Saturn Apartments, Twin Spica, and Re-Prints
The manga Saturn Apartments is about an orphaned window-washer who lives in the future. People have left the Earth and live in a big structural ring surrounding the Earth. Obviously, in order to see the Earth below, the windows must be washed. Usually, only the people who live in the top two classes of society can afford to do so - the window-washers, of course, are of the lower/bottom class. I'm not quite finished with volume 1, but it's pretty great so far. I love Viz's Signature Series treatment. So much win.
Also giving a shout-out to Twin Spica, a series about a girl named Hasumi whose dream is to become an astronaut (or, in her 5-year-old voice, "a rocket driver!"). To do so, Hasumi begins attending a school for teenagers like her, which will teach them how to be astronauts. Hasumi needs to live in the free on-campus housing, unlike her friends, whose parents can afford apartments. Hasumi strives to realize her dream in the shadow of a tragic accident: when she was a child, Japan's first manned-space flight crashed, killing many of Japanese civilians - including her mother. It's just....so awesome! Hasumi's father does everything he can to help Hasumi's dream, and it's so adorable! This series is kind of what I wished Planetes would be. It still mentions political/practical issues of space travel - including the collection of space debris!
It's nice to see some manga (or fiction in general) paying attention to class issues.
Yesterday I got my hands on the Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus put out by Dark Horse. SO MANY COLOR PAGES! It's frickin' gorgeous! The decision is cemented: Even though I already own this series, I will RE-BUY it for these amazing omnibuses. I can't quite figure it out, though - this omnibus version is a new translation, right?
SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS TREATMENT TO SAILOR MOON. I WILL THROW MY MONEY AT YOU.
Also! A cover by Joseph Gordon-Levitt! [Link goes to his tumblr entry.] <3 <3 <3
Also giving a shout-out to Twin Spica, a series about a girl named Hasumi whose dream is to become an astronaut (or, in her 5-year-old voice, "a rocket driver!"). To do so, Hasumi begins attending a school for teenagers like her, which will teach them how to be astronauts. Hasumi needs to live in the free on-campus housing, unlike her friends, whose parents can afford apartments. Hasumi strives to realize her dream in the shadow of a tragic accident: when she was a child, Japan's first manned-space flight crashed, killing many of Japanese civilians - including her mother. It's just....so awesome! Hasumi's father does everything he can to help Hasumi's dream, and it's so adorable! This series is kind of what I wished Planetes would be. It still mentions political/practical issues of space travel - including the collection of space debris!
It's nice to see some manga (or fiction in general) paying attention to class issues.
Yesterday I got my hands on the Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus put out by Dark Horse. SO MANY COLOR PAGES! It's frickin' gorgeous! The decision is cemented: Even though I already own this series, I will RE-BUY it for these amazing omnibuses. I can't quite figure it out, though - this omnibus version is a new translation, right?
SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS TREATMENT TO SAILOR MOON. I WILL THROW MY MONEY AT YOU.
Also! A cover by Joseph Gordon-Levitt! [Link goes to his tumblr entry.] <3 <3 <3