Generations of thieves

I was at a bookstore the other day, and a mother and daughter were in the manga section.  An employee gave them several recommendations, and the girl (I'm going to say she may have been 15 max) kept saying, "Oh, I love that one!  I read it online!"  She was saying this about long-since licensed manga titles that are not provided by the publisher online. 

It came down to final choice time, and they could only pick two.  "You read this one online, right?" the mother asked.  "So you don't need to buy it, right?"

I was weeping inside.  Seriously.  Does this adult not know it's illegal to read pirated works online?  Does she not know economics (if you don't financially support the creators in some way, eventually there will be no more product since the artists can't afford to make the art)?! 

I mean, it's great that this mother was interested and involved in her daughter's life, but shouldn't she be the voice of, I dunno, legal uprightness in their relationship?  I just really don't know what to even think about this situation except to be sad.

Any thoughts?

List of female manga-ka

Here is a list of some female manga-ka.  Some of them were surprise to me (either now or were a surprise when I found out in the past) in the shonen category.

I have to say I'd like some additional lists, especially one of male shojo manga-ka writing today.  (I did just finish Otomen 5, so I think that's where this desire comes from.)  I'm sure there'd be some surprises there for me, too. :)

I know when I went to an exhibit on the history of shojo manga, I was surprised to find out that shojo manga was pretty much created by men.  It was really interesting to dig into that history a little and see the why's and how's and also the evolution of shojo as time passed.  I'm a great big nerd in general, so it's all fascinating to me.

Why do I love Heat Guy J?

Anime watched: Heat Guy J
TMIA rating: b


Well, first there are the bagpipes.  I quite like this soundtrack (I own it) because how often do you hear bagpipes in anime?  It's also a pretty good sountrack, but the bagpipes are such a unique and manly instrument that their presence alone says certain things about the show.

Then there's the dub.  It's a good dub.  I think Steve Cannon is an under-appreciated voice actor.  Edmundo's VA wasn't too shabby.  Johnny Yong Bosch was perfectly insane as Claire Leonelli.  There  were a lot of good performances in this series.  If it hadn't been a few years since I saw the show, I could remember more, but I lent it to someone, and it has disappeared.  That's why I'm glad Funimation snagged the license and is releasing it again!  Some day, when I have money, I hope to be able to get it again.  Or I'll send J after whoever didn't return it to me . . .

I remember that sometimes the unexpected would happen.  Your mileage may very here because I don't anticipate things when I watch a show, so I'm not trying to figure out what will happen next.  I notice if what happens next isn't totally predictable because of genre conventions/tropes.  In this show, the characters had somewhat realistic depths to them, and sometimes the happy endings didn't work out at all.  It takes guts to do that.

And we know I like Nobuteru Yuki.    He can be distinctive (and his noses in those distinctive shows drive people like ST completely crazy), but he can also be almost invisible as a character designer adapting other people's designs, and that takes skill.  (Just so you know, this is one of the distinctive shows but with slightly less crazy noses than Escaflowne.)

So anyway, it looks and sounds good, has good characters and surprising plot twists, and has good production values.  (I remember the extras being nice, too.)  I enjoyed it a lot.  I look forward to re-watching it soon, thanks to Funimation.


Anybody else a fan of J and Daisuke and co.?  Anything you'd like to add?


AnimeNerd quiz


Who said this?

"If you want to be a man, board my ship."

(Un)Recognizable (Stupidity): I make my life harder than it needs to be (manga edition)

Don't you hate it when you see a manga, and you totally recognize the art, but you can't for the life of you remember the artist and his/her other works?  It drives me a bit nuts.  It's especially bad when I'm in a stupid mood, and I refuse to look it up on principle. 

I will remember, darn it, and if I can't, then I will punish myself by leaving myself in agonized curiosity.  Ha, ha!  Take that!

Why do we make life so much harder for ourselves?  Sheesh.