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Manga the Week of 4/24

April 18, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 6 Comments

SEAN: It’s a healthy fourth week of the month here at Manga the Week of Central, with something for everyone. Let’s delve deeper.

Dark Horse gives us lucky Vol. 13 of Bride of the Water God, which is manwha, so I defer to those who know it better than I do.

MJ: This series is incredibly beautiful to look at. I’m behind a few volumes at this point, but it’s one of those I absolutely try to keep up with in print, just because it’s so pretty. It’s a keeper.

SEAN: There’s also Vol. 27 of Gantz, where bad things continue to happen to everyone, but at least they’re all in rubber lycra outfits.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: Unico has shipped to most of its Kickstarter backers by now, but it finally hits retail next week. I have a review out that gives a deeper opinion, but suffice to say it’s cute, sad, and a little bit weird, like the best of Tezuka. Also, although there are lots of Pink Lady refs, be assured there is no Jeff Altman.

MJ: Children’s manga is rarely my thing, but your description is pretty compelling.

MICHELLE: Yeah, “cute, sad, and a little bit weird” sounds like a winning combination to me.

SEAN: Kodansha seems to have indicated that sales for Bloody Monday are meh, so I suspect this may be the penultimate volume over here. It’s still filled with action, intrigue, and lots of dead folks.

MJ: I dropped this early on, not because it wasn’t interesting, but because it wasn’t interesting *enough* to earn my money, volume after volume. I guess it’s not just me.

MICHELLE: I bought a couple of volumes but then never read them. I like the creative team, but just never found the time.

SEAN: Fairy Tail is a quarter of the way to 100 now, as Vol. 25 continues the S-class battles, with Fairy Tail fighting itself to see who is strongest. I suspect a third-party will get involved and ruin everything, myself…

The last of Del Rey Manga’s four debut series reaches its end, albeit at Kodansha Comics. Negima hits Vol. 38, with an ending that, um, well, it’s certainly something people talk about! Aheh. I’ll have more to say in my review, but let’s just say: Fandom *hates* Where Are They Now? endings.

MICHELLE: Even though I’m not a Negima! fan, it’s still something of an achievement that it’s finally complete in English.

SEAN: And then there’s Yen. The latest Alice spinoff, My Fanatic Rabbit, ends with its second volume. I really liked the balance between romance and psychosis, and hope it stays even in Vol. 2, though I admit I’m not optimistic.

Another lucky 13, with Black Butler. Though given the sheer power of its cast, I don’t think they really need to worry about black cats. I understand this volume has some nice Sebastian revelations.

MJ: I wish I could like this series. I would really like to like it. But every time I try, it’s a complete failure.

MICHELLE: I’m planning to talk about this volume soon on Off the Shelf, so I look forward to hearing about your attempts. For me, this is a series I kind of like, or at least find easy to read, but have no intentions of rereading.

SEAN: Ah, Bunny Drop has hit Vol. 8. I think this means that the matter of “that spoiler” may now be discussed. And may I say I’m almost relieved? In any case, I’m sure it will be SAFE AND FUN.

MJ: I’m really looking forward to seeing how this plays out! I have a lot of faith in the mangaka.

MICHELLE: I’m a bit more dubious, but will certainly be finishing out the series.

SEAN: A new series, in handy omnibus form! Yen has the first 2 volumes of Doubt, whose cover has everyone wearing bunny heads, but trust me, Bunny Drop this ain’t. It’s another survival game title, where you learn not to get too attached to anyone at all.

MJ: I suspect this may not be for me, but I fully intent to give it a try! These omnibus releases are great for that, because you get a really substantial go at it.

MICHELLE: Maybe it’ll turn out to be kinda fun, like BTOOOM!.

SEAN: Is This A Zombie? 4… yeah. Moving on.

Kieli has its 8th novel published. The story of a girl who can see ghosts, and her relationship with a man named Harvey. Who is not a 6-foot-tall pink rabbit, though it would fit with this week’s accidental theme.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 15 continues to adapt the 7th novel, and has steadily improved, though not to the point where I can say “you don’t have to read the book”. Because you do.

Pandora Hearts is also at 15, and I think I will yield to MJfor this one.

MJ: Oh, Sean… as you know, this series basically owns my soul. I’m expecting an enormous amount of drama in this volume, given where we left off. I’m expecting at least one heartbreaking loss. And I just can’t wait. Expect a flustered review of some kind to show up over the next week. I think this one’s gonna be a doozy.

MICHELLE: I’m a few volumes behind with Pandora Hearts. Clearly, I must rectify this.

SEAN: Lastly, there’s the 8th novel of Spice & Wolf, a title that always reminds me of Playboy Magazine, in that people always say they read it for the economics.

Getting anything interesting this week?

3 Things Thursday: Wishful Thinking

April 18, 2013 by MJ 11 Comments

Today, as the Battle Robot chatted about next week’s new manga (see Sean’s post later this evening), a title came up that is one I have tried hard to like, but failed utterly to do so. My desire to “like” is large, in general. I’m a liker. I like to like things. My ability to “like” is a major contributor to my quality of life. This may diminish my worth as a manga critic, but in the big picture I’m okay with that if it means that, above all else, I get to deeply enjoy the medium I spend so many hours with. Obviously I don’t like everything, and I’m not afraid to complain loudly and often, especially when it comes to genres directed at my gender, like BL, shoujo, and josei manga. (Yes, Black Bird, I’m looking at you.) But I always approach a new series with the desire to like it (even love it, if possible), and I’m occasionally heartbroken when that desire bears no fruit.

So, with that in mind…

3 manga series I wish I could like:

1. Black Butler | By Yana Tobaso | Yen Press – Though I’ll admit I gave up many volumes ago, I initially tried hard to like Black Butler. I’ll usually give any series at least three volumes to grab me, and I gave this one five, but my efforts were in vain. Why did I want so much to like Black Butler? I suppose it’s a longing for connection. With its enormous female fanbase and significant slash fandom, it crosses over heavily into circles I once called my own, and my lack of ability to connect lends itself to a sort of (mild) identity crisis. Furthermore, the series runs in my pet “shounen” magazine GFantasy, home of many series I do like (and even love), such as Gestalt, Nabari no Ou, and my beloved Pandora Hearts. Is it just me? I fear it may be.

2. Alice in the Country of Hearts | By QuinRose & Soumei Hoshino | Yen Press – My desire to like this series has a name, and that name is “Michelle.” Normally, I’d feel no alarm or sadness at all over my inability to like a reverse-harem series based on a game. In fact, I’d consider any positive reaction to be more of a pleasant surprise. In this case, however, Michelle’s enjoyment of the series (and her oft-stated hope I might share in her enjoyment) raises the stakes considerably, and I’m rather sad and ashamed to admit that after reading through two of Yen Press’ new omnibus volumes I just can’t quite get there. I’m so sorry, Michelle. I really, really wanted to like this. Can you forgive me?

3. Saiyuki Reload | By Kazuya Minekura | Tokyopop – Of all of these, I think Saiyuki Reload makes me saddest of all. Those who know me must be aware of my fervent love for the works of Kazuya Minekura, especially her unfinished BL noir-action series Wild Adapter, which Michelle, David, and I have spent much time praising to high heaven (or the non-theist equivalent of same). Wild Adapter, in fact, is one of the few topics capable of compelling me to discuss things like industry news. Somewhat less beloved by me, but still thoroughly enjoyed, is Minekura’s nine-volume shounen fantasy-adventure Saiyuki, which was extended into a shoujo series for Comic Zero Sum called Saiyuki Reload.

I originally borrowed all the then-available volumes of Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload from a friend, and it’s telling that afterwards I made it my business to acquire my own copies of the former and not the latter. I don’t know what it was—maybe the increased indulgence in the characters’ hotness and BL subtext demanded by a shoujo magazine—but something about the continuation just didn’t click. Though I’ll admit that, were it possible to get my hands on these volumes again, I’d be open to giving it a second chance. License rescue, anyone?

Readers, what manga series do you wish you could love? And why?

Unico

April 18, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Osamu Tezuka. Released in Japan by Sanrio, serialized in the magazine Lyrica. Released in North America by Digital Manga Publishing.

Here’s an unusual one: a Tezuka title that read left-to-right originally. Unico was apparently written for a magazine that was going to come out in the West, so was drawn in the Western way. It’s also full-color, and (given it’s Sanrio) features an adorable, thoroughly marketable creature on the cover and throughout the story. But it’s also Tezuka, so you know there’s going to be some darkness in there, even if it’s for kids. The question is, how does the story hold up?

The main plot is basically a MacGuffin to let Tezuka tell whatever story he wants, as the goddess Venus, pissed off as usual that she isn’t the fairest in the land, banishes Unico for basically being too adorable and awesome. He’s whisked all over space and time, and whenever he shows signs of being happy or achieving something, the West Wind whisks him away again. He’s also mindwiped so he never remembers anything. It’s really pretty horrible if you swell on it. Luckily, Unico is nothing if not earnest, and knows enough about himself to help others with his unicorn magic… though occasionally that help goes sour.

The stories themselves are basic children’s fairy tales, with talking animals and mythical beasts, a place where Unico will not have much trouble at all fitting in. The saddest is the first one, a tale of a forbidden love between a young Native American boy and a white settler girl, who become older via Unico’s magic so they can experience adult passion. The concepts behind that are staggeringly fascinating (and creepy), and it’s no surprise that everything goes wrong. Honestly, I was pleased that the rest of the volume didn’t get quite that morally ambiguous… or political.

The rest of the stories are slightly less ambiguous. The longest one is about a cat who yearns to belong to a witch, and I believe it was adapted into a movie. It features a man who is so over the top evil that I had to laugh. All he lacked was a mustache to twirl. That said, the shots of him massacring the animals of the forest are quite dramatic, and small children might find them quite scary. Other highlights include a young girl being kidnapped by a sentient factory that has fallen in love with her (didn’t Demon Seed come out around the time Tezuka wrote this?) and a young Russian thief who secretly wants to be a shy princess, but can’t quite pull it off as she’s simply too awesome.

As you’d expect, the translation is quite good, being simple without sounding childish. There are footnotes for the few culture references in here, most of which have to do with the band Pink Lady, who were becoming superstars at the time Tezuka was writing this. And a few of Tezuka’s ‘star system’ characters can be glimpsed in here, in different roles. But even if you aren’t a Tezuka fan, Unico is worth checking out. it’s family friendly, straightforward, and cute. It doesn’t have much of an ending, but that’s what you get when your lead character drives the plot but isn’t really the plot himself.

The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol 9.

April 16, 2013 by Anna N

The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol. 9 by Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura

It is rare for a manga series to end leaving me wishing that it was twice as long, but that is exactly what happened as I was reading the final ninth volume of Story of Saiunkoku. The eighth volume was a natural stopping point, and this volume has some side stories that help shed some light on the histories of selected members of the supporting cast. This volume might not be totally necessary to round out Shurei’s main story, but fans of the series will enjoy visiting with the extended Hong clan and the amazingly eccentric Ryuren.

The first story, “So Began the Fairy Tale” focuses on Shurei’s father, giving greater background into the more ruthless personality behind his smiling exterior. While he’s an amazingly gentle and wonderful father, his past as an assassin gives a bit of an edge to all of his actions in the manga. Here we see the beginnings of his ability to plot as he takes action to make sure that the Hong clan isn’t endangered. “Hurricane Ryuren Strikes the Capital” flashes back to the examination period, where we see Shurei and Eigetsu start to cement their friendship with the eccentric Ryuren despite his crazy clothes, horrible flute playing, and tendency to make odd pronouncements. This story ends up serving as a meditation on the nature of friendship, even as Shurei and Egitsu’s overtures to Ryuren wind up taking them on a detour through the gambling underworld. The final story focuses on the Hong family again, with “Someday I Will Come to You (Though I Love You, How Far You Are From Me)” focusing on Shurei’s uncle Reishin Hong’s bizarre psychological hang-ups. This volume featured plenty of humor, as a series of masks duplicating the expressions of Shurei’s father are put to an unorthodox use, and the reactions Ryuren accidentally provokes from the people surrounding him are always funny.

It does make me a little sad knowing that there’s a very long light novel series containing more adventures of The Story of Saiunkoku that we’ll never see translated here, but the manga adaptation of the story was certainly fun to read. This is going to be a “keeper” series for me, as I can see myself wanting to reread this every few years. It is so unusual to find a shoujo ending where the happy ending for the heroine is a life of civil service as opposed to everything wrapping up nicely with a romantic interest. Many things combined to make this an entertaining manga – the clear art, fun supporting cast, and the blend of humor and drama made this manga very enjoyable.

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: April 15, 2013

April 16, 2013 by Derek Bown 5 Comments

Hey kids, you want to hear a nerd get irrationally angry over a fictional character? Head over to the Manga^3 Podcast Archives to hear the first time I get legitimately angry at a manga chapter. It should be up on Tuesday, but no guarantee, it’s a long one this week, so it might not be out until Wednesday.

But besides that, the rest of this week’s chapters were all either good or great.

Toriko Ch. 229
We start this week off strong with the return of Toriko. Surprisingly enough, Shimabukuro manages to continue making a fight between two characters we only just met entertaining. Writing and drawing interesting and dynamic fights is difficult enough, but to keep that up using characters that were only introduced to the series recently is impressive.

Not only that, but once again he explains powers in a way that makes sense. I don’t know how such outlandish powers could ever really make sense, but Shimabukuro pulls it off. He even manages to end the fight in a believable way—another thing that doesn’t break the established rules of this conflict. I’m all-around impressed. This chapter solidifies the idea that the enemies are getting slaughtered here. Granted, I hope a major character ends up losing to keep the fights from getting predictable.

Naruto Ch. 627
Based on my previous statements about this series I imagine most of you figured out it would be Naruto that had me so riled up. And yes, yes it is. This is the big chapter, where Sasuke finally realizes how much of an idiot he’s been (he doesn’t actually) and decides to fight for the village instead of against it. Oh, like how he probably should have done when he found out his brother died to protect the village! I have many reasons I dislike Sasuke as a character, all of which are major. But his ridiculous decision making process certainly hasn’t endeared him to me. No, I still remember the two years worth of manga that focused entirely on him. I remember and I will never, ever forgive. Mostly this decision comes across as not being properly developed. He spent the entire manga stubbornly blaming his woes on everyone else, and just one meeting with his brother was enough to finally have him change his mind. I don’t even believe anything Hashirama said actually influenced him. Were it not for that meeting with Itachi he never would have changed his mind; and after multiple years of negative character development I don’t buy for one second that Sasuke suddenly is going to be one of the good guys.

And then, of course, Karin comes back into the story and we get another of the major reasons I despise Sasuke as a character. He negatively influences others’ character development. Remember how Ino got great character development? Nope, she hasn’t developed in the slightest throughout the series. Remember how Sakura became a much more enjoyable character after Sasuke left? Well, the moment he comes back into the equation all that character development is discarded. I will be furious if Sakura just forgives him after he tried to kill her. And she probably will, because here comes Karin, immediately forgiving him the moment he apologizes. Her decision to give up on him was the first time any of his fangirls finally had character development that makes sense. And of course that is thrown out the moment he comes back into the picture. I just loathe, beyond all reason or sanity, how this character influences the series. He wasn’t interesting in the first place, and ever since the time skip he has consistently negatively influenced Naruto. Tip for any aspiring writers, if you have a character who negatively influences other characters’ development, consider cutting that character or rewriting them. Because chances are your readers will hate him or her as much as I hate everything to do with Sasuke and the Uchiha in general.

Hopefully that will be the last time you get an kind of major rant from me. I hope Naruto doesn’t ever give me a reason to do it again.

One Piece Ch. 705
I liken this week to a sandwich made of the most delicious bread, with a slice of month old spam in the middle. One Piece doesn’t disappoint in terms of being entertaining. Rather than a single storyline being expanded, all the storylines of this arc are properly established. And it wasn’t until this week that I realized how many different stories we had to follow. This is going to be a long, long arc. And I don’t mind. I like long stories out of One Piece. While I don’t have much to say about this chapter itself, I can say that from the snippets we got I’m looking forward to the rest of the arc. Something big is going down and it will probably devolve into a massive battle as the marines move in to take on the criminals at the arena, and most likely Doflamingo himself.

One-Punch Man Ch. 013
One-Punch Man wasn’t at its greatest this week. While it still had funny moments, they were overshadowed by the surprisingly gory deaths of Hammerhead’s gang. Not to say One-Punch Man isn’t gory, but usually it’s monsters being killed. I’m surprised to see so many regular humans killed. And since most of the chapter was the fight against Sonic and Hammerhead, there wasn’t enough comedy for me to really enjoy the chapter like I have previous chapters. It was still good, just not as good as I’ve grown accustomed to with One-Punch Man.

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 011
I definitely enjoy Dragon Ball most when it lets itself just have some fun with the world it is set in. The fights are interesting and everything, but those chapters are always far too fast and make for bad week-to-week reading. As long as we get more chapters like this I’ll be satisfied—especially as the mythology of the Dragon Ball world is expanded. Though, as we creep up the power scale, I’ll be laughing at the idea of characters like Enma and King Kai being more powerful than the main characters.

World Trigger Ch. 010
Nothing like a bunch of new characters I don’t care about to solidify how uninspired World Trigger has turned out to be. I found myself complaining against all the board members acting like idiots and discussing Osamu’s relatively trivial rule breaking instead of spending all their time figuring out why gates are opening where they shouldn’t be. I’d been giving World Trigger more than a few chances, but this chapter solidified it as one of the less interesting manga to be published in the online edition of Weekly Shonen Jump.

Cross Manage Ch. 029
Cross Manage, on the other hand, has endeared itself to me so much that I will be enraged if it gets cancelled. I don’t even care about the fact that we never see the games (though we better at least see the game against Choran), it’s all about the characters and the small moments between them. And that’s what this chapter was, a bunch of excellent small moments. All the cumulative development in the series coming together to make an enjoyable chapter. I pray that Cross Manage makes the next cut and lets us see what Kaito can do with the other characters.

Bleach Ch. 533
Besides the fact that I’m convinced Aizen and Urahara are conspiring to make Isshin and Masaki have a kid (hard to take the chapter seriously that way), I quite liked this chapter. This story has been a long time coming, and my general disappointment with Bleach over the last few years is being ignored in favor of finally figuring out what Isshin and Masaki’s story is. There are quite a few questions left to be answered, and a few this chapter has raised that I am interested to learn the answer to, rather than being annoyed that too many questions are muddling the story. I would like to get back to the characters I’m actually interested in, aka, the characters we started this series with (Orihime, Chad, Uryu, etc.) but since that’s probably not going to happen I can at least enjoy the series when it’s actually being good.

Nisekoi Ch. 070
This chapter was cuter than it should have been. Tsugumi is kind of the odd duck among Rakku’s love interests, being the only one not to have a childhood connection to him, but she’s also one of the more interesting characters. This chapter makes me root for her more, while at the same time employing some oddly out of place fanservice. It doesn’t happen that often in this series, and I’m impressed that Naoshi has avoided resorting to fanservice to help his ratings. I know harem endings are the worst endings for romantic harem comedies, but I can’t help but want that to happen for this series. All the girls are great, and I don’t want to see any of them disappointed!

I apologize if I offended anyone with my rant earlier, but it had to be said. And I know I can’t be the only person thinking it. Though, from what I can tell I have the majority of Naruto fandom on my side on this one. Let me know if you disagree, or if you have comments about what I said for any of the other chapters. In fact I might prefer if you talk about those instead.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives. Or go directly to last week’s episode,

It Came From the Sinosphere: Yanyu Mengmeng (TV Drama) Part 1

April 16, 2013 by Sara K. Leave a Comment

The English title of this drama is “Love in the Rain,” but I will henceforth use the Mandarin title, Yanyu Mengmeng, which roughly means “The Misty Rain is Hazy.” It’s more poetic.

Example Scene

In this scene, Erhao brings his girlfriend, Fang Yu, to meet his “warm and loving” family for the first time. I have translated the dialogue to the best of my ability, but I think some of liveliness has been lost.

[Erhao and Fang Yu enter the house]

Erhao: This is … hey, Mengping! Could you shut off the record player? Show a little respect for your brother.

Mengping: Hey, you sure have guts to hang out with a guy like my brother. Don’t you know how many girlfriends he’s had? The last one…

Erhao: What are you saying [grabs Mengping’s ear]

Mengping: That hurts!

Erhao: Pay no attention to my sister. She loves to make up rumors and stir things up.

Mengping: Erhao, you don’t care about anything other than chasing girls! Erhao!

[Erhao covers Mengping’s mouth]

Mengping: Even before you’ve married her, you’re already bullying your little sister!

Erhao: What are you saying!

Mengping: Ma, save me!

Xueqin (the mother): Aya, you’re all going to be the death of me. It’s always yelling all the time.

Erhao: Ma, this my girlfriend, Fang Yu. I’ve mentioned her before.

Fang Yu: (using very polite language) Erhao has said a lot about you. I should have met you earlier.

Xueqin: So you’re Fang Yu. You look very nice. No wonder my son fell in love. How old are you?

Fang Yu: 20 years old.

Xueqin: Ah, so you’re the same age as our Ruping. Ruping, come here! Look at Fang Yu.

Ruping: I’m Ruping, Erhao’s younger sister. Fang Yu, welcome to our home. Please sit down. Father is upstairs, he’ll come down soon.

Xueqin: Ruping! I want you to take a good look at Fang Yu.

Ruping: Ma, I’m looking at her.

Xueqin: Look at her … her eyebrows … her eyes … she’s dressed herself up very nicely. Her waist, her figure, she doesn’t look at all like your sloppy appearance. So she has a boyfriend. Ruping, you’re also 20 years old. Why do you spend all day alone in your room? You really are stupid.

Ruping: Ma.

Erhao: Fang Yu, my mother is praising you.

Fang Yu: So, we’re the same age! Erhao often says that he has a sweet and warm-hearted sister. He certainly means you. Ruping, we’ll surely become good friends.

Xueqin: Ayo, this little mouth knows its sweet talk. No wonder she’s won little Erhao’s heart. Ruping, you should learn how to be like her.

Ruping: Ma, I know I’m useless. I’m plain. I don’t know how to dress up. I can’t speak. I especially can’t keep a boyfriend. I’m damaged goods, damaged goods, damaged goods. I’m sorry that you had to bear a daughter like me, who only embarasses you.

Ruping: But if you want to reprimand me, please reprimand me behind closed doors. This is Fangyu’s first time visiting our home. Please let me have the tiniest bit of dignity, and show Fangyu a little respect, and show Erhao a little respect. Criticizing me in such a heartless way, letting other people see it … why! Why! [Ruping runs up the stairs in tears]

Mengping: Wow, Ruping has a spine after all. I want to call out “Long Live Ruping” three times. She’s finally grown up.

Mengping and Erjie: Long Live Ruping! Long Live Ruping! Long Live Ruping!

Xueqin: What kind of world is this? Do you children have the slightest regard for your mother? Even Ruping is talking back to me. I’ve lived in vain. I’m going to drag that girl down here and get a straight answer about what the hell is going on!

Erjie: Long Live Ruping! Long Live Ruping! Long Live Ruping!

Xueqin: You backstabber [hits Erjie]

Erjie: Papa, Mama hit me. I was just saying “Long Live Ruping!” I’m not allowed to say “Long Live Ruping”? Papa! Papa!

Xueqin: Don’t call for Papa. If you continue…

Erjie: Papa, save me!

Zhenhua (Father): What is everybody fighting over! You don’t even let me have a few minutes of peace! What nonsense.

Erhao: Papa, this is Fangyu.

Zhenhua: Erjie, come here. [Erjie comes over]. Sit down. Where were you hit?

Erjie: Here.

Fangyu: Bo… bo… bofu [in Mandarin, ‘bofu’ is a polite way to address an older man with whom one has a personal relationship, for example, your boyfriend’s father]

Erjie: What “bo-bo-bo”? It’s “bo-po-mo-fo” [this is a reference to how Taiwanese children learn how to read].

Erhao: [grabs Erjie’s ear] What are you saying!

Erjie: Papa, Erhao is hitting me!

Zhenhua: Erhao, how dare you! You bring your girlfriend how, and then turn this house upside down! Erhao! Let go!

[Erhao lets go, and Erjie hits him]

Zhenhua: What nonsense! [Notices Fang Yu] Ah, so you’re Erhao’s girlfriend? What’s your name?

Fang Yu: My name is Fang… fang… fang…

Erjie: Then there’s yuan, yuan, yuan [this is a reference to the word “fangyuan,” which means “circumference”]

[Mengping giggles]

Zhenhua: Ah, how did you meet Erhao.

Fang Yu: I’m Yiping’s classmate, and met him at Yiping’s place.

Zhenhua: So you’re Yiping’s classmate? Excellent! Of all of my children, Yiping has the strongest personality and temper. She’s resilient and stubborn, proud and sharp. Every word she says is just like a razor blade. What a pity she was born in these times, and born as a girl. After that fight, I don’t know when she’ll ever come back. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have hit her.

***

So, that’s the Lu family. Now it’s time for a song! Notice how much grabbing/hitting/pushing there is (even some of the kissing looks violent):

Background

This TV series is adapted from the novel by Chiung Yao, who I’ve discussed before, first published in 1964. Chiung Yao also wrote the script for the TV show, had some say in the casting of the actors, and even wrote the lyrics for the songs, so I also consider the TV Drama to be one of her direct artistic works. Between the writing of the novel and the production of this TV drama, Chiung Yao had more than 20 years to grow and change as a writer, and I consider this drama to be a re-write of the story reflecting that change.

It’s one of the most popular Taiwanese dramas of the 1980s, and these Chiung Yao dramas have a strong influence on Taiwanese idol dramas.

Can you stare down Leanne Liu?

This TV drama, like many other 80s Chiung Yao dramas, stars Leanne Liu, who is famous for her expressive eyes. The co-star is Chin Han, who has appeared in tons of Chiung Yao adaptations, and is one of the “Two Chins, Two Lins” who repeatedly starred in Chiung Yao adaptations through the 70s and 80s.

Maybe it’s time to meet the characters whom Leanne Liu and Chin Hao play…

The Leads

He Shuhuan. He is a close friend of Lu Erhao and, at the beginning of the story, Lu Ruping’s potential new boyfriend. One day, when he was going to visit the Lu family, he sees a young woman outside in the pouring rain, with visible injuries and no umbrella. She refuses to report anything to the police, but agrees to let He Shuhuan take her to his apartment so she can clean herself up. When she finds out that she is a “friend” of the Lu family, she refuses to have anything more to do with him, and runs out.

Shuhuan is incredibly curious about this young woman. Erhao at first says he knows nothing, but then they encounter this young woman at a dance club, where it’s clear that she and Erhao have some kind of personal relationship, though Erhao insists that she is not his girlfriend. Eventually, Shuhuan finds out that the mysterious, proud young woman is none other than…

Lu Yiping. The heroine (or anti-heroine). The novel is written in first person from her perspective. She is the half-sister of Erhao / Ruping / Mengping et al. Her father had driven her mother and herself out ten years ago, and since then they had been living from hand to mouth on what little money he would deign to give them. Yiping would personally have to go to “that place” to beg her father for money.

When they are several months behind on rent, there isn’t enough money for food, her mother needs to see a doctor, and Yiping needs new shoes, she once again goes to “that place.” While Ruping has a nice dog and an expensive new ring, Mengping dances to a fancy record player, and Erjie has a shiny new bicycle, their father, Lu Zhenhua, only agrees to give Yiping a fraction of the money they need to make ends me. Yiping says because he refuses to support his own daughter, he is not a real man. This makes him furious, so he whips her. Everybody else watches silently.

After the whipping, Yiping says she will get revenge on ALL of them. Her father finally decides to give her the money, but she throws it in his face, saying that they are no longer father and daughter. She runs out in the rain … and that’s when Shuhuan first sees her.

When she finds out that Ruping is in love with Shuhuan and he might become her new boyfriend, Yiping sees her first opportunity for revenge. But can Yiping break other people’s hearts without breaking her own?

The 60s and the 80s

The novel was written in and is set in 1960s Taiwan. The TV drama, likewise, is set in 1960s Taiwan. Occasionally, the TV drama shows distinctly 1960s culture—for example, the references to Huangmei opera, which were not in the novel.

However, if you look at this drama, it looks totally 80s. In fact, it feels so thoroughly 80s that the occasional throwbacks to the 60s feel jarring to me, even though I know the story is technically set in the 1960s.

This shows that the makers of the drama were oblivious to just how much they were infusing contemporary style into the show, assuming that the 80s were not terribly different from the 60s. And since this was made in the 80s, they probably were able to notice the 80s style about as well as fish can see water.

Pouring Sugar on Stakes Thrust through the Heart, or TV Drama vs. Novel

This is the title of the first section of Part 2. If you want to know what I’m talking about, or why I hate this story, be sure to come back next week!

Sara K. is hosting April’s Carnival of Aces over at her personal blog. If you’re inclined, you’re welcome to submit something of your own.

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 7

April 16, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

First off, in case I forget to actually review the book, this was a fun volume of Railgun. The Sisters arc was wrapped up, we started a new one about the city-wide athletic festival, and there’s lots of awesome, heartwarming, and funny.

Now, let’s talk continuity, aka “Wait, when the hell did Kuroko get put in a wheelchair?!?!”

First, a brief timeline:
1) A Certain Magical Index Light Novels: April 2004-present. The “Sisters” book came out in September 2004, and the “athletic festival” books (which didn’t focus on Misaka entirely) in April-May 2006.
2) A Certain Scientific Railgun (manga): April 2007-present. It runs in a monthly magazine.
3) A Certain Magical Index (manga): May 2007-present. Also in a monthly magazine.
4) A Certain Magical Index (anime): October 2008-March 2009. This includes the “Sisters” arc, from Touma’s perspective.
5) A Certain Scientific Railgun (anime): October 2009-March 2010. Note that the manga had only just barely started the Sisters arc (from Misaka’s perspective) when the anime began. Which is why you didn’t see it.
6) A Certain Magical Index II (anime): October 2010-April 2011. This has the athletic festival from Touma’s POV, but likely won’t crossover with the Railgun storyline much.
7) A Certain Magical Index (film): February 2013.
8) A Certain Scientific Railgun S (anime): April 2013-present. Judging by the OP credits, this *will* have the Sisters arc, including the battle with ITEM.

For the most part, the Railgun manga has been pretty good about letting casual readers follow along, and explaining things as they go. The only time the storyline ever really connects with index is during the Sisters arc, and other than that, Railgun has its own plots and its own problems. There are, of course, little bonuses for those who follow the books. ITEM are given a major role in the Sisters arc as the child soldiers Misaka battles, right around the time they were becoming very important in the Index books proper. (This is why Rikou, who really wasn’t all that active in the battles, gets a larger picture on the cover than Frenda, who was. She’s more important later.)

Around Vol. 7 is where the continuity starts to snarl, though. First of all, the anime, needing to fill up episodes since they couldn’t animate the Sisters arc (as the manga hadn’t finished it yet) introduces Mitsuko Kongo much earlier, and gives her different plotlines to play around with. Not that the manga is ready to introduce her, it doesn’t really have the time to. So Mitsuko’s introduction takes about 2 chapters, where she sets herself up as the rich rival character and is very quickly humbled. (This actually has the added benefit of making her more likeable, and I thought she was pretty cute.)

And sometimes the manga simply has to abandon even explanations, and just trust the reader will go “OK, something happened.” The athletic festival takes place about a month after the Sisters arc ends, and somehow Kuroko is now in a wheelchair (and Uiharu is blaming herself for the injuries.) What happened? Well, the 8th Index novel, in which Kuroko, as a member of Judgement, goes after a fellow teleportation expert who is trying to steal valuable plot macguffins. In the midst of this, she nearly gets killed, and thus is now in said wheelchair for the duration of the festival. Unfortunately, the series is not called “A Certain Perverse Teleporter”, so Kuroko’s story is just elided away.

There’s also lots of other little things: Accelerator appears again, and seems to be crippled (from Touma’s beating? Actually, no.) and also not, apparently, in any trouble for the experiments. Actually, the manga does a nice little flashback showing how Accelerator was manipulated by scientists just as much as Misaka was, and makes you ponder if “I was only following orders” might be a valid excuse for someone so young. It gets to the point where when we see characters who actually ARE appearing for the first time (such as the “Queen”, or the Aztec girl at the end of the volume), we wonder if they’ve been in the main source and we missed it.

More accurately, I wonder this. Most casual readers likely are fine with reading this typically exciting and fun Railgun volume. But Kuroko’s injury and its out-of-nowhere appearance has been mentioned as confusing, so I thought I’d talk about it a bit.

Oh yes, and Saten is still awesome. But you knew that.

Bookshelf Briefs 4/15/13

April 15, 2013 by Sean Gaffney and MJ 1 Comment

This week, Sean and MJlook at recent releases from Viz Media, Yen Press, and Vertical, Inc.

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 9 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – We wrap up the Impure King arc here, with some really impressive fire power by Rin, and a cute epilogue. Most of this volume, as you’d expect from this series, revolves around Rin and Yukio – Rin learning to accept himself for what he is and use his satanic powers for good, and Yukio learning to trust his brother (though not enough to reveal his own inner demons). Meanwhile, Mephisto continues to do what he does best – look mysterious and not give anything away. Shura, at least, seems to know he has plans for Rin, though can’t do anything about them right now. And I must admit, even if Western fans complain about “nobody dies in Jump”, I was pleased to see a few characters I thought were goners survive through the arc. As ever, Blue Exorcist is a fun romp with lots of alluring backstory. – Sean Gaffney

Devil And Her Love Song, Vol. 8 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – Now that Anna is gone, we need to introduce new conflict into the storyline, and much to my surprise it wasn’t that signing teacher. Instead, we get a new first year, Shintaro Kurosu, who is secretly head of a vampire… wait, wrong Shojo Beat series. What Shintaro is is a classic “playboy who finds himself falling in love for real” character, and also has a way of speaking his mind. He and Maria go quite well together, something that Shin immediately notices and is quite pissed off about. Things all come to a head on the beach (great swimsuit montage as well), where Shin confronts some family demons and Shintaro makes his move. I love love love this series. Also, why ids that evil teacher STILL THERE? Why couldn’t Maria’s class be taught by Onizuka? Or Pin? (It would have been much a much shorter manga, yes.) -Sean Gaffney

The Flowers of Evil, Vol. 5 | By Shuzo Oshimi | Vertical, Inc. – Time and again this series manages to be genuinely surprising—at least on the surface. As summer vacation approaches, Kasuga and Nakamura begin to hatch their plan for taking things to “The Other Side.” Meanwhile, Saeki goes to extremes to try to win back Kasuga’s attention; but what exactly is she jealous of? Though Saeki’s actions surprised me, the feelings behind them ring uncomfortably true. Once again, these characters seem to have reached an impasse, but what will that mean for them this time? With its new anime series currently running, it seems likely that this story is far from over, but Oshimi has a gift for writing characters into corners they must forcefully bust out of on nothing but their own steam. As always, I’m dying to know what comes next. Still recommended. – MJ

Soul Eater, Vol. 13 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Yen Press – There are three storylines that get attention as we continue our long march through the castle to stop Arachnae. First, and probably best, is Black*Star’s arrival and battle against Mifune. I say best as we get a terrific flashback showing Black*Star visiting Tsubaki’s family and seeing his resolve to get stronger is not for killing but to protect. I always love seeing the meisters and their weapons bond in Soul Eater, and this gives some additional depth. Second, we see Ox and Harvar battling Kim and Jacqueline, which is a typical “snap out of it, I still love you” shonen battle, but still sweet. And lastly, Kid and Free battle Mosquito, which gives us this volume’s cliffhanger and shows Mosquito is more than just a goofy old guy in a nice hat. Also, the “finest nose” line made me laugh out loud. Complex, but recommended. -Sean Gaffney

The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol. 9 | By Kaira Yura and Sai Yukino | Viz Media – The publishers decided that this would be a good place to end the manga, even if the light novels went on for a while longer. As a result, what we get here is a volume of ‘side stories’ that flesh out a few of the other characters. In theory, this allows us to see the depths of the familial bonds in this series, and how even if they fight, brothers still love each other. In practice, everyone in the entire cast is a giant dork throughout the volume. It’s fantastic—this is mostly gloriously silly, especially the Ryuren chapter (which is justifiably the longest), and I can’t even describe the hilarity that the ‘Shoka masks’ provoked in me. This series was a real surprise winner for me—girl strives to become a civil servant is so refreshing after a lot of “girl struggles to tell boy she likes him” series. Well done, Shurei! -Sean Gaffney

Manga publishers old and new

April 15, 2013 by Brigid Alverson

More PW stories about manga! I interviewed Seven Seas founder Jason DeAngelis and I also wrote a short piece about Dark Horse’s 25 years of publishing manga.

Lissa Pattillo checks out the past week’s new manga in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks forward to this week’s new manga, and MJ files a first-quarter report on her three favorite manga of the year (so far).

Erica Friedman posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Lissa Pattillo has word of a new manga publisher, the fledgling Kansai Club, and she’s guardedly optimistic about them despite some reservations; their first project will be a Kickstarter drive to fund a limited edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Crater.

~~Jason Thompson~~ Shaenon Garrity looks at some classic shoujo manga, Love Song and Four Shojo Stories, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Caitlin McGurk spotlights Jiji Manga, a newspaper supplement published in 1921 that is the first publication anyone can find that used the word “manga” in its title. And the cover feature is about women’s liberation!

I’m really late to the party with this, but Matt Brady is doing an amazing series on why Eiichiro Oda’s art in One Piece is so awesome at his blog, Warren Peace Sings the Blues. He has lots of analysis and examples—Matt takes his One Piece seriously! Here’s the first post, if you like to start at the beginning.

Lori Henderson debuts her Manga Dome podcast, which covers a wide variety of manga topics, at Manga Xanadu.

News from Japan: The March issue of Nakayoshi came with a bonus: The Super Saikyo Manga-ka Set, a manga kit containing drawing tools and a guide to drawing like a pro. The editors seem to be serious about encouraging would-be manga-ka, as they are running a drawing contest and plan to have more special supplements in the future. Rocket24 pays a visit to the new manga park in Tachikawa City, where you can read manga from their 30,000-volume library for just 400 yen per day. Kazune Kawahara and Kimi ni Todoke creator Karuho Shiina are working together on a one-shot manga for the 50th anniversary issue of Shueisha’s Betsuma Margaret magazine. Dragon Ball manga-ka Akira Toriyama has created a short stand-alone comic to promote environmental awareness among children. And while it looked like the threat letters to anyone associated with Kuroko’s Basketball had stopped for a while, the latest doujinshi event, scheduled for Shizuoka next week, has been cancelled after a new threat was received.

Reviews

Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Barrage (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 20 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 55 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of A Bride’s Story (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Btooom! (Manga Village)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Crimson Empire (Comic Attack)
Seth T. Hahne on vols. 1 and 2 of Cross Game (Good OK Bad)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Cyborg 009 (Comics Should Be Good)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea on Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President (Organization ASG)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 25 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Victoria Martin on vol. 11 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Kuriousity)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Good Morning (All About Manga)
Justin on vol. 7 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Organization ASG)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 20 of Higurashi When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Infinite Speech on vol. 8 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (Comic Attack)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Jack Frost (The Fandom Post)
Brian Gardes on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Stumptown Trade Review)
Connie C. on Lychee Light Club, No Longer Human, and Genkaku Picasso (Comics Should Be Good)
Victoria Erica on vol. 1 of Magic Knight Rayearth (omnibus edition) (Inside AX)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Naruto (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Oh My Goddess! (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Punch Up! (I Reads You)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Tiger & Bunny (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)
Manjiorin on Trigun: Multiple Bullets (Organization ASG)

Pick of the Week: Pepita, Dorohedoro, Sidonia

April 15, 2013 by Michelle Smith, MJ, Sean Gaffney and Anna N 1 Comment

MICHELLE: I’ll definitely be picking up a few things on this list, and am particularly eager for the second volume of Knights of Sidonia. However, it’s not often that two of my interests—architecture and Inoue Takehiko—come together, so I am going to have to vote for Pepita: Takehiko Inoue Meets Gaudi. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from this book but I have no doubt that it’ll be gorgeous.

MJ: I’m with Michelle all the way, this week. I, too, am looking forward to volume two of Knights of Sidonia (and the latest volume of Flowers of Evil as well) but my most-anticipated release is Pepita: Takehiko Meets Gaudi. It promises to be beautiful and fascinating.

SEAN: I’m not as hyped up about it as Excel Saga, but that’s because I’m not as hyped up about anythng as I am about Excel Saga. But those who follow my reviews have likely guessed my pick this week is Vol. 9 of Dorohedoro. The plot really picked up last time, which can be a problem with a series as dense as this one is—it’s another title that rewards multiple re-readings. Will Caiman finally discover his past? And does he really want to?

ANNA: I also agree with Michelle and MJ. I’m interested in both Pepita and Knights of Sidonia, but I’ll probably wait a little bit to pick up Pepita. I’m going to be reading Knights of Sidonia much sooner, so that gets my pick.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?