Anime!

For the $675 you’ll pay for HiArt’s Manga Madness anime classes, you’ll get 8 classes (starting today). Yes, that’s almost $100 per class, but kids 7-14 will learn anime-style drawing techniques from acclaimed artist Yali-Lin. In addition to learning the techniques for drawing different types of characters and faces, kids will write their own stories and learn how to create panels, incorporate text, and design their page. There will be beginner and advanced sessions so kids can really hone their skills.

Another academic year has come to an end, and three members of Genshiken have graduated. It seems like the otaku aren’t having too much trouble finding a job, which is a good thing for them. Unfortunately, the club’s numbers are dwindling, and they don’t appear to be getting any new members.

The first half of that question: is anime important to me? A lot of what I read and watch now is Eastern. I have two big sort of guilty pleasures. One is American TV drama, stuff like Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica, the Wire, the West Wing. I devour that stuff in enormous quantities and the other is Japanese and Korean movies and comic books. I watch a lot of Japanese animation – the studio Ghibli stuff, My Beautiful Girl Marie and stuff like that. Japanese animation is beautiful and lyrical. And I read, voraciously, Japanese horror mangas – Junji Ito, Hideshi Hino, Shigero Mizuki – I love their stuff and I don’t think there’s anything like that coming out in the West. So I think that has become a great creative influence on me.

The Demon Ororon (悪魔のオロロン, Akuma no Ororon?)　is a romantic tragedy manga series written by Hakase Mizuki. The series is published in English by Tokyopop.

As Tragic Comedy of “My Art Corner” invited me to go for this new manga cafe, I gladly accepted it since it is perhaps not very often that you have a cafe with manga/anime being the context of the place. It is definitely a very interesting place, as I went there with two friends, as well as RDrake to get the trading figures of Higurashi.

According to Anime News Network (ANN), ARIA’s 3rd season is confirmed, this “slice-of-life” anime will return with the same vocal cast and directed by Junichi Sato. No broadcast date has been confirmed yet but according to ANN, the production started since spring this year. I am hoping for a release next year early spring.

Although the random skits at the end are rather funny, I can’t really approve of them. I see them as mainly time wasters, and perhaps that time could have been used to flesh out the story more. The introduction of characters could have been a bit more descriptive as well, but having read the manga it doesn’t affect me as much.

I reckon most of you guys would’ve read my previous two articles on dating otaku girls. Particularly the second one which talks about boyfriend and friend material. I was reading School Rumble volume 16 just now, when it suddenly struck me that Kobayashi Jin’s manga is quite realistic in the application of such boy-girl dynamics.

The portrayal of comiket in this series reminds me more of Comic Party then Genshiken or Lucky Star; where more focus is on the circles and authors than the actual doujin. The animation is understandably sparse, though I don’t think that particularly helps or harms a series like this. As long as the characters aren’t completely off-model, it’s alright. I do think the OP and ED are a little too long for thirteen minute episodes. Doujin Work looks to be a humorous little series to follow for the summer, and its length means it should be easy to keep up with.

Anime I am currently watching: Black Blood Brothers, Tenjho Tenge, R.O.D., The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I actually truly enjoyed this episode a helluva lot more than the previous arc, mainly because it had Karin, Toushiro…and you guessed it, a soccer ball xD. What impressed me the most about this episode was Toushiro’s perfectly drawn faces. Usually when it comes to fillers, it seems that the well-drawn manga visuals are replaced by failed attempts at creating abstract art, especially for the faces. Expressions are a common problem, where eyes, face edges and hair go flying everywhere across the head. Some even turn out looking like the opposite sex, or another character altogether (lol Yoakena).

One of the best comedy anime series I have watched recently is Genshiken which uses mostly situational comedy but has a slight dash of slapstick in there. The thing that helps it work well is the timing - which as you know is essential for good comedy.

No, the Manga Bible is not an exhaustive collection of manga titles and terms. It's the Holy Bible, depicted in Manga form. I can't find the words to describe how awesome that is.

Genshiken (げんしけん) es un acrónimo de “Gendai shikaku bunka kenkyūkai” (現代視覚文化研究会), que dicho en español significa Sociedad para El Estudio de La Cultura Visual Moderna. Los Genshiken son clubes que se encuentran en las universidades japonesas, cuya finalidad son el ver desde una óptica analítica y seria, todas las manifestaciones que sean parte del momentum.

In terms of plot, the anime seems to be jumping all over the place, but this doesn’t really matter as long as it doesn’t affect the progress of any relationship development. For the moment, the show will probably go into many disjointed episodic stories that introduce/reinforce any characters that have yet to be familiarised. One I’m certainly looking forward to is a Machi-feature episode. Chikage is also pretty interesting, and I would love to see when she finally learns the ‘truth’ about people of the opposite sex.

I was confused at first when I heard this: the official Genshiken website announced a second series that will start broadcasting in Japan this autumn. But then I got enlightened. This one it is not the same as the video mini-series or the spinoff series Kujibiki Unbalance (about which I think I told you about before – but my memory is playing tricks).

Mag saw the manga version of Hana Kimi and went "OOOOH! They are so shuai!" OF COURSE! Then when she saw Kaidoh-senpai, she was exclaiming that the the drawing is so much better than Hana Kimi's (´0ﾉ｀*) she also agreed that kaidoh is so cool! The typical guy girls will love (if he doesn't act so weird... lucky mag doesn't read POT), tall and broad shoulders KYAAAAH (I was still complaining that the author's drawing deproved while going gaga...)!

My first attempt at a fandub. It’s about 4am right now and I’m bored. It’s more or less so that I can see what I sound like on the mic. Also I’ve never taken a japanese class in my life, so the pronunciation is off at some parts. I need to work on my pitch at the higher notes (like when I say “tsubasa”) and the sustained parts (like when I say “MY SOUL”).

I’ve been pretty lazy this week, probbably from being so not-lazy last week. I went one numerous anime marathons, so far I’ve watched entire series of Shakugan no Shana, Fate Stay Night, Soukou no Strain, Genshiken and Rozen Maiden ~ Traumend. They were all pretty good, and I think I liked Fate Stay Night the most, I loved Saber…

I’ve been watching waaaay too much Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. It’s addictiveeeee~~~ Here’s Frankie manga-fied. And Mac, too, but I think what I did with him sucked.

Oh and I had a taste of my first original Taiwan Drama too. I got the Taiwanese version of Hanakimi! Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu ~ It’s funny and sweet. I like it so much even tho the effects are different from Japanese dramas. I’m really not used to it yet. I like all the characters kahit na O.A. sila umarte. Lol. They’re so like the manga… except for our heroine. She’s OOC at times but she’s still cute.

Venus Versus Virus is a Japanese manga series created by Atsushi Suzumi which got serialized in the Japanese Manga, Dengeki Comic Gao! (which is also why I started to buy it to read and flip through the manga) in mid 2005. A drama CD was then created based on the manga series. I don’t have the orginal one but I do have one special drama CD that was given with December 2006 issue of Dengeki Comic Gao!.

Two weeks into the new year and I’ve already checked off one of my resolutions for 2007 - attending a convention. This past weekend I went to Sac-Anime and decided to interview some of the vendors and artists, using my MP3 player’s built-in microphone. So over the rest of this week, I’ll be posting audio from those interviews along with transcriptions because it might hard to hear what’s being said when there are hundreds of people in the same building.

I’m actually writing this post because I got excited after finally watching Genshiken #13 (OVA #1) which gg released overnight. I think I should start by saying that I didn’t think I missed Genshiken THIS much prior to watching this OVA. I really feel like watching the original TV series (yet again).

There was an error in Genshiken 13’s TL caused by Editor dyslexia. Sentence was fine, but alas, “don’t” was missing. So, here is a fixed script you can remux yourself if you’d like. Visit the “Howto steal our subs” segment on the playback page if you’re unfamiliar with MKV Merge.

I’m on a roll! Here’s a cute song for you guys, theme song of 花样少年少女 (Hana Kimi):

It’s the beginning of Sasahara’s third year in university. Madarame and Sasahara discuss the possibility of any new members joining, recalling that Kasukabe scared all potential new members off the previous year. Kugayama is busy looking for a job, Ohno and Tanaka are shopping for cosplay material, and Kohsaka and Kasukabe just returned fom a date. Kuchiki shows up at the club room, and after some annoying rambling Kuchiki Joins Your Party… uh I mean Genshiken.

I totally forgot that the Rozen Maiden OAV came out before Christmas. I’ve got that one downloading now. I watched Winter Garden, but it didn’t do anything for me seeing how I’ve never seen Di Gi Charat. I did laugh at “I made a 4koma for you”, though. The Genshiken OAV was exactly what I expected it to be: a more or less identical version of the same scene in the manga.

Our Groups Resolution this year… made by me… is to: Catch up to current Air Gear releases, Finish Fruits Basket, and have a PEAK of 200 people in our channel!

The final volume of the eight volume Chrono Crusade manga (and yes, it has been sitting here way too long waiting to be reviewed). As you would hope and expect, this volume picks up right where seven left off, with Chrono trying to hold back the horde of demons while Rosette goes after Joshua. This volume is an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end, as one might expect considering the series starts with Rosette who has practically sold her soul to a demon to save her brother's life.

Good news, boys and girls. We have a Genshiken OAV trailer online! Or, as some call it, episode 13. Not too fancy, not too ecchi, but still, it is something. As soon as my pedo comrade gets up from his daily 15 hours sleep (and finishes up wanking on a certain underaged anime chick), he will probably be uploading it for your streaming twisted pleasure on imouto-web-chan. Untill then, all I can provide you is this here link. The episode will be released in Japan along with the first DVD of the Kujibiki Unbalance series.

By now you've realized that she's on a loop, she's speaking Finnish, and that your brain is starting to hurt. The girl is actually Orihime Inoue, a major character in the anime and manga series BLEACH (check out the wikipedia article). Apparently she likes to eat weird food combinations, which might explain why she's twirling around a leek.

Yesterday, I’ve finished a very well-known shoujo manga which usually pops out as an anime favorite. Is it 3 months ago? Maybe more…I accidentally watched the 11th episode instead of the first one. I was close to deleting some 6GB worth of anime, when I saw the other “1″ on 11. Te-hee, my mistake. It turns out the 11th episode was one of the many weak filler episodes in the anime. That is the major downside of the anime: half of it are fillers. I mean, the most interesting arc will take place on the last 3 episodes. Watching those will make you realize the importance of the other 23 and turn such a simplistic anime comparable to other great shoujos like Honey and Clover.

Kujibiki Unbalance: I think we got about five minutes into this show before turning it off. It fails exactly for the reason that I thought that it would fail. The reason that this show works in Genshiken (both the snippets within the Genshiken episodes and the whole episodes on the Genshiken DVDs) is because of the fact that there is no actual narrative or anyhing. It allows the show to be nothing more than a pure collection of cliches. Not a cliched story, but literally a series of unrelated cliches.

If you are one of those, then sadly, or happily, you are a thin yuri fanboy. For good or for bad, it’s still a viable way of life, and there is no better (living) example of a thin yuri fanboy as Madarame Harunobu of Genshiken.

DC/CMX must be rubbing their hands with glee with their successful release of Megatokyo as it takes the top manga slot and now I would think is set to become their biggest series in the direct market, taking over from the controversial Tenjho Tenge which has been a constant stalwart of the chart. In much the same way Cannon God Exaxxion from Dark Horse doesn’t appear to have suffered either from it’s little bout of internet editing conflab.

I consider this to be a shining example of what doujinshi really can be, and if you liked it, I would tell you to run to your nearest shop and venture a gander at their successful forays into Negima, Genshiken, and… Yakitate! Japan?!? I said they were prolific, didn’t I? They’ll be making a showing at Comiket 70 this year, and hopefully it’ll turn out well. Anyway, in keeping with the flow, here’s a few shots of what you can expect from this title.

Only 3 more days till the end of the month: No more downloading. Don’t know what to download anymore… Downloaded a set of JAVs =D; some One Piece, Fruits Basket, and starting to download Hikaru no Go and Mai Otome. Also downloaded a few games for Will: Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, X-Men the Official game, Heroes of Might and Magic 5, Hitman: Blood Money, Deus Ex: Invisible Force, Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars.

MANGA: Went to the story today and picked up the next few books to a few manga's ive been keeping up with. (Ragnarok, Genshiken, The All New Tenchi Muyo) Also picked up the first book based off of Starcraft. (Going to see if its worth it.) Which brings to mind, what about other books that are based in a video game? Like the Warcraft books (or manga for that matter which i enjoyed actually despite having misgivings about it initially), and the Halo books seem to be extremely well written i have heard from multiple people. (With the Fall of Reach being the best of the 3 out). What other books/mangas based on games are good?

And if you add in the back volumes of Saiyuki I bought to complete my collection, well… that's a lot of manga for one week. Am I getting close to intervention time? Nah. It was only 16 books. I think it feels worse than it is because I also picked up 6 volumes of Hellsing from the library today.

This episode did it. Ouran has somehow wormed its way into one of my top top shows. With only Genshiken and Honey and Clover standing in its path, Ouran is giving them a real good run. It’s been 8 episodes so far and it’s consistently spewing out top notch quality. I’ve mentioned it in the past posts that the background is pleasing to the eyes and this episode continues that trend. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL. In case you missed the memo, I have a deep love for chibi-esque characters or whenever the character designs switch from “regular” to “simply drawn” and Ouran worked this angle quite nicely. But oh no, the smooch-fest isn’t over.

Thanks to Moetron, who spotted this on the Genshiken website. The site seems to have been updated, with the licence at the bottom changed to 2006. The picture also shows the final scene of episode 13. Hmm.

Following the news of the Genshiken manga ending, it seems that the highly anticipated second season of the Genshiken anime is actually Kujibiki Unbalance.

Yes, all this and no story or really funny jokes to be had. And yet I’m keeping them. Why? Because I’m a pervert myself. I won’t hide it at all, infact I implore people to be open about it. Ever since Genshiken gave it’s godlike speech on perverted-ness of anime lovers and how to be open about it, I could never say it any better. But still, for an ecchi anime, it’s borderline on my list, mostly because it is an ecchi anime. We don’t get many these days, but I’d rather save HD space then keep crappy anime.

In the meantime, time to rest, download some mangas and stuff. I have downloaded about 4 GB of manga including Gantz, Blade of the Immortal, Hellsing, Vagabond, Akira, One Piece and Initial D. If you have any good mangas to suggest, do tell me. And if you’re looking for the place to download mangas, check the “Lurk Manga Archive” on the right, they got everything, as long as you have IRC.

With a palette that consists of just red, white and black, Motomichi Nakamura makes these at once, silly, funny, gross and evil looking cartoon monsters. Above is a work entitled "The Coming Petro Collapse" for the New York Press. His simple illustrations are accurate depictions of an anime/manga clouded mind's nightmare monsters.

Since it was a rainy day today I figured I might as well go learn how to paint, so that’s what I did. I was interested in the alien army that I had played with the day before so I bought a box of these guys called Termagants, which are part of the Tyranid army/set (it’s all very confusing). One of the guys working there sat down with me for 3 hours and taught me how to paint them. The whole while I was thinking, “wow this is just like that episode of Genshiken where they learn to paint the Gundam models”. It was a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit. I sorta want to buy some more and build up my army. Apparently there is a games workshop in Vaughan Mills so I might check that out some time.

For those fortunate enough to travel to Japan to see the real thing, here’s a great link listing manga/anime museums including iconic Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka.

So many girls, so little time! lol. *cough* Air Trek (AT) are inline skates with an engine so riders can go really fast and fly through the air! w00t. Here we have Itsuki a normal anime guy (loser) who stumbles upon the world of AT Racing. He later meets SIMCA!! OMG SIMCA! *cough* *cough* um.. yeh.. So.. the story’s a bit cliché, but it is still enjoyable.

Ok, ok, these kinky scrolls are from the Kinki district around the old capital of Japan Kyoto. Still they are charming and the Japanese like to brag that the strolls are, “a precursor to manga comic books and animated films” in their, “use of illustrations [that] enlivens the stories.” Whatever.

Bill Postmus, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of suburban San Bernadino County, California, has ordered the county’s libraries to remove the scholarly text Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics from circulation. He proudly announced the move, calling the book “obscene comics,” on the county’s Website, saying, “That book is absolutely inappropriate for a public library and as soon as I was made aware of it yesterday, I ordered it to be removed immediately.”

I’m up to episode 13 of Mushishi. Also finished up nearly all of Genshiken. This one was given to me by a friend of mine. I haven’t found much about it on the internet, so it might be worthwhile to write about this one. Also finished up watching 3 Lupin movies that I hadn’t seen before. Also given to me by the same friend who gave me Genshiken. I’ll try and write up some reviews on these animes in the next few days or so. I might end up putting them on tsumetaihana. (I haven’t touched it in ages. Plus, it would be nice to make that blog dedicated to just anime and jpop.)

Finally, Air Gear. I was sort of looking forward to this but really trying to avoid getting my hopes up because as we all know, the last Oh! Great manga to anime adaption, Tenjo Tenge, was awful. Air Gear’s OP is pretty weak, but after that, it well exceeds what I was expecting.

Ok I haven’t changed the poll in awhile and that’s a bad thing. This may have been brought on by my laziness or unwillingness to accept the truth from the last poll (I kept on prolonging it)! LOL Anyways…the winner was Genshiken by a measly two votes.

I have a confession…I’m absolutely obsessed with Shojo mangas right now. It started off innocently with Peach girl, to Mars and now Hot Gimmick. Currently I’m a girl on a mission, trying to discover more shojo titles to subdue my interest. Am I succeeding? Maybe! Has anyone read “Fushigi Yuugi” yet because I’m thinking of collecting that next after I’m done buying Paradise Kiss and Genshiken… (so far I have Paradise Kiss vol. 1 ordered at my local bookstore.)

I always feel a little conflicted about manga adapted from anime. For whatever reason, I’m much more willing to watch anime adaptations of manga and I tend to be less enthusiastic about manga versions of anime. There are certain series where I’ll watch/read both versions (Kare Kano, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc) but I’ve never felt the need to seek out the manga versions of anime I’ve enjoyed like RahXephon, Cowboy Bebop, or Evangelion. Read or Die is an exception, as there was no way I wasn’t going to check out the further adventures of Yomiko Readman, special agent to the Library of England.

Equally fascinating is the manga version by Miyazaki: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/manga/otto.html

Now, for the main dish. Genshiken. I’ve seen a few people say that Genshiken will be coming out this Spring Season (aka April-ish). They’re wrong. It was announced way back when that it will be OCTOBER. So, fans, run, dont walk to your dvd collection and watch Genshiken again… and again… and again. I’m actually wishing I’m wrong and that it will be coming out this Spring, but I do not believe this is so.

I’ve had a perfectly normal day today, not done anything out of the ordinary – woke late, took my bike downtown, bought a manga volume I’d been waiting for, decided it was too cold to wander around aimlessly, and went back home. I’ve struggled with the lousy connection (10 minutes just to get the connection stable enough to access the proxy!), wondered what I should get for supper, and discovered I forgot my Japanese book in my desk after last class. But I’ve also shared the leftovers of my supper with a very hungry friend, gotten a Japanese book in exchange, and chatted with a whole bunch of people, just in passing, as I was sitting with my computer in the hallway, trying to get a signal. And those things are enough to make this a very, very good day – just like most days here are for me. Even if I don’t understand how it happened, really, that I’ve found myself halfway across the world, and loving it so much…

Hana Kimi #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #8 - My new shoujo obsession.

Mizuki is a track and field star in her own right and she throws herself in to her new role as a boy with enthusiasm, as shown when she punches a boy in the face. I always think face-punching is an admirable quality for a shoujo heroine. Mizuki’s friendship with Sano grows, but how long will they be happy with a platonic relationship? And how long will she keep thinking that he thinks she’s a boy, when he knows she’s a girl? Hana Kimi also has a motley supporting cast that includes a womanizing RA, gay school doctor, menacing jock, pervy photographer, petulant pretty boy, and a cute doggie. Wacky hijinks ensue with almost every volume as Mizuki takes part in school life while trying to hide her secret. Although the plot of Hana Kimi is very typical, I enjoyed the character interaction and being able to see how Mizuki and Sano’s personalities change as the result of their friendship. The art is fairly standard, it serves the story but I don’t think it displays a very unique style. If you’re looking for a light and fluffy shoujo fix with plenty of cross-dressing, I don’t think you can go wrong with this series.

I admit, the character design isn’t the best in the world, but the front cover is just SO cute that you cant help but want to read this. I’m also disappointed in the lack of chibi, but it goes the Genshiken route by having the simply-drawn faces in instances where the character is embarrassed and such. As for the story, it feels like an average love story. Nothing in particular sticks out. If you want some fan service, you’re better off with Negima. If you want a cute love story, you’re better off with Love Roma. I’ll give the next volume a read, but there are better love stories out there.

In happier, less dreary news, Lina and I finished the anime series Genshiken this morning. While the ending was a bit of an anti-climax, and a couple of episodes on the last disc had some severe pacing problems, I’d say the series as a whole was a great ride and I’d recommend it to everyone who’s even mildly interested in the “culture” of otaku (If such a thing can be considered to exist). I’ll post more info about Genshiken at a later date.

Usually I love gender-bender manga/manhwa (I loved HanaKimi) but there’s something about the art style and general story telling that doesn’t appeal here. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m not sure whether I’ll continue buying this series.

I’m going to make this official, once this comes out, I will be reviewing every single episode with a passion. Hell, I will even try to be one of the first ones out there (not counting you Raw Bloggers).

And now, as a tiny gift, and few pages from a manga I’m doing!

I am going on a Right Stuf shopping spree within the next few days. I know I am getting all five volumes of the ParaKiss manga and a few other things (either Fruits Basket manga 2-3 or the Kino’s Journey DVDs 2-3. Or something else). I am also going shopping with Rita tomorrow - I’m not sure what I am going to get yet. I am thinking about getting a cell phone (pre-paid, yo) but I don’t really know if I need one.

Tonight I was trying to figure out which DVD to watch and I realized I haden’t watched the second volume of Genshiken… it is a good series… just a little on the wierd side… I know I’ve mentioned it before… but it’s worth mentioning again… as a result of watching the first volume I fell in love with the series… so much so that I ended up getting a set of the Japanese collectable figures that were released in japan… I now have a shelf of figures from 3 series… Genshiken, Stellvia, and R.O.D the TV…

¿Por qué el anime es tan popular en Japón y por qué ha acaparado tanta atención en todo el mundo? Mientras intentamos responder esta cuestión no podemos perder de vista la fuerte atracción que existe por el manga (cómic japonés), el antecesor del anime. Una posible razón es que mucha gente es aficionada al cine animado y este formato facilita la posibilidad de hacer cambios y adaptarse a la mentalidad del auditorio de cualquier país. Como resultado, el mundo de la fantasía y personajes de la cultura pop japonesa del manga-anime son ampliamente conocidos en todo el mundo.

The article describes that this inclusion of more manga-style comics involves English translations of existing manga comics or newly-developed comics inspired and influenced by manga. Either way, it looks like the march of Asian culture into the American mainstream continues to gather steam. Now if we can translate this influence into more political power, fewer incidents of discrimination, etc. . . .

This is a LONG mushy post that requires knowledge of the anime/manga Fruits Basket. Skip this if you don't know what it is, and try this funny link: www.stupid.com.

The last time I actually posted a life account here was what, September? Since then a few things have happened. I have attended my first ever geek-fest convention thing in October, which was a blast. I have finished Uni, I’ve started D&D again, and I’ve read a lot of manga and books that I highly enjoyed and will be separately reviewing, probably with major spoilage here, in the near future.

then i watched fruits basket. tengok untuk kali ke... er... 5? heheh.. the story is so sweeett i couldn't help it.

While I have many wishes for sequels and stuff like that, Fruits Basket takes top priority. The anime and manga introduced me to the shoujo genre, which eventually became my top genre of choice whenever there are new series to watch out for. The Fruits Basket anime ended up so sour, I really wanted more. This holds a very special place in my wish list, something I'll never let go even when I know the odds of new Furuba animation are close to nil. For now, I'm holding on to the Tokyopop manga.

It’ll be so much easier if you lazybones have read the manga so I don’t have to explain it all, but I guess it can’t be helped; an undine is the gondolier in Mars. Due to terraforming mistakes, the whole place is covered with water, giving it a global, Venice-like environment. Therefore, undines are a group of people who will ferry people and good across the waterways, while at the same time acting as guides. End of background explanation.

Then we went upstairs and watched some weird anime which seemed to be basically DN Angel with girls instead of guys, only worse. After that, they showed the single worst show in the history of the universe: Sailor Moon Live Action. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I was in tears with laughter the whole time. I had to leave after two episodes, though, as I had lost too many brain cells. I noticed as I left, though, that Ilyas, Nate, and Khy had evaporated. Silly early-leaving people.

Ok, I’ve now gone all crazy about manga. I mean, I’ve only been hooked on anime so far and also, it’s seems to be quite difficult to find translated mangas around. That is until now!

Speaking of animanga, I have recently joined The Fan Soundtrack Community, wherein fans of a particular anime/manga, book and some such may come up with their very own soundtracks for their chosen series or work. I dared apply for Hellsing as well as Hunter X Hunter, although by no means do I have extensive experience in this particular form of fandom foray.

If there’s one Anime that has recently blown me away it’s Genshiken for sure! It describes in great detail the daily lives of a group of real japanese Otaku. It’s very funny to watch and a brings a rich insight into japanese culture and the life of an Otaku.

I think I might have to throw everything... my whole Peach Girl: COH series... Pet Shop of Horrors... Paradise Kiss... Suikoden III... Demon Diary... Les Bijoux... countless notepads... countless DVDs... my Ai Yazawa art book that Amy got me... the Donnie Darko book...

They got me a “Fruits Basket” poster while they were there. Which is an inside joke, seeing as how I don’t really like Fruits Basket.

Yeah, when I bought the Angel Cage artbook, I got inspired to make a new layout for this blog. However, as I was flipping through the pages, the artwork is fantastic and all, but there really wasn’t any pictures that I felt like using. So, I resorted to another manga series…. Hana Kimi. The layout is in the works, but I feel like its missing something. Here’s a screenshot of the layout in Photoshop (click on the image to enlarge):

Favorite TV Shows: cowboy bebop, zoids chaotic century, zoids new century, tenjho tenge, samurai x, fushigi yugi, flame of recca, slam dunk, ragnarok, galaxy angels, knight hunters, sorcerer hunters, oh my goddess, gundam wing, gundam seed, vandread, your under arrest, rave, gensomaden saiyuki, maburaho, lupin the third, burn up excess, slayers, gundam wing: endless waltz, ghost in the shell, the batman, love hina I got to admit he has good taste in anime. He knows more than I do.

Ah yes, the Jade Kingdom. Mostly notable for one part of the plotline in particular which will have me wibbling away with glee when it turns up - for the moment, however, this is a nice beginning, with some decent fight scenes and character stuff. The tone of the series feels much closer to the manga now - I’m sure most of the dialogue and storyboarding is directly lifted from the manga panels anyway, but this arc feels like it’s going to be particularly well adapted from the first episode alone. I just feel it in my gut, ’tis all.

My little brother Pete has gotten into the manga Fruits Basket, which is cool. I was looking through volume 1 while home, and this one passage stuck out at me.

And holy crap, the dealer room. This room is like the room where I bathe in anime goodness. So much cool anime stuff!!! And at cheaper prices than normal stores. All I bought today was a Tenjho Tenge figure of Aya Natsume today. But, I plan to buy more tomorrow. Maybe a Tifa Lockheart FF7AC figure and a FMA keychain. Or something like that. And probably a plushie and a tradeable Bleach figure on monday. Still not so sure. -.-

I enjoyed the show quite a bit. A lot of comedy in it; sort of like Lupin crossed with Hellsing. And the ending is decidely weird. (Did I mention they ended up on the Moon in the 1920s)

A new Hellsing OVA series is being produced in cooperation with Geneon Entertainment. The number of episodes is unknown, but they will be 35 minutes long and based on the Hellsing manga series.

We ended the day with some viewings of “Tenjho Tenge” and “Ninja Scroll TV.” Tenjho Tenge was awesome but Ninja Scroll is too weird for my tastes. Our anime club at Lehigh should watch Tenjho Tenge. On that line of thought, our anime club’s president got the English VA for Motoko from Ghost in the Shell to sign his registration badge. “Best wishes from Section 9. Love, Motoko.” I’m jealous!

Picked up the first two volumes of Genshiken awhile ago but never got around to posting the buy. I don’t think I need to say anything about the manga other than that every anime otaku must buy it (and the anime too)!

Wake up, pack up, wait on everyone to see what’s up, say my goodbyes to the few people I talked to a little more than a “hey, what’s up”. Got a polysics poster, Genshiken vol. 2, found $30 in the street which was then used to buy the first half of the Bill Gates doujin I mentioned earlier, pack it up, pack it in, shut it down.

I finished Hana Kimi ^^ I was sad to see finish reading it. I wanted it to go on. Oh well. I’m reading it again since I’m not bored of it yet. I’m going to buy the series once I get money. I mean scans are nice but reading off the computer is a little annoying and probably bad for your eyes XD

My interest then shifted to another East Asian language, Nihongo (Japanese language) specially after I grew very fond of Japanese anime (animation) and manga (comics) while still in University. So in 1995, if I recall correctly, I enrolled at the Nihongo language “school” provided for by the Japanese Embassy that was then located in Makati.

The Star Trek panel, about whether ST was dead, was kind of a waste. As the Con progressed I mostly just watched a lot of anime- everything from Tenjho Tenge to Wedding Peach (lmao), and viewed a lot of the display booths and exhibits. And picked up a bunch of free stuff. Free posters! I also went to a kung fu extravaganza thing, which was hilarious and awesome. It made me want to get Master of Tai Chi.

Finished entire Fruits Basket in 2 days. I love that anime. Highly recommended. Am absolutely infatuated with Kyo. Need to remind self that he is merely an anime…

I managed to watch Initial D on tuesday night.

Much of a comic/anime/cartoon fan myself, the movie seemed interesting. A japanese manga made into HK style comedy, no doubt it is funny. Guys like Jay Chou and Edison Chen looks like they walked out of a comic book.

eigoManga.com features 60 pages of full-color original manga available for Sony PSP. Check out the stories featured in PSP PAK Issue 1! Seven Seas Entertainment has released free downloadable manga specifically converted for viewing on the PSP. Thing is, Seven Seas only released the first chapters for their four flagships titles: Amazing Agent Luna, Blade for Barter, Last Hope and No Man’s Land.

But anime? I just don’t give a shit. I mean, yeah, Champloo was pretty awesome, but I’m still 4 episodes from the end and could care less if I ever finish it. The new Gunbuster is pretty and well animated, but the story is flat-out boring. Manga-derived anime tends to suck extra hard, especially compared to the comics, doubly so if the comics were really brilliant in some way. See also, Grenadier, Hellsing, Bleach, et al. There have been some cool movies, like the new Ghost in the Shell and Miyazaki’s latest several, but even then I watched them more from a film fan standpoint than as an anime fan.

It’s 7, no one’s here, which basically makes this a sausage party. A sausage party with the best goddamn guacamole in this town. AND guac chips. Plus, I got good booze. It’s free parking down here on Saturday nights! There’s some parking spots open right across the damn street! It’s a damn good reason to stop trashing your own place and trash someone else’s! I guess I need movies or something, I have some oldschool VHS flicks, but that might not go over too well. I have a crapload of first rate anime though. I’m inbetween showing the first two eps of Paranoia Agent…or the fourth One Piece movie. I wish I still had my Hellsing…damnit, I think my old roommate still has it. I invited the guy, he could at least show up with the shit he borrowed, as he should be running into that now, with him moving out this weekend.

Haven’t done much really, just work and watching anime mostly. Yes, I’m still on an anime kick and I’ve finished several great series such as Genshiken and Evangelion. I suppose I’m the last person on the planet to actually watch Eva, but I’m sure there’s some Tibetan monk somewhere that hasn’t. I know I’m not the first to say this but: don’t watch episodes 25 and 26, substitute End of Evangelion instead, please! The original ending makes the baby Jesus cry, honestly.

I also had my second year undergrad writing class doing online discussions about using popular culture texts in the classroom context and I have to say, I read the best, most critical and well researched discussion I have ever seen ever today. One group were writing about manga comics (and then comics in general) and the discussion went way beyond the “its a way to bridge the gaps between home and school literacy” or “it will get the boys more involved” (which are both valid arguments but ones I was expecting). This discussion started with those points but then went on to discuss, in detail, the INTER-MODAL reading demands of comics!!! Not only that, but the actual DISCUSSION was a genuine discussion - to-ing and fro-ing of ideas, adding onto each other’s points, etc etc. I was so impressed I gave it *drum roll* 100%!!!! And…… guess what mode their discussion used? No, not that awful WebCT (I truly hate that!), not blackboard, not any artificially-designed-for-educational-purposes software… no it was… A BLOG!! Yes, a blog!!! I am going to ask them for permission to link to it if they decide to keep it online and not delete it.

Sis recently tipped me off about another cool Japanese fan art site! It’s run by a gal named Wild Apple. She has a BL comic about Bunji/Brandon called “My Life as a Dog.” She also draws nice Hellsing fan art. Here is the link if anyone wants to visit:

After my huge shopping spree (Rebirth 12, Ororon 1, Sword of Shiboto 1, Threads of Time 1, .Remote 1, Doll 1, Model 1, Chronicles of the Cursed Sword 4&5, Killua [Hunter X Hunter] poster, Rock Lee [Naruto] zipper pull, Rock Lee and Neiji [Naruto].. things.. Ban Mido & Ginji [Get Backers] pins (SARAH STOLE ONE!), Jackal [Get Backers] pin, Kamunagara 1, some anime I can't pronouce plus it's soundtrack (it came with it), a plushie for Lara, a M. Python shirt for Sarah, a shirt for my dad... The Ninja shirt, an Edward [Cowboy Bebop] pin, a Hiei [Yu Yu Hakusho] pin, 2 belt knives, 1 ninja star (AHHHHHHH so awesome), Cross 1, Ray 1, Pilgrim Jager 1, and an Itachi cellphone thingie), we had lunch, and left. I slept solidly and now....?

These were amusing. Higashiken 1 and Higashiken 2, basically telling specific Genshiken stories with Touhou characters. This was also good, although unrelated.

Animation is done in very respectable way, but the costume design is done in a very nice way. From what I know that each costume is designed by different people on each type of costume and most of them is mangaka that draw manga such as Love Hina, Kiddy Grade, Genshiken and so on.

The message board is up and running for Flesh is Weak. Oi! was that an effort. I’m not that used to PHP, so it took some time to configure the thing. The board caters to the discussion of yaoi, yuri, hentai, and the more extreme forms of anime and manga that’s out there. I just wanted to test out something more interactive than just putting up stuff to look at.

Summary, HELLSING: A secret war is waged in the world and the human race is only a pawn.The Hellsing organization’s job, run by the heir to the Hellsing throne, Integra Wingates Hellsing, is to exterminate those that walk the streets as the undead, and feed on the blood of the human pawns. The Hellsing organizations secret weapon, Alucard. Alucard is a vampire that takes no prisoners, and his thirst and well armed pistol can be a deadly experience to those who get in his way. Why does Alucard use a pistol if he’s a vampire?...

i caught up on some anime this weekend (and last week too, i guess). whoo! i finished up samurai champloo finally. i must say ~ i’m already missing it a lot. it was a nice weekly treat, and now, i’ll have to make do with something else, if there is anything else (-_-). i seriously thought they were all gonna die off in the end to that freaky assassin guy, but looks like they survived. after having an episode like that baseball one so close to the end of the series, it’d be no joke to see them “really” go off and die.

So, as a college-aged hard-core anime fan, I found myself loving this series. I could identify with the characters, and I can laugh at some of the ridicules things that we do because of this. Genshiken is the “slice of life” manga that the US fans can finally identify with.

Meanwhile this is based on the Plain Vanilla theme by Chyetanya Kunte. The banner image (which I have sooo imaginatively editted) is from the Bleach manga by Tito Kubo 久保帯人. Ha Ururu is one tough chick, though she doesn’t look like one.

I’ve read 2/3 of my Yami no Matsuei manga collection already and, oh-my-gosh!, I love you Tsuzuki! I’ll share my favorite line with you guys again (I even included these lines in a layout I made before):

Naisho no Tsubomi (Tsubomi’s Secrets) is the critically acclaimed manga getting the littlest schoolgirls swooning, but is also innocent enough to make their parents and teachers happy, too.

On a lighter note, have used that one day of work absence to finally finish watching and burning all 51 episodes of Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Full Metal Alchemist for the Japanese-impaired), but - AAARGGH. Not only did my second most favorite person die (third actually, since my fave is a toss-up between Roy and Armstrong), but there was no closure whatsoever at the series’ ending!! I am an blissfully apathetic little retard when it comes to the social workings of society and have no real desire to find out how it ends, but I demand non-ambiguous endings for my anime, because I can’t stand NOT to know the undecided resolutions that leaves viewers painfully guessing what happens long after the series is through!

You may be asking yourself: “What the heck does Azumanga Daioh mean anyway?”. Well, the creator of the original manga is named Kiyohiko Azuma (Azuma + Manga = Azumanga) and the manga was first published in a magazine called Dengeki Daioh. Kiyohiko Azuma’s Manga published in the Dengeki Daioh magazine ends up being Azumanga Daioh. I have also heard it described as the Kanji used for Daioh meaning “great king” so it would be interpreted as “Great king Azuma’s manga”. You can decide which one you prefer.

The adapted story of real life Japanese actress Aya Ueto which tracks the secret life behind her career path from debut to stardom will be published in manga form by Shogakukan. "Aya Ueto Monogatari" serializes in Shoujo Comic Magazine (sold biweekly) with the first volume in No. 8 on the 19th. The title appears on the cover. Part 2 will see a street release with No. 9 sold on April 5. The filming of the movie Azumi which opened in May '03 will be the focus first story installment. According to Shogakukan, Shoujo Comic's largest demographic of readers...

Voici les sites qui parlent de Face Transformer : mon moi manga:

Given the fact (well up to now), that the Naruto anime has been dire (Well, according to fans of the manga and even fans of just the anime) - and DON’T say it hasn’t >_> - I really, really, enjoyed the movie o_o;

Got Love? XD Kubo Taito’s art just gets better and better. I honestly can stare and scrutinize a single drawing of his for at least 5 minutes. That’s a lot, considering I have the shortest attention span known to mankind.. which explains the lousy flow of thought in my journal entries :P But anyway! Next weeks’ BLEACH chapter has a scene that i’m dying to see because from they way they described it all my prejudgements about Byakuya nii-sama went whoosh out the window!!! WHOOOOSH I tell you!

When I got back into comics, I never had much of an urge to check out the manga, though I was eventually convinced by then-APA-mate Kyle to check out Galaxion. I liked it and it was probably the first bit of American manga I read. It wasn't for another couple years that I picked up my first manga volume. I was trying to learn more about shounen-ai comics and ran across Matt Thorn's website. From there I learned about Banana Fish and decided to check it out when my old comic shop had one of it's big sales.

I liked Banana Fish, but there was nothing else that looked like it on manga shelves so it was the only manga I read until a rep at a Viz comic con booth recommended Adolf. In seeking more shounen-ai, I checked out Kizuna OAVs (I didn't care for them and later had a Kizuna fan express disappointment in the video) and debated if I would be disappointed if I spent money on the Fake OAV (I am so glad that I didn't).

Now Mr Taylor, who has retired as a priest, now looks set to make another fortune. He is stepping into the story himself as narrator and main villain of Shadowmancer: The Comic. The middle-aged cleric has been given a dark new look by artists who design the graphically violent manga comics which in Japan are better read than many newspapers.

I just went through the collection of manga lying here.

I really have no time to get bored … not at all.

First of all, we have Chonchu…

When I saw this picture (underneath), I just knew I would love the following series … :)

What a man, what man, what a mighty good man …

Yaoi-Con, the only Western fan convention dedicated solely to the yaoi genre of Japanese anime and manga, is pleased to announce its annual event, to be held the weekend of October 28-30, 2005 at the Westin San Francisco Airport hotel in California. 2005 marks Yaoi-Con's fifth anniversary and the organizers are looking forward to the biggest and best event yet.

Based on the original manga of the same name, by Masakazu Katsura, directors Hiroshi Watanabe and Mizuho Nishikubo have certainly outdone themselves to bring together this classic to life.

Inane is one of the best manga ‘scanlation’ groups, but I keep reading its name as ‘I-na-ne’, as though it were formed from three different hiragana or katakana characters.

Taiyosha, a wholesale agency of books and magazines, announced this week's top 10 best seller tankoubon based on sales through April 4, 2005.

As the first week of April many shonen manga tankoubon came out, this week's top sellers are for boys (however many girls enjoy them). Naruto Hiden Tou no Sho is the guide to Naruto manga. You can buy those tankoubon through amazon.co.jp.

This is not something you should ever do to your friends, no matter how ignorant they are. Once, several years back, one of my cousins told me that he’d found a whole bunch of new Kenshin manga, even though I had already gotten the full set and art books. My curiosity got the best of me, so I told him to send them to me, and when I got them, they just looked like poorly drawn doujinshi. Then, I opened one of the set of 6 and found that it was actually some yaoi-tastic grossxness. Woe was me T_T.

BTW, yes there are only 28 volumes of Rurouni Kenshin T_T. And yes, I was surprised that Sanosuke felt that way about Kenshin T_T.

My lovely cousin Robin gave Walker the Katy Coope book how to draw more MANGA for Christmas. We have all been drawing a lot of Manga. This may be trouble. My Mom felt my first book should have had more illustrations. In the second book Mickey may look like Yu-gi-oh. I like Yu-gi-oh, I think I spent most of grade 11 trying to look like Yu-gi-oh.

Because my current travelling companion is a woman, and capsule hotels usually don't take their kind, despite there being a capsule hotel above me, I could not sleep comfortably in that wonderful japanese invention knowing she was suffering in a steamy internet cafe below. So I am sleeping my next to last night in Japan in a Manga cafe again.

The title of this post does not have anything to do with my site being back up, Mr. Smartypoopypants (oh, and thanks for the hard work, Patrick!). It has more to do with the fact that my God and Master, Katsuhiro Otomo is making his way back onto the scene on the 18th with the release of Steamboy!!! Mr. Otomo, or Otomo-san ;), is one of the biggest influences in my tastes, ideas, and storytelling style along with Final Fantasy. This will be the first movie he’s done since Akira...

Long day… been in NY since 11am and got back home around 2am. Pretty good day I guess, since all we did was go to anime places I wanted to check out and I ended up spending a good $100 on japanese manga. Lots of eating and walking throughout the whole day as we (being myself, James, Jan, and Waisoon) ended up backtracking to go to different places.. go fig.

And thirdly, think some more about the next ambitious project bouncing in my head: a Japanese media ezine. I’m thinking it would be powered by a wordpress blog and serve as a place for me (and other interested parties) can post reviews of Japanese movies, books, music, pretty much anything but anime and manga. I think it could be pretty cool if I commit my self. Of course, this might mean the official end of the Finding Datura zine. But tonight I really don’t care about that. I need a good title.

Licensed and released by Comics One this adaption of Studio Bandai's hit anime is short yet sweet tale of strange love. The manga follows the general story of the anime but takes a couple of big detours along the way. Seeing that it is manga which often can take more 'creative' paths with the story some of bigger differences lie in what other relationships sprout up besides Kei and Mizuho-sensei. Overall it was a good short read. I would strongly recommend the anime over the manga but the manga does shed light on certain elements of the story which...

On a side note I also purchased the Onegai Teacher Novel which is supposed to be about Kei and Mizuho's life after the ending of the anime/manga/OVA. It is like a profesional fanfaction or something but that is only my first impression. I haven't read it yet. However if it DOES go past the OVA then I must read it. From my speculation it also probably goes up into the Onegai Twins arc or overlaps in some way since there are two Onegai Twins novels (which I am yet to buy).

How peculiar. If you do care, I spent quite a bit of time with Lara, spent 50 dollars on manga, had dinner with her, joked around with her, dressed up like crack whores (the things we do to amuse ourselves..) and took photos with her, then had an interesting discussion. Maybe that's what sparked this sudden little twist in thoughts, I don't know. But there's some food for thought. You seem to be getting anorexic.

I got approved for another fanlisting last night, for Yami no Matsuei : Muraki Kazutaka and Tsuzuki Asato, my first for that series. I swear, if you haven’t read the manga, DO SO! ^_^ It’s like Gravitation with a fantasy twist to it, along with the hilarity and sinfully gorgeous guys (even the villain!). But unlike Gravitation, the adorable one is the older guy while the sarcastic and distant one is the younger. And yes, it has the makings of yaoi. Why do you think I love it? ^_^

"The generous 480 x 272 LCD screen isn't just perfect for games, movies, and e-books. For a growing number of early PSP adopters, it's also the ideal way to read and store stacks of "manga" (or comic books in Japanese) on the go, in your very pocket. So you're asking yourself, why manga and not the latest American Dark Horse mature flavor of the month? Well, two reasons. First of all, manga rocks. Sure, like anything in life, you've got to filter out the crap -- but when it's good, manga is some of the most powerful visual storytelling we've ever seen. Secondly, and probably more importantly, there's an abundance of "scanslated" (Japanese-release only manga that fan groups scan and translate - hence, scanslation) manga on the Internet for the downloading. "

The game's saving grace is its acclaimed "manga-shaded" graphics. The developers have fused the look of a manga comic book with cel-shading and an edgy art style to create some beautiful visuals, with vibrant colours and lighting effects such as that found in top-drawer anime.

Japan's Katsuhiro Otomo is revered in anime circles, being the creator of "Akira," the 1988 adaptation of his own darkly stylish, violent manga, or graphic novel, about a biker who leads a rebellion in post-World War III Tokyo. When the movie was rereleased in a digitally spruced-up version in 2001 and then on DVD, it connected with a new generation of admirers.

Anime legend Katshurio Otomo delivers an inventive adventure set during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Deep Love, which uses erotic language and violence to create a page-turner despite a preposterous plotline, became a hit, mainly through word of mouth among young adults. It went on to become a movie, TV show and "manga" or Japanese-style comic book.

Drawing on a complex range of influences from Tarantino, Sam Peckinpah and manga comics to the extremes of Japanese films such as Battle Royale and Ichii The Killer, Oldboy feeds directly into the general trend in Asian cinema for exploring extremes of violence, retribution and emotional anguish. Park's visceral visual style conjures some genuinely disturbing moments, including one act near the end which is so horrific even the camera can't bring itself to watch, drifting off to the left in a sly nod to the ear-slicing scene in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

The Japanese comics, called "manga," are more sophisticated and complex than most American comics, which are dominated by superheroes. In manga, the focus is on character development. Illustrations are usually in black and white, girls' outfits are often provocative, and many contain some nudity.

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are that you have at least heard the word manga and are aware that Japan's comics are taking the world by storm. For those who already love manga, and those who are just interested, the Kawasaki City Museum in the city's Nakahara Ward is offering the chance to see works by one of the more popular practitioners of the art, CLAMP, in an exhibition titled Manga Aato wa Toki o Kaeru, or Manga Art That Defies Space and Time.

Dickov, together with Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie, was arrested in the Spanish resort of La Manga and briefly imprisoned after the allegations by three women, which turned out to be entirely fictitious.

Why is so much Japanese fiction now being translated into English? Because it's seen as inherently cool? Because Tokyo's publishers now concentrate on selling foreign rights? Or because the western generation that grew up with manga, Playstations and films starring Beat Takeshi are of an age to buy modern fiction?