| « April 2004 | Main | June 2004 » |
On Vacation If I can hold out for another 30 minutes, it'll be the first day this year that I didn't do any of the above 1) read manga/Japanese novel 2) play a Japanese game (i.e. Kiminozo, Natsuiro) 3) watch anime 4) listen to Japanese music. I have 5 manga and a novel with me...oh, so tempting. I'm currently back at my parent's house for the Memorial Day weekend. That means I finally get to watch some TV! But of course, there's still nothing on. |
 |
せんせいのお時間 (Doki Doki School Hours) Vol. 1
Hearing the anime is out, I decided to pick this series up to see what it's about. The series is in 4 panel format, so there's not much of a plot, but rather short snippets and situations. I can't help but compare this to Azumanga Daioh as the format is the same and the setting is pretty similar too. While this has it's high points at times, the characters aren't as interesting. Mika, the teacher, is hilarious, but there isn't much of a supporting cast. The humor in here seems to be aimed towards a more mature audience, and appropriately so since this is published in a young women's mangazine. Bonus includes a few color pages in front and a bonus chapter. The story revolves around a 27-year-old school teacher 鈴木みか (Mika Suzuki) who just started work as a literature/language teacher at high school. She's abnormally small for her age and in fact, a lot of her students are taller, bigger, and even more "voluptuous" than she is. A big part of the humor comes from her size. Among her students are a homosexual, a big and tall girl who likes little girls (like Mika, her teacher), an otaku, and other students who are obsessed with one thing or another. |
Title: せんせいのお時間 (Doki Doki School Hours) Vol. 1 |
彼氏彼女の事情 (His and Her Circumstances) Vol. 1
I think this might have been the very first manga I've ever purchased, oh so many years ago. I never got around to reading it as girl's manga is quite intimidating with their long dialogue. But I managed to get all the books up to volume 16 at the closing sale at Nippon Books, so with 16 books sitting here, might as well get started. The first few chapters are pretty much the same as the anime. I always thought that the buildup in the first few episodes was the best in all of anime, and this manga is no different. The anime died pretty poorly though and I hear that the manga is a lot different. I hope so. There's a separate chapter which I believe is one of one-chapter story that sometimes gets included in the magazines. There's also another mini-comic after that. 1. ACT1 彼女の事情 (Her Circumstances): 宮沢雪野 (Yukino Miyazawa) is a first year high school student who obsessively cares about her appearance. She's always been the top student and the envy of all until now, when she feels like she's been overshadowed by 有馬総一郎 (Soichiro Arima). As such, she made it her duty to do better than him on the next test to regain her crown. When she does, he doesn't react the way she thinks he should, which makes her realize that he might not be putting up a front like she is. At home, Yukino is a real slob as no one sees her, but she accidentally lets Arima see her true self when he comes over unexpected to lend her a CD. 2. ACT2 シークレット (Secret): Using his knowledge of her secret life, he blackmails her and makes her do all his work. Along the way, they start talking to each other more, but eventually she gets fed up. He apologizes and tells her that he only did that so he could get a little closer to her. 3. ACT3 彼氏の事情 (His Circumstances): Arima lives in a nice house with very proper parents. Yukino has a lively family. After Arima sees this, he's reminded of his own life, how he was adopted and feels like he needs to live up to his worth. With these thoughts, he gets more withdrawn and starts ignoring Yukino as he tries to deal with what his true identity is. Eventually, Yukino slaps some sense into the boy. |
Title: 彼氏彼女の事情 (His and Her Circumstances) Vol. 1 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 7
Alright, I love this series, but it's finally starting to get just a little repetitive. The another girl is gone and another one shows up. Meanwhile, the tension between brother and sister isn't really increasing or decreasing. I hope something dramatic happens soon as I don't want to become inured to this series. The bonus is a color front page with Akane in a nurse's uniform. 70. 秋、曇りがちのココロ。 (Cloudy Heart): Akane tells Mio that she wants to be a nurse. While walking home from a date, Shinpei and Suzu see other couples making out. At home, Suzu talkes with her roommate, but doesn't seem to have the courage to move the relationship forward. At the library, Akane bumps into a guy. 71. リンゴの願い (Apple's Wish): Flashback to when Akane and Shinpei's mother was sick and when she decided to become a nurse. The guy who Akane bumped into looks a lot like her dad, so that's why she paid a little more attention to him. Suzu's apartment is leaking due to the rain and so they get Shinpei over to help fix it. After he's done, they almost have a parting kiss. 72. ずっと前から (Since a Long Time Ago...): Just as their about to kiss, Shinpei thinks of Akane so he declines. Later at home, he gives Akane an embrace and then spends the night in the office. The next day, the two co-workers want Akane to go on a trip with them, but Shinpei won't give his permission. 73. Real Heart: Shinpei and Akira has a little scuffle when Akira brings up the idea that Shinpei loves Akane and that's why he won't let her go. Akane and Shinpei take a walk by the riverside where Shinpei finally admits that he loves her. Meanwhile, Suzu receives some more apples from her family and decides to return home to the countryside. 74. 君にしてあげられること (The Thing I Can Do For You): Suzu submits her resignation at work. Rather than having her travel by train, Shinpei offers to drive her back home. 75. さよならの向こう側 (Beyond Goodbye): At school, the track coach is still after Akane. He sees some punk kids looking at his students and tells them that he can pair them up if only they help him separate Akane and Shinpei. Shinpei drops Suzu off at her parent's house, but rather than staying and meeting the family, he departs quickly. 76. 秋風の贈り物 (The Gift of the Autumn Breeze): With Suzu gone, there needs to be another girl. Now comes 高岡 (Takaoka), the owner of a chain of used car dealerships in Yokohama. She has come to gets some help in repairing cars. 77. ハッピーウェディング (Happy Wedding): Mio and another co-worker (forgot his name, not Tetsu nor Akira) are getting married because she's pregnant. She and Shinpei have a long discussion afterwards. When Shinpei goes to inspect Takaoka's cars, she tells him that the dealership used to belong to her brother, but now she's in charge of it. 78. I wish: The coach gets fired for his actions. Akane is learning how to stitch so she can make a sweater (it's Christmas time). Takaoka has a party and Shinpei is invited. She gets drunk and ends up in the same bed as Shinpei. He hears her mumble that she'll take her of her brother (sibling love). 79. 冬の一日、晴れのちくもり (A Winter's Day, Clouds After a Clear Day): Due to a Christmas promotion, the dealership has promised 50 cars, but none of them are ready. 80. holy night: It's Christmas, but because of the emergency at the dealership, Shinpei can't come home to Akane, so she goes out and tries to look for him. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 7 "Real Heart" |
ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 8
Maybe it was because I rushed through reading this, but I didn't enjoy the ending all that much. Having just finished "Sugar" not too long ago, with character design by the same person, it seemed like this ending was pretty much like it. I don't know how else it could have ended, but I really wasn't expecting it to end so quickly. There's a bonus color page and a message from the author thanking readers. 43. 自分の探し方 その四 (How to Find Oneself, Part 4): A little love triangle forms with Koboshi, Ten, and Kotaro. Koboshi confesses to Kotaro, but Ten loves Koboshi, and so a little tension arises between the two guys. To round it off, Kotoaro confesses his love for Misha. Misha finds out that her test question to be an angel is to make the Kotaro happy. 44. 幸せの見つけ方 その一 (How to Look For Happiness, Part 1): It's testing season again, so everyone's a bit nervous about their entrance exam. Apparently Koboshi isn't at school today and Kotaro thinks that it's because she doesn't want to face him. After school, he and Ten get in a minor scuffle and he gets a nice whack. It seems like he's angry about Kotaro's treatment of Koboshi, but in fact, he also has his entrance exam to deal with. 45. 幸せの見つけ方 その二 (How to Look for Happiness, Part 2): Kotaro finds out that Ten is taking the same entrance exam as he is. Later that day, Misha is missing. He looks around for her, but can't find her. When he finally finds her, he realizes how much she means to him. However, Sasha tells him that once she passes her test, she can no longer stay with him. If she doesn't pass, she'll disappear, so it's a lose-lose situation. 46. 幸せの見つけ方 その三 (How to Look for Happiness, Part 3): Ten comes to terms with his academic and relationship issues. Koboshi comes to terms with her affection for Kotaro. However, Kotaro still hasn't figured out what makes him happy. 47. 夢の終わり方 (How a Dream Ends): Kotaro passed his high school entrance exam. Misha has also passed her test. Kotaro realizes that Misha is what makes him happy. But he makes one last request, that using her angelic powers, she rids him of the ability to see angels. |
Title: ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 8 |
まほろまてぃっく (Mahoromatic) Vol. 7
Everything is revealed in this volume and it looks like this series should wrap up soon (actually, recent news says that volume 8 is the last one). Once things go rolling in this chapter, I couldn't put it down. Bonuses are 4 panel comics on the inside covers, a color page, and the back of the dust jacket features Serra and Shiina (誰?). 1. 宿命との対峙 (A Confrontation With Destiny): Using a little child/cyborg, #773, Felderance lures Suguru into a church where he's to be bait so that Mahoro would come. When she does, Felderance tells Suguru that Mahoro killed his father. 2. 解放の瞳 (Liberty Bell): Mahoro tells the story about how a corrupt leader started the whole conflict between Vespa and the Saints and the Keeper. She also describes the anguish he had to go through when she had to shoot his dad. After the story, Suguru admits that he kinda knew she had something to do with his dad's death and apologies for not telling her. At the end, Felderance grabs Suguru and makes Mahoro make the decision again. 3. ごめんなさい（前編） (I'm Sorry, First Part): This time, Mahoro can't shoot. Fortunately, she doesn't have to as Ryuuga and Slash come to help defeat Felderance and the Professor and his bots. Felderance goes outside with Minawa and tells her that the professor would have disposed of them anyway, even if Minawa had helped out. She also tells her that the brains of the destroyed cyborgs, like #369 end up as cheap computers. 4. ごめんなさい（後編） (I'm Sorry, Second Part): With her newly found rage, she goes after the professor and his machines. Just as she's about to confront him, her body starts "malfunctioning." The professor tells her that she was defective and that her body can't handle the stress. Mahoro jumps in and saves her while a robot ends up killing the professor. Mahoro tells her that she shouldn't go down so easily and then collapses from her own wounds. 5. 涙のあとさき (Imprudent Tears): Minawa is "fixed" and she takes on a new little sister, #733, or rather, Nanami. Mahoro is also repaired and learns of her new sister. Meanwhile, the Management blows up Air Force One to instigate another conflict. Mahoro then gets told that she has no time remaining until she "dies" and could do so at any minute. 6. 花降る夜 (The Night Flowers Descend): Things seem to be back to normal again at Suguru's house. They have a large feast. After the dinner, Mahoro sneaks out. Shikijo sensei catches her as she leaves, and Mahoro responds by giving her thanks to everything she's done. After Mahoro leaves, Shikijo seems to realize what's going to happen. Mahoro is outside crying, saying that she doesn't want to "die." |
Title: 7. まほろまてぃっく： 涙で動くメイドさん (Vol. 7 Mahoromatic: A Maid Who Sustains By Tears) |
少年マガ (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 26 & ヤングマガ (Young Magazine), '04 Vol. 26
How nice of them to provide the page number on the cover (they do it occasionally). This week's feature girl is 深田恭子 (Kyoko Fukada). This 21 year-old has been featured in Magazine since 1998 when she made her debut in issue 33 of that year. It looks like Tsubasa has incorporated some elements of "The Matrix" into the story line as well as introduced another character from Chobits. Suzuka: ＃１４出発 (Departure): Yamato is still in the dumps after being rejected by Suzuka. Megumi and Yuuka pay him a visit and drinks with him. After Megumi passes out, Yuuka and Yamato have a heart-to-heart talk on the roof. She tells him how she used to have someone she really loved too. Despite being rejected, she kept trying. Upon hearing this, Yamato also vows to keep trying. Negima: ５４時間目 地図とお熱とチョコレット (A Map, Warmth, and Chocolate): Asuna has a strange dream where she is a child and sees someone strangely familar. She wakes up in her own room to find Negi studying a map of Mahora that his father had created. She notices some chocolates on the table and eats a few. Soon after, all the other girls come into her room. Negi decides that he needs more training so he asks Eva if he could be her pupil. She reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Asuna feels a little strange and has gotten a strong attraction towards Negi. She tries to deny it, but her heart beats faster whenever he's around. Turns out that the chocolates where a failed experiment, and instead became a aphrodisiac, causing the consumer to fall in love with the first person he/she sees. Asuna calms down knowing that this is only temporary. Changing Now: ＃５招集 秘密結社 (Convocation, A Secret Society): The aliens have a meeting where they try to figure out what new creature to create. The leader of the gang gets some ideas from fan mail. The meeting boils down to a discussion about what to order for take-out. Hamanaka Ai: ０３７沈黙の部屋 (Silent Room): Nakamura thinks that they haven't been concentrating enough recently so during the study session, she makes every hush and communicate only by writing notes. Things go awry when Masahiko's mother comes in and slips on the papers used to write the notes. Tsubasa: ４６夢の世界 (Land of Dreams): Seishirou kills Shaoran. Shaoran then wakes up in his dream capsule and sees Fye outside. Apparently, the world they were previously in was just a virtual world and he was just playing a game. This is the real Ooto country, an amusement park where he was just enjoying one of the attractions. It takes a while, but he finally remembers how she started playing this "game." Later, he meets 千歳 (Chitose, landlady from Chobits) who tells him and Fye that she created the game and wants to get more information about Seishirou since he's interfering with the game. Futatsuki: １６口目／オレのラメン (My Ramen): Futatsuki makes his lamb organs ramen, which turns out not to be completely organs, but pomegranate (I think) made into ramen. The idea was instead of making ramen that won't increase weight, he'd make ramen that would make the girls look better. This ramen does exactly that, making them look cuter and having their figures improve/increase. Futatsuki wins and is leading in the competition.
This issue comes with the second set of Morning Musume mini-cards. First set was in last week's volume. Cover girl is 熊田曜子 (Yoko Kumata), a 22 year old. There's also a promotion for some 4th-7th grade girl group in the back. Redlight: ８見逃したらやかんやで (Don't Run Away): Satoshi has just purchased a cell phone in hopes of using it with Choko. Almost a week passes and he doesn't get a call. When he finally gets a call, it's from a guy friend. After he and his friend have dinner, Satoshi rides to Choko's house and ends up telling her that he loves her. XXXholic: 49: Yuuko is quite annoyed that Shaoran and gang hasn't given her White Day gifts. She's been waiting since March. It's currently pouring and when Kimihiro curses the weather, a girl appears and gives him a whack. This girl is something like a rain fairy. She makes a deal with Yuuko as and she requires Kimihiro, and only Kimihiro, to help him out. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 26
Title: ヤングマガジン (Young Magazine) Vol. 26 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 6
It looks like Shinpei is even more certain that he can't let anything happen between him and Akane. However, Akane finally reveals her feelings for him and tells him directly. It's not even half way through the series, and there's already so much that has happened. I wonder how it'll turn out. There's a color page but I don't particularly like the picture. 58. my sweet home: With some money that Shinpei received from Akane's true mother, he and Akane finally move out of his small apartment. While he has the money to get a decent place, Akane decides that she wants to live in a small and run-down hut. This hut is where she and Shinpei grew up. 59. 義妹だよ (Step-Sister): Suzu hears that her relatives, the (evil) people who ran the restuarant that she used to work in, are having less and less business, partially due to their ailing bodies. Suzu helps out and gets tricked into working there. She decides to quit her job at the auto repair shop, but part of her decision is also because it's hard for her to be around Shinpei, especially since she feels like she's competing with Akane for his love. Afterwards, he declines Akane's invitation to pick him up in the rain, and tells her that she's just a step-sister. 60. 傷だらけを抱きしめて (Embracing Many Wounds): Akane's quite an athlete and is approached by the coach (not just for her skills, but rather her body). Emily knows that the coach is a bit sketchy and tells Shinpei. She asks whether he's worried, to which he responds that Akane is already 16. After work, he heads over to the restaurant and after some talk, he hugs Suzu. 61. Yes or No: Suzu's roommate accidently sends off a text message to Shinpei that asks "Do you love me? Yes or no." Akane and Shinpei both see this. He delays his response and finds out from Suzu that it was an accident. While Suzu is there are the shop, Akane has told Akira and Tetsu to let her know what's going with the two of them. Akira exaggerates and Akane ends up crying by herself. 62. ダーゲッと！ (Target!): The coach pays a visit to Shinpei with the alibi that he wants to ask him to allow Akane to join the track team. When Shinpei declines Akane's invitation to go to the festival, the coach sees his chance and convinces Akane to join the team, making her believe that he'll put some sense into Shinpei. 63. バッドタイミング (Bad Timing): At the festival, the coach and Akane end up together in the house of horrors. Akane is claustrophobic, so she needs to take a break. While she's resting, the coach sees Shinpei and Suzu. He embraces Akane in front of Shinpei. 64. 恋する瞳 (Loving Eyes): After the festival, Shinpei takes Suzu home. At his own house, Emily, Marina, and Akane are there lighting fireworks. Shinpei comes back, Marina and Emily depart and leave the two of them alone. 65. 恋夏合宿 (Summer Love Training Camp): The track team go to the beach for training (of course, the only reason is that the coach wants to see Akane in a bathing suit). The guys from the auto-repair shop also decide to go, but Suzu unfortunately has promised a few clients that their cars will be fixed. Shinpei volunteers to stay behind and finish the job and allowing the others to leave first. 66. アブないすれちがい (Dangerous Encounter): Akane accidentally gets stung by a sea urchin. Later that day, Akira tells her that he'll take her to meet Shinpei at the train station. However, he pretends to get lost in the mountains in the pouring rain. He has his devious plans, but meanwhile Akane is starting to hyperventilate and getting a high fever. Akira still has his dirty thoughts even though she's incapacitated. 67. SOS: Akira's car gets bumped and gets pushed down the side of the road and water is starting to fill the car. Meanwhile, back at base camp, Shinpei and Suzu hitchhiked from the station since they didn't have a ride. His boss take him to try to find Akira and Akane and find them just in time. 68. Kiss Me: Akane and Shinpei spend the next day playing at the beach. At dusk, Akane tells him that she wants to kiss him. 69. 夏のかけら (Pieces of Summer): During their last night on vacation underneath fireworks, Shinpei asks Suzu to be his girlfriend. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 6 "...Kiss Me" |
こどものおもちゃ (Child's Toy) Vol. 2
A fairly good volume with some emotional moments. The more I read this, the more I'm liking the character designs and artwork. The romance in the story is pretty appropriately paced too, but probably because it's a girl's comic. My only gripe is that the books don't have chapters. Makes it hard to itemize the summary. These re-releases contain are plenty of colorful artwork used in the magazine throughout the years. Sana and Hayama get more quality time together in this volume. Hayama's father gets hospitalized because of an ulcer and Sana is there to support Hayama. During the school trip, they also fall into a ditch and spend some time there. Sana also realizes that she can't go on pretending that her manager is her pimp. The biggest development comes near the end of the book where Sana's mother releases her essay that states that Sana isn't her child. Rather, she found baby Sana on a bench in the park and ended up being her surrogate mother. |
Title: こどものおもちゃ (Child's Toy) Vol. 2 |
少年マガ (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 25 & ヤングマガ (Young Magazine), '04 Vol. 25
All of the stories I'm following are back in this (last, since I finally got it today) week's issue. Negima is now official done with the Kyoto sequence as the last scene has him sitting on train going home, fast asleep and leaning on Asuna. OH NO! SHAORAN IS..SHAORAN IS... Yamato hits a wall in his relationship. Oh, and it's Waka. Changing Now: ＃４決戦！！上空一万メートル！！ (Showdown, 10,000 Meters in the Sky): Fujioka (father) is on the plane enroute to Hawaii for a business trip. He spots a strange alien fellow sitting on the airplane's wing, apparently getting a free ride. He has the urge to battle, but he has air-sickness so nothing happens in the sky. When he lands, he sees this alien on the beach enjoying the sun. Suzuka: ＃１３失恋 (Unrequited Love): Yamato has confessed to Suzuka, but she declines. He tries to make it sound like that he's fine with it and they leave the amusement park shortly after. When he gets into his room, he finds Yasunobu there reading the newspaper that he subscribed to in order to get the tickets. He explains the situation to Yasunobu calmly. Before he leaves, Yasunobu leaves him some kleenex knowing that he'll need it. And surely he does as he starts crying uncontrollably after he leaves. Negima: ５３時間目 思い出の京都 (The Nostalgia of Kyoto): Kasumi Asakura takes pictures of everyone on the trip. Konoka's father takes Negi and a few other key girls to Negi's father's summer hut. They take a look inside and find a picture of his father with Konoka's father. Asuna also notices someone familiar. Negi doesn't learn much about his father unfortunately, but is given tube that he doesn't want to open until he gets back to Mahora. Everyone gets on the train and sleeps during the ride back. Hamanaka Ai: ０３６固定観念による誤算 (A Misstep From Prejudice): Masahiko is away attending a funeral, so the girls and tutors decide to have their study session at Ayana's house as it's close by (she's the current class leader). She lives in a very nice house, but no one's home. The guests ruffle through her stuff. Ayana knows that her family members are out doing things that wouldn't help her image if she spoke about it, so she keeps quite. Tsubasa: ４５決別の桜 (The Sakura Flower of Parting): Mokona, who's with Kuro and Shaoran sense that something has happened to Fye. They quickly return and Shaoran has a confrontation with Seishirou. Seishirou tells him that Fye is dead. Shaoran enters in a battle with him and the last scene has Shaoran with a sword-like thing puncturing straight through his body. Futatsuki: １５口目／クジャクの笑顔 (Peacock's Smile): So the meat that Futatsuki brings in is lamb. He starts preparing it using his impressive cutlery skills which gets his opponents thinking about their past when they were in the same cooking academy. Futatsuki's final concoction from this carcas is ramen made from the animal's organs. He claims that if the girls eat this, they'll return to their normal selves.
The girls of Morning Musume. And they say Britney Spears is bad. Waka also adorns a few pages this week. Love Lucky: 3: Fuuta and Kirari are spending their first night. Kirari turns off her cell phone as she doesn't want to be bothered. However, her manager thinks it's strange that Kirari isn't picking up. That and the fact that she's been acting a little different lately has him getting a little more suspicious. Kirari and Fuuta talk a little about their secret marriage. While Kirari is a bit hesitant, Fuuta manages to get her in bed. Just as he's about to do her, he mind flashes back to her fans who love her innocence and purity. He seems to have second doubts, thinking that it might affect her career. Redlight: 7: Satoshi's manager at work pair his working hours with Chako's so that they may get a little more intimate. His manager is a lot more interested in having them hook up than he seems to be. When the manager hears that Satoshi didn't ask Chako out on a date despite his schedule manipulation, he passes out and has to be taken to the hospital. The next day, Chako takes Satoshi by the hand and heads over to the hospital to check out their boss. Their boss just passed out from lack of sleep, but Satoshi is happy that Chako actually held hands with him. Minamike: ８バレー部に入ろう (Join the Volleyball Club): Haruka is apparently quite skilled in volleyball, but goes home everyday rather than join the club. Rumor has it that she has to take care of "the kids." 速水 (Hayami), the captain of the volleyball club is motivated to help bring her into the club until he mishears that she has kids. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 25
Title: ヤングマガジン (Young Magazine) Vol. 25 |
ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 7
So much stuff happens in this volume. Fortunately, I didn't read the blurb on the back (which surprisingly is in broken English). It reveals a huge spoiler in this volume. Anyway, lots of emotions here and it lasts pretty much throughout the 5 chapters. There's a color page, story summary, a special mini-chapter, and of course the letter from Koge-Donbo. 38. 探し物の見つけ方 その六 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 6): Shia visit his former husband and recognizes that Kotaro is her great-grandson. She tells him that people should take care of people they love because after they die, they'll have regrets. At the train station, they talk about all the things they will do when they go back. However, as she waits on the bench, she falls silent. The mysterious boy who accompanies her tells Kotaro that she passed away. He takes her away, leaving Kotaro alone holding her ticket. 39. 涙の流し方 (How Tears Flow): Back at school, Kotaro is extremely depressed and a little frustrated, but he doesn't tell anyone about Shia. Ten earnestly awaits her return, but Kotaro knows that's not possible. He finally tells Misha about the situation and at the same time lets out a lot of his guilt. Misha calms him. 40. 自分の探し方 その一 (How to Find Oneself, Part 1): Sasha tells Kotaro that he's bothering Misha's training and puts him to sleep where, in his dreams, he discovers himself inside Kotaro (grandpa's generation) and meets Misha from the past. 41. 自分の探し方 その二 (How to Find Oneself, Part 2): Kotaro can see the angel Misha, but he also seems to be able to see other ghosts too and has the villiage spooked with his bad omens. They hate him with a vengence. He later finds out that his own sister thinks he's a spook. The only person who understands him is Misha, but he overhears that Misha can't be with him anymore. So he decides to kill himself so he can be in heaven with her (that means Kotaro isn't Kotaro's grampa). 42. 自分の探し方 その三 (How to Find Oneself, Part 3): Kotaro awakens and realizes that Misha is there, not to help him, but because she wants to fix what happened with old Kotaro. He doesn't appreciate this. |
Title: ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 7 |
苺ましまろ (Ichigo Marshmallow) Vol. 3
The little episodes in this volume where all that funny. Some made me chuckle, but for the most part, it was just negligible reading. I hope it picks up a little in the next volume. I like the characters, but they need to be put in better/more humorous situations. Like the other books, the only bonus is a color page. More adventures with the 5 girls. Some major sections are Miyu dressing up as a samurai and causing havoc, a peek into the dreams of each of the girls, and a Cinderella tale as told by Miyu. |
Title: 苺ましまろ (Ichigo Marshmallow) Vol. 3 |
君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Comic Anthology
My 100th manga of the year, and guess what, it's a Kiminozo! (not a coincidence) Scary thing is that I already have the next 100 books piled up on the floor next to me. Anyhow, I believe this is the last Kiminozo doujinshi anthology manga from any publisher. There are 5 novels written about it, two for the game, three for the anime (so far), as well as a game artbook and an anime artbook. The novels are currently sitting pretty on my shelf, I'll probably get to them someday. So, there's nothing much to explain about the story. Like other others, this has a compilation of fan-created stories that range from silly to serious, funny to profound. Artwork varies, but in general, I like these more than from the other Game Anthology comic. I really hope they make some move given the revival of the show from the anime, but this book was published more than a year and a half ago, so I'm not keeping my hopes up There's a few color pages and a whole bunch of ads for other doujinshi series. |
Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Comic Anthology |
君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Special Concert DVD
This is the DVD that came as a bonus with the third volume of Kiminozo. It comes with three songs, the intro to the anime, the intro to the game, and the ending to the game (and final ending to anime) which was sung by rino/Megumi. I was impressed with the live version of the game intro, but mostly for the instrumentals. I didn't believe they could pull off such a "manufactured" sound live, but they did a pretty good job. Minami's singing falls short of the original version (I'm sure they re-engineered her voice for the soundtrack). She still sings quite well though, given that she was trying to hype up the crowd. The intro to the game is the same clip that was included in DVD #3 with some more footage before the song. Rino's singing started off pretty slow, but as she got into the song, her singing ability really showed. She really sounded like she was going to cry at the end, which actually is quite appropriate for the song. I almost cried when I first finished the game. In addition to the songs, it has a few minutes of MC talk before and after each song, hosted by the two guys who make up 3-nin Musume (see Kiminozo Radio OP/ED Single). Now they are *strange*. Finally, there's an interview with the seiyuu for Haruka, Takayuki, and Shinji where they talk about the show a bit. Not all that interesting. Plus, I really wanted to see Tomo-rin, but apparently, she's not very camera friendly. |
Title: 君が望む永遠〜凉宮家のお見舞い返し〜 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, A Visit Back to Suzumiya's) |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 5
Another deep chapter, this time it focuses on Akane and her biological mother. The story about how she ended up being his stepsister is revealed. Meanwhile, it's no longer a secret that Akane has a crush on Shinpei. Bonus is a first color page with Akane styling with blue hair! 46. ゆうやけこやけ (Sunset Glow): Chappati goes back and is told that she has to perform a difficult tightrope stunt by tomorrow, despite the fact that's she's quite tired. She trains and trains, but never gets it right. However, she is determined to as the manager says her colleagues welfare depend on her performance. 47. 声援が呼ぶキセキ (The Miraculous Cheer): She falls during the performance and becomes depressed. However, she becomes a hero again when she saves a little girl from a burning building. 48. 家族旅行 (Family Travel): Akane takes a part-time job so she can save enough money to bring her brother to the countryside to watch Sakura bloom. She had promised their father before that she'd bring the 4 of them here, but Shinpei is the only family member she's got. The manager of the inn thinks they're a lovely couple. 49. 桜の夜 (Night of Sakura): They spend the night on the same futon (because of the manager thinking Shinpei is just shy). The next day they bring the photo of their parents to see Sakura bloom. 50. 危ない感触 (Dangerous Touch): Suzu sees Akane trying to hold hands with Shinpei as they're walking. Although they may be able to do that, Suzu knows that they'll never be able to kiss, and that's where she thinks she has her opportunity. 51. あの人の足音 (The Sounds of That Person's Footsteps): Suzu and Shinpei go on a date on Sunday. At first, Shinpei tells Akane he's got work, but Tetsu, who wants to get closer to Akane, tells him the truth. Akane's not too happy at Shinpei's deceit. Meanwhile, a lawyer representing Akane's biological mom pays a visit to the auto shop. 52. Confession - 告白: Shinpei concludes his date with Suzu. Mio is at the shop and hears from the lawyer that Akane's mom wants to see her. Mio pays a visit afterwards to Akane, intending on telling her the situation. However, Akane is excited that Shinpei is coming back and tells Mio that she loves Shinpei. 53. 母・・・登場・・・ (Mother...Appears): Shinpei knows about the mother and seems to be a little disturbed by it. He goes to a fancy hotel where he finally meets her. 54. おもかげ (Image): The mother explains to Shinpei why things happened the way they did. She became a famous jewelry designer, and baby Akane had come in second to her job. That was the reason for the divorce and their separation. 55. Last Smile: Shinpei finds out from the lawyer that the reason why the mother came back for Akane is because she has a sickness and may only live for at most 10 more years. Shinpei goes back to the apartment, not telling Akane anything. 56. 母として (As a Mother): Shinpei and Akane are at his workplace when Shinpei sees the lawyer and mother spying on them. The mother is happy to see her daughter again, even if it's in secret. Shinpei tells them to visit his mom's grave. Later, the mother decides to leave, but she collapses in her car. 57. 涙の決意 (The Resolve of Tears): After visiting his mother's grave again, he goes to Akane's mother's sickbed and tells her that he'll return Akane to her, but only after she's done with high school. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 5 "Last Smile" |
ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 6
This volume focuses mostly on Kotaro and Shia's past with Kotaro visiting scenes from his grandfather's life and finds out how it ties in with Misha, Shia's, and his life. Quite a moving segment of the story. There's a quite lovely first color page and a letter from the author. Note to self: Remember the kanji, not the pronunciations to names. Otherwise you'll get your self terribly confused. 32. 見知らぬ時間ののぞき方 その二 (How to Peek at A Strange Time, Part 2): Kotaro is still in that strange time where he's seeing a boy, Taro and Shima. While Taro and Shima becomes good friends, strange things happen like sparrows dying after being handled by Shima. Shima's family's house (she's adopted) gets destroyed. Kotaro comes to the conclusion that Taro is his great-grandfather. 33. 探し物の見つけ方 その一 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 1): Kotaro comes back to reality. After he gets injured in his confrontation with the strange boy that's accompanying Shia, he asks Misha if she could take him back to that time again. She does so and takes him to when Taro was a college student in Tokyo. 34. 探し物の見つけ方 その二 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 2): Taro bumps into Shima again. While he's grown, Shima is still looks like a child. Even though Taro has a girlfriend, eventually he chooses Shima. A big earthquake happens. 35. 探し物の見つけ方 その三 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 3): While trying to rescue Shima inside a collapsed building, Taro himself gets trapped. Shima uses her powers as the devil to save him. Some time passes and now they have two kids, 小太郎 (Kotaro) and 志乃 (Shino) (different spelling that current day Kotaro and Shino). At the end, Kotaro flashes to darkness and then to a lake with another mysterious boy. 36. 探し物の見つけ方 その四 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 4): That boy is Kotaro (grandfather), and for some reason, he can see the visiting-through-time Kotaro. It is there that Kotaro (grandfather) first sees Misha and befriends her. 37. 探し物の見つけ方 その五 (How to Find What You're Looking For, Part 5): Kotaro comes back and finds out that his great-grandfather has just passed away. He goes out to find Shia and tells her about the death of her husband. Although her memory was erased, had her name changed, the memories comes back to her. She then comes back to Misha and Kotaro. |
Title: ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 6 |
まほろまてぃっく (Mahoromatic) Vol. 6 LE
Good volume, some more chapters with Minawa as she tries to fit in with the rest of the crew. The main highlight of this chapter though, is the connection between the aliens, Saints, Vespa, and The Keeper (management people?). From the ending, it looks like Minawa is going to have to make some decisions in the next volume. Limited edition of this manga comes with a Mahoro figurine. As for the book, there are the comics on the front and back covers, color pages in front, and two out-of-story chapters which were published in June and January of the serialization dates. 1. 機械に心 (Heart In a Machine): The gang goes to the flea market and the girls pick up different costumes. Unbeknownst to them is that the costumes are actually devices in which the Keeper's android, #154, aka Pumpkin Head can read the wearer's thoughts. Feldrance, Keeper's android #227, is with Pumpkin Head when he tries to go inside of Mahoro, but Mahoro has some sort of defense mechanism which causes Pumpkin Head's head to go pop. Meanwhile, Suguru and Mahoro finally realize that Hamaji has a crush on Minawa. 2. 愛より甘いちょびっと苦し (Sweeter than Love, A Tiny Bit of Pain): It's Valentine's Day. Minawa gets taught what Valentine's means and she reluctantly gives her chocolates to Hamaji. The other girls all give their chocolates to Suguru, who, being undecided, eats all the chocolates at once. Minawa is spotted talking with Feldrance and Suguru's grandfather, the captain of Vespa comes to his house. 3. 祖父と孫と (Grandfather and Grandson): Suguru's grandpa is quite a character. His secretary, 椎名 (Shina), tells Mahoro that the fated day between the aliens and humans is quickly approaching, so he wanted to visit. Gramps has a flashback about Suguru's next of kins. In America, there's some urgency with the president and the revelation of aliens to the public. But at home, the gang drinks and parties. After everyone's asleep, gramps gives Suguru some paternal advice. 4. 宵の明星 (Evening Star): In the park, gramps has a chat with Kanzaki and tells him the events 40 years ago that started conflict between Vespa, Keeper, and the aliens, who are called Saints . Later, gramps departs from Suguru's house. 4. 僕が一番欲しかったもの (What I Wanted the Most): Hamaji and Minawa go on a date (with Suguru and Mahoro trailing, of course) where Hamaji confesses to her. She smiles back and says she's extremely happy, which is good enough for Hamaji. 5. 何でもない夜 (A Night Where Nothing Happens): The younger girls have a slumber party at Rin's house while Mahoro and Suguru are alone. They have their fun and games, but at the end, Feldrance appears outside the house mentioning that it's time for Minawa to return. |
Title: 6. まほろまてぃっく： 笑顔の素敵なメイドさん (Vol. 6 Mahoromatic: A Maid With a Nice Smile) LE |
Behind Schedule Due to an unexpected party that my co-workers decided to have at my house, I have become somewhat behind in my readings. I'm usually a few books ahead whenever I write reviews, but recently I've gotten behind, so now I am bottoming out. I have no more books that are in the "to review" pile. Gotta start speeding up and reading again. Plus, UPS and/or Asahiya hasn't delivered my weeklies yet. It's not the first time that this has happened, but it sure is annoying. I have a letter on my desk asking for donations to John Kerry. It was spared the shredder (i.e. my two hands), but I don't know if I should donate now. Will they send me more junk mail if I respond? I would hate that. Whoo! My order from Amazon is coming. They had a deal with four manga set, meaning shipping is the same cost as one book. I ordered it last month, making them hold it for me. Now, the set is out-of-print, but it's still being sent to me! Hoorah! |
 |
苺ましまろ (Ichigo Marshmallow) Vol. 2
I'm stopped trying to find a plot in this series and decided just to enjoy each chapter as they come. With the 5 girls now, it seems to try and replicate the success of Azumanga Daioh (same magazine). Unfortunately, it comes up short. The characters aren't as appealing and the jokes, while at times pretty funny, isn't as hilarious as AzuDai. It's still a nice read as I don't need to overload my brain with plot details. The only bonus is a color page. Some major developments from the last volume is that a new girl has joined the group, Anna Copula. Despite having lived in Japan, she is a Westerner. Since she just transferred to the school, she wants to give the impression that she doesn't know Japanese. However, Matsuri finds out. They later find out that her last name is Copula and accidentally leak it to the class. Anna doesn't like the fact that her name is shared by a famous director. From there, the chapters seem to become episodic with the girls having humorous situations through Christmas, New Years, and beyond. |
Title: 苺ましまろ (Ichigo Marshmallow) Vol. 2 |
かりん (Karin) Vol. 2
I'm still liking the story quite a bit. I found out that there's been two novels of this series already and that a drama CD is being produced, set to be released in July! This would probably be a good series to get animated. As always, colored first page, and some mini-comics involving the author. 6. 健太の疑問と少女の言葉〜Doubt〜 (Kenta's Doubt and The Words of the Girl): Kenta's has his suspicious that she's a vampire and he tries to subtlety suggest that he knows. In front of Karin, he starts reading a vampire book. However, Karin doesn't reveal anything. Later, Anju, Karin's little sister, tells Kenta not to investigate her any further. 7. 杏樹の狙いとかんりの真実〜Plot〜 (Anju's Goal and Karin's Reality): On her way back from school, Karin gets accosted. Kenta comes and saves her. She's grateful, but she suddenly has her urge again. The next day, he tries to avoid Kenta. That afternoon, thinking that the scene is clear, she makes her attack and bites a depressed schoolgirl. However, Kenta catches her red handed. Anju had given Kenta some clues so that he could find Karin. 8. かりんの涙と健太の自尊心〜Pride〜 (Karin's Tears and Kenta's Pride): Flashback to the previous incident when Karin had bled all over in front of Kenta. Anju said she tried to erase his memories, but wasn't there in time. However, she also has some trust in Kenta and was the one that allowed Karin to be seen. Kenta and Karin, who is wailing, talk a bit about her real identity. 9. かりんの惑いと杏樹の提案〜Propose〜 (Karin's Confusion and Anju's Proposal): After the incident, Karin's brother appears, almost ready to beat up Kenta, but Anju stops him. At home, they talk some more about Kenta and how he could possibly be Karin's partner. Meanwhile, Kenta's mom is hyped about starting work again, this time at a love hotel. Karin comes over to Kenta's house and invites him over. 10. 健太の事情と親の審判〜Judgement〜 (Kenta's Situation and The Parent's Judgement): Kenta visits Karin's eccentric parents who seem to approve of him, but make him promise not to let their secret out. After that, Kenta's and Karin's relationship seems to be a little better. She doesn't try to avoid him anymore. |
Title: かりん (Karin) Vol. 2 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 4
Such evil pleasures. The stories in here are a bit cliched. They all tug at my heart a little when I read them, but it's all good. While the Nanako story ends, another girl enters the picture causing some more distress for Akane. The cover, colored page is quite nice. The message on the inside flap seems to be hinting at the obvious; that Akane is slowing starting to love his brother in a non-familial way. 35. その微笑みを忘れないで (Don't Forget That Smile): Nanako says farewell to Shinpei as she has to leave to Australia for music school. Soon after he leaves, another girl appears. Her name is 前田鈴 (Suzu Maeda). She works at a restaurant, but is really a klutz and doesn't do her job all that well. 36. リンゴの唄 (Apple's Song): Suzu's mom sends Suzu some apples along with a letter from her little sister who's in the hospital. Meanwhile, Tetsu confesses to Akane, but as the story continues, it seems like Akane has more feelings for his step-brother. At work, Suzu has money deducted from her paycheck because of her dropping everything. Without this money, she can't help pay for her sister's hospital's bills, so she finds a job at a "gentlemen's club." 37. リンゴの唄＊２ (Apple's Song x 2): At the club, Shinpei's two co-workers see Suzu. They recognize her since she made food delivers to their auto shop before, but they enjoy her company regardless. The next day, they tell their friends who also pay a visit to Suzu. Shinpei overhears this. 38. リンゴの気持ち (Apple's Feelings): Shinpei goes to the club and makes Suzu quit the job (but not before he gets a beating from the clientele). He takes her to his apartment where Akane sees him and this strange girl. 39. リアクションラッシュ！ (Reaction Rush!): Suzu leaves thinking that Akane's his lover. Akane's not particularly happy either. At work the next day, there's a small scuffle and Chako accidentally causes some containers to fall on one of the more rich and arrogant clients. 40. へんしん！ (Transformation!): To repay him for the damage, he makes Shinpei go fix some of his cars in addition to his own job. Akane feels bad about it, but Shinpei tells her not to mind. 41. せっきん (Approach): At the yard where Shinpei does the repairs, Suzu pays a visit and finds out that Akane is the sister. Akane brings Shinpei lunch. Knowing that she's the sister, Suzu kindly tells Akane that she doesn't have to stay out in the cold and can go home already. This annoys Akane. The next day, Suzu finds a job at the auto shop. 42. あの日の夕焼け (The Sunset on That Day): Shinpei tells Suzu about his past and how Akane was always a peculiar sister. She seemed cold, but was rather loving in her own way. 43. In Your Eyes: It's starting to snow and so Suzu rushes to the yard. Shinpei, being tired from working so much, passes out. Suzu makes it just in time to catch him and to tell him (while he's unconscious) that she loves him. Akane sees all this from afar. 44. チャパティ参上 (Chapati Visit): An circus troupe is in town, but the tightrope walker, a young Indian girl is out and about causing havoc. One of the things she does is steal Akane's school uniform while she's in PE and wear it around. 45. Indian Witch: Akane almost apprehends Chapati, but she goes on a telephone wire using her skills. Apparently she doesn't want to go back, so Akane and friends play with her and later take her back to the apartment. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 4 "In Your Eyes" |
がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 5
I guess without the BURN sisters, things have quieted down a bit. There's two more new characters, but they don't really add anything to the story. Bonuses are pencil sketch under front cover, letter from author on back, two more chapters from Sae Amatsu's earlier work, color first four pages and a summary page. 30. さよなら、魔女の修行は１年限り (Goodbye, The Magical Girl's Training is Limited to One Year): Chelsea has to go back to her home country, so the family throws a going away party for her. Since Daisy is her cat, she has to go back too. However, 3 days later, Chelsea reappears because Daisy made a huge ruckus back home. 31. 約束 (Promise): Two girls show up on day, the gentle 皐月姫 (Princess Satsuki) and her violent maid 鏡円 (Madoka Kagami). The princesses tells Kazuya that they're fiances and are going to be married. Of course, this is a surprise to everyone, including Kazuya. His mom explains that this is true, in that a long long time ago, their relationship was bound. However, she didn't expect her to follow up on it. In any case, Kazuya doesn't accept it and later he finds out that the princess is actually the maid and vice versa. 32. 揺れる心にふれて (Reaching the Wavering Heart): Maya is having angst again because she can't get herself to confess to Kazuya. He knows she has to since he saw her naked, but it takes a whole lot of courage for her to finally utter the words. 33. 大ギャンブル祭 (Big Gambling Fest): It's a rainy day outside and so the family plays some games like Mahjong and poker. Kurusu loses everything, including her clothing. 34. とめられぬ想い (Unstoppable Memories): Now it's Chelsea's turn to confess as she's bothered by it. However, before she can, Kazuya passes out from a fever. As Maya is caring for him, Kotono almost catches them kissing. 35. 葛藤 (Conflict): Hina is feeling out of the loop as all of the other girls have confessed to Kazuya. She consults Ren, but her senior is of no help. She then talks to Kazuya's mom who tells her about Kazuya's twin sister who died at birth and how Hina is like a surrogate daughter. 36. 自分が決めた自分の道 (I Decided On My Own Path): Ren has come to invite Kazuya to go to the Nation of Light, i.e. land of the Guardian Hearts. Despite Hina's objections, she lets him go. While he's away, a strong enemy appears and almost defeats Hina before Guardian Kazuya shows up and wins. Hina feels like she's failed. In her relief, she hugs and kisses Kazuya. 37. 未来に幸あらん事を (The Unfortunate Thing in the Future): Oto and the girls talk about first kisses and nice bodies. |
Title: がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 5 |
まほろまてぃっく (Mahoromatic) Vol. 5
I believe Minawa is the girl from the second season of the anime. Haven't watched it yet though. There are some fun episodes with Mahoro and gang, and it looks like this volume is a build up to the next volume, which seems like it'll have some interesting situations, given what is now known about Minawa. As with all Mahoromatic manga, there are 4 panel comics in the inside cover and color pages. There are some extra bonuses this time with a special Triomatic comic, color pages in the back taken from Comic GUM. The dust jacket has a pullout of Chizuko. 1. きのうまでは３７０ (Until Yesterday, I Was 370): 370 is a cyborg born as a human, but engineered to be a machine. She was created from a rival corporation and was considered a defect. Everynight she wonders why she was born, but now, she has been taken in by Suguru and Mahoro and given the name, Minawa Ando, Mahoro's sister. 2. きょうからみなわ (Starting Today, I'm Minawa): Minawa has a nightmare about the destruction of her friend, #369. Since she's about Suguru's age, she starts school. She's a complete klutz. 3. あしたはかぜになる (Tomorrow, I'll Become the Wind): It's Christmas and Mahoro and friends do a gift exchange. After the party, Suguru gives special gives to Minawa, Mahoro, and Slash. Meanwhile, Kanzaki, who was apparently killed in last volume is revived is going to see Mashu (?), and is given a letter to pass to a child. 4. 朝に紅、夕べに白 (Red in the Morning, White at Night): It's New Year's and at the festival, Minawa gets a little chick. She develops a bond between the bird, but soon after, the bird dies. Its death makes Minawa remember how when #369 was destroyed, she was not given a proper funeral. 5. おととい来やがれっ！ (A Day Late!): Title is a little difficult to translate. Against Mahoro's wishes, Suguru going out and joins the festivities where people bat each other, trying to knock the flower off each other's heads. Mahoro eventually joins in and defeats the final boss, Sikijo sensei. 6. アナタハ毎日幸セデスカ？ (Are You Happy Everyday?): Minawa is revealed to be helping "The Professor" in finding out about Mahoro. However, she has become very fond of the family and can't imagine backstabbing them. However, if she doesn't, her comrades will be murdered. |
Title: 5. まほろまてぃっく： 今日も元気なメイドさん (Vol. 5 Mahoromatic: Another Day With a Happy Maid) |
ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 5
Continuing from last book, this volume gives more insight into Shia. She always seemed to be a strange character from the get-go dressed in black and all and having that cat. Now it seems as though there is some evilness that surrounds her, or at the very least, it seems as though she's the opposite of Misha who is now revealed as an angel (as if it wasn't obvious already). First color page has an illustration of Misha and Sasha. There's also a short letter from the author right before chapter 31. 26. 天使の羽の使い方 (How to Use Angel's Wings): Shia is going to be late, so Misha tries cooking curry for Kotaro. She sets the kitchen on fire and Misha's sister, Sasha is the one who uses angelic powers to put out the flames. She introduces herself and explains that she's a fully licensed angel, unlike Sasha who's an angel in training. 27. お弁当の作り方 (How to Make Lunch): The next day, something catches Shia's eye which makes her remember. During school, Kotaro and Ten get in a slight argument over Shia. That afternoon at the restaurant where Shia and Ten works, Shia unexpectedly gives Kotaro a kiss and departs, leaving the job and the apartment. 28. 寂しさの見つけ方 (How to Look for Loneliness): After the kiss, Kotaro falls into a coma. Misha tries to wake him, but fails. At school and at work, Shia no longer shows up. Ten tries to find her and eventually meets her. She tells him "farewell." 29. 帰るところの見つけ方 (How to Look for The Place I'll Return To): In Kotaro's slumber, he meets a strange girl who is somehow related to him and she shows him an apple tree before he finally wakes. When he does, he remembers his great-grandfather's house in the countryside where there's an apple tree. No sooner does he remember this does he get a call informing him about this great-grampa. 30. 田舎への帰り方 (How to Return to the Countryside): Kotaro leaves for the countryside, leaving Misha at home. There, he unexpectedly finds a picture of Shia. He looks out the window and sees Shia's cat, so he runs out. He sees a strange boy out there and also sees Shia. Meanwhile, Misha is worried about Kotaro, so she transports to where he is. And just in time too as that strange boy is about to attack Kotaro. She sends him through some dimensional warp. 31. 見知らぬ時間ののぞき方 (How to Peek at A Strange Time): Kotaro witnesses an event that seems to have happened in the past with a girl, 志麻 (Shima), and a boy who looks like Kotaro, named 太郎 (Taro). Shima says that she brings sorrow to everyone around her, but Taro still wants to be her friend. |
Title: ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 5 |
君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Radio CD Vol. 1
This has become one of my favorite "behind-the-scenes" CDs with the voice actors/actresses. I've always like these sound bites as it shows how much fun these people who create these shows are having. If I can tell that they enjoy their work as much as I love listening/watching/reading them, it makes my experience that much better. For people just interested in Kiminozo, the story (you're missing out on a lot!), there's not much that this CD adds to it. There's one drama track, but the rest is talking. While they play the intro and ending themes to the radio program, it doesn't have the tracks. Those music tracks are included in the other single CD. The format of the CD is that each of the 4 members of the radio program, Minami (Haruka), Tomoko (Mitsuki), Kisyo (Takayuki), and Joy Max pick 3 conversations during the radio program that they particularly liked. These include flubs, inpromptu singing, and wacky events (the male members bring beer into the studio). There's also a special special 17 minute segment with MayuMayu and AyuAyu's voice actresses. There are also some "commercial" tracks that promote the CD (I don't think they were actually used outside this CD). 7. 君が望む永遠ラジオドラマ「A.I.」 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien "A.I."): Takayuki has purchased a new computer and everytime he turns it on, there's a mascot (think Microsoft's Clippy) who talks to him. First it's Akane, who does an auto-shutdown when she finds out he'd like to surf some pr0n sites. When he turns it on again, it's MayuMayu. Next is AyuAyu who tricks Takayuki into downloading a virus, followed by Mitsuki, and finally Haruka. |
Title: 君のぞらじお (Kiminozo Radio) CD 1 |
かりん (Karin) Vol. 1
This is another series that will persuade me to subscribe to Dragon Age, that with Someday's Dreamers, and Maburaho. This series takes vampire-ism, makes it a pretty girl and adds a variation on the theme where her problem is that she starts oozing blood when she can't relieve herself by biting someone's neck. The artwork is pretty nice, typical of these romantic comedy type genre. I have no idea why the chapter titles contain that English. Bonuses include 4 color pages, a few comics with the author, and a mini-comic. On the inside flap, there's also a 4 panel comic. 1. かりんの出会いと不思議な少年〜First Impression〜 (Karin's Encounter with A Strange Young Boy): 真紅果林 (Karin Maaya) is a regular girl in every way except for one day every month. It's about that time again. At school, a new boy, 雨水健太 (Kenta Usui) has tranferred to her class. For some reason she passes out when he approaches her. So the next time she sees him, she darts off. After school, she runs off into the woods thinking that no one is following her and spots a man there who is quite depressed from his work. She succumbs to her urge and bites him. However, Kenta, who has been following him, sees her in an embrace with an older man. Later, that old man is somehow more energetic and is motivated to do work. 2. かりんの家族と危険な午後〜Hard nut to crack〜 (Karin's Family and A Dangerous Afternoon): Chapter starts off with an introduction to Karin's parents and 2 siblings. She's still avoiding Kenta. She works at a restaurant and finds out that Kenta has also applied to work there. Kenta tells her she doesn't have to prostitute herself out to old men, and she realizes what he's seen and tells him she's not. 3. かりんの素顔と剥がれた仮面〜Fall off〜 (Karin's True Face and The Mask That Came Off): It's a while later, almost that time of month again. She's been avoiding Kenta, but Kenta's been taking notice of her. In fact, he's always staring at her in class so some of the classmates thinks he has a crush on her. She runs off again, but this time she chases him and finds out that she has a condition where once a month, she grows fangs and accumulates a lot of blood, so much that she has a profuse nosebleed. She tells him not to tell anyone else about her condition. 4. かりんの悩みと健太の苦悩〜Confinement〜 (Karin's Worries and Kenta's Agony): Karin has been staying at home for the past two weeks because her secret has been revealed. Kenta has blamed himself for her truancy. However, Karin's brother explains to her that being a vampire actually helps people, and shows the picture of his girlfriend before (tired and ugly) and after (energetic and sexy). 5. かりんの好みと魔性の女 (Karin's Likes and The Enchantress): With that message, Karin and her brother, 煉(Ren) see a depressed lady who had just been fired because her made a big fuss over her boss's advances. Turns out that she's Kenta's mother. So with Karin's urges and what she has heard, she takes a bite (Kenta sees her hugging his mom). When that boss comes again, she has the courage to give him a nice punch to the face. |
Title: かりん (Karin) Vol. 1 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 3
There's no Akane beatings this volume, rather, it focuses a lot more on the apparent conflicts that Shinpei has. He has Nanako, whom he has a crush on. On the other hand however, he can't help but feel some attraction towards his step-sister (not blood relation). It's turning out to be a good drama. The only bonus is a color first page. 24. ...Heart: Shinpei has a crush on Nanako, but can't get himself to express it as he feels like he's not good enough for her. Akane and Nanako pay a visit to Shinpei's workplace, an auto-repair shop and they see him help a little boy fix his toy car. Nanako gets invited over to Akane and Shinpei's place, but Shinpei is still not prepared to resolve their differences. 25. 今このひとときが遠い夢のように (Wanting This Moment to Be A Long Dream): Nanako has a flashback to when she was a child and wasn't too popular with her schoolmates because her family was rich. As she's walking with Chako, she sees Shinpei and they go out on to play some Pachinko. 26. all my loving: Nanako brings Shinpei lunch at his work. Akane is walking with Emily and comments on how she's looking for a job. Emily mentions that Akane and Shinpei look like a good couple. Later on, Akane and Shinpei get their shirt buttons caught on each other and for a moment, they don't look like brothers and sisters. But things seem to go back to normal. 27. チャコとメグ (Chako and Meg): Meg, the daughter of one of Shinpei's neighbors, is playing with Chako. Meg's mother works as an "escort" of sorts to support her and Meg. She had promised Meg a handmade lunch for school, but the night before, she got overly drunk while doing business and just gave her store-bought food. Meg runs away. 28. 母さんの唄 (Mother's Song): Meg gets trapped inside a refrigerator that's being sent to the landfill. With Chako's help, they find her. Meg's mom decides to quit her job and find something more proper. 29. 慎ちゃん (Shin): Marina, Emily, and Akane come to Akane's apartment and then later to a public bath. Meanwhile, Nanako visits Shinpei at work. Soon after she leaves, it starts raining hard due to a typhoon that's about to hit. Shinpei goes and drives her home, but later comes back to stay at his workplace due to the storm. The storm's getting stronger and Nanako comes back to Shinpei's workplace to bring him dinner. Akane calls Shinpei and is surprised when Nanako picks up. 30. Girl: The three girls are at the apartment and Shinpei and Nanako are at the shop. Akane is a little uneasy that her brother is there alone with a girl. 31. Brother: While going to school, Akane gets fondled on the train. She catches the guy who tells her not to inform his school about the incident. Later, Akane starts her new job at the Tinker Bell restaurant. She's popular among all the guys there, except for one, 大輔 (Daisuke). Shinpei finds out only later that Akane has found a job and sees her at work. Meanwhile, Daisuke is waiting for his brother, 洋輔 (Yosuke) who Akane overhears as wanting to go to Tokyo U. When she sees him though, she recognizes him as the pervert on the train. 32. ガリ勉リフレシュ (Refreshed Grind): Daisuke loves his brother, so takes offense at Akane's remarks, even though it's the truth. Later, she finds out that Daisuke has trouble with girls, so she, Marina and Emily take him out to the amusement park. She comes back a refreshed and happier person. 33. 想い (Memories): Daisuke sees that his brother is happier now, so he treats Akane a little better. Later, he talks to Shinpei about their love for their respective siblings. 34. 涙の理由 (Reason For Tears): Shinpei has a bad dream about having to choose between Nanako and Akane. Nanako comes into Shinpei's shop the next day and asks him out to go skate on Sunday. He agrees. That night, Akane seems to be jealous and wants to be next to Shinpei. That Sunday, after some skating as Shinpei is about to confess his love, Nanako's tears swell up. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 3 "...Heart" |
まほろまてぃっく (Mahoromatic) Vol. 4
Good volume. There's a nice mix of story as well as the trademark Mahoromatic humor. The stories are a little more varied in this volume than last volume, where the focus was primarily on Ryuuga. 4 panel comics decorate the inside covers. It looks like the anime was just announce the time this volume was first published. There are 4 color pages to start the volume, and a short summary of what's happened so far. 1. 兵どもが夢の跡 (Remains of the warriors' dreams): The title comes from a passage in a famous haiku. Ryuuga and Slash are still on bad terms. Slash follows him around, suspect of all his actions and finally gets to have a showdown with him. Before they start fighting, Mahoro jumps in and stops them, telling them that she wants peace. 2. 夢はおっきく (Dreams Grow): Mahoro gets a breast enlarging gadget. Hilarity ensues. 3. 一夜の夢知りせども。。。？ (Despite Conveying A Night's Dream): Suguru is on a trip and Mahoro is alone. She asks Shikijo sensei for some company and they get drunk together. Meanwhile, in NYC, The Keeper attacks two people who talked about an alien incident in 1962. 4. 夢見るお年頃 (The Teen Who Dreams): This chapter is split up into two chapters, both with the same name. Mahoro has enrolled in a private girl's school to find the last two remaining bombs planted there. She makes some friends, one of whom is Shikijo-sensei's little sister. Her clue is a cross, but the same word can also mean a type of flower and that's where she finds bomb #49. The next bomb she finds has the clue from an old James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice." She finds it and is about to cut the wires, but Suguru stops her from doing so. The bomb only goes off if the wires are cut. After she disarms the bombs, she makes a sad departure from the school, having only been there for 10 days. 5. 悪夢〜THE KEEPER〜 (Bad Dream ~THE KEEPER~): The Keeper appears to be the new enemy and another girl (android?), #370. While Mahoro and Suguru are out on a picnic, she's fighting off some machine and manages to escape. Mahoro and Suguru see her floating in the river and Mahoro spots The Keeper's machines. |
Title: 4. まほろまてぃっく： いろいろ夢見るマイドさん (Vol. 4 Mahoromatic: A Maid With Various Dreams) |
がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 4
And so Guardian Hearts keeps going. Word has it that the second OVA is going to be released later this year. I'll probably pass as OVAs are expensive, and this manga isn't good enough (yet?) to warrant my pursuit of the anime. I might get the drama CD though. The BURN faction are finally disposed of in this volume. That's 8 girls that I don't have to deal with. Whew. But knowing how this series has been progressing, there will probably be more. On the inside cover, there are detailed info about each of the BURN members as well as a letter from the author. There are a few color pages to start the story. There are also two short manga chapters, published in Shonen Ace before Guardian Hearts started and an introduction to these earlier works from the author. These two bonus mangas were definitely written for a more mature audience as it has nudity and no furigana. The artwork is similar and according to Sae Amatsu, there's a connection with Guardian Hearts. 23. 狙われた少女 (The Targeted Girl): Tori, the little bird, has transformed into her human form and can't change back. So in the meantime, she gets introduced to the "family" living at Kazuya's house who don't know her in her human state. However, the members of BURN know of her and her powers, so while Kazuya is out with Hina shopping, Shizu disguises herself as Kazuya, infiltrates the house and kidnaps Tori. Her mission comes to a stop when Hina appears and defeats her. 24. 大体育祭 (Big Athletic Competition): It's competition time at the school and the girls from First Year, B class (Kazuya, Hina) compete with other classes, including Third Year, A class (members of BURN). The members of BURN seem to be winning until the last competition where the owners are supposed to race with their pets. Kotono with Daisy race and claim victory for the team. As MVP, Kotono receives free food at the school cafeteria even though she doesn't attend the school. 25. 再び音姉さんがやって来た (Oto Came Again): Konoto's sister has come again, this time she offers her advice as a fortune teller. All the girls ask about their love life, but Oto doesn't really help. However, she takes particular interest in Kurusu and tries to help her train in preparation for facing the person she loves (guess who), but at the end, it doesn't turn out as well as expected. 26. ペットの日記 (Pet's Diary): This is a short chapter where the diaries of Kotono, Daisy, and Tori are shown. Kotono takes about eating and sleeping, Daisy talks about her conflicts, and Tori talks about Daisy and Kotono. 27. 女の子は妖しい風を呼ぶ （BURN完結編・前編） (The Girl Who Calls the Suspicious Wind, Conclusion to BURN, First Part): The fourth member of BURN is finally revealed. She traps Kazuya by writing him a love letter and getting him to come, where she reveals herself as 幻影のアイナ (Aina of Illusion). With Kazuya there, the members of BURN transport the entire school into the sky and kick off the Kazuya's girls. 28. 結集！この力、あなたのために （BURN完結編・前編） (Concentrate! For You, Using This Power, Conclusion to BURN, Last Part): The girls plan to save Kazuya from BURN. They try to fight them, but don't win until Kazuya and Tori merge and he transforms into a Guardian Hearts. BURN is finished. 29. 祭りの後、夢で会えたら。。。 (After the Festival, If I See You In My Dreams...): Daisy gets everyone drunk in this short story. |
Title: がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 4 |
君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Game Comics
This is another set of doujinshi comics based on the game-turned-anime. On the whole, it's very similar to the other doujinshi comics where there's a mix of stories, mostly humorous, but some serious. The artwork in here varies a lot. At first, I didn't recognize the two characters on the cover, but they're Haruka and Mitsuki with some interpretation. The art for each manga is generally a little "different," but again, these are done by amateurs, so I shouldn't expect too much. Bonuses include a few color pages, a MayuMayu standee and there are ads for *real* doujinshi on the back. |
Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Anthology Game Comics |
Need a redesign The big hubub today is that MoveableType, the system that runs this journal has been upgraded to 3.0 (still beta). What's irks a lot of people is that they're starting to charge money for it. Correction, they'll still have a free version, but it's severly limited. Much of the reactions have been pretty negative as freeloaders are complaining that they can't freeload anymore. I don't think they should get so much flack for trying to make a living. However, they should have known their audience. My own experience with them is that I *offered* to donate $40. A month later, my Paypal payment came back unclaimed. Hey, if they really don't need the money, I'm not going to bother giving it to them. I've also noticed that my manga listings is getting to be a little out of hand. At the rate I'm reading, it'll be pretty unusable soon. Gotta figure out how to re-layout that page, and while I'm at it, see if I should move away from Moveabletype. |
|
まぶらほ (Maburaho) Vol. 2 LE
The story hasn't really grabbed me, but it's good enough to keep me watching. I enjoy the stories, even though it's still the three girls trying to go after Kazuki. The more I watch this, the more I like the artwork too. It's probably typical stuff, but it's in a style that I favor (bright colors, big eyes). A lot like Ai yori. Like the first disc, this one is also backed with a lot of goodies. Comes with a Kuriko keyholder, cards, mini-cushion, Kuriko body sponge (ick), and a pocket mirror, all enclosed in a tin box. 3. でちゃった。。。 (She Left): Kazuki apparently has a new resident in his room, a ghost named Elizabeth. She no longer is able to stay at her old residence because Kuriko, the landlord, has sealed off the place with magic. Kazuki tries to convince Kuriko to let her stay, but the deal falls through because he doesn't want to give his genes. Elizabeth understands and asks only that he recover her beloved armor. But before he can do that, Kuriko has a demolition squad (Rin) come and reduce the house to rubble, damaging the armor. Elizabeth gets angry, casts some magic that traps Yuna but Kazuki saves her. When Elizabeth sees Kuriko, she immediately falls in love as she looks just like her mother. 4. みちゃった。。。 (I Saw It): Kazuki has been having a terrible nightmare with a huge monster attacking. Meanwhile at school, there's been strange noises going on. Yuna, Kuriko, and Kazuki investigate and it turns out that they are the monsters Kazuki's been having nightmares about. The monsters take out Yuna and Kuriko, but Kazuki finds some inner strength and unleashes powerful magic and defeats the monsters. |
Title: まぶらほ (Maburaho) Vol. 2 LE |
.hack Vol. 3
This book is enormous. It's about as big as the two previous books combined. Ugh. .hack strikes me as a series that was created to milk money off making tie-ins to games, manga, and anime. I haven't finished the anime (first season) and have only played only 3 of the games (haven't watched the OVAs since the second game), I don't know how much the manga ties in. When I first started this series, I didn't know what was going on. The artwork is good, especially when Shugo is dumbfounded. The story is interesting, although I haven't been able to tie it in as I haven't finished the other media for .hack. This last volume continues that. It's sums up the story well, but I would have benefited from knowing more about the anime and game. Besides the main story, which ends around page 236, there are two full length bonus comics as well as more mini-comics. The book starts off with 4 color pages. The inside cover has drawings of the real-life characters that play the game. 13. 終われるか (Is It Possible to Finish?): Shugo, Rena, and Zefi are in a prison. Rena is about to quit the game, but starts thinking and also gets some sense knocked into her by Zefi. When she gets her motivation back, Zefi breaks them out. Meanwhile, Balmung has decided to step down and re-join the game. 14. 別れて、 逢って (To Part and To Meet): The three of them bump into Komiyama as they're escaping. They chat a bit and Zefi fixes his face. Meanwhile, Balmung is meeting with Wiseman discussing the Net Slums, Aura, and the .hackers. Komiyama, with his pretty face, is now on good terms with them. Shugo receives a letter from Mirelle. 15. 隠されし 禁断の 望域 (Hidden Forbidden Castle): They go meet Mirelle at the castle, where they also bump into Ooka, the cat-woman character. Shugo and Rena's real-life sibling, Kazu, who once played alongside Mistral, Mirelle's mother and who she inherited her character from, arrives and gives them the keys to the Net Slums. No sooner does the system administrators come and try to claim the key. Komiyama tries to stop the female admin, but gets himself deleted. 16. 心に、 槍を (In the Heart, a Spear...): Kazu and Ooka try to keep the admins busy while the others make a getaway, however, they are stopped short. As they're being confronted, Hotaru steps in with a plea. Zefi repels the admin's attack and creates a Gruntie to help transport them away. Shugo, however, decides to have a heart to heart with the defeated admin. 17. あのとき「前編」 (That Time, First Part): Because of relationship issues in the real world, the admin has taken this job in "The World." After some talk, she beings to have more faith in herself. 18. あのとき「後編」 (That Time, Last Part): The group leaves on the Gruntie. After they leave, Balmung shows up and talks to the admin. The gang uses the key to get to the Net Slums. 19. ネットスラム (Net Slum): In the Net Slums, they meet the lost game characters. Their search comes to a stop when Balmung shows up and tells Shugo that if he wants to meet Aura, he has to defeat him. 20. 勇者の条件 (What It Takes to Be a Hero): Shugo obviously doesn't have enough experience to defeat Balmung. However, in typical adventure story fashion, he gathers strength from all the memories he's had with his friends and is able to inflict some damage, which was all he needed. They finally get to see Aura, Zefi's mother. 21. Little flashback to when Shugo was a kid, played the game and wanted to be a "hero." Happy ending. Game over. |
Title: .hack//黄昏の腕輪伝説 (.hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet) Vol. 3 |
少年マガ (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 24 & ヤングマガ (Young Magazine), '04 Vol. 24
No Negima this week as the "Kyoto" arc just ended. No flesh either this week. There is a new series, Stay Gold, that's starting. Tennis manga, not that interesting to me. Meanwhile, Tsubasa has another cameo by the two mini-Persocoms, Sumomo and Kotoko. Changing Now: ３伝心！！ 髭男！！ (Telepathy! Mustache-Man): Takeko wants to learn English as she believes she'll never be in Hollywood if she doesn't. The father doesn't believe that English is important until he meets an enemy that only speaks English. Rather than having a battle, they try unsuccessfully to inform each other to prepare for the fight. Afterwards, he has a change of heart about learning. Suzuka: ＃１２告白 (Confession): On the day they're supposed to go to the amusement park, it starts raining. With nothing else to do outside, they head indoors and enjoy the attractions like games and a virtual rollercoaster. They come out later to find that the sky has cleared and enjoy the night parade. Suzuka takes Yamato's hand and enjoys the show. Yamato thinks this is his chance and confesses his love for her. She thinks it's a joke at first, but he reconfirms it. Tsubasa: ４４最強の鬼児 (The Strongest Monster): Shaoran and Kuro run into some obstacles at the tower, but fight their way through. At Fye's cafe, Seishirou shows up, has a little discussion with Fye about his power to travel through dimensions (he got his right eye from Yuuko, which gives him the ability). They then start fighting. Scene changes to the tower right as Fye looks about to be killed. At the tower, Shaoran and Kuro are met by Sumomo and Kotoko (from Chobits). They tell them that Seishirou is not a monster, but travels with them and that the Cat's Eye cafe is being attacked. Hamanaka Ai: ０３５少女的奏法 (Playing an Instrument Like a Girl): Rin is practicing the recorder for her music test tomorrow. She gets some instruction from the tutors on how to play so that it sounds better, but during the test, she reverts back to her old poor style of playing (implied embouchure joke). Futatsuki: １４口目／柏手ラーメン見参 (Seeing the Ramen of Prayer): Bad translation, sorry. The three competitors are trying to win the hearts of the 3 female idol judges with their non-fattening ramen. The first competitor unveils his tofu noodles, which the girls love. Futatsuki shows them what looks like meat, but is actually made of soybean. The girls are impressed, but then are told that it has more calories than the tofu noodles. The last competitor has curry ramen. Despite not being spicy, it gets the girls sweating non-stop. It will help them lose weight, but they'll sweat non-stop for 30 minutes. Futatsuki brings in some pork and tells them that he'll make them stop sweating.
It's Waka again, back of the book girl is Monami Oguchi. XXXholic will start again on the 26th, and Minamike should be showing up next week. Love Lucky: 2: At work, Fuuta is preoccupied with what will happen during his first night with Kirari that he doesn't focus on his work. Meanwhile, Kirari gets in a conversation with her fellow idols about marriage and they all say that being a wife is tough (they don't know she's married). Fuuta goes to one of Kirari's events and overhears many fans wanting to be with her. He accidentally bumps into Kirari's manager and keeps his mouth shut. That night, things will start in the bedroom (or so the ending leads us to believe...). Redlight: 6: It's been a month since Satoshi met Chiko. They go out on their first date which includes eating and shopping. One of the things Satoshi was supposed to buy was a handkerchief, but he forgot. Chiko lets him borrow hers. Having wanted to hold her hand since the beginning of the date, he thinks this is the right time and tries to grab, but ends up grabbing her butt. She punches him and leaves. Later, she finds him again and as he's returning the handkerchief, a gust of wind blows it away and the both of them fall off the bridge into the river chasing after it. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 24
Title: ヤングマガ (Young Magazine) Vol. 24 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 2
The story is diverging from the initial release of this series. Marina faces different trials when she tries to befriend Akane. The whole story with Chako the dog is a bit different and there's a new character in the story. I'm still enjoying the story a lot. The book comes with a color page and a little warning in the back pages. Since there's smoking and alcohol drinking in this volume, it kind reminds people to not engage in those activities being underaged and to be responsible. 12. 歓迎の儀式 (Welcoming Ceremony): Before Akane leaves for her first day, Shinpei makes her promise not to get in a fight. However, she's met with an unfriendly welcome from a few students at school and tries to keep her promise. 13. 義兄妹 (Step-Siblings): It gets to be too much so she attacks in self defense. Shinpei learns about this and they get in an argument. During work that night, he thinks about it and decides to apologize. He's too focused on thinking that he gets in an accident. Akane comes back and they make up. A returning student, 摩耶 (Maya) is back. 14. MARINA（前編） (Marina, First Part): There's a student, まりな (Marina), who Maya enjoys picking on. Since Maya is back, she gets Marina in the pool and almost drowns her, just to remind her of who is the boss. During the abuse, Akane jumps in and rescues Marina, much to Maya's dislike. Marina and Akane become friends, but Maya won't allow it so when Akane's not around, she gets abused some more. 15. MARINA (後編） (Marina, Last Part): Marina has suddenly stop talking to Akane because of Maya. After she steals some CDs for Maya, she sits atop a hill where Akane and Shinpei spot her and they go and have a treat. Marina comments on how nice the siblings are. Later, Marina gets some more abuse and Akane comes, gives Maya a slap (something that's never happened to her before) and gets Marina out of there. 16. 菜々子さん (Nanako): As Akane is out playing one day, she spots a cute small dog, Chako, and it's owner, Nanako. Nanako is from a high social class, excels at the violin, but has health problems. She can't keep the dog, so she asks Akane to take care of him and allow her to see him. At first Shinpei disagrees, but when he sees Nanako, he falls in love. The day after, Nanako is going to a concert, but her driver has chest pains so Shinpei grabs a bike and takes her to her concert. 17. 微妙な気持ち (Delicate Feelings): After the concert, they have a dinner and Shinpei is invited. Being rather poor, he doesn't score high marks with the family. However, Nanako disagrees and as he is leaving, she decides to go with him to take a stroll. He comes home that night and Akane is quite suspicious as to what he has been doing. 18. 慎平恋をする (Shinpei in Love): Shinpei is madly in love with Nanako. While they're eating some beef bowl, Akane lets him know that she has Nanako's number. As he's trying to grab the phone to dial the number, he hugs Akane which she notices makes her heart beat a little faster. They go out to the park and talk a bit about their childhood. Akane then gets a call from Nanako and makes Shinpei pick it up. A date is arranged. 19. 渚の出来事 (Happenings at the Beach): Akane, Nanako, Shinpei, and a few other friends go to the beach. Because of a motorized boat causing the water to get rough, Nanako falls out of her row boat and into the water. She struggles in the water but can't get herself to swim because she has a weak heart (physically). Shinpei goes in and rescues her. 20. 夜の海岸 (Seaside at Night): They enjoy a night out with fireworks and Shinpei and Nanako spend some quiet time together. Later that night, Akane asks Shinpei whether he loves Nanako. He's reluctant to answer, but Akane seems to be bothered by his obvious showing of affection. 21. 優等生 (Honor Student): There's a genius girl, 月島絵美梨 (Emily Tsukishima), at school. She's also a "goodie-goodie" which makes her quite despised, especially from the girls who smoke. Her family isn't doing so well financially though, so her dad has to seek some help from the parents of one of the bad girls. That girl finds out about it and makes Emily kneel and bow before her as well as making her smoke. 22. 負けない (I Won't Give Up): Akane and Marina see Emily, who has her arm injured from being stabbed by a pencil. They bandage her up, but she lies about the cause of her injury. That night they have a nice dinner together at Akane's apartment. The next day, she gets in trouble with the bad girls again. Marina sees her being taken off so she follows them into a disco club. At the club, Marina knows there's trouble so she phones Akane. Meanwhile, Emily is made to drink an entire bottle of whiskey. 23. Friends: Emily is about to pass out when Akane shows up. She and Marina help drink the rest of the bottle in a show of solidarity. After they finish the bottle and in a sense have a victory, they all pass out. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 2 "Friends" |
君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Anime OST Vol. 1
So this is the third time I've heard the Kiminozo tunes re-arranged. First was on the game soundtrack, then the re-arrange CD, and now in the anime. While I still like the original compositions the best, the anime soundtrack is a little better than the re-arrange CD. In general, the melodies are a little slower (probably to keep the music in the background while the viewer watch the animation). There are some new songs, but my favorites are still the songs I liked from the game. As usual, the TV sized intro and endings are included. The liner notes include messages from the director and producer of the anime. |
Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Anime OST Vol. 1 |
宇宙のステルヴぃア (Stellvia) DVD Box 1
After almost 8 months of having it in my possession, I've finally finished the first half of Stellvia. The overall story was okay, but what I enjoyed was mostly the episodes dealing with Shima and her friends. Most of those episodes were pretty stereotypical, I admit, but I don't think I can ever get sick of it. Especially with the quality of the picture. The quality of the video is incredible. It is arguably one of the sharpest anime DVDs I've ever seen, and this is on my 100" screen. The CG artwork doesn't seem to fit at times, but overall, the picture quality was excellent. Besides the special case that it comes with, this box is pretty bare. There's a really nice booklet that comes with it with interviews, character info, and summaries of the episodes. There are no extra video content on the DVDs. There are 13 episodes in this box and it'll take me a while to review all 13 episodes, so I won't. The story basically follows 片瀬志麻 (Shima Katase, later known as Shiipon) as she enters Stellvia for training. She makes several friends and works her way up into becoming one of the star students and eventually saving Earth from the "second wave" I was surprised at how the first half of the series ended. I had thought the whole point of the series was for them to save earth from the "second wave" and along the way, the students would develop friendship and love (typical plot). But to my surprise, they saved earth in episode 10. So what are they going to do now? It's time to bust out the second box...which has been sitting on the shelf since January. |
Title: 宇宙のステルヴぃア (Stellvia) Mission 1 DVD Box |
Final Fantasy Concert The evening started off with a meal at Little Tokyo, very fitting. As we were walking around though, I discovered some sad news. Nippon Books is closing and has a 50% clearance sale. That's two bookstores out of business in downtown LA. After the meal, we quickly walked back to the concert hall. It's about 5 blocks between Little Tokyo. We got to the concert hall at around 6:55, 5 minutes earlier than the time stated on the ticket. We could have just walked in, but noticed that there was a merchandise table with shirts, programs, and something in a CD case. The light was damn long, but we waited. By the time I was at the front of the line, it was almost 7:20. The ushers were announcing that the concert was starting, so a lot of people ditched the line. There was only 5 people in front of me, so I managed to snag some goods. The program is very nice, as it should be since it cost $25. During my time in line, they announced that they only had small shirts left. Sucks, but I really don't care for clothing. I was eyeing the CD. By the time I got up to the counter, it was revealed that the CD was just a case and it was actually just a calendar. I was about to leave, but I had already waited almost 30 minutes in line, so I bought some. $15 a piece. So we go inside the concert hall. Our seats were third row from the front, about 1/4th of the way in. For the stage, the seats were spectacular. The only downside was that they had large screen projectors above the stage, which for us was a bit hard to see. As everyone was still settling in, I looked around the room and spotted a familiar man with a mustache just entering the building on the opposite end of where we were sitting. Nobuo! Only when he walked to his seat did people finally notice him and he got a standing ovation. He was accompanied by a few people (family members?) and they were all dressed in traditional yukatas, tabi, and geta. The concert started at 7:30 with the orchestra tuning, followed by Liberi Fatali from FF8. When the music started playing, I suddenly realized how horribly inadequate my home theater sound system is. After the forceful intro (scenes from the game were shown on the screen), the voice actor for Tidus came out to MC. He starts off with the words "Listen to my story..." but to no avail. I don't think anyone really knew who he was. The only place I've seen him before is from the FFX International bonus DVD, but if I didn't watch that I probably wouldn't have known who he was anyway. He does a self intro and introduces the songs as well as the next three. The next song was Zanarkand from FFX. Instead of having a mostly piano tune, it involved a lot of the orchestra. After that was Terra's Theme from FF6, probably the best song to be orchestrated. And the song to end the trio was Theme of Love from FF4. After the intermission, James Arnold Taylor (Tidus) came back with some comments. It was also at this time that I noticed the little cue card guy in the front row. You would expect Tidus to have rehearsed his lines, but maybe he's just shy in front of the camera. He was introducing Vamo' Alla Flamenco but had to look at the cue cards to say it was from FF9. The next three songs were Dear Friends from FF5, Vamo' Alla Flamenco from FF9, and Love Grows from FF8. All the songs were great, the first two featuring the guitar. I thought the guitar was a little soft, but that's probably because there's no mic to amplify the sound. Intermission and Nobuo gets a standing ovation as he walks back into the seating area. Tidus comes again and introduces the next three songs, Aeris's Theme from FF7, Not Alone from FF9 and Ronfaure from FFXI. Not Alone seemed to be a very strange choice out of the three. Tidus then makes his final appearance as he introduces the last three songs. He cracks a dumb joke about being able to finally show people Zanarkand and bids his farewell. The next song was a medley from Final Fantasy I-III, and it sounded very similar to the medley in the Japanese concert. When the Chocobo theme started playing, people started clapping. That was followed by another medley, music from FF7 Advent Children. The music seemed very subdued and soft. Finally they end with the anthem of Final Fantasy. About this time, I notice Nobuo and someone who I believe I've seen before at the door. At first, it seemed like they were getting ready for a quick getaway before the mob hits, but instead, Nobuo goes on stage with a translator and gives a little speech. He then introduces two other people to join him on stage, Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator, story), and Yoshitaka Amamo. When Nobuo first called them, everyone looked rather confused even though he had said their names. It wasn't until the translator said their names with an English accent that the crowd finally realized who they were. Reminds me of anime conventions when people laugh at jokes only after the translator has translated. They both go up there and give their little speech. There was one part where Yoshitaka kept going on and on and on. I would have hated to be the translator at that point, but she did pretty well for a live event. There was an encore piece, One-Winged Angel from FF7. I stuck around for about 20 minutes after the concert as my friends were buying things. From the PA system, it sounded like they were broadcasting the press junket. This concert is shorter than the first concert in Japan. The only new songs performed were "Dear Friends" which was the namesake of the show and a medley from FF7 Advent Children. The MC was terrible. Maybe it's his personality, but it didn't seem like he kept things interesting and was also reading off cue cards. The Japanese concert seemed much more lively where the voice actor for Tidus and voice actress for Yuna were on stage exchanging lively banter. The crowds were in general better than what I had expected out of the gaming group. Most were well dressed, one guy was in full military uniform. From the concert CD, it didn't seem like the Japanese crowd made vocal cheers, only clapping. There were cheers after every song, but that's to be expected. One annoying girl was yelling "arigatoo gozaimasu" after the concert. It's supposed to be in the past tense, lady! But whatever, hecklers aren't as effective if they use proper English. I think the guys she was hanging out with were trying to ask the orchestra members if they would sell their sheet music. Of course the answer was no. But they still tried. As a whole, the concert was incredible. That music hall is incredible too. If I wanted to listen to a particular instrument, all I had to do was look at them. Despite the minor annoyances of cheering and lines, it was well worth it. |
 |
Long Weekend I'm leaving for San Diego this weekend, so I don't plan to work on 'scribbles much. Maybe I'll take some photos and post some moblogs, but nothing in terms of reviews. Since I'm going to the Final Fantasy concert Monday night, I probably won't get around to reading/watching anything until Tuesday. |
|
ネギま！ １学期 (Negima! 1st Semester) Drama CD
The dramas on this CD seem to occur before Negi comes to the school and becomes their teacher. The voices for each of the character seems to fit. I still don't like Konoka's though and am not so convinced with Negi's voice. Since he's only 10 or so years old, he still has a high voice, so they casted a woman to be his voice. Unfortunately, he still sounds like a girl (unlike seiyuu like Megumi Ogata who can be a convincing male). With the other girls in the cast and no visuals, it's hard to tell Negi apart. The songs are okay, I don't think they're as good as the individual singles. There's a total of 4 songs. The first is the Mahora school anthem, followed by two songs sung by a group of girls, and last song is sung by Negi's seiyuu. I love the music to Negi's song, but it sounds like a BGM with words attached rather than a song that was written originally to be sung. The bonus DVD contains footage from the Negima event in December. It's quite long, at around 50 minutes. Most of the girls and their seiyuu are introduced, they're given a pop quiz where they have to talk for 30 seconds. Asuna and Konoka's voice actresses perform their respective character songs (they're both pretty terrible at singing live). There's also an on-stage interview with Ken Akamatsu and the director of Negima. 2. １時間目 ラブレター大作戦 (First Hour, Great Love Letter Plan): The girls try to get Nodoka to reveal who she has a crush on and who she wants to write a love letter to. Turns out that it's a the hero in one of her books. 3. ２時間目 チェイス イン サンライズ (Second Hour, Chase in Sunrise): The cheerleading girls find out about Asuna's early morning paper route and that her parent's aren't around anymore. And so, they decide to support Asuna by doing a cheerleading routine when Asuna wakes up. However, Asuna is too fast and the 3 girls try to chase after her, but they never catch up and get attacked by a dog. They arrive at school all beat and tired. 5. ３時間目 宝物 (Third Hour, Treasure): Konoka, Asuna, and a few other girls are leaving the mountain where they've been having a school trip. They arrive at stairway down that has a sign that while they're going down, they shouldn't look back or they'll get cursed with bad luck. As they're walking down, Konoka remembers that she forgot her "treasure" so Asuna backpedals (doesn't turn around) to get it. Konoka reveals that her treasure are pictures of her friends, one of which is an embarrassing picture of Asuna. 7. ４時間目 ウェールズは遠く彼方に (Fourth Hour, Wales is Far Away): Negi is practicing magic, but teleports him to somewhere outside of Wales. While Yue and Asuna are studying after failing a test, the other girls are at the beach playing. The dog from Second Hour attacks the girls playing there and takes Konoka's treasure. They chase it around, but can't catch it. When Asuna joins them, they ask Asuna to catch it. Asuna gets attacked and gives the dog an Asuna Kick which sends him all the way to where Negi is. Negi takes an airplane back to Wales and thinks about the strange day he had with the dog falling from the sky. |
Title: 魔法先生ネギま！ 魔帆良学園中等ぶ２−A:１学期 (Magic Teacher Negima! Mahora School Class 2-1: 1st Semester) |
藍より青し～縁～ (Ai yori Aoshi ~Enishi~) Vol. 5
The stories in this disc seem very familiar. Maybe they've taken aspects from the manga? Anyhow, I was disappointed. The only thing interesting was Tina's not so surprising revelation that she's going back to the states. Everything else is trite. First pressing has a Miyabi postcard. The DVD has no other bonuses except for a few trailers. 9. 白妙 (White Cloth): Kaoru received a one night stay at a nice hotel. He invites Aoi out and then spends the night with her. They talk about each other's happiness for the 10 billionth time. Tell us something we don't know. The ending features an alternate song, this song is included in the single CD. 10. 湯帷子 (Bathing Clothes): The gang goes to a spa resort and they enjoy the day. Later at night through a mixup, Kaoru, Tina, and Aoi end up in the same outdoor hot springs. Kaoru overhears Tina telling Aoi about how appreciative she is about her friendships with everyone. As they're leaving, Mayu overhears that Tina is going back to the states. |
Title: 藍より青し〜縁〜 (Ai yori Aoshi~Enishi~) Vol. 5 |
dear Vol. 3
The author decided to change stories in this volume to using the characters and stories from his older works. Fortunately, I had read "My Wolf," so I kinda know what's going on with each of the characters. However, I don't think it was such a good idea to keep the manga named "Dear" while straying off into another story. Maybe he'll tie in these two stories with Komomo and Chiruha as suggested at the end of the book. I still disagree that he went on a tangent for these chapters. Comics on the inside covers, mini-comic at the end and a color page are the bonuses. 11. Brave and Lycanthrope: More adventures with Komomo and Subaru. Komomo is hard at work trying to earn enough money to buy a house. However, what she really wants to do is hero work. So she gets the task of finding some bandits. She doesn't have enough experience to defeat them but as always Subaru comes in and saves the day. 12. Fight and Resolution: In order to get some money, Komomo decides to enter a fighting competition. She asks Subaru to train her and she competes. Through the help of Subaru during the match, she emerges victorious. 13. 確乎 (Unshakeable): This story follows one of Subaru's former generals, プリン＝ハーウェル (Prin Howell?). She's has a close rapport with 紅 (Kurenai) and his servant Carol (they saved Subaru from his right hand in "My Wolf") because they saved her from the Lycanthrope curse. Prin is about to depart on vacation, but everyone worries for her because she's a klutz and apparently, the curse shows itself again. 14. 恩愛之絆 (Bonds of Love): Prin, Kurenai, and Carol come to Prin's brother's house and spend some time there. They get attacked by a monster and Prin saves the day. When they depart, there's a minor scene where the captain from the previous two books seems them flying off. |
Title: dear Vol. 3 |
まおちゃん (Mao-chan) Vol. 3
The cover doesn't look that impressive, although like before the artwork inside is superb. The stories are fun although some are just way too far-fetched. Again, these stories are independent of the anime and don't really follow a storyline. Like the anime, there's a chapter in here with a Love Hina tie in. This time Keinosuke Urashima is featured as a suicidal exam flunkee who believes that no one cares about him, especially a girl named Nanasegawa. Pretty nice to see him again in manga form. There are no color pages in any of the Mao-chan tanks, although there were color pages in the monthly magazine (I used to subscribe to Magazine Special and saved some of the color Mao-chan pages). There are two pages of character descriptions, especially with some aliens and AASS as well as a short paragraph from the author. 16. 借金返済大作戦です！！ (The Great Plan to Repay Debts): Yuriko and Chinami are working long hours to earn enough money to pay back their debts. They hear about this beauty contest and Chinami decides that Yuriko should enter. Yuriko makes it to the last round, but is ambushed by her opponent's cronies. So Chinami steps in for her and wins the competition (although the money still isn't enough). 17. 富士の樹海で大訓練です (Training at the Fuji Woodlands): Misora blames herself for their team getting lost in the woods. Since Sylvia drank all their water, so goes out to find some more. In the woods she finds a troubled boy about to commit suicide because he can't getting to Tokyo U. He fails in his 14th attempt at death so he has a talk with Sylvia. Misora feels better and gets reunited while that boy receives messages from girls named Nanasegawa and Motoka telling him to come home. 18. 大事な大事な仲間です (Very Treasured Friends): Mi-kun has been equipped with a super gun. However, Mao doesn't like it and Mi-kun runs away and joins the bad dogs gang as they cause trouble and steal dog food. One of the dogs points out that Mi-kun has a ribbon, the ribbon Mao gave him the first time they met. During an alien "attack" when both Sylvia and Misora are decommissioned, Mi-kun comes back but doesn't use his gun as he knows Mao would disapprove. Turns out that the tank himself wanted the upgrade for Mao's sake. The next day he's restored back to normal. 19. SL旅行を防衛です (Protect the Vacation by Train): Mao and gang are on a train which turns out to be an alien. They try to figure out how to stop it but can't. They manage to detach the passenger cars, but Mao doesn't make it and is carried off into space. As Japan weeps for her, she comes back. She managed to tame the alien locomotive by giving it sweet potatoes. 20. タイヤキたべて防衛です (Protect and Eat Taiyaki): Mao can't finish her carrots and so her grandpa tells her not to come home until she does. After school, Sylvia takes them on a quick trip to Sapporo for some Taiyaki. Aliens attack (Chinami and Yuriko are there). The girls don't want to make an appearance since their grandpas would find out they had snuck out. However, they defeat the alien and get commended rather than berated. 21. 防衛隊、最大の危機 (The Largest Crisis for the Defense Force): The Defense Force has been replaced by the 3 members of AASS (Anti-Alien Special Soldier). They have a month full of successful victories over aliens which puts them in favor with the public. At the end, Mao hands over her clover to Haru, the head of AASS. However, Yuriko is curious to all these invasions as she didn't know about them. Turns out that those "aliens" were just costumes and the victories were for show. 22. あなたが真のヒーローです (You Are The True Hero): In order to help Mao, Yuriko summons some real aliens that she hopes only Mao and gang can defeat. The aliens cause a lot of chaos in the city. Haru tries to attack, but gets tossed back. Mao finds him and shows him how much she cares for Japan, even if it means protecting a little sprout. He defeats the aliens, but gives the credit to Mao. 23. 博物館を防衛です (Protect the Museum): Chinami and Yuriko believe they have received a message from the alien boss telling them that he's coming and they better have something to show him. So the two cat girls plan to steal Japan's oldest treasure. The Defense Force is prepared, but the two girls snag it. They almost make a clean getaway until Mao shows up. Yuriko accidentally drops the artifact and just then the alien ship lands. Turns out that the boss is just another alien. Since he looks a lot like the broken artifact, he gets returned to the museum in lieu. |
Title: 陸上防衛隊まおちゃん (Mao-chan) Vol. 3 |
神様だもの (Because I'm The Goddess) Vol. 1
I really like Shamneko's character designs from all her shonen comics. Judging from the front cover, maybe she really should stay with shonen. Her character designs don't really lend themselves to sexiness. However, Pandora isn't always in her voluptuous form and turns into a normal girl at times, so she's portrayed that "big" for most of the story. Speaking of story, I don't know. I just couldn't get hooked to the whole goddess thing and what her purpose for coming earth was. I could follow it, but this story doesn't have the elements that I enjoyed from her previous works. There's a color first page and an autobiographical mini-comic at the end of the book. 1. 神々からの贈りもの (A Gift From the Gods): パンドラ (Pandora) is a goddess sent to retrieve all the "gifts" from god. She's quite voluptuous and gets all the attention from guys standing around her. She encounters 葵 (Aoi), who saves her from potential embarrassment and she declares that he's her servant. Aoi doesn't believe her, so she whips up a tsunami with her powers and washes everything away. A week later, Pandora meets Aoi again but this time, she's in a teenage body. It's soon revealed that after she uses her goddess powers, her body turns into that of a teenager and cannot use any powers. In order to return to her regular self, she has to get a kiss from Aoi. 2. 葵の決断 (Aoi's Decision): Aoi is reluctant to take Pandora in, but eventually does so. He prefers her teenage form rather than her adult form. 3. 神様の初仕事 (God's First Job): Pandora, in her adult form, and her cat can see men who have been collared by a magical leash and made "prisoners." At the other end of the leash is a women who has been possessed by the "gift." The gifts are little cupids who dwell inside women and empower them to seduce men via the leash. Pandora spots the first victim, a businessman who steals for the woman he loves. During the confrontation with the woman, she transforms Aoi into a pair of wire-cutters and cuts the leash. 4. 例外の虜 (An Atypical Prisoner): The next victim they find is 天城摩耶 (Maya Amagi). They're confused at first because she looks like a girl, yet "gifts" only take males as prisoners. It turns out in fact that it's a guy. Despite that, Pandora gets a little jealous that Aoi might take a liking to her. During the confrontation, Aoi is changed into a pair of supergloves that Pandora uses to rip apart the chains. 5. 待雪恋愛講座 (Matsuyuki's Course in Love): Because of the incidents from last chapter, Maya is in the hospital and Pandora and Aoi are visiting. Pandora's cat goes to the room next door and starts talking with the patient there (the cat can talk). The girl who has bandages over her eyes, can hear the cat, but can't see that it's not a human. She assumes that she is a human and calls her Matsuyuki. In order to not disappoint the girl, Pandora offers her body. Pandora and the girl spend time together over several days. However, Pandora (the cat's voice) tells her that once she regains her vision, it's best of they not see each other. 6. 信じる心 (Believing Heart): A "gift' has taken control of one of Aoi's old private tutors and almost seduces him. If he's on a leash, that means Pandora can't use him to extract the "gifts." Pandora saves him just in time and she captures the cupid. |
Title: 神様だもの (Because I'm The Goddess) Vol. 1 |
妹 (Akane) Vol. 1
This volume is an extended version of the first iteration of this series. The previous two volumes were compiled from special chapters in Young Jump. The series was probably popular enough to warrant a weekly serialization of it, which is how this volume came about. The story is pretty similar, although there are several differences that allow the story to be expanded from 3 chapters in the previous story to 11 chapters here. Some chapters are really good, especially the one where Akane sees another brother/sister relationship, and it gives me a better sense of each character's motivations. It's not possible to get such depth with only 2 or 3 chapters. Artwork is as great as it was previously. While I would have been more than happy to pay full price, I managed to get this volume for $1 at Book-off. For bonuses, there's a color page but that's about it. 1. Meet Again: Stepsiblings Shinpei and Akane are separated after their mothers death. 3 years later, Shinpei has saved enough money so that he and Akane can live together as a family again. At school, Akane is in trouble with a crooked teacher who abuses her and threatens to kick her out of school if she doesn't let him do as he pleases. Several incidents later, Shinpei saves Akane from this teacher. However, Akane doesn't want to leave her aunt who she's been living with. 2. 戻れない理由 (The Reason I Can't Return): Akane's uncle is in debt and let's Akane be taken off to work at a whore house. She reluctantly agrees because she doesn't want her aunt to suffer. After Shinpei hears about this, he rushes over there and is Akane's first client. He begs her not to do this for the sake of her future. 3. 兄貴の役目 (Brother's Responsibility): Shinpei gets kicked out by the next client. Meanwhile, the aunt finds out about her husband (boyfriend?) allowing Akane to work as a prostitute and kicks him out. Back at the "house," Shinpei makes some noise, gets beaten down, but he and Akane are eventually saved by the aunt who comes and clears everything up (including the fact that she's underaged). She tells her to go live with her brother. 4. 硝子の兄妹 (Glass Siblings): Living together isn't as smooth as it could be and Akane is contemplating leaving. At a park, she sees a young boy and girl. The girl seems very attached to the brother and while he's away, she sits around patiently. In fact, the boy is out stealing money. 5. 小鳥 (Small Bird): The little girl, Chiyo is sick, but waits patiently. When he comes back, she collapses from sickness and Akane takes them to the hospital. The brother wants her to be hospitalized, but from the looks of him, he doesn't have the money for it. We find out that he and her sister are living alone because their parents have died. He says he has the money, and so he goes steal some more money. However, his usual escape route of jumping in front of train just in the knick of time (so no one can follow him) backfires and he gets killed. The little girl is then adopted. This whole incident makes Akane rethink her familial relationship. 6. 遊園地へ行こう (Let's Go to the Amusement Park): Shinpei takes her to the amusement park and she thanks him for it. It reminds him of being a real family again. 7. 義妹である前に (Before Being a Stepsister): Shinpei, like any guy, is attracted to Akane. However, despite her beauty, he is determined to not stray from being a good parental figure. 8. 名門星和女子学院 (The Famous Seiwa Girl's Academy): After some resistance, Shinpei convinces Akane to go try and see if she can get into the Seiwa Academy. The teacher, 塚原 (Tsukahara) though, doesn't like Shinpei nor Akane because they're poor. She tries to scare them off with the price tag. Although it costs a lot of money, he works extra jobs to start saving up. Akane goes and takes the test, but the teacher accuses her of cheating. 9. 妨害 (Interference): Although she didn't cheat, the teacher locks her in a room to prevent her from continuing to take the test. The proctor though confirms that she didn't cheat and is very impressed with her performance. He manages to find her in time and allows her to finish her test. She passes, but the teacher takes advantage of another student's parents. She tells them that if they can prevent Akane from coming to the interview, their daughter will gain acceptance. 10. 面汚し (Disgrace): Shinpei tries to ask for money from his uncle, a prick. So he has him dress up like a dog and do things like eat food off the floor for money. Shinpei does this and Akane sees him. She's more determined than ever to gain acceptance into Seiwa. 11. 電気監禁 (Confined by Electricity): On the day of her acceptance interview, the desperate parents keep her confined with a stun gun. Akane manages to turn it against them and arrives at the school. The principal suspects that Tsukahara had something to do with her late arrival. Akane gains acceptance. |
Title: 妹 (Akane) Vol. 1 "Meet Again" |
堀江由衣：楽園 (Yui Horie: Paradise) LE
Yui Horie's 4th album, "Ho?" doesn't count. All my former complaints about Yui still hold true. She doesn't have much vocal range, not much vocal power, and can single only one genre type of song. BUT, she does it oh so well. There are total of 13 songs on the album. The only one that's promoted as an anime song is the intro to Jubei-chan 2. I believe everything else is original to this album. The songs are all very homogenous, lively, upbeat, and generally happy songs. As usual, Ritsuko Okazaki penned many of her songs, including the Jubei-chan 2 song. There are also other familiar lyricists and composers with her songs including Yuki Matsuura (Mao-chan), Funta, and atsuko (Stellvia). I was hoping that atsuko's song would be as lively as the Stellvia intro, but that probably wouldn't fit Yui's singing style. My favorite song has to be track 11, but that's because I saw the music video for it. Overall, the CD is quite good but I might need to put it on shuffle with other songs so I can have a variety that aren't just happy and peppy songs. Like all her previous albums, first pressing includes an extra booklet with numerous photos. I think she looks a lot better with shorter hair. Unlike her previous ones though is that it comes in a nice and sturdy cardboard box rather than plastic. |
Title: 堀江由衣：楽園 (Yui Horie: Paradise) LE |
Hiyoko Brand Vol. 3
I started reading Hiyoko Brand solely because I like how Asami's drawn. The story is pretty simple: a high school teacher marries his student, but that's a total secret. At school they have to keep a "professional" relationship and at home, there are many awkward moments since he doesn't want to "do" anything with her until she graduates. There are many nudity scenes, but no action. The artwork remains excellent in this volume too. While the plot is still rather weak, it's a lot better than the previous two volumes where it was just to show off her body (not that I mind). There are about 6 color pages to start the book off (unfortunately, this is a far cry from the 80 color pages in vol. 1) as well as a letter from the author in the back. There's also a postcard with the book, but that could be just a first printing bonus. The chapters are short and quite numerous so I'll just give an overview. Since this manga sells mostly for it's...ahem...artwork, the story line is pretty simple. This volume has two main storylines. The first story is where another teacher at their school seems to have fallen for Ichimaru and he, out of pity, seems to be spending more time with her. However, Asami keeps the faith. The second story has a fellow study who everyone labels as a pervert since he likes to take pictures and film girls. He asks to take pictures of Asami. At first, he refuses but later, he saves her from a pervert on the train so she goes and poses for him. |
Title: Hiyoko Brand おくさまは女子高生 (The Wife is a High School Student) Vol. 3 |
yui horie CLIPS1
This Music DVD contains many of Yui Horie's promotional videos (i.e. music videos) for her songs. The ones included include the intro to Sister Princess, Love Hina Again (yay!), Mao-chan, and Jubei-chan 2. For Yui Horie fans, in addition to the anime songs, she also has music video of one song from each of albums including her newest album for a total of 8 music videos. As a Ho-chan fan, I really enjoyed all the videos. Even for the anime songs, there's no animation, only live action with Yui. As someone who watches a lot of videos, I have to say that the video quality for all but the last music video sucks. I think it's because the source material wasn't high quality so the transfer to DVD showed those flaws. On many, the colors were way oversaturated and even with my XP-30, there were noticeable interlacing problems. The visuals is why I couldn't give it 4 stars. The audio was top notch being linear PCM. First edition comes with a 8cm CD containing a 1:30 song that she composed herself with toy musical instruments. The "making of" for this song is included with the DVD. |
Title: yui horie CLIPS1 |
君のぞらじお (Kiminozo Radio) OP/ED Single
The opening song is so catchy! I got exposed to the songs on this CD from the Kiminozo Radio CD where they were only playing as background music. Wild 3nin Musume (Wild Three Girls) consists of Minami Kuribayashi, Joy Max 2004 (male, he's part of the radio program) and Sputnik OTA-SASA (male). There are two versions of the OP song. The song itself sounds a bit like disco and has a very danceable beat. In addition to Minami Kuribayashi's vocals, there are some Engrish "rap" as well as Ayu having some words in there. The remix takes the song and makes it more techno (a little too much though). The ED song, written by Minami, is also quite catchy but I prefer the intro song. |
Title: 純情 Fever (Pure Heart Fever) |
A little behind today Got some additions to manga and cds these two days. Yesterday, I got 8 manga books for $20 bucks over at Book-off (5 of them were $1 a piece!). Today, I got around 10 manga from Amazon Japan plus a few music CDs. Since I've been too busy enjoying them today, I'll skip any updates today. Expect quite a few tomorrow. |
|
がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 3
While I don't think there's been anything too interesting going on, I felt like this volume was a little better in that I could pay attention and remember a bit more of it. There's no real plot twists yet, although some characters are being fleshed out a little more. According to the character list at the front of the book, there are three empty slots for new characters. Two of them are introduced in this book, so that leaves one more. The toughest part about this series is remembering who's who. There are 6 girls, but each of them looks different when they transform, so that's 12 different characters to remember. The enemies also have dual identities. There are a few colors pages in front, a mini-comic, results from fan polls, pencil sketch on the inside front cover and a letter from the author explaining things like the cover design and chapters. 16. 戸惑いと不安 (Confusion and Uneasiness): After putting up with Hina sleeping in the same room, Kazuya has finally decided that she needs to be relocated. Hina doesn't like this idea and locks herself in the closet. After Tori (the egg/alien from last volume) talks to her, she comes out. 17. 音姉さんがやってきた (Oto Came): Kotono does nothing but eat and sleep the whole day, as Daisy found out spending a day with her. Kotono's sister, Oto, arrives to check up on Kotono. Daisy wants Oto to take back Kotono, but then accepts the Kotono's challenge to train in the mountains (with Daisy being the teacher). If she fails her training, she'll return. So she trains and Daisy tells her that if she can make herself glow, then she passes, thinking that she'll never be able to do that. But she does and doesn't return with the sister. 18. 電撃魔法大作戦 (The Big Electrical Magic Operation): Chelsea's purpose for coming to Earth is to find her "destined person" aka Kazuya. Daisy, who's actually her pet, decides to build a tower and have Kazuya go up the tower to save her. Things don't go as expected and she is rescued by magical Kazuya (she doesn't know it's him though and wonders who he is). 19. ３人目参上！消えるな最後の火よ (Three People Visit! Don't Fade, The Last Fire): The BURN faction has a new member, Rui. The three of them, Rui, Shion, and Shizu go invade Kazuya's house for a throne. Shizu gets into a battle with Maya who's bathing and reminds her that she's still not up to par. Rui goes after the chair and is confronted with Kotono. Kazuya comes in with some rice balls and Kotono decides to have some rice balls instead of protecting the chair. Kazuya gives the chair to Rui who is deeply appreciative. 20. 海水浴（前編）見えない鎖 (Sea Bathing, First Part, Unseen Chain): Kazuya's household goes to the beach. Since Kazuya's sleeping alone, Daisy decides that he needs company so she makes everyone draw straws to see who will sleep in the same room. Maya "wins." The next day while everyone else is playing, Maya is trying to practice her attacks. However, she's not doing to well and is visited by Kazuya. She gives him some water tainted with sleeping powder, but also accidentally drinks it herself. When they wake, they find themselves surrounded by water. With one of her weapons, she clears a path in the water for them to return. 21. 海水浴（後編）正義の味方 (Sea Bathing, Last Part, Supporter of Justice): Len has come again to test Hina. This time, she puts everyone to sleep except for Hina, Kazuya, and Tori. They have to pass a test, which is to shoot down a spherical object "Gattsu Killer," by nightfall. Tori and Kazuya get injured and are disabled. Hina comes back and wins using a new, extraordinary power. 22. 危機また奇々な味 (Crisis, Another Strange Taste): Daisy is fed some octopus. She first complains because pets can't eat it, but she's reminded that she's no ordinary pet. Yet, after she eats it, she becomes sick, just like a regular cat. |
Title: がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 3 |
ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 4
Things actually happen in this volume! Pitaten has been pretty flat in terms of plot for the past few books, but finally, something happens to Misha. My curiosity has finally been roused for this series. I don't know, but Misha's speaking style with the "SU" at the end of each sentence does annoy me sometimes when I try to vocalize the text myself. There's a color first page and a letter from the author on the third to last page.
21. 元気の出る怒り方 (How to Have Energetic Anger): Apologies for the poor title translation. Later that night, Shia brings over some PJs for Kotaro. Misha comes over with her matching PJs. She explains that she's working to become an angel to please Kotaro, but he gets angry at her patronizing. That night she has a bad dream. The next afternoon, she reveals to Kotaro that she has grown feathered wings. 22. 天使の見つけ方 (How to Look for an Angel): As she is showing him her wings, Ten comes to the door. Kotaro goes out of his way to prevent him from seeing her and yells at her to hide her wings and to wear some clothes. The next day, everything he sees reminds him of Misha. She goes home to find that she hasn't come home yet, so he goes out and finds her at the park. They make up. 23. 迷子の見つけ方 (How to Look for a Lost Child): Kotaro is supposed to pick up his cousin so Misha ends up going to the amusement park with Shia. However, Shino, the cousin ends up at the amusement park with Misha and Shia, while Kotaro is left waiting. Shino ends up running away as she's particular afraid of Shia, and Misha, using her newly sprouted wings helps Kotaro find her. 24. 学校の歩き方 (How to Walk to School): Shino is supposed to stay at Kotaro's for a while. However, he has to leave her at home while he goes to school. She doesn't like that, so she tags along with Shia as Shia brings lunches to school. Shino then runs around school and as he's looking for her, Kotaro remembers how it feels to be left alone. They eventually find her and he brings her home. 25. 進路の決め方 (How to Decide on One's Future): Ten has gotten the highest marks again, much to Hiroshi's distain. However, he is still at odds with his parents, especially his father. While other's praise him in that he can choose whatever school he wants to attend, he knows that he's still prevented from doing so by his father. |
Title: ぴたテン (PitaTEN) Vol. 4 |
Heat It is currently 100 degrees outside according to the weather. The highs for the next few days read as follows: Monday, 98, Tuesday, 98, Wednesday 90. Even for someone like me who doesn't move around much when I'm at home (i.e. reading a book or watching DVDs or what not), it's still a little warm. According to a news article, the temperature for this day in recorded history broke the record by 2 degrees. The last time Pasadena was this hot on this day was in 1947 with a reading of 98 degrees. |
|
よつばと！ (With Yotsuba!) Vol. 2
Yotsubato is something I can depend on for a good laugh. Created by the same person behind Azumanga Daioh, the main character, Yotsuba, is a blend between the tiny Chiyo and the naive Osaka. While this story is in usual manga form, not 4 panel comic form, it's still hard to convey the humor to someone who hasn't read it yet. Each chapter is isolated and the story isn't packed with cultural references as its predecessor. Again, good stuff. Besides a cover printed on textured paper, there's not much in terms of bonuses. Since these stories are really hard to explain, I won't even try. 8. おえがき (Artist): Ena and her friend Miuchi are going out to the riverside to do some paintings and Yotsuba tags along. 9. 復讐 (Vengence): After watching a detective movie where one person shoots another, Yotsuba, armed with a water gun, goes around her house and the neighbor's house shooting everyone. 10. ケーキ (Cake): Miuchi has come over and Yotsuba, who had arrived earlier, wants to serve him some cake. There's none in the house so Ena's father tells her, Miuchi, and Yotsuba to go out and buy some cake because they don't have any in the house and he wants to eat some. 11. どんまい (Don't Mind!): Yotsuba's father has finished his work but hasn't slept. They eat breakfast, he teaches her the phrase "Don't Mind," and takes a nap. In the meantime, Yotsuba messes around. 12. プール (Pool): Yotsuba's father got some tickets to a water amusement park so he invites Jumbo and the two younger girls next door. Out of all of them, only Yotsuba can swim. 13. かえる (Frog): Yotsuba is out trying to catch a frog. When she does, she brings it to her neighbor's house. 14. おみやげ (Gift): Asagi, the oldest of the 3 sisters next door, has come back from Okinawa and has gifts for everyone. |
Title: よつばと！ (With Yotsuba!) Vol. 2 |
十兵衛ちゃん２ (Jubei-chan 2) Original Soundtrack
I ordered this CD almost immediately after I finished watching the preview disc. Like the music in the first season of Jubei, it has a range of melodies ranging from lively and solemn. While the lively songs are good, what I like about the Jubei series is the dark and samurai-esque. The main theme is also quite good, much like the main theme from season 1. To my surprise, there were a few vocals in here. Of course, they have the TV sized version of the theme song sung by Yui Horie. However, they also have a vocal song sung by Ritsuko Okazaki and a duet between Jubei and Felicia. In trademark Ritsuko Okazaki style, she sings with a very soft voice to this melancholy song. The duet is also pretty good, although I still have a preference to the Jubei's group song in season 1. |
Title: 十兵衛ちゃん２〜気付けば音楽聴いていた〜 (Jubei-chan 2~When I Paid Attention, I Heard Music~) Original Soundtrack |
ヤングアニマルあいらんど (Young Animal Island)
This is a special edition of Young Animal filled with romantic comedy stories, with a main focus on Ai yori Aoshi, which I believe is the bi-weekly magazine's most popular manga. First things first, to help sell this special volume, they include an extra cover for vol. 13 of Ai yori. The front and back are similar, just a bit more provocative. Rather than wearing a kimono, Aoi is only hold a towel to her chest to cover herself up. The back cover has all the girls at a hot springs with white mist conveniently covering up certain portions of their body. The mist is removed in the bonus cover. The two comics I was interested from just reading the list of authors was the bonus chapter to Ai yori (of course), and secondly, Ken Yagami's (of Nanaka 6/17 fame) short story. The Ai yori story has Chizuru having a crush on a new teacher. In order to find out how to appropriately date someone older, they turn to Chika who hangs out with Kaoru for a day while Natsuki and Chizuru look on. Ken Yagami's story reminds me a lot of Shamneko's last complete work, "Mikan and Sakura." It's about a pair of twins, one who passed away and comes back 13 years later as a ghost to say her final farewell. However, I love this genre and ended up reading a lot more than I had planned. There are some authors now that I'm interested in reading their other works. The comics range from cute (Komugi-chan) to some pretty risque. This is a seinen magazine though, so it's not too suprising. |
Title: ヤングアニマルあいらんど (Young Animal Island)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
