Princess Tutu again because I like it that much

For those who think a stylized, dark fairy tale where ballet is battle and the nature of story, free will, and love are acted out to a varied and excellent classical soundtrack is a great idea, Princess Tutu is for you.  Probably.  Lots of folks who would not have admitted interest in most of those things liked it when I watched it with a group, and some folks interested in a lot of those things really didn't get into it at all.  Your mileage will vary.

My mileage was awesome.  It's like they made this show for me.  That brief obsession with ballet when I worked as a page in the children's section at the library let me recognize many of the allusions and musical cues on my own, which enriched the stories a bit.  It's very clever.  Frankly, I don't understand how people could like this show without that background, but they do, and I love that.

I watched the second half this time.  I stopped collecting at the first half because it had something closer to what I would consider a happy ending, but this sale was really too good to pass up.  I was sucked in again, and I just need someone to make a playlist of all the songs and what they're from, so I can figure out more of the buried allusions and also add them to my own playlist.  What a smorgasbord of lovely music.  Sigh.

Quotes February 2013, Part 4

Jason Thompson on Barefoot Gen: "Gen faces the horror of war, starvation and death with the passion of a shonen manga hero, but this is a shonen manga where anyone, at any time, could die."

Bamboo Dong on Crayon Shin-chan: " I imagine everyone has a life quota on how many times they can stand seeing Shin's butt dance, and mine is reaching its red zone."

Carlo Santos on House of Five Leaves: "House of Five Leaves does a fine job of finishing up its intricate, character-driven ending, but the series' ultimate accomplishment is the way it defies all expectations of the samurai genre. This is a saga that barely relies on violent fight scenes, features a hero whose greatest act comes from quiet self-sacrifice rather than powerful conquest, and has more to say about the human spirit and integrity than feudal politics or warfare."

Sean Gaffney on The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer: "Its combination of friendship and nihilism is quite addicting."

Theron Martin on Bakemonogatari: "At its core, Bakemonogatari is really just a cross between a supernatural harem series and one of those Key/Visual Art's titles where the male protagonist goes around solving the problems of broken moe girls."

Chris Beveridge on Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom: "With this series, clocking in at twenty-six episodes with animation production done by Bee Train, we get a much more fleshed out and fully realized piece of work that’s essentially another chapter in the girls with guns series from Bee Train except that one of the girls is a dude."

What I read in November: Digest Version, Part 2 of 2

b Dawn of the Arcana 6:  The action and weapons are still awkwardly and stiffly drawn, which makes the intense battle scenes lead to more snickering than anything else.  Kudos for the ending of this bit with the older brother.  It was unexpected and seems like it could really cause some issues with the plot later.  We'll see if the author manages to make those issues work for her.

b A Devil and Her Love Song 4-5: Maria continues to wrestle with herself, her friends, her classmates, and her evil demon of a teacher who needs to be taken out by a team of ninjas soon.  (That will never happen because this is not a fantasy shojo.  More's the pity.)  I still really like all the screwed up dynamics because the confusion and internal lying and external fakery and everything feels very real even if its execution feels more outrageous than reality.

"Every once in a while you should cry until you're a mess. Sure, it might startle me, but I won't think you're a pain."

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'"She's got dignity." That's what he said about me.  I want to live up to his expectations of me.  So I can't lean on him that way anymore.  I've got to get it together." (That's a common trap, well explained.)

b Missions of Love 1: She writes cell phone novels, and she hears some people saying they wish her work had more romance.  She doesn't really get romantic love, so she decides to do research that ends up involving her powers of observation and some blackmail of a rather unsympathetic character.  Interesting set up here because I'm pretty sure I don't want them to get together, but this is shojo, so that's likely to be the end result.  How will they get from here to there?  Stay tuned.

b YuYu Hakusho 16-17:  The end of Sensui and a new beginning for Yusuke involve a lot of fights.  (Shock!)  Then, Yusuke tries to adjust to "normal life," fails, and gets an opportunity to go back to his roots.  Kuwabara tries to get serious about school, and Hiei and Kurama also get some interesting offers.  Yusuke makes a choice and tries to make a deal with Keiko.  (Pretty funny editing out of a cigarette and replacing it with pocky.)  Two more volumes to go!
It was the right decision for all concerned. But if it had just been me . . . ?

Quotes February 2013, Part 3

Jason Thompson on Pupa: " . . . it steers the series (I think unintentionally) away from creepy horror towards cheesy gross-out. (Though, I guess sibling cannibalism-incest manga don't often take the high road.) Thumbs reluctantly down, because I wanted it to be awesome."

Sean Gaffney on Demon Love Spell: "Oh boy, another Mayu Shinjo series! I am feeling equal parts eagerness and trepidation, given her past record. Demon Love Spell seems to be made up of shrine maiden, sexy demon, lots of seduction. I suspect I will both enjoy and be repelled by it."

Daryl Surat on Casshan: "The fundamental issue of contention with both that live-action movie and Casshern Sins is that they’re attempting to add emotional resonance to a series that is fundamentally about teaching kids that the way to quell disobedient killer robots is to either extend your arm straight through their chest or leap into the air and chop downward. That works for some people, and for others it REALLY doesn’t."

Bamboo Dong on the Shakugan no Shana movie: "There's also a bad guy with a flying scarf which looks like a strand of toilet paper, and he provides most of the movie's conflict."

Lynzee Lamb on Saikano: "Watching SaiKano is like watching two close friends you care about slowly circle the drain."

Carlo Santos on House of Five Leaves: "Tensions run high as deep-seated guilt and hidden motivations come to light—and somehow, it manages to be an intense, page-turning experience despite there only being one swordfight. Indeed, the characters are complex enough that their personal stories and conflicts are all that's needed to drive the story to its finale."

What I read in November: Digest Version, Part 1 of 2

b Aqua 2: Calm and episodic.  Peaceful soft sci-fi where a girl who immigrated to a terraformed, water-rich planet trains to be a full-fledged undine (the gondoliers who ferry folks around).  Very pleasant and relaxing.  If I had better arms, I could cosplay this. : )

b The Betrayal Knows My Name 4: I am ever more suspicious about the origins of this war.  There's just something about what we know the big leader isn't telling us and the way Kanata/Reiga is acting that make me really, really suspicious.  And we're still getting crumbs of pieces about our favorite Duras fighting on the side of humans and his past with the person currently incarnated as Yuki.  I'm pretty sure Yuki really shouldn't want to remember his last life.  Really.  Oh, and there are two new folks.  One might be trouble.  He seems kind of vicious towards Yuki.  I hope we find out why before he does something even worse than what he's already tried.  I totally need a character chart.

"I wonder why it's invisible when we hurt on the inside."

b Black Butler XI: The real end of the murder mystery.  The author knows something is wonky, so he comes back, and they explain everything to him.  He leaves, properly terrified, and we see that there are plots within plots and the Queen (or at least her other servants) may not be even vaguely trustworthy as they work towards some other end.

b Bunny Drop 7: More laid-back family drama.  Daikichi hurts his back, and his co-workers, Kouki, and Rin take care of him.  His co-workers all tell stories about their own (usually child-related) back problems, which is hilarious.  Rin's mom is pregnant again, and the father wants to get married.  Rin decides she wants to meet her, and that meeting is interesting.  You can really tell she's Daikichi's child by how she handles that whole situation.  Also, I have no idea how Rin's mom met this guy, but he's a keeper.  So great in this super-awkward situation.

"At the time, I believed that there were plenty of people who could be "mothers," but that I was the only person who could do 'my work.'  But by the time I realized that I had those two things completely reversed, you were in a place where I couldn't reach you.  I'm so sorry."

Quotes February 2013 2

Sean Gaffney on Thermae Romae: "That’s why it’s always fantastic to see exceptions like these, a series with a nice big deluxe hardcover (which, admittedly, is probably the best way to ensure it will break even), which is about a Roman architect who finds he can now time-travel between Ancient Rome and modern-day Japan to learn about baths.. . . Yen’s presentation, as I noted above, is deluxe. A hardcover with a plastic slipcase in order to cover the Japanese original, which features a Roman statue with naughty bits. (Fear not – take off the slipcase and the bits are all present and correct.)"

Jason Thompson on Pupa: "One of the only horror manga on JManga, Pupa definitely wins points for imaginative depravity."

Daryl Surat on Casshan: 'The second you start asking “if the scientists intended for BK-1 to serve humanity and help save the trees, then why did they bother to install a giant laser beam in his mouth?” is the second you realize that marrying the logic of children’s entertainment to the desires for “mature” storytelling is likely to result in intellectual divorce. We the viewing audience just want robot violence and ladies in various states of undress, in that order of priority.'

Bamboo Dong on Bodacious Space Pirates: "Don't be fooled by your preconceptions of Bodacious Space Pirates. Yes, there are a lot of high school girl characters with school uniforms, but it's never played for fanservice. There are zero panty shots, zero pans of blushing girls, and zero scenes of girls trying to grab each other's bosoms. The girls are all smart and capable"

Rebecca Silverman on Thermae Romae: "Rich with period detail in both the art and the story, this unlikely tale of public bathing manages to be fascinating and engrossing even to an audience to whom the idea of getting naked in a tub with perfect strangers sounds more gross than appealing.. . . . Thermae Romae is far more interesting than a formulaic story about public bathing ought to be."

Casey Brienza on Gakuen Alice: "She is a determined little girl, you see, and though she can get discouraged at times, she is too stupid to wallow in her sorrows for long."

What I read in October: Digest Version, Part 2

b Loveless 9: A spell battle for the fate of the kidnapped Kio who may not be quite as uninvolved in this whole mess as I had thought.

"That boy is interesting.  He understands all too well that adults are not always kind to children."
"Well, of course.  Adults are only human.  I've never liked children who don't understand that."
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"Everybody runs away from things that are painful and traumatic.  They all want to live in nothing but happy times.  There's no need to feel bad, Ritsuka.  You can just forget all the sad things."
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"If you open that, you won't be able to go back."
"If I can't go back, I'll just go forward."
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"You're stupid, Soubi.  If you close your eyes to scary things, they only become more terrifying."

b Rasetsu 3, 9: I probably talked enough about this one here.

b Seiho Boys High School 6: More shenanigans with the boys from the isolated Seiho Boys' High School.  The school fesitval gives rise to silly and outrageous plans to try to get girls to come to their godforsaken school, and some unexpectedly bad things happen (with interesting resolutions).  Entrenched Japanese sexism rears its ugle head and makes me scratch mine.  Maki and his girlfriend get caught sneaking her back into her Catholic boarding school dorm and have a really uncomfortable conversation with a nun.  Still lots of laugh-out-loud moments.

b Skip Beat 29: This. And the cover picture with Ren being all King of the Night and Kyoko swooning: hahahahaha.  Maybe in 20 more volumes, if ever.

Is this photoshopped?
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I never thought having a man court me would wear me down so much . . .
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I feel so refreshed that I'm not in a place where disasters like ulterior motives (love) and sincerity (affection) can strike me . . .

b Whistle! 10: Oh, Whistle, I really like you.  I wasn't very serious about or good at soccer, which may be why I like manga about it.  100% fewer foot, ankle, and shin injuries for me!  Lots of action and strategy, and friendship, and teamwork.  So nice.

b Yozakura Quartet 3:  I may be torturing myself because I don't know that this series was ever finished here or in Japan.  And it's so darn full of mysteriousness that I find it a shame I may never be able to find out how it ends or what's going on behind the scenes and the mysteriousness.  It's a fun ride while it lasts, anyway.  And we get to see Hime go to town and understand more about her relationships with various folks in the town. 

b Young Miss Holmes 1 and 2: Well, this was a fun little romp.  And the cameo by Mina Teppes from Dance in the Vampire Bund was kind of hilarious.  Not the story itself but the fact of the crossover, which as so very random and unexpected in a well-bred, Victorian-set shojo manga.

Quotes February 2013, Part 1

Shaenon Garrity on Yumi Tamura: ". . . but virtually every page contains something more incredibly hardcore than you have ever seen from characters with giant sparkly shojo eyes and even more ginormous shojo hair. Most of Tamura's other work, including her current series, 7 Seeds, is still untranslated, leaving English readers deprived of much vital badassitude."

Sean Gaffney on Blue Exorcist: "Renzo having to face up to the fact that doing the right thing is really annoying and hard . . ."

Jason Thompson on Sekine's Love: "It's clearly not just the main character who has a thing for frail and damaged characters; but this is nothing surprising for a manga published in Manga Erotics F, a manga magazine not only edited by fellow skinny-fetishist Naoki Yamamoto, but known for printing manga like Ristorante Paradiso that MIGHT turn into porn at any moment but generally choose not to."

Brian Hanson on the anime industry: "Artists and directors are like animation ronin, aligning themselves to no one but their work itself."

Sara K on A Deadly Secret: "A scene: Why, it’s a wedding!  It’s a wedding in front of a tomb.  See, both the bride and the groom are dead, so the wedding has to take place at the bride’s tomb.  In wuxia stories, if you promise to marry somebody, you marry them. Death is no excuse.  He’s drinking because he is so happy that his best friend is finally marrying the love of his life (who apparently is also the love of his afterlife).  And he’s swinging his sword around with joy.  Anyway, since the groom and bride are dead, he needs to help them get together. This is the problem with getting married when you’re dead – there’s no privacy when the newly married couple finally gets intimate physical contact.  Wait a minute … why are the bride’s arms stretched up like that?  And there’s writing on the inside of her coffin. That’s only possible if she was put in the coffin while she was still alive.  The writing says that, as a reward to whoever reunites her with the love of her life (afterlife), she is revealing The Deadly Secret (which is not exactly a favor, since people who learn The Deadly Secret have a tendency to die young).  The groom’s cremated ashes are poured onto the bride’s body. What a romantic wedding!"

Daryl Surat on Casshan: "Leading the robots is BK-1, who is so megalomaniacal that he has rechristened himself the “Buraiking Boss” (or “Black King Boss” in the dub) and only bothers to clothe himself in a cape and a hat. When you’re both king AND boss, pants are optional."