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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

death note

The Manga Review, 5/27/22

May 27, 2022 by Katherine Dacey 2 Comments

Everybody’s talking about Tokyopop this week, as the publisher that brought us Mixx, Sailor Moon, and Rising Stars of Manga celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. To mark the occasion, Brigid Alverson interviewed Tokyopop founder Stu Levy about the company’s history. “Not a single person believed it would work—and frankly many called us crazy,” Levy recalled. “Even internally, most of my team was against it—or at least wanted to test it. My view was we either had conviction and went all-in or we didn’t. Testing wouldn’t work because retailers would always favor the left-to-right reading books if they had a choice—so there would never be a true test of its potential. So, I bet the company on it.” Over at Drop-In to Manga, Tony reflects on how Tokyopop titles such as Chobits and GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka helped introduce him to the joy of reading manga. “I know there’s a lot of criticism towards its founder, Stu Levy, and a lot of it is warranted,” he observes. “But I still respect Tokyopop for showing Japanese manga publishers that America can be a hotspot for manga during a time when that wasn’t the case.”

NEWS

Moto Hagio has just published a new installment in her on-again, off-again vampire saga The Poe Clan. The newest storyline, Poe no Ichizoku: Ao no Pandora, takes place in present-day Munich. [Anime News Network]

Mari Yamazaki’s Olympia Kyklos will resume serialization in Grand Jump next month. The story follows the adventures of an ancient Greek potter who’s accidentally transported to the 1964 Tokyo games. C’mon, this needs to be licensed STAT! [Anime News Network]

Are new chapters of Hunter x Hunter on the horizon? [Variety]

Brace yourself for more H.P. Lovecraft: Dark Horse will be publishing Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth in a single omnibus edition. No word yet on a release date. [Anime News Network]

Earlier this week, the employees of Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they’d formed their own union, United Workers of Seven Seas. In a statement on their website, union organizers explain the rationale for their decision: “The company has grown exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with rapid growth comes growing pains, and we, the workers of Seven Seas, have been shouldering much of that pain. We find ourselves overworked, underpaid, and we do not currently receive the benefits otherwise typical of the publishing industry.” [ICv2]

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

Are you interested in learning more about the roots of contemporary Japanese culture? Kathryn Hemmann offers a great list of “popular-audience books that are smart and specific yet still accessible to a casual reader,” from Matt Alt’s Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World to Tara Devlin’s Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends. [Contemporary Japanese Literature]

Jocelyne Allen swoons over the gorgeous artwork and soapy plot lines of Ashita Niji ga Denakutemo. [Brain vs. Book]

Over at Women Write About Comics, Carrie McClain highlights some of Seven Seas’ best new releases. [Women Write About Comics]

The folks at Anime Feminist want to know which unfinished or cancelled Tokyopop series you’d like to see rescued. [Anime Feminist]

Bill Curtis wins the award for best headline of the week with How to Ease Your Big Burly, Hairy, Glistening, Beer Swillin’, Iron Pumpin’ DUDE Self Into the Wonderful World of Shojo & Josei Manga. Amen! [Yatta-Tachi]

Speaking of josei, the Mangasplainers dedicate their latest episode to an in-depth exploration of Fumi Yoshinaga’s All My Darling Daughters. [Mangasplaining]

Congratulations to the Manga Mavericks crew: they just celebrated their 200th episode with a roundtable discussion about Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot Goodbye, Eri. [Manga Mavericks]

Lucas DeRuyter revisits Death Note, a series he “took super seriously” as a teen viewer. “When I watched Death Note as a teenager I definitely hadn’t lived enough to recognize it as camp; nor did I have as firm of an understanding of my own sexuality as I do today,” he observes. “I thought I’d be returning to a problematic fave, but was delighted to realize that Death Note is camp. Accidental, ostentatious camp that, in its attempts to create a dark and edgy power fantasy, stumbles so spectacularly that it tears down some of the worst kinds of people and beliefs around today.” [Anime Feminist]

REVIEWS

Reviewing volume five of Kageki Shojo!!, Yuri Stargirl raises a good question about the state of shojo and josei licensing in North America. “Has the industry just become dominated by trite, superficial storytelling and bland art that can’t decide if it’s moe or realistic?” she asks. “Or is what gets translated to the US market so limited, that they pick lowest common denominator titles to publish even though there are a lot of higher quality ones in Japan going untranslated?” Meanwhile, Megan D. takes a look at one of the weirder titles DMP ever licensed, Bambi and Her Pink Gun, while Rebecca Silverman reviews Erica Friedman’s new book By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. “If you are a fan of yuri or simply want to understand what the deal is with any of the genre’s elements or major texts, I’d highly recommend reading this book,” Silverman argues. “It’s both an analysis of and a love letter to the genre, both academic and accessibly readable, and worth your time.”

  • Aoba-kun’s Confessions (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)
  • As the Gods Will: The Second Series (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)
  • Bootsleg (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
  • Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 14 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • BTOOOM! (Megan D. The Manga Test Drive)
  • Cat + Gamer, Vol. 1 (darkstorm, Anime UK News)
  • Chikyu Misaki (Megan D. The Manga Test Drive)
  • Days on Fes, Vol. 5 (Antonio Mireles, The Fandom Post)
  • Fly Me to the Moon, Vols. 10-11 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
  • A Galaxy Next Door, Vol. 1 (Demelza, Anime UK News)
  • Genju no Seiza (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
  • I Cannot Reach You, Vol. 4 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
  • The King’s Beast, Vol. 6 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 1 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)
  • Let’s Go Karaoke! (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?!)
  • Let’s Go Karaoke! (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
  • Lost Lad London, Vol. 1 (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
  • Lost Lad London, Vol. 1 (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?!)
  • Love and Heart, Vol. 1 (Kaley Connell, Yatta-Tachi)
  • Mieruko-Chan, Vol. 5 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • Mizuno and Chayama (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?!)
  • My Boy, Vol. 9 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
  • O Maidens in Your Savage Season, Vols. 6-7 (Helen, The OASG)
  • Ode to Kirihito (Ian Wolf, Anime UK News)
  • Our Fake Marriage, Vol. 8 (Krystallina, The OASG)
  • Paradise Residence (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
  • Prince Freya, Vol. 6 (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?!)
  • Rent-A-Girlfriend, Vol. 12 (Demelza, Anime UK News)
  • Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 5 (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?!)
  • semelparous, Vol. 2 (G-Man, Okazu)
  • Solo Leveling, Vol. 4 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • Spy x Family, Vol. 7 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
  • St. Dragon Girl (Megan D. The Manga Test Drive)
  • Strawberry Fields Once Again, Vol. 3 (Rai, The OASG)
  • Witch Watch, Vols. 1-2 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)

Filed Under: FEATURES Tagged With: death note, fumi yoshinaga, H.P. Lovecraft, Hunter X Hunter, Josei, Mari Yamazaki, moto hagio, Seven Seas, Tokyopop, yuri

The Manga Review, 5/13/22

May 13, 2022 by Katherine Dacey Leave a Comment

April sales figures are in, and manga continues to dominate the NPD Adult Graphic Novels list. Though the list includes some perennial favorites–Berserk, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia—Spy x Family saw a big jump in sales after its anime debuted on Crunchyroll last month. ICv2’s Brigid Alverson points out that  “April marks the fourth consecutive month that manga has completely filled the chart of the top 20 Adult graphic novels in the book channel.” Manga sales aren’t quite as robust in comic book stores, but three titles made ComicsHub’s Top 20 Graphic Novels for April: Chainsaw Man (4), Kaiju No. 8 (16), and Spy x Family (20). For additional insights into the current state of the manga, check our Madeline Dunnett’s recent post at Anime News Network.

MANGA NEWS

Kodansha just announced the winners of its 46th annual Manga Awards. [Anime News Network]

With less than three weeks to go, Sam Sattin and Guruhiru’s Kickstarter campaign for Unico: Awakening has exceeded its pledge goal of $50,000. The story is “an homage to the God of Manga’s original messaging of social welfare and eco-consciousness.” [Kickstarter]

Good news for Moto Hagio fans: Fantagraphics will be re-printing the first volume of The Poe Clan this summer. While there’s no official release date for the new edition, the long-awaited second volume will be released on July 26, 2022. [Fantagraphics]

Drawn and Quarterly will be publishing Nejishiki, an anthology of short stories by Yoshiharu Tsuge. Look for it in stores in April 2023. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Earlier this week, Yen Press announced that it will publish Sho Harusono’s Hirano and Kaguira, a spin-off of Sasaki and Miyano. [Yen Press]

Brace yourself: Seven Seas just announced even more new manga licenses! Among the most promising are Polar Bear Café: Collector’s Edition and Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a former mobster indulges his softer side by rescuing a cat from the streets. [Seven Seas]

Over at The OASG, Justin and Helen round up the latest anime, manga, and licensing news. [The OASG Podcast]

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

Patricia Thang takes issue with the marketing label “manga-inspired,” arguing that “To call a comic ‘manga-inspired’ is akin to me saying, ‘Here’s a painting I did! It’s art-inspired! You’d think (or at least hope) I was joking, right? Because what in the fuck would that even mean?!” [Book Riot]

On the most recent Manga in Your Ears podcast, Kory, Helen, and Apryl dissect two manga by Naoki Urasawa: Sneeze, a short story anthology, and Asadora!, his latest series. [Manga in Your Ears]

Andy and Elliot dedicate the latest episode of the Screentone Club to City Hunter and Goodbye-Eri. [Screentone Club]

Walt Richardson and Emily Myers review the April issue of Shonen Jump. [Multiversity Comics]

The Mangasplainers turn their attention to Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, “the smash hit seinen manga that pits trust-fund-teens against one another in battles that cause embarrassment and ecstasy, skirting the line between schadenfreude and sadism!” [Mangasplaining]

As the spring anime season kicks into gear, Silvana Reyes Lopez recommends fifteen “unmissable” manga adaptations, from Chainsaw Man to Kakegurui Twin. [Book Riot]

Wondering what to read after Black Clover wraps up later this year? Christian Markle has a few recommendations. [Honey’s Anime]

Brianna Lawrence argues that Death Note Short Stories is more than just a sequel or a companion to the original series; it’s a thoughtful exploration of “how the government would react if such a terrifying weapon was available.” [The Mary Sue]

In an interview with TCJ’s Alex Deuben, Ken Niimura discusses his latest work, Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy, which re-tells three of Japan’s most famous folk tales. “What I like about these stories… is that they’re pretty open ended,” Niimura explains. “They can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, there’s what’s considered to be the standard version of ‘The Crane Wife,’ but there are actually different versions depending on the region, the era, with many differences to the characters, the ending, etc…” [The Comics Journal]

REVIEWS

Readers in search of “hallucinogenic” stories might want to check out Keiichi Koike’s Heaven’s Door: Extra Works. “In some of these stories, the scale is pure Akira, but the detail and fluidness of the line are absolutely Moebius,” reviewer James Hepplewhite opines. Speaking of over-the-top manga, Megan D. revisits one of the most ludicrous series Tokyopop ever published: The Qwaser of Stigmata. (No, really; this manga goes to eleven.)

  • After School!, Vols. 1-2 (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)
  • Apollo’s Song (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)
  • A Bride’s Story, Vol. 13 (Sakura Aries, The Fandom Post)
  • Bungo Stray Dogs Wan!, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
  • A Centaur’s Life (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
  • Dead Mount Death Play, Vol. 7 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • Death Note Short Stories (Joseph Luster, Otaku USA)
  • Death Note Short Stories (Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho?)
  • Dissolving Classroom (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
  • Dr. STONE, Vol. 21 (Marina Z., But Why Tho?)
  • Eclair Bleue, Eclair Rouge, and Eclair Orange (Jaime, Yuri Stargirl)
  • Hinowa ga CRUSH!, Vol. 6 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
  • Hinowa ga CRUSH!, Vol. 6 (Krystallina, The OASG)
  • I Want to Be a Wall, Vol. 1 (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
  • Little Miss P: The Fourth Day (Demelza, Anime UK News)
  • Love of Kill, Vol. 7 (Krystallina, The OASG)
  • Made in Abyss (Harry, Honey’s Anime)
  • Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More, Vol. 1 (Justin, The OASG)
  • The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 1 (Sakura Eries, The Fandom Post)
  • Marionette Generation (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
  • Moriarty the Patriot, Vols. 6-7 (King Baby Duck, The Boston Bastard Brigade)
  • The Music of Marie (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)
  • Our Colors (Publisher’s Weekly)
  • Our Teachers Are Dating, Vol. 4 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)
  • Our Teachers Are Dating, Vol. 4 (Jaime, Yuri Stargirl)
  • The Royal Tutor, Vol. 16 (Sakura Eries, The Fandom Post)
  • Seimaiden (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
  • Spy x Family, Vol. 7 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
  • The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)
  • Walkin’ Butterfly (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)

Filed Under: FEATURES Tagged With: death note, Drawn and Quarterly, Fantagraphics Books, Manga Sales Analysis, moto hagio, Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka, Seven Seas, Shonen Jump, The Poe Clan, Unico, yen press

Subtitles & Sensibility: Sequel time with Death Note & Gantz

May 1, 2012 by Jaci Dahlvang 7 Comments

Back in February I shared my thoughts on the first live action Death Note & Gantz films, and honestly, not a lot has changed since I watched the sequels. (If you haven’t seen either, that post should be sufficient. This post assumes franchise knowledge for both.)

I did find the overall experience surprising. My snap judgment was that I would really enjoy Death Note, but I would find Gantz a little too dry & sci -fi for my taste. Instead, I frequently disliked Death Note, but I thoroughly enjoyed Gantz. There were two key differences for me between the two.

First, in Death Note, we are watching the manipulators from their areas of power, whereas in Gantz we are with the manipulated, watching these ordinary people trying to do their best in an extraordinary world. Second, the respective morality of the films was very different. In Death Note, even though Light is being pursued by authorities, the film accepts his decisions to kill in a way that I was uncomfortable with. Plus, an element of the Death Note is that the holder can kill from afar, so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty. In Gantz, however, the characters brought back from death to fight are conflicted about killing, and when they choose to follow the instructions of Gantz it is for a clear goal: to earn enough points to either bring back someone else who has died, or so they might free themselves from the program. And even with this, in the second Gantz film, they are questioned outright about why they’re fighting, and it is clear that they question this themselves.

As for particulars of the films themselves….

In Death Note: The Last Name, the production value runs the gamut from soap opera to video game. Story-wise a few new complications are added to the rules of the Death Note (and a second Death Note is introduced), though none of this really challenges L, who works intuitively. The story tension is meant to come not from whether or not L will know that Light is Kira, but whether or not he will be able to prove it. However, Light and his various associates, be they gods of death or devoted fans, continue to remain one contrived step ahead of L’s ability to discover hard evidence.

As for Gantz: The Perfect Answer, it was a satisfying conclusion to the story. New elements were brought in, like people who are investigating the rumors of Gantz and the possibility that these dead people are still alive, and as aforementioned, the fighters deal with some heavy questions about who they are fighting and why.

There are a number of excellent action sequences involving a subway car, though there were definitely some moments where I wished I was watching it in the theater. Action on DVD frequently goes on too long to hold my interest, but that’s a personal thing. Overall, I enjoyed both Gantz films, and they’ve got me interested in the anime and manga, which is a huge success.

::

On a whim I picked up L: Change the World at the library, and to my surprise, very much enjoyed it. It’s an L-specific spin-off of the Death Note live action films, and opens just before the Kira story begins. It starts with L working with Naomi on a case, and I actually really wished we could have had more of that. Naomi is a fun, capable character, and I enjoyed the taste we got of their relationship. If anyone could tell me if that is expanded on in the anime or manga I would really appreciate it.

The film quickly leaps through the timeline of the first two films, and the bulk of it takes place after. L takes some time finishing off odds and ends of cases, and this is his last big case before his chosen death comes. Essentially it’s a completely unoriginal bioterrorism-type outbreak story, but I enjoyed getting to know more about L outside of his entanglement with Light, especially insofar as it gave us a better look at the system L works within. The villains have a pretty traditional plan to destroy the world so they can remake it, but at least in the process they have to engage with the world, which makes them much more interesting than Light, hiding behind his notebook.

It’s a testament to the work Matsuyama had done with the character of L over the prior two films that when he engages in simple human behaviors it’s incredibly strange to watch. When he’s simply being outside in the world, it made me nervous. I wanted to encase him in bubble wrap & return him to his hermetically sealed chamber, full of sweets & computer monitors. In the course of fighting the virus, he has to interact with children, and it’s a great twist to watch this child-like character struggle to connect. As a bonus, children are the perfect people to ask L all the questions we’ve had through the prior two films. Why does he eat so much sugar? Is he even capable of standing up straight?

In the end, L: Change the World was a treat for me for making it through the other two Death Note films. It wasn’t great, and it certainly wouldn’t stand on its own, but if you really wanted more L, it’s a fun little diversion.


Review copies of Death Note: The Last Name and Gantz: The Perfect Answer provided by New People Entertainment.

Filed Under: Subtitles & Sensibility Tagged With: death note, gantz

Subtitles & Sensibility: Three with Ken’ichi Matsuyama

February 22, 2012 by Jaci Dahlvang 4 Comments

Last spring at the Seattle International Film Festival, I discovered Ken’ichi Matsuyama through a sold-out screening of Norwegian Wood. The film came back to Seattle this winter, so I took the opportunity to see it again and then decided to check out a few other Matsuyama films.

An adaptation of the popular Haruki Murakami novel, Norwegian Wood is an overwhelmingly sad picture which played better the second time through.

The film centers on Toru (Matsuyama), a university student who is torn between the tragedy of his past and the possibilities for his future. The past is represented by Naoko, the longtime girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. After his inexplicable suicide, Naoko and Toru try to process the devastation together. For Naoko, it is impossible to deal with, and as she sinks into depression she threatens to pull Toru down with her.

However, at university Toru meets Midori (the utterly charming Kiko Mizuhara), who gives him the opportunity to choose life.

The first time around I found the film very heavy, unsurprisingly! It is more emotionally intense than the novel, partially because the film is more present, whereas the novel was reflective. The novel left space for humor, like expanding the character of Toru’s roommate Storm Trooper, and it took us out of the potentially-claustrophobic triangle of Toru, Naoko, and Midori by allowing more space for characters like Naoko’s eventual roommate Reiko to develop.

However, I am nothing if not understanding of the limits of adaptation. Tonal departures or character embellishments which work in a novel can easily feel out of place in a film.

More importantly, Norwegian Wood is a gorgeous piece of cinema. I was better able appreciate the unique textures, both visual and aural, when I saw it the second time. Overall the film is very lush, and it was easy for me to get lost in the visuals of everything from the gorgeous landscapes of the countryside to the patterning of fabric, and the excellent sound design between the university and the woods. Toru is swept through the film on waves—waves of sorrow, waves of protesters, and waves of wind through the long grasses on his long walks with Naoko—and I was willing to be swept along with him.

::

I followed it up with another, rather different adaptation. Death Note, based on the manga of the same name, is the story of Light, a college student with dubious ethics who discovers a notebook. It’s the death note of the title, and it is quite a find. If you write someone’s name in it, they die.

Of course, it isn’t quite that simple. We quickly learn the many rules of the death note, and to the credit of the plot, the rules appear perfectly timed to answer audience questions.

Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara, devilishly creepy) uses the notebook to become a sort of Dexter Morgan from afar, causing the deaths of people who he thinks truly deserve it. However, he quickly begins using it in his own self-interest, killing the innocent, and manipulating the rules to manipulate people. Having not read the manga yet, I don’t know if Light is so unapologetically unpleasant in that as well. I hope so! I like the idea of a main character that the audience is so quickly turns against.

Light is accompanied in his adventures by a Shinigami named Ryuk, a sort of death god who owned the notebook before, dropped it in hopes someone interesting would pick it up, and now is just curious what shenanigans Light might get up to. Ryuk is essentially the world’s worst imaginary friend. The character, delivered via cartoonish CGI, resembles nothing so much a death metal version of the Joker, if the Joker was addicted to apples.

Ken’ichi Matsuyama, offscreen for over half of the film, plays the mysterious L, a reclusive genius detective. He’s an almost-otherworldly character, pale and compact, locked away in a hotel room and outsmarting criminals from afar. He steals the movie with his physicality alone, nearly unrecognizable between this and his role as Toru. Shoulders hunched, he hides behind eye makeup & shaggy hair, living off of sweets.

Both L and Light are childlike, existing very little in the real world and instead hiding away in their respective rooms, playing out a high-stakes game of strategy virtually. With all of the screens (television news, security footage, and the like) it’s almost a video game with real-world consequences.

Speaking of consequences, ladies do not fare well in Death Note despite my early hopes, particularly for Naomi Misora, a stellar FBI agent. One is introduced solely as a set-up for the second film, and others exist to be manipulated by Light via the notebook.

The whole structure of Death Note is frustrating because Light has absolute power with the book. He kills from afar, and after the deaths have been played out we take no pleasure in learning how the manipulations work. We’re seeing the strings of a show we didn’t enjoy the first time around, and as the film progresses and the deaths become more elaborate, I started to despair that anything will stop Light.

Thanks to the cliffhanger ending, I’m going to have to check out the second film to see if it ever happens. I’ll be sure to report back.

::

In contrast, Gantz was also a film based on a manga series and split into two parts, but the first film worked as a complete story on its own. Though clearly there are many unanswered questions regarding the mechanics of the plot and the fate of secondary characters, Kurono undergoes a satisfying character arc. There’s an emotional conclusion if not a technical one.

Gantz is strange, the sort of picture that would play really well with a midnight, cult-film crowd. It opens with the accidental death of two high school students, Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Kato (Matsuyama). Rather than moving on to any traditional afterlife, they find themselves in an unfurnished apartment along with a few other people and a large black sphere.

The sphere has brought them here to participate in a life-or-death game, fighting against aliens who have been living on Earth. There are some rules to the game, though it seems fewer rules than were involved in Death Note.

Gantz features nice effects, great character design on the aliens, and very stylish cinematography by Taro Kawazu.

The film definitely raised a lot of questions. Are they really dead? Are they in limbo? How are they able to return to their old lives after missions? I have a lot of questions, so I’ll definitely be checking out the second film here as well!


Review copies of Death Note and Gantz provided by New People Entertainment.

Filed Under: Subtitles & Sensibility Tagged With: death note, gantz, norwegian wood

Ichigo’s Melinda’s Resolve

January 9, 2008 by Melinda Beasi 8 Comments

Wow, it’s been a while, I realize. The holidays took over my life for a bit, but now I’m back into the daily grind. I worked a lot on the graphic novel over the past week, and things are really starting to take shape. I won’t have as much time, now that I’m back to work, but I’m trying to set some realistic goals over the next few months to keep myself motivated. I truly have never had an original project of my own that excited me as much as this one does, which helps too. I’m hoping to have a final script for the entire series completed by the end of the year, and possibly even well before then, depending on how demanding the rest of my life is. I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions, because I think they tend to set a person up to fail, so I’m not going to make one. But my desire to complete this project is strong, as is my resolve to do so.

I also did some reading over the holidays! …

Read More

Filed Under: DAILY CHATTER, FEATURES, REVIEWS Tagged With: anime, banana fish, basara, bleach, death note, graphic novel, maison ikkoku, manga, mushishi, navel-gazing, tactics, xxxholic

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