It’ll probably be a few more years before TSRI releases a HnG DVD thinpak-boxset, so as an alternative I’ve been eyeing the 23 volumes of the Hikaru no Go manga for the longest time and they are finally mine! There’s currently a 20% discount for Kinokuniya members until 27 June - I thought that I would miss out on it as my membership had expired and it normally takes up to 3 weeks to process new membership applications. But the very helpful staff issued me a card on the spot. Needless to say, armed with shiny new membership card, my spending limiter was released from AA to S class. SET UP Moyism mode! (Also bought myself Lucky Star Vol. 3 and 4 as well as The Splintering of Haruhi Suzumiya light novel.)
Continue reading ‘Hikaru no Go Vol.1-23′
How many times can one tell the same story? Or to re-use the same motifs, albeit in different iterations? The 1.5 locates this series after the original manga from which the first GITS movie drew on for the puppet master conspiracy and is a bridge to the Man-Machine Interface compilation which concentrates the post-merger Motoko.
In ‘Fat Cat’ (Issue 1-2), Section 9 investigate a rich businessman who might be dead but is walking. Togusa and Azuma investigate if he is indeed a remotely controlled zombie and what his puppeteers are up to. This is the first time I’ve had more than a superficial impression of Azuma and it was quite different to see Togusa in the role of mentor rather than rookie. Nonetheless, while I got a sense of why Azuma was recruited, the short story couldn’t convey the strength of partnership the way Innocence delivered on the Motoko-Batou relationship - even though the former is physically absent for most of the movie.
The Major does make an appearance in ‘Drive Slave’ (Issue 3-4) in her Chroma The Hunter remote body. In this story, Batou and Togusa are protecting a police witness he undergoes a surgical procedure to remove a nano-explosive device that has been infiltrated into his heart. The Major once again does battle with a tank-like enemy and is severely mauled but triumphs with through sheer endurance, cunning, the help of insect-like robots (which also feature in Fat Cat).
Of all four covers, I liked the Issue 4 one best (bottom left) which is her Motoko Aramaki corporate warrior incarnation; the suit jacket-like top, short skirt, lace trimmings on skirt and boots, fingerless gloves and the whole Sharon Stone Fatal Attraction type seating position. :D~~ Just wish that the four issues had more of this type of art as the were nowhere as sensuous or fanservicey as in Man-Machine Interface.
Despite my belly-yakking, it’s just a bridge [rejected offshoot - see comments] from GITS to MMI so no expectations of a grand over-arching narrative here. I’m still looking forward to the conclusion of these vignettes (4 arcs - 8 issues in total).
I got hooked on this comic in its web form when someone on an Evangelion mailing list forwarded a link to this. While Fred ‘Piro’ Gallagher’s Megatokyo is heavily influenced by dating sims/anime like Kanon, Air, Haibane Renmei, Michael Poe’s Exploitation Now has numerous references to Evangelion, tentacle monsters, ninjas and even one for Sailor Bubba.
I read the story as having two main threads. Initially it starts out like 4koma with a joke per comic centred on Bimbo Moneymaker (ex porn star) and Ralph Givememore (furry perv) who are gradually squeezed out by the narrative featuring Jordan Kennedy (teenage evil genius) and Bush Moneymaker (teenage deliquent turned evil genius right hand). The whole thing has a chaotic feel to it but somehow it all hangs together and manages to conclude rather well before the story really spun out of control.
Continue reading ‘Exploitation Now Vol.1 & 2′
Kudoes to Kawaii Heavens (They Of Fanbook Munificience) for scanlating the SHUFFLE! manga. Although we see the occasional series where the manga is licensed but the anime is not (e.g. Keroro Gunsou), I don’t think SHUFFLE! will ever reach the English-speaking market in either medium. While I’m enjoying what I’ve seen the manga thusfar, it mainly reinforces my impression that asread has done a brilliant job of interpreting the original eroge and translating that into the anime.
Continue reading ‘SHUFFLE! Manga Vol.1 Ch 1-2′
Haven’t been buying much anime-related stuff for the past month because funds in that vote were diverted towards family gifts. However there was still enough cash for this - just received my copy of Sgt Frog Vol.7 from Amazon.co.uk. Sorry, Forbidden Planet but the discount given by the online retail behemoth is just irresistable. Meta-note: I’ve decided to label this as “Sgt Frog” to differentiate it from my discussion of the Keroro Gunso anime.
Koyuki finally appears and the anime follows the account of love at first scent pretty closely. However there are some important differences. The manga Koyuki is so much more aggressive in her pursuit of Natsumi - even her initial sniff is so much closer to Natsumi’s face and the way it is drawn almost looks like a kiss. One of the things I loved about the manga version was how Giroro immediately realized that Koyuki is a love rival and starts fuming about how Koyuki constantly clings to Natsumi. The latter leads to many lecherous stares from the guys at school and fury from the not unnumerous Natsumi fangirls. And while Giroro’s actions also leads to Koyuki’s secret ninja identity being revealed to Natsumi, it’s a whole different sequence of events and I found the manga version so much more amusing. Completely different context - related to how Koyuki and Dororo moved into the house opposite the Hinata home. The casual way in which Saburo-sempai (Mutsumi 623) and Koyuki’s reaction made me feel that he doesn’t deserve Natsumi at all and that Koyuki or Giroro are so much better suited for the Hinata oneesama.
The last one third of the volume was Koyuki-less though. :( With a whole chapter on that wretched 556 which is probably the only character in the series whom I utterly detest. Then again I also jumped out of my chair, pumped my fist into the air and screamed “YES!!!” when Gai bought the farm in Martian Successor Nadesico. Twat type characters. But for the rest of the Koyuki x Natsumi goodness, it was still well worth it.