Archive for the Series Category


Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny Anime, Volume 3 (English)

November 23rd, 2010

As you know, I’ve been determined to figure out what the heck the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is about by using the least accurate, most ridiculous forms of media possible. And by god, I think it worked!

I was watching the third volume of Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny and it dawned on me that once I set all the semi-mystical dragon stuff aside I could actually follow what was going on.

You can be sure that I did not actually think this would work. But I guess if you see/read enough – and presuming even the worst aberrations have some minor connection to the actual story – I guess learning by osmosis does work after all. How unexpected. ^_^

In any case, Volume 3 ends with the legendary battle of Red Cliffs, sort of, and Ryuubi and Sonsaku defeat Sousou, sort of, and all the cool characters are very cool, as we both expect and desire.

This is followed by a shockingly sweet epilogue and then followed up with hideous extra shorts that basically go like this: Butt, Breasts, Butt, Breasts, Butt, Breasts. And everyone’s butts and breasts look exactly the same. Totally snoozariffic.

This was followed by a live event at Tokyo International Anime Fair, starring the Voice actresses for Kanu, Ekitoku and Koumei, which might have been interesting, but the audience was an Ikkitousen audience so…it wasn’t. “Which character breathes heavily alot?” Puh-leaze. They could have asked what it was like to pretend to break people in half, instead we watch them act like they give a shit talking about underwear. My fetishes are just not other people’s fetishes, I guess.

I also enjoyed the performance of the opening theme from the TIAF piece, as it was basically the singer, Kariyuki Mai,  karaoke-ing her own song. ^_^ She did a damn good job under the circumstances.

Would have liked a little drama recording though- with Kanu, Chouhi and Koumei there, they easily could have a 5 minute thing about Ryuubi or something. Oh, forget that, I really just wished Nabatame-san used her Kanu voice for something. Anything. The ads for stuff would have been fine. Oh well.

What made this volume work overall was Koumei taking the lead on the strategies used, so it seemed for a bit like it all made sense…and watching Kanu and Ryomou kick the shit out of just about anyone is fun.

And of course, there’s  a teeny bit of Yuri. Kanu has a shockingly frank scene where she admits to  Koukin that she loves Ryuubi – and she’s really open about it, too. We knew this, of course, but it was nice to see her just getting it off her chest, so to speak. ^_^

Ratings:
 
Art – 8
Characters – 8, for real this time, not only in our heads
Story – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 100
 
Overall – 8

If you’ve been able to put up with (or, god help you, enjoy,) the kind of lameass perviness that Ikkitousen serves up in shovel loads, then Ikkitousen:DD, Volume 3 is worth waiting for.

Nov. 27th correction: Aaack! I incorrectly thanked Media Blasters when I wrote this review. In reality, the credit belongs to Okazu Superhero Amanda M! My sincere apology Amanda and my thanks for your kindness and generosity. This is my favorite volume out in English so far and will remain so until we get Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor, if we ever do.





K-ON! Manga, Volume 1 (English)

November 16th, 2010

After two soul-scouring days, I couldn’t think of anything better for my mental well-being than reaching for Yen Press’ translation of K-ON, Volume 1.

There are so many things to like about K-ON! and really, only a few things not to like, so let’s get those out of the way first.

If you like your manga to have *meaning* and significance and plot and other IMPORTANT things, then K-ON! will be a disappointment to you. It’s a 4-koma, which means it’s a comic strip, meant to be superficial amusement. Like the cake Mugi serves, it’s refreshment, not nutrition.

And there is service. Of course there is service. For the same reason that western female action stars wear service-y clothes or pose provocatively, there are maid costumes and panty shots because that is what is expected by the largely male Japanese audience. For those of us not so sad as to require glimpses of underwear to make a series good, there is, at least, not very much service. This series mostly confines service in later volumes to pin-up chapter splash page art and a few silly dress-up scenes.

That’s it for the downside. On the upside is a biggie – this is a 4-koma comic strip that is actually *funny.* It made me laugh out loud a number of times. More importantly than humor though, it’s fun, entertaining, it makes me smile. In fact, that would be a good summation of the series – it makes me smile.

For the three of you who aren’t familiar with K-ON!, the story follows the daily life and club activities of the keionbu, the Light Music Club, (here translated as the Pop Music Club, a choice that is ably justified in the Translation notes) and the members thereof – flaky club president and drummer Ritsu, bubble-headed lead guitarist Yui, rich girl Tsumugi on keyboards, and bassist, lyricist and dysfunctionally shy Mio. The fact that they are all reasonably talented and Yui approaches idiot-savant levels of skill is the handwave we accept to make the story work. Added to the mix is the incredibly funny all by herself club advisor and homeroom teacher, Sawa-chan-sensei, whose secret makes me laugh every time they drag it out.

What made the anime stand out is the extra-super-duper bubblegum-pop stickyness of the music. There’s just no way to get Fuwa Fuwa Time out of one’s head once one has heard it. in fact, the only CD I bought this time in Japan was the double CD Studio Mix/Cassette Mix of K-ON! songs、Houkago Tea Time II. I just adore how loopy the songs are.

What makes the manga a fun read is – everything. Ritsu’s flakiness, Mio’s teasable personality, Mugi’s play-along mentality and Yui’s bubble-headedness. But I admit to a special fondness for Mugi – not just because her fantasies are the sole Yuri in the first volume, but because she’s she so ready to do whatever the silliest, most-fun, least-responsible thing suggested is. She’s always game for…whatever. Mugi is my favorite character.

I suppose I should spend a moment reviewing Yen’s production. It’s very good. The only visible difference is the paper. Glossy color vs matte color pages just isn’t an issue to me. In every way this presentation holds up to the original. The *only* thing Yen does that sort of jars has nothing to do with the production value at all. They present translation notes in a left-to-right format, but put the pages in a schizoid order, so that they are neither really right-to-left or left-to-right. Reading from the Left, they are Page 3-4-1-2 and reading from the Right they are laid out 2-1-4-3, neither of which works. I understand that when the book is held open it’s 1-2, then turn the page to 3-4, but it’s really schizoid when you consider it from a larger perspective. Again, not a complaint, just something of note.

Detractors insist that the characters don’t seem real, or that there’s nothing to the story or that they just don’t see the appeal. All of these are completely valid, but I have to say that I have rarely watched or read a series that reminded me of my days in band in high school. K-ON! reminds me quite a bit of the best of those days.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 10
Story – 9
Yuri – 3 for “Mugi-vision”
Service – 3 for the whole underwear thing, but other than that, it’s probably more like a 1

Overall – 9

I LOVED the Music Theory 101 on the last pages. A nice, friendly touch to end a nice, friendly volume with the ladies of Afterschool Tea Time.

Thanks very much to Yen Press for allowing me an advance look at this volume. It was the best thing I’ve read in days by far and away. ^_^





Tales of Osaka

November 7th, 2010

Time to back up to the beginning.

So, as you know, Bruce and I arrived in Tokyo, stayed in our nice room in Shinagawa, which is becoming an increasingly bad idea, as the hotel is so nice, every other hotel is awful in comparison.

The next morning, we hopped the Shinkansen out to Nagoya. On the way there, we failed to see the life-size Gundam that is in Shizuoka, (I thought they had dismantled it already!) and I’m very annoyed at myself that I didn’t look for it. ^_^;;

We arrived in Nagoya and managed to be found by William Flanagan, whom you may know as the translator of Lucky Star (the good one, that took over halfway), Tsubasa Chronicles, Code Breaker and many other manga. It was our pleasure to have met Bill last spring at Tokyo Anime Fair and he was nice enough to ask us to drop by for some local specialties if we were in the area. A local specialty happens to be katsu and it also happens to be one of my favorites meals, so when the stars aligned we had a really nice lunch, thanks Bill!

We eventually made it to Osaka, where we found that the hotel did not have our reservation. Always a good feeling. The hotel found us a room, where we tried to spend as little time as possible. The only reason I picked the hotel was its proximity to the theater and that was, in the end, the only good thing about it. ^_^;

We met up with Komatsu-san, who took us on a tour of Osaka, including the geek district. I really like Osaka, there’s a lot of energy and a LOT of food everywhere. But then, I finally crashed and burned and we went back to our rooms without even eating dinner. I had one rice ball and fell asleep by 9:30.

The next morning was the big day! Of course Bruce and I were awake very very early and we sat outside at the mall where the theater was. Eventually we were joined by Komatsu-san and we waited for the mall to open. Originally, we were first on line, but then two VERY motivated otaku came up and basically cut everyone off to be first. I didn’t fight them. It wasn’t worth it, so I was the #3 ticket. Now that we had tickets, we relaxed and went for a walk – to see the Heartcatch PreCure movie! Marimite was only being shown twice that day and the first showing was at 3:45, so we walked a bit to another mall (which had a very southwestern canyon look about it) and stood in line with a bunch of 4 year olds and their mothers (and a Dad or two). The girls got a little flashlight and a PreCure visor, I was apparently too old for such things. ^_^

Bruce, who is not watching PreCure, described the movie as a “High decibel fruit salad.” It takes place in Paris and while it had no original elements, it was still fun. Of course we all had to lend them the power of our heart flowers to help PreCure beat the bad guy. And in case you consider trying to be clever, no my heart flower is *not* a lily. So there, nyah. Bruce didn’t lend his power, because, he said, if all of Paris wasn’t enough to help, he didn’t think his would matter. What a meanie he is – we might have been destroyed because of him!

We had a ramen for lunch, with a side of fried garlic and happy, full and ready to be disappointed by the movie we made our way back to the theater. The two motivated Fanboys were first in line and they were let in first, then me, Komatsu-san and Bruce. The one Fanboy changed seats like three or four times, then sat there and fidgeted in a really creepy way, thus fulfilling every creepy otaku stereotype possible. The audience was split about 60/40 men/women, and mostly everyone was normal, with only about a half dozen really creepy otaku types. The two guys sitting next to me were both young and seemed kind of unlikely an audience. There were a number of younger women, as well, so overall, I was impressed with the crowd. Then the movie began….

…with an absolutely hilarious animated short voiced by Itou Miki and Ueda Kana about things we should not do while the movie is on. Yumi explained that we should not use our cell phones, take pictures, eat food loudly (illustrated by a picture of a bowl of ramen, because you know you might eat that in a theater…) or give rosaries to your soeur. Then Sachiko recapped and it was time for the movie.

Which was…really fun! They rewrote some bits, but I think it worked. The beginning was a scene in which Yumi comes into class and finds Miyuki crying tears of joy because she received a rosary. You remember Miyuki, right? She was one of the first Yoshino-wannabees in Yellow Rose Revolution. Total drama queen. This gives Yumi a chance to “explain” the soeur system to us. Also kind of fun was that *every time* Yumi comes into the school, she says the “walking slowly is preferred here” bit. Like she’s mentally preparing herself, or something. Oh, both Bruce and I loved the fact that the floors squeaked in the school. Like old wooden floors do.

Yumi and Sachiko actresses did a much better job than any of us expected. And then it started to dawn on me – every actress was picked for a specific reason. Yumi, because she could make her eyes big, Shimako for her smile. The voices were all very good, so the casting people were very mindful of what we wanted to hear and what we were used to. Kashiwagi was the worst choice, his body language was terrible, but his voice was really good. So, they were obviously thinking about it hard.

The rewrites were small, didn’t affect the major plot points, gave Yoshino lines she might otherwise not have had (poor Yoshino!) and by the end, all of us were right there with Yumi and Sachiko as Yumi and Sachiko.

In the end, Bruce, Komatsu-san and I all gave it a 9 out of 10.

Then we made Komatsu-san take us for okonomiyaki, because we were in Osaka and since neither Komatsu-san nor I like takoyaki, we had to do *something* typical! Dinner was delicious (of course,) then we went on a nice, wandering long walk around Osaka Shinsaibashi/Nihonbashi area. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful night and the company was pleasant. It was perfect.

The next morning we met up for breakfast (a little challenging on Sunday AM) then we parted with many thanks. I know I thanked you many times Komatsu-san, but once more – thank you so very, very much for everything! We both had a wonderful time. Here’s a link to the pictures I took, which include some of Komatsu-san and Osaka.

The train ride to Tokyo was long, the subway ride to Ikebukuro was long, the walk to the hotel was long, but here we are! Today, we meet up with my commanding officer, Ana, and do some shopping! See you later!





Marimite Movie (and PreCure) movie report – short version

November 7th, 2010

Sorry I was offline the last few days, the hotel in Osaka kind of sucked. BUT! The movies were great.

PreCure movie was a long, random episode with way more explosions than I would expect. And I think the French government might have issues with Mont St Michel being leveled that way.

Totally related to that last comment, but inexplicable until you see the movie, the trip mascot this time is clearly Loup Garou. I’ll explain later.

The Marimite movie was unexpectedly excellent! I really enjoyed it, and I felt that the actresses did a much better job than I anticipated. Hardly any explosions, though.

Many, many thanks to Bill Flanagan and to Komatsu-san, for shepherding us through the first half of our trip and to Himekawa Akira-san, for the lovely books, thank you all so very much!

Tonight we are handing over ourselves to the care of two of the most evil women I know. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’s their fault. ^_^





K-On! Manga, Volume 4

November 1st, 2010

K-ON!, Volume 4  (けいおん!) is full of the kind of sweet-sad tears that people just adore. Those fleeting moments of happy times with friends, that youth that can never be recaptured, those intense emotions over absolutely nothing. The smell of flowers, the taste of tea, the sound of an aquarium.

Reading this volume gave me the opportunity to once more ponder important questions like, why are people sentimental about high school? And what sad series of circumstances makes a person able to believe that if two girls hug they obviously want to get into each other’s pants? Most importantly why is it so important to us to see our 2-dimensional friends happy? They are cartoons, after all. They aren’t real. So, why do we cry if they cry?

K-ON!, Volume 4 is filled with exactly the same kind of stuff every high school slice-of-life 4-koma manga is filled with. And yet, I care. Because the characters resonate with me for whatever reason, because they fill some need I had, whatever. I am the least nostalgic person I have ever met, so as soon as we get to the sad, tearful farewell to our beloved alma mater, I usually check out of the story. Not that I had a bad high school experience. I think it was probably pretty average to maybe slightly better than average. I was just glad to leave and have never once looked back. But, watching Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Mugi, I can get a glimpse of what it must be like to be one of those people who walk away from high school just knowing that that may have not been the best years of their lives, but it was really, truly, damn good.

I enjoyed the heck out of K-ON!; I think the manga was fun, the anime was excellent and I’ll look forward to the movie.

And I don’t really care that when Yui hugs Azusa, there’s some very, very sad person out there thinking, “Oh, yeah! Yuri!”

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – Same 8 as before
Characters – 10
Yuri – 0
Service – 6

Overall – 9

Synchronicity strikes again: The day after this book arrived, Yen Press sent me an advance copy of their translation of the first volume of K-ON!. I won’t get to review it before I leave for Japan, but I just want to say…go get it.