Summer Wars サマーウォーズ

This is about both the award-winning (rightly so) anime and the manga.

I saw the movie a while ago and recently got the manga.  The manga for Summer Wars サマーウォーズ was written by HOSODA Mamoru 細田守 and drawn by SADAMOTO Yoshiyuki 貞本義行  and SUGIMOTO Iqura 杉基イクラ.  In Japan it was released as 3 tankobon by Young Ace (Kadokawa Shoten) and as 2 bunkobon in English by Vertical.  The manga was very good, interesting, etc. and reminded me of the anime movie.  The story is seinen, romance, science fiction, mystery drama – with a nod to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

I re-requested the anime movie and watched it and it’s superb, truly worth the awards it won – beautiful , imaginative, and engaging.  The story is about a math genius with a crush on a girl from a samurai family, her family and AI that is taking over/destroying the world.  It was animated by Madhouse distributed by Warner Brothers in the US.  The only downside was the voice actors and dubbing script was done by Funimation – so you’re probably better off with the original Japanese voice actors and translation.  With Warner Brothers involved you’d think they could have gotten better English voice actors (as Disney does) and scripting for the dubbing.

I recommend both.  However, I prefer greatly the rich visuals of the animated film.

Vampire Knight ヴァンパイア騎士

Thank you alexielart for the use of your fan art: Vampire knight: Caged
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Vampire-knight-Caged-162723324
http://alexielart.deviantart.com/

Finally, after 5 years of waiting the 2 seasons of Vampire Knight ヴァンパイア騎士 anime (Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight Guilty) have been released.  There was no reason for the long wait.

For those of you that prefer English dubbed, the voice actors are, as usual with VIZ, better;  although, many of the voice actors you will know from even FUNimation, etc. (I never understand why FUNimation has the worst voice acting (is it the bad directing and the generic sounding voices?) and everyone sounds the same – a real plus to learning Japanese or at least listening to Japanese and using subtitles.)  However, I still prefer the Japanese voice actors.  Depending on my mood I may switch back and forth to check out the quality of the voices, etc.  I know many anime otaku that have learned some Japanese due to the poor quality, in general, of the American voice actors used routinely in anime and listen in Japanese.

Another thing I hate about VIZ anime is that many times they do not have credits in English.  Please add credits in English!

As you know, the manga series of  Vampire Knight ヴァンパイア騎士 by HINO Matsuri 樋野まつり recently finished in LaLa.  As usual with Shojo Beat (VIZ) the shojo manga releases in the US are way behind the Japanese releases by about 10 months!  There really is no reason to be making fans wait so long for this extremely popular manga.

I have to admit that I became very bored in the middle of the series (and  I do know the ending and don’t like it); however, was a big fan and the beginning few arcs and the ending arc are a good read – just wished it ended differently.

HINO Matsuri 樋野まつり really improved greatly during the series with her artwork and even her story telling and look forward to her next series.  I have read all of her series that have been translated into English in the US in the past and think she’s grown quite a bit as a mangaka.

VIZ/Shojo Beat – please get the manga and anime out in a more timely manner as you do for the Jump series.

Thank you alexielart for the use of your fan art: Vampire knight: Caged
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Vampire-knight-Caged-162723324
http://alexielart.deviantart.com/

Silver Spoon Gin no Saji 銀の匙

Thank you NuhFanik for the use of your fan art: GNS
http://nuhfanik.deviantart.com/art/GNS-204446979
http://nuhfanik.deviantart.com/

It’s totally unbelievable that a major work, Silver Spoon Gin no Saji        銀の匙,  by a major popular mangaka, ARAKAWA Hiromu 荒川弘, is unavailable in the US unless you read Japanese Kanji or French.  There are 8 volumes out so far in Japanese and 3 volumes in French.

There is even anime in Japan this season for this popular series.

Please publish this series in English in the US!

 

SAKURAGI Yaya 桜城やや

Thank you Maziula3000 for the use of your fan art: Shuuji Tanihara
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Shuuji-Tanihara-277316670
http://maziula3000.deviantart.com/

Thank you MrCheshire for the use of your fan art: Ryoumei and Ao
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Ryoumei-and-Ao-382992681
http://mrcheshire.deviantart.com/

Thank you 1sanzo for the use of your fan art: Ryomei
http://browse.deviantart.com/#/art/Ryomei-188666200?hf=1
http://1sanzo.deviantart.com/

SubLime (Viz) has published a couple BL series that I like by SAKURAGI Yaya 桜城やや.  They recently finished the 4 volume series , Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi 夢結び恋結び, and have recently started the spin-off series (2 volumes and on-going in Japan), Hide and Seek Himegoto Asobi 秘めごとあそび.

I do prefer Hide and Seek Himegoto Asobi 秘めごとあそび to Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi 夢結び恋結び; however, that’s my preference as the characters involved are older (although Chisuzu is in both series so far) and Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi 夢結び恋結び is school life, which is one of my least favorite genres.  Both are romantic comedy slice of life BL with Hide and Seek Himegoto Asobi 秘めごとあそび adding drama.

I also like that there are women in Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi 夢結び恋結び ; grandmothers, mothers, daughters, niece, etc. and even in Hide and Seek Himegoto Asobi 秘めごとあそび there is Chisuzu so far.  Shuji Tanihara is a secondary character with a large part in Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi    夢結び恋結び and the main character in Hide and Seek Himegoto Asobi 秘めごとあそび.

These aren’t totally mindless 801, these have interesting stories about a group of people, some students, bar owner, priests/priestess, pâtissiers, candy shop owner, doctor, etc.

She has other manga published (may be out of print) in English in the US: Hey, Sensei Nee, Sensei?  ねえ、先生?; Stay Close To Me Soba ni Oitene そばにおいてね。; Tea for Two Koi Cha no Osahou コイ茶のお作法 (4 volumes and Shupei from Bond of Love Yume Musubi Koi Musubi 夢結び恋結び is a main character in this); some titles in French and maybe German.

Thank you Maziula3000 for the use of your fan art: Shuuji Tanihara
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Shuuji-Tanihara-277316670
http://maziula3000.deviantart.com/

Thank you MrCheshire for the use of your fan art: Ryoumei and Ao
http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Ryoumei-and-Ao-382992681
http://mrcheshire.deviantart.com/

Thank you 1sanzo for the use of your fan art: Ryomei
http://browse.deviantart.com/#/art/Ryomei-188666200?hf=1
http://1sanzo.deviantart.com/

Blue Morning Yuuutsu na Asa 憂鬱な朝

If you’re like me you’re very excited that one of the American publishers of BL, VIZ’s SubLime,  is finally publishing something worth reading – Blue Morning Yuuutsu na Asa  憂鬱な朝 by HIDAKA Shoko 日高ショーコ.  Finally something that has some thought placed into the writing and not the useless  Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi (山[場]なし、落ちなし、意味なし) that looks like written for grade school (except for the content) by children.  

This is a historical romantic slice of life story about the nobility of Japan in the Taisho period and changes it brought to society and a convoluted relationship between a viscount and his servant and their family relationship, etc.

Only the first volume is available in the US (I think there are at least 4 and it’s on-going in Japan) with releases due every three months for a while.

Although I don’t think she’s been published for very long, and her Restart リスタート, which was published and available in the US didn’t seem to impress me much; however, now with Blue Morning Yuuutsu na Asa  憂鬱な朝 and (not available in English; however, it is in French – please pick this one up and publish it in English) Does The Flower Bloom? Hana wa Saku ka  花は咲くか – her writing is getting much more sophisticated and complex.  I understand that she recently started a josei non-BL story in Japan, and wish someone in the US would publish this josei work (I’ve not even seen it; however, with her recent BL works, hope that it’s just as good).

If you were so tired of unsophisticated boring BL that you quit buying/reading BL in the US, you may want to give this a try.

MIZUSHIRO Setona 水城せとな

I really like many of the works by MIZUSHIRO Setona 水城せとな.  Unfortunately, in the US, unless you can read kanji or French (or possibly German), you’re very limited on what you can get in English by her and I’ve not seen any of her works in Spanish.

She has a unique drawing style that you will recognize immediately.  Also, her writing is quirky, interesting,  and she has an individual way of spinning stories – even the ubiquitous vampire story is very atypical in her hands.  I think she excels at psychological, horror, slice of life and supernatural stories; and her romances aren’t always what you would expect.  She also writes comedy; however, I’ve not read any of her comedies.

She writes BL, shojo, and josei, with a large variety of topics and themes; of course, there is a preponderance of romance in most of her stories, (which tends to be the unfortunate problem with most BL, shojo, and josei stories), but not all.

If you can only read English you may still be able to get (some libraries have) copies of After School Nightmare Houkago Hokenshitsu               放課後保健室 (L’Infirmerie après les cour) and possibly X-Day(Tag X) Kanojotachi no X-Day 彼女達のエクス・デイ.  With French or Kanji you have a wider range of titles to choose from, including, but not necessarily the totality: Le jeu du chat et de la souris Sojou no Koi wa Nido Haneru  俎上の鯉は二度跳ねる;  S〈エス〉; Black Rose Alice (French – don’t know why the French title is in English) Kuro Bara Alice              失恋ショコラティエ; Nounai Poison Berry Poison Berry in My Brain             脳内ポイズンベリー; and probably others.

If you’re a fan of quirky horror you may enjoy her stories, and if you aren’t a horror fan and can read kanji or French there are other stories of hers that may appeal to you.  If we’re lucky more of her works will be published in English in the US.

 

ONO Natsume オノ・ナツメ aka Basso

ONO Natsume  オノ・ナツメ  aka Basso is one of my favorite authors.  She writes both seinen and BL, usually slice of life, many times with Italian themes to the backdrop of her stories.

I think my favorite series is House of Five Leaves Saraiya Goyou            さらい屋五葉.  Other works of hers that may be of interest are Danza      ダンツァ, Ristorante Paradiso リストランテ・パラディーゾ, Not Simple, La Quinta Camera The Fifth Room 5番目の部屋, Gente – The People of the Restaurant Gente – Ristorante no Hitobito GENTE – リストランテの人々, Tesoro テゾーロ, and others are available in Kanji, French, and Spanish in the US – probably other languages.

She has a unique drawing style and riveting stories.  Not your usual fare both visually and storytelling-wise.

She not only has manga out, House of Five Leaves Saraiya Goyou        さらい屋五葉 was made into an anime and although I’ve not seen the DVDs in the US, you can watch it on HULU.

If you like gentle, intelligent stories you may want to check her out.

Mythical beasts of Japan from evil creatures to sacred beings 日本の図像 – Nihon no zuzō slightly off topic

A while back Amor and I went to KinoKuniya in Uwajimaya in Seattle.  We had a great time and found a real gem of a book: Mythical Beasts of Japan from Evil Creatures to Sacred Beings 日本の図像 – Nihon no zuzō by Shinjū reijū. 

This is a gorgeous picture book choked full of beautiful pictures of Japanese mythological beings.  A must for anyone reading/watching Japanese manga/anime with Japanese mythological creatures.  It gives you a better idea of how these creatures were portrayed historically.

What text there is is mostly in kanji; however, the majority of the writing can also be found later in the book in English.

This book is a bit on the pricey side (at least, if you’re on a very limited income) so you may want to check out from your local library before buying.  If your library doesn’t own it you can do a purchase order or ILL (inter-library loan).

It would also make a great coffee table book (although a bit smaller than most) and is bound to start conversations.

http://www.kinokuniya.com/

http://www.uwajimaya.com/

I’m no Venus Venus ni Arazu ヴィーナスにあらず cute fun josei romance

The following is an opinion and this is josei not a BL title.

I’m no Venus Venus ni Arazu ヴィーナスにあらず by YOSHIHARA Yuki 吉原由起 is a short fun read.  This is a josei romantic comedy with a strong female lead charcter by the same author of Butterflies, Flowers Chou yo Hana yo  蝶よ花よ.  Although I liked both series, I think I preferred I’m no Venus Venus ni Arazu     ヴィーナスにあらず  as at times Butterflies, Flowers Chou yo Hana yo  蝶よ花よ got too edgy for me.

Unfortunately, unless you get manga in Japanese or French (out of print and a bit pricey to get used – but nowhere near as expensive as used, out of print BL), you won’t be able read it as it’s not out in English in the US.  Let’s hope VIZ brings out this short 2 volume tankobon series soon (it would be nice if they did it as a bunkobon, so it could be read all at once).

BTW, there’s a spoof of chapter 2 floating around (don’t know if it’s by the author or someone else) – would be nice if that was included in the printings if it comes out in the US.