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Announcing the Takehiko Inoue Manga Moveable Feast!

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What: A multi-blogger event focused on the works of Takehiko Inoue. (Those published in English include Slam Dunk, Vagabond, and Real.)

When: The week of June 24-30, 2012.

Who: Co-hosted by Michelle Smith and Anna Neatrour, participation open to all!

Why: Because we are both major Inoue fans and want to spread the love!

Where: Soliloquy in Blue (that’s here!) and Manga Report (that’s here!).

How: Anna will be maintaining the archive at Manga Report, so if you’ve written anything Inoue-related in the past that you’d like to be included, just send her an e-mail. Michelle will be posting daily MMF wrap-up reports at Soliloquy in Blue, so if you’re contributing new stuff, drop her a line. You can also post your link on Twitter using the hashtag #inouemmf. If you don’t have a blog of your own but would like to contribute, just let us know and we can make that happen!

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 11 March

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Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. ↑1 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [485.3] ::
2. ↓-1 (1) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [467.7] ::
3. ↑2 (5) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [404.3] ::
5. ↓-2 (3) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [400.8] ::
6. ↔0 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [385.5] ::
7. ↑7 (14) : Black Bird 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [376.3] ::
8. ↔0 (8) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [356.5] ::
9. ↓-2 (7) : Black Butler 8 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 [336.7] ::
10. ↔0 (10) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [311.1] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 78
Yen Press 70
Viz Shojo Beat 58
Tokyopop 51
Kodansha Comics 43
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 34
DMP Juné 19
Vizkids 18
Dark Horse 17
Seven Seas 17

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,190.0] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [941.1] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Black Butler – Yen Press [722.9] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Maximum Ride – Yen Press [719.9] ::
5. ↑1 (6) : Black Bird – Viz Shojo Beat [607.1] ::
6. ↓-1 (5) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [550.7] ::
7. ↑7 (14) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [492.3] ::
8. ↑1 (9) : Fullmetal Alchemist – Viz [438.0] ::
9. ↓-2 (7) : Negima! – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [429.9] ::
10. ↓-2 (8) : xxxHolic – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [416.0] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

1. ↑1 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [485.3] ::
3. ↑2 (5) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
7. ↑7 (14) : Black Bird 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [376.3] ::
12. ↑108 (120) : Dengeki Daisy 9 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [292.4] ::
13. ↑6 (19) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [292.3] ::
14. ↓-1 (13) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [285.5] ::
16. ↑15 (31) : One Piece 61 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [279.4] ::
19. ↓-2 (17) : Bleach 38 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [253.3] ::
30. ↑30 (60) : Soulless 1 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 [198.1] ::
31. ↑72 (103) : Fairy Tail 18 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [198.0] ::

[more]

Preorders

23. ↓-1 (22) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [246.2] ::
25. ↓-4 (21) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [232.8] ::
72. ↑8 (80) : Black Butler 9 – Yen Press, Jul 2012 [126.7] ::
75. ↑8 (83) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [125.5] ::
86. ↑21 (107) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [117.7] ::
102. ↑7 (109) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [102.5] ::
103. ↑47 (150) : Naruto 56 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2012 [102.2] ::
105. ↑ (last ranked 4 Mar 12) : Novus Karma (ebook) 1 – MangaMagazine, Aug 2012 [101.2] ::
106. ↓-18 (88) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [100.7] ::
144. ↓-5 (139) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [75.3] ::

[more]

Manhwa

283. ↓-29 (254) : Bride of the Water God 10 – Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [39.3] ::
301. ↑7 (308) : Bride of the Water God 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [37.5] ::
690. ↑ (last ranked 2 Oct 11) : Priest Purgatory 1 – Tokyopop, Aug 2010 [12.4] ::
770. ↑129 (899) : Arcana 4 – Tokyopop, Mar 2006 [9.7] ::
955. ↓-335 (620) : March Story 3 – Viz Signature, Oct 2011 [5.7] ::
1022. ↑756 (1778) : March Story 1 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [4.6] ::
1027. ↓-172 (855) : Toxic (anthology) 1 – Udon, Jul 2012 [4.6] ::
1041. ↓-347 (694) : Ragnarok 1 – Tokyopop, May 2002 [4.4] ::
1059. ↑720 (1779) : Jack Frost 4 – Yen Press, Dec 2010 [4.2] ::
1122. ↓-371 (751) : Jack Frost 2 – Yen Press, Nov 2009 [3.5] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

83. ↓-29 (54) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [121.1] ::
86. ↑21 (107) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [117.7] ::
92. ↓-11 (81) : Ambiguous Relationship – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [113.3] ::
94. ↑7 (101) : Ice Cage (ebook) – Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 [111.5] ::
97. ↓-21 (76) : Seven Days Friday-Sunday – DMP Juné, Sep 2011 [109.1] ::
99. ↑3 (102) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [107.9] ::
102. ↑7 (109) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [102.5] ::
173. ↓-50 (123) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [62.9] ::
178. ↓-1 (177) : Finder Series 4 Prisoner in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Aug 2011 [61.8] ::
187. ↓-43 (144) : Black Sun 2 – 801 Media, Dec 2011 [60.0] ::

[more]

Ebooks

3. ↑2 (5) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [446.9] ::
6. ↔0 (6) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [385.5] ::
11. ↑5 (16) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [303.4] ::
14. ↓-1 (13) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [285.5] ::
18. ↓-3 (15) : Maximum Ride 1 – Yen Press, Jan 2009 [270.2] ::
24. (new) : SIN 1 – MangaMagazine, Sep 2011 [236.9] ::
26. ↑9 (35) : Maximum Ride 2 – Yen Press, Oct 2009 [227.1] ::
29. ↑3 (32) : Maximum Ride 4 – Yen Press, Apr 2011 [198.1] ::
30. ↑30 (60) : Soulless 1 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 [198.1] ::
40. ↓-4 (36) : Maximum Ride 3 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [183.0] ::

[more]

An Open Letter to Movie Critics

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By now, if you’re a movie critic, you’ve filed your Avengers — sorry, Marvel’s The Avengers — review and are girding your loins for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Before you hold forth on the evils of comic book movies, or write an essay about superhero decadence, let me offer a few suggestions for reviewing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight. These tips won’t guarantee that every DC or Marvel man will be wowed by your references to Rio Bravo and Yojimbo, or swayed by your measured criticisms, but they will ensure that movie-goers like me — smart folk who like Lawrence of Arabia and The Walking Dead — won’t roll our eyes in disgust at yet another review that begins, “Hollywood must be out of ideas, because they sure do like to make comic book movies.”

1. Don’t trot out the “superheroes are for kids” line.

Neither DC Comics nor Marvel have been publishing superhero comics for kids since the mid-1980s. OK — that’s not entirely true. In the interest of reaching out to younger readers, both companies have created all-ages versions of Batman, Spider-Man, and other popular stories. That both companies felt the need to create kid-friendly versions of these properties ought to tell you something about the content of most DC and Marvel products. Just compare an issue of any New 52 title with Tiny Titans if you don’t believe me; the difference in tone, presentation, and content will astonish you:

This DC Comic is for kids.

This DC Comic is not.

It’s fair to criticize the plot of a comic book movie as being too obvious or simplistic to sustain an adult’s interest, of course, but that’s not the same thing as dismissing the entire enterprise as “kids’ stuff” because ten-year-old boys used to be Stan Lee’s target audience. Comics have evolved. So should your critique of movies based on comics.

2. Get your facts straight.

Take it from a comic book reviewer: if you whiff a detail — no matter how insignificant — fans will stop following your argument and start building a case against you. Amy Nicholson — who wrote a smart, informed review of The Avengers — was eviscerated by fans who fumed that she’d referred to Samuel L. Jackson’s character as “Nick Frost” instead of “Nick Fury.” (The error has since been corrected.)

As someone who reviews Japanese comics in translation, I have deep sympathy for this reviewer. I’ve made similar mistakes, and have endured withering comments from readers who think it a cardinal sin to credit the wrong publisher for a book, or misspell a secondary character’s name. What I’ve learned from that experience is that you might demonstrate your erudition in ten other ways — through the quality of your insights, the depth of your cinematic knowledge, or the creativity of your language — but comics fans won’t give a damn about your opinion if you call Captain America “Stephen Rodgers.”

3. Do your homework.

The best comic-book films work equally well for devoted fans and newcomers alike: think Ghost World (2001), Spider-Man (2002), or Superman (1978), all of which had something to offer both groups of viewers. And while it’s beneficial to share your impression of a comic book movie as a member of the general public — as someone who knows Batman from the campy Adam West show, for example, or from watching Saturday morning cartoons — your review will be more authoritative if you take the time to learn a little more about the characters’ histories. Think about it this way: you wouldn’t review a big-screen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility without reading the novel or watching other versions, so why would you walk into a movie version of a long-running comic book franchise without at least familiarizing yourself with the characters? Read Wikipedia. Visit your local comic book store and talk to the sales clerks. Buy a few trades. It won’t kill you, I promise.

4. Remember that there are many comic book fans who will appreciate a thoughtful review.

We aren’t all rampaging monsters with a taste for critics’ flesh; many of us like an elegant turn of phrase or appreciate a Truffaut reference as much as you do. Don’t insult us for liking comic books, and we won’t sneer at you for suggesting The Avengers was overly long. Scout’s honor.

An Open Letter to Movie Critics

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By now, if you’re a movie critic, you’ve filed your Avengers — sorry, Marvel’s The Avengers — review and are girding your loins for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Before you hold forth on the evils of comic book movies, or write an essay about superhero decadence, let me offer a few suggestions for reviewing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight. These tips won’t guarantee that every DC or Marvel man will be wowed by your references to Rio Bravo and Yojimbo, or swayed by your measured criticisms, but they will ensure that movie-goers like me — smart folk who like Lawrence of Arabia and The Walking Dead — won’t roll our eyes in disgust at yet another review that begins, “Hollywood must be out of ideas, because they sure do like to make comic book movies.”

1. Don’t trot out the “superheroes are for kids” line.

Neither DC Comics nor Marvel have been publishing superhero comics for kids since the mid-1980s. OK — that’s not entirely true. In the interest of reaching out to younger readers, both companies have created all-ages versions of Batman, Spider-Man, and other popular stories. That both companies felt the need to create kid-friendly versions of these properties ought to tell you something about the content of most DC and Marvel products. Just compare an issue of any New 52 title with Tiny Titans if you don’t believe me; the difference in tone, presentation, and content will astonish you:

This DC Comic is for kids.

This DC Comic is not.

It’s fair to criticize the plot of a comic book movie as being too obvious or simplistic to sustain an adult’s interest, of course, but that’s not the same thing as dismissing the entire enterprise as “kids’ stuff” because ten-year-old boys used to be Stan Lee’s target audience. Comics have evolved. So should your critique of movies based on comics.

2. Get your facts straight.

Take it from a comic book reviewer: if you whiff a detail — no matter how insignificant — fans will stop following your argument and start building a case against you. Amy Nicholson — who wrote a smart, informed review of The Avengers — was eviscerated by fans who fumed that she’d referred to Samuel L. Jackson’s character as “Nick Frost” instead of “Nick Fury.” (The error has since been corrected.)

As someone who reviews Japanese comics in translation, I have deep sympathy for this reviewer. I’ve made similar mistakes, and have endured withering comments from readers who think it a cardinal sin to credit the wrong publisher for a book, or misspell a secondary character’s name. What I’ve learned from that experience is that you might demonstrate your erudition in ten other ways — through the quality of your insights, the depth of your cinematic knowledge, or the creativity of your language — but comics fans won’t give a damn about your opinion if you call Captain America “Stephen Rodgers.”

3. Do your homework.

The best comic-book films work equally well for devoted fans and newcomers alike: think Ghost World (2001), Spider-Man (2002), or Superman (1978), all of which had something to offer both groups of viewers. And while it’s beneficial to share your impression of a comic book movie as a member of the general public — as someone who knows Batman from the campy Adam West show, for example, or from watching Saturday morning cartoons — your review will be more authoritative if you take the time to learn a little more about the characters’ histories. Think about it this way: you wouldn’t review a big-screen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility without reading the novel or watching other versions, so why would you walk into a movie version of a long-running comic book franchise without at least familiarizing yourself with the characters? Read Wikipedia. Visit your local comic book store and talk to the sales clerks. Buy a few trades. It won’t kill you, I promise.

4. Remember that there are many comic book fans who will appreciate a thoughtful review.

We aren’t all rampaging monsters with a taste for critics’ flesh; many of us like an elegant turn of phrase or appreciate a Truffaut reference as much as you do. Don’t insult us for liking comic books, and we won’t sneer at you for suggesting The Avengers was overly long. Scout’s honor.

Convention report: TCAF 2012

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Guys, I really like TCAF. Which might sound strange, as this is the latest con report in the history of time, but there it is.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is a week long comics festival held all over Toronto’s downtown. It culminates in a weekend mini-convention hosted by the (not so) secretly awesome Toronto Public Library. Christopher Butcher, TCAF’s founder and director, didn’t want it to be your typical comic con, so he modelled it on literary festivals and conferences. There are none of the giant screens, booth babes, or pricey giveaways that you’ll find at most major North American comic cons, and you won’t hear much about the latest Marvel and DC releases. Instead, you’ll hear from Scholastic, First Second, Oni Press and Archaia, and mainly, comics creators themselves. You’ll get the chance to meet lots of up and coming and independent creators, from all over the world. You’ll get to participate in workshops, play indie games, indulge in kidstuff and check out great panel discussions, and you’ll do all of this mostly for free—only a few of TCAF’s events are ticketed.

I mention all of this not to boost the festival (it’s not without its flaws), but because TCAF is designed to cultivate a certain kind of festival experience for creators and fans, and overall, it’s a pretty good one. The festival is hosted by the downtown Reference Library and surrounding businesses, all of which maintain regular operating hours during the two-day explosion of comics love. While you’re collapsing into a lump of fannish bliss at Kate Beaton’s feet, someone’s studying for an exam, or enjoying an afternoon meal. And so, the festival is less an awesome assault on the senses, and more kicking comics book fair. Also, it’s on a smaller scale than the other two major dates on the Toronto comics scene’s calendar, Fan Expo and Anime North, and the character of the festival is just more relaxed, less overheated, and far more oriented to discussion of comic arts, than to promotion by publishers. If you’re a fan of indie, small press, or kids books, it’s a good show, is what I’m saying.

My usual con and festival buddy is my girl Maddy (of When Fangirls Attack). We’ve been attending local conventions for a couple of years now, and have it down to a special kind of socially awkward, anti-science. This time, while we were impeded by a forgotten cell phone, crowd aversion (Saturday was packed!), a general lack of proper hydration and nutrition, we managed to meet up with friends, hit most of the panels we were interested in, and with the help of a third friend and a Starbucks full of regretful witnesses, get into an hours-long argument about J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. It’s why I missed the presentation of Allison Bechdel’s new book, and while I’m sore about it, I also can’t turn down a chance to complain about Kirk’s poor character development (Chris Pine, saved that script, ok?). Basically we had a great time, and we talked to all kinds of incredible people.

The Festival

Maddy and I are both Toronto locals, so we started our festival experience early, with a University of Toronto symposium that took advantage of TCAF, to bring in Kate Beaton (Hark A Vagrant) and Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim). I can’t speak for the rest of the Bodies and Cities series, but this discussion was about art and place. Does art depend on where you are, or who you’re with? Is the internet making it harder for artists to make a living? These were questions the never entirely serious Beaton and O’Malley answered, with weird and funny anecdotes, and plenty of shade for North American Big Comics.

After the talk, we had mediteranian food and cake, and hit up BMV Books (quite possibly the best place to pick up cheap, used comics in Toronto) and The Beguiling (the festival’s mothership), where we got our festival guides, and started to plan our itineraries. We’re both panel people, so it was akin to shopping for a Christmas siege of the Reference Library, The Pilot Tavern and other TCAF venues. There may also have been an extended email chain involved. It was a whole thing.

O’Malley and Beaton both had interesting things to say about creation, ownership and the whys and wherefores of comic art, which set the tone for the weekend. The opening night talk with Jeff Smith (Bone), Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (Daytripper) picked up on these themes—perhaps a consequence of bringing together so many indie and small press creators. Smith, Moon and Ba have a bit of a mutual admiration society going on; their rapport makes it well worth checking out the talk, which has been posted in full by the library. It also reminds you of just how small a world comics is, that creators and fans from all over the world have such close personal and creative connections. This, it turns out, was another of the themes of the festival. Butcher and the rest of the TCAF staff worked hard to bring in an impressive slate of international guests. With everything from workshops, to exhibits (Gabriella Giandelli!) to panel discussions, TCAF celebrated the hell out of the international comics scene this year, and particularly, international comic art (double emphasis on art). Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, so it seemed a pretty natural fit, to be having this discussion here.

After the opening night talk, we headed over to the opening night party at The Pilot. We missed whatever festival activity resulted in all the cool kids having Hello My Name Is tags, but were in good time for its devolution into a nerdier version of any other bar in the world. There was a lot of comics talk over beers, is what I’m saying, and although that’s increasingly common, in these halcyon post-Dark Knight, post-Avengers days, the collective knowledge of the Summers-Grey family tree was still impressive. Unlike the big cons, TCAF doesn’t attract cosplay (did you catch the Homestuck/TCAF cosplay blowup?), so the bars around the festival aren’t filled with visible displays of nerdy enthusiasm. The bar scene is not mine though, even with an above average number of Green Lantern t-shirts in attendance, so we left after a few beers, without any awkward fan-creator stories to share.

Saturday and Sunday were a haze of panels, shopping, and arguing about Star Trek. A lot of panels and talks, you guys. I attended: Comics and Mental Health, Guy Delisle Spotlight, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba Spotlight, Kate Beaton Spotlight, Graphic Narrative, Writer’s Craft, and, hell, some other stuff that I can’t clearly remember. Maddy and I split up, so between the two of us, we covered about 70% of the festival’s programming. I’m a sucker for smart, passionate people, saying smart, passionate things, but I’m picky—TCAF’s programming though, was really quite good. Overwhelmingly, the conversation at TCAF is analytical (what are the boundaries of comic art? what does the future look like for small publishers and independent creators?) and informative (how to manage life as a self-employed creator, how to construct a page for maximum impact).

Aside from programming, there was still the festival floor to hit. Vendor and creator tables are set up on the library’s first and second floor. As with any con, space is at a premium, but because TCAF takes place in an open-for-business library, and not a convention centre, floorspace is even more precious. Attendance has been going up the last few years, but this year it was ludicrous—so well attended that Saturday was basically a wash, in terms of meaningful interaction. At one point, getting to a particular table involved five minutes of bobbing, weaving and inching forward, half a foot at a time. One of the biggest draws this year was Andrew Hussie, creator of Homestuck. His fans lined up, and lined up, and lined the hell up some more for his Q&A. There were a lot of Homestuck fans; adorable in their enthusiasm. Another big ticket was the Adventure Time creative team. A video of their panel is available here. By Sunday things tend to clear up (most locals have been and gone), and this year was no different. Finally we were able to enjoy meeting and chatting with creators, and do some shopping.

The Haul

For the last few years I’ve been doing this whole responsible adult thing, and trying to pay down my student debt at as blistering a pace as I can manage. As a result I’m perpetually cash strapped, and go into every book fair, festival and convention with the intention of not buying. Or at least, buying as little and as smartly as possible. Never has this plan survived the first engagement. When you go to a convention, you spend money. My resolve is strong… until I see Michael Cho (Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes), or Scott Chantler (Two Generals), or, or, oh god, is that Kate Beaton? OMG, I love her shoes! And then my plan to spend responsibly is revised into Operation: All The Things, Into My (not a plastic) Bag. You can probably relate.

This year I managed to avoid the admittedly adorable ephemera that sends me into fits of puzzled buyer’s remorse when I get home (five handmade felt bookmarks? really?) and double down on the things I really covet: books and prints.

Because Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba made my TCAF weekend, I stopped by their table with the intention of buying all the things. But by the time I made it there, late in the day on Sunday, most of those things were gone. I picked up De:Tales though, a book I missed when it came out a couple of years back, and I have high hopes for. They weren’t the highlight of my festival experience just because they’re lovely guys, but also because they’re engaging speakers who used their showcase spot to put on a great talk about comic art and creative influence, and seemingly spent the weekend being laid back and intelligent all over the place.

Similarly, I went into TCAF weekend with the intention of picking up Guy Delisle‘s Jerusalem, and Alison Bechdel‘s Are You My Mother?, but their generally awesome showings at the festival made the experience of handing over my hard-earned Canadian dollars that much sweeter. Like the brothers, Delisle proved that PowerPoint can be wonderful, in the hands of an experienced comics professional. He showed in-progress art from his next project, sketches and pictures from previous projects, and bits and pieces of comics art that inspired him during his travels. Thus far, Delisle’s work has been something in the vein of thoughtful, personal (and hilarious) anti-travelogues, so seeing and hearing about that stuff made me even more excited for Jerusalem. As for Allison Bechdel, well, here’s a Wall Street Journal interview with her that demonstrates her inherent interestingness. (If you don’t think the grammar of comics is a cool subject, then I don’t know what to tell you. Also, at some point in the distant future, Scott McCloud will be rolling in his grave, because of you).

I also picked up two prints and the TCAF poster by Moon and Ba, and did a whole lot of shopping for other people. Their presents are in the mail, so hopefully I’m not spoiling things by mentioning Adrian Alphona, Chad Sell, Christina Strain and Bryan Lee O’Malley. Unicorns and drag queens—that’s all I’m prepared to say at this point. The Toronto streetscape above is part of a series by the always-friendly Michael Cho, and this lovely print is by Christina Strain and Jayd Aït-Kaci, who do the web comic Fox Sister. (Have you read Fox Sister? Get on that, for real). The print is of the eponymous fox sister, and will be framed and hung below my beloved Klimt print.

Overall I think I demonstrated admirable restraint. Which, hey, is why shopping for other people is the actual best.

The Conclusion (no hilarious anecdote?)

Even with all the people (18,000!), I managed to meet up with a few friends and acquaintances, get into two arguments about Star Trek, one argument about cyperpunk, and three debates about the future of online distribution and ownership. (I talk a lot. You might have noticed). I managed, somehow, to bump into two former classmates from the Toronto Cartoonist’s Workshop (holla!), and another two Twitter friends and their friends. And most importantly, I met the world’s most adorable Brony. Fluttershy, you guys, he was stealth cosplaying Fluttershy. My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to check out the festival’s exceptional kids programming, or collapse into a lump of fannish bliss at Kate Beaton’s feet.

Oh well, there’s always next year.

7 Mouth-Watering Food Manga

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When Khursten Santos announced that this month’s Manga Movable Feast would be… well, a feast, that provided me with a swell excuse to highlight my favorite food manga. I attribute my interest in the genre to my brief but intense infatuation with Iron Chef in the mid-2000s. I had always found cooking shows uninteresting: why watch someone make a cake or a roast when I already knew how to do that? Iron Chef, however, reimagined the cooking show as a tournament manga with an identifiable cast of characters who faced new and increasingly difficult challenges each week. Presiding over the competition was a flamboyant “villain” — the one and only Chairman Kaga — who was capricious and extravagant, demanding his contestants turn asparagus and ayu into ice cream and amuse-bouche. I can’t say I learned how to prepare any dishes from watching Iron Chef, but I came to appreciate the Iron Chefs’ creativity and combat-readiness.

When I discovered that there were manga that looked and sounded like an episode of Iron Chef, I was ecstatic. I read Iron Wok Jan and Yakitate!! Japan before discovering more sedate forms of food manga: Antique Bakery, Kitchen Princess, Mixed Vegetables. I gradually lost interest in the melodramatic pageantry of Iron Chef, but not in Japanese cuisine. I’ve been expanding my culinary horizons through manga instead, tackling anything with a food theme. Which ones reign supreme in Manga Critic Stadium? Read on for the list!

7. Ekiben Hitoriabi
By Kan Sakurai and Jun Hayase • JManga • 2 volumes+ (incomplete in English)
If you need definitive proof that there’s a manga for every conceivable niche audience, look no further than Ekiben Hitoritabi, a charming series about a train bento enthusiast. Yes, you read that right: Ekiben Hitoritabi follows the exploits of Daisuke Nakahara, a thirty-five-year-old man whose greatest ambition is to sample the boxed lunches served at train stations around Japan. The story is as relaxed and meandering as Daisuke’s journey, as he transfers from one line to the next in search of the country’s best — and most exotic — ekiben. Slight as the story may be, the authors’ meticulous attention to detail and obvious fondness for train travel carry the day, making this manga both fun and educational. Now if only Amtrak would investigate ekiben… I’d take a fish cake over microwave pizza any day.

6. Neko Ramen
By Kenji Sonishi • Tokyopop • 4 volumes (complete)
If you’ve ever lived with a cat or dog, you know that no meal is complete without a pet hair garnish. Now imagine that your beloved companion actually prepared your meals instead of watching you eat them: what sort of unimaginable horrors might you encounter beyond the stray hair? That’s the starting point for Neko Ramen, a 4-koma manga about a cat whose big dream is to run a noodle shop, but author Kenji Sonishi quickly moves past hair balls and litter box jokes to mine a richer vein of humor, poking fun at his cat cook’s delusions of entrepreneurial grandeur. Taisho is the Don Quixote of ramen vendors, dreaming up ludicrous giveaways and unappetizing dishes in an effort to promote his business, never realizing that he is the store’s real selling point. The loose, sketchy artwork gives the series an improvisational feel, while the script has the pleasant, absurdist zing of an Abbott and Costello routine. (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 6/2/10.)

5. Yakitate!! Japan
By Takhashi Hashiguchi • VIZ Media • 26 volumes (complete)
Kazuma Azuma is a boy with a dream: to create a bread so beloved by the Japanese people that it becomes synonymous with the country itself. Though he lacks formal training, he’s a prodigy in the kitchen, blessed with “hands of the sun” (a.k.a. hands warm enough to jump-start the dough’s rising) and a jazz musician’s knack for improvisation. These skills land him at the modest South Tokyo branch of Pantasia, a popular chain of bakeries. There, alongside the loud-mouthed apprentice Kyosuke Kawachi, the cute but steely manager Tsukino Asuzagawa, and the bread master Ken Matsushiro, he hones his craft, develops new Ja-pan prototypes, and enters countless bake-offs. (In other words, Yakitate!! Japan is One Piece with pastry.) The series does, at times, sag under the weight of repetition — how many death-defying baking competitions can one boy win? — but its mouth-watering concoctions, colorful cast, and impromptu science lessons ensure that every volume has a least one or two outstanding chapters. (Reviewed at PopCultureShock on 3/7/07)

4. Kodoko no Gourmet
By Masayuki Qusumi and Jiro Taniguchi • JManga • 1 volume (complete)
If you’re a fan of Kingyo Used Books, you may remember the chapter in which Japanese backpackers shared a dog-eared copy of Kodoku no Gourmet (a.k.a. The Lonely Gourmet) in order to feel more connected to home. Small wonder they adored Gourmet: its hero, Goro Inoshigara, is a traveler who devotes considerable time and energy to seeking out his favorite foods wherever he goes. While the manga is episodic  — Goro visits a new restaurant in every chapter — Jiro Taniguchi does a wonderful job of conveying the social aspect of eating, creating brief but vivid portraits of each establishment: its clientele, its proprietors, and, of course, its signature dishes. Best of all, Taniguchi and writer Masayuki Qusumi have the good sense to limit the story to a single volume, allowing the reader to savor Goro’s culinary adventures, rather than ponder its very slight premise.

3. Gokodou Meshi
By Shigeru Tsuchiyama • JManga • 2 volumes+ (incomplete in English)
Gokudou Meshi revolves around a contest: once a year, the residents of Naniwa South Prison describe the best food they’ve ever eaten. The prisoner with the most mouth-watering story wins an item from each of his fellow inmates’ osechi, a special New Year’s Eve box filled with fish, rice cakes, omelettes, and other holiday treats. As one might expect from such a conversation-driven series, Gokudou Meshi is told primarily through flashbacks, with each prisoner recounting a memorable meal or favorite noodle shop. Such an improbable premise lends itself to sitcom exaggeration, but author Shigeru Tsuchiyama plays it straight, respecting the sincerity of his thugs’ culinary convictions. The results read like cross between a Damon Runyon story and a Food Network Show; one could almost imagine Nicely-Nicely Johnson waxing poetic with the Naniwa gang about the hot dogs at Saratoga.

2. Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy!
By Fumi Yoshinaga • Yen Press • 1 volumes (complete)
My Dinner With Fumi: that’s what I would have called the English-language edition of Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! The fifteen stories contained within this slim volume celebrate good food and good conversation, documenting Yoshinaga’s interactions with friends, assistants, and fellow artists at real restaurants around Tokyo. No culinary stone goes unturned, as Yoshinaga — or, as her fictional alter ego is called, Y-naga — visits a Korean restaurant, a French bistro, an Italian trattoria, a sushi joint, an all-you-can-eat dim sum buffet, and a bakery famous for its bagels. As the characters chatter enthusiastically about what they’re eating, we realize that Yoshinaga’s real objective is showing us the important role that food plays in fostering friendships. One contentious conversation even prompts the omniscient narrator to praise good food for its diplomatic value: “But through the power of skirt steak, their hearts resumed beating as one,” the narrator observes. In Yoshinaga’s world, detente is just a dish away.  (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 12/12/10.)

1. Oishinbo a la Carte
By Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki • VIZ Media • 8 volumes (complete English edition)*
Equal parts Iron Wok Jan, Mostly Martha, and The Manga Cookbook, this educational, entertaining series explores Japanese cuisine at its most refined — sake, seabream sashimi — and its most basic — rice, pub food. The stories fall into two categories: stories celebrating the important role of food in creating community, and stories celebrating the culinary expertise of its principal characters, newspaperman Yamaoka Shiro and his curmudgeonly father Kaibara Yuzan. (Fun fact: Yuzan is such a food snob that he drove Yamaoka’s mother to an early grave, causing an irreparable break between father and son.) Though the competition between Yamaoka and Yuzan yields some elegant, mouth-watering dishes, Oishinbo is at its best when it focuses on everyday food in everyday settings, shedding light on how the Japanese prepare everything from bean sprouts to ramen. Warning: never read on an empty stomach!

* The English edition is an adaptation of the original series, which spans 111 volumes.

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So, hungry readers, which food manga are your favorites? Are there food manga you’d like to see translated into English (e.g. Cooking Papa)? Dish away!

7 Mouth-Watering Food Manga

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When Khursten Santos announced that this month’s Manga Movable Feast would be… well, a feast, that provided me with a swell excuse to highlight my favorite food manga. I attribute my interest in the genre to my brief but intense infatuation with Iron Chef in the mid-2000s. I had always found cooking shows uninteresting: why watch someone make a cake or a roast when I already knew how to do that? Iron Chef, however, reimagined the cooking show as a tournament manga with an identifiable cast of characters who faced new and increasingly difficult challenges each week. Presiding over the competition was a flamboyant “villain” — the one and only Chairman Kaga — who was capricious and extravagant, demanding his contestants turn asparagus and ayu into ice cream and amuse-bouche. I can’t say I learned how to prepare any dishes from watching Iron Chef, but I came to appreciate the Iron Chefs’ creativity and combat-readiness.

When I discovered that there were manga that looked and sounded like an episode of Iron Chef, I was ecstatic. I read Iron Wok Jan and Yakitate!! Japan before discovering more sedate forms of food manga: Antique Bakery, Kitchen Princess, Mixed Vegetables. I gradually lost interest in the melodramatic pageantry of Iron Chef, but not in Japanese cuisine. I’ve been expanding my culinary horizons through manga instead, tackling anything with a food theme. Which ones reign supreme in Manga Critic Stadium? Read on for the list!

7. EKIBEN HITORITABI

KAN SAKURAI AND JUN HAYASE • JMANGA • 2 VOLUMES (ONGOING)

If you need definitive proof that there’s a manga for every conceivable niche audience, look no further than Ekiben Hitoritabi, a charming series about a train bento enthusiast. Yes, you read that right: Ekiben Hitoritabi follows the exploits of Daisuke Nakahara, a thirty-five-year-old man whose greatest ambition is to sample the boxed lunches served at train stations around Japan. The story is as relaxed and meandering as Daisuke’s journey, as he transfers from one line to the next in search of the country’s best — and most exotic — ekiben. Slight as the story may be, the authors’ meticulous attention to detail and obvious fondness for train travel carry the day, making this manga both fun and educational. Now if only Amtrak would investigate ekiben… I’d take a fish cake over microwave pizza any day.

6. NEKO RAMEN

KENJI SONISHI • TOKYOPOP • 4 VOLUMES (INCOMPLETE)

If you’ve ever lived with a cat or dog, you know that no meal is complete without a pet hair garnish. Now imagine that your beloved companion actually prepared your meals instead of watching you eat them: what sort of unimaginable horrors might you encounter beyond the stray hair? That’s the starting point for Neko Ramen, a 4-koma manga about a cat whose big dream is to run a noodle shop, but author Kenji Sonishi quickly moves past hair balls and litter box jokes to mine a richer vein of humor, poking fun at his cat cook’s delusions of entrepreneurial grandeur. Taisho is the Don Quixote of ramen vendors, dreaming up ludicrous giveaways and unappetizing dishes in an effort to promote his business, never realizing that he is the store’s real selling point. The loose, sketchy artwork gives the series an improvisational feel, while the script has the pleasant, absurdist zing of an Abbott and Costello routine. (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 6/2/10.)

5. YAKITATE!! JAPAN

TAKAHASHI HASHIGUCHI • VIZ MEDIA • 26 VOLUMES (COMPLETE)

Kazuma Azuma is a boy with a dream: to create a bread so beloved by the Japanese people that it becomes synonymous with the country itself. Though he lacks formal training, he’s a prodigy in the kitchen, blessed with “hands of the sun” (a.k.a. hands warm enough to jump-start the dough’s rising) and a jazz musician’s knack for improvisation. These skills land him at the modest South Tokyo branch of Pantasia, a popular chain of bakeries. There, alongside the loud-mouthed apprentice Kyosuke Kawachi, the cute but steely manager Tsukino Asuzagawa, and the bread master Ken Matsushiro, he hones his craft, develops new Ja-pan prototypes, and enters countless bake-offs. (In other words, Yakitate!! Japan is One Piece with pastry.) The series does, at times, sag under the weight of repetition — how many death-defying baking competitions can one boy win? — but its mouth-watering concoctions, colorful cast, and impromptu science lessons ensure that every volume has a least one or two outstanding chapters. (Reviewed at PopCultureShock on 3/7/07)

4. KODOKO NO GOURMET

MASAYUKI QUSUMI AND JIRO TANIGUCHI • JMANGA • 1 VOLUME (COMPLETE)

If you’re a fan of Kingyo Used Books, you may remember the chapter in which Japanese backpackers shared a dog-eared copy of Kodoku no Gourmet (a.k.a. The Lonely Gourmet) in order to feel more connected to home. Small wonder they adored Gourmet: its hero, Goro Inoshigara, is a traveler who devotes considerable time and energy to seeking out his favorite foods wherever he goes. While the manga is episodic  — Goro visits a new restaurant in every chapter — Jiro Taniguchi does a wonderful job of conveying the social aspect of eating, creating brief but vivid portraits of each establishment: its clientele, its proprietors, and, of course, its signature dishes. Best of all, Taniguchi and writer Masayuki Qusumi have the good sense to limit the story to a single volume, allowing the reader to savor Goro’s culinary adventures, rather than ponder its very slight premise.

3. GOKUDOU MESHI

SHIGERU TSUCHIYAMA • JMANGA • 2 VOLUMES (ONGOING)

Gokudou Meshi revolves around a contest: once a year, the residents of Naniwa South Prison describe the best food they’ve ever eaten. The prisoner with the most mouth-watering story wins an item from each of his fellow inmates’ osechi, a special New Year’s Eve box filled with fish, rice cakes, omelettes, and other holiday treats. As one might expect from such a conversation-driven series, Gokudou Meshi is told primarily through flashbacks, with each prisoner recounting a memorable meal or favorite noodle shop. Such an improbable premise lends itself to sitcom exaggeration, but author Shigeru Tsuchiyama plays it straight, respecting the sincerity of his thugs’ culinary convictions. The results read like cross between a Damon Runyon story and a Food Network Show; one could almost imagine Nicely-Nicely Johnson waxing poetic with the Naniwa gang about the hot dogs at Saratoga.

2. NOT LOVE BUT DELICIOUS FOODS MAKE ME SO HAPPY!

FUMI YOSHINAGA • YEN PRESS • 1 VOLUME (COMPLETE)

My Dinner With Fumi: that’s what I would have called the English-language edition of Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! The fifteen stories contained within this slim volume celebrate good food and good conversation, documenting Yoshinaga’s interactions with friends, assistants, and fellow artists at real restaurants around Tokyo. No culinary stone goes unturned, as Yoshinaga — or, as her fictional alter ego is called, Y-naga — visits a Korean restaurant, a French bistro, an Italian trattoria, a sushi joint, an all-you-can-eat dim sum buffet, and a bakery famous for its bagels. As the characters chatter enthusiastically about what they’re eating, we realize that Yoshinaga’s real objective is showing us the important role that food plays in fostering friendships. One contentious conversation even prompts the omniscient narrator to praise good food for its diplomatic value: “But through the power of skirt steak, their hearts resumed beating as one,” the narrator observes. In Yoshinaga’s world, detente is just a dish away.  (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 12/12/10.)

1. OISHINBO A LA CARTE

TETSU KARIYA AND AKIRA HANASAKI • VIZ MEDIA • 8 VOLUMES (COMPLETE)

Equal parts Iron Wok Jan, Mostly Martha, and The Manga Cookbook, this educational, entertaining series explores Japanese cuisine at its most refined — sake, seabream sashimi — and its most basic — rice, pub food. The stories fall into two categories: stories celebrating the important role of food in creating community, and stories celebrating the culinary expertise of its principal characters, newspaperman Yamaoka Shiro and his curmudgeonly father Kaibara Yuzan. (Fun fact: Yuzan is such a food snob that he drove Yamaoka’s mother to an early grave, causing an irreparable break between father and son.) Though the competition between Yamaoka and Yuzan yields some elegant, mouth-watering dishes, Oishinbo is at its best when it focuses on everyday food in everyday settings, shedding light on how the Japanese prepare everything from bean sprouts to ramen. Warning: never read on an empty stomach!

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So, hungry readers, which food manga are your favorites? Are there food manga you’d like to see translated into English (e.g. Cooking Papa)? Dish away!

Manga the Week of 5/30

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It’s a 5th week of the month, you know that means there’s virtually nothing. In fact, all three of these are available now… unless you order from Diamond.

Kodansha gives us the first Genshiken omnibus, collecting three volumes of this otaku-loving series. I always tended to read it for Saki, but there’s something for everyone here. Unlike Negima, this does not feature any new translation, possibly as the old version was perfectly fine. We also get Vol. 34 of Negima, which I’ve already reviewed, possibly as it’s hitting Diamond a full month late. And we have Vol. 28 of The Wallflower, which I always enjoy, mostly as I expect laughs and nothing else. This volume apparently featured the obligatory Edo Period AU!

Aaaaaand that’s it. Thoughts?

Dining and gambling

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I’m still in transit, blogging from the Metropolitan Lounge in Union Station, Chicago, waiting to take the Lake Shore Limited to Boston. Traveling by train gave me some time to write up my review of vols. 1-6 of The Story of Saiunkoku at MTV Geek. In other news:

Khursten Santos rounds up the second day’s worth of links for the Manga Moveable Feast, which celebrates Oishinbo and food manga this month.

Digital announced a new BL license via its Twitter yesterday: Junko’s Konbini-Kun, which will be retitled Mr. Mini-Mart for the English-speaking audience.

Daniel BT takes a look at Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s gambling manga.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo opens up her swag bag and chats about her recent acquisitions.

Reviews: Carlo Santos gives his take on a batch of new releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Ken Haley on The Bible: A Japanese Manga Rendition (Sequential Ink)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea616 on Lady Snowblood (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Oishinbo a la Carte (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 8 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)

Bringing the Drama: Rooftop Prince

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Rooftop Prince is available for streaming on Hulu, Viki, and Dramafever.

ANNA: I just finished watching the first episode of Rooftop Prince and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. There were so many elements that were all over the place, it is difficult to summarize!

The Rooftop Prince, His Retainers, and Their Tracksuits

There are two parallel stories set hundreds of years apart, cast with the same actors. Is everybody time traveling, or are we looking at some odd cases of reincarnation?

In the present day, Se Na reacts badly when her mother remarries, providing her with a new sister, Park Ha. Se Na torments her little sister, and eventually causes her to become lost. Park Ha grows up in the United States with no memory of her previous family. She finds out that her father was looking for her and travels back to Korea in time to attend his funeral. She’s reunited with her stepmother and evil older stepsister.

The two sisters also exist in the past, with the older one about to be passed over as a candidate for crown princess in favor of the younger one. A horrible accident (or was it?) results in the younger sister being scarred. The older sister becomes crown princess. The crown prince Lee Gak is extremely charming and light-hearted, but when he wakes up to find that his princess has drowned in the middle of the night, he becomes overcome with grief. Determined to find out the truth behind his wife’s death, he puts together an investigative supergroup consisting of a scholar, warrior, and a fabulously fashionable eunuch.

In the present, a rich young man named Tae Yong who closely resembles the crown prince notices Park Ha, but he doesn’t ask her out. He’s betrayed by his cousin and drowns. Two years later, the crown prince and his retainers show up in Park Ha’s apartment. I think I’ve covered everything! What were your thoughts on the first episode?

EVA: You guys promised me a comedy! What the heck, man. The older sister isn’t funny, she’s evil! Awesomely evil, true, but still. Not a comedy!

In all seriousness, though, episode one is full of all the reasons why I usually give a series three chances before committing myself. It is clunky, disjointed, and not at all funny. Because the two storylines, one taking place in the Joseon era and the other in modern day, jump back and forth with no explanation, it’s hard to know if we’re dealing with a case of reincarnation or of doppelgangers. All I know for sure is, if it hadn’t been for the last scene where the prince and his retainers appear in the rooftop apartment after being sucked through a lunar eclipse after fleeing from Korean ninjas (that’s right, Korean ninjas), I’d have thought this show was going to be a straight up mystery.

The Rooftop Prince Scooby Gang

ANNA: I agree that the first episode was a bit confusing. I had no idea what to make of the doppelgangers, and the storylines seemed to tilt towards the tragic with all the bullying and death going on. The sudden switch of tone towards the end of the first episode where the prince forms his supergroup of retainers made me hope for much better things for the second episode, and I found myself liking it much better.

EMILY: Episode 1 was a lot more serious than the plot description I’d originally read of the series, but it is obvious that the whole episode is intended as set up for the hijinks to ensue later. The episode bounces back and forth between the story of a Joseon King, his beautiful Crown Princess, her scarred sister, and the story of modern reincarnations of the same people. Or are they reincarnations? There are a lot of questions and mysteries set up in the first episode. There are also two murder mysteries being set up. One in the past and one in the present. But they both have interesting twists. In the past, we aren’t entirely certain who the victim is, though it’s pretty much assumed to be the Crown Princess. Also, we don’t know who the killer is, though one piece of evidence points to an unlikely suspect. As for the accidental murder in the present, we know who the culprit is, but we aren’t entirely sure the victim is dead and not doing some sort of time-travel thing instead. You never know.

I enjoyed the first episode, and didn’t have any problems following the intertwined plots. I think Micky Yoochun is doing a great job in his role of the time-jumping King. His acting is a lot more animated than I’ve seen it in past dramas, and he sounds very funny with his historical accent (er, not that I’m one to judge Korean accents). I also must say, Micky looks fantastic in historical garb. He should stick to historical dramas forever and ever. Or at least, always wear that hat. I can see it now—Micky in some drama playing a lawyer, but wearing the historical hat. It would be awesome, I tell you.

Episode 1 ends right when things start to get funny, as our Joseon King and his sidekicks end up in a modern rooftop apartment. OF COURSE they land in a rooftop apartment. Given how often they appear in kdramas, the odds were fairly evenly split between them landing in a rooftop apartment, or a plush penthouse suite in a hotel. For comedic value, they obviously go for the rooftop.

Episode 2 promises to be very silly :)

Is it an elevator or a changing room? The modern world is so confusing!

ANNA: What did people think of episode 2? I liked the way it focused on the main thing I enjoyed in the first episode, the Joseon King and his merry band of sidekicks. Putting them in different colored tracksuits for modern dress was inspired, and there were so many funny moments when they were trying to learn how to survive in the modern world.

EVA: Well, I both enjoyed it and didn’t enjoy it. I loved the track suits and hated the slapstick. (I have a very low tolerance for slapstick.) I loved the hate/hate relationship that forms between Lee Gak and Park Ha, but hated how long it took Lee Gak to figure out that he has traveled through time. And, man, is Park Ha’s sister evil. Eeeeeeevil.

Here’s the thing: I know it sounds like I’m doing nothing but whine and complain about this show, but I’m actually enjoying it. I just wish I didn’t have to put my brain on hold to do so. Sure, this is a comedy and most situations are going to be played for laughs. But my ability to suspend disbelief is being sorely tested. As the series progresses through the first four episodes, Lee Gak is way too slow on the uptake. I’ll grant that it takes him a while to figure out the whole time travel/doppelganger thing, but don’t you think that once he understands that there is a guy in this world who looks just like him he’d be able to open his mind wide enough to embrace the possibility that there might also be a person in this world who looks just like the princess? Considering how quickly he grasped the concept of television, this shouldn’t have been such a stretch.

The other thing that’s bugging me are the merry henchmen. In episode one they were described to be intelligent, crafty free-thinkers. Sure, okay, they’re loyal to their king, but once they realized a) there isn’t a king in modern day Korea, b) their constant kowtowing draws a lot of unwanted attention, and c) that their best chance of returning to their time depends on the kindness of strangers, that they’d start trying to fit in? While I love the comedic aspects of the merry henchmen, I do wish they’d start living up to their potential.

A trunk full of adorable merry henchmen

ANNA: Overall, I’m enjoying this drama although it seems to reel me in gradually. I think that anyone considering watching it has to view at least the first two episodes because they are so different in tone. I didn’t feel truly hooked on this series until the very end of episode 4, where we see the dramatic tension of the show ratcheted way up as the whole reincarnation storyline that was introduced in the first series was finally addressed.

I liked the storyline with Park Ha’s business and the henchmen being willing to help out so much. I’m wondering what sort of outfits they will have to wear next, since they’ve already been in tracksuits and furry mascot costumes. After 4 episodes, Micky Yoochun’s performance is really starting to grow on me, and I can see why Emily is such a fan. The time-traveling prince is a tough role to pull off, and it looks like there will be plenty of challenging scenes ahead after the end of episode 4. While I’ve enjoyed this series, I think it took 4 episodes for me to become enthusiastic about it. I watched the first 4 episodes gradually over time, but with the twist scene at the end of 4 (even though it was a bit predictable), I can definitely see myself marathoning the next few episodes as soon as I get time to watch more.

EMILY: I’m having a hard time containing my thoughts to episodes 1-4 because I have gone ahead and watched all the episodes that are out now and am current :) I’m enjoying the show very much. It seems to have several mini story arcs. It begins serious, and then shifts to ridiculous for several episodes, as our spoiled prince and his color-coded Joseon Power Rangers adjust themselves to our times. This is played up for maximum silliness, as the writers find not just the major things (cars, elevators, etc) to baffle our time-travelers with, but also a lot of small details of modern life that we take for granted. From putting out a fire by spitting toilet water, to the deliciousness of omelet rice, to the fabulous black card that will let the prince buy anything (oh, the power of chaebol credit limits) there is a lot to get used to in our time. But once the hilarity ends, things start to take a more serious turn as the murder mystery heats up, the Prince finds his Princess, the villains step up their scheming, and romance begins to bloom. Through all of it, I like the chemistry between Park Ha and the Prince, the antics of the Power Rangers are endearing (poor lovelorn blue ranger), and I don’t even mind the obligatory kdrama Birth Secret that pops up. I will say that the villains in this series are in the running for worst villains ever. She, because of her skill at lying and ability to make me want to poke her eyes out, and him because of his total ineptitude. I don’t think he could manage to kill anyone even if he aimed and shot a gun directly at their heart.

I really look forward to how this drama will play out.

The Rooftop Prince wears a Texas Tuxedo

ANNA: I think you’re right about the series functioning in mini story arcs, as I can see a new arc developing at the end of episode 4 and start of episode 5. In some ways I like that structure because having the story presented in 3-4 episode bursts makes it easy to stop and start the series if you don’t have the time to watch the whole thing at once. I think I will be watching the entire series, even though I’m not going to be able to get through it as quickly as Emily.

EVA: I am glad you two have enjoyed what you’ve seen of the show so far, but the more I think about it, the more sure I become that I don’t need to see the rest of the episodes. Yeah, Mickey’s character begins to grow and the plot begins to thicken, but all the silliness has pulled me out of the story enough times that I don’t think I want to dive back in.

ANNA: So Rooftop Prince is a good show if you enjoy your kdramas with family angst mixed with slapstick, but not so great if you find yourself with a low tolerance for silly men dressed in tracksuits. Have you watched this show yet? What did you think?