1.30.2006

I don't know what's going on in this scan....but it's awesome

Today...Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei). There's been a lot of talk of the undead between Brian and I lately (no small thanks to Alkaline Trio and their album Crimson). Any rate.....vampires, pretty pretty boys, Shinigami, the Ministry of Hades........this series has it going on.

With that, here's Shinigami Tsuzuki.......hot, sexy, cutting off limbs with meat cleavers:

1.25.2006

Resuming "Normality"

So, Brian was here since last Wednesday, so things didn't get done on the blog like they normally would. Let's pretend that we didn't skip a week of time and jump right back in to blog Wednesdays where I review a series I'm watching. Now, the last week was comprised of INTENSIVE NERDING with Brian. That said, I didn't really watch A series, per se, but rather a few episodes of a number of series. We did go to anime club on Saturday night for the series vote and one of the shows (which unfortunately got cut) seemed very potentially interesting. I'm in the process of acquiring the first 5 episodes, so when I do that and watch them I'll let you know what I think about it a little more. It could be possible that I still won't have a formal opinion after 5 eps, but I'll do what I can. Anyhow, the series in question is called Planetes and you can read a review by clicking on the series name above.

*NOTE*

I removed some of the content of this post. To see it, please go to my website at http://cranberryjam.bravehost.com/anime/comipa.html

Thanks....sorry for any confusion or hassle.

1.17.2006

Inuyasha....Saiyuki???

Umm...there was so a reference to the story of Saiyuki on Inuyasha just now. Freaked me out. I don't know what's going on, it was just in the background. There's some pig guy thing and he says something about being descended from one of the angels from the "journey to the west" and then he's like...my ancestor is Cho Hakkai. And I'm like, did I hear that right. And then they said it again. Then Kagome is like....duh, don't you know the Chinese story of priest Sanzo and his journey to the west......and then proceeds to tell the story behind Saiyuki.

Fuckin weird man. See what happens when I leave on Inuyasha. Now there are Saiyuki references (though I guess they aren't referencing Saiyuki, they're referencing the Chinese story). Still weird.

MLK..you know

Ok, so manga scan Monday is manga scan Tuesday this week. I blame MLK day for screwing with my head.

I do promise a good scan for you this week though.......SAIYUKI!!!!!! A two-pager...In color no less (haha even though it's still a black and white image...it's on a glossy page in the manga....that counts). So, enjoy.....I'm off to finally MAKING the anime shirts I've talked about for so long.




Ok...and I acquired Dreamweaver by the power of magic as it were, so I'm beginning the long, arduous process of turning this blog into a real webpage so I can do even more exciting things. Stay tuned for updates...til then, same old nerd blog.

1.13.2006

The Sophomore Slump if you will (and I will)

So, I know Bri already alluded to most of the things I'm going to say, but....Beck volume 2 was a huge letdown compared to volume 1. I know I have hope in that what I've gleaned about the series things seem to redeem themselves ok, but....I think you'll find this review a bit more critical than most of my reviews. Here are my thoughts:

So, we start out with the rememberance that Koyuki had accidentally joined the swim team to cover up for his pervy friend (who ironically enough is nowhere to be seen). Thanks to this, he goes to the city pool to practice and meets supporting character #1 of the volume...Saitou-san. The only reason I knew at this point that Saitou-san would be rather important is that on the soundtrack there is a cover of another song on the soundtrack (which happens to be one of my favorites and many of you may know it simply as 'I got believe in you') where the artist is listed as "Saitou-san band feat. Koyuki Tanako and Minami Maho". So...this man is not the sort of person I picture as having a band. Or as the olympic swimmer that he supposedly was. He's a fat slob. And everyone at the pool tries to avoid him cause he's super hardcore about swimming. Poor Koyuki gets caught up with him and has to endure a brutal swim workout....and I definitely didn't like Saitou-san at this point either. Though he turns out to be completely harmless in real life and he totally saves Koyuki's ass after he breaks Ryusuke's guitar (which we will discuss now).

Post pool (and post Izumi's friend implying that Izumi likes Koyuki--they fuck with that boy so much) Izumi and Koyuki go see Ryusuke...cause that's what they do I guess. Ryusuke gives Koyuki this old beat up guitar in his closet. He claims he does this because Koyuki has been getting interested in all different kinds of music lately and he thought he might want to practice. I read it as Izumi and Maho's evil brainwashing of Ryusuke scheme to get Koyuki to be a rockstar. The brilliant foreshadowing here is Koyuki saying, "What I had no idea of at the time was that this guitar would be the source of a very big problem." It's also once again adorable that no matter what Ryusuke does Koyuki is completely enthralled. He's like a 5 year old seeing Mickey Mouse...I swear. So, he's all geared up to practice with his guitar and he realizes that he has no idea what the symbols in the book mean. Ok, so I remember a time in my life when I felt like that too...but it's seriously not that hard, this kid is SLOW. Anyway, this comes later, but....Koyuki breaks the guitar by dropping it off a bridge into the street while CHASING CICADAS!!! WTF?!?!?! Who the hell RUNS to catch CICADAS while holding a GUITAR???? You deserved to have it fall into the street! I don't blame him for thinking Ryusuke would be mad at him. What none of us knew was that this guitar was very special to Ryusuke cause it was given to him as a gift by the only person who befriended him when he too was a hapless idiot like Koyuki....very similar to how Ryusuke is befriending Koyuki now. So...yeah, Ryusuke is pissed and Koyuki is depressed (see quote: "I doubt if I'll ever grow up to be a normal adult.". Again the girls try to act on his behalf, but....

Ok...on to things I completely hated.....Why in the hell would there happen to be FOUR incredibly talented musicians along with a doofy, awkward, middle school kid at a bar league softball game??? You think you could have made that less believable??? Oh...Ryusuke needs to start a band....oh...here are a bunch of people. Oh, but his rival is here too and he's trying to scope the people too. Seriously, this is over the top. And speaking of over the top....facial expressions....WTF?? WAY WAY overboard. On ALL the characters this time.

Anyway, so...Saitou-san has this parrot that likes to sing with recordings of the Beatles live performances and he finds Koyuki with the broken guitar and he teaches him to play. They enter in the music fest. Here's where I have a slightly embarrassing story about myself to tell you. I already talked about Rocket Boys and Bri mentioned it in his review, so I won't really go into that...what I will talk about are Beatles songs.......So. There's a track on the soundtrack with Koyuki singing that's titled "I've Got a Feeling". It's what I refer to as one of the "Special Olympics" tracks where they make Koyuki sing in english even though the guy singing for him (and Koyuki's character in the anime) can't really speak english.....at all. But I really like that song. It's cute. Koyuki really tries to sing it...he tries really hard, and I've always been attached to it. So, I'm home one weekend and my mom (who LOVES the Beatles as all good young women in the 60's did) is watching this Paul McCartney concert on TV. I was in and out and I was talking to her and all of a sudden he starts singing this very same "I've Got a Feeling" song. And I look at mom and with very confused words managed to ask her where that song was from. She's like, "It's a Beatles song. I don't remember which album, one of the early-middle ones I think." I'm like, "Did I listen to it??" She says, "I don't know...why??" So I play her the track and she says something to the effect of "that sucked". And I laugh and say, "Yeah, well I didn't know it was a Beatles song or I would have thought that about it too." So yeah.....totally didn't know that was a Beatles song. I'm now one of THOSE people that I make fun of so much. I hang my head in shame.

Ok, so again we end with Koyuki and Maho singing "Moon on the Water"...this time while swimming naked in the city pool. Yay!

This ends my review. Still worth a read, give it time...it's not that bad. And the series will get better. Or well, it ought to. I don't imagine they would have made it into a successful anime if all the manga but book one sucked.

1.12.2006

Beck 2, an Uninspired review for a Meh Volume

So, Beck volume two was not nearly as grabbing as volume. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Even with one of my favorite supporting characters being introduced it just didn’t have that same feel as volume 1 did. Now the series if I recall correctly is 30 plus volumes so it’s expected that there will be some slow downs and parts that are not as captivating as other, but still it’s a bit of let down that it happens right at volume two.

Let’s start off with the bad. Manabu, jack ass pretty boy vocalist. Yes you can see him as just an arrogant lead singer with a big ego, but it seems more than a little obvious that they made him the type of jack ass he is so he could be the “jerk singer” in Eiji’s band. It’s fine I mean Sakuishi did a good job, I really do dislike Manabu, in fact I want someone to cock punch him, but I dunno just seems a little flat. The writing in general seemed a little week in this volume, not bad, just a little weak. Also bad again…the facial expressions. Koyuki especially, but even Ray and Chiba have some pretty bad and over the top ones drawn on them. Since most of the rest of the art is so realistic, it just kind of rubs me the wrong way. Oh lastly even though I like Saitou-san they went way too far on some of the drawings of him to make him a little bit of a creepy/perverted old man.

Now for the good. Saitou-san, despite how he is sometimes drawn, is a great supporting character. He’s funny, he’s quirky, and well he’s a supporter. He helps Koyuki out a lot, and has a great talking bird named Page. Also of amusement is the way in which Izumi-chan half likes and half plays with Koyuki. The poor kid doesn’t really stand a chance of ever figuring her out, but it’s funny. Plus, as a boy, sometimes I think that’s exactly how girls act, and it makes it all the easier to feel for Koyuki. He only makes a brief appearance but finally Chiba has arrived. Just based off this one volume it’s kind of hard to get a good feel for him, he seems a little girl crazy, but there’s hope that there’s more too him than that.

So, basically it’s still worth your time to read, but it’s not nearly as captivating as the first volume. If you think of it in terms of a 5 point scale; 4.5 for volume 1, 2.75 to 3 for volume 2.

Things that disappointed me compared to the anime. Ok now I know in the anime they didn’t use all the Beatles songs, because it would cost too much to get the rights to use. However, the made up band The Rocket Boys and their song “Follow Me” were awesome and it makes me sad that it wasn’t in the manga. Oh also the “Full Moon Sway” lyrics being way different again from the anime is a bit bothersome too.

1.11.2006

Letting down the anime community

So..according to schedule I'm supposed to post about a series I'm watching. However, I'm not really watching one. So.....I have nothing to report.

I'm a failure to all otaku-kind. I only work 4 hours a day and other than that I'm pretty much home....and I haven't been watching ANYTHING.

I did read books 4 and 5 of Here is Greenwood. Hilariously amusing as always. I liked that the "Here is Devilswood" episode from the OVA was included as a sidestory in the manga and immediately followed by the cultural fest where people did do plays, but not that play. It was a creative merging by the artisans of the 6 ep OVA that EVERYONE SHOULD BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's ridiculously cheap and hilariously entertaining. Also...I'm SO glad they chose to put the Devil's Wood story on the OVA. And I want it to be a real anime of it's own. I also like the expanding upon the characters and our look to the past interactions of Mitsuru and Shinobu and how they were enemies at first and are now partners in the same crimes. I think what amused me most was the guy that wanted to get between Suka-chan and his brother and get to his brother's wife. Haha...he managed to start a rumor that Kazuhiro was gay and he kept throwing shit at Suka-chan and making him think that Shinobu did it. I was laughing really hard. And I was reading it on the bus so this made it even funnier that I was laughing out loud. Oh...Yukie Nasu, thank you. I hope we can find volume 6 so that I can read 6 and 7 (I bought 7 when I found it but I still haven't found 6)....seriously people....get the OVA. And then you will want to read all the manga too. This series is pure hilarity all the time. There are pretty boys who pick on the new kid, there's the new kid who has a crush on his brother's wife and gets nosebleeds when he thinks about it, there's the boy who looks EXACTLY like a girl, there's the school nurse/older brother who just teases his brother (the new kid) all the time. And there are hilarious high school antics at the all boys school in the dorm. And sports fests and cultural fests galore. Simply hilarious.

1.09.2006

Its Manga scan day!!!

Today is not really a picture of a bishounen (ok...well it is, but that's not the focus)...it's hilarious. Maki Murakami is so freaking funny in her sidebars and random side comments that I had to share one of my favorites with you. She's always talking about video games (though not as much as Natsuki Takaya of Fruits Basket...but enough to amuse me), and so when she did a data profile for Eiri as though we were checking the status of a party member in an rpg.....I nearly peed myself the first time I read it. It's sorta hard to read as I'm none too great at scanning just yet, but I photoshopped it best I could and I hope you can at least appreciate the hilarity.

Also...Steph IMed me while I was photoshopping, and this is what we had to say on it. I love Steph so much....

Steph: hey sari, what's up?
Sari: nothing
Sari: photoshopping todays manga scan
Sari: cause its a lot of text and it's hard to read
Steph: yay photoshoping manga!
Sari: haha yeah
Sari: it's so nerdy
Sari: delightfully nerdy
Steph: lol yeah but its so awesome!!!!
Sari: oh....i know


And with that....here is today's hilarious manga scan!

1.08.2006

Bri-kun, Yaoi con, and me dressing as a cross-dresser

So...Bri and I had an amusing conversation about our cosplay for our more than probable trip to the next Yaoi-con wherever it may take us. I want to share it with you....as it ends well.

(01:31:06) Bri-kun: i still really wanna do hana-kimi
(01:31:08) Bri-kun: btw
(01:31:09) Han-kun: i know
(01:31:12) Han-kun: it will be cute
(01:31:31) Han-kun: sk as girl dressed as boy
(01:31:46) Bri-kun: haha yep
(01:31:49) Bri-kun: plus it's appropriate
(01:31:51) Han-kun: yeah
(01:31:52) Han-kun: it is
(01:32:20) Bri-kun: yes i am cross dressing, but i'm playing a cross dresser
(01:32:22) Bri-kun: so it's ok
(01:32:27) Han-kun: hahahaha yeah
(01:32:56) Han-kun: ahh i have a good history already
(01:33:05) Bri-kun: haha yeah?
(01:33:11) Han-kun: cosplay as boy who likes boys
(01:33:21) Han-kun: i mean....i like the same boys as him
(01:33:26) Han-kun: so really....what's the difference
(01:33:52) Bri-kun: haha true
(01:33:56) Han-kun: now cosplay as girl cross dressing as boy
(01:34:02) Han-kun: cause she likes a boy
(01:34:08) Bri-kun: haha yep
(01:34:12) Bri-kun: you're far ahead of me
(01:34:18) Bri-kun: i've only pulled off the pirate
(01:34:24) Han-kun: haha yeah
(01:34:30) Bri-kun: which while it was funny, wasn't really true cosplay
(01:34:36) Han-kun: yeah...well
(01:34:40) Han-kun: we will cosplay
(01:35:12) Han-kun: though if you're going on your bike trip then we cant do the hang out in madison and have our cosplay bbq before hagen goes back to schoo;
(01:35:18) Han-kun: jess and steph will be sad
(01:35:21) Bri-kun: hmmmm
(01:35:34) Bri-kun: maybe i'll have to change the dates
(01:35:40) Bri-kun: i'll figure it out
(01:35:42) Han-kun: ok
(01:36:10) Bri-kun: oh speaking of steph if the three of us go to yaoi con, we should see if she wants to either be the hot boy, your american friend, or the school nurse
(01:36:20) Han-kun: haha yeah
(01:36:35) Bri-kun: hot boy the best for the trio, school nurse the best for hilarity
(01:36:41) Han-kun: though she's not familiar with hana-kimi
(01:36:45) Han-kun: haha yeah
(01:36:48) Han-kun: steph as hot boy
(01:36:51) Han-kun: hee hee
(01:37:03) Bri-kun: yaoi con is traditionally in october
(01:37:06) Han-kun: yeah
(01:37:12) Bri-kun: we will start her on the first manga run
(01:37:17) Bri-kun: have her read hana kimi one
(01:37:22) Han-kun: haha yeah
(01:37:24) Han-kun: good good
(01:37:39) Han-kun: what the hell is my schedule that day
(01:37:42) Han-kun: i forgot
(01:37:48) Bri-kun: done at 3 something right?
(01:37:50) Han-kun: ok
(01:37:52) Han-kun: i dunno
(01:37:52) Bri-kun: then video games
(01:38:04) Bri-kun: then hagen sari perkins
(01:38:09) Bri-kun: steph aquisition and manga
(01:38:17) Han-kun: excellent
(01:39:06) Bri-kun: ok so here's the plan, grab hana-kimi hand it to steph: "Study up you're SK's hot boy. If you slip up I'm the confused closet case poised to swoop in, so don't drop the ball."
(01:39:21) Han-kun: HEE HEE
(01:39:22) Han-kun: yay
(01:40:24) Bri-kun: the best is it's almost true to how real life worked out
(01:40:35) Bri-kun: sans all the dress up
(01:40:38) Han-kun: haha yeah
(01:40:41) Han-kun: it really is
(01:41:06) Bri-kun: yay
(01:41:14) Bri-kun: we have our yaoi con team!
(01:41:19) Han-kun: who does sk love
(01:41:27) Han-kun: hooray!!! yaoi con!!!
(01:41:29) Bri-kun: bri-kun?
(01:41:39) Han-kun: steph and you make the best team i can think of
(01:41:44) Han-kun: you really are my anime team
(01:41:46) Bri-kun: haha yeah?
(01:41:51) Han-kun: yes,...bri-kun
(01:41:54) Bri-kun: yay!
(01:41:54) Han-kun: sk loves bri-kun
(01:42:08) Bri-kun: bri-kun loves sk too
(01:42:12) Han-kun: yay!
(01:42:15) Bri-kun: :-*
(01:42:22) Han-kun: :-*


So...there you have it. Hana-Kimi for Yaoi con. Also...I need to include the cute discussion of Japanese that we had later....KAWAII!!

(01:49:20) Bri-kun: :big big hugs: sk ore wa kimi suki dayo!
(01:49:32) Bri-kun: that gramar might be off sorry
(01:49:33) Han-kun: awwww
(01:49:38) Han-kun: its ok
(01:49:42) Han-kun: do you know what it says
(01:49:58) Han-kun: technically that is
(01:50:12) Bri-kun: no
(01:50:27) Bri-kun: not exactly
(01:50:34) Bri-kun: but i heard something close to that in anime
(01:50:42) Han-kun: haha ok
(01:50:50) Han-kun: well...ore wa
(01:51:02) Bri-kun: ok
(01:51:09) Bri-kun: ore is the boy I?
(01:51:15) Han-kun: yes.
(01:51:19) Han-kun: well close enough
(01:51:25) Bri-kun: ok
(01:52:45) Bri-kun: :nod nod:
(01:52:59) Han-kun: so it's this boy loves sk
(01:53:22) Bri-kun: haha ok
(01:53:25) Han-kun: loosely
(01:53:30) Bri-kun: and it's true
(01:53:32) Han-kun: kimi is you in the familiar or feminine
(01:53:33) Han-kun: i know
(01:53:54) Bri-kun: this boy, if we can call me a boy undoubtably for the moment, loves sk
(01:54:07) Han-kun: haha awwwwww
(01:54:29) Bri-kun: yay i got the laugh and the cute all at oncde!
(01:54:39) Bri-kun: sometimes i'm awesome
(01:55:11) Han-kun: you really are


Ok...I should stop before I embarass Hagen any more by posting his words on a public forum.

Daisuki!
Sari

Too too brilliantly perfect

Ok...so it would be better if he were either a music professor or a med school professor, but I was doing a Google search for Hiroshi Nakano to find images for one of my many sideprojects, and I came across this page as #1 hit on the Google search.

Hiroshi Nakano.

I love it. I really really do. I didn't find any images of this guy though...if I do I'll post them.


Apparently our Hiro is also a boxer. As seen here.

Hiroshi again

Hiroshi....you look different than in your rockstar days.



This one begs the question....what IS the catch and throw mechanism.

Apparently also....Hiroshi Nakano does the voice for Ishikawa in GiTS SAC. As seen here:

Ishikawa
Seiyuu: Hiroshi Nakano



Ok...that's all for now. That got way more carried away than I wanted it to.

1.07.2006

A non-wanky opinion of Beck 1

Alright....so below this is my review of the first volume of the Beck manga. It's pretty much pieced together from the notes I took while reading, so it will be disjointed and not flow clearly. And that's how I want it...

Volume 1 is the story of how Koyuki (Yukio) Tanaka, a middle schooler who feels that there's no excitement in his life, meets Ryusuke (Ray...apparently though they never say this in the manga so Brian confused me and made me think we were talking about other people named Ray) Minami who's sorta fresh from America and plays guitar in a rock band. The band is having problems though and in the end Ryusuke and his bandmate Eiji split and decide that they will compete to see who can make a better band.

Ok, now beyond the summary to my thoughts:

In the beginning, I really like that Koyuki wants to write an autobiography about his life, but thinks it's too boring to be interesting. This reminds me a lot of how I want to make a movie of my life and how I have various scenes and the soundtrack all in my head, but no one would make a movie of my life because I don't DO anything important to society that would bring me enough fame to warrant a movie. Even a made-for-TV movie. It's sad to think that really. It may also be sad that I constantly strive for fame and recognition, but we're not going to go into that side of things. However, as the story goes on you realize that yeah, Koyuki's life isn't exciting to the "real world", but he's a pretty tough kid underneath is shy and cute exterior. He's got some quite biography-worthy moments in his life. And when it comes down to it....so do I. And that's what keeps me going some days, so I hope Koyuki recognizes it too. I also like that whenever his friends go anywhere he generally tags along, but he never has any money. Which is so very much like me....as at least the majority of you reading this will know. So, this helped me get pretty attached to him. That and his shy, quiet adorability a la Shinji Ikari. For an example of this, when the hs kids take him to a bar he's so proper and quiet and shy about things while everyone else is getting drunk and just hanging out there. A good example is that one of the girls asks him why he isn't drinking and his reply is, "I am. This is my second oolong tea!" So cute. Beyond that, and Brian touched on this, there's a point after Koyuki helps an old lady that was being harrassed by Yakuza and then gets his shit kicked by them where he makes a comment about acting too far out of his social standing and how he will live by the rules of society from now on. This makes me think a lot about at least what I know about Japanese society and how different it is from ours. The fact that he feels that he was obviously in the wrong to help an old lady makes me a little sad in a lot of ways. Koyuki comes through a few more times helping people, and I think to myself....if he were "living by the rules of society" he wouldn't be doing nearly as much for these people and therefore wouldn't be nearly the person he is. Without knowing.....he's gaining support by defying the "rules of society".

On music....Koyuki is SO oblivious. His favorite singer is this jpop idol girl. Ok, so I have the soundtrack, which makes this manga a little better more than likely as I can actually envision what's going on. So it's funnier to know the songs when you hear him make the transition from liking Kuyinoshi Chiemi to The Dying Breed. Conversely, reading the manga is making the soundtracks make more sense...cause there are like 20 bands and everyone sings with everyone else and I have to admit I was confused while listening to it. But I do like it. I REALLY like the music in the series. It also amused me that after Ray and Izumi (the hot girl at Koyuki's school) were having a conversation about American and western music that Koyuki knew nothing about, he attempted to learn more and ended up reading about ridiculous American pop a la Celine Dion. When he finally does hear The Dying Breed (they're supposed to be all the rage in the American rock scene) he's overwhelmed by it and listens to it so much that he admits at the end that he memorized the words (more on this later in the "random things I liked section"). It's funny too that the Japanese kids on their encounters with the gaijin and other things try to speak English. This is one of those things that's even funnier if you know the soundtrack or the anime. But you get enough about it in the manga to make it amusing.

Overall, this book was really good and I'm really looking forward to reading more and getting more into the storyline. There are a lot of books in the series (23) so this thing keeps on going for a while. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes as far as the two bands and how Koyuki gets more involved (cause I know he does and I know the soundtrack)

Random things I liked:

Koyuki says to Ryusuke after Ryusuke thanks Koyuki for helping him and tells him how much he appreciated this time and how Koyuki helped his dog Beck: "It's just that lately, for a long time now, it seems like no one really cares or notices if I'm alive or not." That just made me think about the times I've felt like that and how much it meant to me just to have someone thank me for doing even the littlest thing for them. It makes you feel good and it makes you really really really grateful to that person, whether they know it or not. And the cycle turns.

Ryusuke reads shoujou manga because of his sister. Which is hilarious cause he kinda tries to be all like...I'm a rockstar, but then he reads shoujou. Like me....only I'm a girl.

Koyuki's reaction to hearing The Dying Breed: "It was only 10 seconds or so...until that point in time there was nothing in my heart that could approach Kuniyoshi Chiemi's stronghold..."

Koyuki's reaction to Ryusuke's band: "I don't know much about guitar playing, but they look SO COOL!" Haha yeah, they do. And I've SO been there before.

I like the random stoner rocker trying to give an analysis of the band. He amuses me greatly.

Koyuki gets scared by the hidden track on the CD. Hee hee.

Ryusuke setting Koyuki up to get food with his little sister is both cruel and ingenious at the same time. However, then Koyuki goes out with her and her friends and ends up thinking, yet again, that he's boring and no one will ever be interested in him. I've been here, I know some of the rest of you have too.

Ryusuke: "The most important focus of the band is the bass and drums." YES!!! It took me a while to get to this revelation, but YES!!!

Ok...this completes my review of Beck 1. Less wanky than Bri's, but less coherent and analytical as well. I'm being the girl for once.

1.06.2006

Dusting off the English Major Wanking

Beck, the manga by Harold Sakuishi, center around Tanaka Yukio(Koyuki) and Minami Ryusuke(Ray), and a world of music, bands, and people's lives So, how can a manga based on music actually work? Well...yes it can and quite well in fact. It can because it relies largely on it's characters and their emotions to convey meaning, and not what our ears would be hearing In fact in volume one there are only five instances where the audio aspect of music is missing; Koyuki unwinding to Kuniyoshi Chiemi, the brief scene at the Serial Mama show, the Dying Breed MD (DyBre a popular and influential American band), the four panels devoted to The Musicmans show, and Koyuki singing at the very end of the book. Even for these scenes lacking the audio doesn't much matter as the scenes largely, or atleast somewhat, deal more with the emotions brought on by the music, than what is actually being heard.

For those of you interested there is a Beck animated series where you can here the songs. It hasn't been licensed yet so you can use your BT and get out there and download the fansubs. Or, just go out on soulseek and download the soundtrack (there are two discs Beck and Keith).


The characters are really what make Beck. All the characters are
solid and mostly realistic, even the supporting characters. The character's appearance also seems to fit them well. The perverted Tanabe with his almost buzz-cut, and catcher's mitt of a face, could just as easily be a peeping middle aged salary man, as a perverted junior high kid. Izumi-chan and Maho are both drawn in a way to give the pretty girl appeal, but also are distinct enough that they feel very real. Eiji, Taira, and Ray do not look like they should be doing anything but rocking. Lastly Koyuki looks like an average, unimpressive middle schooler. My only complaint about the art is that sometimes the expressions, especially Koyuki's facial expressions, can be a little over the top. It isn't bad or anything, just something that I felt didn't always fit.

Koyuki however is anything but average. Actually at first he's duller than average. In fact at first blush Koyuki seems like the last person you would want to read a story about. Thankfully as the story progresses we see Koyuki is every bit as mixed up and confused as any other 14 year old. He does want to do more than just be a warm body, but doesn't quite seem secure enough with himself to change his current situation. You really can't blame him, because the first time he tries to go out and do something (help an old lady he ends up getting thrashed by some punks. After this Koyuki thinks “I guess I stepped out of my place in society.” Note: we will revisit this in more depth later. Koyuki also shows his good heart on a few more occasions; helping Beck (a Frankenstein of dog parts and the series name sake), not ratting out Tanabe when it would have saved his ass, and standing up to three Gaijin to help his friends. Indeed in the case of the Gaijin he also shows some considerable balls. Koyuki though isn't all brash and dashing. He isn't either of those things, at all. He's just a small awkward kid (see scene with Maho and her friends) with a good heart. This leads to him being more cute than anything else, and he's still miles from cool. His initial taste in music is lame, and he can barely get a sentence out of his mouth sometimes.

Going back to the earlier quote. The quote when added to Koyuki's seeming awkwardness with dropping the kun and chan from Ryusuke and Maho, plus the scene where he's worried about calling Mit-chan, Mit-chan seems to establish some sort of pattern. From this we can see that Koyuki, despite his desires to live an exciting life, is actually a fairly reserved kid. Perhaps brought up by parents who were more traditional Koyuki has to battle a little bit with the behaviors that he has learned from home and what he desires his life to be like. Indeed his newly forming social circle seems to be taking up a side opposite of his apparent nature at the beginning. Izumi, Maho, and Ray are all more independent and casual people. They, especially Ray, seem to be opening a door to a place were Koyuki can embrace his desires for what he wants from life, and give him an opportunity to express himself. At this juncture though it does not appear that Koyuki has the skills or practice to fully embrace this. He is still reserved, still awkward, and above all still very confused. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.

The second main character in the series is Ray. Ray seems to be almost an opposite of Koyuki. With Ray we know what he wants to do, and to a certain extent we can see where it will take him. What we don't get with Ray however is the clarity of what type of person he is. Part of this is because we do not get narration or inner dialog from Ray. However, it extends beyond that. He at the same time seems to be a very nice and friendly person, yet cold and capable of being extremely emotionally distant. This dichotomy can be seen by how Ray acts when he is breaking up with the girl in the bar. He is anything but kind. He is blunt, cold, and while honest, he doesn't pull any punches. Yet a few minutes later he sticks his neck out to bail out Koyuki and his friends from the previously mentioned Gaijin. Further contradictions include it being mentioned that Ray is the son of a company president. However, we always see Ray borrowing money and apparently broke. Ont op of that he is only 16 yet living in an old run down fishing shack where he works. We know his passion for music, but nothing beyond that seems clear. Still, he is a likable character, and interesting, if not compelling.

Well, I'm looking forward to volume two. I'll try and do a little more actual plot analysis next time, instead of just talking about a couple characters and one odd tangent.

1.05.2006

Eva light and what I still don't understand

To see this post, go HERE

Yes yes...posting at work about virtually nothing

I was reading my blog just now and I have come to the conclusion that I hate the way it looks (formatting wise) in internet explorer (which I only use at work, but I assume some people use all the time). The actual text area is too skinny and the links area is huge (though the links, description, and sidebar text don't even appear on my IE at work). And.....I'm having problems manipulating the html in the template to fix it.

Ahh yes, but I have no bosses and TNC doesn't pay me anyway, the University does, so I see no harm in rounding up my hours today about half an hour (I got a lot done actually) and going home and using my powers to fix it. I gave the computer a much needed rest, so it should be in it for the long haul with me. Though IE still moves slow. Yes yes....this seems the thing to do.

Also....no e-mail about my computer lab job yet. What's going on here people?? Come on University of Wisconsin Division of Information Technology.

Ahh....I still have to draft a letter to NRCS (and hope they remember my name for the future when I come and beg them for employment).......but I think that will be for tomorrow at work. I accomplished almost one whole task today with the exception of waiting for info from people I e-mailed to e-mail me back.

Stay tuned for what I think of RahXephon or a comparison with Eva and what I don't understand.

Attempting some structure

It won't work of course, but I was contemplating trying to give structure to the blog. Like Mondays are pictures/scans day, Wednesdays are anime review days (when I get to watching something).....it won't work most likely, and it will take away all the interesting randomness of my life, but I think there ought still be random posts and musings. As that's the way my brain works. However! One thing I do know for sure is that we at Spicy Marmalade (that's right WE....welcome to my Bri who will be joining me on occasion for the new feature) are proud to bring you.......manga review Fridays by none other than the duke and duchess of anime, manga, and crazy schemes.......Brian Hagen and myself. Yes....as I am Master of the Universe and I have declared us the authority on such things........we will be giving you our opinions of things. Which will probably consist of Brian giving you actual literary analysis as best you can with manga (or at the very least well thought out and insightful analysis) while I talk about how it made me feel and which guy I think is the hottest. Ahh yes....such is my mind. First up for review.....BECK!!! Until they take the scans down from our online site that is.

Other things that may come up.....H2 (it's about baseball, and dear God do we love baseball. Put baseball together with anime and I think Bri-kun and I may be in heaven---or whatever it is we think heaven would be), and G Senjou Heaven's Door which has 2 volumes completed in scans and I have no idea what it's about as all I heard from Hagen was.....download it, it's only 2 volumes so far.

In anime news, since why not start today. Steph and I are close to finishing RahXephon and it was supposed to happen tonight, but it didn't (by tonight I mean Wednesday....because it may be 3AM here, but it's still Wednesday to me). So that will happen tomorrow, so you may get a 2 for 1 review this week. Today's review will be short though.

1. I've been rewatching Fruits Basket. (HAHA that review rocks. Completely agree on the comment about white snakes and the part at the end where they say if you don't like happy stories go watch Evangelion. Again...way to go THEM anime) I forget how amazing it is until I watch it start to finish instead of random episodes. It's SO CUTE though and it really does remind me of Brian and happy times. And whenever I hear the theme song I look out in my living room and remember sitting in that very same living room when it looked a bit different and being SO happy. And also...the more I watch, the more I love Shigure and Hatori. Hari (Hatori) is my new love I think. His episode (though one I used to not like very much) really makes me appreciate him. A lot. Hari's got a tough job and he's in a tough spot all the time. And so he has decided that he will remain emotionless so as not to get hurt again, but he doesn't want to be like that, he's just afraid of what will happen. Ok...so probably if you haven't watched this series none of it makes sense to you right now. But it really is amazing and the manga is even more amazing. And I still don't know if in the end Tohru will end up with Yuki or Kyo. And now I don't know which one I want her to end up with. At any rate, if you haven't had any experience with this series and you don't completely despise shoujou (not just the shoujou stereotype and not just because you think it makes you cool to not like shoujou) I recommend trying it. And remember that the first disc and sort of even the second disc are very cutsey and not a ton of character development in depth is done. The second half of that series really makes it what it is. And I love it for reasons that no one else besides my Kyo-kyo can understand, so if you don't love it like I do I understand. Just don't make fun of it or me because you don't like it. Because it means the world to me.

2. On a lighter and much more ridiculous note....Yakitate! Japan. It's about making bread. It sounds terrible probably and I know that Brian started watching this and then stopped after about half of the first season because he found it too ridiculous and weird, but I really like it. It does make me want to bake bread if I watch it for too long, and it's not something that I keep...it's a definite watch and delete series, but it is entertaining. Premise is that there's a kid (Azuma Kazuma) who likes to bake bread and is bent on creating a bread that can be associated with Japan (like there's french bread, and Italian bread)....which he calls Japan. Pan being the Japanese word for bread. Anyhow, when he's young he meets a baker who teaches him the art of bread, but then the baker moves to Tokyo to work for Pantasia which is the main bakery chain. Azuma goes to Tokyo to get a job at Pantasia, but he's pretty much an idiot who has special talent for bread and he ends up working at the Southern Tokyo branch which is a really small branch with the girl who owns it, another guy who pretends to be Azuma's rival but is really his friend, the crazy ass manager, and this random other guy who always gets left out. It's not a quality series by any means, but it is funny...very funny and Azuma is pretty much just ridiculous. And there is a lot of squaring off breadmaking competition. It's all in good fun. Check it out if you want......there's a hella lot of episodes, I just started the second season but I think the latest torrent I saw was at like 52 or something like that. I have NO IDEA how this series can go on that long, but I will keep casually watching as long as it holds my interest. I linked to some real reviews, so you can read the opinions of people who most likely think this stuff through way more than I do. And definitely articulate it better. (blogger note: the review link ISN'T great cause THEM didn't review it....and while I was finding that one I learned that they made this a video game for Nintendo DS and I want to play it but I don't have a DS so someone take pity on Hagen and I and find a way for us to play!!!)

Alright.....that's what I've got for the time being. I'll let you know what I think of RahXephon upon it's completion tomorrow. Probably. Friday will be Hagen and I with a review of volume 1 of Beck (which he already read) and likely some random side commentary and verbal bashing and abuse of one another through the use of text. All for the amusement of you, the reader.

1.01.2006

"Holy Mother of Hotness"....

...To quote Mr. Brian Hagen when I sent in this scan to his e-mail. So....I have a scanner. And I have manga. And today I got so bored that I put the two together. And so.....because this isn't a REAL website where I can have separate pages for things so we don't just have a scans and bishonens page....I think that I will randomly insert some when I feel like it. Someday I will have my own real website (ideally if I get the job at the computer lab where I can leech off their dreamweaver until I can afford to buy my own...if I have that much ambition) and then we will have a scans page and a bishonens page. But for now....you'll just have to endure with me putting them in at random. I'd like to say weekly and on a set schedule, but I know me better than that. Anyway.......today I bring you the reigning Sohma champion of hotness (and in that family it's a hard fought honor, let me tell you).......Hatsuharu Sohma (from the inside cover of Fruits Basket volume 8)