Manga post
*WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HANA NO MIZU SHIRO AND THE RECENT CHAPTERS OF HOUROU MUSUKO*
- I read Hana no Mizu Shiro, another BL manga by the mangaka of Seven Days. It wasn't as good as Seven Days, and I found the ending predictable, cliche and rather disapointing, but even so it wasn't a bad manga. It ran at a good pace, didn't fall in to the trap of feeling slow and repetitive, had beautiful, fluid artwork, and had a sensitive, emotional focus on the two leads and their relationship. I just feel that it's ending let it down. If you enjoyed Seven Days, you would probably enjoy this manga.
But on a different note (*SPOILER WARNING*), where the hell did that scene at the end come from 0.0;?! The manga previously seemed so innocent then....well. Not that I have a problem with sex scenes, but after how innocent Seven Days was, and this manga had been up to that point, it kind of came as quite a surprise (XD).
- Speaking of surprising shifts from innocence, it looks like we are certainly starting to get a definite wiff of sexual tension in the latest chapters of Hourou Musuko! It came as a surprise, but I guess Nitori and Anna aren't kids anymore, and they are reaching the age where those kinds of urges are beginning to become present (and LOL, Maho walking in on them XD). And there were sex scenes in Aoi Hana as well, so I guess it wouldn't be uncharacteristic for the author (plus, the work is a josei manga). But would Nitori actually sleep with Anna? I'm not sure whether Nitori would be comfortable making love to Anna as a *man*, so I don't know if they'd actually go all the way. Besides from that though, until we get proper translations, there's not really much I can say about these recent chapters. Hopefully someone will translate the raws soon.
- I've also finished reading all that is currently translated of Kimi to Boku, and have to say that I've utterly enjoyed the series :). I hope that more is scanlated soon.
- I finished watching Cowboy Bebop. I absolutely loved this anime; it's definitely one of the best I have ever seen, and one of my favourites (up there with Hourou Musuko, XXXHolic and Saikano). It's a truly incredible masterpiece of an anime, and I really couldn't recommend it more. I've got Eden of the East on my list to watch next :).
- I've also started reading the Saikano manga. I was put off reading the manga for a while because the anime was quite violent (Shin Takahashi is quite a fan of the 'death by projectile-vomiting of blood' phenomona) and the manga, which is 18-rated, is supposed to be worse. However, so far the violence hasn't really been bad (although I know the violence steadily increases throughout the series), and the rating seems to be mostly down to sex references, so I think I will brave it. But mostly because the manga is just so beautiful I've got to complete it. I loved the anime, but the manga proves that the original will always be better than the adaptation. The emotional storyline between Chise and Shuji is handled even more sensitively in the manga, and feels even more real. I also found the manga had more humour than the anime, and it also covers a lot of plot-holes that they didn't bother to include the anime (such as where Chise's seemingly endless supply of uniforms come from, and giving a more human element to the faceless SDF doctors who transformed and work with Chise). And while I know it's met a lot of criticism, I feel the series sketchy artwork has a certain charm to it, and really matches the feel of the manga. And the disturbing almost-beauty of the scenes where we see Chise transformed in weapon form are an incredible acheivement, and as gruesome and disturbing as it is, the level of detail put in to the weapon is incredible. Shin Takahashi once said that he didn't design the weapon; he designed the weapon as how a weapon would design itself, and the results are incredibly powerful. She's almost like a deadly, monsterous, mechanical angel. I hope to read some more when I get some more money.
- I'm also currently reading the first part of the new Yen-Press re-translated and (supposedly) 'improved' Chobits omnibus. Despite a couple of niggles (such as the decision to replace the original Japanese sound effects with American ones), I am really enjoying the translation. I read the series when I was about 13, and although I enjoyed it, I think I was to young to really appreciate it, and so older and with better understanding I really am enjoying the manga much more the second time around. The series is beautifully done, and boasts some of the most gorgeous artwork of CLAMP's career, and now older I can much more appreciate and understand the deeper, emotional, romantic and philosophical elements of the manga, which are really what ultimately defines this series and makes it so brilliant. I might post a review of the re-vamped Yen-Press re-translation when I'm finished. As a Chobit's fan I do have mixed feeling regarding this 'new' English version (although my feelings are generally positive), so I might post about my verdict of this 'new' version when I'm done.
- I read Hana no Mizu Shiro, another BL manga by the mangaka of Seven Days. It wasn't as good as Seven Days, and I found the ending predictable, cliche and rather disapointing, but even so it wasn't a bad manga. It ran at a good pace, didn't fall in to the trap of feeling slow and repetitive, had beautiful, fluid artwork, and had a sensitive, emotional focus on the two leads and their relationship. I just feel that it's ending let it down. If you enjoyed Seven Days, you would probably enjoy this manga.
But on a different note (*SPOILER WARNING*), where the hell did that scene at the end come from 0.0;?! The manga previously seemed so innocent then....well. Not that I have a problem with sex scenes, but after how innocent Seven Days was, and this manga had been up to that point, it kind of came as quite a surprise (XD).
- Speaking of surprising shifts from innocence, it looks like we are certainly starting to get a definite wiff of sexual tension in the latest chapters of Hourou Musuko! It came as a surprise, but I guess Nitori and Anna aren't kids anymore, and they are reaching the age where those kinds of urges are beginning to become present (and LOL, Maho walking in on them XD). And there were sex scenes in Aoi Hana as well, so I guess it wouldn't be uncharacteristic for the author (plus, the work is a josei manga). But would Nitori actually sleep with Anna? I'm not sure whether Nitori would be comfortable making love to Anna as a *man*, so I don't know if they'd actually go all the way. Besides from that though, until we get proper translations, there's not really much I can say about these recent chapters. Hopefully someone will translate the raws soon.
- I've also finished reading all that is currently translated of Kimi to Boku, and have to say that I've utterly enjoyed the series :). I hope that more is scanlated soon.
- I finished watching Cowboy Bebop. I absolutely loved this anime; it's definitely one of the best I have ever seen, and one of my favourites (up there with Hourou Musuko, XXXHolic and Saikano). It's a truly incredible masterpiece of an anime, and I really couldn't recommend it more. I've got Eden of the East on my list to watch next :).
- I've also started reading the Saikano manga. I was put off reading the manga for a while because the anime was quite violent (Shin Takahashi is quite a fan of the 'death by projectile-vomiting of blood' phenomona) and the manga, which is 18-rated, is supposed to be worse. However, so far the violence hasn't really been bad (although I know the violence steadily increases throughout the series), and the rating seems to be mostly down to sex references, so I think I will brave it. But mostly because the manga is just so beautiful I've got to complete it. I loved the anime, but the manga proves that the original will always be better than the adaptation. The emotional storyline between Chise and Shuji is handled even more sensitively in the manga, and feels even more real. I also found the manga had more humour than the anime, and it also covers a lot of plot-holes that they didn't bother to include the anime (such as where Chise's seemingly endless supply of uniforms come from, and giving a more human element to the faceless SDF doctors who transformed and work with Chise). And while I know it's met a lot of criticism, I feel the series sketchy artwork has a certain charm to it, and really matches the feel of the manga. And the disturbing almost-beauty of the scenes where we see Chise transformed in weapon form are an incredible acheivement, and as gruesome and disturbing as it is, the level of detail put in to the weapon is incredible. Shin Takahashi once said that he didn't design the weapon; he designed the weapon as how a weapon would design itself, and the results are incredibly powerful. She's almost like a deadly, monsterous, mechanical angel. I hope to read some more when I get some more money.
- I'm also currently reading the first part of the new Yen-Press re-translated and (supposedly) 'improved' Chobits omnibus. Despite a couple of niggles (such as the decision to replace the original Japanese sound effects with American ones), I am really enjoying the translation. I read the series when I was about 13, and although I enjoyed it, I think I was to young to really appreciate it, and so older and with better understanding I really am enjoying the manga much more the second time around. The series is beautifully done, and boasts some of the most gorgeous artwork of CLAMP's career, and now older I can much more appreciate and understand the deeper, emotional, romantic and philosophical elements of the manga, which are really what ultimately defines this series and makes it so brilliant. I might post a review of the re-vamped Yen-Press re-translation when I'm finished. As a Chobit's fan I do have mixed feeling regarding this 'new' English version (although my feelings are generally positive), so I might post about my verdict of this 'new' version when I'm done.