Ponyo

I keep forgetting that Ponyo will be opening in English on August 14. I wasn’t sure about going (it’s not the most exciting or coherent movie I’ve ever seen) but I think I’m leaning towards it now that I’ve seen the English trailer.  (Oddly enough, the only anime I seem to prefer dubbed are Ghibli films.)

Half my problem is the complete lack of excitement over most of the movies released this summer.  I’ve only really loved 3 so far (UP, Star Trek and Harry Potter) so my enthusiasm has waned with each new let down.  I supposed I shouldn’t punish Ponyo for everyone else’s mistakes.  :)

But!  I do feel that it’s important to support films like this in the theater.  Movie studios love looking at profit and if crappy movies get sequels based on the box office,  then I think it’s important that ones like Ponyo get my $11-13.

Plus, Leam Neeson is in it.  Gotta love that.

A quick look at Love Com 13

I don’t normally buy Love Com – after watching the anime I didn’t really feel like collecting the manga (which is why I normally don’t watch the anime version of something I’m reading) since the stories were so close.  I have to admit, too, that I didn’t really like a lot of the middle of the series.  I was kind of resentful of how badly Otani was treated by everyone just because he didn’t have romantic feelings for Risa.  I’ve been giving the volumes a quick read as they come into the bookstore, though, and I do plan to eventually pick up the rest of series someday (I already have the first four).

But, ah!  Volume 13 came in and I discovered a new story that hadn’t been in the anime!  So I bought it.  Give me something new and I will reward you financially!

There’s going to be spoilers for volume 12 here, btw.

The volume opens with a continuation of the fallout from Suzuki’s failure to get into college.  A buff judo expert has declared that he will be stealing Chiharu and Suzuki stupidly says he’ll think about it.  Silly boy.  Otani complicates matters by challenging the judo black belt on Suzuki’s behalf.  His heart’s in the right place but sickly, brainy Suzuki isn’t likely to win the fight.  We get some rare Suzuki time for the rest of the chapter as he has to rise to the challenge he’s been thrown and to prove that he’s not a loser after all.  I liked it just because Chiharu and Suzuki don’t really take center stage that often and we rarely get to see any sort of character development there.  I also like that even though he’s determined to improve himself, there are no miracles in Suzuki’s sudden character growth.

The next story focuses on Risa’s brother Taketo.  He’s failed some exams of his own, and is now stuck going to the same high school as his sister.  Taketo is incredibly bitter about this as he’s convinced that her school is filled with idiots and he’ll be contaminated by association.  Risa’s offer to show him the school and change his mind doesn’t exactly go as planned, though.  It’s cute to see how much he idolized Otani, though, especially since Otani is so often the target of everyone else’s jibes.

The last third introduces a new character – Risa’s grandfather!  He’s kind of a pervy old man, who likes to con pretty women out of their email addresses.  He’s been travelling and his grand return is marred by Otani spoiling one of his email schemes.  It’s even worse when Grandpa discovers that the obnoxious and way too short kid is his grandaughter’s boyfriend!  He’s determined to break the two up so that Risa can find the kind of tall, handsome boy she really deserves.  It’s interesting to see the kind of plot he sets into motion – usually it’s the kind of thing you expect a bitchy ex-girlfriend to pull (or Sae from Peach Girl.  heh).

It’s nice to be able to pick up this series again with some fresh material.  I do like Risa, Otani and their friends and I expected the rest of the volumes to follow along with what I’ve already seen.  I’ve always liked the art and really appreciated the fact that the students at Risa’s school don’t wear uniforms.  It’s interesting to see the fashion choices that make it into the book.  I believe that it’s pretty close to the end so I’ll probably add Love Com to my purchases for the rest of the run.  I’ve been making a lot of cuts to the list of what I buy lately so I don’t mind putting this one back on.

I don’t normally buy Love Com – after watching the anime I didn’t  feel like collecting the manga (which is why I normally don’t watch the anime version of something I’m reading) since the stories were so close.  I also have to admit that I was kind of resentful of how badly Otani was treated by everyone just because he didn’t have romantic feelings for Risa which affected how I saw a big chunk of the middle of the series.  I’ve been giving the volumes a quick read as they come into the bookstore though, and I do plan to eventually start back  up where I stopped buying.

But, ah!  Volume 13 came in and I discovered a new story that hadn’t been in the anime…  So I bought it.  Give me something new and I will reward you financially!

There’s going to be spoilers for volume 12 here, btw.

The volume opens with a continuation of the fallout from Suzuki’s failure to get into college.  A buff judo expert has declared that he will be stealing Chiharu and Suzuki stupidly says he’ll think about it.  Silly boy.  Otani complicates matters by challenging the judo black belt on Suzuki’s behalf.  His heart’s in the right place but sickly, brainy Suzuki isn’t likely to win the fight.  We get some rare Suzuki time for the rest of the chapter as he has to rise to the challenge he’s been thrown and to prove that he’s not a loser after all.  I liked it just because Chiharu and Suzuki don’t really take center stage that often and we rarely get to see any sort of character development there.  I also like that even though he’s determined to improve himself, there are no sudden  miracles in Suzuki’s character growth.

The next story focuses on Risa’s brother Taketo.  He’s failed some exams of his own, and is now stuck going to the same high school as his sister.  Taketo is incredibly bitter about this as he’s convinced that her school is filled with idiots and he’ll be contaminated by association.  Risa’s offer to show him the school and change his mind doesn’t exactly go as planned.  It’s cute to see how much he idolizes Otani though, especially since Otani is so often the target of everyone else’s jokes and insults.

The last third introduces a new character – Risa’s grandfather!  He’s kind of a pervy old man who likes to con pretty women out of their email addresses.  He’s been travelling and his grand return is marred by Otani spoiling one of his email schemes.  It’s even worse when Grandpa discovers that the obnoxious and overly  short kid is his grandaughter’s boyfriend!  He’s determined to break the two up so that Risa can find the kind of tall, handsome boy she really deserves.  It’s interesting to see the plot he sets into motion – usually it’s the kind of thing you’d expect a bitchy ex-girlfriend to pull (think Sae from Peach Girl.  Heh).  Will Risa keep her trust in Otani despite the mounting pressure?  I suspect we’ll find out in the next volume.  And these two fight enough that I’m not going to say 100% that I know what will happen.  I’m pretty sure, but not 100%  :)

I do like Risa, Otani and their friends and had expected the rest of the volumes to follow along with what I’ve already seen.  I was delighted to be wrong!  I’ve always liked the art (the characters are always really expressive) and appreciate the fact that unlike most of the manga I read, the students at Risa’s school don’t wear uniforms.  I generally like the fashion in shojo books and there’s more opportunity for variety here.  I believe that it’s pretty close to the end so I’ll  add Love Com to my purchases for the rest of the run.  I’ve been making a lot of cuts to the list of what I buy lately so I don’t mind putting this one back on.

Surprising excitement

The library I work at is usually not the most exciting place to be. I’m okay with that. But today! Today the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited the hospital so we all stood inside the library doors (we weren’t allowed outside) and watched them get off the elevator by the reception area across the way from us. I normally don’t care that much when we get celebrity visitors, but I was quite happy to take a peek today. They looked very gracious.

We contributed to the visit by way of donation of one of our book podiums which was used for the guest book signing. This was especially important for us as one half of our gate counter is attached to the podium. No stats for us, today!

It’s kind of embarrassing to have visiting dignitaries arrive during a garbage strike, though…

Living for Tomorrow

Living for Tomorrow is by Taishi Zaou, who is also Mikyo Tsuda.   (Princess Princess.)  Sneaky!  I’m trying to think if I have any other manga by someone with two “identities” and am coming up blank.

Tasuku and Ryouta are childhood friends and members of their high school karate club. Tasuku doesn’t confine his kicking of Ryouta’s ass to the club though. He pretty much does it whenever and wherever the urge strikes… and it strikes often. Tasuku has a secret though. He’s fallen in love with his friend and the abuse is a cover for Tasuku’s softer expressions and mood swings. Amazingly enough, Ryouta sticks around.

Tasuku’s main source of angst is the love he has for Ryouta and the fact that he has absolutely no hope of a romance between the two ever working out. It’s much easier to hide his feelings until he eventually drives Ryouta away.

All of this changes the night he watches a special on tv – one that reveals that all of the amazingly successful and lucky men profiled have one thing in common. A woman named Yuuko had encouraged them all at one point. In an AMAZING coincedence Tasuku’s mothers name was also Yuuko. (You can see where this is headed…)

The next day two handsome band members wait outside the gates of Tasuku’s school with a (not so) shocking revelation: Yuuko was an ageman (a woman who brings men good fortune) and though she died years before, the would-be idols are willing to take the chance that Tasuku has inherited his mother’s powers. All he has to do to prove it is to have sex with them. (He says no, to the amazement of no one.) Unfortunately the news is spreading and Tasuku finds himself very much in demand.

Although he doesn’t think he’s an agemon himself, the speculation and craziness goes to his head and he gets a not so great idea. If he *is* a good luck charm and gets together with Ryouta, then the luck that comes out of it might be enough to overcome all of the obstacles he sees in their way. So all he has to do is confess his love, have sex with Ryouta and let the luck do it’s thing. Tasuku will get to be with the boy he loves, and Ryouta will be willing to stay with him to keep the luck going. (In Ryouta’s case he’s addicted to lottery tickets. Tasuku figures winning the lottery will keep Ryouta interested.)

So Tasuku works up his nerve, brings Ryouta to his house to confess and kisses him. Poor Ryouta is now conflicted: he’s thrilled to learn that Tasuku doesn’t hate him, but isn’t sure the feelings he has for his friend are love. And he’s not too happy with the idea that Tasuku is trying to buy his love through a possible lucky streak.

Ryouta is confused about *everyone’s* feelings, and Tasuku wavers so much between knowing that his love is considered to be wrong and the hope that this supposed magic power could help that he pulls back from even trying to have any sort of honest relationship.

Fortunately these two clueless boys aren’t alone in their struggles with love. The third member of their trio – Katsuyama – is the only one who’s clear on who loves who and is stuck giving advice to both sides. Sadly, the other two never quite believe him.

Will these two crazy kids ever get together? Is Tasuku really an ageman? Will it be enough to keep he and Ryouta together? Does it really matter to Ryouta either way?

Nah, I’m not telling. Go read it yourself.

I did really enjoy this book, and I’ve always been a fan of the art in Zaou’s other work that I’ve read (as Mikiyo Tsuda). I found it amusing that after being thrown by the lack of shonen-ai in Princess Princess I found it equally odd to read a yaoi book by the same author. And it *is* yaoi. There are a few sex scenes. (Poor Katsuyama has to listen to stories about the couple’s sex life, too. heh.) I also appreciate the fact that I haven’t read enough of her work to start seeing a lot of character design overlap happening. (Seriously, I love Toko Kawai but you could stick all of her characters in front of me and I couldn’t tell half of them apart!) All in all I’m happy with the amount of character development in this single volume, even if the hero of the book did spend most of it in denial. :)

So far I’ve read four of the books Doki Doki has put out and enjoyed all of them.  I also appreciate the fact that they don’t cost as much as DMP’s larger books and that they have decent paper in them so far.  They’ve made a switch in their other line and I have to say it’s pretty obvious.  I kept flipping the pages of Flower of Life 4 to see how dark the art on the other side was but it was always ink smudging from the facing pages.  I think there was a quality vs price fight and quality took a hit.  So yes.  Props to the production for Doki Doki so far.

Gosh, that was sort of a back-handed compliment, wasn’t it?

I do appreciate that DMP is probably trying to keep costs in check though.  As someone who got stuck working in a bookstore when the Canadian/US dollars were almost at par I heard a LOT of bitching from customers when they didn’t see the prices drop fast enough for them.  Amazingly now that the Canadian dollar has dropped I don’t hear anyone pushing for us to raise prices again… Personally I think I’d rather take a slight drop in quality rather than cut back on manga titles again because the prices are too high.  

My $.02. in Canadian.

Well, that’s new!

I just went into my spam filter for the first time in a few months and there is a *bunch* of Youtube videos in there.  Mostly in Czech.  Weird.

Here’s a non-spammy video though!  A friend pointed this out a few days ago (very enthusiastically!) and I saw it today in the theatre when I saw Terminator: Salvation.

The general response to this from my friends is, “Squeeee!!1!!”

And may I say from the headlines I saw today I expected Terminator to be horrible.  I was going anyway, if for no other reason it guaranteed me the first movie in two months where I didn’t have to see that stupid trailer in the coming attractions.  (Seriously, I’m pretty sure I saw the same damn thing about 15 times!)  I liked it, though!  I’m not going to rush out to see it again (like I did with Star Trek) but I don’t feel like I wasted my time or money by going.  I also never bothered to watch the fourth movie in the franchise so I don’t have any annoying continuity problems to worry about.  :)

Speaking of movies!  Adrift in Tokyo.  A very good Japanese movie (that may still be in theatres) that’s the perfect relief from the action films that are so big right now.  Two guys wandering around Tokyo, revisiting old haunts and getting in touch with themselves.  One is a money collector who plans to turn himself into the best police station in Tokyo when he feels done walking, the other is a poor, disconnected, money-owing student who gets paid to come along.  I find it very relaxing to watch Japanese films like this.  I can just sit back and experience the film without a lot of expectations getting in the way.  I should watch more of them.

(I think it also holds the distinction of being the only movie I’ve been to lately where I didn’t have to watch that damn Terminator trailer!)

Days of Cool Idols

 There were a lot of new titles that came out in the first week of May.  I had a bit of a hard time figuring what to choose and ended up with one new Del Rey title, one from Yen Press and a Go! Comi book.  This one is part of a new imprint called go! Boyz Love.  

 The story revolves around Tsubasa, a new student at Seiko Academy.  He’s pulled into the principal’s office immediately upon arrival, to take one more special exam. Turns out Tsubasa is a candidate for the VIP group at Seiko, a group that consists of the most talented, smartest and good looking boys at school.   Yes, it’s a class of idols! 

Tsubasa protests his involvement, but the principal can see past the geeky glasses to the very very pretty boy underneath.  (Seeing as Tsubasa doesn’t look all that different with them off, I found it funny that it got pointed out several times how well the glasses disguised him.)  But wait, there’s more!  It turns out that Tsubasa isn’t only pretty, but also a dead ringer for Yui Hoshino, the new superstar idol.  This is important because her manager needs Tsubasa for a very special purpose.  Apparently Yui picked up a stalker and it traumatized her to the point that she had a breakdown and can no longer leave her apartment.  (She’s generally seen sitting in the dark huddled under a blanket.)  With the fate of her agency at stake, Tsubasa needs to shed the glasses, don a wig and dress and head out on stage to fill in for Yui while she recovers.  

Before...

 

And after!

He’s not alone, though.  In on the secret is the idol group Rinxs, who all pitch in to help Tsubasa learn Yui’s routines and how to act like an idol.  There are five members in the group, but only three really stand out.  There’s Riku (a closet otaku and obsessive Yui fanboy), Haruna (the calm, collected and oh so pretty member of the group) and Reiji (loud, blunt but honest and caring).  They take Tsubasa under their wing and become his only friends at the academy.

Reiji shows Tsubasa some moves...

Tsubasa has a bit of a complex though.  He agrees to help Yui because he knows what it’s like to be betrayed by people you trust.  His friends at his last school started bullying him because of his feminine appearance so now Tsubasa has two conflicts to overcome – he’s stuck pretending to be a girl because of the way he looks and he can’t quite trust the friendship offered by the Rinxs guys.  

Haruna's pretty...

The stories in this volume** deal with Tsubasa and Yui’s stalker, a girl group who’s lead singer has it in for Yui (and a huge crush on Haruna), and when the guys at Seiko start objecting to the special treatment Tsubasa gets, a classmate stands up for him, but has his own secret agenda.

 **This volume is unnumbered and seems like a standalone, but it reads like it needs a sequel and the manga-ka talks about wanting to do a second volume.  If there is one, it’s not listed in Amazon.  There were some things that felt unresolved – like a scene that showed Yui looking kind of jealous of Tsubasa’s success (or at least not very happy) and I missed the closure of Yui returning to the stage.**

 I actually quite liked this book.  Tsubasa’s trust issues were genuine and it took him the whole volume to really deal with them.  I thought the characters were well developed for a single volume (though like I said, two of the Rinxs members were more background scenery than important to the story) and the art was cute enough for me.  It was really pretty for the most part, but flipped into cute for the humorous bits.

Riku glomps onto Tsubasa, Reiji reacts. It's a typical exchange for the two.

 The only objection I have is the boys love label.  There’s no love here!  Sure Riku tries to kiss Tsubasa a few times, but it’s only when Tsubasa is dressed as a girl (and Riku gets hit a lot for it).  Reiji and Haruna are quite protective and affectionate, but I’ve seen more risque stuff in shojo books I’ve read.  It’s a bit slashy, but nothing I would put a shonen-ai tag on.  In fact, it gave me the same sort of feeling that reading Princess Princess did.  That one was published by DMP and involved a group of guys dressing as girls for their classmates and I had expected it to be a shonen-ai title from that.  While the two main characters developed a close friendship, it never tipped over into shonen-ai territory which was kind of disorienting.  Days of Cool Idols felt the same for me.  (Though at least with this one Go! Comi has labelled it as such so I don’t feel like the false expectations were my fault.)

If you’re interested in trying out the shonen-ai/yaoi waters, this book is less like dipping a toe in and more like standing in the damp sand next to the water.

So my verdict is: a pretty entertaining single volume with cute engaging characters, but a fail on the shonen-ai front.  I’m happy I picked it up!

a very indulgent kind of Wednesday

I’ve been trying so hard to cut back on manga for the past few months that I’d almost forgotten the heady rush of guilty pleasure that comes from spending way too much money at the comic book store.  Especially as everyone who talked to me opened with, “Are you going to Anime North?”  Why yes, I am!  My family is coming to visit for it and I’m hoping I don’t go too crazy shopping.  I don’t have much hope,  but I do have some.  :)

I went to the store after work expecting to buy about four volumes of manga and I ended up getting:

Brilliant Blue 1 – a Doki Doki title I bought because I liked the cover and back art.  The blurb was a secondary consideration.  :)

Living For Tomorrow – another Doki Doki book by Taishi Zaou who is also Mikiyo Tsuda.  I loved Princess Princess and Family Complex so this was a definite buy.  I have no idea what it’s about yet.  I didn’t bother reading the back.

In the Name of the Flower 2 – the only one I’ve read so far.  Even more enjoyable than the first one, I thought, and I liked that there was a lot of humour in it.  Mostly due to the addition of several new characters.  (I also enjoyed sitting in the courtyard of City Hall after work basking in the first nice weather I haven’t had to work through!)

Lapis Lazuli Crown – uh, there’s magic in it?  I picked it up for the energetic art and because it’s a CMX title.  I have good experiences with their books so I try to be open to their new titles.  (I’m currently enjoying their Tower of the Future series that my comic store friend recommended.)

Fullmetal Alchemist 18 – no explanation necessary!  Though this one was guilt free because I A) bought it at my bookstore with my staff discount and B) used a gift card I found when I was cleaning.  Free manga!

Flower of Life 4 – by Fumi Yoshinaga!  I’d been waiting for this one for so long that I’d forgotten a fourth volume was even in the works.  I really really like this series and it’s one of the few non shonen-ai/yaoi titles that DMP publishes.

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service 9 – again, no explanation.  I love this series.  It’s so dark and twisted but still manages to bring the humour.

Johnny Hiro – by Fred Chao.  Not a manga, but I was interested in this while it was coming out in single issues, but could never find them.  (And I refuse to shop in the store that was likely to carry it.)  I have little idea what it’s about yet (I’m not big on reading blurbs, if you haven’t guessed.  They can be far too spoilery!) but the art appeals to me.  I gather it’s about a busboy, but the first few pages has a dinosaur in it, so I’m guessing it’s a little twisty.  :)

Clover, the huge ass omnibus edition – I went to the comic store not sure if I’d be leaving with this one and feeling a little defiant about it.  It’s by Dark Horse, the publisher which is mostly responsible for the fact that I don’t buy a lot of adult-oriented manga.  (The rest of it leans heavily towards the Viz signature line and Tokyopop to a lesser extent.)  I have a thing about publishers who don’t bother to do proper sound effect translations, but Dark Horse kind of offended me by trying to convince me they were doing me a favour by leaving them out.  Apparently sound effects and mood enhancers distract from the story.  Sigh.  For someone who buys books FAR too impulsively I need checks and balances.  Rule one is No New Series From Tokyopop and rule two is No New Manga With Incomplete Translations.  

Since I’d be buying this primarily because it’s by CLAMP, and I remember being less than overwhelmed by the volumes I read way back when it was first released in North America, the translation thing was really going to be my tipping point.  But yay!  They finished the book!  In flipping through it at the store, I thought the paper they used was pretty good (but oddly seems too white), though the thickness of the volume means the spine will probably get damaged easily.  There’s also colour pages at the beginning of each separate volume, which I liked.  So, yeah.  I ended up buying it.

That was an unnecessarily long story, but since my other purchases were so haphazard I guess I was impressed that I had to waffle on this one.  :)

I was also going to buy volume 2 of Sayonara Zetsubo-Sensei but had to reconsider as that would have meant going to a third store and I was already lugging too many bags.  Soon, though!  

Tomorrow I start reading!

Reborn! volume 1

I blew through the first volume of Reborn! today at lunch.  It’s one of those books that I’ve seen around but had little interest in reading.  Then I was at the bookstore and looking for a manga to borrow and thought, what the heck.  Sometimes I pass on a good series because it looks strange so I like to check and see if I’m missing anything.

The story revolves around Tsuna, a boy everyone labels as a loser.  Worst grades in his class, if he’s on your team during a sports game it means you’ll lose, he’s unambitious and too chicken to tell the cutest girl in class that he has a crush on her.

Enter Reborn – the mafia assassin toddler decked out in a suit and fedora… and lizard.  There’s a magic lizard that sits on his hat.  Tsuna’s mother hires him to tutor her son (Yeah, I don’t know.  Maybe since he talks like he’s 40 people just assume that a toddler could tutor a middle school student with no problem) and then is thrilled when Reborn says he’ll be moving in with them until Tsuna’s grades improve.

He has his reasons, however!  It turns out that Tsuna is next in line to be boss of the  Vongola family.  Reborn is going to train Tsuna to be man enough to take the job.  His secret weapon for this is his gun that shoots magic bullets… or something.  We first see the Deathperation shot.  Basically, if you get shot and die with regrets the shot brings you back to life and gives you the power to fix your regret.  It’s kind of lame, actually. 

Much of the first volume is spent with Tsuna screwing something up, Reborn shooting him with whatever shot is most appropriate (ie if he gets shot in the legs he gets super jump abilities), Tsuna saves the situation (sports, girls, a fight) and may or may not be learning important lessons about not giving up.  It seems like kind of a cheat that all of his problems are solved by a toddler with a magic gun giving him superpowers.

I was also kind of horrified during the scene where Reborn, Tsuna and a girl in his class decide to play Russian Roulette with one of Reborn’s guns.  (The girl thought it sounded fun!) I did a quick check of the back and yes, this has an older teen rating.  I’m not sure why that scene bothered me more than all of the others of Reborn shooting people, but it did.  Maybe because it seemed more realistic and dangerous than the other weird happenings.

To be honest I wasn’t a fan of this book.  It was repetitive, none of the characters were really that interesting and some of the concepts were just inexplicably weird.  But!  It’s a first volume and first volumes are often repetitive and shallow.  I’m guessing/hoping that as the series goes on we see more of Tsuna getting stronger on his own and quite possibly even an explanation for why Italy has so many toddler assassins.  I’ll probably read the next volume when I’m bored and nothing else appeals to me.  I’m pretty sure the story can only get better.