Experiments in Manga

Manga Giveaway: King of Thorn for Keeps

2012-02-29T08:19:00.002-05:00

It's time for Experiments in Manga's monthly manga giveaway! This month you can enter for a chance to win a brand new copy of the first volume of Yuji Iwahara's King of Thorn as was published by Tokyopop. The contest is open world-wide, so I hope you'll take the opportunity to enter!

I was probably in middle school, or maybe even younger, when I first became interested in survival stories. I have yet to grow out of that particular fondness which is why manga like King of Thorn, where the characters' struggle to survive is an important part of the plot, appeal to me. Survival stories can be found in just about any genre or flavor. You have survival "games" in manga like Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi's Battle Royale in which characters face off against each other for the right to live. In manga like Dragon Head, by Mochizuki Minetaro, characters struggle not only against each other but against apocalyptic and catastrophic conditions. Characters pit themselves against nature itself in manga like Jiro Taniguichi's The Summit of the Gods. But no matter what the genre, they do what it takes to survive. It can be both terrifying and inspiring.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win King of Thorn, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite survival manga. If you don't have one, you can just mention that.
2) To earn a second entry in the giveaway, simply name a survival manga that hasn't been mentioned yet by me or by someone else.
3) If you're on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that's me).

My Week in Manga: February 20-February 26, 2012

2012-02-27T08:19:00.000-05:00

My News and Reviews

Last week was the Osamu Tezuka Manga Moveable Feast, hosted by Kate Dacey at The Manga Critic. There was a good turn out this month. As for me, I managed to post two in-depth reviews related to the Feast. The first was Helen McCarthy's Harvey Award-winning The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga. It's a great introduction to Tezuka and his works, plus its a lot of fun to look at with hundreds of images. I also reviewed the first volume of Dororo, which is one of my favorite series by Tezuka.

I've added two new blogs that I enjoy to the Resources page, neither of which is specifically about manga but occasionally features a title: Nihon distractions: Readings in translated Japanese Literature and BookDragon, a part of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. I'd also like to point out a list of Yuri Manga Titles Available Outside of Japan put together by Erica Friedman over at Okazu. The list focuses on manga that is currently or will soon be in print.

I should probably mention that Experiments in Manga has been selected to compete in the second Aniblog Tourney. (I have no idea how they found out about me.) The first tournament focused on anime blogs, but this year manga-oriented blogs will be included as well. I'm mostly interested in learning about blogs that I don't already know about through the tournament.

And as a complete side note, the fact that all of my manga quick takes for this week have something to do with boxing and/or wrestling was completely unintentional. However, now I really want someone to license Ashita no Joe. I tend to be particularly interested in karate since that is what I study, but I do enjoy series about martial arts and combat sports in general as well.

Quick Takes

Gen, Volumes 1-6 by Various. Gen is primarily touted as a digital manga magazine, but the issues are also eventually made available in print (which is how I read them). The magazine collects seinen indie and dōjinshi manga from Tokyo. There is a nice mix of stories: sports (boxing and sumo), comedy, drama, fantasy. I've never read a manga magazine before; I've always waited for a series to be collected. I am really enjoying Gen, though. I've been introduced to manga that I probably wouldn't have thought to pick up otherwise. I only have one major complaint about Gen so far and that is that there is an overabundance of spelling errors in the translation. If I notice them, you know it's bad.

Love Round!! by Hinako Takanaga. I am fond of Takanaga's work, and Love Round!! is no exception. It's a silly little boys' love one-shot, but is quite amusing and has likeable leads. Kubo is a high school boxing champion with dreams of going pro. His classmate, the effeminate looking Kaoru, turns out to be a flyweight powerhouse with a punch that can even knock out Kubo (and does so repeatedly). Kubo does his best to convince Kaoru to join his gym and the two end up becoming friends (and eventually a bit more). Kubo is a endearingly dense and his big mouth gets him into trouble on more than one occasion. Kaoru on the other hand, while cute, is a little spitfire. It's easy to forget that they're both high school students since most of the story takes place in the gym.

Super Pro K.O.! by Jarrett Williams. For a comic about professional wrestling, and despite Williams' fun artwork, I actually found Super Pro K.O.! to be rather boring. This makes me sad, because I really wanted to like it. Maybe it's just because I don't have a particular interest in pro wrestling. I think that Williams was a little too ambitious for the debut volume. So many plot elements and characters were introduced that there wasn't enough time to thoroughly develop any of them. I did like Joe Somiano, the supposed lead (I say supposed since he doesn't appear much). Once a track star, he gave track up in order to pursue professional wrestling. He's inexperienced and guileless, but very enthusiastic.

InuYasha: Season 1, Episodes 20-27 directed by Masashi Ikeda and Yasunao Aoki. It's been a while since I watched the first part of the first season of InuYasha, but there's enough recapping in each episode that I caught up pretty quickly. In fact, I feel that in general there's too much recycling. While I'm sure it was useful when the series was being broadcast, it makes marathoning a bit of a slog since it slows down the pacing of the narrative. By the end of the first season, all of the main protagonists have been introduced as well as Naraku, the primary antagonist. I'm enjoying InuYasha, but at the same time I don't really feel compelled to pursue the series, especially considering it's length. Still, I'll probably give the second season a try at some point.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion directed by Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki. Long story short, The End of Evangelion is an alternate ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series, "replacing" the controversial final two episodes. Although there were parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion I really enjoyed, I think that to some extent I've lost my patience with the franchise. The End of Evangelion does explain some things that were not made explicitly clear in the original series, which I was very grateful for, but at the same time there are still parts that are terribly perplexing and there are still plenty of questions that have answers that are left up to interpretation.

The Secret World of Arrietty directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Based on The Borrowers, a series of childrens' fantasy novels by Mary Norton, The Secret World of Arrietty is the most recent film from Studio Ghibli to be released in the United States. The story focuses on a family of small people known as Borrowers and a human who wants to befriend them. While the animation is beautiful, the garden and plants are particularly lovely, the pacing of the film very slow. I found myself paying more attention to the visual details of the world that was created rather than the actual story. I loved seeing how the Borrowers repurposed and used the items they found. My favorite part of the film was how liquids (tea, water, etc.) were handled as large droplets as opposed free-flowing fluids.

Dororo, Volume 1

2012-02-24T08:17:00.000-05:00

Creator: Osamu Tezuka
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781934287163
Release date: April 2008
Original run: 1967-1968
Awards: Eisner Award

Dororo happens to be one of my favorite manga created by Osamu Tezuka, so it made sense to me to review it for February 2012's Manga Moveable Feast focusing on Tezuka and his work. Dororo was originally serialized in Japan in Shukan Shonen Sunday between 1967 and 1968. Vertical initially published the series in 2008 in three volumes, winning the 2009 Eisner Award for the best U.S. edition of international material from Japan. The individual volumes are now out of print, but Vertical's omnibus edition will be released in 2012. In 1969, a twenty-six episode anime series based on the manga was created with an ending that provides a little more closure than the original. Dororo was also the inspiration for the 2004 PlayStation 2 video game Blood Will Tell. A live-action film adaptation of Dororo was released in 2007 and was very well received in Japan.

Thirsting for power, Lord Daigo offers the body of his unborn child as a sacrifice to forty-eight demons in exchange for their aid in conquering the country. The child is born missing forty-eight body parts and is abandoned. Rescued and raised by a kindly doctor, Hyakkimaru must eventually set off on his own, hoping to find happiness and to regain his body. Pursued by demons and dead souls, he is shunned by others, leading a lonely existence until he saves the life of Dororo, a young thief who is similarly reviled. Dororo, like Hyakkimaru, is also hiding a tragic past, but is surprisingly resilient and stubborn. Although Hyakkimaru is initially reluctant, the two being traveling the war-torn countryside together. Moving from village to village and confronting monsters and demons along the way, the two have each other and not much else.

Tezuka's artwork in Dororo is wonderully cinematic and has excellent pacing. The battles and sword fights are varied and exciting; the demons and spirits Hyakkimaru must face are monstrous and terrifying. Although Tezuka's style is somewhat cartoonish, the art can actually be quite gruesome. Occasionally the action isn't entirely clear, but the overall effect is very engaging. Tezuka isn't afraid to use extended moments without dialogue as Hyakkimaru and Dororo wander through the country. More emphasis is given to backgrounds and landscapes than in some of Tezuka's earlier works, granting Dororo a solid sense of place. Tezuka draws visual cues and plot elements from samurai films and stories as well as from traditional Japanese folklore, legends, and tales. Mixing these elements together with his own ideas and thematic sensibilities, Dororo is a series that is uniquely Tezuka. The two downtrodden leads, carrying on with their lives under adverse and less than ideal circumstances, are very likeable and it is fascinating to watch their relationship develop.

If there is one thing that annoys me about the first volume of Dororo it's that early on several characters make comments about dump trucks, space aliens, cyborgs and such which really threw me out of the story and setting. In many ways, Dororo can be seen as a transitional series, a bridge between Tezuka's earlier and later works that expanded his audience and introduced darker themes and darker protagonists. Hyakkimaru, with his fancy prosthetics and gadgets, could be a feudal era Astro Boy but is even more closely related to and serves as a prototype for Tezuka's later character and fan favorite Black Jack. While this is certainly interesting, personally I love Hyakkimaru for being Hyakkimaru. He is a complex character; cynical and world-weary, he continues to fight on despite persecution form demons and humans alike. I have reread Dororo several times now and I still love the series as much as I did the fist time and maybe even more. Tezuka is a phenomenal storyteller.

The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga

2012-02-22T08:35:00.000-05:00

Author: Helen McCarthy
U.S. publisher: Abrams ComicArts
ISBN: 9780810982499
Release date: October 2009
Awards: Harvey Award

The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy has been sitting on my shelf since it won the 2010 Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material. I had flipped through it several times but had never read the book in its entirety. Since February 2012's Manga Moveable Feast focused on Tezuka and his works, it seemed an appropriate time to finally get around to doing so. The Art of Osamu Tezuka is a handsome volume published by Abrams ComicArts in 2009. It's large red cover with the iconic Astro Boy is instantly recognizable. Also included with the book is "The Secret of Creation," a behind-the-scenes DVD documentary of Tezuka at work. The Art of Osamu Tezuka is a combination of biography, art book, and catalog of major works printed in full color. Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the Akira manga and anime, wrote the foreword. Although Tezuka is a very important figure in manga, I actually knew very little about him and his work, so I was looking forward to reading The Art of Osamu Tezuka.

Osamu Tezuka was born on November 3, 1928 in Toyonaka to his parents Yutaka and Fumiko. Growing up in Takarazuka with his two younger siblings Hiroshi and Minako, Tezuka's parents encouraged the creativity and imaginations of their children. Tezuka became an accomplished artist at a very young age. He attended medical school with the intention of becoming a doctor, but abandoned the pursuit with his family's blessing when he realized it would mean giving up what he really loved--storytelling and art. Eventually moving to Tokyo, Tezuka became a very successful and very prolific mangaka, one of the first to coordinate teams of assistants to manage huge workloads. He also became involved with animation and founded his own studio, constantly experimenting with new techniques and developing innovative ways to produce shows more quickly and cost effectively. On February 9, 1989, Tezuka died of stomach cancer at the age of sixty, leaving behind a lasting legacy that has influenced generations.

After a brief preface, the first chapter of The Art of Osamu Tezuka follows Tezuka's family history and early life. Tezuka's "star system" is explained in the second chapter, something I never quite understood until now. Basically, Tezuka had a set of characters that he would use like actors, who would sometimes portray themselves and sometimes take on other, often typecast, roles. In chapters three through seven, McCarthy takes a look at Tezuka's career and life decade by decade, beginning with the 1940s and ending with the 1980s, particularly noting developing themes and influences. Each of these chapters includes a section devoted to the major works that began their release in that decade. The only thing unfortunate about this is that some series with multiple iterations, like Astro Boy, end up appearing in several chapters without much cross-reference. The final two chapters are devoted to Tezuka's unfinished works and his lasting influence, respectively. Also included in The Art of Osamu Tezuka is a bibliography, an index, and a list of works by Tezuka that as of 2009 had been translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German.

The Art of Osamu Tezuka consists of numerous mostly self-contained summaries and short essays, generally only a page or so in length, accompanied by hundreds of images. The book is structured in such a way that readers can either peruse the volume from beginning to end, providing a comprehensive synopsis of Tezuka and his work, or simply pick and choose subjects, titles, or images that interest them without causing too much confusion. Compared to his total output, very little of Tezuka's work is currently available in English. I knew the man was prolific, but I had no concept of just how astoundingly prolific he was until reading The Art of Osamu Tezuka. I also didn't realize that he would revisit already completed works, often rewriting or redrawing them for later editions and republication. The Art of Osamu Tezuka is a fantastic introduction to Tezuka and a wonderful overview of his career, making the volume very easy to recommend.

My Week in Manga: February 13-February 19, 2012

2012-02-20T08:14:00.002-05:00

My News and Reviews

Two reviews for you all this past week! I took a look at the penultimate volume of the "The Marches Episode," The Guin Saga, Book Four Prisoner of the Lagon by Kaoru Kurimoto. The more I read of The Guin Saga, the more I like the series, so I'm sad to be getting close to the end of the portion of the series that's available in English. I also reviewed Takako Shimura's Wandering Son, Volume 2--my first in-depth manga review for February. I love Wandering Son very much and can't wait for the next volume to be released by Fantagraphics.

This week is the Osamu Tezuka Manga Moveable Feast, hosted by Kate Dacey at The Manga Critic! I've got a bunch of Tezuka quick takes for you here. (I was actually hoping to have more, but my folks came to visit me this weekend; I spent most of my time hanging out with them and eating good food instead of reading manga.) Later this week I'll have reviews up for The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy and the first volume of Tezuka's Dororo, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine.

Quick Takes

Black Jack, Volumes 1-3 by Osamu Tezuka. Black Jack is one of Tezuka's most beloved characters, and I have to admit I'm rather fond of the rogue doctor myself. The series also allows Tezuka to make good use of his medical background, having studied to become a doctor himself at one point. In fact, Tezuka (as a character) repeatedly appears in Black Jack as a doctor. Although there are recurring characters, each chapter of Black Jack stands alone as its own story. The tales all reveal a little bit about Black Jack and his background, but they aren't told in chronological order which can occasionally be confusing. He can come across as a bit of a bastard at times, but a loveable one.

The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka. The Book of Human Insects is one of Tezuka's darker manga intended for adult audiences. Toshiko Tomura is an incredible mimic, a genius that can quickly and effectively copy and make use of the skills and talents of her targets. This has allowed her to win multiple awards in various disciplines and has propelled her into the media's spotlight. But even with all of the attention she has gained, she remains a mystery. And despite all of her accomplishments, she seems to lack a true identity of her own. I quite enjoyed The Book of Human Insects. It's shorter and more focused than many of Tezuka's other adult works. I was particularly struck by Tezuka's use of panels and page layouts in this volume.

Princess Knight, Parts 1-2 by Osamu Tezuka. Historically, Princess Knight is an important series in the development of shōjo manga. I didn't enjoy the series as much as I was hoping or expecting to, but I still like the series quite a bit. And the lead, Sapphire, is delightful, as are many of the other characters in the cast. But, holy cow, Tezuka hardly stops to let the readers catch their breath. He introduces plot point after plot point, storyline upon storyline, before ever really resolving or thoroughly developing the events that have already been set in motion. Princess Knight is fun, but dizzying with the amount of material that Tezuka crams into the short series. Somehow though, it remains coherent.

Swallowing the Earth by Osamu Tezuka. Despite some of the weighty issues that Tezuka addresses in Swallowing the Earth--racism, economic disparity, crime, etc.--I find it difficult to take the manga seriously as a whole. Part of this is due to the goofy nature of Gohonmatsu Seki, one of the major characters. He's a drunkard, but I do like the guy. And Swallowing the Earth is entertaining even if it is a rather strange manga. It's an interesting mix of seriousness and silliness. Tezuka does have a habit of going off on story tangents that don't immediately appear to tie back into the main plot, but eventually they always do. Swallowing the Earth was recently brought back into print by Digital Manga through a Kickstarter project.

Wandering Son, Volume 2

2012-02-17T08:45:00.000-05:00

Creator: Takako Shimura
U.S. publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 9781606994566
Released: December 2011
Original release: 2003

I have been looking forward to Wandering Son, Volume 2 by Takako Shimura with great anticipation. The first volume in the series was one of my favorite releases of 2011. Fantagraphics' editions of Wandering Son are beautiful, oversized hardcovers printed on high quality paper; it is obvious that great care has been taken with the series. Wandering Son, Volume 1 has been very well received, which thrills me. It is not very often that a comic (from any country) deals with gender identity in such a sensitive and accessible way, which is why I am so incredibly happy that Wandering Son is being translated into English. The series is over ten volumes in Japan and is still ongoing. The second volume of Wandering Son was originally published in Japan in 2004. I sincerely hope that the series continues to receive the positive attention it deserves from English-reading audiences so that Fantagraphics can continue to release more volumes.

Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki are two middle-schoolers who share a secret--Shuichi, a boy, wants to be a girl while Takatsuki, a girl, wants to be a boy. The two friend often sneak off together, Shuichi wearing a girl's sailor suit and Takatsuki wearing her fathers' old school uniform. Very few other people know of their secret and the two of them are very lucky to have each other. Even their families are unaware or don't take the clues that are discovered too seriously. But even though the friends of Shuichi and Takatsuki's who know of their secret are accepting and supportive, they both must deal with teasing at school. Shuichi in particular is having a difficult time; Takatsuki's tomboyish attitude is still acceptable at their age while Shuichi's more docile nature (although he is growing to be more confident), is beginning to become suspect. Children can be exceptionally cruel to each other.

As Wandering Son progresses, Shuichi and Takatsuki's support system slowly expands. Their classmate Chiba, who comes across as a little strange in the first volume, proves to be a fantastic ally. (One particular scene towards the end of volume two just about had me cheering out loud.) Yuki, the woman that Takatsuki meets while dressed as a boy in the first volume, also returns, becoming a friend to bot her and Shuichi. But not everything is sugar and spice in Wandering Son, snips and snails make their appearance, too. Both Shuichi and Takatsuki come from very loving families, but some of their actions are still hurtful without their even knowing it. Takatsuki's mother still buys her daughter dresses that she has no intention of wearing. Shuichi's parents unintentionally dismiss his dreams in passing. As Takatsuki and Shuichi grow older, their lives increasingly become more complicated.

I really do love Wandering Son. The story has a quietness to it that hides the intensity of its emotion. While gender identity is an important part of Wandering Son, it is not the only aspect of the story or of the characters. Shuichi, Takatsuki, their friends, families, classmates, and teachers all come across as real people. The connections between characters transcend gender, too. Friendships are developed and strengthened by common interests and standing up for each other. Yuki and her boyfriend present an uncomfortable problem--Shuichi and Takatsuki's parents and teachers are understandably concerned about the two suddenly having grownup friends who they are reluctant to admit to how they met. But Yuki is, and will be, a very important person in their lives. Also included in the second volume of Wandering Son is an brief but excellent essay by the series' translator Matt Thorn, "Transgender in Japan," which helps give further insight into the series. I can't recommend Wandering Son enough and am really looking forward to the next volume.

The Guin Saga, Book Four: Prisoner of the Lagon

2012-02-15T08:42:00.001-05:00

Author: Kaoru Kurimoto
Illustrator: Naoyuki Kato
Translator: Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781934287194
Released: May 2008
Original release: 1980
Awards: Seiun Award

Prisoner of the Lagon, with illustrations by Naoyuki Kato, is the fourth book in Kaoru Kurimoto's heroic fantasy light novel series The Guin Saga. Immensely popular in Japan, The Guin Saga is over one hundred volumes long. In 2010, Kurimoto even won a Seiun Award for the work as a whole. The Guin Saga hasn't met with as much success with English-language audiences. Only the first five volumes which make up the first story arc of the series, "The Marches Episode," have been translated by Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander. Originally published in Japan in 1980, Prisoner of the Lagon was released by Vertical in 2008 as a paperback. Prisoner of the Lagon is the first volume of The Guin Saga not to receive a hardcover edition from Vertical. Although I wasn't overly impressed by the first novel in The Guin Saga, I have since become quite fond of the series and so was looking forward to reading Prisoner of the Lagon.

The deadly battle for Nospherus and for control of its secrets is a long one. The Sem continue to harass and ambush the the Mongauli troops. Despite its superior numbers and resources, the invading army's morale is steadily declining. General Amnelis must take decisive action against the Sem and turn the tide of war before her troops lose all confidence in her leadership and their mission. Her foe, the mysterious leopard-headed warrior Guin, knows that the Sem won't be able to hold out much longer. Their familiarity with Nospherus has given them an important advantage against the Mongauls, but no mater how dirty the Sem's tactics they will eventually lose. Guin believes they only have one chance for success. Leaving the Sem to fend for themselves, he heads deeper into the wilderness of Nospherus, hoping to find and enlist the aid of the Lagon, a race of giants who are only rumored to exist.

While Guin has always been a prominent player, the saga is named for him after all, many of the previous volumes in the series have heavily featured other characters. Prisoner of the Lagon turns much of the focus back to Guin. More and more is revealed about him as more and more is revealed about Nospherus. But even now, very little is actually known about Guin. Both allies and enemies, not to mention Guin himself, wonder who this god-like warrior really is, what lurks in his past, and where his destiny lies. None of these questions are definitively answered in Prisoner of the Lagon, but the hints that Kurimoto drops are becoming less subtle. The convenient restoration of Guin's memory when needed for the story still bothers me, but it bothers Guin, too. At least this means Kurimoto is aware of the issue and Guin tries to come up with a satisfying explanation.

A few things stand out for me in The Guin Saga. Kurimoto writes fantastic fight scenes. In Prisoner of the Lagon, Guin in particular has a few excellent solo battles in which he is revealed not to be all powerful even if he is an incredible warrior. While the conflicts in The Guin Saga are engaging, I wouldn't say that the violence is glorified. Strategic errors made during war have brutal and fatal consequences; Kurimoto doesn't shy away from horrifying outcomes. Morality is a complex issue in The Guin Saga. The protagonists are capable of truly terrible things that are made no less horrible because they are in the right. On the other hand, Kurimoto doesn't demonize the saga's antagonists. In fact, the characters are often sympathetic. Count Marus, commander of Mongaul's Blue Knights, is a good example of this in Prisoner of the Lagon. He has a family that he misses, close friends and comrades that he worries about, and he genuinely cares for the men who serve under him. The Guin Saga gets better and better with each book. I'm looking forward to reading the final volume of "The Marches Episode," The Marches King.

My Week in Manga: February 6-February 12, 2012

2012-02-13T08:25:00.002-05:00

My News and Reviews

I posted two reviews last week. The first was for Isuna Hasekura's light novel Spice & Wolf, Volume 5. I'm really enjoying this series, much more than I expected I would. I'm looking forward to the next volume's release, currently scheduled for June. The second review I posted was for Haruki Murakami's oral history of the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attack, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. It's an excellent volume that is an abridged translation of two of Murakami's books, Underground and The Place That Was Promised.

Reverse Thieves has an great post about The Heroines of Princess Knight. It should help you get in the mood for February's Manga Moveable Feast featuring "the god of manga" Osamu Tezuka and his works, hosted by Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic. The Feast will be held from February 19 to February 25. For more information, see Dacey's call for participation. It should be a good time! I plan on reading a bunch of Tezuka manga and should have a couple reviews ready for the Feast.

Quick Takes

Bunny Drop, Volumes 3-4 by Yumi Unita. I really do enjoy Unita's Bunny Drop. Daikichi is a sweet guy who has really gotten in over his head when he takes in his now deceased grandfather's six-year-old illegitimate child Rin. The two of them make a cute little family, and Daikichi honestly cares for her well-being, but he is constantly reminded how little he actually knows about raising a kid. He very quickly realizes how difficult it actually is, especially as a single parent. Fortunately for him, Daikichi makes some "daddy friends" and Rin seems to be doing really well. Daikichi's very lucky to have Rin as opposed some of other child terrors in Bunny Drop, but he manages to handle them pretty well, too.

Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson. Neil Gaiman's The Sandman was my introduction to comics and I still love the series. Death: At Death's Door is a retelling of "Season of Mists," an arc from The Sandman which happens to be one of my personal favorites. In Thompson's version, the story is seen mostly from the perspective of Dream's oldest sister Death, who I happen to adore. Thompson contributed to the original The Sandman (although I don't believe she was involved with "Season of Mists") and has created several spin-offs from the series. Death: At Death's Door is a fun, quirky volume that is fairly accessible even to those not familiar with The Sandman. I do think that those who have read "Season of Mists" will get more out of it, though. Personally, I'm quite fond of it.

Love Machine by Amayo Tsuge. Shiro is an experimental android, a model known as an Etowa (Every Time Only With Affection). Designed as a companion and health monitor, the true extent of the capabilities of the new design is unknown. No one anticipated the intensity of the emotional bonds that the Etowa would develop for their masters. Kokuyo, after ending up in the hospital, is given Shiro as much for his own sake as for the android's designers to have a chance to collect some data. Love Machine appeals to my love of android stories, but it doesn't really do anything particularly new or unique with the subgenre. Love Machine also includes an unrelated story "My Boyfriend Is a Vampire," which is cute.

A directed by Tatsuya Mori. A is a documentary over two hours long that takes a look into the inner workings of Aum Shinrikyo and the everyday lives of its members. In 1995 members of Aum, including its leader Shoko Asahara, were involved in the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. The documentary was filmed while the criminal trials against these members were being conducted. The film primarily follows Aum member Hiroshi Araki who became the organization's chief spokesperson during this time. Very little background, context, or framing is given and so viewers are left to draw their own conclusions from the film. A, released in 1998, was followed up by another documentary on Aum directed by Mori, A2, in 2001.

The Cat Returns directed by Hiroyuki Morita. From Studio Ghibli comes a charming little tale about Haru, a high school girl with the forgotten ability to talk to cats. After she saves a cat from being hit by a truck, she finds herself the recipient of unwanted thanks from the Cat Kingdom. It turns out that the cat she saved, Lune, happens to be their prince. Haru is whisked away to the Cat Kingdom and will turn into a cat herself if she doesn't find a way to return home. I enjoyed the variety of character designs for the cats; I particularly liked the secret service/bodyguards. The Cat Returns is an indirect sequel to Whisper of the Heart, which I haven't seen yet. Both are based on manga by Aoi Hiiragi.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion directed by Shunya Itō. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a pink film, more or less softcore pornography intended for theatrical release. So, yes, there is plenty of female nudity as well as a fair amount of violence. The "women in prison" exploitation film was Itō's debut directorial work and became the first in a series starring the beautiful Meiko Kaji as Sasori ("Scorpion"). After being betrayed during a sting operation by her boyfriend, a narcotics detective, Nami Matsushima is sent to prison. Abused by the guards and fellow convicts, she is determined to escape and seek revenge. The series is alluded to in Sion Sono's film Love Exposure (one of the characters dresses as Sasori) which is how I learned about the movies.

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

2012-02-10T09:21:00.000-05:00

Author: Haruki Murakami
Translator: Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel
U.S. publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780375725807
Release: April 2001
Original release: 1997/1998

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami is actually the English translation of two of Murakami's books, Underground and The Place That Was Promised, which was serialized under the title Post-Underground. Underground, initially published in Japan in 1997, collects interviews Murakami held with victims of the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo while The Place That Was Promised, released in 1998, collects interviews with members and ex-members of Aum Shinrikyo, the religious group responsible for the attack. The English translation of the two books by Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel was first published in 2000. The English edition doesn't explicitly state so, but I believe that it is an abridgement. The first book in particular, Underground, seems to be a shortened version of original Japanese edition.

On Monday, March 20, 1995--a day falling between two holidays--select members of Aum Shinrikyo coordinated and executed a release of sarin gas, a highly toxic chemical weapon designed for military use, in various locations throughout the Tokyo subway system. Many people, including novelist Haruki Murakami, were frustrated and unhappy with the media's coverage of the attack and related events. The media tended to focus on Aum and the more sensational aspects of the incident, often trampling or completely ignoring the personal experiences of the victims. Partially in response to this, Murakami decided to pursue and conduct interviews and collect individuals' stories. Of the thousands of people immediately affected by the sarin gas attack, Murakami and his assistants were only able to positively identify around one hundred forty people. Still carrying emotional, psychological, and physical scars, even fewer were willing to be interviewed. In the end, only sixty people agreed to allow their interviews to be published.

Thirty-four of these interviews are included in the first part of the book, "Underground." Murakami proceeds train by train, collecting similar stories together to create a more cohesive whole that allows the same events to be viewed from multiple perspectives. Each section of "Underground" begins with an overview of the Aum members who released the sarin gas in that particular location and a description of their actions. Before each individual interview, Murakami provides a brief introduction and personal commentary about that person. This allows their stories to not only be put in to the context of the events of March 20th, but into the context of their own personal histories and lives. These are not faceless individuals; they are real people who have lived through a terrible and traumatic episode, but this is not the only thing that defines them.

In "The Place That Was Promised," Murakami interviews eight members of Aum Shinrikyo. Some of the interviewees were still members at the time while others had left or were excommunicated from the organization. None were directly involved with the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo underground. Neither did any of them condone the actions of their fellow members. It does help to already have some basic knowledge of Aum and its beliefs to fully understand these interviews. But even if you don't, what is revealed through their stories is that they are normal people, just like anyone else, who turned to religion out of frustration with the society around them. Murakami does tend to be more argumentative while interviewing the Aum members. Before reading Underground, I knew very little about the Tokyo sarin gas attack. While the event is unquestionably tragic, Murakami handles the interviews with respect and is careful not to exploit the stories that have been entrusted to him. Underground is an compelling oral history.

Spice & Wolf, Volume 5

2012-02-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

Author: Isuna Hasekura
Illustrator: Jyuu Ayakura
Translator: Paul Starr
U.S. publisher: Yen Press
ISBN: 9780759531109
Released: December 2011
Original release: 2007

Isuna Hasekura's light novel series Spice & Wolf has actually turned out to be a really nice series. I am very pleased that Yen Press continues to publish Paul Starr's translation of the novels, the fifth volume of which was released in late 2011. Originally, the fifth volume was published in Japan in 2007. Jyuu Ayakura works as the illustrator for the novels. The Spice & Wolf series has an anime adaptation which is also quite enjoyable, but I still think I prefer the original novels. I have been enjoying Spice & Wolf much more than I had initially anticipated. The series is an interesting and sometimes odd mix of economics, light romance, and fantasy, but Hasekura makes it work. The real highlight of the story is the two leads, Lawrence and Holo. If you don't like them, you won't like Spice & Wolf. I happen to adore the two, so it was an easy decision for me to pick up the fifth volume.

Although they have been traveling together for a relatively short period of time--Holo, being a wolf spirit, has lived for centuries, after all--Lawrence and Holo have come to enjoy each other's company. Lawrence's life as a traveling merchant may have become much more eventful after meeting Holo, his very life being put into danger on several occasions, but it has also become much less lonely. Both Holo and Lawrence are beginning to dread the end of their journey and neither one of them really wants to talk about it. But Lawrence is resigned to fulfilling his promise to Holo to find and accompany her to her homeland in the north, Yoitsu. Their path has led them to Lenos where they hope to discover clues to Yoitsu's whereabouts in the town's histories and chronicles. And although it isn't the point of this particular trip, as a merchant Lawrence always has his eyes and ears open for a profitable trade.

I've mentioned this in every review that I have written for Spice & Wolf, and will probably continue to mention it, but my favorite part of the series is Lawrence, Holo, and their relationship with each other. From the very beginning of Spice & Wolf, Hasekura has let their bond slowly, believably, and naturally develop. Well, as naturally as could be expected when dealing with a human and a near immortal. Lawrence is just beginning to realize the implications of that particular situation while Holo, with more years and more experience, has been quite aware of them since the time she first met Lawrence. Similar to the third volume in which Lawrence had to come to terms with how important Holo had become to him, in the fifth volume he must now come to terms with what that exactly means. Their relationship has deepened and matured nicely, but it is still not without its problems.

Compared to some of the previous volumes, there is very little action that happens in the fifth volume of Spice & Wolf, at least externally. Lawrence still has his personal inner turmoil to deal with. (He does still manage to come to bodily harm, though.) He is starting to get used to Holo's company more and more, which means he isn't flustered by her quite as easily. But when he is, it is incredibly endearing. I enjoy their mutual banter immensely. Overall, I think Hasekura's writing and Starr's translation work continues to improve as the Spice & Wolf series progresses. The narrative and speech in the fifth volume is not nearly as stilted as those in the earlier books and are generally much less confusing. I still find myself puzzling over the meaning of a line of dialogue on occassion, but for the most part conversations are much easier to follow. I continue to enjoy Spice & Wolf and look forward to the next volume in the series a great deal.

My Week in Manga: January 30-February 5, 2012

2012-02-06T08:11:00.003-05:00

My News and Reviews

Although expected, it was a particularly slow week here at Experiments in Manga, especially after the flurry of posts I made for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast not so long ago. January's Bookshelf Overload was revealed and the Genkaku Picasso Giveaway Winner was announced. I also posted one last roundup/final farewell for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. Apologies for such a brief news and reviews section--I'm still recovering from the Feast!

Quick Takes

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, Volumes 1-4 by Harold Sakuishi. Only twelve volumes of Beck, a thirty-four volume Kodansha Manga Award-winning series, made it into English. The protagonist, Koyuki, is a fourteen-year-old boy who leads a fairly normal, boring life. Things start to get a little more interesting for him when he is introduced to indie rock music. This, among other things, inspires him to learn to play the guitar. Beck isn't a particularly quickly paced manga, but the story is fairly solid. The fourth volume ends with Koyuki about to take the stage with his friend's band Beck. I'd like to see how Koyuki's first performance as part of the band turns out and where he goes from there.

Comics Underground Japan edited by Kevin Quigley. A manga anthology from 1996, Comics Underground Japan may now be out of print but is still worth tracking down. The volume collects fourteen short comics from twelve different artists working in alternative manga. I picked up Comics Underground Japan specifically because I wanted to read Suehiro Maruo's contribution "Planet of the Jap." I'm glad that I did because the collection is marvelously diverse; I was introduced to mangaka I wasn't previously aware of and whose work I'd like to read more of. Unfortunately, they don't all have other manga available in English. Often strange and bizarre, each comic in the anthology leaves a distinct impression.

Steady Beat, Volumes 1-2 by Rivkah. Part of Tokyopop's abandoned original-English manga line, only the first two volumes of Steady Beat were published. The third and final volume was to be released online, but if it ever was it doesn't seem to be available now. Leah, the daughter of a conservative Texas state senator, discovers that her older sister might be a lesbian, throwing her life into confusion. Steady Beat is actually a rather silly comic and makes use of quite a few cliches. When it does pause to take itself seriously, it comes across as preachy. While there was certainly room for improvement, and some things annoyed me tremendously, there were many aspects of the series that I really enjoyed.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Complete directed by Hideaki Anno. Somehow, I've gone this long without actually having seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. I found it to be fascinating and enjoyed much of it although occasionally it was also very confusing. Still, the psychological exploration of the characters was compelling. The director's cuts of episodes twenty-one through twenty-four (included in the boxset) really help to tie everything together better than the originals. The final two episodes, while interesting, are drastically different from the rest of the series and aren't led up to very well. I'm not surprised fans revolted against them--they don't make for a particularly satisfying ending.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: A Final Farewell

2012-02-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

A week ago today marked the end of the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. Quite often, posts continue to trickle in even after a Feast is technically over. Here are a couple for your enjoyment.

Connie of Slightly Biased Manga reviews the second volume of Furuya's No Longer Human, noting that the series is powerful, but hard to read:

You know that Yozo isn’t going to have a happy ending. There’s nobody left to help him. And he alienates those that try. It’s a self-destructive circle, and both the story and art do a good job of portraying the utter despair that permeates absolutely everything in this story.

Over at Otaku Ohana, Jason S. Yadao provides "a between-MMF snack" and takes a look at Genkaku Picasso:

The sketches Hikari draws of the scenes he sees within people’s hearts are the perfect canvas for Furuya’s imagination to run wild, whether it’s something as simple as a mecha standing over a crystal, as complex as a giant rabbit keeping watch over a melancholy baby, or as mind-numbingly surreal as a giant rose hovering over Tokyo Tower in the rain with a rapidly rising sea.

Thank you again to everyone who did their part to make the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast a success!

Bookshelf Overload: January 2012

2012-02-03T08:53:00.000-05:00

Okay! January acquisitions were much more reasonable than those from the last few months. Hopefully I can continue this trend for a while. One of my local libraries had their January book sale which I made sure to take advantage of. You can't go wrong filling a bag to the brim for the low, low price of four dollars. My prize manga for January was the first volume of Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga. Right now, even used copies of the book are selling for well over $200. I managed to get my copy for just above cover price, including shipping. Score! Thank you, eBay!

Manga!
Black Butler, Volumes 7-8 by Yana Toboso
Comics Underground Japan edited by Kevin Quigley
Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga, Volume 1 by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma
Flowers and Bees, Volumes 2-7 by Moyoco Anno
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Volumes 1-10 by Hirohiko Araki
Kekkaishi, Omnibus 2 by Yellow Tanabe
Scandalous Seiryo University, Volume 4: Class Reunion by Kazuto Tatsukawa
Twin Spica, Volumes 8-10 by Kou Yaginuma
The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 5 by Hinako Takanaga

Novels!
American Fuji by Sara Backer
Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
Sayonara by James A. Michener

Nonfiction!
Manga Design edited by Masanao Amano and Julius Wiedemann
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945, Volumes 1-2 by John Toland
Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Anime!
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: The Conqueror of Shambala directed by Seiji Mizushima
Hetalia: World Series, Season 3 directed by Bob Shirohata
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Complete directed by Hideaki Anno
Redline directed by Takeshi Koike

Film!
Love Exposure directed by Sion Sono

Manga Giveaway: Genkaku Picasso Giveaway Winner

2012-02-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

And the winner of the Genkaku Picasso Giveaway is...Ikari!

As the winner, Ikari will be receiving a brand new copy of Usamaru Furuya's Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1. Last week, Experiments in Manga hosted the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. I decided to coordinate this month's giveaway with the Feast by selecting one of Furuya's manga.

For the giveaway, I wanted to learn a little bit about how other people were first introduced to Furuya and his works. Check out the Genkaku Picasso Giveaway comments for some great stories. I was surprised by how many people's first experience was Short Cuts, although I probably shouldn't have been. Personally, I didn't find out about Furuya until Lychee Light Club was licensed. I think I can safely say that I've made up for it since then, though.

Usamaru Furuya's Manga in English
Genkaku Picasso
Lychee Light Club
No Longer Human
Palepoli (excerpted in Japan Edge and Secret Comics Japan)
Short Cuts

My Week in Manga: January 23-January 29, 2012

2012-01-30T08:07:00.001-05:00

My News and Reviews

So, last week, Experiments in Manga hosted the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. It was a lot of work, and I stressed out about it quite a bit, but in the end I think I'd call it a success. I think I can even say that I enjoyed myself. I certainly have a sense of accomplishment. It will take me a little bit to completely recover, but I think it was worth it. February will mostly be reviews, but once March comes around I should be prepared to start reintroducing other features again. Please do check out the archive page; there were a lot of posts last week. Also, check out this month's manga giveaway for Usamaru Furuya's Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, so you still have a couple of days to enter!

Quick Takes

Goong: The Royal Palace, Volume 1 by Park SoHee. I'll admit, high school romances aren't really my thing, but I still enjoyed the first volume of Goong. Probably because I enjoy a bit of court intrigue. The concept is interesting: What if a monarchy still existed in Korea? Chae-Gyung, a commoner, finds herself an unwilling participant in an arranged marriage with the Crown Prince Shin Lee. He's not particularly happy about it either, mostly hoping that she'll at least give his family a hard time. Shin Lee comes across as a jerk most of the time, but he fortunately isn't a complete ass. It's really hard to tell sometimes, though. The first volume also includes a lengthy interview with the creator, which is a nice touch.

Love Pistols, Volumes 1-5 by Tarako Kotobuki. Love Pistols (the title is actually Sex Pistols) is just so...entertainingly bizarre. Male pregnancy, animal souls, constantly shifting sexuality, gender and sex--I couldn't help but like it. "Zoomanity" is generally more concerned about breeding than love, resulting in some very strange relationship dynamics and convoluted extended families. Fortunately, Kotobuki eventually provides a much needed family tree to help sort everything out. Kotobuki's artwork sometimes leaves a bit to desire; body proportions, especially in earlier volumes, are frequently off. Tokyopop published the first five volumes of the still ongoing series; currently SuBLime is offering a digital edition, with the possibility of bringing the manga back into print.

Tesoro by Natsume Ono. Tesoro, which is the Italian word for "treasure," collects fourteen stories and a gallery of Ono's illustrations, mostly from earlier in her career. Many of the stories were previously only published in dōjinshi anthologies. Some of the elements that feature heavily in Ono's later work are already evident here. Her love of food, gentlemen with glasses, family and interpersonal relationships, New York and Italy are all present. I found the stories to be delightfully charming and endearing. Some are funny and heartwarming while others are a touch melancholy or sad. Ono's artwork is as distinctive as ever. It's a lovely collection, certainly a must-have for any Ono fan.

Redline directed by Takeshi Koike. Redline is one of the best looking anime that I have seen in a long time. Animated completely by hand, it is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color palette chosen. The anime's got style and is an impressive achievement. However, I never really felt engaged by the story. Perhaps it's my own fault as I'm not especially interested in racing. Despite the creative worldbuilding and fantastic character designs, I didn't find the film to have much substance to it. I never felt particularly attached to any of the characters, either, even though I did like them. Still, Redline is a highly entertaining film and a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching it, and will probably watch it again. Visually, it is absolutely fantastic.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: An Epilogue

2012-01-29T22:40:00.001-05:00

The Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast is drawing to a close. It's been a great week with some great contributions. Here are the most recent submissions.

At Experiments in Manga, I posted a review of No Longer Human, Volume 1. Furuya's adaptation of Osamu Dazai's original novel was one of my most anticipated releases for 2011. I wasn't disappointed.

Connie of Slightly Biased Manga brings us a license request for Palepoli, which includes great examples from the manga showing off the tremendous range in Furuya's artwork:

Every single one of his books is interesting to look at. He’s constantly using unusual imagery and a plethora of styles to convey the story visually, and there’s nobody quite like him when it comes to this. It’s fine art in manga form, and I wish like nobody’s business that more of his work would be licensed.

Manga Connection participates in the Manga Moveable Feast for the very first time and uses the opportunity to take a look at Furuya's No Longer Human, noting how easy it is to dislike Yozo and yet still relate to him:

Yozo is a manipulator and takes advantage, no doubt, but how many of us acknowledge it like he does? Does that make him any better or worse that us — no longer human? These are questions I could mull over a long time.

Terry Hong of BookDragon, a part of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, only recently discovered the Manga Moveable Feast and joins in for the first time, reviewing the final two books of Genkaku Picasso:

Picasso’s closer friends finally begin to wonder how he knows so much about their lives. Questions, then accusations fly, sending Picasso off on a soul-search of his own … and Chiaki must guide him through one more challenging adventure.

Genkaku Picasso is also the subject of All About Manga's Daniella Orihuela-Gruber's delightful article Usamaru Furuya’s Genkaku Picasso & Why It’s Currently the Only Shounen Manga on My Shelves which looks at the series from the perspective of someone who's not generally a fan of shōnen manga:

Genkaku Picasso, on the other hand, has enough creativity to attack unconventional issues and goes so far as to mock the generic shounen formula it does take. Not to forget the manga’s shounen roots, the ending will probably make you cry a single, manly tear. I couldn’t think of a better shounen title to read right now.

As always, if I've missed something relating to the Feast, please let me know so that I can add it to the archive. While today was the official end of the Feast, I know there are still some contributions out there being written. Maybe you wanted to participate but for one reason or another weren't able to during the Feast. Don't let that hold you back! I will be posting one last, final farewell sometime later this week. Please let me know if you plan on submitting something and I'll be sure that you are included.

I have already mentioned this several times during the Feast, but this was the first time that Experiments in Manga hosted the Manga Moveable Feast. It was a lot of work, but it was a great experience for me. I'm very glad that I volunteered. I sincerely hope that I was able to serve an adequate host. (Actually, I really hope that I was good host, but I'll settle for adequate.) But, more importantly, I hope that you enjoyed the Feast.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, especially those who contributed reviews and articles. I would also particularly like to thank everyone who helped spread the word about and link to the Feast; Experiments in Manga is a newer and not particularly well-known manga and Japanese literature blog, so I really appreciated the assistance. Thank you also to everyone who took time to comment on the various posts. And all of you lurkers who wandered around reading but not saying anything? I'd like to thank you, too. The Feast would have been unrewarding if no one showed up to appreciate it. Thank you all for making the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast a success.

I hope you'll all join us again for February's Feast, hosted by the magnificent Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic. Scheduled for February 19-February 25, we'll be celebrating Osamu Tezuka and exploring his works together. Bring a friend!

No Longer Human, Volume 1

2012-01-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

Creator: Usamaru Furuya
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654193
Release date: October 2011
Original release: 2009

Usamaru Furuya's No Longer Human, a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai's novel of the same name, was one of my most anticipated releases for 2011. The original novel was published in 1948 while the first volume of Furuya's interpretation was released in Japan in 2009. Vertical began bringing the series to English-reading audiences in 2011. (I was hoping that the third and final volume of Furuya's No Longer Human would be published in time for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Movable Feast, but alas, the release date was moved back.) Dazai's novel is a tremendous work and Furuya is a tremendous artist, so I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to read his version of the story. It's not a strictly literal adaptation--Furuya has moved the story to modern day Japan and has even inserted himself into it.

While searching for inspiration for his next series, manga artist and author Usamaru Furuya stumbles across the online diary of a young man named Yozo Oba. Yozo is the youngest son of a wealthy family. While attending a private high school in Tokyo, he was known as the class clown. Extremely charismatic, he was well liked by his classmates and teachers. What they didn't know was that it was all an act. Yozo views his life as a performance, his actions are deliberate and calculated. The intense and constant effort Yozo puts into convincing others to like and accept him leaves him miserable and unhappy. He has a difficult time connecting with and understanding other people and is afraid that someone will notice his inauthenticity. For now, Yozo just tries to act the part that is expected of him.

Furuya easily slips between and melds two different art style in No Longer Human. One is fairly clean and straightforward, primarily used for dealing with Yozo's interactions with other people. The other style is darker, murkier, and slightly more abstract, reflecting more closely Yozo's inner state of mind and emphasising his sense of separation and detachment. The contrast between the two can be rather disconcerting. Furuya's artwork is extremely effective and he creates some phenomenally chilling moments. The changes that Furuya has made to No Longer Human, which are actually relatively few, also work quite well. Each chapter closes with a direct quote from the novel and important lines--such as the one from the beginning of Yozo's diary, "I've lived a life full of shame."--are incorporated into the manga in very powerful ways.

It is not necessary to have read Dazai's original novel in order to appreciate Furuya's No Longer Human. (Although, if you haven't read the novel before, I do recommend the book.) Furuya's vision is compelling, although I didn't find Yozo to be as sympathetic in the manga. In the novel, Dazai is able to be much more explicit about Yozo's internal conflicts while Furuya relies on his art to express the same things, in some ways leaving more room for readers' individual interpretations. The artwork allows readers to catch glimpses of how Yozo sees things, often without accompanying explanation. The first volume of Furuya's No Longer Human is rather short, but if you rush through it, it is easy to miss some of the subtle cues in the art that add a tremendous amount of depth to both Yozo and to the story. If you can, take time to linger in the darkness.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Roundup Three

2012-01-28T07:49:00.001-05:00

We're nearing the end of the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, so here's the third roundup to help you catch up with what's been going on these last couple of day!

I posted two reviews here at Experiments in Manga. One for the first volume of Short Cuts, which I thought was hilarious, and one for the first volume of Genkaku Picasso. Personally, I find Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 to be one of Furuya's weaker manga, but it's still intriguing and the next two volumes in the series do improve.

At A Case Suitable for Treatment (now a part of the Manga Bookshelf network), Sean Gaffney reviews both volumes of Short Cuts, his first exposure to Usamaru Furuya's work:

It takes on a lot of funny subjects, especially the kogal movement in Japan, but it’s never mean about them. You get the feeling that Furuya likes these girls, and is rooting for them. And we do as well.

Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu returns to the Feast, this time with a review of Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1, having first read a preview in Shonen Jump, but only now reading the entire volume:

What makes Genkaku Picasso work so well are its characters. Furuya has created a quirky lead with a cast of characters to match. Hikari Hamura, aka Picasso, so named for a spelling error and his love of drawing, is a fun yet endearing lead.

Kristin Bomba, writing for Comic Attack, takes a look at Furuya's No Longer Human, Volume 2:

Furuya has a wonderful ability to illustrate the human condition, in particular the darker parts of it, making No Longer Human an excellent read. I can’t say it’s for everyone [...] but if you want a good story that is so fantastical it feels absolutely real, a story of one person’s struggle to do more than exist, then be sure to check this series out.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith also discuss No Longer Human as part of a regular feature at Manga Bookshelf, "Off the Shelf". They have a marvelous conversation addressing Furuya's artistry and the women in Yozo's life among other topics:

Disaster is clearly just around the corner, in the same sure way as you’d expect in, say, a Dickens novel. Yoshino is doomed just as it seems Oba is truly doomed, and nobody’s even trying to hide it. Furuya makes the most of this, too.

And there we have it...for now! Tomorrow is the final day of the Feast and there will be one last wrap up post before it's done. Please let me know of any Feast content that I might have missed so that I can include it in the archive. Please enjoy the rest of the Feast!

Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1

2012-01-27T09:43:00.003-05:00

Creator: Usamaru Furuya
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421536750
Release date: November 2012
Original release: 2009

After a seven year drought, Genkaku Picasso became the first in a (very small) flood of new titles by Usamaru Furuya to be translated into English. The first volume of Genkaku Picasso was released in Japan in 2009; the entire series was originally serialized in the manga magazine Jump SQ between 2008 and 2010. The English edition of Genkaku Picasso started publication in 2010. Once again, it was Viz Media that brought Furuya's work to English-reading audiences, having previously published Short Cuts and excerpts from his debut manga, Palepoli. I've had Genkaku Picasso sitting on my shelf for quite some time, but it's only now for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast that I've finally gotten around to reading it. Furuya is well known for his work in underground and alternative manga, but Genkaku Picasso is one of his more mainstream series.

Hikari Hamura, nicknamed Picasso by his classmates (much to his frustration), would much prefer that everyone would just leave him alone to his drawing. However, after a strange accident leaves him with the even stranger ability to visualize the contents of another person's heart, Picasso must learn to use his artistic talents to help others or else he'll rot away. Drawing what he sees, he can dive into the artwork and their subconscious. The problem is that the visions aren't particularly straightforward. That and Picasso doesn't really feel like reaching out to others and is much more comfortable keeping to himself. It's not easy, and there tends to be quite a few misunderstandings, but Picasso doesn't seem to have much of a choice. He might not want to, but he has to get to know his classmates better even if he does find them and the prospect terribly annoying.

One of the things that impresses me the most about Furuya's work as whole is that he deliberately creates a particular aesthetic to fit an individual manga and story. In the case of Genkaku Picasso, Furuya primarily uses two different art styles. The first, representing reality, is a more mainstream, slightly stylized manga style which utilizes screentone and such. The other is based on the approach of pencil sketches and includes hand shading techniques and crosshatching. Used for Picasso's artwork and the characters' subconsciouses, it is also a reflection of Furuya's own fine arts background. I find it interesting that the more realistic style is used to capture the unreal in Genkaku Picasso while the comic style is used to show the ordinary. Granted, even Picasso's "ordinary" is slightly off-balance and surreal, which the artwork helps to show.

I wouldn't exactly say that I was disappointed with the first volume of Genkaku Picasso, but I didn't find it nearly as captivating or compelling as the other works of his that I have read. I really like the premise of the series, but after one volume I haven't been convinced by the manga itself, yet. I feel like it wants to be deep and profound, but the first volume somehow comes across as superficial, even when Picasso is delving into the supposed darkness of other people's hearts. The problems are resolved too quickly and easily. Still, there are plenty of elements in Genkaku Picasso that I enjoy. Although there hasn't been much real development yet, I do like the characters. Picasso and his classmates Sugiura and Akane make an amusing trio (quartet if you count Chiaki). Genkaku Picasso also has a quirky sense of humor that shows up frequently. Picasso's social awkwardness (mostly self-imposed) and bluntness is delightfully endearing. So while I may not have been overwhelmed by the first volume of Genkaku Picasso, it does intrigue me and I do want to continue on with the series.

Short Cuts, Volume 1

2012-01-26T12:55:00.000-05:00

Creator: Usamaru Furuya
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781591160311
Release date: August 2002
Original release: 1998

Short Cuts was Usamaru Furuya's first manga to be published by a major magazine, Young Sunday, having previously debuted with his groundbreaking work Palepoli in the underground manga monthly Garo in 1994. Short Cuts also has the honor of being the first of Furuya's works to be made available in English in its entirety as only excerpts of Palepoli have been translated in Japan Edge and Secret Comics Japan. Viz Media published the first volume of Short Cuts in 2002 under the now defunct Pulp imprint. The manga was originally released in Japan in 1998. In addition to the manga, Viz's edition of the first volume of Short Cuts also includes an excellent interview of Furuya conducted in 2000 by one of the editor's he worked with at Garo, Chikao Shiratori, titled "An Interview with Super-Conscious Manga Artist Usamaru Furuya."

Short Cuts is a series of short manga, each only a page or two long, called "cuts." For the most part the cuts are unrelated, although there are a few recurring characters and scenarios as well as running jokes. Occasionally a set of cuts join to form a brief story, but these are generally the exception to the rule. Typically even the related cuts each have their own punchline and can be taken separately. The most common, but certainly not the only, subjects focused on in Short Cuts are kogals, defined at the beginning of the manga as Japanese high-school girls with attitude, and those who obsess and lust over them. Kogal is a fashion statement and a subculture that was prominent in Japan in the 1990s. The phenomenon reached the height of its popularity around the same time that Furuya was creating Short Cuts.

Even though Short Cuts is more commercial than Furuya's previous work, his alternative manga sensibilities are still readily apparent. Absurdity abounds. Short Cuts has a lighter feel to it overall than what I have read of Palepoli, but the humor is still fairly dark. Every once in a while it can come across as a little cruel as Furuya makes heavy use of stereotypes in the manga. However, while he may make fun of kogals, he also makes fun of those who fetishize them, and even pokes fun at himself and other mangaka and media personalities. Quite often, the various groups in Short Cuts get to make digs at each other, too, so I think it all works out. Another aspect of Short Cuts that reflects its alternative origins is Furuya's artwork, which is constantly changing to suit the gags. Furuya displays an impressive range of art styles, sometimes using several within a single cut. His kogals, however, are always quite lovely.

I am glad that I waited until the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast to finally get around to reading Short Cuts; I benefited from having read a lot of manga and don't think I would have been able to appreciate Short Cuts as much without that experience. The reason for this is that Furuya doesn't limit himself to kogals, he also parodies and references other manga and Japanese pop culture. Much, but not all, of the humor is culturally dependent, and so at least a basic understanding of Japanese society is useful. There are plenty of translation notes to help the reader along, though. Personally, I found Short Cuts to be consistently funny and frequently hilarious. It can be vulgar and crass at times, but it can also be quite clever and smart. It's not just that Short Cuts is terribly amusing, Furuya is also making legitimate social commentary through satire and black humor.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Roundup Two

2012-01-26T08:16:00.002-05:00

We're about halfway through the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, so it's time for the second roundup!

Here at Experiments in Manga I posted a review for Secret Comics Japan, a manga anthology that includes excerpts from Furuya's debut manga Palepoli. The review is for the volume as a whole, but I do briefly mention Palepoli in it. The last Wednesday of every month I run a manga giveaway. In order to coordinate with the Feast, January's giveaway is for Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1. All you have to do to enter is tell me how you were introduced to Usamaru Furuya and his work. My giveaways are always open world-wide, so I hope you'll enter! I also made a (shocking!) confession: I volunteered to host the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast before I had even read any of his manga.

Jim Hemmingfield was kind enough to contribute a guest post for the Feast at Experiments in Manga. (This is a first for the site, so I was particularly excited about it.) Jim provides a terrific overview of Furuya's manga, including works that have yet to be licensed in English. Furuya is one of Jim's favorite mangaka. It's a long post, but worth reading. To quote briefly the end of the article:

Usamaru Furuya is a unique and visionary artist; probably one of the finest artists you will find working in comics today and I hope this feast helps to spread the word.

Over at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson reviews the first two volumes of No Longer Human. Lori didn't originally plan to read the series, but found it to be a manga worthy of recommendation:

I wasn’t going to read No Longer Human. I’m one of those people who hears “literary classic”, and my brain shuts down. I’ve never been big on the drama and tragedy that usually permeates these kinds of books, but I’m making an effort to “expand my horizons”, so I decided to at least give the first volume a chance. What I found was a compelling human drama that didn’t feel like homework at all.

Linda of Animemiz's Scribblings takes time to reflect on having a limited exposure to Usamaru Furuya and his works. Linda briefly looks at Lychee Light Club and Sion Sono's film Love Exposure, in which Furuya plays the role of the leader of the Zero Church cult. In the post, Linda makes the following comment, which I couldn't agree with more:

If there were any live action movies adaption that would reflect the vision from my limited exposure to Furuya works, then Shion Sono should be the right candidate.

At Completely Futile, Adam Stephanides reviews the first two volumes of Furuya's The Children's Crusade which just recently finished serialization in Japan. It hasn't been licensed in English yet, but I sincerely hope that it will be!

The characters' lively, expressive faces as drawn by Furuya contribute substantially to the characterizations. And the art in general is excellent, both in visual storytelling and page design, and is frequently cinematic in scope and detail. Furuya isn't particularly well known for his action scenes, but the ones here are dynamic.

The Feast is well under way and there have been some wonderful contributions. If you can't wait for the next roundup, be sure to keep an eye on the archive page--I update it as soon as I learn about a new article or review. And if I've missed something, please let me know!

Guest Post: An Examination and Appreciation of the Works of Usamaru Furuya

2012-01-25T16:07:00.001-05:00

As the host of the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, I am delighted to welcome Jim Hemmingfield to Experiments in Manga as a guest writer. I am absolutely thrilled that Jim agreed to contribute to the Feast!

Jim Hemmingfield is a manga fan who lives in London. He's been collecting manga since the early 90s and is mainly interested in the more alternative artists. He would like to blog more but hardly has any time. Occasionally he posts to the Same Hat Tumblr. You can also find him on Twitter @jimhemmingfield.

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A page from Palepoli

Out of all the manga-ka to see the light of day in the US, Usamaru Furuya is certainly the most idiosyncratic; or, at least, the most versatile in his idiosyncrasies. He also seems to be one of the more successful of the alt-manga crowd in the US due to a recent resurgence of titles being released. It would, however, be an injustice to simply tag Furuya as an alt-manga artist. Instead, Usamaru Furuya is a unique creator, as happy to work in the mainstream as he is in the underground. It’s fairly common for manga-ka to produce works for different demographics (Shonen, Shojo, Seinen etc.) but I’m not sure that many have pushed the boundaries like Furuya; and, if they have, they haven’t made it to our shores. I’d go so far as to say, without learning Japanese (or possibly French?) you would be hard pressed to find such a versatile and individual manga-ka as Furuya. The only travesty is that we still haven’t had a chance to witness some of his finest moments.

A bit of background on Furuya is necessary to understand how he managed to achieve this standing. In the book Manga (published by Taschen, edited by Julius Wiedemann and Masanao Amano) there is a DVD which includes an interview with Furuya, detailing both his background and career. Whilst at Elementary School and Junior High, Furuya enjoyed drawing manga and began to submit illustrations to magazines. Unlike so many manga-ka’s stories who begin cartooning early and never stop, Furuya’s interest in manga dwindled throughout High School and College. Furuya states at this stage became less interested in manga and had little exposure to it.

Instead, he developed an interest in fine arts and theatre. He majored in oil painting at College and began to act in theatre at the same time. From here he became interested in dance, taking his inspiration from Saburo Teshigawara. His interests at this point, he says, were using his body to express. He also became interested in mono-ka, an art movement that I can find no information about online, which Furuya says is similar to the Italian Arte Povera. This is a type of 3D art, such as installations, and that was the type of art Furuya was most interested in creating around that time.

These interests continued after College. Furuya would continue to perform experimental dances which would incorporate less and less movement, to the point that they could hardly be described as dance. He would also display 1 or 2 3D pieces per year in galleries. As creating these pieces took such a long time, Furuya began to take on additional work, doing illustrations for text books, such as drawings of insects and plant photosynthesis. When he started doing this Furuya’s love of drawing was reignited. He believes that when he went to college drawing is what he really wanted to do but he was distracted by the new ways of expression he discovered and was possibly influenced by peers and tutors to pursue them leading him away from illustration. Whatever the cause, if not for the uncommon path Furuya travelled, his manga would probably not be as unique and interesting as they are.

Furuya was 24 when he began producing his first manga, Palepoli, which was serialised in the seminal underground manga anthology Garo. Palepoli was my second exposure to Furuya’s work, in the sadly now out of print Secret Comics Japan (published in 2000 by Viz). Palepoli is a Yonkoma style manga, generally a gag strip, always consisting of four panels. Furuya started with this format as he was only starting out and was nervous about creating a longer narrative. He says that he also tried to take the fundamentals of art to create a manga and that he would take an entire day to draw one frame, meaning each page would take four days to complete. Unlike traditional Yonkoma, which consist of four horizontal panels that read top to bottom, Furuya had Palepoli set out like a four panel grid. Furuya’s art background, coupled with the amount of time he spent on each page, meant that, although some strips would ape traditional manga styles, most of the strips had a unique, highly detailed and stylised look. The gags, although funny, dealt with a variety of dark, disturbing and occasionally grotesque subject matter. Also, some of the formalism on display, such as the trick drawings which look like one thing close up but another from further away, makes for some breathtaking artistry. I’m surprised one of these strips didn’t make it into Secret Comics Japan. A lot of Palepoli has a very unique Japanese-ness to it but the surreal-ness and artistry of the work overall makes me think it would be accepted and appreciated by both mature manga readers and the art comix crowd. Out of all of Furuya’s unpublished works Palepoli is the one I would like to see the most. I’m lucky enough to own a Japanese copy which, although I don’t understand, gives me tremendous enjoyment to look through but the idea of owning a fully translated copy would really make my day.

Another of Furuya’s earlier experimental pieces was Plastic Girl, which is also high on my list of Furuya titles I would love to see licensed. Plastic Girl is unlike any other manga I’ve seen and, like Palepoli, would go down well with the alternative, art comix crowd. Unlike most manga, Plastic Girl is a full colour book, published in a large size and clocking in at a slender 46 pages. Again, Furuya employs his art background to craft an amazingly beautiful book, using a variety of different styles and utilising different materials for each section including painting on wood, cloth and canvas. The book has 23 different chapters, each spread over two pages and Furuya employs different styles for most (occasionally some are repeated). My personal favourite is one that is painted to look like 2 stained glass windows. All of it is gorgeous and, from what I can gather, the narrative is symbolic, surreal and occasionally disturbing, like many of Furuya’s works. (There is a review from someone who can read Japanese at Completely Futile). Unfortunately, though the imagery is fairly tame for the most part, I can see this being a hard sell in the west as it differs so much from the general perception of manga. I definitely can’t see it being picked up by any of the major manga publishers.

"Emi-chan" from Garden

Palepoli and Plastic Girl are probably Furuya’s most artistic and experimental books, but that’s not to say his other works aren’t also worth exploring. There are several unlicensed works that look like they would be far more interesting than the majority of manga licensed in the US. His short story collection Garden, which contains several stories of differing length, collected from alternative publications Comic Cue and Manga Erotics, is possibly more conventional in terms of the art and layout overall, although Furuya continues to switch up his style for each story. He also continues to explore the darker side of the human psyche as well as inserting comical stories and ones that look as though they are more fantasy orientated. The last story in particular, although I have only seen it in its original Japanese, plumbs some of the darkest depths of Furuya’s mind. It makes for a disturbing read (even without being able to understand the dialogue) but the shaky line Furuya uses fits the mood perfectly. The story is so extreme that in the original tankobon the pages are sealed together. The reader has the choice as to whether or not they wish to cut open the pages in order to read it. It is broke up into several sections so if it gets to extreme you do not need to continue. I’m unsure if this was Furuya’s choice or the publishers but it is an interesting choice. I have actually seen this in one other book, King Terry’s Heta-Uma Dictionary, although the sealed pages are no more shocking than the rest of the book (i.e. not really shocking at all) unlike the work in Garden. All in all, there are at least three stories in Garden that make it un-publishable in English which is a real travesty. A review of Garden can also be found at Completely Futile.

After Garden (and another short story collection called Wsamarus 2001 that I have no information on) Furuya began to work on slightly longer form narratives and began to work for more varied magazines. Saying this, Short Cuts, one of Furuya’s series that has been published in English (out of print but fairly cheap to get hold of) was serialized in Young Sunday not long after Palepoli and around the same time the stories in Garden were appearing in much more underground/niche publications. In the DVD interview, Furuya gives his reasons for working for a variety of publishers. He states that he wants to create a wide variety of works and that each one is dependent on certain rules and regulations. In other words, Furuya likes the restrictions that will be placed on him by some publishers, allowing him to create something within those set boundaries. This is why he is happy to work for a broad spectrum of magazines. Two of his more recent works, Genkaku Picasso and Lychee Light Club were published in Jump SQ (part of Shuiesha’s Jump line of Shonen magazines) and Manga Erotics F respectively, two distinctly different publications (both titles are available in English from Viz and Vertical), showing Furuya is still happy to take his work to wherever it is best suited.

Out of all of Furuya’s works I believe his longest is called Pi. At nine volumes long it could still be seen as a fairly short series in comparison to many manga. Pi was published in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits, a fairly popular Seinen anthology. I know little about this title except that it revolves around a man obsessed with finding the perfect breasts. Along with Genkaku Picasso (I’m not a big Shonen reader), this is the Furuya title that appeals the least but, artistically, it is up to Furuya’s high artist standard.

Along with the titles mentioned earlier, the Furuya works I would most like to see are his darker ones like the recently released Lychee Light Club (published in US by Vertical). This is Furuya’s adaption of the Tokyo Grand Guignol play so it combines two of Furuya’s interests. In style and content it is similar to another one of my favourite manga artists Suehiro Maruo. Furuya has acknowledged by dedicating the book to Maruo as well as the TGG troupe leader Norimizu Ameya. I would say that Furuya incorporates more black humour in Lychee Light Club than I have seen in Maruo’s work. Still it is treads fairly dark territory and has several gory moments. Furuya is currently working on a prequel to Lychee Light Club which he is serialising online.

Trick drawing from Palepoli

Another title I would be eager to read, that does not seem to mine the darker side of Furuya’s psyche, is The Music of Marie. This title is described as a fantasy epic that revolves around a world where men are watched over by a mechanical goddess in the sky called Marie who brings them contentment with her music. It sounds like an enchanting story that seems to evoke early Hayao Miyazaki works, especially Nausicaa. At only 2 volumes long I would see it being an ideal choice for Vertical if they wish to publish more Furuya after they have finished No Longer Human, which I would highly recommend. I have also heard many people say that Furuya’s art in The Music of Marie is arguably his best. For those of you lucky enough to be able to read French, the series has been published by Casterman.

These are only a short selection of Furuya works that deserve some more attention. There are many more fascinating titles by Usamaru Furuya, all of which I feel would easily find an audience in the west and this is without mentioning those already available, all of which are worth your time and money. As I said to begin, Usamaru Furuya is a unique and visionary artist; probably one of the finest artists you will find working in comics today and I hope this feast helps to spread the word.

Manga Giveaway: Genkaku Picasso Giveaway

2012-01-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

It's nearing the end of the month, so it's time for another manga giveaway! In honor of the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast, which is being hosted right here at Experiments in Manga, I'll be giving away a new copy of Furuya's Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 as published by Viz Media. As always, the contest is open world-wide, so please enter!

I first learned about Usamaru Furuya when I saw a cover preview for Lychee Light Club. I had never heard of Furuya before, and I had certainly never heard of Lychee Light Club, but I adored that cover (and still do). For some reason (and I'm not sure that anybody else actually is aware of this), I volunteered to host the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast before I had even read a single thing by him. Since then, I've devoured Lychee Light Club as well as everything else of his that is currently available in English. It's been a lot of fun and a very satisfying experience to research and completely immerse myself in Furuya and his work. I'd love to see more of his manga translated into English.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me about how you were introduced to Usamaru Furuya or his work.
2) For a second entry tell me which, if any, of Furuya's manga you have read and if you have a personal favorite. (If you haven't read any, you can just mention that.)
3) If you're on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that's me).

Each person can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, you have one week to get your comments in. If you have any trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, you can e-mail your entry to me at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post it. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on February 1, 2012.

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can't figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I'll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced--Manga Giveaway: Genkaku Picasso Giveaway Winner

Secret Comics Japan: Underground Comics Now

2012-01-24T12:17:00.003-05:00

Editor: Chikao Shiratori
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781569313725
Release date: July 2000

Secret Comics Japan: Underground Comics Now is a manga anthology edited by Chikao Shiratori with adult American audiences in mind. At one time, Shiratori worked in the editorial department of Garo, a monthly manga magazine published in Japan from 1964 to 2002 which specialized in alternative manga. Many of the creators collected in Secret Comics Japan were also contributors to Garo. Secret Comics Japan was released by Cadence Books, an imprint of Viz Media, in 2000. The manga included in the volume, a total of ten short selections, were all initially published between 1996 and 2000. I first learned about the Secret Comics Japan collection, now out of print, while preparing for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast as it contains excerpts from Furuya's debut manga work Palepoli. The cover art for Secret Comics Japan also happens to come from Palepoli.

After a brief introduction by the editor, Secret Comics Japan opens with "The Life of Momongo" written by Norimizu Ameya and illustrated by Junko Mizuno. I'm a big fan of Mizuno's creepy-cute aesthetic and so was happy to see an example of her work included. Following next are two selections from Hiranori Kikuchi's Gedatsu Man, "The Character Wars" and "Collector's Characturd." Gedatsu Man is a little too nonsensical for me to really enjoy, although it still managed to make me laugh. The volume continues with "Swing Shell" by Yuko Tsuno. It is a wonderfully evocative and affecting tale with a touch of the surreal to it. Tsuno's linework is simply lovely. Yoshitomo Yoshimoto's "Jr." is an odd but engaging story inspired by Donald Barthelme's short story "Me and Miss Mandible" about a thirty-two-year-old man sent to elementary school as a student.

Secret Comics Japan continues with two shorts by Kiriko Nananan, "Heartless Bitch" and "Painful Love." Both stories are particularly effective because of their realism and Nananan's page layouts. Next is Shintaro Kago's extremely bizarre and vaguely erotic horror manga "Punctures." Apparently it's one of his more subdued works, which isn't to say it isn't intense. Mutant Hanako is a manga created by the fine artist Makoto Aida. It's chaotic and shocking. It's also somewhat confusing, perhaps due to the fact only an excerpt of the entire work is included in Secret Comics Japan The next selection is a legitimate porn manga by Benkyo Tamaoki. Entitled "Editor Woman," the characters, who have actual personalities, also happen to work in the porn manga industry. Finally, the volume concludes with excerpts from the aforementioned Palepoli by Usamaru Furuya. Palepoli is a series of intentional and innovative four-panel manga, certainly different from any other yonkoma that I've read.

Shiratori provides a short introduction for each individual creator and their work. They may be brief, but they are informative and allow the manga selections to be put into some context. Many of the introductions also include a personal message from the artists to the readers of Secret Comics Japan. The creators selected for inclusion are all successful and well-known within their particular niches. Some, but not all, of the mangaka included have other works available in English. In the introduction to Secret Comics Japan, Shiratori argues that the lines between underground and mainstream manga have become blurred and that there is now less distinction between the two. Perhaps it is appropriate then that most of the manga in Secret Comics Japan is fairly approachable and not too avant-garde. Still, it is a nice collection that shows a good range of diversity. But to be completely honest, I wish that Secret Comics Japan was a bit longer and showed even more variety.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Roundup One

2012-01-24T08:04:00.002-05:00

It's the first roundup for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast!

On Sunday I posted an introduction to the Feast, which includes a brief biography of Usamaru Furuya and an overview of what to expect at Experiments in Manga this week. Yesterday was My Week in Manga, a regular feature here at Experiments in Manga. I took the opportunity to present quick takes of most of Furuya's manga available in English as well as some the films in which he has been involved.

Justin of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses wins the prize for being the first and only person other than myself to contribute to the Feast, so far. (At least, that I know of.) Thanks, Justin! Justin reviews No Longer Human, Volume 2, noting that Yozo is a difficult character to really like, but that Furuya's work is still compelling:

There’s no doubt however that panel after panel [Furuya] continues to make the characters stand out in a way where you will feel a powerful emotion, whether it is dislike or sympathy, and that of course makes the work a solid read every time, along with following Yozo’s story.

The Feast may be off to a slow start, but it is still early in the week. I have high hopes that things will pick up as the Feast progresses. If you know of any Feast content that I have missed, please let me know! I'd like to keep the archive as up to date as possible.

My Week in Manga: January 16-January 22, 2012

2012-01-23T08:29:00.001-05:00

My News and Reviews

This is it folks! Experiments in Manga is hosting the Manga Moveable Feast for the first time ever! This month's Feast will focus on Usamaru Furuya and his work. I've been participating in the Feast since December 2010, but as I just mentioned, this is my first time hosting. I'm anxious and stressed and hope it turns out well. But, I'm also really excited about it all. I encourage everyone to take time to contribute to the Feast, or at least wander around and read some of the submissions and maybe leave a comment or two. Keep an eye on Experiments in Manga and I'll try to direct you to Feast content that you might have missed. To start you out, I posted the introduction to the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast just yesterday. I will also be updating the archive page throughout the Feast.

Somewhat related to the Feast, last week I posted a review of Japan Edge: The Insider's Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture. I say somewhat related because the book includes excerpts from Furuya's debut manga Palepoli, but that wasn't the focus of my review. It is why I tracked down the book, though. Japan Edge is a bit dated and is out of print, but still has value. And completely unrelated to the Feast, I also posted a review of Natsume Sōseki's coming-of-age novel, Sanshirō. I didn't like it as well as his masterpiece Kokoro, but I still enjoyed it and found it to be entertaining.

Quick Takes

Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 by Usamaru Furuya. Genkaku Picasso was originally intended to be a two volume series. It turned into three volumes, each progressively longer than the one before. I'm glad that Furuya had the opportunity to expand on his original idea, because the first volume, while it has its charm, is somewhat weak. The final two volumes are much better and Genkaku Picasso turns out to be a great little series. The manga starts out very episodic, but eventually the overarching plot becomes more important. The longer stories work better; they feel less rushed and Furuya has more time to explore. There's also a nod to Lychee Light Club in the third volume, which I got a huge kick out of.

Lychee Light Club by Usamaru Furuya. Lychee Light Club was my introduction to Furuya's work. It is also arguably the most graphic and extreme manga of his currently available in English. After all, it is based off of a Tokyo Grand Guignol theater performance. The manga also takes inspiration from the work Suehiro Maruo. Be prepared for blood and guts and beautifully crafted, but very disturbing imagery. And a dark and disturbing story, too, for that matter. Lychee Light Club is definitely not a manga for everyone, but for its intended audience it is fantastic. I'm really hoping that Vertical will license the prequel, too. (My previously written in-depth review of Lychee Light Club can be found here.)

No Longer Human, Volumes 1-2 by Usamaru Furuya. Osamu Dazai's novel No Longer Human has three manga adaptations of which I am aware. Furuya's adaptation is the one I was most interested in, so I was thrilled when Vertical licensed the series. I don't find Yozo, the protagonist, to be as sympathetic as he was in original novel, but Furuya's interpretation still works marvelously well. The manga is dark and oppressive, but so was the original. The third and final volume is currently scheduled to be released in February; I'm really looking forward to the conclusion. (If you're wondering about the changes that Furuya made from Dazai's original novel, Genji Press has an excellent post--Dehumanizer Dept.)

Short Cuts, Volumes 1-2 by Usamaru Furuya. I quite enjoyed Short Cuts, Furuya's first series written for a mainstream publication. It's a gag oriented manga with each chapter, or "cut," being only a page or two long. Certain characters do make reappearances, and there are a few recurring jokes, but for the most part each cut is fairly self-contained. Copious translation notes are included which is particularly useful in the case of Short Cuts because the manga's humor frequently depends on knowledge of Japanese culture. However, there are plenty gags that are funny regardless. Personally, I find most of Short Cuts to be hilarious. A warning, though: Furuya can be very vulgar at times. One of my favorite things about Short Cuts is the wide range of art styles that Furuya employs.

Love Exposure directed by Sion Sono. In my opinion, Love Exposure is an absolutely brilliant film totally worth the nearly four hour needed to watch it. I enjoyed it immensely and was thoroughly engaged throughout. Love Exposure is intense and bizarre to say the least, dealing with themes of religion, love, lust, cults, sex, and violence. The sheer number of genres that Love Exposure incorporates is impressive. Comedy, drama, martial arts, psychological thriller, crime, horror, romance...I could keep going. And it's all used to create a unique but somehow coherent story, often absurd and over-the-top, but always engrossing. Usamaru Furuya appears as Miyanishi and pulls off a cool, creepy persona very well.

Noriko's Dinner Table directed by Sion Sono. I didn't realize until after I started watching Noriko's Dinner Table that it is actually the sequel to Sono's film Suicide Club, which I haven't actually seen yet. Noriko's Dinner Table takes place before, during, and after the events depicted in Suicide Club. While the references to the earlier film will certainly be more meaningful for someone who has seen it, Noriko's Dinner Table actually stands fairly well on its own. It's a strange but intense film. Much if not all of the camera work is done by hand and the narrative uses a lot of voice-over work, making the film feel very personal. Usamaru Furuya shows up as "the man in the cafe." Despite being unnamed, it's not an insignificant role; you can't miss him.

Zoo by Various. An adaptation of Otsuichi's horror short story anthology by the same name, Zoo is a collection of five film shorts. A different director and creative team worked on each story. I didn't find them to be quite as compelling as their original counterparts. I think the difference is that it's not as easy to get into the characters' heads. But Zoo is still an excellent adaptation and stays very true to the original. Usamaru Furuya worked on the screenplay, storyboard, and character design for "Hidamari no Shi" (also known as "Song of the Sunny Spot"), the only animated short in the collection. The other stories include "Kazari and Yoko," "Seven Rooms," "So Far," and the titular "Zoo."

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: An Introduction

2012-01-22T07:39:00.003-05:00

Welcome, everyone, to the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast!

The first Manga Moveable Feast of the year begins today, January 22, and will end next Sunday, January 29. The Feast gives the manga blogging community an opportunity to explore and examine together a particular manga or creator. This month we will be focusing on mangaka Usamaru Furuya and his works and Experiments in Manga will be hosting.

Who is Usamaru Furuya?
Usamaru Furuya was born on January 25, 1968 in Tokyo. (That's right! His birthday is Wednesday, so let's throw a great Feast in his honor.) He made his manga debut in 1994 with Palepoli which was serialized in the monthly alternative manga magazine Garo.

Furuya was interested in creating manga since his childhood, even enrolling in Osamu Tezuka Manga Correspondence School and submitting to the portrait section of Shōnen Gaho. But in high school, his focus shifted to oil painting. He went on to study art at Tama Art University where he also developed an interest in drama, sculpture (particularly abstract three-dimensional figures), and butoh dance. For a time, Furuya was a member of the butoh performance groups Karas and Sankai Juku. After graduating from Tama Art University, Furuya worked as a high school art teacher before returning to manga, bringing his fine arts background with him.

Furuya has also worked a bit in the film industry. After creating the manga adaptation of Sion Sono's 2002 cult classic Suicide Club, Furuya would play a role ("the man in the cafe") in the film's 2006 sequel Noriko's Dinner Table. He also acted in another of Sono's films, 2008's Love Exposure, playing the part of Miyanishi. Furuya was also involved with the 2005 film adaptation of Otsuichi's horror short story collection Zoo (which I have reviewed here). He was responsible for the screenplay, storyboard, and character design for the story "Hidamari no Shi" (translated as "Song of the Sunny Spot" in the English short story collection), the only animated short in the collection. There very well may be other examples, but these are the instances I am familiar with.

Blog: 古屋兎丸ブログ「ウサギ☆ひとりクラブ
Twitter: @usamarus2001

Furuya's Manga in English
Usamaru Furuya's official introduction to English-reading audiences was all thanks to Viz Media. First came excerpts from Palepoli in Japan Edge in 1999 and then in Secret Comics Japan in 2000. (Regrettably, the entirety of Palepoli has never been released in English, although the selections in the previously mentioned volumes are different from each other.) Furuya's series Short Cuts was serialized in Viz's now defunct manga magazine PULP before the two individual volumes were collected in 2000 and 2003, respectively.

CMX Manga announced in 2009 the licensing of Furuya's 51 Ways to Save Her. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the company folded before any of the series made it into in English. The recent resurgence of Furuya's manga in English began in 2010 with Viz Media's publication of the first volume of Genkaku Picasso. The final two volumes of the series were released in 2011.

2011 also saw Vertical stepping up with some Furuya manga, beginning with the one-volume Lychee Light Club, based on the Tokyo Grand Guignol's theater piece. (Vertical has also expressed interest in licensing the prequel Our Light Club.) Most recently, Vertical began the publication of Furuya's No Longer Human, a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai's novel by the same name (which I have reviewed here). The third and final volume is currently scheduled to be released next month.

Who knows what the future may hold, but I sincerely hope it includes more of Furuya's works being licensed and released in English.

Feasting at Experiments in Manga
This is the first time that Experiments in Manga has hosted the Feast, so what should you expect? There will be new content related to the Feast posted every day. Mostly, the posts will consist of my own in-depth reviews of Furuya's manga, so nothing too terribly exciting. I've previously reviewed Lychee Light Club, so for the Feast I'll mostly be focusing on the first volumes of Furuya's series. There should also be at least one guest post to look forward to! (Another first for Experiments in Manga.) Also, my monthly manga giveaway will begin on Wednesday and you'll be able to enter for a chance to win Furuya's Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1.

There will be three roundup posts during the Feast--one each on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday--as well as a final send-off on Sunday. These posts will highlight other participants' contributions to the Feast. I will also be updating the archive page throughout the Feast. (I've already populated it with a ton of pre-Feast reviews and articles, so check it out.)

It will be very boring if I'm the only person posting content, so I encourage you all to take part in the Feast. Simply notify me of your contributions by e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com or through my Twitter account @PhoenixTerran and I'll make sure that you're included in the roundups and archive.

Please enjoy the Feast!

Japan Edge: The Insider's Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture

2012-01-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

Editor: Annette Roman
Publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781569313459
Release date: July 1999

Originally published by Viz Media's Cadence Books in 1999, Japan Edge: The Insider's Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture is now out of print. I made a point of tracking it down because I knew it contained a few excerpts from Usamaru Furuya's debut manga Palepoli. (They happily turned out to be different selections than the excerpts included in the manga anthology Secret Comics Japan.) But, Furuya's work is not the focus of Japan Edge. Edited by Annette Roman, Japan Edge features four writers who have specialized in different areas of Japanese pop culture: Patrick Macias, Carl Gustav Horn, Yuji Oniki, and Mason Jones. (I was pleased to discover that Jones and Oniki both have connections to Ann Arbor since I live in the area; the city even comes up a few times in the book.) Matt Thorn and Satoru Fujii also make contributions to Japan Edge. I was already familiar with some of the contributors and their work and looked forward to seeing what they had to say in Japan Edge.

Japan Edge is divide into six chapters: "Anime," "Film," "Noise," "Music," "Manga Views," and "Roundtable." Interspersed between the chapters are the previously mentioned excerpts from Palepoli and brief "Tokyo Diary" entries by Oniki. The first four chapters in Japan Edge follow a similar pattern. They start with a general overview of the subject which is then followed by a personal essay by one of the contributors--Horn writing for "Anime," Macias for "Film," Jones for "Noise," and Oniki for "Music." The chapters conclude with commentary on future trends, collection suggestions, and a short biography and question and answer section with the respective writer. The "Manga Views" and "Roundtable" chapters are more of a joint, collaborative effort in which each contributor provides material.

The presentation and layout of Japan Edge is inspired by that of Japanese magazines. Overall, I really like the design of the book, but some of the text sizes and font choices make reading a bit of a strain on the eyes. The collection pages in particular are difficult to completely discern without significant effort. Japan Edge will probably appeal most to readers who are already interested in Japanese pop culture, especially since the book actually deals with Japanese pop subculture, as the subtitle indicates. In "Anime," Horn primarily examines Studio Ghibli and Gainax, both of which were quite revolutionary in their time. Macias choose to focus on two subgenres of cult film--kaiju and yakuza. Noise is already its own subculture, as Mason points out, but in "Music" Oniki looks at a wider selection of alternative and indie sound. "Manga Views" covers everything from yaoi and dōjinshi to underground and ultra-violent manga and beyond. "Roundtable" goes on to briefly address other subcultures in Japanese literature, fashion, and photography.

Since it was published in 1999, over ten years ago, portions of Japan Edge come across as dated, particularly the future trends and collection sections. They still make for interesting reading, though. While the overviews of the various media only cover up to the late nineties, they do provide valuable historic information. When this is kept in mind they make nice, general introductions to the subject areas since they do address pivotal series and creators. The majority of Japan Edge holds up perfectly fine despite the book's age. Large parts of the volume are devoted to the contributor's own personal experience with Japanese pop culture. Their passion and intense interest is abundantly clear. I was even convinced to search out some of the materials mentioned in Japan Edge on the basis of the writers' enthusiasm alone.

Sanshirō

2012-01-18T08:19:00.000-05:00

Author: Natsume Sōseki
Translator: Jay Rubin
U.S. publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780140455625
Release date: February 2010
Original release: 1909

Sanshirō is the second novel by Natsume Sōseki that I have had the opportunity to read. The first was his masterpiece Kokoro, which I loved. Sanshirō was initially serialized in Japan between 1908 and 1909. Penguin Classics' 2009 translation by Jay Rubin is revised from Rubin's original 1977 translation. The edition also includes a delightful introduction to the novel by Haruki Murakami as well as a chronology and translator's notes. According to the introductory material, Sanshirō is the last novel written by Sōseki in which humor plays a prominent role. It is also the first book in a thematic trilogy (followed by And Then and The Gate) which I hadn't previously realized. Because I enjoyed Kokoro so much, I was looking forward to reading another work by Sōseki. And because Sanshirō has been sitting on my shelf for what seems like ages, it's what I turned to next.

Sanshirō Ogawa is a recent college graduate from a rural area in Kyushu. To continue his education he must travel to Tokyo, enrolling in the Imperial University's division of Law and Letters. After a three day journey by train he finally arrives, a simple-hearted country boy completely overwhelmed by the big city of Tokyo and its people. Fortunately, and occasionally unfortunately, he is befriended by his classmate Yojirō Sasaki. Sanshirō's circle of acquaintances grows and his social life becomes more complicated. He even manages to fall in love despite being terrified of women. But his inexperience with city life and culture, not to mention his complete ineptitude when it comes to interacting with members of the opposite sex, proves to be problematic when pursuing a romantic relationship.

There is no grand, overwrought plot to Sanshirō. Instead, the novel is a simple portrayal of the life of a university student in Japan in the early twentieth century. In its way, Sanshirō is very much a coming of age story. Sanshirō certainly has quite a bit of growing up to do. For most of the novel, he is more of an observer than he is a person with initiative. Events simply happen around him and he absorbs it all without much comment. It is only at the end of Sanshirō that it becomes apparent that he is about to step into the next stage of his life. Some readers may find Sanshirō frustrating as a protagonist because there isn't much development in his character. Personally though, I liked him, in part because I could identify with him so easily--I, too, left a very rural area to attend university in a much larger city.

Although I wasn't quite as taken with Sanshirō as I was with Kokoro, I still enjoyed the novel. Sōseki's humor shines through, even in translation. Some of the humor is situational, some comes from the characters' personalities, and some is the result of Sōseki's delightful writing. I frequently found myself reading with a slight smile on my face and even chuckled aloud on occasion. Sanshirō is both entertaining and amusing. Sōseki also includes elements from his own life in the novel and finds inspiration for parts of his story in real people, places, and events. One of the reasons I am particularly grateful for the chronology and notes is that they help to shed light on this. Sanshirō may not be my favorite novel written by Sōseki, but I am still able to appreciate it. I look forward to reading more of his work.

My Week in Manga: January 9-January 15, 2012

2012-01-16T08:10:00.000-05:00

My News and Reviews

I posted two reviews last week. The first was The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Fūtaro Yamada. The novel was the basis for Basilisk and Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (see the quick take below) among other things. The second review was of Ryū Mitsuse's Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights, considered to be one of the greatest Japanese science fiction novels. I was so excited for this release that I bought the book in hardcover rather than waiting for a paperback edition. Also, the dust jacket glows in the dark, which is just cool. I had a particularly difficult time writing the review, but am very happy with how it turned out.

On to some fun stuff online! Digital Manga's Kickstarter project to bring back Osamu Tezuka's Swallowing the Earth was successful and so they've recently announced their next project to publish Tezuka's Barbara in English. No Flying No Tights has another excellent list to peruse, this time focusing on must have anime titles for the uninitiated. And finally, Blog of the North Star has started a series of posts featuring mixed martial arts manga. Pay attention, there's some great stuff, and three posts so far--Hopes for 2012: For chrissakes SOMEONE license an MMA manga, MMA Manga Top Contenders: Holyland, MMA Manga Top Contenders: Shamo.

And please remember! This coming Sunday, January 22, the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast begins! This will be my first time hosting the Feast, so I hope you'll all stop by and maybe even contribute. I'm nervous, but looking forward to it.

Quick Takes

Cromartie High School, Volumes 6-12 by Eiji Nonaka. The absurdity continues. Each chapter is rather short, but Nonaka starts to string more of them together as the series progresses. I think I actually preferred the shorter, but recurring jokes rather than the longer arcs, but they are still pretty amusing, too. Nonaka is parodying more than just juvenile delinquent manga with Cromartie High School, there are plenty of references to music and other pop culture as well. Only the first twelve volumes of a seventeen volume series made it into English translation. Fortunately, because the manga doesn't have much an overarching plot, this isn't too much of an issue. It would be nice to see the series finished, though.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Volumes 1-3 by Mahiro Maeda. I absolutely love the Gankutsuou anime and so was interested in seeing a slightly different imagining of the story. The manga starts out very similarly to the anime but soon goes off in its own direction, focusing more on the Count than on the younger generation. Some of the characterizations and story elements have also been changed. However, it did seem to me that the manga ended rather abruptly, just as the dénouement was about to begin. I certainly prefer the anime over the manga, but the manga does provide details not found in the anime, such as a more explicit exploration of who/what Gankutsuou is and the Count's time imprisoned at the Chateau d'If. See the anime first, but the manga is also intriguing.

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise was a complete bomb at the box office when it was first released in 1987, but it has since been highly acclaimed and critically well received. The story follows Shirotsugh Lhadatt, a cadet in the space force only because his grades weren't good enough to get into the navy. The space force is the joke of the military and no one really takes it seriously, including most of its members. Unexpectedly, Shiro volunteers to be the first man sent into space and the space force suddenly has a real purpose. The pacing is slow and deliberate and animation is fantastic. I really enjoyed it.

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade directed by Ten Shimoyama. Based on Fūtaro Yamada's novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls, the live action film Shinobi: Heart Under Blade continues the tradition of supernatural ninja. The Kouga and the Iga ninja clans have been fighting each other for centuries but a truce enforced by the Tokugawa shogunate has resulted in a temporary peace. When the truce is lifted, the clans find themselves once again at war, including Gennosuke and Oboro. They are the heirs of the rival clans, but they have fallen in love with each other. The ending is quite different from that of the novel, but is still very satisfying. The ninja battles are also highly entertaining.

Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights

2012-01-13T08:36:00.000-05:00

Author: Ryū Mitsuse
Translator: Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421539041
Released: November 2011
Original release: 1967

Ryū Mitsuse's Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights is considered to be one of the greatest Japanese science fiction novels to have ever been written. As a lover of both science fiction and Japanese literature, I knew I wanted to read it without any hesitation. I was thrilled when Haikasoru, Viz Media's Japanese speculative fiction imprint, released the English translation by Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander in 2011. Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights was originally published in Japan in 1967 but Mitsuse slightly revised the book in 1973. Haikasoru's edition is based on this revision. Very little of Mitsuse's work is currently available in English. The only other two works that I know of are Andromeda Stories, a manga collaboration with Keiko Takemiya which I have read and enjoyed, and his short story "The Sunset, 2217 A.D." which was included in Best Science Fiction for 1972, edited by Frederik Pohl, which I now plan on tracking down.

Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights begins with the birth of a planet. It ends eons later. From the deepest depths of the sea to the farthest reaches of space, from a time epochs before the existence of humanity to an age beyond its downfall, the journey is epic in its scale. There is the city of Atlantis, its brilliance and its destruction as incomprehensible to its population as it is to those outside. There is Plato and his search for the long lost city, leading him to unexpected places and revelations. There is Prince Siddhārtha, destined to become the Buddha, whose quest for enlightenment changes him completely. There is the unprecedented influence of Jesus of Nazareth, whose presence changes the world. And there is the final confrontation between incredible forces at the end of it all.

The translation of Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights is phenomenal. The prologue is especially stunning in addition to being one of the more immediately accessible portions of the novel. The prologue actually happens to be one of my favorite parts of the book; I've already read and reread it several times on its own. Mitsuse's writing combines the real and the fantastic in wondrous ways. Particularly impressive in Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights is his layering of Buddhist and scientific cosmologies. However, some of the chapters may be a little overwhelming to a reader who does not already have some familiarity with Buddhism. The same is true for Christianity as well, but to a much lesser extent. Granted, after four chapters of setup, more than half of the book, Mitsuse lets loose and challenges readers to reconsider everything they thought they knew, anyway.

Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights is not an easy read. The story is not just there to be consumed passively. Instead, it demands thought and contemplation; the reader is required to make an effort in order to fully appreciate the novel. While reading Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights, I was constantly struck by a heady sense of vertigo, adrift with complete understanding seeming to be just beyond my grasp. It's a feeling that the characters, too, must deal with. But throughout the novel are threads that tie everything together, so thin that they might not even be noticed at first, but serving as a tenuous anchor. Seemingly unrelated events are shown to be connected and carry a greater significance than might be initially assumed. It is only after finishing the entire novel that things will really begin to fall into place and sink in. I've been thinking about Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights ever since I finished the book and my admiration continues to grow. I want, and need, to read it again.

The Kouga Ninja Scrolls

2012-01-11T08:36:00.003-05:00

Author: Fūtaro Yamada
Translator: Geoff Sant
U.S. publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 9780345495105
Release: December 2006
Original released: 1958

The Kouga Ninja Scrolls is the first book in a series of novels about supernatural ninja written by Fūtaro Yamada. The novels have inspired numerous other stories and adaptations by other creators. In the case of The Kouga Ninja Scrolls, it is the basis for Basilisk, both the manga and the anime series, and the live action film Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, as well as other adaptations. The cover art for Del Rey's 2006 release of the novel, translated by Geoff Sant, happens to be the work of Masaki Segawa, the artist for the Basilisk manga. Although the edition of The Kouga Ninja Scrolls on which Del Rey's release is based was published in 2005, the novel was originally written in 1958. The Kouga Ninja Scrolls and the following novels became immensely popular in Japan. Yamada, who wrote mystery novels in addition to books featuring ninja, won a number of awards for his work.

The Kouga and the Iga ninja clans' blood feud has lasted for four hundred years. After the Tokugawa shogunate was established, the ninja were forced to stop their fighting. But when a dispute over the succession threatens to tear the Tokugawa apart, the dictated truce between the clans is lifted. Ten Iga ninja and ten Kouga ninja, each group representing one of the potential successors' factions, will be pitted against each other in a clash to the death. The surviving clan will determine who the next shogun will be. But even though the clans' rivalry has persisted for centuries, not every ninja still has the desire to fight--in particular, Gennosuke, the heir of the Kouga clan, and Oboro, the heir of the Iga. Torn between their love for each other and their loyalty to their families, they would do anything to end the feud. But Oboro and Gennosuke's destiny has already been put into motion; they have no other choice but to meet each other in battle.

After four hundred years of secrecy and inbreeding, both the Kouga and Iga clans have produced ninja with incredible skills and abilities. In some cases, they are barely recognizable as human anymore. Often the capabilities that make the ninja so powerful are also the cause of their ultimate downfall. The ninja's individual abilities border on magic, but Yamada has a pseudo-physiological explanation for each and every one of them. Their powers are extreme but natural extensions of what the human body is capable of. Some of the ninja's peculiar abilities are rather disgusting even if they are effective, while others are just plain cool. My personal favorite was probably Kisaragi Saemon and his unique way of being able to impersonate another person.

The story of The Kouga Ninja Scrolls is frequently described as Romeo and Juliet with ninja. Personally, I find the comparison somewhat superficial. The Kouga Ninja Scrolls is definitely its own story. On the surface it appears to be only a set up to allow Yamada to write fantastic and thrilling battles, but the story also addresses deeper matters of loyalty, responsibility, duty, and passion. Yamada makes great use of historical figures in The Kouga Ninja Scrolls and also incorporates historic documents and poetry into the novel. I particularly appreciated that the control of information was give such an important role in the story--an aspect of ninjutsu often overlooked in popular culture. The tone of the narrative is told from a modern perspective. I did find this to be slightly distracting from the setting, but it does read well. I enjoyed The Kouga Ninja Scrolls and wish more of Yamada's work was available in English.

My Week in Manga: January 2-January 8, 2012

2012-01-09T08:39:00.003-05:00

My News and Reviews

It's the first full week of the month, so as to be expected it's a slower/less interesting week (for most people) here at Experiments in Manga. I announced the Manga Giveaway: Magical Girl Mania Winner, which also includes a list of some magical girl manga that has been translated into English. I also posted the Bookshelf Overload for December and did some updating and clean up on the Resources page. Normally, the next Library Love entry would have been posted last week, but since I'm busy preparing for the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast to be held at the end of January, it looks like Library Love will have to wait until next month. But, if things keep progressing as smoothly as they have been (I'm working hard!), that should be the only post that I miss this month. Go me! I promise I'll make up for it with a slew of posts during the Feast.

Quick Takes

Cromartie High School, Volumes 1-5 by Eiji Nonaka. I am really enjoying Cromartie High School. A ridiculous parody of yankī manga, the series is hilarious in a very deadpan, straight-faced sort of way. There's not much of a continuing storyline or complicated plot although there are certainly plenty of running jokes. The artwork is deliberately reminiscent of Ryoichi Ikegami's, which makes it even funnier. Cromartie High School is notorious for the number of juvenile delinquents and badasses in its student body. Supposedly Takashi Kamiyama (the only honor student at the school) is the main character, although he once didn't make an appearance in the manga for two months straight during its serialization.

Expired Seafood: Stories Inspired by Mature Lovers by Various. I don't remember how I first found out about Expired Seafood, but I'm glad I picked up a copy when I did since unfortunately it's already gone out of print. If you ever wished the gentlemen of Gente and Ristorante Paradiso would start making eyes at each other rather than at the ladies, Expired Seafood is probably up your alley and worth trying to find. This original-English boys' love (well, oyaji love) anthology collects eight comics and four pinups ranging from cute, sweet, goofy, and charming to tastefully raunchy. What the stories share in common is the love of older men in love (generally, with each other). After each comic, the creator is given space for a bit of freetalk and a chance to gush, which was a nice touch.

Goth directed by Gen Takahashi. Out of the three versions of Goth (the original novel, the manga, and the film), the film is the most different from the other two. Out of the original six stories, the film focuses on two. The film is deliberately slow in its pace, perhaps too slow for some viewers, and the amount of dialogue is minimal. The story is dark, but visually the film makes use of a lot of light and the color white, creating a very disconcerting effect. It is difficult to really get inside of the characters' mindsets in the film, which is what made the novel so compelling. Still, the film has its own striking aesthetic and creepy atmosphere. The novel is still the best of the three versions, though.

Bookshelf Overload: December 2011

2012-01-06T11:01:00.001-05:00

Once again, things got a little out of hand in December. This time I blame multiple holiday sales (I'm looking at you, RightStuf and Akadot!), and of course gifts and giftcards. I even managed to win Clamp's Gate 7, Volume 1 from Dark Horse during a Twitter contest. What made me particularly happy in December? For one, Fantagraphics managed to release Takako Shimura's Wandering Son, Volume 2 before the month was out. I wasn't expecting to see the volume until 2012. Natsume Ono's House of Five Leaves, Volume 5 and Usamaru Furuya's No Longer Human, Volume 2 were also released in December. (And since I mentioned Furuya, please check out the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast to be held later in January!) I was thrilled to find a brand new copy of Ultra-Gash Inferno: Erotic-Grotesque Manga by Suehiro Maruo at a very reasonable price. And finally, Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Apocalypse Saga was released! Nozomi's boxsets were my first exposure to the anime; it's a tremendous series and a fantastic release.

Manga!
20th Century Boys, Volumes 7-8, 11-12 by Naoki Urasawa
Codename: Sailor V, Volumes 1-2 by Naoko Takeuchi
Dengeki Daisy, Volume 4 by Kyousuke Motomi
Drifters, Volume 1 by Kohta Hirano
The Drops of God, Volume 2 written by Tadashi Agi, illustrated by Shu Okimoto
Finder, Volume 5: Truth in the View Finder by Ayano Yamane
Gate 7, Volume 1 by Clamp
Gen, Volumes 5-6 by Various
Hikaru no Go, Volumes 15 written by Yumi Hotta, illustrated by Takeshi Obata
House of Five Leaves, Volume 5 by Natsume Ono
K-On!, Volume 4 by kakifly
Kingyo Used Books, Volume 4 by Seimu Yoshizaki
Mardock Scramble, Volume 3 by Yoshitoki Oima
MPD-Psycho, Volume 10 written by Eiji Otsuka, illustrated by Shou Tajima
No Longer Human, Volume 2 by Usamaru Furuya
Otomen, Volumes 2-3 by Aya Kanno
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
Princess Knight, Parts 1-2 by Osamu Tezuka
Rabbit Man, Tiger Man, Volume 1 by Akira Honma
A Strange and Mystifying Story, Volume 3 by Tsuta Suzuki
Sweet Revolution written by Serubo Suzuki, illustrated by Yukine Honami
Tesoro by Natsume Ono
Ultra-Gash Inferno: Erotic-Grotesque Manga by Suehiro Maruo
Until the Full Moon, Volume 2 by Sanami Matoh
VS Aliens by Yu Suzuki
Wandering Son, Volume 2 by Takako Shimura
Your Story I've Known by Tsuta Suzuki

Global Manga!
Dark Dreams: A Dany & Dany Art Book by Dany & Dany
Megatokyo, Volumes 4-5 by Fred Gallagher
Reflections: The Artwork of Kôsen by Kôsen
Winter Demon: My Dream by Rhea Silvan
Yaoi Gothic: An Explicit Sketchbook by Various
Yuri Monogatari, Volumes 3-4 by Various

Light Novels!
Spice and Wolf, Volume 5 by Isuna Hasekura

Novels!
Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki
The Next Continent by Issui Ogawa

Nonfiction!
Japan Edge: The Insider's Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture edited by Annette Roman
Japanese Cooking Contemporary & Traditional: Simple, Delicious & Vegan by Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner

Anime!
Black Butler Season 1, Parts 1-2 directed by Shinohara Toshiya
Fullmetal Alchemist Premium OVA Collection directed by Seiji Mizushima
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Parts 1-2 directed by Yasuhiro Irie
Gin Tama, Collections 2-4 directed by Shinji Takamatsu
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Apocalypse Saga directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara

Manga Giveaway: Magical Girl Mania Winner

2012-01-04T08:19:00.001-05:00

And the winner of the Magical Girl Mania manga giveaway is...Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu! (Which is a nice site, by the way. You should go visit and say hi.)

As the winner, Lori will be receiving Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1. Last week was the Sailor Moon Manga Moveable Feast; coordinating this manga giveaway with that, I was interested in learning what other magical girl series people were enjoying. There was actually a lot of love shown for Sailor Moon, but you should check out the Magical Girl Mania comments for the full range of responses.

And now, a list of magical girl manga for your reading pleasure and delight!

Akko-chan's Got a Secret! by Fujio Akatsuka
Alice 19th by Yuu Watase
Angel's Wing by Tetsuya Aoki
Because I'm the Goddess by Shamneko
Cardcaptor Sakura by Clamp
Codename: Sailor V by Naoko Takeuchi
Corrector Yui written by Kia Asamiya, illustrated by Keiko Okamoto
Cutey Honey '90 by Go Nagai
Full Moon o Sagashite by Arina Tanemura
Ironcat by Masaomi Kanzaki
Kamichama Karin by Koge-Donbo
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne by Arina Tanemura
Magic Knight Rayearth by Clamp
Magical Mates by Mio Odagi
Mamotte! Lollipop by Michiyo Kikuta
Mink by Megumi Tachikawa
Miracle Girls by Nami Akimoto
Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody written by Michiko Yokote, illustrated by Pink Hanamori
Pretear: The New Legend of Snow White by Kaori Naruse
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Princess Tutu written by Ikuko Itoh and Jun-ichi Satoh, illustrated by Mizuo Shinonome
Revolutionary Girl Utena by Chiho Saito
Saint Tail by Megumi Tachikawa
Shadow Lady by Masakazu Katsura
Shugo Chara! by Peach-Pit
Spellbound: The Magic of Love by Tomoko Taniguchi
Sugar Sugar Rune by Moyoco Anno
Tokyo Mew Mew written by Reiko Yoshida, illustrated by Mia Ikumi
Ultra Maniac by Wataru Yoshizumi
Wedding Peach by Nao Yazawa

My Week in Manga: December 26, 2011-January 1, 2012

2012-01-02T11:36:00.003-05:00

My News and Reviews

So, I have exciting news. Well, exciting for me. This past weekend I helped build a shelf in my room specifically for my manga. It runs the entire length of one wall and half of another. It looks great and I had fun filling it up with books. All of my manga is now out of boxes (except for my Ranma 1/2 collection), which makes me extremely happy. I also have a floor again. Anyway.

Last week was the Sailor Moon Manga Moveable Feast. For my contribution, I posted a review of Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1. Also, a bit late, I have quick takes for Codename: Sailor V and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 2 below. This month's manga giveaway also features Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1. You still have until Wednesday to enter the Magical Girl Mania manga giveaway.

Speaking of the Manga Moveable Feast, I've officially made the announcement that Experiments in Manga will be hosting the Feast for January--Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Call for Participation. This will be my first time hosting the Feast, so I'm hoping to see some great contributions this month. I've already set up the archive page and have populated it with past reviews and articles. If you have any you would like to see added, just let me know!

Because of the upcoming Feast, and because of my November/December health issues, my posting here at Experiments in Manga might be a little wonky for a month or so. I'll do my best to keep up, but you can probably expect to see My Week in Manga to be shorter than usual. Also, there won't be any in-depth manga reviews until the Feast. In the meantime, you'll just have to put up with my Japanese literature reviews.

Quick Takes

Codename: Sailor V, Volumes 1-2 by Naoko Takeuchi. For the most part, I enjoyed Codename: Sailor V. The series, though it ran concurrently with Sailor Moon, actually serves as a sort of prototype and prequel. I found Codename: Sailor V to be more coherent overall than the first couple of volumes of Sailor Moon. In fact, reading Codename: Sailor V helped me to understand some things about Sailor Moon that confused me. I particularly liked the first volume while the second volume turned out to be much goofier until the final chapter. Not that goofy is necessarily bad; I simply didn't find it to be as engaging. I did like that several of the characters from Sailor Moon make cameo appearances in Codename: Sailor V.

From Eroica with Love, Volumes 5-9 by Yasuko Aoike. I'm really enjoying From Eroica with Love. Eroica and Klaus make such perfect foils for each other and I love watching them interact. And I can't help but grin every time Klaus calls somebody a wanker, which is fairly frequently. I'm impressed by Aoike's ability to create legitimate seeming scenarios for the two leads to encounter each other. The secondary characters, particularly Klaus' "alphabets" and Eroica's underlings, are also likable. Even James, who could have been annoying (and certainly is to the other characters), is delightfully amusing. The whole series is farcical, but completely believable in its own setting. I'll definitely be tracking down the rest of the volumes available in English.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 2 by Naoko Takeuchi. After an unfocused first volume, I was very happy to see things begin to make sense in the second volume of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Not everything does mind you, but enough that I was able to enjoy the story and want to learn more. I'm starting to believe that Takeuchi actually has some solid ideas to play with. Probably most important is that the backstory for all the characters has been revealed (or at least has begun to be revealed). I still find Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon to be a little silly, although the second volume is less so. But, it's a fun, charming silliness. I hope to continue to see Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon improve and find its footing.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Call for Participation

2012-01-01T09:39:00.004-05:00

A happy new year to you all!

I am very pleased (and very nervous) to officially announce that Experiments in Manga will be hosting the first Manga Moveable Feast of the year. What exactly is the Manga Moveable Feast? Each month, the manga blogging community gathers to celebrate, discuss, and examine a particular manga, creator, genre, or theme. Anyone and everyone is invited and encouraged to participate.

January 2012's Manga Moveable Feast (which will be held January 22-January 29) will feature mangaka Usamaru Furuya and his work. If you would like to join in the Feast and need somewhere to post your contribution, as the host I would be happy to coordinate with you. You can reach me by e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com.

During the Feast, you can notify me of contributions by e-mail or via Twitter. Simply include @PhoenixTerran (that's me!) and the #MMF or #MangaMoveableFeast hashtag. If you have previous articles or reviews that you would like to be included on the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast archive page, please just let me know and I will add the links.

I am both terrified and excited to be hosting the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast. Please be kind to me; I will do my best!

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: Archive

2012-01-01T09:37:00.057-05:00

The January 2012 Manga Moveable Feast (January 22-January 29), hosted right here at Experiments in Manga, features Usamaru Furuya and his works. This page serves as the Feast's archive and will link to posts contributed to the Feast.

Call for Participation
An Introduction
Roundup One
Roundup Two
Roundup Three
An Epilogue
A Final Farewell

Reviews:
The Children's Crusade, Volumes 1-2 (Completely Futile)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Experiments in Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Manga Xanadu)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 2-3 (BookDragon)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Otaku Ohana)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Experiments in Manga)
No Longer Human, Volume 2 (Comic Attack)
No Longer Human, Volume 2 (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
No Longer Human, Voluem 2 (Slightly Biased Manga)
No Longer Human, Volumes 1-2 (Manga Bookshelf)
No Longer Human, Volumes 1-2 (Manga Connection)
No Longer Human, Volumes 1-2 (Manga Xanadu)
Secret Comics Japan (Experiments in Manga)
Short Cuts, Volume 1 (Experiments in Manga)
Short Cuts, Volumes 1-2 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Other contributions:
English, Please!: Palepoli (Slightly Biased Manga)
An Examination and Appreciation of the Works of Usamaru Furuya (Experiments in Manga)
Manga Giveaway: Genkaku Picasso Giveaway (Experiments in Manga)
My Limited Exposure with Usamaru Furuya (Animemiz’s Scribblings)
My Week in Manga (Experiments in Manga)
Usamaru Furuya’s Genkaku Picasso & Why It’s Currently the Only Shounen Manga on My Shelves (All About Manga)

From the archives (pre-Feast content):
Interview with Usamaru Furuya (Shonen Jump Magazine)
Met Usamaru Furuya in Toronto! (Same Hat!)
A Short Appreciation of Manga-ka Usamaru Furuya (Comics 212)
TCAF 2011: Spotlight on Usamaru Furuya (Kuriousity)
This Genius’s Horror Edition of MMF: Usamaru Fuyura (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Usamaru Furuya TCAF 2011 Autograph Signing Session (Flash Frame Omake)

Flowers
Flowers (Completely Futile)

Garden
Garden (Completely Futile)

Genkaku Picasso
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (About.com: Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Anime News Network)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (BookDragon)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Burning Lizard Studios)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Comic Attack)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Hooded Utilitarian)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (The Manga Critic)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Mania.com)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Read About Comics)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 2 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 2 (Comic Attack)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 2 (The Manga Critic)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 2 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 3 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 3 (Comic Attack)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 3 (The Fandom Post)
Genkaku Picasso, Volume 3 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Good Comics for Kids)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Mama Reads Manga)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Manga Report)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Manga Worth Reading)
Genkaku Picasso, Volumes 1-3 (Reading Is Delicious)

Lychee Light Club
Lychee Light Club (Ani-Gamers)
Lychee Light Club (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lychee Light Club (Comics-and-More)
Lychee Light Club (Experiments in Manga)
Lychee Light Club (The Fandom Post)
Lychee Light Club (Genji Press)
Lychee Light Club (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lychee Light Club (Kimi-chan Experience)
Lychee Light Club (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Lychee Light Club (Manga Worth Reading)
Lychee Light Club (Manga Village)
Lychee Light Club (Manga Widget)
Lychee Light Club (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lychee Light Club (Otaku USA)
Lychee Light Club (Slightly Biased Manga)

The Music of Marie
The Music of Marie, Volumes 1-2 (Completely Futile)
The Music of Marie, Volumes 1-2 (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
The Music of Marie, Volumes 1-2 (Ryu's Dreams)

No Longer Human
Dehumanizer Dept. (Genji Press)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Comic Attack)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Comics-and-More)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (The Fandom Post)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Genji Press)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Kuriousity)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (The Manga Critic)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Manga Maniac Cafe)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Otaku Champloo)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Otaku USA)
No Longer Human, Volume 1 (Slightly Biased Manga)
No Longer Human, Volume 2 (Genji Press)
No Longer Human, Volume 2 (Otaku USA)
No Longer Human, Volumes 1-2 (BookDragon)

Love Exposure
Love Exposure (Animemiz’s Scribblings)

Plastic Girl
Plastic Girl (Completely Futile)

Secret Comics Japan
Looking Back at Secret Comics Japan (Same Hat!)
Secret Comics Japan (Comics-and-More)
Secret Comics Japan (Slightly Biased Manga)

Short Cuts
Short Cuts, Volume 1 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Short Cuts, Volume 2 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Short Cuts, Volumes 1-2 (The Manga Critic)

Suicide Club
Suicide Club (Completely Futile)
Suicide Club (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

Other Feast Archives

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1

2011-12-30T10:02:00.001-05:00

Creator: Naoko Takeuchi
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781935429746
Released: September 2011
Original release: 2003
Awards: Kodansha Manga Award

In 1997, Naoko Takeuchi's manga series Sailor Moon was one of the very first titles published by Tokyopop. It, along with the anime series, became somewhat of a phenomenon in the United States. But, Tokyopop's license ended and Sailor Moon has been out of print for years despite its popularity. Then, in 2011, Kodansha brought the manga back in a completely new edition under the title Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Kodansha's version is based on the 2003 revision of the original series, which was first published in Japan between 1991 and 1997. I'll admit, I mostly missed out on Sailor Moon the first time around except for a single day that I was sick in bed and there happened to be a marathon of the Sailor Moon anime on television. I don't really remember much of it though, and the whole incident may very well have been a fever dream, but I'm pretty sure it actually happened. Still, I was very glad that Sailor Moon was selected for the December 2011 Manga Moveable Feast so that I could be properly introduced to the series.

Usagi Tsukino is an average fourteen-year-old middle school student at Minato Ward Juban Public. She enjoys eating, sleeping, and having fun. Her grades could stand to be better, but she would rather visit the local game center than study. On her way to school one morning, late and in a rush as usual, Usagi comes across a strange cat. After helping it--she was the one who stepped on the poor thing after all--the cat begins appearing wherever she goes. That night the cat, Luna, reveals its ability to talk and declares Usagi to be a guardian, destined to find her allies, defeat her enemies, and protect the princess and the legendary silver crystal. Usagi's not really sure what Luna is talking about or even that she wants anything to do with it. But given the ability to transform into Sailor Moon and the powers needed to save her friends from harm, Usagi suddenly discovers she's not just a normal teenager after all.

For a cat that appears to know just about everything about what is going on, at the same time Luna doesn't seem actually to know anything. Although I'm sure that Takeuchi has some basic idea of where she is taking the story, in this first volume of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon I really feel like she's making up most of it as she goes. Things just kind of happen and the readers and characters are simply there for the ride. The guardians themselves seem oddly accepting of everything that is occurring around them and of the revelations of their true natures--they just seem to go along with it. I actually found the resulting narrative chaos to be rather delightful at first, but I do hope that the story finds a bit more direction and focus in subsequent volumes.

Probably the thing I like best about Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon so far is the cast. While the villains come across as a bit one note, Luna and the guardians and Tuxedo Mask are all very likable. I particularly appreciate the range of their personalities. I was actually a little surprised by how much I ended up liking Usagi. She's a bit of an airhead and an admitted crybaby, characteristics that tend to annoy me. But those aren't her only defining qualities. When her friends are in trouble she will do anything she can to help them and will give it her best. Usagi's an unlikely leader, but her confidence is growing and the others trust her. I think that Takeuchi's artwork has held up pretty well over time. Granted, I do read a lot of older manga, so maybe it just doesn't bother my stylistically. However, the more action oriented sequences and fights can be difficult to follow. I wasn't astounded by the first volume of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, but I did enjoy its charming silliness enough to want to read more.

Manga Giveaway: Magical Girl Mania (Sailor Moon Giveaway)

2011-12-28T08:34:00.002-05:00

It's that time again. Time for another manga giveaway, that is! The end of December and the end of the year seemed to sneak up on me and were nearly over before I realized it. For December, I'll be giving away a new copy of the first volume in Naoko Takeuchi's classic magical girl manga series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. This giveaway happens to happily coincide with the Sailor Moon Manga Moveable Feast hosted by Sean Gaffney at A Case Suitable for Treatment. (You should check out the contributions, there are some really great ones!) The contest is open world-wide, so I hope you'll enter for a chance to win Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1!

Magical girls are one of those easily recognizable staples of Japanese pop culture. The genre has been around for quite some time and remains popular to this day. I actually haven't read many magical girl manga. Off the top of my head I can only think of three, but I enjoyed each of them: Clamp's Cardcaptor Sakura, Moyoco Anno's Sugar Sugar Rune, and Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. A classic of the genre, Sailor Moon has been out of print in English for years. Fortunately, Kodansha has started publishing the revised edition of the series. This makes me particularly happy since I missed out on Sailor Moon its first time around.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite magical girl manga. If you don't have one, you can simply mention that.
2) To earn a second entry in the giveaway, name a magical girl manga that hasn't been mentioned yet by me or someone else
3) If you're on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that's me).

Each entrant can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, you have one week to submit your comments. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, you can also e-mail me your entries at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I'll post the comments in your name. The winner will be announced and randomly selected on January 4, 2012. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can't figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I'll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced--Manga Giveaway: Magical Girl Mania Winner

My Week in Manga: December 19-December 25, 2011

2011-12-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

My News and Reviews

This past week I posted two in-depth reviews, neither of which were for manga. Courtesy of a review copy sent to me by Digital Manga, I reviewed Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 2. I think it improves upon the first volume and will most likely continue reading the series. The second review I posted was for Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki. If you love math, you should really check out the novel. Math Girls also happens to be the first book to be released by the new publisher Bento Books. I'm really looking forward to seeing what else they'll bring to English-reading audiences.

On to fun things online! SuBLime manga's website is now up and running. They also announced a new license for their digital line (Yebisu Celebrities written by Kaoru Iwamoto and illustrated by Shinri Fuwa) and their newsletter. Lissa Pattillo of Kuriousity has thrown together two lists of manga that were published in 2011. One is organized by month and one is organized alphabetically by title. I love lists, and these are very useful, so I had to share.

The Sailor Moon Manga Moveable Feast is this week, hosted by Sean Gaffney at A Case Suitable for Treatment. For my contribution, I'll be posting a review of the first volume of Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon later on in the week. I'll also be giving away the first volume of the series for this month's manga giveaway (which will start Wednesday). In preparation for next month's Feast, which will be hosted right here at Experiments in Manga and will feature Usamaru Furuya, I've created a new page--Manga Moveable Feast Archives. The page was in part inspired by the MMF Archive page at The Manga Critic.

Quick Takes

Aqua Bless by Yamatogawa. Although I have read more since, Aqua Bless was my introduction to hentai manga. Fortunately for me, I managed to pick a good one. It probably goes without saying, the artwork is very explicit and the title is certainly for adults only. I'll admit though, it's a nice change of pace from the "cones of light" that predominate most of the other mature manga that I've read. I like Aqua Bless because the characters all have actual personalities and there's a bit of story to go along with all the sex. Some of the stories are intentionally silly, ridiculous, or over the top, but most have an lighthearted, quirky charm to them. Aqua Bless is a fun volume.

F*X*T Magazine, Issues 1-2 edited by Fawn Lau. F*X*T was the first Kickstarter project that I ever supported and I am very pleased with how the magazine has turned out. Each issue is printed in beautiful full-color and contains chapters from continuing stories, a one-shot comic, an in-depth interview with an artist/creator, and a gallery of illustrations inspired by a particular theme. The individual issues are wonderful, oversized volumes on good paper which show off the artwork very nicely. Contributors to F*X*T come from all over the world. I enjoyed the first issue, but I liked the second issue even more. The magazine was planned to be quarterly, but I've only seen the first two issues so far. I really hope to see more volumes of F*X*T published in the future.

Seiho Boys' High School!, Volumes 1-2 by Kaneyoshi Izumi. Unlike most other all boys schools that I've seen portrayed in shoujo manga, the students that attend Seiho Boys' High School tend not to be as idealized (although they all do still happen to be rather attractive). They're teenage guys acting like teenage guys, and yes they can be quite crass at times. I actually found it to be rather refreshing. In the first volume, the main character's three closest friends are featured, each having a chapter or two devoted to them. The second volume is almost entirely about Maki's backstory. The first volume is generally goofy while the second is more serious, so I'm not really sure which direction Izumi plans on taking the series.

Yawara!: A Fashionable Judo Girl, Episodes 22-40 directed by Hiroko Tokita. I've really been enjoying the Yawara! anime, so I'm rather sad that only the first forty episodes of the one-hundred-twenty-four episode series are available in English. But even though the boxset from AnimEigo ends abruptly at the start of a new story arc, I still think it's worth checking out. I really enjoy the mix of martial arts, personal growth, and romantic comedy in the series. I find most of the characters to be extremely likable, even when they happen to be jerks (sometimes that's what makes them so entertaining). The only exception is Kuniko, who annoys me to no end. She is a newer character, though; with time I suspect she might grow on me. I really do like the series.

Math Girls

2011-12-23T10:53:00.002-05:00

Author: Hiroshi Yuki
Translator: Tony Gonzalez
U.S. publisher: Bento Books
ISBN: 9780983951308
Released: November 2011
Original release: 2007

Math Girls began as a series of stories that the author, Hiroshi Yuki, posted on his website. After receiving a good deal of positive feedback and encouragement to release Math Girls as a book, the novel was published in Japan in 2007. It went on to become a bestseller and the first in a series. There has even been a manga adaptation. In 2011, Math Girls as translated by Tony Gonzalez was the first book to be released by the newly established Japanese literature publisher Bento Books. Math Girls will appeal to those who already love mathematics. It's been a long time since I've seriously studied the subject (AP Calculus, way back in high school), but I do enjoy it. If the sigma notation on the cover makes you want to run away in terror, then Math Girls is probably not for you. On the other hand, if it makes you grin a little (or maybe roll your eyes depending on how much of a romantic you happen to be), Math Girls is probably worth seeking out.

Math Girls follows an unnamed second-year high school student (equivalent to an eleventh-grader) who enjoys to play around with math whenever he can get a chance. In part because of his love for math, he attracts the attention of two very different girls: Miruka, whose knowledge of math and natural brilliance exceeds even his own, and Tetra, who is only beginning to truly understand math but who is earnest in her efforts. For better or for worse, the complexities of mathematics are nothing compared to the complexities of relationships. He agrees to tutor Tetra in math; she wants to learn, but she also has other motives for spending time with him. On the other hand, Miruka is constantly showing him a thing or two about mathematics and can be a bit possessive. Mathematics is important to all three students and it is through math that they become important to each other.

The protagonist's love of math, and thereby the author's love as well, is apparent from the very start of Math Girls. Couched in a light romance, the math is really the heart of the novel. Flipping through the book might be daunting for some readers as very few pages are without some sort of graph, formula, or math problem. I do agree with Yuki's note at the beginning of the book: skip over the math if you need to, but try to follow what you can. It's worth it and is actually part of the story. I found myself learning a few things as I read and was reminded of how much I delighted in math. However, some of the problems can be quite advanced. I probably wouldn't recommend Math Girls to most readers who haven't had at least some precalculus, advanced algebra, or trigonometry although some of the math included is below that level.

Mathematics is often compared to a spoken language in Math Girls which is entirely appropriate. Math can be used as a form of expression. In fact, the protagonist of Math Girls frequently describes his feelings in the terms of the language he loves and knows best--mathematics. The execution of this is both brilliant and effective. Math Girls provides a fun and engaging way to learn and review mathematical concepts. It may very well be the only novel that I've read that contains an index. Yuki has also included an annotated list of recommended readings, many of which are available in English. I'm not sure that Math Girls will necessarily win mathematics any new fans, but the characters' joy as they explore and discover new and old ideas is infectious. If you already love math, there is a good chance that you will love Math Girls. To paraphrase Tetra, I may not have understood half of it, but what I did understand was wonderful.

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 2

2011-12-21T08:07:00.003-05:00

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Illustrator: Jun Suemi
Translator: Eugene Woodbury
U.S. publisher: Digital Manga
ISBN: 9781569701461
Released: May 2010
Original release: 2007

Since beginning Yashakiden: The Demon Princess I have read a few of Hideyuki Kikuchi's manga collaborations, but Yashakiden remains the only prose work of his that I have read. I'll admit, I wasn't particularly impressed by the first volume in the series. Despite brief moments of brilliance, overall I found the novel to be pretty cringe-worthy. However, there as enough that intrigued me in the first volume of Yashakiden, particularly Demon City Shinjuku, the setting of the story, that I wanted to read at least the second volume as well. Digital Manga Publishing released the English translation by Eugene Woodbury in 2010 and was kind enough to send me a review copy. The edition, which includes illustrations by Jun Suemi, is based on the version of the novel that was published in Japan in 2007. Kikuchi completed the work in 1997.

The second volume of Yashakiden begins immediately where the first volume leaves the story off. Four ancient Chinese vampires have come to Demon City Shinjuku to make the city their own. Two of the city's most formidable residents, Aki Setsura and Doctor Mephisto, oppose them. They don't entirely trust each other, but the two men must work together, even forming an alliance with Demon City Shinjuku's local vampire population. It's not enough. Neither side of the conflict comes through unscathed from the ensuing struggle for control over Demon City Shinjuku: there have been numerous deaths, Setsura is in the hospital unconscious, Mephisto is acting strangely, and the vampires on both sides are all worse for wear. Still, the Chinese vampires' influence over the city continues to grow as they turn leaders of the government and the police force. To make matters even more complicated, most of those living in Demon City Shinjuku aren't even aware of the danger they are in.

I am very happy to be able to say that the writing style of the second volume of Yashakiden greatly improves upon that of the first. I do wish it was a little more descriptive, though. Quite frequently important details are introduced only when they are immediately needed. This can make things a bit confusing for the reader from time to time, such as during an action sequence in which a character suddenly makes use of a sword that he had apparently been carrying the whole time but that I couldn't remember ever having been mentioned. But overall, the writing is much better in the second volume. The tone and pacing of the story, which varied wildly in the first volume, is much more even, as well.

Yashakiden continues to intrigue me. In the second volume, Kikuchi has introduced some new plot elements in addition to developing those that have already been established. Mephisto, who has always come across as a little odd, has become a more interesting character now that his stoic facade is starting to crumble. As for Setsura, I am becoming more and more curious to learn about his "other" self of which Kikuchi has only allowed readers glimpses so far. I do enjoy the scenes in which the two men appear together; they know how to push each other's buttons and I find their mutual needling to be rather amusing. While Yashakiden isn't a series that I would rush out to recommend to just anyone, personally I plan to follow it a bit further. I'm hoping that each volume continues to improve and am honestly interested in seeing where Kikuchi takes things next.

Thank you to Digital Manga for providing a copy of Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 2 for review.

My Week in Manga: December 12-December 18, 2011

2011-12-19T10:25:00.002-05:00

My News and Reviews

Not much news from me here this week. I posted Library Love, Part 8 in which I provide some quick takes of manga that I've been reading and borrowing from the library. I also posted my review of Ninja Attack!: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws. It's another really fantastic book from the authors of Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide. Definitely recommended.

And because I like lists, I thought I'd share a few that I've come across recently. Graphic Novel Reporter has posted their Holiday 2011 Gift Guide. Unfortunately, not a lot of manga on that one. However, No Flying No Tights revealed their Must Have Manga for Teens not too long ago. It's a very nice list. You should check it out. And finally, Deb Aoki of About.com: Manga has posted the Top 25 Most Anticipated Manga of 2012. There's some really great stuff coming out next year that I'm very excited about.

Oh! December's Manga Moveable Feast, featuring Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon, is next week! Sean Gaffney over at A Case Suitable for Treatment will be hosting.

Quick Takes

Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 7 by Konami Kanata. I really do love Chi's Sweet Home. Sometimes you just need to read something cute and fluffy and Chi more than fits the bill. Kanata's color illustrations are simply lovely to behold, too. The seventh volume of the series finds Chi mostly settled into her new home, although she still gets lost wandering around on adventures if she's not paying attention. She's determined to befriend Cocchi, regardless of what the other kitten wants. Kanata perfectly captures the lovingly antagonistic relationship that I've seen with my own cats. The seventh volume also features an adorable goldfish, which I'll admit made me very happy.

Drifters, Volume 1 by Kohta Hirano. If there's one thing that Hirano does well, it's create highly entertaining manga. Granted, Drifters doesn't have a lot of substance and there are a lot of things that don't make sense yet, but I still had a tremendous amount of fun reading it. Hirano's artwork is bold and bombastic, perfectly fitting his nearly insane characters and the over-the-top and constant action. However, some of the fight sequences can be a little difficult to follow. Drifters will probably work best for readers who are already familiar with the historical figures presented in the story (as well as some of their personal quirks) since not much background information is given. Their character designs are pretty great regardless, though.

From Eroica with Love, Volumes 1-4 by Yasuko Aoike. The first volume of From Eroica with Love is rough, with a quickly (and fortunately) abandoned plot dealing with a group of psychic teenagers. Get past that and the series turns into something really special. Earl Dorian Red Gloria is not only fabulously flamboyant, he is also the internationally infamous art thief Eroica. Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach is the ever rigid and reserved NATO officer who somehow always happens to be the one having to deal with Eroica. They are great on their own, but the series best when Klaus and Eroica are sharing the stage together. The constant harassing (on Klaus' part) and flirting (on Eroica's) are endlessly entertaining.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Apocalypse Saga directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The third and final of the Revolutionary Girl Utena boxsets from Nozomi, The Apocalypse Saga consists of episodes twenty-five through thirty-nine of the anime series, the movie The Adolescence of Utena, and a disc full of extras. The series is surreal and difficult for me to adequately describe, but it is incredibly engaging and compelling. It really is a tremendous series. Frequently it makes my heart ache as I get caught up in the story. As for the movie, it is a very odd interpretation of an already strange tale which probably won't make much sense at all unless you've seen the series. And even then, it'll probably still make you wonder.

Ninja Attack!: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws

2011-12-16T08:53:00.003-05:00

Author: Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt
Illustrator: Yutaka Kondo
Publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9784770031198
Released: November 2010

Ninja Attack!: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws is the second Attack! book by wife and husband team Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt, although this time they are working with a different illustrator, Yutaka Kondo. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first Attack! guide, Yokai Attack!, finding it to be both entertaining and informative. In fact, I liked Yokai Attack! so well that I was immediately interested in Ninja Attack!, first published by Kodansha International in 2010. While Yokai Attack! looked at traditional Japanese creatures from folklore and urban legend, Ninja Attack! primarily focuses on real-life figures from Japanese history. As is explained in the books foreword, "Actual, historical ninja are fascinating enough subjects without needing to muddy the waters with fantasy." Yoda and Alt go on to prove that to be true.

Like Yokai Attack!, Ninja Attack! is organized thematically as opposed to chronologically which might be expected with a book dealing with history. Ninja Attack! features thirty-one important or notable historical figures divided into six groups: "Ninja's Ninja," those who served as role models, epitomizing what it means to be a ninja; "Ninja Gone Bad," which is just what it sounds like; "Ninja Magic," those that seem supernatural in their abilities; "Ninja Rivals," samurai and lawmen who interacted with ninja; "Ninja Masters," those who made good use of and employed ninja; and "Ninja Destroyer," which is pretty much just Oda Nobunaga. Additional information and fun facts are given throughout the book in the form of sidebars, sections called "The Illustrated Ninja," in which the authors talk about ninja and ninjutsu more generally, and a brief history of Japan. A glossary, bibliography, and index are also provided, as well as a foreword and an "About This Book" section.

Although there is some variation, most entries in Ninja Attack! consist of five major parts: a full-page, color illustration; a quick fact sheet about the person; a section called "The Man" (or "The Woman" where appropriate), which is a brief biography or introduction of sorts; a section called "The Moment of Glory" which describes an exploit for which the person is known; and a section called "The End" which explains how things ultimately turn out. Some entries have additional sections and in a few cases may be missing some of the ones just listed. One of my few complaints about Yokai Attack! was that the color pages were dropped partway through the book. So, I was very happy to see that this was not the case with Ninja Attack!, which continues to alternate between color and black and white pages from beginning to end.

As much as I loved Yokai Attack!, I think I enjoyed Ninja Attack! even more. The very informal, conversational tone that Yoda and Alt adopt make the book extremely approachable. Even readers who don't consider themselves history buffs should find Ninja Attack! interesting and probably won't be scared off. Readers who already know some Japanese history will most likely recognize a number of the people mentioned, but there were plenty who at least I was previously unfamiliar with. A few important fictional ninja are also included in the book, but for the most part Ninja Attack! focuses on historical figures who are known or are believed to have existed, exploring the truth behind the myths and legends that surround ninja even today. Ninja Attack! isn't the definitive source for its subject area, but it makes a fantastic introduction. Ninja Attack! is lighthearted, thoroughly engaging, and very informative. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book.

Library Love, Part 8

2011-12-14T08:27:00.002-05:00

Support manga, support your library!

Here's what I've been reading:

Akira, Volumes 3-6 by Katsuhiro Otomo. These last four books of Akira are significantly different from the anime adaptation. While I didn't enjoy them as much as the first two volumes in the series, they are still fascinating post-apocalyptic, science fiction. Frankly, the manga makes more sense to me than I remember the anime making (which I really should watch again). The characters are much more developed, and the story more thoroughly explained. Art-wise, Otomo's scenes of destruction are particularly noteworthy. Even after it looks like he's completely destroyed the city, he still finds ways to do more damage and devastation.

Hikaru No Go, Volumes 8-12 written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. So, while I still haven't learned how to play Go very well, I do understand the basic rules. But even when I don't know exactly what is going on, Hotta and Obata have made me care immensely. Just watching the characters reactions shows how seriously they are taking things. I never thought I would get so worked up rooting for and wishing for the success of the players. Waiting for the results of the various tournaments and games was nerve-wracking and even heart-breaking! Hikaru and Sai's relationship is starting to become strained now that Hikaru has become so determined and serious about playing Go.

Naruto, Volumes 2-5 by Masashi Kishimoto. As much as I enjoyed the first volume of Naruto, the next few volumes didn't really do much for me. I was, however, very pleased to find that Sakura is actually a competent character who isn't just there to pine after Sasuke. Kishimoto introduces a lot of material in these few volumes, including a whole slew of new characters with their own unique and unusual ninja powers. While this is rather fun, it does mean that already established characters don't get much more development. It also seems like Kishimoto is just making things up as he goes, although there are are some good ideas in there.

The Wallflower, Volumes 1-4 by Tomoko Hayakawa. I was actually somewhat reluctant to pick up The Wallflower. The premise of a group of young men trying to turn female classmate into a "perfect lady" at the request of her aunt (and with the potential reward of free rent) worried me a bit. Fortunately, it turns out they are quite happy to allow Sunako to be who she is although they do encourage her to pay more attention to her appearance. Sunako can be absolutely gorgeous when she puts her mind to it, she's simply more interested in her horror movie addiction. She also happens to be smart, a great fighter, and a good cook, too. Initially very withdrawn, she is steadily developing a relationship with her new housemates.

My Week in Manga: December 5-December 11, 2011

2011-12-12T08:32:00.006-05:00

My News and Reviews

Last week I posted December's first in-depth manga review: Breathe Deeply by wife and husband creative team Doton Yamaaki. It's the second manga to be published by One Peace Books. I quite enjoyed it and look forward to future manga releases by the publisher. I also posted the Give Me Some Gin Tama! Winner. The entry also includes a great list of recommended manga titles to make you laugh. And finally, apologies for the exceptionally brief news section this week! I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things after whatever bizarre illness I had.

Quick Takes

The Beautiful Skies of Houou High, Volume 1 by Arata Aki. I'm not as offended by The Beautiful Skies of Houou High as I know some people are, but I can't say I particularly enjoyed the first volume of the manga, either. Kei Saeba, who literally gets sick in the presence of men, has been enrolled in a prestigious all-boys school by her mother after being dumped by her girlfriend in order to "fix" her daughters preferences. Even worse than that, if anyone discovers that she's a girl while attending the school, Kei will find herself "disappeared." I like that Kei likes girls; I like her bifauxnen character design. But that's most of what I like about the manga. I'm not really enjoying the actual story at this point.

Dragon Girl, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-3) by Toru Fujieda. Rinna Aizen's dream is to lead Shoryu Senior High School's ōendan, or cheering squad (not to be confused with a cheerleading squad). Fortunately for her, the all-boys school has recently gone co-ed. Nothing really stood out for me about Dragon Girl. Rinna and her friends are likeable enough, but the manga uses so many cliches and doesn't do anything new with them that I actually found it to be rather boring. Long lost childhood love interest? Check. Evil student council? Check. (I could keep going, but I won't.) However, I would like to thank Fujieda for introducing me to ōendan. That's some cool stuff right there.

Megatokyo, Volumes 1-3 by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston. Megatokyo is a webcomic that began way back in 2000 and is still going. (You can read it here.) Personally, I prefer reading Megatokyo in print. I've been following Megatokyo for quite some time, but it's been a while since I've gone back to the beginning. I now realize how many of the Japanese pop culture references went completely over my head the first time I read the comic. I get them now, but even if you don't, Megatokyo is still great entertainment. Gallagher actually lives in the next town over from me and I've even met him on a couple of occasions. I like supporting local creators, which is yet another reason I appreciate Megatokyo.

Saihôshi: The Guardian Omnibus by Kôsen. Saihôshi is probably my favorite publication by Yaoi Press that I've read so far. Sure, there is plenty ridiculous about the comic, including odd clothing design choices, gratuitous magic tattoos, and one of the main character's weapon of choice is basically a giant pair of scissors, but to me that is part of its charm. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, though. There are a few brief sex scenes, but Saihôshi's focus is on the story. Many of the fantasy elements used are fairly typical, but the plot is actually pretty decent. There was more humor in Saihôshi than I was expecting, too. High art it is not, but I honestly enjoyed Saihôshi. Kôsen is a two-person creative team from Spain made up of Aurora García Tejado and Diana Fernández.

5 Centimeters Per Second directed by Makoto Shinkai. 5 Centimeters Per Second is a gorgeous film. The animation is beautiful and frequently breathtaking--the snow, the rain, the sky, the cherry blossoms, the color and lighting, everything. The film is just over an hour long and consists of three shorts with Takaki Tōno at their heart: "Cherry Blossom," "Cosmonaut," and "5 Centimeters Per Second." 5 Centimeters Per Second is suffused with melancholy and loneliness as its characters deal with intense emotions of love, longing, and loss. Be warned, if you're looking for resolution and closure, you won't find it here. 5 Centimeters Per Second left quite an impression on me; I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Breathe Deeply

2011-12-09T08:10:00.002-05:00

Creator: Doton Yamaaki
U.S. publisher: One Peace Books
ISBN: 9781935548072
Release: October 2011
Original release: 2010

Breathe Deeply is the first work by Doton Yamaaki, a husband and wife creative team, to have been translated into English. Breathe Deeply was originally published in Japan in 2010. I had never heard of the manga or of the creator before seeing the title listed in One Peace Book's catalog for 2011. I read and quite enjoyed Yumiko Shirai's Tenken, One Peace Books' first foray into publishing fiction manga; that alone was enough to interest me greatly in Breathe Deeply. If Tenken was any example to go by, Breathe Deeply promised to be an engaging and distinctive work. I was really looking forward to reading it and was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to receive a review copy of the book. While I wasn't previously familiar with Doton Yamaaki's work, the pair has apparently received several awards for their creative endeavours.

Sei and Oishi are two men who were profoundly affected by the loss of their beloved Yuko to a heart condition when they were young. Fifteen years later they are still haunted by their memories of her and are driven by them to find a solution to her illness. Sei a chemical engineer, has met with recent success, creating a polymer-based artificial heart. At the other end of the scientific spectrum, Oishi is struggling to have his research into regenerative cells accepted. Both of the men's work is cause for some amount of controversy within the scientific community. Just as they vied for the affections of Yuko when they were younger, they continue to compete in pursuit of their goal, convinced that their own theories, beliefs, and ideals are the correct ones. But even on the verge of a breakthrough, both Sei and Oishi must still deal with their guilt and their grief.

Scientific inquiry can be cutthroat and ruthless. While I don't feel Breathe Deeply has an agenda, other than to tell a compelling story, generally speaking the engineers are portrayed in a slightly better light than their peers in the medical school. More of this has to do with the researchers themselves rather than their actual work. The Chief, for one, is a horrible person even if she makes a memorable character. (I can't say that I was unhappy when she has to deal with the consequences of some of her actions.) On the other hand Oishi, a stem-cell researcher, is one of the most sympathetic characters in the entire manga, even considering some of the terrible things he has done in his past. The depth and complexity of the the characters and their relationships, particularly the awkward one between Sei and Oishi, is one of Breathe Deeply's strongest points. The two men are somewhat antagonistic toward each other, but their shared bond over Yuko's loss also serves as an important source of support and strength.

I enjoyed Breathe Deeply a great deal; although the story can be a touch melodramatic at times, the manga remains emotionally convincing throughout. Yuko is absolutely critical to the story. Just how important she is to Oishi and Sei is readily apparent in Breath Deeply's. The manga easily shifts between the present and the past. I would hesitate to call them flashbacks because the memories are still so real and vital to the two men's current lives. The artwork aids in the transitions--past events being colored in lighter shades of grey--making the story easy to follow and naturally flow. The artwork also features photorealistic backgrounds and landscapes, using shading more than screentones. I am very happy I had the chance to read Breathe Deeply and hope to see more work by Doton Yamaaki available in English in the future.

Thank you to One Peace Books for providing a copy of Breathe Deeply for review.

Manga Giveaway: Give Me Some Gin Tama! Winner

2011-12-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

And the winner of the Give Me Some Gin Tama! manga giveaway is...Quarteni!

As the winner, Quarteni will be receiving new copies of the first three volumes of Hideaki Sorachi's Gin Tama. For this giveaway, I was interested in learning about other people's favorite comedic manga. The responses were fantastic; I highly recommend checking out the complete Give Me Some Gin Tama! comments for some great suggestions (which I will summarize here in just a moment). A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. It made me really happy to see such a good turn out.

List time! Here's what we all came up with for some favorite manga to make you laugh:

Beelzebub by Ryūhei Tamura
Challengers by Hinako Takanaga
Crayon Shin Chan by Yoshito Usui
Dojin Work by Hiroyuki
Duck Prince by Ai Morinaga
Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
Ghost Sweeper Mikami by Takashi Shiina
Gin Tama by Hideaki Sorachi
Gravitation by Maki Murakami
Great Teacher Onizuka by Tohru Fujisawa
GTO: The Early Years by Tohru Fujisawa
Kanpai! by Maki Murakami
Mad Love Chase by Kazusa Takashima
Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Sayonara, Zetsuobo-Sensei by Kōji Kumeta
School Rumble by Jin Kobayashi
Sket Dance by Kenta Shinohara
The Wallflower by Tomoko Hayakawa
Yakitate!! Japan by Takashi Hashiguchi
Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma
Your & My Secret by Ai Morinaga

My Week in Manga: November 28-December 4, 2011

2011-12-05T07:50:00.002-05:00

My News and Reviews

It took two weeks, but it looks like I'm nearly completely recovered from my headache of doom. I still wasn't able to read for very long periods of time last week, but at least I could start to watch things again. Subtitles are still a bit of a strain though, as I discovered while watching Toward the Terra. Last week I posted the November 2011 Bookshelf Overload as well as a review of Osamu Dazai's breakthrough novella Schoolgirl. Also, don't forget about my latest manga giveaway, Give Me Some Gin Tama! Enter for a chance to win the first three volumes of Gin Tama.

And now, I am absolutely thrilled to report that the House of Five Leaves anime has finally been licensed for a Region 1 DVD release! I cannot begin to express how incredibly happy this makes me--NIS America News. And other news that I'm happy about--Jen Lee Quick to Resume OffBeat. This news is actually a bit old, but I just recently found out about it. I'm really looking forward to seeing the final volume of this series. Also of note, Brigid Alverson of MangaBlog (as well many, many other awesome sites) has been named as one of the judges for this year's Eisner Awards--Judging time! And finally, Deb Aoki has a post on 12 Cooking Manga Good Enough to Eat. It' a great list with some great manga on it. And if you like food manga (like I do), keep an eye out for the February 2012 Manga Moveable Feast to be hosted by Khursten Santos of Otaku Champloo which will feature Oishinbo and other food manga.

Quick Takes

Cardcaptor Sakura, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-6) by Clamp. There is definite potential that Cardcaptor Sakura could be too sugary sweet, but Clamp skillfully balances the adorably cute with more serious themes of love and loss. I find Cardcaptor Sakura to be an incredibly enjoyable series to read. The characters are all very likeable. Even the secondary characters play important roles in the story and have very distinct personalities. I'm particularly fond of Yamazaki and his delightful tendency to make up completely ridiculous origin stories for just about anything. This omnibus marks the halfway point for the series and I'm eagerly awaiting Dark Horse's next omnibus release scheduled for next year.

Hero Heel, Volume 1 by Makoto Tateno. Works by Tateno tend to be fairly hit-or-miss with me, and so I was somewhat surprised by how much I liked this first volume of Hero Heel. Minami has been working as an actor for three years and has yet to really make a name for himself. Although he's not particularly enthusiastic about it, his agent convinces him to audition for a superhero show and he lands the heroic lead. His attitude starts to change when he realizes how talented and serious his openly gay coworker Sawada is about his work. Unfortunately, Minami's admiration and curiosity turn into unwelcome infatuation. Tateno creates an interesting dynamic between Sawada and Minami and I'd like to see where things might go next.

King of Wolves written by Buronson and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. I wasn't particularly impressed by Japan, another manga that Miura and Buronson worked on together, so I didn't have high expectations for King of Wolves. The manga turned out to be kind of fun though, even if I couldn't bring myself to take it too seriously and it was fairly predictable. The narrative does have some issues, particularly with pacing and flow. Some plot developments, like Iba's domination of the north, are done and over so quickly that it makes me wonder why they were even included to begin with. It feels like the creators were simply shoving too much story into a single volume.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Season 2, Part 2 (Episodes 41-51) directed by Seiji Mizushima. Fullmetal Alchemist really is a fantastic series. I was very glad to see the Elric brother's father finally introduced and all the disparate story elements are tied together nicely by the final episodes. Fullmetal Alchemist has a complex, engaging story and great, well-rounded characters. The good guys have their flaws and the bad guys have their admirable points. The series does a wonderful job exploring the grey areas of science, religion, morality, ethics, philosophy, war, revenge, and more. The characters are forced to repeatedly confront and take responsibility for their past mistakes.

Hetalia: Axis Powers, Season 2 directed by Bob Shirohata. Hetalia is probably not for the easily offended. Fortunately, I'm not at all easily offended so I quite often find it to be hilarious. I think the second season of Hetalia is even more consistently funny than the first. Even though the accents can sometimes be shaky, I really love the English dub of the series. The second season features more antagonism between Britain and France and other repeat appearances from the established cast. And Canada, oh Canada! finally gets a bit of screen time. One of the things I like best about Hetalia is that I actually do learn a bit of world history along the way in spite of (and sometimes because of) all the crazy antics.

Toward the Terra directed by Hideo Onchi. Toward the Terra is based on Keiko Takemiya's award-winning manga series, published in English as To Terra... I was actually impressed by how much of the original story was able to be included in the anime adaptation. Granted, there were some plot developments in the movie that I only understood because I had already read Takemiya's manga series. But, I do like the story and the anime catches most of the highlights. A utopian society has been established in order to protect the Earth but a new race of humans with psychic powers, known as the Mu, have evolved, posing a danger to the system. Also, Nozomi Entertainment's remastered version of the film both looks and sounds great.

Schoolgirl

2011-12-04T19:04:00.002-05:00

Author: Osamu Dazai
Translator: Allison Markin Powell
U.S. publisher: One Peace Books
ISBN: 9781935548089
Released: October 2011
Original release:1939

Osamu Dazai's novella Schoolgirl was one of his breakthrough works as an author. Dazai is best known for his short novels The Setting Sun and No Longer Human, both of which I have read and enjoyed, No Longer Human being my personal favorite. I was very pleased to learn that One Peace Books recently published a new translation by Allison Markin Powell of Dazai's earlier work and was even more pleased when I was offered a review copy of the book. Originally published in Japan in 1939, Schoolgirl has been translated into English at least two other times (once by Lane Dunlop in 1992 and once more previously by Ralph F. McCarthy in 1988), neither of which I have read, making Powell's translation the first I've had the opportunity to enjoy. Schoolgirl is also the first volume in One Peace Books' new Modern Japanese Classics series which will continue to feature novellas as well as longer works of literature.

Schoolgirl follows the day in the life of a Japanese teenager in the late 1930s from the moment she wakes up until she once again falls asleep. She tells her own story candidly, more for herself than for anyone who might be prying. I'm not always a fan of stream-of-conscious storytelling, but Schoolgirl flows naturally and remains engaging throughout the novella. As the story progresses, the girl reveals her desires from petty wishes to more substantial dreams, shares her frustrations from minor irritations to deepest grief, and exhibits a growing maturity in how she approaches her life. She is a girl on the brink of adulthood, intelligent and sincere and a little bit selfish, and not without her share of troubles and worry.

One of the things that makes Dazai's works so potent is the sense of authenticity with which his characters are imbued. They are likeable, imperfect, and completely believable as people. This is true of the titular schoolgirl as well. I found her to be charming and appreciated how honest she could be with herself. She's still in the process of growing up and finding herself. There were moments when I couldn't help but smile and think "Just wait until you're a little bit older, you'll understand better." She may be a fictional character, but I found myself wishing the best for her as if I actually knew her. Another thing that impresses me about the characters in Dazai's stories is that no matter how unlike me they are, I am still able to identify with them and care about them. I am in no way a late 1930s Japanese schoolgirl, but even though most aspects of our lives are different we still shared some similar thought processes and personal quirks. Dazai's writing can be surprisingly universal.

Although I haven't read any other translations of Schoolgirl in order to compare, I was quite happy with Powell's work on the novella. The accessible translation reads nicely, is almost poetic in places, and while I would exactly call it "bubbly," it is well suited as the voice of a precocious teenage girl. I did find myself interrupting my reading to look up references to pieces of literature mentioned with which I was unfamiliar, so it would have been nice if a few cultural notes would have been included as well. This additional information is not absolutely critical to the understanding and enjoyment of Schoolgirl although it does add some extra depth to the narrative. While Schoolgirl may not be as obviously tragic as some of Dazai's following works, echos of the story and the themes he deals with in it can be readily found later on. I am very glad that I finally had an opportunity to read one of Dazai's earliest successes. I'm also looking forward tremendously to seeing what other delights One Peace Books will be bringing readers as part of the Modern Japanese Classics series.

Thank you to One Peace Books for providing a copy of Schoolgirl for review.

Bookshelf Overload: November 2011

2011-12-02T09:44:00.000-05:00

Hmmm...it seems like acquisitions got a little bit out of hand in November. Granted, there were several gift certificates, major sales, and even a few freebies involved. So, it's not quite as bad as it first appears. I swear. The single item I was most excited about finding this past month was Tatsuhiko Takimoto's novel Welcome to the N.H.K. I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy of the book for well over a year now. I happened to spot the novel mixed in with a lot of random manga on eBay. I managed to win the auction and ended up with a bunch of stuff I probably wouldn't have otherwise, and all for less than a quarter of the price that the novel alone was going for at the time! I was immensely pleased with myself, to say the least. I also managed to snag some other normally expensive out of print manga like King of Thorn and The Crimson Spell at a good price. And finally, it was totally worth importing the album Seven by The Cherry Cokes, a band I happily discovered while watching the Giant Killing anime.

Manga!
Bad Teacher's Equation, Volume 1 by Kazuma Kodaka
Blade of the Immortal, Volume 24: Massacre by Hiroaki Samura
The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka
A Bride's Story, Volume 2 by Kaoru Mori
Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 7 by Konami Kanata
The Crimson Spell, Volume 2 by Ayano Yamane
Cromartie High School, Volume 1 by Eiji Nonaka
From Eroica with Love, Volume 6 Yasuko Aoike
Garden Dreams by Fumi Yoshinaga
Hikaru no Go, Volumes 6-11, 20-23 written by Yumi Hotta, illustrated by Takeshi Obata
King of Thorn, Volumes 2-5 by Yuji Iwahara
Maka-Maka, Volume 2 by Kishi Torajiro
Mardock Scramble, Volume 2 by Yoshitoki Oima
Oishinbo, A la Carte: Ramen and Gyoza written by Tetsu Kariya, illustrated by Akira Hanasaki
The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy by Youka Nitta
Nodame Cantabile, Volume 16 by Tomoko Ninomiya
Seven Days: Friday-Sunday written by Venio Tachibana, illustrated by Rihito Takarai
A Strange and Mystifying Story, Volume 2 by Tsuta Suzuki
Tactics, Volume 1 by Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama
Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist, Volume 2 written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illustrated by Shin Yong-Gwan
Tramps Like Us, Volumes 1-6 by Yayoi Ogawa
The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 4 by Hinako Takanaga
V.B. Rose, Volume 1 by Banri Hidaka

Global Manga!
In These Words, Chapter 5 written by Kichiku Neko, illustrated by Jo Chen
Super Pro K.O.!, Volume 1 by Jarrett Williams

Novels!
The Beautiful and the Grotesque by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
The Book of Heroes by Miyuki Miyabe
Father Figure by written by Kichiku Neko, illustrated by Jo Chen
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 1: The Land of Sand by Makoto Inoue
Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights by Ryū Mitsuse
Welcome to the N.H.K. by Tatsuhiko Takimoto
A Woman Called En by Tomie Ōhara
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volumes 3-4 by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Nonfiction!
Samurai Champloo Roman Album

Anime!
Hetalia: Axis Powers: Paint It White directed by Bob Shirohata
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga
Saiyuki Reload: The Perfect Collection directed by Tetsuya Endo
Toward the Terra directed by Hideo Onchi
Toward the Terra directed by Osamu Yamazaki

Film!
Goth directed by Gen Takahashi

Music!
Seven by The Cherry Cokes

Manga Giveaway: Give Me Some Gin Tama!

2011-11-30T10:36:00.001-05:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving, and happy end of November! Which means, yes, yet another manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga! Keeping with tradition (if you can call it happening once before a tradition), November's giveaway will be a batch of manga. Enter for a chance to win not one, not two, but three volumes of Hideaki Sorachi's hilarious Gin Tama. As always, the contest is open world-wide!

Comedic manga can be a tough sell since individual readers, and manga, each have their own sense of humor. What is funny for one person is not necessarily funny for another. Finding the perfect match can sometimes be difficult. Among other sorts of humor, I tend to particularly enjoy the absolutely absurd and ridiculous which makes Gin Tama a good fit for me. I mean, it's got samurai and space aliens, not to mention all of the pop culture parodies and historical references. The series makes me incredibly happy, which is sometimes just what you need when reading manga. So for this giveaway, I'd like to share a bit of Gin Tama love and learn about what sorts of manga make other people laugh.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win the first three volumes of Gin Tama?

1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite comedy or parody manga.
2) For a second entry, you can simply mention a comedic manga that hasn't been named yet by me or by someone else.
3) If you're on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that's me).

You can earn up to three entries for this giveaway and you have one week to get your comments in. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, feel free to e-mail me your entries at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I'll make sure the comments are posted. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on December 7, 2011. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can't figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I'll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced--Manga Giveaway: Give Me Some Gin Tama! Winner

My Week in Manga: November 21-November 27, 2011

2011-11-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

My News and Reviews

So, I had a pretty miserable week last week. Monday I was hit with a completely debilitating headache that only showed minor improvement by Tuesday. A trip to the doctor resulted in being prescribed medication that helped tremendously with the pain, but left me feeling like crap. I couldn't really do anything but sit around being useless. I couldn't read (which is simply devastating for me) and I couldn't watch anything, either. I was very, very bored in addition to being in pain. The headache still hadn't gone away after a week. Another trip to the doctor resulted in a different set of prescriptions which look like they might actually be working. (Fingers crossed!) Which is why this week's My Week in Manga is not only late, but rather brief, too. Assuming that the drugs work like they're supposed to, my posts at Experiment in Manga should still be (mostly) on schedule. I'm going to do my best, anyways!

Even with all of that suckiness going on, I did manage to post two reviews last week (not that I actually remember much about doing so.) If you're looking for a long novel to read, I have reviews for both Eiji Yoshikawa's epic historical novel Taiko as well as Haruki Murakami's newest novel 1Q84 for your reading pleasure.

Quick Takes

A Strange and Mystifying Story, Volume 1 by Tsuta Suzuki. An oddly appropriate boys' love manga for me to be reading this week. Akio's family is cursed with a painful, incurable illness. All alone, he is the last of his bloodline when a spirit charged with protecting his family appears to devour the disease. I actually really enjoyed this manga--it has a nice blend of supernatural fantasy mixed in with the plot. I also really like Suzuki's artwork. But it's the museum director, Akio's boss, that really steals the show with his astoundingly good-natured open-mindedness. The first volume seems fairly self-contained, so I'm not really sure where the second volume is going to take the story, but I plan on finding out.

Toriko, Volumes 1-2 by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. Toriko may not be vegetarian friendly, but it's still a lot of fun. I loved Shimabukuro's muscle-bound character designs which don't seem to show up in English translated manga all that much recently. It is the Gourmet Era, a time when humanity pushes the limits of exotic (and generally very dangerous in one way or another) cuisine. I'm fond of Toriko and his almost childlike delight and innocence in the food that he eats, even if it means an epic confrontation or battle with what is on the menu. I also like that the Gourmet Hunters' powers are a natural, if fantastically over-the-top, extension of the skills they need to be successful in their work capturing and acquiring rare ingredients.

1Q84

2011-11-25T13:11:00.000-05:00

Author: Haruki Murakami
Translator: Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel
U.S. publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780307593313
Released: October 2011
Original release: 2009-2010

Despite my deep interest in Japanese literature, I have somewhat surprisingly never read any of Haruki Murakami's works until his most recent novel 1Q84. 1Q84 was originally published in Japan in three volumes, the first two in 2009 and the final volume in 2010. Already an international bestseller and nominated for a Man Asian Literary Prize, the publication of the single volume English-language edition was probably one of the most anticipated releases in the United States for 2011. I find it very strange, although I'm sure there are very good reasons for it, but two different translators worked on 1Q84: Jay Rubin translated the first two books and Philip Gabriel translated the third. 1Q84 was the November 2011 selection for the Japanese Literature Book Group which is why I finally got around to reading something by the world-renowned Murakami.

Tokyo, 1984. Aomame is a popular fitness and martial arts instructor at the gym where she works. She's also an occasional assassin, able to send a man to the other side quickly and silently while making the death appear to be natural. But Aomame begins to suspect something isn't quite right with her world when after her latest job she realizes that she seems to be missing memories. Elsewhere in the city, Tengo, a math teacher at a cram school and an aspiring author, has been somewhat reluctantly roped into ghostwriting a short novel called Air Chrysalis for a new writers competition. He doesn't expect anything good to come from the scheme, but he still feels compelled to rewrite the story. But even Tengo couldn't anticipate just how much trouble his acquiescence will cause for all those involved in the subterfuge.

For most of the novel, 1Q84 is told in chapters alternating between Aomame and Tengo's perspectives. At first their stories seem completely unrelated but as the novel progresses the deep connection between the two is slowly revealed. However, I simply didn't feel the inescapable draw that is supposed to exist between Tango and Aomame and that is supposed to be one of the driving forces behind 1Q84. Nevertheless, I did like the general structure of the novel and the use of repeated keywords, phrases, and cultural references that tie everything closer and closer together. I loved how what the characters initially believe to be fictional elements steadily encroach upon their realities. The change in the translator for the third book is noticeable but fortunately isn't too jarring. The style might be slightly different, but it was a decent breaking point since a third perspective is also introduced in the final volume.

Air Chrysalis is described as a work that fascinates and delights just as much as it confuse and perplexes. In may ways, those words could just as easily be applied to 1Q84. The novel is wondrously peculiar. Even so, I found parts of 1Q84 to be extremely frustrating. For one, I'm not entirely convinced it needed to be as long as it was. While I appreciated the incorporation of musical and literary touchstones, Murakami has a habit of going off on tangents that aren't always obviously justified. Characters frequently rehash plot points that have already been well established without bringing anything new to the story. Conversations tended to be incredibly cryptic or esoteric. And as the novel approaches its end, time becomes less linear, disorienting, and out of sync. While this had the potential to be effective, it didn't quite work for me. I am glad I read 1Q84, there were parts of it I really enjoyed, but I do get the feeling it's probably not the best place to start reading Murakami.

Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan

2011-11-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

Author: Eiji Yoshikawa
Translator: William Scott Wilson
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9784770026095
Released: October 2000
Original release: 1941

Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan is the second work by Eiji Yoshikawa that I have read. Taiko is probably Yoshikawa's best known work in English following Musashi, another of his epics, which I have also read. Yoshikawa was a prolific author in Japan, particularly respected as a historical novelist, but only four of his works are currently available in English, the other two being his telling of The Tale of Heike and his memoir Fragments of a Past. Taiko was first released in Japan in 1941. The English translation by William Scott Wilson was initially published in 1992 by Kodansha International and then again in 2000. Like Musashi, the English edition of Taiko has been abridged from the original. I'm not entirely sure how long Taiko was to begin with, but the shortened version of the novel is nothing to ridicule with well over nine hundred pages of dense text.

Taiko begins in the year 1536. At the time Hiyoshi, later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was only a troublesome young boy the age of six. The novel follows him and the tumultuous state of Japanese society as he becomes one of Oda Nobunaga's most trusted retainers. Nobunaga is extraordinarily ambitious and ruthless in his methods striving to unite Japan under his own banner. It's a dream that can't be realized without the aid and efforts of Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would go on to found the Tokugawa Shogunate. The prospect of unifying Japan is not an easy one. After the collapse of the Ashikaga Shogunate, the country was thrown into a state of chaos with many clans fighting each other in order to claim the power to rule.

The most difficult thing about reading Taiko is the sheer number of characters involved in the story. Someone might be thoroughly introduced only to die or otherwise meet fate a few pages later. An added challenge to this is that many of the characters undergo multiple name changes as the novel progresses. Taiko is divided into ten books. At the beginning of each of these sections, a brief list of prominent people and places is given. This is very useful, but a more comprehensive and complete register would have been even more helpful. Some familiarity with feudal era Japan would be extremely valuable for or perhaps even expected of someone undertaking to read Taiko. It's not always clear why certain people or references that are made are important without a basic understanding of the the historical context of the story. The constantly shifting politics and alliances can likewise be difficult to follow.

Taiko is described as an epic for good reason. It is a long and complicated novel, capturing the end of the Warring States period and the following attempt at the political unification of Japan. Many of the characters pull off some very impressive diplomatic and military maneuvers. The near constant state of war allows Yoshikawa to write brilliant battle sequences and when there isn't fighting there is plenty of political intrigue to keep everyone occupied. Taiko provides an immersive, and at times even inspiring, experience of sixteenth century Japan. However, the novel's length, even abridged, is certainly felt. There really isn't much character development, although people might exhibit sudden changes in behavior, and even the narrative arc comes across as somewhat flat. Perhaps Yoshikawa was too constrained by the historical realities of the period. But there's some great stuff in here, too, and I'm glad I took the time to read Taiko.

My Week in Manga: November 14-November 20, 2011

2011-11-21T17:36:00.005-05:00

My News and Reviews

Not much news from me today; I've been spending most of my time reading Haruki Murakami's most recent novel 1Q84 in order to have a review ready for later this week. It's a long book. Although I've been busy reading, I also managed to post two reviews last week. The first was my second in-depth manga review for November, Natsume Ono's House of Five Leaves, Volume 1. The review was part of the Natsume Ono Manga Moveable Feast, which was held last week. There were some great contributions for a great creator, so you should check it out! I also reviewed Otsuichi's Shirley Jackson Award nominated short story collection Zoo. If I wasn't an Otsuichi fan before, I certainly count myself as one now.

Oh! There is one bit of news I want everyone to know about. Bento Books' first release, Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki will be going on sale this Wednesday. Appropriately enough, it'll be Fibonacci Day.

Quick Takes

Gin Tama, Volumes 15-23 by Hideaki Sorachi. No matter how bad of a mood I'm in, reading Gin Tama always makes my day a little better. It's often goofy and absurd and frequently makes me laugh out loud. Sorachi makes fun of himself, the series, current events, popular culture, and even historical figures. The number of references and nods in Gin Tama is astounding. Some are fairly obvious, but I know I'm not catching them all. The cast of characters is huge, but they all get a chance to shine. It saddens me greatly that Viz Media ended the English publication of the series with the twenty-third volume; Gin Tama has reached forty volumes and is still going in Japan. Guess I'll just have to start watching the anime.

I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow, Volumes 1-2 by Shunju Aono. Shizuo Oguro is a loser, a likeable loser, but a loser nonetheless. He quits his job at the age of forty and decides to become a manga creator. Except that he doesn't really have the talent or discipline to succeed. But that doesn't keep him from trying. I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow is a slice of life story with short story arcs that hold together well on their own. Perhaps because of this I don't feel compelled to rush out and read more of the series, I'm not dying to know what happens next, but I really did enjoy these first two volumes quite a bit. I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow has a subdued, self-effacing humor to it that is wonderfully effective. Plus, Shizuo gets into a fistfight with God.

Only the Ring Finger Knows written by Satoru Kannagi and illustrated by Hotaru Odagiri. So, I may have called Only the Ring Finger Knows major plot twist long before it was actually revealed (granted, there was a fair amount of foreshadowing), but I didn't really mind because the turn of events made me happy. Senior Yuichi Kazuki is considered by most of the high school to be a perfect man--smart, popular, handsome, and nice to everyone. Everyone, that is, except junior Wataru Fujii after it is discovered that they both wear matching rings. Wataru suddenly finds himself the subject (and source) of a number of rumors, and he's not too happy with how Kazuki is treating him, either.

To Terra..., Volumes 1-3 by Keiko Takemiya. To Terra... won the first Seiun Award that was given for manga in 1978 and went on to win the Shogakukan Manga Award the following year. After reading the first volume, I wasn't sure why, but after finishing the series I was convinced. If you like old school space opera, which I do, To Terra... is a great example. The manga starts out a little slow, but quickly picks up the pace once the intense struggle for survival begins between the humans and the Mu--humans with mutations that give them a range of psychic abilities for which they are feared and reviled. It's sometimes difficult to say whose actions are right and whose are wrong; each side in the conflict has legitimate justifications.

Yawara!: A Fashionable Judo Girl, Episodes 1-21 directed by Hiroko Tokita. I am really loving this series. It's got great writing, is genuinely funny, and has wonderful characters. Yawara! is based on the manga series by the same name, created by Naoki Urasawa--easily one of my favorite mangaka. The manga by Urasawa that has been translated into English tend to be more serious than not, so I was curious to see how one of his series with a more comedic bent would turn out. Very well, as a matter of fact. Yawara is a judo prodigy, having been trained by her grandfather since she was very young. Despite her talent, she doesn't really care about judo and would much rather lead the life of an ordinary girl.

Zoo

2011-11-18T08:37:00.001-05:00

Author: Otsuichi
Translator: Terry Gallagher
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421525877
Released: September 2009
Original release: 2006

Zoo is the second prose work by Otsuichi that I've read. It was published by Viz Media's Japanese speculative fiction imprint Haikasoru in 2009 with a translation by Terry Gallagher, making it one of the earliest releases to come out of the division. Haikasoru was actually a little worried that Zoo wouldn't do well; general horror doesn't sell as much as many other genres in the United States. Happily, Zoo ended up becoming a finalist for the 2009 Shirley Jackson Award for a single-author collection. The short story collection was originally published in Japan in 2006, which makes it the most recent of Otsuichi's works currently available in English. Even though another of his collections, Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse (also published by Haikasoru) received a later English release than Zoo, the stories are from earlier in Otsuichi's career. Having been impressed by his award-winning novel Goth, I was looking forward to reading Zoo.

Zoo collects eleven of Otsuichi's horror short stories, beginning with the titular "Zoo." There isn't really an overarching theme to the stories, per se. In fact, there is a rather pleasant variety. "The White House in the Cold Forest" has a fairytale-like feel to it while "Song of the Sunny Spot" easily qualifies as science fiction. Some, like "In a Falling Airplane" and "Wardrobe" are firmly placed in the real world. "Find the Blood!" has a humorous, albeit dark, bent to it while there is nothing funny about "Words of God" at all. Familial relationships are often important in the stories collected in Zoo, but that is especially true for "Kazari and Yoko" and "SO-far." Even the length of the stories vary. "In a Park at Twilight, a Long Time Ago" is just barely over two pages while the books finale, "Seven Rooms," is the longest at thirty-nine.

While the eleven stories are very different, they share some similarities as well. All of the situations and settings that Otsuichi has created are bizarre and disconcerting. The stories are also all told from a first person perspective (except for arguably one) and the narrators aren't always the most reliable. If the circumstances that the characters find themselves in are strange, they themselves are just as abnormal. It is frequently difficult to determine just where the border between fantasy and reality lies, or even if there is one. Another characteristic that the stories share, and I think this must be one of Otsuichi's signatures, is that they all feature a twist of some sort in their plots. Sometimes there are even multiple twists. Even though I have come to expect this from Otsuichi's work, the actual plot developments can still be surprising and quite effective.

The variety in the stories collected in Zoo is one of the book's strongest points. Each story has a unique feel to it and each narrator has a distinct, individual voice. My compliments go to the translator for capturing this aspect of Otsuichi's work so well. As with any short story collection, there will be a range in the quality of the individual works. The enjoyment of each story will also differ from reader to reader and will depend on personal taste to some extent. I, for one, didn't particularly like "Find the Blood!" until I realized how funny it actually was. But once I did, I enjoyed the story very much. Overall, Zoo is a great, creepy collection. I'm not at all surprised that it received an award nomination. If I wasn't a fan of Otsuichi already, I certainly am now. Currently, there are only two books by Otsuichi still in print in English, Zoo and Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse. I hope to see more of Otsuichi's works translated in the future.

House of Five Leaves, Volume 1

2011-11-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

Creator: Natsume Ono
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421532103
Released: September 2010
Original release: 2006

My introduction to Natsume Ono and her work was through the 2010 anime adaptation of her series House of Five Leaves. Since then, I have been devouring her other works available in English, so far all a part of Viz Media's Signature line, but House of Five Leaves remains my favorite. Ono completed House of Five Leaves in eight volumes which were initially published in Japan between 2006 and 2010. It was also in 2010 that Viz Media began releasing the English translation of the series. Currently, the first four volumes are available; the fifth volume is scheduled to be published in December 2011. Although I haven't been reviewing the individual volumes as they have been released, I have been reading them, and rereading them, as son as I have a copy available. But because Ono was the focus of November 2011's Manga Moveable Feast, I decided to be a little more vocal in my love for House of Five Leaves.

Akitsu Masanosuke is a highly skilled swordsman although most people wouldn't expect it to look at him. Often they are surprised to discover that he's even a samurai at all. He's extremely shy, embarrasses easily, and is not even close to being intimidating. Masa's unfortunate personality makes it difficult for him to keep a job. His lord let him go as a retainer and no one wants to hire a timid bodyguard, and so Masa wanders Edo as a hungry rōnin looking for work. At least until he meets Yaichi, who is looking for a samurai in name only. Yaichi, perfectly capable of defending himself, simply needs a bodyguard for show. Preferably one that is easily controlled. Masa is glad to have the work, not realizing at first that Yaichi happens to be the leader of a kidnapping group known as Five Leaves. Despite his misgivings, Masa slowly finds himself drawn into their circle.

One of the most distinctive aspects of Ono's manga is her art. I have never mistaken her illustrations for anyone else's, nor have I ever taken another artist's work to be hers. Admittedly, Ono's style is not one that everyone will appreciate. I wouldn't describe it as pretty, but the loose, deliberate lines have a certain attractive elegance to them. I have become quite fond of Ono's artwork. The style seems to be particularly well suited to the story of House of Five Leaves, especially in the portrayal of the characters and their personalities. The droopy-eyed melancholy fits Masa's timidity perfectly while at the same time the artwork also easily embodies Yaichi's lazy, slightly unsettling intensity. My only real complaint about the art in the first volume of House of Five Leaves is that it is difficult to discern what is happening in the few action-oriented sequences.

House of Five Leaves is not a quickly paced manga by any means. It's strength lies in its characters and their interactions, and especially in the relationships developed between Masa and the members of Five Leaves. Probably most important is Masa and Yaichi's strange sort of friendship. Yaichi is fascinated and intrigued by Masa and his unusualness. In return, Masa admires Yaichi's confidence and is curious about him. Yaichi is a charismatic, enigmatic, and intensely private man. Not even the members of Five Leaves know much about him. At this point in House of Five Leaves, not much is known about any of the characters yet, but Yaichi is the most guarded. The groundwork for the story has been established in this first volume and the major players have been introduced. Masa still isn't quite sure what he's gotten himself mixed up in or who these people are, but that will all be revealed as the series progresses.

My Week in Manga: November 7-November 13, 2011

2011-11-14T08:23:00.001-05:00

My News and Reviews

Okay, here we go! I posted a couple of reviews last week. The first was Hideyuki Kikuchi's Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 1 courtesy of Digital Manga. I had some problems with the first volume, but I do plan on reading more of the series. The second review I posted was the first in-depth manga review for November, Death Note, Volume 10: Deletion. After a few bumpy middle volumes, the series is starting to get really good again.

Ed Sizemore of Manga Worth Reading and my favorite podcast Manga Out Loud is saying goodbye to reviewing manga to the same extent that he's doing now. I understand his decision but am still sad and will definitely miss his voice. My best wished go out to Ed and his future pursuits.

Over on Tor.com, Ron Hogan has an interesting essay about Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 and why those who read speculative fiction might get more out of it than those who don't--Genre in the Mainstream: Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84. I'm currently reading 1Q84 and should have a review of my own posted within the next couple of weeks.

Once upon a time, June 2009 to be exact, Digital Manga published Osamu Tezuka's Swallowing the Earth. Since then, the book has gone out of print. However! Digital Manga has created a Kickstarter project to bring the manga back. I'm particularly excited about this venture because if it succeeds it could establish a workable publishing model to bring niche manga to English-reading audiences.

And finally, this week is the Natsume Ono Manga Moveable Feast! I've got a bunch of quick takes here for you featuring some of Ono's works (plus a couple that are completely unrelated). Later this week I'll also be posting an in-depth manga review of House of Five Leaves, Volume 1. I am quite fond of Ono's manga, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's contributions to the Feast.

Quick Takes

The Drops of God, Volume 1 written by Tadashi Agi and illustrated by Shu Okimoto. While I like the drink, I am not by any means a wine connoisseur. Still, I enjoyed The Drops of God probably even more than I expected to. I will admit, I'm actually a little jealous of the characters and their passion for wine. For them, it's not just a drink but a way to express themselves. The characters' experiences and the mental images elicited while drinking are brilliantly captured in Okimoto's artwork. It makes me envious that I've never had such visceral and emotional reactions to wine. The Drops of God reminds me a lot of Oishinbo, which I don't think is a bad thing. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso, Volumes 1-3 by Natsume Ono. Ono has a superb talent for drawing marvelously sexy...pardon me, distinguished...older gentlemen. I don't think that Gente always stands very well on its own, but as a companion series to Ono's one-shot Ristorante Paradiso, it's wonderful. The manga is a series of short stories and vignettes featuring characters from Ristorante Paradiso. It's really nice to be able to get to spend more time with them and learn a little bit more about their pasts and personalities. The first two volumes take place before for the events of Ristorante Paradiso while the final volume takes place during the same time period and perhaps a little bit after.

House of Five Leaves, Volumes 2-4 by Natsume Ono. As much as I enjoy all of Ono's work, House of Five Leaves is my favorite series by her. I saw the anime adaptation before the manga was available in English, so it's difficult for me not to compare the two. The fourth volume is the first volume with a significant amount of unique content, including a character that doesn't even appear in the anime. However, the heart of the story remains the same. The manga reveals some of the characters' backstories in greater depth and explores their personal turmoils in more detail. In particular, the vicious side of Yaichi's nature is shown more than it is implied. I'm greatly anticipating the release of the rest of the series.

La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room by Natsume Ono. La Quinta Camera was Ono's breakthrough work. It was originally published as a webcomic before being picked up by a publisher. The manga is a slice of life story focusing on the lives of four men who share an apartment in Italy and their relationships with the constantly changing tenant of the fifth room which is rented out to exchange students. Each chapter, six in all, brings a new student and reveals just a little bit more of the residents' lives. Some of the tenants are only there briefly while others stick around even after they've moved out, but they all leave a lasting impression on the men. I prefer Ono's later work but I did enjoy La Quinta Camera. Although it's fiction, the manga has a charming sense of authenticity to it.

Dragon Head directed by George Iida. While I can safely say that I, for the most part, prefer the Dragon Head manga, the live-action film is not that bad of an adaptation. It just doesn't translate the character's struggles with fear quite as well. Nobuo's descent into madness seems a bit rushed at the beginning (granted, it happens pretty quickly in the manga, too), but that is somewhat understandable since there was a lot of material to fit into a two hour movie. Certain plot details of the story have been changed, some for the better, and an excellent job was done making the whole film coherent. The special effects are pretty decent and the devastated Tokyo landscape was particularly well done.

House of Five Leaves directed by Tomomi Mochizuki. House of Five Leaves may very well be my favorite anime series; I am absolutely crushed that a Region 1 DVD set hasn't been licensed. I'm glad that I can at least stream the series, but watching the show on my laptop is less than ideal. It's a story that profoundly resonates with me for some reason and I continue to think about the series long after I've finished watching it. It's not a anime that will work for everyone. It has a sort of art house feel to it, retaining much of Ono's style, and the drama relies entirely on the characters. The music also creates an odd, but I think effective, sort of atmosphere, mixing traditional Japanese instruments with modern beats and what sounds a lot like a French tango.

Death Note, Volume 10: Deletion

2011-11-11T08:12:00.000-05:00

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421511559
Released: March 2007
Original release: 2003

Deletion is the tenth volume in the widely successful twelve volume manga series Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. Death Note also has a thirteenth, companion volume in addition to anime, live-action, and prose adaptations and spin-offs. Deletion was originally published in Japan in 2003 and Viz Media released the English-language edition in 2007. Viz is also now re-releasing Death Note in two-volume omnibuses called Death Note: Black Edition (because the covers are black), so Deletion will be found in the fifth omnibus. The series has its ups and downs, but for the most part I have really enjoyed it. The story and themes are interesting and Obata's artwork, as always, is excellent. Deletion picks up the story immediately where the previous volume, Contact, leaves off.

Just when it looks like Light, who is also acting as Kira and posing as L, has finally gotten a one-up on his adversaries Near and Mello, he quickly loses much of the ground he has gained as the two young men start grudgingly working together and sharing information. Near has determined that the new L is most likely Kira and that Kira is most likely Light. Mello shouldn't be far behind him in reaching the same conclusions. Now, they just need the proof. Near begins by attacking the trust that the members of the Japanese taskforce investigating Kira as built amongst themselves. As they begin to suspect each other and especially Light, who is leading the taskforce, Light has fewer and fewer options left to him for escape, none of them particularly good.

Teru Mikami is probably one of the most interesting character to be introduced in Death Note, certainly in recent volumes. He is also the only characters to have his entire past revealed. To do so, Ohba and Obata resort to a flashback sequence which feels a little out of place at first but ultimately I think it works. Plus, it gives Obata a chance to show off great skill at drawing a character at different stages of maturity while still remaining recognizable. The tone of the flashback also shifts away from the surrounding narrative. It almost reads like it could be a religious text. If Kira is God, as many people want to believe, Mikami is his prophet. Mikami is undeniably intelligent, smarter than even Light expected, making his adherence to extreme moral beliefs even more terrifying and disconcerting. It is obvious that he could be a very dangerous person working on his own. The question remains whether Light will be able to control Mikami's fanaticism or not.

After a few volumes with some very significant action sequences, Deletion is a return to the more cerebral elements of Death Note. Instead of running in with guns blazing, the men battle it out with their minds as they try to out-think and out-maneuver their opponents and sometimes even their allies in order to take control of the situation. This doesn't mean things have become any less intense, dangerous, or deadly. Near has forced Light to take risks he would rather not and Mello is just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike to appear. Even Mikami is proving problematic as his ideals quickly diverge from those held by Kira. Panels do become a bit text heavy through all of this as characters explain things or think things through. While some are spelled out very thoroughly, other leaps of logic are difficult to follow. Usually the characters end up being correct, but I can't help but feel that they are making some unfounded assumptions or conveniently forgetting things as needed. Still, I am very interested in learning what happens next in the following volume the series, Kindred Spirit.