What I watched in January 2012: Digest Version

b Blood +: Part Two:   I thought I hadn't seen most of the second half, but apparently, I was only missing the last few episodes.  I still really like this show.  Good dub, good characters, interesting psychology, great music, solid, heartbreaking ending: what more could I ask for?

b Legend of Black Heaven: A thirty-something protagonist who used to be an almost-famous rock star.  Rocky relationships with his wife and son, a job he hates.  Life it kind of crappy.  Until the aliens come and tell him that only his guitar playing can save the planet.  (I am not making this up.)  The dub is great fun (with Beau Billingsly [you may be familiar with his portrayal of Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop] as the lead), and this show deserves an award for showing the best bedhead ever displayed in anime.  "Rock and Roll is going to save the Earth!"  Rock on, man.  It's totally ridiculous, and I love it.

b xxxHolic: Hmmm.  I wondered how they were going to do this adaptation.  In the end, they took some of the tamer stuff and put together a serviceable series not lacking all the manga's bite (but most of it, especially the long-running plot threads that tied in to long-term payoffs and developments beyond the scope the anime).  They knew this one wasn't ever going to get to do the whole series, so they took out most of the long-term plot connection elements without making too many dumb mistakes.  It's fairly gorgeous.  Some of the voice acting in English grated on me, but, well, it's not their fault Watanuki is such a spaz.  His is a hard role to play.  : )  Overall, worth watching.

Some quotes of awesome from March 2012

Jason Thompson on Hellsing:  "Nazi fetish or not, Hellsing is demented but completely sincere and original."

Connie on The Heartbroken Choclatier: "Aside from the porn-like chocolate descriptions . . ."

Mr. Empty on not simple: "If I were in his shoes, I think I'd be a bit more sullen and have some outbursts of murder."

David Brothers on Twin Spica: "Twin Spica is like falling down a wikipedia hole, only instead of dry information, you’re diving into someone else’s emotions. You can feel the love when you read these books, and that’s an incredibly good feeling."  "Twin Spica is at times melancholy, funny, serious, and goofy. Yaginuma covers a lot of ground over the course of the series, from heartbreak to grief to fruit-themed jokes, but more than anything else, Twin Spica feels comfortable. It’s a strange word for what’s sometimes a stressful or sad tale, but it’s true. You’re essentially watching a group of children grow up and learn who they want to become, just like you did. You can see mistakes they’re about to make, or spot areas where they were smarter than you. It’s a funny feeling, but a welcome one."  "When your nose is to the grindstone and you’re wondering what it’s all worth, there’s somebody out there thinking “That’s the life.” The process of chasing your dream may enable, or encourage, others into doing the same."

Phillip Anthony on Sakura Hime: "Byakuya is a servant (?) in Sakura’s house, but she goes all mystic warrior monk on Aoba’s rump. I approve of this action."

Katherine Dacey on Drops of God: "The genius of Drops is that it reads like a shonen tournament manga but has the soul of a Food Network show."


(There is lots of good blogging and writing out there, and I like to share some of my favorite bits. :)  

Bokurano Ours (after reading volumes 4 and 5)

The Manga Moveable Feast is covering the Signature imprint, which is generally full of awesome.  In honor of that, I thought I'd talk about one of the more polarizing series.  Some people love it and some people just don't get into it at all.  From volume 1, I've been the former.

(mild spoiler for those who haven't read volume 2)

I've been curious about the series since I first heard about it years ago.  A group of plucky youths end up piloting a giant robot.  Typical.  What's atypical is that piloting this mecha comes with a hideous, guaranteed cost.  It starts out kind of like a kid's mecha action anime and slowly evolves into something really horrific (a bit like Madoka Magica) intensified by the fact that the ones who suffer the most are kids.  It's like a cute kid's show premise crossed with Faust.

I suspect the reason Bokurano is hard for people to like is that this series asks you to emotionally attach to a group of tragic, doomed children, knowing that you will watch each of them suffer and die and live the brief last days of their lives knowing that they will die.  It asks us to care about kids as we find out their dark, sad secrets.  It makes us ask, "Why do these kids all have to have terrible crap they've had to deal with?  Why can't the kids be happier kids?" And then decide we don't really mean that be because it might be even more devastating if they were happy kids who ended up in this mess and had to deal with this new horror.

"If you keep this up, you'll always get taken advantage of and your life will always suck!"
"[Y]our life doesn't suck unless you think it does."  

(I wish my big sister had been more like yours in some ways, Chica.)  As much as I understand this sentiment, this important, beautiful piece of sisterly advice is made almost torturously ironic by the events and story around it.  This author makes these beautiful moments happen, and they break the readers heart every time.

Any reader with a brain knows by the second volume that each subsequent volume will likely be more devastating than the last.  It's almost like you have to be a masochist to keep reading in that face of that.  But for me, I can't stop reading simply because it's painful and difficult to read on when the story is compelling and has overarching mysteries I still want to get answers to and the possibility that maybe something will happen and someone will be saved (even if I suspect that if anyone does get saved, it will be the least-deserving person because this is that kind of manga).  Even though I know it will only hurt, I keep being fascinated by new characters and attaching to them and their sad, doomed stories.

I mean, if I don't stick with these poor kids, who will?

What I read in March: Digest Version, part 3 of 3

b Oresama Teacher 2, 7:  Every time you think there is going to be a Cliched Shojo Moment, the author always ruins the moment perfectly.  This is a true comedy skill.  I guffaw at least once a book, earning odd looks from whoever is around as I read.  : )

b Pandora Hearts 1: This is really a remarkably well-done first volume.  Maybe on the first read-through, it feels confusing and full of dwa?  On this read-through, it is genius.  The foundation is neatly and firmly in place from volume one, and I can see why I wanted more immediately.  It's really rare for a first volume to do things right; I sort of feel like the last time I felt this way about a first volume was when I read Monster (not that these books are anything alike except in their darkness and moral quandries set up from the very beginning).

b Pandora Hearts 8-9:  The moral of the story is as follows: when you make a deal with the devil, be very specific about your desired outcomes.  I thought this character was sort of morally ambiguous before, but after these revelations, well, I'm just not sure what to think of him.  I would like to read more now.  Lots happens in every volume, and it is somehow never enough because of the unbearable tension and mystery.  Must not get angry . . .

b Sakura Hime 2: Well, er, so maybe the prince was lied to/led around by the nose a bit, but, well, no, he's just kind of a jerk.  He kind of needs to own up to that, but he's too busy being jealous and 99% unreasonable.  More fighting and talking and sad things and understandings and misunderstandings and super-sparkly shojo!

b The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya novel: Oh, Kyon.  Western readers are not supposed to like passive main characters, and I do kind of want to kick Kyon in the head sometimes, but, well, he's in a tough situation, and at least he makes it sort of entertaining.

b Sorcerers & Secretaries 1-2 of 2: This cute little series involves an exploration of love and connection with other people in the real world and the fantasy world created by one of the characters.  It also says some interesting things about writing and publishing.  Totally enjoyable.

b Yurara 4: The love triangle is heating up as everybody tries to do the Right Thing and not hurt anybody else, and that fails with a predictable degree of misery.  With one more volume to go, who will our heroine and her alter ego choose?!  : )  I read a review a while ago about this kind of love triangle (in A Devil and Her Love Song), and the writer made the offhanded comment that the girl always ended up with a certain kind of guy.  Not in this one!  But don't worry, the other guy gets his series later, and it's longer and even better.  If that's any consolation to the poor guy.

What I read in March: Digest Version, part 2 of 3

b Dengeki Daisy 9: My first thought: Connie will approve.  "Hmm, a lot of things crossed my mind, but mostly damn, that was a long story."  And "For some reason, I feel like I've been listening to your story for, like, four months."  And "That's an insult to shojo manga.  I mean, the characters are old men or delinquents."  I love this series for being awesome in its own special, sometime hilariously creepy way.  The author herself contributes to this with her crazy sidebars.  I had been told the series was only 9 volumes long, but that was a lie, and I'm glad.  

b Genkaku Picasso 3: "I think human beings are naturally drawn to negative thoughts.  Some great thinker once said, 'Pessimism comes from our passions; optimism from the will.'"  This trippy, crack-y manga is unique because it's likely the only other thing by this author I will ever read unless Palepoli gets licensed.  I couldn't handle some of the stuff in this series, and it's considered a sell-out tame series.  Frankly I don't agree.  I guess I think that art within contraints/rules is not necessarily sellout art.  I like formal poetry and free verse poetry.  Both have their own kinds of awesome.  I think GP's aggressive weirdness is unique and accomplishes something significant artistically even though it was "toned down" from the author's usual work.  I recently read Bakuman 2, and I feel like GP is exactly the kind of thing the editors were talking about when they talked about the other kind of series that was sometimes published in Jump.

b Good Witch of the West novel 2: The Secret Flower Garden: Okay, this one had some eye-rollers, but it was good, and it's setting up an even better conflict.  That I will never be able to read.  Oh, Tokyopop.  I hear someone rescued the graphic novel series, but it's still on the first part of the first novel.  I should probably go check out how far the manga series went before I whine . . .

b Goong 11-12: 13?  13?!  Holy cow!  All things went south!  Bad!  Sad!  Must find out what happens next and then next.  Need more soapy awesome noooooowwwwwww!

b House of Five Leaves 6: Oh, the tension.  Slowly information is revealed, and it is not pretty.  Choices are being made.  Also, I hate Masa's brother with a passion.  I kind of hope everyone's favorite mystery man kills him.  Yeah, I hate him that much.

b Kitchen Princess 6: Well, that was thoroughly unexpected.  I cried but mostly I was just shocked because, well, wow.

b Naruto 26-32: "You feel the pain of being alone.  And pain is what makes people strong."  Ah, Naruto, how I love you in chunks.  You are an excellent workout read.  I like your art and your relationships and the things you don't come right out and say but actually leave a bit open for interpretation.  Also fighting. 

What I read in March: Digest Version, part 1 of 3

This month wasn't a great one for volumes of manga read, but there were several novels, so that's okay.

b Animal Land 2: More adventures of the abandoned human baby who can talk to different animals.  More wackiness, more drama, more trauma, and more darn it that I can't dismiss this as idealistic crap.  How does the author do it?

b Bakuman 1::  Wow.  14-year-old boys.  Part of me wants to say it's stupid to decide the course of the rest of your life at 14, but 1) That's kind of a modern idea and 2) isn't it better to have something to be passionate about when you're young?  I had to consciously remind myself of the age of these guys sometimes because the art makes them look much older, but some of the things they say are just so dumb . . .  Anyway, it looks like an interesting ride, following these guys as they try to make their dreams come true in the competitive world of shonen manga.

b Bamboo Blade 2: The tournament begins!  So does the cheating!  Ah, well, sushi's on the line.  There are hints in this school sports comedy that maybe the coach isn't the totally irredeemable dufus he first seemed to be.  Good news.

b Black Butler VII-VIII: I almost stopped reading this series after what Ciel does in volume 8.  It's absolutely unforgivable, I thought, almost in tears.  Even Sebastian seemed to be a bit disconcerted.  Oops, no, it's just so easy to read into Sebastian's actions and mannerisms, easy to forget he's an actor playing a role.  He's doing his job; it's not that he actually cares, per se.  Sometimes he's curious, but he doesn't really judge.  "... because you possess such great power, you continue to forget more and more the weight of the irretrievable.  You only come to realize it when you can no longer support yourself."  Sad, sad, arc all around.

After I calmed down a little, I started to think and reminded myself that this series is set in a fantasy version of late 19th century England, and sometimes I need to take that into consideration.  Mental health care back then consisted of people dumping mentally ill folks in an institution if they could afford it.  As much as I want to say it wasn't Ciel's call to make, the reasons he give are believable if hard to stomach.  And if only I believed it was reason that led him to make the decision.  Since I'm pretty sure reason had left the building for Ciel when he decided, this all sounds a bit like excuses/justifications after the fact, and his next action sort of screams guilty conscience to me.  Sebastian's eyebrows and smirk in this scene make me think he agrees and is amused by it.  I, however, am not amused.

b Blood Alone 5: Y'know, I read a comment someone made about this volume crossing the line in some obvious way.  After reading it again, I say, "What?"  And maybe "Where?" and "When?" because I just don't see it.  I see the same thing I've always seen, which is an odd and fascinating relationship I still don't know enough about.  Misaki is a young vampire, and Kuroe is the 30-something novelist--and former "magician" and rogue vampire hunter--who feels responsible for her.  I still love the art and the nonstandard layouts, and nothing actually creepy has happened.  Sure, she has a crush on him, and her crush is complicated by who she is and how she became that way and how old she really is and stuff.

b Bunny Drop 5: Whoa!  Rin is older and so is everyone else, and things are pretty much the same.  Only with new teenage and middle age awkward!

b Chi's Sweet Home 8: More Chi being a cute kitten and having adventures!  Dwaaaawwww!  Chi is naughty and gets trapped. Chi makes me happier than any cat ever since I got severe cat allergies.

Kieli light novel sucks away my evening again

Curse you, Kieli: The Sunlit Garden Where It All Began, Part II.  Your last volume left off on a cliffhanger, and I had to know how all those threads aligned in the end.  Your continuous narrative and my lack of self control combined to turn an hour of exercise into something over two, and it will be hard to walk or sit for a few days, but I don't care because I love you.

This brings to mind a question I keep having: why isn't Kieli a movie?  The first novel is basically totally self-contained.  This format of novel is short enough to be a single, solid movie (instead of an edited Cliff's Notes version as so many adaptations end up).  I would think this would be an amazing role for some serious young actor to take on.  I mean, Harvey is this cold, harsh guy who looks nineteen (and has looked nineteen every day for the last 90+ years since the first time he died).  He doesn't get a lot of dialogue, but he has to communicate a ton of history and emotion with body language alone or he'll be a totally unlikeable character.  Movies mean you have to show instead of stay inside the inner telling monologue of a character, and I think the relationship between the characters could really be outstanding if done well.  Also, I don't think any of the stuff in the first volume would require cringe-worthy CGI.  I might not be able to watch it because some of those scenes are pretty intensely gory, but most other people don't have that hangup.

This novel did a good job of tying up things started in the last novel (they were really one continuous story broken into two parts) and maybe even pointed toward the redemption of a character I pretty much didn't want to be redeemed.  I guess there's something to be said about extended flashbacks and how they can humanize a character.  It's difficult to hate as cleanly when you see who someone used to be.  I like how the author handles things in a way that makes it possible to interpret as hints that a character may not be totally irredeemable or else just one of those times when a bad character's self-interest intersects with the protagonist's goals.  The translation was enjoyable, but there were a couple of obvious word transposition errors that surprised me since Yen is usually pretty good at catching those.

The next novel comes out in September, which should still contain the sort of sunny, warm days I tend to require when reading horror novels (thank you, Robin McKinley), so I will have to be patient until then since this book ended solidly and didn't give strong hints about where the next one will go.  Patience is a virtue.  I should cultivate it.  Also self-control.

Is it September yet?

Quotes of Awesome 2012, part 1

Jason Thompson @Ugg the Caveman: "I think there's still good and interseting stuff out there but American publishers are too scared/cash-low to bring it over. As much as I hate the Nth iteration of the shonen manga friendship-fights-training formula, I have to try to remember that for some 14-year-old somewhere, it's ALWAYS new. It's just old to you and me, maybe, 'cause we've read it a zillion times and we're ready to either (1) quit reading manga or (2) move on to reading more advanced stories. "

Sean Gaffney on Sailer Moon 3: "This is not the anime, no redemption for you!"

Sarah Rees Brennan on her initial thoughts about manga and anime: "I was a little distressed by it, to tell you the truth, since the little people in the drawings had such big eyes and such pointy noses. What if they kissed and slipped? It seemed to me like a world full of tragic accidents waiting to happen."

Connie on Cipher: "Also, within the first pages of the volume, we find out that Roy dressed as Ronald Regan for Halloween. This is why Cipher will always be the best shoujo manga ever."

Gia Manry on Bokurano: "One can't describe the sheer extent of the death, damage, and destruction that is wrought by this particular "game" without spoiling the most significant plot revelations, but this dark mech tournament tale makes even the most emo Gundam pilot's back story sound downright perky. "

Carl Kimlinger on Black Butler: ". . . angels whose obsession with order is more lethal than any evil, a bridge built on a foundation of human sacrifices, London reenacting the Great Fire of 1666—all leading to a showdown that finds one rooting for evil to rip the living hell out of good."