2 screenshot limit

Rumor on the internet is that Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic) has decided to pass on publishing the rest of the series. No surprise here, but after last week’s pleasant surprise about the 12K novels, this bit of news just shows that critical acclaim rarely, if ever, translates to sales.

For what it’s worth, I really don’t agree with the original poster’s opinion regarding Viz v. Tokyopop translations. But just as I’m entitled to my own views, she’s entitled to hers.

On twitter: Do my eyes deceive me? A new 12k novel? You’d better not be messing with my heart, @Tokyopop http://amazon.com/dp/1598169491

I cannot believe it when the cover for this novel showed up on my Amazon front page. It’s like a bonus holiday!

It’s really difficult to dislike this show. Yes, I admit that I’m weak to it since it’s shoujo, and the story’s been done before (I’m sure I’m not the first to make comparisons to Kare Kano), but that doesn’t mean that Kimi ni Todoke doesn’t bring its own charm to the table.

I haven’t read the manga and I think I’ll wait till the anime is finished before sending Viz my paycheck, if only for the reason that I want to enjoy the anime on its own merit, without having to compare it to the manga. If experience is any indicator, of course the manga’s going to be better; it always is.

I think the best part of Kimi ni Todoke is how it’s taking its sweet time. Sawako obviously has feelings for classmate Kazehaya, and vice-versa, but there’s no need to rush things. It’s really cute to watch these characters go through the awkwardness, the stumbling and blushing of young love.

If only high school was this simple… Actually, beyond the development of Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship, it’s also interesting how Sawako has reacted to the incessant name-calling and bullying. I don’t know about you, but if I were called “Sadako” and had people gossiping in front of my face all the time, well, I wouldn’t play as nice as Sawako does. High school is tough enough, but Sawako faces her situation with this matter-of-fact attitude: this is what I am, and if I keep trying and put myself out there, maybe people will warm up to me. Being a good person doesn’t hurt, and even the class mean girls recognize her good heart.

It’s anime like these that make me look forward to watching again.

I get all excited each time a new anime season starts up, because it gives me an opportunity to catch up on all the series from the previous season. I’ve really stopped caring in doing the episodic recaps, I’ll leave that to the young & eager whippersnapper ani-bloggers.

Getting sick and taking a few days off work also was a great chance to do this all this catching up business.

So, yes, I’m so dumb for waiting all this time to start watching Hanasakeru Seishonen. Let’s run down the reasons why this is so:

(1) The manga was created by Itsuki Natsumi, one of the mangaka I absolutely adore to teeny tiny pieces. So what if you scorn her mullets and ’80s fashion choices — in my humble opinion, she writes the best stories, filled with likeable characters, complex plots, and compelling storylines. I’m sure some of you still remember me frothing at the mouth about the Jyu-oh-sei anime, well, that’s nothing compared to this.

(2) It’s a reverse harem! With bishies!

Ahem.

Despite the otome-game scenario (beloved heroine Kajika has to choose between 3 prospective husbands, all who are lovable & perfect in their own way), the setup doesn’t feel forced or shallow. I was somewhat worried that it was going to be another Harukanaru or Kiniro no Corda (or worse, Miracle Train!) but no, it’s blessedly stayed away from that territory. The personalities of each husband-candidate is explored substantially. Rumaty isn’t just the “exotic prince” one, and Eugene isn’t “the flirtatious playboy” one. Kajika spends time with each one (mostly) equally, and hasn’t decided beforehand who she’ll love… ’cause she actually loves them all.

Lucky girl.

(3) It’s a return to the shoujo soap opera that I love and adore. It’s a lot of people talking and lounging around and flying around exotic locations to show how rich they are… I’d like to think of this as the 2009 version of Hana Yori Dango, only with less violin-playing.

(4) Toshiyuki Morikawa playing a non-creepy character. Namikawa Daisuke not playing a weepy uke… (wait).

(5) Proving that even older manga series can get an anime version if we wait long enough.

I really missed watching anime. Especially shoujo anime. Especially melodramatic shoujo anime.

I don’t think I’ve done this in ages… but I’m incredibly excited that there’s a sale on Viz manga and novels, so why not pimp out some titles that I feel deserve more attention.

Butterflies, Flowers by Yuki YOSHIHARA
Type: josei romantic comedy

Never ever thought that a Yoshihara title would be released in the U.S. so this is a big deal for me. This is one of her more recent titles, and in my opinion, it’s more toned down from her usual schtick, which can be somewhat risque (they’re sexy comedies, but still). I love her art style, especially the way she draws her (sexy) men. If you’ve been waiting for a good josei series, this is what you’ve been waiting for.

High School Debut by Kazune KAWAHARA
Type: school-based romantic comedy

Okay, so I’m showing my spots by suggesting two romance/comedy shoujo manga in a row. But this series is pure gold. Haruna is a shoujo heroine who’s really hard to dislike. And Yoh…dear gorgeous Yoh. You’ll find yourself cheering for Haruna as she figures out this whole love business thing.

Brave Story by Miyuki MIYABE (paperback)
Type: fantasy novel

I haven’t read this myself, because I was waiting for the paperback version, which is finally on the way!! The hardcover was just too much book for me to carry on the daily subway commute. This won the ALA Batchelder award for being the best children’s book in translation in 2008, so I’m sure it’s worth all the heavy lifting.

After a very enjoyable first volume, Venus Capriccio settles into familiar shoujo territory.

Akira and Takami are like a subdued version of Atsushi and Risa from Love*Com. It’s pretty obvious that they care about the other as more than friends, but they’re afraid of advancing the relationship into a romance because of a seemingly ‘important’ reason. In Venus Capriccio’s case, their obstacle is the age difference — as if it’s so abhorrent for an older girl to date a boy a few years her junior.

One of the developments in v2 that I enjoyed is Takami going back and taking piano lessons seriously. We find out that even though she keeps complaining about not being as good as Akira, she’s actually a determined piano student and is quite a good player. Even if you’re above average, when compared to a genius, you’re still not good enough. It was interesting to see Akira sweat a little bit there, nonetheless.

Didn’t buy the teacher flirting with Takami though. He was totally more interested in Akira, and had this been a boylove manga, there would’ve been some kinky teacher-and-student smexing on top of the piano…

We all came there for the cake.

But stayed for the booze (all re-named after various Del Rey manga & novel titles).

Seen at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia

I was surprised when I saw a TV showing the opening of Samurai 7 and almost missed this description tacked to the wall explaining what it was all about.

I guess I should technically go and review the rest of the books in this series, but ehh, does anybody really care? I’m only even writing this particular book up ’cause it’s where a lot of conflict and tension between Shin vs Yul actually start happening.

Before I go too far, I should ‘fess up to liking Yul a lot more than Shin. Yul is far from being perfect himself, but I think he’s not as wishy-washy as Shin is at this point in the story. Yul even admits that because he’s had everything taken away from him, he’s even more determined to get back and value it when he didn’t before.

And yes, Chae-Kyung is among those that he’d want to get back.

The manga really goes more into the slapstick joke moments than the kdrama. I admit that SoHee Park’s sense of humor doesn’t always match my own (I’m okay with one good poop joke, but she’s really gotta stop doing that at the most inopportune moments) but sometimes, I don’t understand why the eunuch character comes back/is mentioned so often.

But barring that, another solid volume of Goong. I don’t read as much manhwa as I did several years ago, but this series continues to be at the pile of my to-read list each time a new volume is out. That’s how much I truly enjoy it.

This is another typical situation where I get into the Yuji Iwahara fan-bandwagon well after everybody’s jumped on. I had bought this book a while ago out of curiousity, but in typical fashion, didn’t bother even opening the book it till after I finished reading Cat Paradise.

From the beginning, King of Thorn starts off with a tense & emotional situation. The central female character, Kasumi, is preparing to enter a cryogenic sleep state as one of the few persons picked to be frozen till they find a cure. The cure for what, you may ask — Kasumi and her twin sister Shizuku were inflicted by the Medusa virus, a pandemic where the cells harden up and are petrified, essentially turning the body into stone. So Kasumi is frozen, and feels terrible that her sister wasn’t picked to be ’saved’ either.

But as events in manga often go, something weird happens. Kasumi wakes up from frozen sleep and notices that the facility is overrun with thorns. And oh yeah, there are scary dinosaur-like animals running all over the place, as well as gigantic people-eating plants. A bunch of the other people who were frozen are now awake with her, and none of them have any idea how long they’ve been sleeping or what exactly is going on.

I know this is the first volume, and maybe this is another example of the times when I’ve been foaming over the mouth enthusiastic at first, but then the writing and the storyline peters out at the end, so I kind of end up hating the entire series… Well, I sure hope that I’m still loving this series by volume 6 as I am right now. Because this series is amazing.

It has a different pacing from Cat Paradise; if the author says that Cat Paradise feels like an anime, King of Thorn is a network mini-series — with a big special effects budget. It even contains elements that would fit right at home in a Hollywood production: uncurable pandemic, a ragtag group of character including a corrupt politician, unscrupulous criminal-type, and requisite cute girl, and even carnivorous flora!

I like how Iwahara seems to get it — he knows which elements would work best in his stories, so even if they are a bit on the cliche side, he’s not afraid to use them to enhance his version of the story.

Again, another recommended series. Plus, if you buy the rest of this series (like I’m planning to do ASAP), you may give Tokyopop some extra bucks to keep them going to pick up and publish other neat titles like this one. (It’s actually complete and it’s a non-Kodansha title so you should be able to find out pretty easily in your manga retailer of choice.)