The perils of Halloween cosplay

What we have learned :  When you dress up as Emma but don't quite have your costume together and don't want to wear the wussy, lacy apron you managed to find for $.50 and are also not wearing the sachet you found for $.25 that, when flipped upside down, kind of looks like a sad shadow of a hair cap and are thus wearing a plain, black, extremely simple Victorian dress, people will think you are dressed as a witch even though you are so, so not.

A couple of my co-workers thought I was Jane Eyre because my hair was shellacked to keep its normal flyawayness in check, and I was okay with that since we had to dress up as a character from a book, but I put my formally-booted foot down after a scruffy man and his scruffy teenage son leered at me, snickered, and called me a witch. After I saw them leave, on went the lace apron and the cap that didn't quite match. And no one could think naughty maid thoughts because I was literally covered from neck to wrists to floor.

Halloween cosplay

At work, we're having a Halloween party for area kids, and we were asked to dress up as a character from a book.  Being the huge, poor nerd that I am, I--with the help of a local university's theater department--am almost dressing up as Emma.   (see Emma: Volume 1) 

I guess if I ever really do properly cosplay her, I'll need to find someone to make a nice, sturdy apron, a collar, cuffs, and a cap.  And I'll need to find some glasses.  And a hair-stylist.  Other than that . . .  I'm going to say I'm Emma on her day off.


Have you ever cosplayed for Halloween?  What reactions did you get?

Tokyo Vice

And now for something completely different! Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

If you're interested in Japan in general, you might want to check out Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein.  He's an American journalist who spent years in Japan on the crime beat.  Needless to say, this is kind of rare. 

Any nonfiction book that starts out with the yakuza threatening the author's life is bound to be dark and probably compelling.  Knowing that the author survives gives the book its own kind of tension.  Does he pursue the story?  How does he not get killed?  What led him there?  What led him to later combat human trafficking? 

I've been interested in the topic of the justice system and the Japanese underworld pretty much since I read my first manga touching on it maybe six years ago.  I must say that I am intrigued by the lens Adelstein provides the opportunity to look through in this case, and I'm looking forward to seeing what insights I gain through the course of the book.  I may check back in after I've read it.


Do you know of any good nonfiction books about aspects of Japanese culture?  Do recommend.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: here comes the cute

If you like a good magical girl show, you might want to try Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.  (You should hurry before it falls off the face of the earth like other Geneon titles!)

IMPRESSIONS

Nanoha is a third grader.  There's a ridiculously long transformation scene with the longest amount of transformation nudity I have ever seen (you should probably not watch this with your non-anime-fan grandma or your kids).  The ferret bit is hilarious, especially when Nanoha realizes that not only was the talking ferret a boy but, you know, a boy about her age who's just borrowing the ferret's form, and now his discomfort with the hot springs incident makes more sense . . .  The English dub is . . . um, watch the Japanese with English subtitles if you can.  I suspect that there's more to Nanoha's family than it seems, but I may be getting a bit wild with my speculations.  There's magic and science and a somewhat sympathetic antagonist, and it's just pretty darn cute (except when the antagonist's mother is abusing her).

Did you like Cardcaptor Sakura?  Or Magical Do-Re-Mi?  Give this one a try!  Even if you hate it, it's only three discs long!  I think.  (I just finished disc 2.)


Have you seen this show or any of its sequels?  What did you think of it?  Any of the other magical girl titles?  Do you have others to suggest?

Music, anime, and you

Have you ever gotten into a musician because of an anime?  Maybe it was a theme song or an entire soundtrack, but because you heard it in an anime, you actually went out and tracked this person's music down. 

I almost did that with "Paranoid Android" after hearing it in Ergo Proxy, but that was mostly because I really wanted to find out what the lyrics were since I was pretty sure "unborn chicken voices" were not among them, but I decided to let it remain a mystery.

A lot of us have been introduced to people like Kenji Kawai, Yuki Kajiura, Yoko Kanno, and Ko Otani through anime, but some of us have also stumbled on other, more obscure treasures.

I am about to say something akin to heresy.  I got into Bowling for Soup after hearing their theme song on the TV version of a certain anime.  If you know which one I'm talking about, you are amazing and should admit it, so that I may admire you.  Anyway, there was so ridiculously much energy in that song that I had to find it, and I loved the CD it was on. 

In case you're wondering where this is coming from, I'm cleaning my apartment and listening to music, and one of their songs came up, prompting me to listen to the whole album again.  If you're not familiar with them, Bowling for Soup is a gleefully offensive and sophomoric punk-y band.  I find it easiest to describe them as a cruder, more vulgar Relient K.  They make me laugh with well-timed inappropriate comments, and there's something great about certain immature lyrics in four part, layered harmony . . .

So, what composers, groups, or singers have you found through anime?

The value of a good opening theme song

Have you ever seen an anime where the intro song is so perfect that it captures the tone and content of the anime itself and is enjoyable no matter how many times you hear it?  Which ones stick with you even now?

The sweetness of Strawberry Marshmallow

Strawberry Marshmallow is just too darn cute.  It is also one of the few manga that references non-Euclidean geometry.  I wonder if their example is meant to really be a mathematically accurate example.  (I doubt it, but I don't care.)

Nobue, the 16-year-old older sister has that Calvin's-dad-in-Calvin&Hobbes' desire to mess with easy targets, which her younger sister Chika and Chika's friends frequently provide.  Her relationship with the next door neighbor is brutal and funny. 

We've probably all encountered someone like Miu: she's that person who acts on her impulses and just does random, weird, sometimes terrible things for the heck of it, and you almost always find yourself wondering what is going on in her head.

Having finally read all of the manga, I think I shall say that I probably like the anime a little better because it was able to summarize and show more succinctly how the girls interact.  It was created after the creator had done all his trial and error, so it could use the best material to the best effect.  Or maybe I just love the scenes of Miu biting the dust in one way or another after doing something stupid (they're more concentrated in the anime, I think).  Either way, goofy and random cute fun had by all.


Have you seen and read Strawberry Marshmallow?  Do you have a preference?  What do you like about it?

Waiting for Tokyopop

Why do I do this to myself? 

I finally read the first volume of the light novel series The Good Witch of the West.  It was good, which is why I'm once again annoyed at Tokyopop (the English language publisher, in theory) for just leaving everybody hanging.  Are they scrapping it (like the excellent Kino's Journey and the interesting Scrapped Princess)?  Is it just on hold until the economy gets less shaky?  Does anyone even know at Tokyopop since they aren't even responding on their own forum or informing their marketing people/sales reps?

I should know better than to start a Tokyopop series since the ones they do finish publishing are often so-so, and the great ones just disappear.  Like many other manga readers who have been with Tokyopop since before they started the 100% authentic manga revolution, I'm trying not to lose all faith in them, but they are making it increasingly hard for fans to care about them because they don't appear to care about their readers, (you know, the ones paying their salaries and stuff).

Thank you for your continued release of 12 Kingdoms, but there's so much more you could be doing.  Be great again, Tokyopop!  Please!

Where's My Manga? Mattress Edition

There are shonen manga about playing board games, baking bread, playing soccer, and even joining boy bands.  What more could there be to write about?  Here's one idea . . .

When Brad was a young boy, his father, a celebrated mattress maker, was killed right before his eyes in a sudden, tragic, mattress-related accident.  Life was hard after that, but Brad always knew he wanted to make his father proud by being the best mattress-maker the world had ever known.  He studied physics and engineering, raided the local dump for study materials and mattresses, and also worked part time jobs to help pay his family's bills.  Join Brad in his quest to make the Divine Mattress and honor his father's memory while carrying on his legacy.


Any suggestions for a title?  Any plot or character suggestions?

Dazzle - What is it about this manga that I like?

I am trying to figure out once again what I find so compelling about Dazzle.  Seriously.  It definitely strained the limits of my 3 volume test, but even though I wasn't crazy about the first few volumes, I ended up hooked somehow. 

I mean, there's so much not to like.  The character designs are sometimes ugly and inconsistent, perspective and formal art stuff is often notably absent.  It feels like it's full of cliches and like I should hold that against it, but in the end, I think it just moves too fast for me to get a grasp on what I shouldn't like.

I mean, half the time, the plot and action going on don't make sense.  It can be senselessly violent.  The characters seem shallow but constructed to seem deeper, the sort of clunky contrivance that usually makes me grind my teeth. 

But they are deeper.  They have so many layers, onions weep, but the revelations are just sort of flung out there in the middle of the action or during the bipolar lows.  And then we don't have time to process because we're fighting again (verbal sparring or to-the-death combat). 

It's a huge mess, and every volume makes you change gears multiple times.  There's so many mysteries for the sake of being mysterious that I should hate it, but I don't.

Maybe I like that they're playing for keeps.  This is not a kiddie manga (or if it is, well, that's scary).  People die, sometimes pretty horribly, and they don't come back.  It may be a fantasy world, but dead is dead (increasingly important as the story goes on).

Now that I think about it, Dazzle sometimes reminds me a bit of Gundam Wing, especially the way they mix the action with the sci-fi with the random philosophizing about the nature of war, humanity, and other important things while people are being slaughtered and violence is being extremely present.

I love the banter.  A good crabby exchange of dialogue can cover a multitude of sins.  It's got that snarky, cranky vibe Saiyuki managed to capture, where the road trippers love irritating each other sometimes even more than fighting.

Dazzle may be filled with absurdities, but if you sit back and enjoy the ride and don't think about how impossible it all is, you may just find yourself getting some hard thinking done when all you thought you were doing was watching the show.  Keep those tissues handy for later volumes; this is not a nice world to live in.

To top it all off, now that I'm really addicted, Tokyopop may not be publishing it anymore. 

Until I hear of its final fate, I will content myself by pointing out that it was getting all melodramatic when it stopped, and I will ignore the fact that I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT REALLY BAD!!!!!  I am an adult, and I am patient. 

Also, I'm easily distracted, so you don't have to worry about my blood pressure.

Hey, what's that over there?  It's shiny . . .


Are there any shows/series you like that sort of defy your own logic?  Stories that you should despise for bad execution or whatever, but you just can't look away?

Dragon Ball, public morality, and a graphic novel about Bertrand Russell

This article is just pretty darned funny. Read it out loud for increased humor value.  It also raises some serious issues about graphic novels, schools, the importance of informed librarians, parental involvement, censorship, and all sorts of other issues it's always important to discuss.

It's #1 of the Paperback Graphic Novels.  "LOGICOMIX - AN EPIC SEARCH FOR TRUTH, by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. (Bloomsbury USA, $22.95.) The life of the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell, and his passion for mathematics, is recounted in this graphic novel."

Geneon suggestions

Drat! Geneon titles are falling off Netflix faster than I can watch them with my limited time and even more limited funding! Do you have any must-see suggestions from the Geneon catalog for me, so I can bump them up the queue? Do share!

The great fun of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Some characters are entertaining to watch, but they would drive you bonkers if you had to spend any time with them.  Haruhi Suzumiya is one of them.  I got a kick out of the anime, but I really enjoyed The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (the original book).  It was a lot of fun, mostly because Kyon is an entertaining  narrator, and here he really gets center stage.  His irritation and general discombobulation as Haruhi jerks him (and everyone else) around is a hoot. 

"The uncontrollably sobbing girl, the unresponsive bookworm, and the bewildered, castrated bastard (me) spent the following period of time silently in the club room with a record-setting strained atmosphere. In the distance I could clearly hear the lousy horns of the brass band and indiscernible yelling of the baseball team."

He's self-aware enough to toss off these great mental one-liners, and he's frustrated and curious enough to let things happen.  All in all, he makes this book. There's just something glorious about the difference between what he thinks and observes and what he actually responds to and says about the Haruhi-induced madness going on around him.

"Don't call me pathetic.  I am just an ordinary male high school student."

Thank goodness that's not true.  (For a great longer review, be sure to check out Martin's.)  Kudos to Yen Press for bringing this over and translating it so well.


Have you seen and read Haruhi?  What are your thoughts?  Any characters you liked better in one medium than the other?

flare-up

I hope not to have to post this too much, but I've been having trouble with my tendonitis and an illness affecting my voice at the same time.  This renders me unable to type or write & dictate my posts.  That explains the absence of posts, I hope.  I'm working on it and hope to have more posts ready ahead of time for whenever it happens again.

Apologies.

Loving Skip Beat! and learning patience (eventually)

I admit it: I still love Skip Beat!  Volume 19 just came out.  I love the silly stuff, the scary stuff, and the earnest, dramatic stuff, too.  All the characters are so damaged to start out with, and their interactions are often so hilarious that I have to laugh out loud or talk back.  The art may be poor sometimes, but I don't care!  The story is fun and funny, and I want volume 20 now.  Sigh. 

If anything teaches me patience, it will be manga.


What long series is teaching you patience (or has taught you patience and rewarded you in the end)?

Gad Guard: For me, it's all about the music

In all the recent reviews I've read about Gad Guard's re-release, not one has even mentioned the thing I liked best about it.  This series made me want to listen to jazz music 24 hours a day.  It made me want to go to the library and check out every jazz CD they had.  I may not have paid much attention to the parts of the show that were repetetive and dragged on, but even if I was cleaning the bathroom or washing dishes while it played, I loved every minute of the music. 

If only the show had been as awesome as the soundtrack!  I did like the art design, too.  To be fair, I don't seem to think the show was quite as abysmal as other reviewers, but it's been a couple of years since I saw it, so nothing's fresh in my mind except that music.  Where's my John Coltrane CD?


What anime series can you recommend for one aspect of the production that grabbed you (whether music or backgrounds or animation or character design or whatever else) enough to make you not mind the parts that were sub-par?

More on Geass

I think one of the reasons Code Geass season one was so painful to watch had to do with writing/plotting.  So many times things would line up, and you would be able to see how things might possibly work out so that those concerned could go on with their lives and maybe not die or be totally miserable, and then every single time something unexpected would happen, and you'd have to watch your dreams of a happy ending get vaporized again.  And again.  And again.  It's brutal.  And kind of like real life sometimes (only about a million times more exaggerated).

Bring on season two.