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Enjoy Everything

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We’re snowed in again (sigh) but I was prepared at least, and brought work home with me yesterday. After a long morning of work, I thought I’d take a break. Probably I should have worked on the review I have due this week, but instead, I finally picked up volume 5 of Yotsuba&!, which I’d been holding off on since it’s the last one until forever (or something like that).

I swear, there is nothing that can make a person happier than a volume of Yotsuba&! There is truly nothing more delightful in this world.

And so I present a List of Awesomeness in Yotusba&! Volume 5: …

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Links: manga, music, and nostalgia

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Oh Monday. How I wish you were Friday. I have one review in today’s Manga Minis at Manga Recon, for volumes 2 & 3 of Go!Comi’s Ultimate Venus. It is a silly, silly series that I enjoyed quite a bit more than expected. This initially led to a rambling post musing on the futility of assigning grades in reviews, but it sort of pushed itself into a corner so I’ve given it up for now. Instead, here are a few random links to things I’ve enjoyed recently:

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A few links on a sick day

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I’m battling illness and stabbing blindly at a difficult review, so just a little link-blogging from me today!

First of all, I keep re-reading Ed Sizemore’s review of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys and find myself desperately wanting to read the manga. This has shot straight to the top of my to-buy list. Ed’s reviews are always very much from the heart, and it’s obvious how much he enjoyed this manga. Example number 100,000,347 of How Reviews Sell Manga.

Speaking of reviews selling manga, check out Michelle’s recent review of classic shojo manga A,A’. Made me want to buy that too!

At Manga Recon’s recent roundtable, the bunch of us talked about our hopes and fears for film adaptations of manga. I piped up in favor of adapting shorter, less-popular series that could grab someone other than the usual action flick crowd. Not that I expect that will ever, ever happen.

So, has everyone been following the conversation about manga at Hooded Utilitarian? I’ve avoided dwelling on it too much, because I keep getting angry, but one point rings true. I haven’t ever been able to get deep into western comics, and one of the reasons, I think, is that I find them visually overwhelming. So aside from the inaccurate (and insulting) aspect of the argument that simple = simplistic, I think there is something to the fact that I am a manga reader at least in part because the art is easier for me to follow. That is not the only reason by far, nor is it the biggest reason (which is actually that I find the stories being told in manga much more to my taste), but it is definitely a factor.

ETA: Of course I realize now that most of what I just said there has already been said much more eloquently and with less vitriol by Brigid Alverson.

Okay, gotta go. Be sure to check out Deanna’s post from earlier today!

Captive Hearts, volume 1

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First things first, Monday means manga minis at Manga Recon, and I have one review there, for the second volume of Lay Mitsuki’s Yggdrasil from publisher Go!Comi. It’s one of those titles that could end up being incredibly good and packed with meaning, but it’s hard to tell at this point. Now on to the main topic.

Something I chose for a quick read yesterday evening, was volume 1 of Matsuri Hino’s Captive Hearts, a collection of three manga short stories (the first of which I believe will be continued) about love, or more accurately, obsession. I dug into Captive Hearts without having read anything about it, though if I’d actually paid attention to the cover art, which features a couple donned in wedding attire and chains, I might have been less surprised about the content. …

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Busy, busy, busy

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The week has been a little crazy, and I haven’t managed much manga-wise, other than reading a couple more volumes of Yotsuba&! (SO CUTE) and making three trades at mangatude (YAY). I do have a couple of reviews up at Manga Recon today, though, and they are both of pretty interesting titles, so I’ll pass the links along here!

First off, I review Viz’s Heaven’s Will in today’s On The Shojo Beat column, and I must tell you that though I only graded it at a B-, I actually really liked it. It’s a complete mess, and impossible to recommend, but there is something so compelling about its quirky cast of characters, I really just wanted more. Read my review, and you’ll see what I mean. I should point out, too, Michelle’s review of Otomen vol. 1 in the same column, which made me want to run right out and buy it, though it’s obviously just for fun.

Secondly, I have a full-length review of the first volume of Nanae Chrono’s new series, Momo Tama. Writing this review was incredibly difficult for some reason, especially surprising considering that I quite liked the volume. I’ll be interested to see where this series goes, and whether it really does become a full-blown comedy as the promotional material suggests. I kind of hope it doesn’t, because it’s more interesting to me the way it is now.

Okay, that’s all for now. I look forward to the long weekend!

Find of the day!

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Thanks to Lori Henderson at Manga Xanadu, I have discovered the wonderful world of Mangatude, where people swap volumes of manga they don’t want for volumes that they do. With my tight budget these days this is a godsend, and I’m sure I’m not the only one in that boat right now. I’ve signed up, and already have a trade in the works!

Of course, as wonderful a find as this is, I’m thinking about how it affects the industry for us to be trading books instead of buying new ones on our own. Right now, I’ve justified it in that my budget is pretty inflexible, and I wasn’t going to be spending more anyway, so better to be maintaining my interest in series that I eventually *will* buy more volumes of. Better, too, that books I don’t need (like our accidental duplicate copy of Fullmetal Alchemist vol. 8) will find their way into grateful hands. It’s made me think a lot also about what series I *really* want, and what I’d be willing to give up in order to get something I want more.

I don’t have a lot for trade right now (and half of what I did have is already gone), but I’m sure that will grow as time goes on. In any case, I’m passing the info along in the event that I’m not actually the last person to know about this. :)

Monday morning links!

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First of all, for anyone who may have missed it, last night saw the first post here by guest blogger, Deanna Gauthier! As I mentioned around the New Year, she’s going to be turning up here on a regular basis to share with us all her wonderful enthusiasm for manga! Please read her self-introduction here, and take a moment to say hello! Deanna’s posts, by the way, will not appear on my livejournal, so keep your eyes open for them here at the main blog!

Secondly, a couple of Manga Recon links: Michelle posted her Picks of the Week over the weekend, including NANA volume 14 (*heart*) and a whole slew of other fantastic shojo titles. Go check it out! Also, in today’s Manga Minis, I review Tokoyopop’s Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn.

Lastly, Matt (see, I can do it, really) at Rocket Bomber made a fairly lengthy post that was partly spurred on by my questions regarding age portrayals in Lucky Star and Shugo Chara! (which had been, in turn, inspired by a previous post of his). Matt’s whole post is worth reading, but I wanted to address one point in particular, because it is near and dear to my heart. …

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Hi. My name is Deanna and I’m a mangaholic.

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It is an honor beyond measure to be invited by MJto be a guest blogger. I have such a deep respect and admiration for MJ’s thoughtful reviews and insightful analysis of manga. Honestly after my initial excitement over the invitation abated a little, I froze for several days in a fit of self-consciousness. But manga means too much to me to pass up this wonderful opportunity to share my love of it with more people.

I cannot promise the eloquence and insight that you have come to expect from MJ, but as so many of my favorite characters say, I will do my best.

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NANA volume 14

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There is little that fills my heart with such joy as a new volume of NANA, though the story itself has gotten pretty troubling. From the back cover:

As Blast gears up for their major label debut, their fan club starts mobilizing. Led by the chic Shion, these ladies are serious fans who won’t let anyone mess with their band. But the fan club has it out for Misato, a maverick fan who has gotten too close to Nana. What will they say when they find out Misato is applying for a job with Blast?!

I find it hilarious that this is what they’ve chosen to talk about on the back cover of this volume, for though this certainly something that happens (sort of) in volume 14, it is so far from being the real drama, it’s almost funny. Real spoilers after the jump. …

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On my way out the door…

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Just a quick note before I run off to work this morning! Over at Manga Recon, we have a new roundtable discussion about which series we’d like to see licensed over here. As I said in my answer, I’m still playing catch-up on all the series that have already been licensed, so everyone else has much more to contribute than I do. Still, it gave me a chance to talk about Bakuman again. :D My other picks were a couple of older Ai Yazawa series, and Hikaru Nakamura’s Saint Oniisan which I’m dying to be able to share with my mother.

Work and life have been pretty busy this week, so I haven’t had a lot of time to spend on manga, but what time there is, I’ve mainly been spending reading Basara. It reads more slowly for me than most series (I’m a notoriously fast reader), which is a real pleasure, though I’ll be out of volumes soon and need to figure out how to pick up more. You may recall that I was a bit iffy on this series at first, but wow, continuing with it has really paid off. I’m completely enthralled. And Shuri is slooooowly moving toward a place where he may be able to shake off the title I gave him after volume 2 (“The Jerk King”), though I’m not entirely sure how much of that can really be credited to him, and how much is just due to the fact that I’ve now met one who is much worse.

Off to work now. Happy Friday everyone! More later, perhaps!

Ash vs. Shahryar

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That title makes it sound like a new fighting game, or a superhero comic, but there it is. :) I said in my last post that there was a lot I had to say about Han SeungHee and Jeon JinSeok’s One Thousand and One Nights that didn’t make it into my Manga Recon review, and one of those things was elaboration on a particular statement from the review. I said at one point, regarding the relationship between the two main characters in the story (Sultan Shahryar and his “Scheherazade,” Sehara):

“Their relationship is reminiscent of that between Ash Lynx and Eiji Okamura in Akimi Yashida’s classic shojo manga, Banana Fish (though more overtly sexualized), as both stories feature a pure, open heart coming to the rescue of a man with too much blood on his hands.”

More than that would have been out of place in the review, but I’d like to discuss it further here. The truth is, Sehara and Eiji are very much alike, and both of them are of a particular type that draws me to a story like Touya Akira to a goban. My “bullet-proof” character-type if you will. Both are unusually pure of heart, but in a wonderfully understated kind of way that fills me with delight.

Ash and Shahryar, however, though each a fearsome leader with a bloody history, differ in one especially significant way that I’ll explore after the jump! …

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A few quick links

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First of all, I’m glad I stopped using LiveJournal as my main blog a while back, considering the news that is circulating today. I’m posting this mainly for those of you who are reading on the LJ-mirror of this blog, but also to whine about how I’m going to have to spend time making sure I backed up all the freakin’ fanfiction, most of which I was hoping never to look at again. Oh, *sigh*. On the heels of this news, Squeaky has posted over at InsaneJournal to reassure users of that site’s financial stability.

Secondly, Deb Aoki has added a poll about 2008’s new shonen manga to go along with yesterday’s shojo poll. Both polls are open for several weeks, so there’s even time to read up on what you’ve missed! Apparently there is a seinen poll coming up too! Keep your eyes on about.com!

Lastly we come to my main reason for this entry, which is to point you all toward my full-length review of the first six volumes of One Thousand and One Nights, a manhwa retelling of the 9th century classic, over at Manga Recon. I’m especially excited about this review, because I hadn’t heard much about the series before I was sent the review copies, and I completely fell in love with it, which was pretty damn exciting. I’m sure this will happen many more times as I continue at Manga Recon, but after such winners as Hanky Panky and Make Love & Peace it really was an intoxicating experience.

I actually have a lot more to say about it than I could fit in the review, so I may talk more here later on. For now, check out my review!

Random lunchtime notes

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It’s always disorienting to return to work after a long vacation, and today I’m finding myself yawning much more than usual and having to think too much about routine tasks. I spent most of my vacation enjoying family time, eating too much, reading manga, and writing reviews! The reviews will be turning up at Manga Recon over the next couple of weeks, beginning with today’s Manga Minis, where I review the unremarkable Make Love & Peace from Aurora/LuvLuv, and Yen Press’ whimsical 11th Cat Special.

Vacation also gave us time to binge on Shugo Chara! anime, which just becoming more and more charming. I definitely need to give the manga another chance.

Speaking of manga, I should have a number of volumes of Basara waiting for me when I get home today. I can’t believe I’ve proceeded so slowly with this series, but now that I have some new volumes on the way, I can’t wait to dig in! On one hand, it’s intimidating to think about how many classics I need to catch up on, but on the other hand, it’s wonderful to think about how much great reading I have ahead of me.

And speaking of manga I have to catch up on, Deb Aoki has a poll going on at about.com to determine readers’ favorite new shojo manga for 2008! I haven’t read enough to vote, but I’ll be keeping tabs on the results to help me decide what to catch up on first!

Happy New Year!

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I’ve never really enjoyed New Year’s Eve parties, I’m not sure why. So last night, I was very happy to enjoy a quiet celebration at home, with a delicious meal cooked by my husband (Menu: Bacon wrapped asparagus, sweet potato tempura, and sliced chicken thighs, celery, carrot, and green beans cooked in soy sauce and mirin served over somen noodles in a chicken stock broth with spinach, topped with sliced green onion) and a little anime. Here’s hoping we’ve started the new year off right!

2008 was an amazing year for me here at There It Is, Plain As Daylight. I met a lot of incredible people, read a lot of great manga, and got invited to join the reviewing staff over at Manga Recon! My bookshelves are overflowing, and my blogroll has exploded to the point where I’ve had to turn to Google Reader to keep up. I hope to spend 2009 enjoying all of your blogs, attending more cons, reading more manga than ever, improving my writing, and plugging slowly away at my own comic!

One announcement I’d like to make for the new year, is that I recently invited my good friend Deanna Gauthier to come on board as a regular guest blogger! Deanna shares with me a deep love and enthusiasm for manga, and I’m thrilled that she has agreed to talk about it here! Please join me in welcoming her to my little blog!

Thank you all for being a part of my life in 2008! Here’s to a great 2009 for all of us!

Bye-bee!

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So, Matt Blind just posted news that the first two volumes of the Lucky Star manga from Bandai have been spotted on Amazon (for May and August of this coming year). I’m a fan of the anime, so this is good news for me!

In his post, he brought up the whole high-school-students-drawn-like-little-kids thing, and I admit that was weird for me at first (though I’ve gotten used to it), but I was thinking about that recently, as we’ve just started watching Shugo Chara! which features fifth graders who (in my opinion) look like high school students, and wondering what does it all mean? I know that the high school students who look like eleven-year-olds are supposed to appeal to twenty-something men who are into cuteness, but who are the eleven-year-olds who look like high school students supposed to appeal to? Shugo Chara! is a shojo series, so I suppose the answer is young girls. Is it because (as one friend suggested) young girls wish they looked like teenagers? Or do the kids in Shugo Chara! really look authentic to their age, and my perspective has just been warped from too much moe?

I’d love to know people’s opinions on this. I like both series, so I find it all pretty interesting. Also, speaking of Shugo Chara!, I had purchased the first volume of the manga a while back, read it, decided it was too “young” for me to really get into as a series, and passed it on to the daughter of a co-worker. Now that we’re watching the anime, however, I’m finding it really charming, and I wonder about that decision. Can anyone tell me how different the anime is from the manga? Is it that I really do just enjoy the anime more (rare for me), or have my tastes broadened since I originally read the manga, which means I should probably start picking it up again? Thoughts?