of emotions to the surface, the stories are kept even by the drawing style which is charming. A beautiful and just a little thought provoking read.
I picked up Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms entirely on a whim while entering a raffle for a trip to Japan at Kinokuniya. This is definitely a prestige release that will win awards and praise from critics but will be avoid by mainstream readers. The manga is about two interconnected stories about how two generations deal with the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A powerful story that deals not only with how the Japanese people had to rebuild but the stigma of the bombing as well. The first story is very melancholy while the second story is lighter but does not break the mood. Both stories go quickly. It only took me about half my train ride to finish the whole book. It was a solid mature story that looks at an important but ugly time in modern history without being preachy or depressing. This is first and foremost the story of the charters whose lives are touched by the bombing more than the bombing itself. But this is the best way to talk about such events. The art is very light and vibrant which helps keep the story refreshing despite the weighty material. A great read for anyone who wants something with a deeper message than your average manga.
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12.04.09
Posted in Anime, Fandom, Music, Ongoing Investigations, Video Games Tags: Ani-Gamers, Boom Boom Satellites, Detective Conan, Donkey Kong Country, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Lupin III, Podcast, Pokemon, ひぐらしのなく頃に, ブンブンサテライツ, ポケモン, ルパン三世 vs 名探偵コナン at 11:10 am by reversethieves
Last Saturday morning I resurrected an old tradition, completely by accident, I started the day by watching some Pokemon. Though it wasn’t a brand new TV episode but rather the latest movie, Arceus and the Jewel of Life. The movie starts with a mini-montage to help if you aren’t familiar with the concept then it delves straight into legendary dragon Pokemon and the fate of the human race. A new, and very angry, Pokemon named Arceus appears looking for the Jewel of Life that was wrongfully kept from him hundreds of years prior. This sets off a chain of events as Ash and company are sent back in time to see just what had occurred and how to make things right. Thanks to this we get to see a very different and ancient world where Pokemon were more like slaves or servants than partners to humans. While the situation sounds dire, it isn’t always apparent in the film just how powerful Arceus actually is, it isn’t even very clear that he is supposed to be the creator of the universe. There are also little in the way of battles going on. However, there are all the other things one has come to expect, a share of cute moments, kid-friendly (but obvious) plot twists, and a climatic scene where Ash and Pikachu just scrape by. So while it was nothing spectacular it was still an entertaining jaunt!
I went to the Boom Boom Satellites show at the Santos Party House. It was a free show and I was interested in them after they did two different openings for Xam’d. There were two bands before them. The first was ultimately forgettable except for the fact that the bassist had the most inappropriate Tom Selleck mustache. The second guy seemed to be trying to accidentally invent hip hop except for the fact that will all know that Councilman 8 already did that. The show itself was about 4 songs with an encore which was a good sized set for a multi-band show. They did not play any of their anime songs as far as I could tell but it was not that sort of show. They have a heavy aggressive beat with heavy drums and Masayuki Nakano was playing with electron devices for music almost as much as he was playing the base. Their lyrics can be sort of repetitive but overall there songs were high energy, catchy, and enjoyable. Apparently my roommate and several other people were at the show but I never ran into anyone else.
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11.16.09
Posted in Fandom Tags: After War Gundam X, Blade of the Immortal, Ekkusu, fans on fans, Galaxy Angel, Gundam 00, Hayate the Combat Butler, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Maison Ikkoku, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Ouran High School Host Club, preferences, Saber, Tenchi Muyo, Turn A Gundam, X/1999, ∀ガンダム, ひぐらしのなく頃に, めぞん一刻, エックス, ギャラクシーエンジェル, セイバー, ハヤテのごとく!, 天地無用!, 桜蘭高校ホスト部, 機動戦士ガンダム00, 機動新世紀ガンダムX, 無責任艦長タイラー, 無限の住人 at 8:50 pm by reversethieves
Apparently I am easier to read than a picture book. It seems that people are rather easily able to tell which characters I like from series that I watch. This revelation led Narutaki and I to have a long conversation not only about what types of characters we liked but what did it say about us as people. Do your favorite characters give you and others insight into who you are? Do they reflect any pattern in the types of friends you make or people you date? Do they say anything about how you view yourself or others? Narutaki and I are going to share three different charters that exemplify types of characters we enjoy and one oddball character that does not fit our standard categories. We then have a little challenge for all of our readers.
A good deal of us put a lot of love into the characters that we like and there is no denying that sometimes it can go over the top. But that is neither here nor there in this case. There are grand ideas abound! Specifically, I am constantly wondering just how much the characters people like actually say about them. And I move in wide circles from thinking it is the window to someone’s soul to convincing myself it means absolutely nothing, and then back again. It would be egregious not to mention that I am thinking about the personalities of characters rather than looks. Frankly, looks tell me nothing about anyone, sure I may be able to pick out another character they enjoy on the surface but it doesn’t delve very deep. Now who a character is, there there might just be something to be learned about someone. To further matters along in a fun way, we will be giving you a glimpse at some of the characters that are near and dear to us. Happy analyzing!
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