Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews
I’ve been waiting anxiously for the official release of xxxHolic volume 12, and though it’s been quite an ordeal getting to finally read it (late shipments, car crashes, etc.) it was such a treat to finally really sit down with it. I read it once last night while I was still pretty screwed up in the head (that would be the car crash factor), and then again tonight, slightly less screwed up. Both reads were pretty intense. Volume 12 is very special to me, and I’ll talk a bit about why.
…
I’ve been MIA, I know. Lots going on lately. But I did have some time to write up reports from my experience at Anime Boston this past weekend….
by MJ 6 Comments
Work has been insane for me this week, as I prepare information for our company’s tax accountant, and it becomes impossible for me to leave work at work at these times of year, so I haven’t had a lot of time to think about anything, you know, fun. Fortunately, last night after visiting our own tax accountant (and by “our own tax accountant” of course I mean “the random accountant we were assigned to this year by H&R Block”), Paul and I had a nice, relaxing dinner, followed by a stroll to the local comic shop, and as a result, I came home with two shiny, new volumes of xxxHolic. I haven’t discussed xxxHolic much here, or anywhere else, leading some friends to believe that it is about porn (um, no), so since I did let myself read the first of my new volumes (volume seven) last night before bed, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about it.
…
In my last post, I talked about how I tend to experience fiction by total immersion. Then for two days after, I proceeded to immerse myself once more by reading all 21 volumes of Please Save My Earth. It was like a nostalgic visit to my very own young teen brain, and that’s something pretty incredible. Four volumes in, I said to friends, “It’s like they removed my teenaged brain and stuck it on paper for all of Japan to read.” This only became more true as I continued through the series.
…
by MJ 2 Comments
As you may have noticed, when it comes to fiction, I most often opt for total immersion. There’s really nothing I love more than completely losing myself in a fictional world (mine or otherwise). And, actually, I think “losing myself” is the wrong term to use, because this process is *such* a personal, intimate experience for me, and when I am immersed in a world this way, I feel entirely *present* in a way I often do not feel in “real life.” I think I am, in many ways, more myself in these moments, when I am able to interact with someone else’s inner life through my own.
All that is really just a complicated lead-up to the fact that I have spent the last few days pretty much immersed in the Black Cat universe, and what will probably turn out to be a long-winded description of just how much I enjoyed that. The weekend was spent with the Black Cat anime, followed by a day or two of rapturous flailing, followed by rapid consumption of the manga, which took another two days, and which pretty much blew my obsession with the anime right out of the water. Not all of it is blown, mind you. I’m still haunted by the music and glorious imagery of the anime, especially in the first six or seven episodes, and there are elements of the anime that I probably love more than the manga, though I love the manga much more overall.
…
The new year has already turned out to be even more challenging than the last, which is certainly not what I expected, but perhaps it all leads to a more meaningful path, both for me and those close to me. None of that is really appropriate to this blog, so I won’t go further, but it’s in my nature to be optimistic, so that’s what I’m running on right now.
Something I’ve done to distract myself from deep thoughts the past couple of days, is to reacquaint myself with Hikaru no Go, specifically the manga. I’d watched the anime somewhat recently, but I hadn’t gone back to the manga, especially the final arc which is not included in the anime, since my first whirlwind through it. This time, I started with the final arc, which actually disappointed me a bit the first time through, but worked much better for me on the second read. Something that I was struck with immediately was just how skillfully crafted this story is. What rich characters! What a compelling plot! What delightful artwork! Jason Thompson refers to Hikaru no Go, in his book, Manga: The Complete Guide, as “…one of the few all-ages manga that can truly be enjoyed by all ages,” and though I personally have not read enough all-ages manga to make such a statement, I can absolutely vouch for Hikaru no Go. …
by MJ 8 Comments
Wow, it’s been a while, I realize. The holidays took over my life for a bit, but now I’m back into the daily grind. I worked a lot on the graphic novel over the past week, and things are really starting to take shape. I won’t have as much time, now that I’m back to work, but I’m trying to set some realistic goals over the next few months to keep myself motivated. I truly have never had an original project of my own that excited me as much as this one does, which helps too. I’m hoping to have a final script for the entire series completed by the end of the year, and possibly even well before then, depending on how demanding the rest of my life is. I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions, because I think they tend to set a person up to fail, so I’m not going to make one. But my desire to complete this project is strong, as is my resolve to do so.
I also did some reading over the holidays! …
by MJ 6 Comments
Happy holidays! I hope you’re all enjoying yours, however you choose to spend them. It’s been a bit of a strange holiday season for me, I admit. This is usually my favorite time of year, but everything has had a bit of a damper on it this time around. This year has been like that overall, I suppose, but I’m still surprised to find myself with anything even approaching the holiday blues. It is very unlike me. I hope this year remains an anomaly, as I don’t especially wish to repeat it. I did enjoy time with family, which was a true pleasure.
…
by MJ 2 Comments
The holidays are quickly approaching, and everything is madness, both in my professional and personal life. Still, we’ve found time for some reading/viewing, most of which has been Kino’s Journey (Kino no Tabi). I wrote a little bit about this the other day, but like most things I love, I can’t seem to stop talking about it.
I have fallen for this series hard, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, while most of my favorite manga and anime characters are men/boys, the protagonist of Kino no Tabi is a …
by MJ 7 Comments
It’s been a while since I’ve written here, primarily due to stress and illness, both of which are still with me. Tonight I am snuggled under and electric blanket with my pup at my feet, and as usual, these things make me want to talk about manga. Actually anime, tonight, I guess. Heavy cold and flu medicine have made reading difficult, though I am still working my way through the Bleach manga, and have re-read Fullmetal Alchemist 13 & 14 in anticipation of the English release of volume 15, which should be sometime this month, I think.
Speaking of Fullmetal Alchemist, I must take this opportunity to tell you all that my workplace Secret Santa (who today was revealed to be our creative director’s assistant, Chelsey) has outdone every Secret Santa in the history of time by making me an Elric Brothers shrinky-dink keychain. I repeat, an Elric Brothers shrinky-dink keychain. That’s right, she drew Edward and Alphonse Elric on a shrinky-dink, baked it, ran a key ring through it, and gave it to me for Christmas. I spent much of this afternoon admiring it, and now my coworkers may believe I am insane. I will attempt to blame this on the illness.
Anyway. Continuing. Not even illness can stop the consumption of anime, so that’s what I’ll talk about tonight. …
The weekend can’t possibly come too soon. I’m exhausted in every way, and my creativity is seriously waning.
In better news, my subscription to Shonen Jump has finally kicked in, though they started me with the January issue, so I need to fill in December on my own. (I hear that Paul has picked it up for me this very evening, yay!) Also, I have become mesmerized by Shaenon Garrity’s Overlooked Manga Festival, which includes many series I have been planning to look into anyway, like Please Save My Earth and Sugar Sugar Rune, as well as a delightful write-up of Banana Fish, which I have already started and *love*. The thing you really must look at, though, is her recent entry about Moon Child, which is one of the funniest things I have seen lately. Wow. There is something sublime about that special kind of crack.
Also, I got some really helpful feedback on the most recent summary of the beginning of my graphic novel from the friend whose name I stole for the main character. It was really great to hear what she had to say, and it also left me feeling very positive about the whole thing. I have less than a month to reach my December 23rd goal, and I need all the encouragement I can get right now.
This weekend, we’re hoping to get our Christmas tree, which is honestly one of my favorite moments of the year. For an atheist, I’m bizarrely attached to Christmas. I think the Christmas story is one of the first pieces of fiction that I fell in love with, which may be an offensive concept to some, but I’m fairly certain that my feelings about fiction are not terribly different from many people’s feelings about God, so please understand the gravity of that statement. I very truly, deeply love Christmas, and all the sights, smells, sounds, and feelings that go along with it. My fascination with Christmas trees has been much mocked by my loved ones, and for good reason. Once I’ve decorated one, I have difficulty taking my eyes off of it. Expect photographs in a few days.
Now I shall attempt some script work, and try not to fall asleep.
The past few days have been a mix of wonder and difficulty. On one hand, I came from the long weekend having accomplished more on my graphic novel than I had in weeks, which felt really good. On the other, I’ve been thrown back into the daily grind, and it is not sitting well at all. I’ve never been good at balancing my creative life with my gainful employment, at least not since they stopped being the same thing, and I suppose that problem is simply more pronounced coming out of a long, creative weekend. Someday perhaps I’ll be able to manage this balance (or perhaps the two things will be one again), but that day is probably pretty far off.
To distract myself, I will talk about anime. Surprised? As predicted, we did finish the entire series of the Mushishi anime, and I have also now read the first volume of the manga.
…
It’s been a long week in just two days, and I’m very happy to have only one day left of work.
by MJ 3 Comments
I’ve been very quiet on the internet lately, which is rare for me, but my life is a whirlwind of work, writing, reading, & viewing. The work has been stressful, and the writing has been slow, so it’s best if I focus here on the fun parts of that: reading & viewing. Mostly reading.
…
I’m home sick. Have been sleeping much of the day, and watching a little anime. My husband was recently introduced to Shinkai Makoto’s Voices of a Distant Star, so over the past couple of days, he and I have been watching both that and his later film, 5 Centimeters Per Second, which for some reason is the one I have fallen for most deeply. I watched it again today, and I was again struck with such deep emotion, it was difficult not to just start all over again as soon as it had finished. …