I heard about Solanin twice in the course of a week or so (once at a staff pick section in Barnes & Noble and another from a Twitter feed) so I figured I would get it from the library.

Blurb:

College graduates struggle to cope with the real world. Music offers refuge in this modern manga with an American attitude.

Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Shigeo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn’t pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she’s just not cut out to be a part of the real world.

Review:
I think Solanin (ソラニン？）sets really high expectations and ultimately fails to deliver on them. There are lots of characters, all with unique backstories, but the interesting ones (non main characters) get pushed aside for the main plotline which I found kinda dull.

Temporally, the manga is really confusing. Manga typically signify a flashback via black borders around the edges. I couldn’t tell what was a dream, what was a flashback and what was happening in “real-time.” I’m still not really sure what happened in the story. Maybe that’s intentional?

This book is definitely relevant to my interests as a mid 20-something going through a quarter life crisis. I have a feeling it would be more relevant if I was living in Japan. There are a number of cultural references and it’s hard to pick up on them if you don’t know about Japanese culture. For example, the job of Office Lady (OL) doesn’t really exist in Western culture. Meiko is fighting against that culture of working at an office to find a hard working husband so she can quit. From a Western perspective, I think Japanese feel more “trapped” in their system than many of their Western counterparts do.

I think this is a first attempt from the author. In that case, it’s good, but the amateurishness of it definitely shows as well. Solanin shows promise, and it isn’t bad, but I feel it could have been a lot better.

Okay, so it’s been a while since I posted on this blog. I finally graduated and I have some free time to read stuff, including manga. So I finally read the second volume of Kashimashi, only about three years after I read the first one… At least the complete series is already out!

In this chapter, Tomari really starts to understand her feelings for Hazumu. Which is that she wants to bone him/her… Or at least keep Yasuna from getting with her. This makes Tomari kind of a bitch. But she’s also Hazumu’s childhood friend, which wins her points. Conflict! Hazumu also shows that she is less decisive than Hamlet. Which is to say she can’t even pick which kind of cotton candy to eat (they all just taste like sugar anyway, kid!).

Ayuki steals every scene she is in. But maybe that’s just because I have an obsession with Ayuki. She should really be one of the potential girls for Hazumu. And Hazumu’s best friend who is a dude is pretty hilarious. First he denies having a crush on his (prior) bro. Then he gives up and has lots of fantasies that are really wrong.

Kashimashi is pretty formulaic and situational, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining as well. The characters all mingle well with each other and a sort of equilibrium is achieved. It also doesn’t hurt that the manga is really well drawn and visually appealing (minimum of dudes per panel). I might pick up the Kashimashi Omnibus(es), which are apparently the entire series, halved. So you get vol 1-2.5 in the first one and 2.5-5 in the second one, which is due out in December. For like $10 each. Sounds good to me!

Disclosure (because I guess the FCC requires it now? But I did it before anyway): Seven Seas Entertainment provided a review copy of Kashimashi Vol. 2 to me for free. Thanks guys!

This 6th volume of Love Com was a bit dissapointing, for the fact that very few names were called. Sure, there was plenty of “shrimp” thrown out there, but that’s Risa’s main attack. Otani threw a “Gigantosaurus” out there, but that was mainly it.

So let’s see… What happened in this volume? Oh, that’s right. Otani accidentally kissed Risa, then forgot about the whole thing because he was sick. It’s funny because they even mention this as “The Blackout Defense!” Then Risa steals a kiss from Otani, but immediately quits him. This comes off as only slightly implausible (because women are naturally illogical).

Enter Mighty-sensei. I was actually kind of surprised that Risa was loyal to Otani for a little while after Mighty showed up. It’s only after Otani told Risa about the whole grain of rice thing that Risa went over the edge. The whole Mighty arc for me is a bit boring. Mighty is sort of the voice of reason during the whole episode. He realizes that Otani likes Risa and he knowingly messes with the kids to get them together. I could imagine his plan backfiring pretty badly though, getting him into a tough teacher/student situation (isn’t that what doujinshi is for?).

At the end of the volume, Otani’s Mighty jealousy finally takes over and he grabs Risa from the ero-teacher. Good job! Now what? Oh, that’s what the next volume is for. For the sake of continuing the series, probably more hesitation from both parties.

Thoughts? This volume was also a bit too emo. At least they kissed though. Twice! Does that mean Risa’s going to make a baby!? There was also distressingly little Chiharu-chan. So disappointing.

I got the second volume of Honey and Clover (along with some Love*Com) at the library a few weeks ago and I finally read the H&C. So here’s a quick review (mostly to remind me of what happened once I decide to read volume 3).

This volume was mostly a character-building one. We learn about Takemoto’s mom and his stepdad. And how he hates going back home because of him. There’s not much in the way of Morita backstory. He stays a mystery for a while. Mayama is outed in this volume as a stalker of sorts. But he gets a good job away from Rika. Oh, and we learn about how Hagu moved away from the country to experience cool stuff so she can paint it.

This volume is notable because it contains a lot of the quintessential Honey & Clover scenes. Like the one where Hagu looks at the giraffe and sorta memorizes it so she can paint it later. Actually, I dunno if that’s a really famous scene. But I liked it. Also, the part where Mayama carries Yamada and she confesses her love to him is in this volume. So sweet. Oh and the part where all the kids look for the four leaf clover to give to Shuu is here, too. Natsukashii!

I like reading Honey & Clover. It’s pretty dramatic and I enjoy that. It makes me want to make my life more dramatic as well! Maybe I should just settle for reading about it though. My feeling is that the narrative is a bit random. Like there’s no driving plot behind anything. Just a pair of love triangles. But I suppose that’s good enough for now.

Um. Thanks, AADL for letting me borrow Honey & Clover Volume 2.

I dunno how I missed this but it looks like Broccoli Books USA is closing shop. This is really depressing and makes me wish I had reviewed more of the stuff they sent me. I thought Broccoli always did the best job with their books (super heavy quality paper, sometimes too heavy!) and artbooks. Plus they did a lot of Disgaea stuff!

My thoughts are with all those affected by the closure, including main PR person (and other stuff person) Shizuki who was always so nice and responsive to my emails. Best of luck to you in the future!

Mao-chan is the other, other Akamatsu Ken property that sort of comes after the popularity of Love Hina and Negima. And I think there’s a reason it’s not as popular…

Book Blurb:
Japan has been invaded by aliens–but this is no ordinary assault. These extraterrestrials are cute and extremely dangerous. Their mind-blowing powers are way too much for the military. Enter Mao-chan, the daughter of a great general, and her charming best friends–Japan’s only hope against this massive attack of the adorables!

Review:
Mao-chan basically consists of one joke: cute aliens are stealing Japanese so cute girls are needed to fight them, cutely. Because if Japan was to use a nuke against a cute alien, it’d be totally uncool. Mao and friends fight against the alien threat and seem to endure mostly on luck. Their super complicated weapons never really do the job; Mao is too clumsy to make the triangle of destruction work. Rather, bonking the aliens on the head (cutely) is the preferred method of neutralizing the threat.

Throughout the manga, there are some fairly cute and sentimental moments. Unfortunately they’re all incredibly cliche by now. Perhaps they weren’t when the manga was originally released in 2003. Stories about girls becoming BFF or klutzy girls running away from the school athletic festival or girls without moms celebrating Christmas feel really manufactured. Maybe it’s just my own familiarity of the source material, but it just doesn’t feel like there’s any substance to the stories. Even when something interesting happens, it’s within the narrow confines of the restrictive “something cute happens, aliens appear, Mao screws up but saves the day anyway” plot.

The last two chapters kinda made up for the rest of the book with an epic Freudian moment of a girl resuscitating her alien pal by blowing air into him. The money line is “Am I seeing things are is he starting to plump up?” You cannot make this stuff up.

Along with the “All grown up” bonus chapter at the end, I guess Mao-chan can be interesting. But for the most part it’s really formulaic.

It also seems as though many of the side characters aren’t getting the exposure they should to make the story actually interesting. The three kids get too much spotlight. Plus they’re kind of boring once you get past their token traits. I kinda got confused when they threw other generic kids into the mix because I couldn’t tell Mao apart from them.

Overall, I guess I’d only recommend Mao-chan if you really liked the anime. I think the stories in the manga are original. Even if you like Akamatsu Ken, it’s his work only in character design.

Thanks to Del Rey Manga for sending me a review copy of Mao-Chan Volume 1!

So what’s the deal with anime and manga products getting bigger and bigger? I mean, who are the ad wizards who came up with that one? </end Seinfeld reference>

Anyway, I’ve noticed that anime is getting packaged in larger and larger sets (like the half-season sets and full season sets from Funimation) along with some new giant manga volumes (like the Mao-chan I just got from Del Rey that’s like 380 pages!).

I wonder what this is a response to. The previous method of releasing series very, very slowly (I remember Jeff Lawson’s post about how Full Moon wo Sagashite would take for-e-ver) might not have paid off for distributors. So instead, they’re slamming fans with lots of a series off the bat. Maybe it just makes sense for companies with a trillion licences too (like Funimation and Del Rey, the two companies I referenced).

Is it better or worse for fans? The whole slow release thing just doesn’t make sense in the world of digital downloads anyway, so this is probably a response. I’m sure jpmeyer would be able to give a good explanation of this (he probably has already). Just thought I’d mention this since I noticed a trend appearing with the appearance of giant-sized manga as well.

Wherein the Afro Samurai kills everyone. Yes, EVERYONE!

Book Blurb:
It is said that he who wears the No. 1 headband shall rule the world. It is also said that only he who wears the No. 2 headband may challenge the No. 1.

Years ago, a swordsman who wore the No. 1 was brutally slain by a power-hungry gunman named Justice. The swordsman’s son witnessed the murder, and has grown up to become the cold-hearted warrior Afro Samurai. Afro has honed his skills with a single purpose in mind.

With the No. 2 band around his forehead, Afro sets out to give Justice his due. But with scores of assassins and two-bit warriors eager to kill the No. 2 and take his place as top contender, will he survive long enough to avenge his father’s death?

Review:
So I reviewed the Afro Samurai anime series a while back. Apparently they adapted it into a manga. The back of the book says “The basis for the hit Spike TV series” but I’m pretty sure this manga came afterwards. The origins of this manga are actually kind of confusing to me since it reads like a normal graphic novel, left to right. I’m not sure if it’s flipped or if it was written for a Western audience. I guess it doesn’t really matter too much either way.

The manga starts off much like the anime with Afro seeing his dad, then no. 1, killed by that gunman and getting the no. 2 headband. He grows into a psycho killing machine whose only reason for living is revenge. But from there, it seems almost all of the plot elements are different from the anime (or I totally forgot everything that happened in the anime).

Afro goes from town to town killing people and looking for no. 1. It’s funny because unlike a normal protagonist, Afro has no problem killing anyone, using women as human shields, kicking guys in the nuts, etc. He’s not really likable at all. He is a badass, but he doesn’t score points for saving anyone. Of course, the guys he’s fighting are kind of jerks too (some use naked women as dining tables, wtf?) so that must make his behavior okay.

One interesting thing about this manga is that it’s presented in three colors: black, white and red. Yes, there’s so much blood spilled that the publishers deemed it necessary to actually color the blood in. I wonder who had the job of doing the blood after the pages were inked in? Or maybe the artist specifically decided to do the manga in three colors.

I think heroes are generally interesting because they have a sense of humanity to them. Superman is boring because he’s basically invincible. Batman is interesting because he’s got some issues (and he’s mortal). Afro Samurai is also boring because at this point in the story he has no humanity and for all purposes he’s invincible. A lot of the art is so confusing that I’m not sure exactly how he survives stuff, which doesn’t help. Judging from the anime, Afro really never does gain his humanity later on and the story ends up feeling very two-dimensional (no pun intended).

This volume ends with Afro being thrown off a cliff by the guy in the mascot costume. I imagine the next volume will have some Afro flashbacks. Probably not enough to make the character interesting, but it’ll fill up pages. At the very least, the manga doesn’t repeat the anime scene for scene, which is nice.

The whole blood and guts thing kind of eludes me at this point. I’m sure I would’ve thought it was cool when I was 11, but for me it seems a bit excessive and pointless.

Many thanks to Tor/Seven Seas for sending me a review copy of Afro Samurai Volume 1!

I’ve never really gotten a figure before (the closest I’ve gotten was probably those Disgaea mini figure things) so this writeup will be from a noob’s perspective.

First off, it’s pretty alarming to open the box and find a bunch of disembodied heads and hands. I guess that’s the only way you can change out the features. But still! Maybe put them in a bag or something so they’re not so clearly in view of the complete figure!

This figure is cool because all the limbs are movable. I mean, the figure is poseable. I didn’t really get very creative, but the box has some pretty interesting poses for Yotsuba. I found that it’s pretty difficult to get Yotsuba to stand upright without falling over. Luckily she has a stand that helps her stay up.

There’s a piece in the package that I have no clue how to use. It’s like a joint, except it has two joints instead of one. Does anyone know what it’s for? I thought it might be to make Yotsuba’s neck really flexible like some kind of Japanese Yokai. Does anyone know the real purpose for the piece?

I’m usually not into collecting figures, but this Yotsuba one rocks! Now I just need a few enemies for Yotsuba to fight. Suggestions?

After trying Honey and Clover out in Anime and Movie forms, I finally went to the roots and read the manga version. Not surprisingly, it’s awesome. I should’ve read this a long time ago.

Book Blurb:
Takemoto, a sophomore art student in Tokyo, thinks his greatest worries in life are finding ways to eat more meat and getting to class on time. But with friends like his, life is never going to be that tame.

Review:
Ah, undergrad college. Certainly a time for learning about life. Certainly a natsukashii time. I still think back on my college days as being really awesome. Having a tight-knit group of friends and just having a lot of fun. So for me, Honey and Clover is really about romanticizing the experience.

Takemoto is the green sophomore and Morita + Mayama are his senior guides to life. The companionship the three dudes have is pretty interesting all by itself. Morita sort of manipulates the other two, Mayama is really cool but also kind of messed up, and Takemoto is just really sincere about everything.

On top of that situation, Hagu is the new student who Takemoto instantly falls in love with (and so does Morita, but his love manifests itself in much wackier ways. Yamada is the “Iron Man” potter who every guy loves but whose love (for Mayama) goes unrequited. And Yamada is stalking his employer, a crippled widow.

Basically, it’s a love tetrahedron (or some other really complicated shape).

But instead of piling on the emo-ness of love, Honey and Clover balances the emotions with comedy. For every tugged heartstring there’s an equal and opposite Ham-senpai. Sure, Risa is rejected by Yamada, but then Morita blocks one of her attacks and comments on her childish panties. Hagu vomits from too much stress but she also gets jealous of Yamada’s nice legs. It makes Honey and Clover really easy (and enjoyable) to digest.

Let’s face it. Volume 1 is pretty much flawless. It sketches out the relationships for all of the characters, sets the characters up themselves and ends up being thoroughly entertaining throughout. I really loved the anime, but the manga outdoes it 100%. My only complaint? The manga doesn’t play “Moon River” for me (and other diagetic songs).

Do yourself a favor and get some Honey and Clover. Mmmmm… nostalgia…

Thanks to Viz Media for sending me a review copy of Honey and Clover Volume 1!