Open for Business: Okazu

January 5th, 2008

I’m home, I’m jet lagged and I now have *three* piles of things to review, not including the doujinshi. And the toys. What is wrong with us? We have an entire bag just full of “stuff.” Omamori from shrines, character goods, gashapon, you know – stuff. I found all but four things on my “to get” list and of those one was older and more obscure, while the other three just managed to not be released before I left.

Some of the things I managed to get are: Maria’s Wink, the first volume of a Marimite anthology. I already had 2. I managed to find Rising Impact, a golf manga that was the subject of several Jesus Drug Yuri doujinshi. The downside was that I found *17* volumes of it. There was no way I was bringing all that home, so I settled on the first four and if I like it, I’ll look for the rest at Book-Off.

Got Girlfriends, and a pile of new Yuri Hime collections by Chi-Ran, Morishima Akiko, Takahashi Mako (bleah) and Hakamada Mera (bleah.) But I drew the line at Nanami to Misuzu and Apple Day Dream, because those two series are so very unfun. Amazingly, I found Yuri iro Rasen, an h-manga I never expected to see, and some weird-ass thing I’d never heard of before called, I swear, Pariah no Sono, which is yet another Marimite ripoff by a person with some serious problems. :-) I can’t wait to review it, because it is so seriously wrong in every direction. I also picked up a series Magie Paire, by an artist I don’t care for, Takagi Nobuyuki (Kokoro Library, Pure Marionation, Cassiopea Dolce) because like so much of his stuff, it is Yuri. But bleah.

After forgetting to look until like the last day, I managed to remember to get Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora Volume 3 and also found a used copy of Saber Twinkle Nova 3 with Drama CD! yay! And of course, Yuri Hime S Volume 3.

I also found both El Cazador Drama CDs, got Ogata Megumi’s latest CD and seem to have picked up something from Aria I don’t remember buying. lol

I bought as much series goods as I could find, but of them, my favorite is a “mail block” screen for the cell phone. It’s clear plastic that I can see through, red, with the Lillian logo (so, Rosa Chinensis) but from the side, it’s opaque and all you can see is the logo. So no one can read as you text. Not a problem here, but there, where everyone is emailing/texting all the time, it is.

Most fun of all, I got the newest Marimite novel – the 32nd book in the series – Kira Kira Mawaru – and so far, it’s been awesome. Some serious “whoa~!” stuff in there. :-)

Oh, and because in the last round of “Utter Nonsense” someone asked me if I read any non-Japanese stuff, I wrote down my reading list for the trip for you. :-)

Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George – this book dragged on for *ever.* I didn’t think it would ever end. Long past caring who killed Kenneth and why, the book just kept on going. And worst, I was supposed to care. I resent that.

Icebreaker by John Gardner – what a hoot. I haven’t read a Bond book in ages and ages. Gardner is a damn good writer and I’ve always liked him. He renders the Bond mythos into its most basic components, changes the color, setting and names and whacks out a perfectly hysterical, well-written parody of itself. I laughed through the entire book. As it’s supposed to be an action thriller, that maybe wasn’t what he wanted, but given Gardner’s penchant for the absurd, maybe it was.

Murder by the Book by Rex Stout – have you guessed that I’m a Stout fan? I admit it. I’m in love with Archie Goodwin. I can’t help it – he’s so charming, and he geniunely *likes* and enjoys women in a way that no other male character ever has. Stout books are easy on the brain and fun. This one was just as good as any other. I’m still reading the last book I brought, also by Stout, Over My Dead Body in which we learn that Nero Wolfe has a daughter. Huh, how ’bout that?

I braved Comiket for things like Fujieda Miyabi’s calendar, which I find I cannot live without – next year I’ll have to pull strings to get one – and UGO’s most awesome bag that depicts Touko face down on the ground, while Yumi holds her tate-rolls and says “Nice Drill” in English. I stood on an amazingly long line for Shoujo Kingdom’s doujinshi, but no line at all for Pen Pen Gusa Club (who said in English “thank you for your support,”) Raku-Gun or Crush, which just goes to show you that there’s no accounting for taste. I bought a really, exceptionally filthy doujinshi from Fancy Free (he of the Marimite characters licking penis-shaped “ice pops”) after I read it in front of him so he knew I knew what it was, just to watch him boggle. LOL I made a bunch of guys laugh, when I pounced from about ten feet away, after seeing that they did Miu x Chika non-hentai doujinshi a series called 15 Mashimaro. They have okay art, but the stories are good and they totally *get* the dynamic between Chika and Miu. I found Studio Canopus to be one very serious-looking woman, who is still putting out gorgeous Haruka x Michiru work. And it was a pleasure to revisit UKOZ and Sakuraike and see what they have this year, all of which was as awesome as ever.

The wife discovered yet *another* series about a tall, thin victorian dressed demon, which makes something like four series or so that she likes of the type. And she bought some Yu-Gi-Oh doujinshi by a circle she adores, and some guinea pig doujinshi for a friend. And post cards with fabulous Goth Loli girls with weapons. We have a frame by the kitchen sink and she rotates the pictures in it with stuff by this circle.

Of everything I got, the thing that stands out in my mind is the last page of a doujinshi by Pen Pen Gusa, in which Shizuma as Etoile of St. Miator, visits Lillian’s Yamayurikai. On the very last page, Yoshino asks Eriko if she met the Etoile, to which Eriko replies, “Oh, we’ve know each other for ages, after all, we share a seiyuu.” :-) That still makes me laugh. (Which makes for a fun fanfic idea that would actually make a bad story about how Eriko, Shizuma, Nobue and Letti all hang out.)

We spent some time with Rica Takashima, as always a blast to be around, and got to see Ivy for a little while. It was absolutely fabulous to see her again. :-)

More Tokyo stories as I get unwound- I took notes and everything. :-) I have a guest review by Sean Gaffney ready to go, so I hope to get that up later today and I’ll be back up and reviewing soon! (I have to – I’ve got huge piles to work on. Maybe I’ll take a picture for you, so you can see what madness looks like….)

One Response

  1. Senbei says:

    Could I request a pic of the Fujieda Miyabi calendar? It sounds so lovely.

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