Archive for the Series Category


Artbook: Higa Yukari’s Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha Force Collection (緋賀ゆかり 魔法戦記リリカルなのはForce画集)

August 6th, 2014

forceartbookThe most truly interesting thing about this book, Higa Yukari’s Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha Force Collection (緋賀ゆかり 魔法戦記リリカルなのはForce画集) is the paralyzing crisis of conscience it gave me. ^_^;

I’m in Japan in October 2013 and I see it on the shelf of Animate and I say “Ooh!” and reach for it. Then I pull my hand back, because I know the audience of the Nanoha franchise is not me and I’ve been reading Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha Force and I know what the art in Nyantype (the magazine in which Force runs) is like. This book is bound to be a disappointment, I know this.

And then we go to another bookstore and I see it on the shelf and I say “Ooh!” and reach for it. Then I pull my hand back, and I go through the whole conversation with myself again.

The fourth or fifth time I went through this charade my wife was giving me the old “Just BUY it already” but I’m shaking my head and explaining that I know the audience of the Nanoha franchise is not me and…

The last time I went through this process, I actually had the book in my hand and was on line to buy it, but talked myself out of it. I knew what would be in there…pictures that made me sad. Sigh. I put it back on the shelf and left Japan.  When I came home I put this artbook into my shopping cart on Amazon JP and there it has sat, for order after order after order, going  through the same monologue every time.

So, finally, I bought it. And, as expected, the audience of the Nanoha franchise is not me and it is all very Nyantype. Plenty of naked or nearly naked girls for thems as like that, and lots of group shots for the covers of Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha volumes.

In a nutshell, the big negative negative is that there just isn’t a great Fate/Nanoha shot in this book. There are a few side-by-sides and back-to-backs, some bath shots, but nothing that fills the gaping hole where one really fabulous Fate x Nanoha picture should live. (There’s been a few over the years, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get one from Force.)

On the positive side Higa Yukari’s art is **fantastic.** I mean, “wow, that’s an awesome picture” fantastic. Barrier jackets and weapons look better than they ever have before. The book is super thick, so if you like the group shots (and are interested in the specific composition of those pieces, and the devices, this has got a lot to look at. If you like drawings of fictitious naked girls, you’ll be well served, as well. Also some really service-y drawings of Toma, which struck me as more silly than sexy. The sexiest thing in this book is Raising Heart in her grazillion forms.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I don’t regret it, but I stare at it wistfully, wishing it just had one really excellent NanoFate picture.





Sailor Moon Original Anime Preorder on TRSI

July 5th, 2014

782009243625RightStuf has pre-orders up for the original Sailor Moon anime. The prices are very decent.

The DVD set is just over $30. This comes with no physical extras, and video extras are Convention Featurettes (Short Version).

The Combo BD/DVD set is $57 and will come with a coin of Sailor Moon’s first henshin brooch, and her transformation phrase an 88-page, full-color premium booklet, all housed in a shimmering chipboard artbox. Special Features: Dub Recording Behind the Scenes, Art Galleries, Convention Featurettes (Extended Version).

While I think the coin is a bit meaningless (no coins in the series, so why a coin? Marketing folks at TRSI, we fans like to get stuff that’s related to the series if possible,) it still seems a good deal for a BD set and artbox.





Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Manga, Perfect Edition, Volume 7 (美少女戦士セーラームーン完全版)

July 4th, 2014

I have a complicated relationship with the Sailor Moon Super S arc. In one sense, it’s 90% about Chibi-Usa, and her struggle with not being as grown up as she desires to be (the plight of most humans until 35 or so when it switches to wishing they were younger than they are.) 5% of the story is the complete and total damseling of Mamoru and the last 5% is a fantasy about a decidedly adolescent ideal of the future. The Outer Senshi are most notable by their absence until the very end…and yet it is the Outer Senshi that are the catalysts for what passes for “growth” here in Volume 7 of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Perfect Edition (美少女戦士セーラームーン).

Each one of the Inner Senshi go through a crisis of confidence when they are unable to transform. In the middle of a fight against the Dead Moon Circus, each is visited by vision of Setsuna, Haruka or Michiru, reminding them of their skills, strength and responsibility. When their own will appears to them (as a kind of miniature self) they find their new power and transform.

When last of all, Minako is suffering from her crisis, we turn to the Outers’ new home life. It has been 6 months since they vowed to raise Hotaru as a family. Haruka and Michiru appear to the public to be a married couple, but in reality, they and Setsuna are equally involved in Hotaru’s parenting.

It’s been six months, but Hotaru looks 4 or 5 years old when we first see her, reciting W.B. Yeats’ The Second Coming (a poem that is often on my mind these days for these lines:

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.)

As Minako finally gets the boost she needs to take her rightful place as leader of the Senshi, Hotaru awakens as Sailor Saturn once again, and mobilizes the Outer Senshi to join the fight against Queen Neherenia’s Dead Moon Circus.

There’s a surprising depth to this volume, if one cares to parse it. The Lemures don’t just suck away energy this time, they contribute to a general lack of caring and we physically see Azabu-Juban getting dirtier and more run down as people become more selfish and angry.  The crises the Inners have begin with their inability to transform, and it might seem obvious that their older role models provide them with new confidence, but in each case it is from within themselves that they find the spark to power up.  This is a clear lesson  – mentors are great, but you have to find it in yourself to grow.

Even Chibi-Usa who originally resents Usagi for being what she desires to be, learns that she has to change from within to become that ideal.

My sympathy for  both the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet is higher reading the manga than watching the original anime, most probably due to the compressed time we spend with them.

I’ve always said I like Super S the least but, after this volume, maybe my opinion has softened on that. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2 (Haruka and Michiru married. What a lovely thought.)
Service –2 On principle

Overall – 9

In advance, let me wish you all a happy International Sailor Moon Day tomorrow!

July2014





Rose of Versailles Anime, Part 2, Disk 3 (English)

July 2nd, 2014

Rose-of-Versailles2 The third disk of Rose of Versailles, Part 2 is brought to you by the word “clusterfuck.”

The slope towards the Revolution has become decidedly slippery. The strongest leadership is on the side of change, and the status quo just crumbles in the face of it. Perhaps, it is hard for us to understand how significant this was. Kings were not just rulers, like Presidents and Prime Ministers, who are expected to be human and flawed – they were practically gods on earth. The idea that the King of France was not a good leader seems almost obvious from our perspective. For commoners and landed classes to fight back against the established order was fairly significant.

As France descends into chaos, we’re watching Oscar, tortured by the old order and yet, not part of the new. Her life is in a tailspin, as she realizes, for the very first time,, that she has feelings for Andre’, and cares more about the health of France than about following orders. “Watashi no Andre’!”

Rosalie is back for a brief moment, so we know that she is, finally, happy.

In addition to the suffering on the macro scale, we’re getting little dollops of personal suffering on top, just to add a piquant taste to the general misery.

On the positive side, I spend a lot of time, while watching this anime doing historical research. I’m a bit more grounded now in bits of the history of the French Revolution than I was when I started.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters 9
Yuri – 0
Service – 1 (on principle)

Overall – 8

Dear gods, this series is just about all I can take in terms of drama and human suffering. No wonder I avoid watching the evening news. If I had to watch current stories like this, I’d be a wreck.

Before I finish up for today, I just want to do a piece of Okazu News. Amazon has taken a stance that is decidedly anti-publisher, anti-competition and frankly is plain assholish. So, where I can do so, I’m moving my affiliate links to RightStuf. For our purposes, this means mostly English-language anime box sets and manga. RightStuf has competitive pricing and, so far, good customer service. Japanese manga and other items will probably still have Amazon links, but where I can, I’m moving us over to TRSI. If you want your purchase to be on my affiliate code, use this link when you’re shopping and this link when you’re searching. If you’re looking for a direct link to an item, please feel free to write me and ask!





Yuri Manga: Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo, Volume 1 (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

June 12th, 2014

It was only a few weeks ago when I reported on Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (あの娘にキスと白百合を), Volume 1 and I confessed that, almost despite myself, I was intrigued. Well, apparently, my intrigue was enough for the kind and generous Okazu Superhero Dan P. and here we are! Thanks Dan!

Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (translated on the cover as “Kiss and white lily for my girl”) begins with a slightly irritating premise. At Shiroyuri Gakuen, one of the stars of the school is the beautiful, smart, talented and cultured Shiramine Ayaka. But, no matter how hard Ayaka tries, she cannot surpass the lazy, sluggard genius Kurozawa Yurine. It makes her crazy, especially as familial expectations for her performance come down to anything less than a perfect score and top ranking equals failure. And there’s Kurozawa, sleeping through class and acing the test. Ayaka is driven absolutely to distraction by her rival. I’m always frustrated with the “girl who works really hard just never wins against lazy genius” plot, but the story quickly moved away  from this.

As we all know from romantic fiction, rivalry leads to obsession, which leads to infatuation. Yurine is the one who leaps across the gap between them and brings them together, helped along by Ayaka’s cousin, Mizuki. Ayaka and Yurine are still obsessed about one another, in a good way.

Mizuki finds herself repaid for bringing Yurine onto the track and field team by finding herself in second place. She goes through a crisis, having lost her will to win, but Yurine fires her up and for the first time in a long time, Mizuki rediscovers her sense of competition. Mizuki’s partner in crime, Moe, is thrilled that she’s fired up once again, and they become closer than they were before. It’s not hard to imagine them as lovers.

Yurine had never managed to or cared to become friendly with her classmates, but now that she’s in love with Ayaka and on the track team, the sudden influx of other humans into her life has made her keenly aware of how lonely she is. On a day when she feels particularly not inclined to be alone –  but does not know how to approach others –  one of her classmates asks her to go shopping with her. Yurine spends a day doing incredibly normal things and find herself in tears of relief and joy at such simple pleasures. After Ai leaves her, Ayaka runs up to her, also in tears, mortified that she might have missed Yurine’s birthday. She give Yurine flowers, and they embrace, to Ayaka’s embarrassment. (A little side extra story, follows an adult female couple who sees them hugging in public and are motivated to take one another’s hand.) And, while Ayaka and Yurine are now an item, the final page lets us know that their rivalry is only going to get fiercer.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Very shoujo style art
Story – 8
Characters – 7 None of the characters are particularly realistic, but they fulfill their functions
Yuri – 8
Service – 1 on principle only

Overall – 8

For a “Story A” tale, it was pleasant reading, and we’ll see where it goes. This ran in Comic Alive, but it could have run in a girls’ magazine as is.

Thanks once again to Dan for the enjoyable read!