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

I am interested in finding out what she does with these characters after all these years. 

b Library Wars 8: Phew.  We find out who's pulling strings and what Iku's fate is.  Iku figures out who her prince is, and it's traumatic.  For everyone.  Other folks experience trauma, as well, and side characters continue getting some screen time of their own.  Lots of folks complain about the relationship between Iku and Dojo, but I rather enjoy it.  Now that its fundamental nature has changed, I wonder what's coming next . . .

b Saturn Apartments 5: Things keep moving slowly, but I feel like they're inching towards destruction.  Specifically, I fear for Mitsu.  Covering for someone else gets him hurt, and helping others continues to be his modus operandi.  I always worry for the innocent characters when intrigue swirls around because they don't really know how to protect themselves.  In realistic stories, they tend to get hurt.

b Shinobi Life 5: This is another license I hope someone rescues because this series was way more fun than it really had any right to be.  Lots of twists, and the most recent one is the best.

"No one knows anything at first.  We aren't born knowing how to do things.  But when you really want to do something, you keep practicing and failing until you acquire the skill you need.  There's no shame in not knowing how to do something.  The thing that's embarrassing is not devoting yourself to reaching a goal."

b Wild Adapter 4-5: Volume 4 is where we meet Anna and learn a bit about Kubota's past and what kind of person he is/was.  Volume 5 is still my favorite, as it covers the missing year between volumes 1 and 2 through the eyes of the neighbor kid who helps them connect.

b Yotsuba 11: Yotsuba!!!  Oh, the good-natured jolt of energy that is Yotsuba.  A new volume always makes me smile, and I try really hard to make it last.  I tell myself, "Only one chapter a day!" very sternly, but then I am lucky if I can make it last for two days.  For some reason, Yotsuba reminds me of the 3-year-old I know right now.  They even both have a stuffed animal with a totally weird name.  Delightful!

Quotes November 2012, part 4

Sean Gaffney on a new license rescue: "I was pleased to see Gakuen Prince, as I wonder just how low it can go after the first three volumes."

Connie on Black Bird: "I know this is pretty much Shoujo Manga 101, and I can’t really blame Black Bird for the fact that I’m becoming a cranky old woman, but man. It can still be headache-inducing."

Bamboo Dong on Freezing: "Freezing is the kind of show that you buy online, not at Best Buy, because no one wants to walk up to the counter with a boxset featuring a girl with her clothes exploding off her tits."

Jason Thompson on Junko Mizuno: "THE MAIN CHARACTER OF LITTLE FLUFFY GIGOLO PELU IS AN ANTHROPOMORPHIC TESTICLE. (Or maybe ovary.) And you thought the love interest in Ceres: Celestial Legend was Freudian. "

Lynzee Lamb: "Zetsu, like a lot of entries on this list, has an unfortunate past rooted in science experiments, clones, and death that a little psychotherapy could help. It might help squash his off-putting habit of consuming dead human corpses as well. Maybe venison would be a viable alternative?"

Lori Henderson on Blood Alone: "This is a great title for readers who want more from their vampires than just killing things or moping."

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

My Heavenly Hockey Club and Yozakura Quartet rescued!  And Vinland Saga licensed.  Woohoo!

b Good Luck, Yukikaze: This is the kind of sci-fi I cut my teeth on, only bleaker.  I really like this kind of internal quandry, talky sci-fi that kind of kicks me in the head and makes me think about it later.  It's a book of short stories again (more or less), and it can get tiring when read in large quantities.  It's also not something I read right before I go to bed.  Please, Viz, please publish the last collection.  Pretty please?  I kind of need to know what happens after the anime and this book.

b Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 11-12: What price/cost revenge, Jean and Jose?  And what will you do if/once you get it?  What was it that Jean lost that made him the single-minded, moral sinkhole we all love to hate.  Flashbacks.  Sacrifices.  Justice.  Holy cow.  We're coming to the end, everything is converging, and I foresee a lot of people having to make important philosophical decisions under extreme stress.  I also foresee a lot of people dying horribly and a need for many tissues.  Is the next set the end?  Because my heart can't take much more of this . . .

"What business do you have with me, sergeant?  I want a clear and concise explanation."
"A clear explanation, sir?"
"Yes.  As clear as the blue sicilian sky.  Love at first site, sir!!  Oof!!"
"Quit following me around.  I have no interest in women."
"Really?  Does that mean you're a homosexual, sir?"
"No, it does not.  It means that I do not devote my attention or affection to other people."
(ME: Yeah, Jean.  I guess you haven't really changed much . . .)

b House of Five Leaves 8: Oh, I quite loved this ending.  I recall lots of bloggers not liking this ending?  Or maybe it was the anime ending people didn't like?  Anyway, I'm glad I waited to finish the whole manga series before watching the anime.  Now I can maybe not get the two confused. There were some real surprises at the wire here, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I think everyone (who had any) got to keep their integrity, but it didn't feel cheap or forced.  Very nice.  I look forward to marathon re-reading this series one day soon.

b Ikigami 1: Wow.  Yes, very like a punch to the gut.  I wonder what I would classify this as?  Could it be called dystopian sci-fi?  I'm not really sure.  Anyway, in an attempt to make people value their lives more, future Japan has created this program where all children get injected with capsules when they start school, and people are randomly chosen to die when those capsules explode (when the people are between 18 and 24).  The world is building nicely as we follow a new person who gets to deliver the messages to the soon-to-be-deceased 24 hours before their deaths.  This volume definitely earns its M rating not just for the adult theme of the whole thing.  Yikes.  Your mileage will vary with the stories, but over the individuals stories is this creeping horror about the sheer injust justice of this whole idea.  Dear God, please let this never happen anywhere.  I would like to believe that people would realize that, expecially in America, this would not significantly alter people's behaviors.  Maybe this could work in Japan but I just can't see anyone making the argument for it working in the USA.  In fact, I don't think it could work anywhere because people are people, and some people waste their lives and do bad things because they want to, and knowing they might only have 18 years to do so would likely not make them better people.  Anyway, intriguing idea.  I definitely want to read more.  I wish my library had it, so I could read it in small doses since I'm not good with lots of creeping dread all at once.

b Kieli 7 As the Deep Ravine's Wind Howls: Okay, that last volume was pretty outstanding.  This one was pretty decent, too.  The haunted house was super creepy, and now poor Harvey is in even worse shape.  The Corporal's not doing so hot, either.  We're spiraling in, though, and the father of a certain friend of Kieli's makes an appearance.  I think the next volume is coming in the spring, when I will be able to read it in the sun, as I have to do with all horror novels I attempt.

Even if I can't make it to the final stop with him, please let me ride with him for as many moments as I can . . .

I don't mind killing a person or two if it's for you.

Could she really become someone who could protect the people she loved on her own, without relying on anyone else without hurting anyone alse?  Somehow she thought that might be way, way beyond her.

Quotes of November 2012, Part 3

Connie on Barbara: "The first two chapters are about this problem, which is apparently that Mikura can’t tell the difference between non-humans and humans, falls in love, and has torrid sexual affairs with dogs and mannequins."

Sean Gaffney on Moyoco Anno: "She moved away from shoujo as it felt too unrealistic and no one really made mistakes or screwed up. Josei gives you more leeway in that regard. Ed noted her characters tended to dress fashionably, but Anno noted that’s because they cared about it. If she had a slob she’d dress them as a slob."

Katherine Dacey on Cross Manage: "For a series whose plot hinges on an accidental groping, Cross Manage is better than it has any right to be."

Bamboo on new rules for streaming reviews at ANN: "Those titles that are dropped will also have longer reviews, so I can properly explain why I feel justified in never watching another second ever again."

Jason Thompson on Junko Mizuno: ". . . but the stories are an affectionate homage to the 36-year-long Tora-san film series, about an eternal wanderer encountering sentiment and sadness, and of course drug overdoses and vomiting space hippos and flaming death."

Brian Hanson on teenaged anime heroes: "Hideaki Anno, mad genius that he is, wanted to tell a different kind of giant robot/giant monster story, one that included pain, loneliness, sorrow, and guilt, alongside the usual superheroics. And I, personally, can think of no other time in my life where I wasn't as lonely, in pain, felt sorrow, and wracked with guilt than when I was a 14-year old mopey teenager. That angry, confused time in our lives where our emotions outpace our intelligence, where every feeling and thought contains the entire universe. There's no more ripe fruit for hypersensitive angst than being a teenager, no sirree. Plus: Giant robots and monsters!"

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

Sometimes you just need some ridiculous feel good shonen anime to get you through the surgery research.  Just keep believing, Viewtiful Joe!

b 20th Century Boys 22: Music will save the world!  We're coming down to the wire.  Everyone is gathered on safe ground.  But is it really safe?  If not, can the 20th Century Boys make it safe in time?  Keep reading . . .

b Blue Exorcist 2-6: I like this series a lot.  It is excellent to read while exercising.  I think my favorite twist is the one that indicates that the one most likely to end up fighting on the enemy's side might not be the twin you'd expect.  This is good, solid stuff, and I hope our heroes reconcile with each other for real.  It's kind of hard watching them tiptoe around each other and play fooly games in their heads.  I wasn't as surprised by the big reversal as I would have been if I hadn't read some reviews, but I was still pleased that they got it out of the way briskly and moved on to the fallout so quickly.  Frankly, I prefer watching them work things out to waiting in tension as they grew closer and closer and then found out.  This way is better; less lying/deception.  It's also harder because they don't have the bonds they might have if they'd known each other longer.

"Do you promise to be true to me in sickness and in health, to love me, to honor me, and help me until death do us part?"
". . ."
"I may now chew the bride's lips off."
---
"While demons are pleasure-seekers who can only destroy, humans are weak because they walk the middle path.  So which will it be for you?"
---
"I hate her!  She's talented but just goofs around!  She isn't serious!  It makes serious people look stupid!"
"Don't be so uptight.  People may look frivolous on the outside but still be thoughtful on the inside."

b Bunny Drop 6: Oh, Rin.  Oh, Kouki.  Oh, everybody loses in the romantic relationships game in this volume.  Relationships are complicated, and I was pleased to see that a certain amount of import was given to non-romantic relationships.  Parent-child, childhood friend, single parent with other single parent, peer friendships, etc.

"Well, I'm not going out with Kouki now and don't plan to in the future.. . . But he's someone important to me.  If something were to happen, I'd protect him."
---
"I worry about him because he's such an idiot."
"Yeah.  But Kouki always worries about you, too."
"Yeah.  Is that weird, even though we're not going out?"
"No, I actually think it's a good thing.  But when both of you find good matches, it probably can't stay the same."
"Yeah."

b Chi's Sweet Home 9: More Chi being adorable!  (Shock.)  Chi is grounded, but she escapes and tries living the life of a wild cat for a bit with her friend Cocchi.  She fails and ends up falling asleep on the road.  Short attention span theater.  And then, an unexpected twist!

Quotes November 2012, part 2

Connie on Swallowing the Earth: "I may be one of the few people that appreciated that work for the absurd and supremely sublime crazy it pumped out, so I was thrilled to get another taste."

est em on influences to her art: "I think that’s an effect of having watched Western films since forever. People who read a lot of manga draw manga-like manga, people who read novels, I think they probably draw things that have a lot of monologues or dialogue. My biggest influence is the Western films I’ve been going to see since junior high school, mostly American films, but also French films, Italian films, Russian films."

Katherine Dacey on Barabara: "Like most of Osamu Tezuka’s mature fiction of the 1970s, it’s equally fascinating and infuriating, with passages of sublime beauty and passages of sheer, WTF?! ridiculousness."

Sean Gaffney on titles beloved by bloggers: "They also have a new Case Closed and the penultimate volume (did I really use penultimate twice in one post?) of Kekkaishi, which is beloved by bloggers (and hence has mediocre sales, the usual fate of titles beloved by bloggers)."

Jason Thompson on Flowers & Bees: "In Moyoco Anno's manga, you don't wish that you were the main character; you thank God that you're not the main character.. . .  This is a very unique love-com manga, but there is one way that Komatsu is like other love-com manga protagonists: he's such a dork that almost any reader will be grateful they're not like him."

Ben Applegate on Barbara: "(Tezuka himself would never condone violence and misogynism of the kind depicted in the book, and simply because it's in there doesn't imply any kind of moral judgment one way or the other.)"

Why I love Rasetsu

• This comedy-horror-romance grows from quirky-character-filled sitcom to seriously touching romance-comedy-horror.  
• It's sort of coming of age for Rasetsu as she grows from someone who desperately wants a boyfriend literally to save her life to a centered and strong young woman who wants to save herself with the help of her friends and those she loves.  
• It's also kind of a late coming-of-age story for Yako as he grows from a very closed person content with being miserable for the rest of his life into a more honest and confident young man willing to actually try living and helping people.  
• If you like love triangle shenanigans, they're here, and they don't really feel forced because you can see why people might be attracted to Rasetsu and why she might be attracted to them.  
• Even the secondary characters really mean something and have their moments. 
  There are also some truly creepy images as some of these restless spirits are just definitely things you wouldn't want to meet in the dark.  
• The character-based comedy is pretty good, too, and the characters are all older than standard shojo (late teens, twenties, thirties).  
• I love the twists, the episodic bits, and the overarching stories.  It's good stuff.  
• I cry in the last volume every time.
• And is it just me, or do certain panels feature characters who bear a super-strong resemblance to Setona Mizushiro's?  I mean scary similar faces and eyes every so often.  
• High reread value, too.  

Pretty much one of my favorite shoujo-horror series ever.

Quotes November 2012, part 1

Connie on The Tyrant Falls in Love: "Souichi’s emotional moments are a thing of angry, completely affectionless beauty. They are what they are, though, and it makes Morinaga happy."

Katherine Dacey on A Devil and Her Love Song: "Tomori nails her characters’ body language and their fitful conversations, which unfold not in eloquent declarations but incomplete sentences, painful silences, and sudden bursts of honesty. I don’t know about you, but that’s how I remember high school, as a time when I had flashes of insight and bravery, but a lot more moments of cringe-inducing stupidity, cowardice, or tongue-tied helplessness."

Jessi on Sword Art Online: "That kind of material is bad enough when it's actually expected, but when the series could operate perfectly well on its own merits yet chooses to indulge in something cheap, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Lissa Pattillo on The Tyrant Falls in Love: "The relationship between Morinaga and Tatsumi continues to crawl forward at an entertainingly agonizing pace."

Joseph Luster on Humanity Has Declined: "What they find inside is a virtual maze of mass-production, a suicidal bread loaf and, ultimately, cluckin' cooked chickens with some lofty, sinister aspirations."

Carl Kimlinger on Texhnolyze: "Texhnolyze is possibly the least enjoyable series ever. Not in a bad way.. . . Watching Texhnolyze is akin to being beaten with a gloom hammer for eight hours."