Category Archives: manga

May 5th, 2008: Genshiken & Kujibiki Unbalance Doujin Event

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Gen-An, the Genshiken/Kujibiki Doujin Event is set to go this Monday, May 5th, 2008. The event will take place from 11am – 5pm in Hanakawado in Taito City, Tokyo at the Taito City Meeting Hall.

Some big names are going to be there, not least of which is Kansai Orange. Not to mention some of the finest Ogiue-drawing artists I know of, such as CAB and Anri of Work Arts.

Sadly, I am not in Japan and I have some serious work to do, so I cannot attend. But if enough people can go, you can carry my spirit to Japan for me.

And I hope everyone who goes keeps a look-out for the kinds of things I’d be looking for.

As for what my preferences are, I’ll give you a hint: Ogiue.

Infinite Loop Feedback: Ogiue Maniax on Ninja Consultant

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Ninja Consultant finally has my interview with them from New York Comic Con 2008.

I apologize for any moments where I am largely incomprehensible. I’m still kind of afraid to listen to it myself.

By the way, I normally don’t pronounce the word “maniac” that way. It’s only when referring to the name of this blog.

Anime Blog Awards 2008, the Voting Truly Begins

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…well, more like it began, and this post is a few days late.

The Anime Blog Awards are asking the anime community for who they think the best blogs are. There are a variety of categories, and you don’t necessarily have to vote for all of them, so feel free to stick to your preferences in more ways than one.

There are two separate votes, one for anime bloggers only and one for the general public. Bloggers can vote in both.

The voting ends May 15th, so you have either plenty of time or very little depending on how you look at it.

The link to the ABA is in my blogroll, and may the best wordy nerds win. As long as no drama arises from this whole deal I’ll look forward to seeing it again in the future, too.

Introducing the Bratender: La Sommelière Volume 1

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Forgive my misogynistic title. I just couldn’t resist.

Araki Joe is a man who Knows Alcohol. Readers may know Araki from the anime adaptation of his manga Bartender, which tells the story about a man whose mixed drinks brighten the lives of his patrons. He’s also responsible for Sommelier, which tells the story about a man whose wine-serving abilities bri- well you get the idea. Don’t confuse Sommelier with La Sommelière, though, as there’s a world of difference between the two.

And by world of difference I mean the fact that the main character is a woman.

Itsuki Kana is a young woman with a passion for wine. Having studied the art of winery in college, Kana lives on a vineyard with a kind old lady and a group of orphans and spends her days growing grapes and making wine. When a slick city folk kind of hombre (omubure) appears with a message from a mysterious benefactor, “John Smith,” Kana sets off to Tokyo to find Mr. Smith, her only souvenir from home being a bottle of white wine produced by Kana and the orphans, a wine which she proudly labels as the “World’s Best.” Kana begins work at an upscale restaurant as a Sommelière, or Wine Waitress. Her love and comprehensive knowledge concerning wine allows Kana to (say it with me) brighten the lives of her patrons, but also learns a thing or two about wine herself.

The artwork in La Sommelière is incredibly clean, with sophisticated character designs, elegant if traditional panel layouts, and an emphasis on the beauty and versatility of wine. The most detailed drawings are always wine-related, and when it comes to tasting the wine, the characters are drawn with facial expressions that can be summed up as “a very sophisticated and high-class Yakitate Japan.” As for Kana herself, her devotion to wine, enthusiasm, and pleasant demeanor make for an incredibly endearing and attractive heroine.

At the end of every story is a detailed explanation on a wine featured in that chapter. I personally have very little experience with wine (or most alcoholic beverages for that matter), so I cannot verify the accuracy of the information given. It really doesn’t matter, though.

Going into this manga, I was worried that the emphasis on wine would be reliant on certain universal factors dictating which wines are better than others, but I’m glad to say that isn’t the case. There’s one universal truth in the world of La Sommelière, the truth that context is queen. The context in which the wine is made, the context in which the wine is served, the frame of mind of the drinker, everything contributes to the idea that any wine can potentially be the “best ever,” even a white wine produced by an intrepid Sommelière and a group of orphans.

La Sommelière is not out in English, and as a seinen title it’s not the easiest read for people beginning their Japanese studies. Even if you are fluent, French words are being thrown around constantly and it can become daunting to decipher the mysterious world of wine. Still, even though I hardly know the first thing about wine, I can recommend La Sommelière simply for its pleasant atmosphere and strong, elegant art style.

Nanoha Cannot Be the Best Magical Girl Anime

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I take issue with people who declare Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (or one of its sequels) to be the best Magical Girl series ever. The magical girl genre is understandably focused primarily on relationships, the pursuit of love, and other similar themes. Nanoha, meanwhile, is noted for its magical girls engaging in earth-shattering battles with devastating laser barrages and bone-shattering impacts. The general impression I get from people who make the claim is that Nanoha is great because it’s a magical girl show without all the fluff and romance.

In other words, it’s the best magical girl show for being nothing like a magical girl show.

I don’t think this is a case of breaking genre conventions, though the thought occurred to me. It’s different from a show like Evangelion which turned the mecha genre on its ear because Evangelion did not go against what defines the mecha genre in the first place. The characters may have been emotional wrecks, but the common theme of humanity and its relationship with war and suffering is a long-running concept since even before First Gundam, and it’s present in Evangelion with a twist. Princess Tutu, as an example closer to the topic of Nanoha at hand, approaches the issue of meta-stories and the very nature of “story” itself, but it maintains itself as a magical girl series with, again, its emphasis on relationships.

I like the Nanoha series, but the appeal of it is more like a Sunrise mecha show than it is a magical girl series, and I think to judge it from that perspective is a little unusual. It would be like saying that a plate of spaghetti you just ate is the best yakisoba ever, despite tasting nothing like how a yakisoba should. The key word in mahou shoujo is shoujo, and personally I think the fact that Nanoha is basically only a magical girl show on the surface automatically disqualifies it.

PS: If you’re wondering what I consider to be the best magical girl series, Cardcaptor Sakura, of course.

Why I Like Ogiue, Part 4, or Being a Man who is a Fan of Ogiue

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As I stated in my previous post, I spoke to the Ninja Consultants at New York Comic Con, and among the topics we discussed were of course Genshiken and Ogiue. Erin pointed out to me that, as far as she knows, the majority of Ogiue fans in the US (or at least in the New York area) are female, and being a male Ogiue fan is kind of an exception.

Ogiue being more popular among girls than guys makes perfect sense, actually. Female anime fans would of course relate to the fujoshi that is Ogiue. It’s all obvious, with hindsight.

And yet, this fact didn’t really hit me just how rare a breed I am until Erin mentioned it. And I know that there are other guys out there who like Ogiue, just not as much as me, which I’m sure is a huge shock. The real point though is that it seems like not many of them are big, big fans of Ogiue, at least not compared to the number of girls who are.

What makes Ogiue stand out to me so far above other characters is the fact that I’ve been very fond of her every step of the way. From her brash, one-armed introduction to the club, to the revelation of her psuedo-real-life fantasies and denial of such, to her gradual softening and then hardening, to her acceptance of herself and her relationship with Sasahara, I was pretty much a fan from day one as anyone who’s read this blog will know.

And all along, I’ve been evaluating Ogiue from the perspective of a male otaku, not that I can evaluate from any other. And of course, I’ve also been doing this with every character I see. I don’t plan on talking extensively on gender roles in anime any time soon, but it just leaves me thinking about my position among anime fans at large, half of whom are female.

New York Comic Con: An Incomplete Con Report Because I Will Probably Forget Most Things

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I went to my first New York Comic Con this past weekend. I normally prefer less city and commute-based conventions, but it was still a pleasant experience over all.

I’ll avoid the hanging out with friends talk, but I’ll just say I hung out with various friends and it was good times for all.

I saw the Lucky Star dub. Some voices were weaker than others, and Wendy Lee still sounds like Wendy Lee, but they tried very hard with this dub. I think the dialogue sounded a lot more natural than I was expecting, which was a big plus. Kogami Akira felt pretty spot on, Shiraishi Minoru not so much, and the pronunciation of Shiraishi was a little painful. Overall though, not a bad dub at all.

I got to meet the fine folks over at Ninja Consultant Podcast and got to be interviewed, which was a great experience. We talked about various topics, including but not limited to Ogiue. Keep up with their podcast, and you might just get to hear how incomprehensible I am when I speak. By the way, I’m a 35 year old balding man and my name is Gerald Rathkolb.

I saw Freedom. In unrelated news, I sure do want some Nissin Cup Noodles. I also attended Grant Morrison panels, and though I’m not really a huge fan of his work (just because I don’t read much of his work), his scottish talkings about made both panels very entertaining. Oh yeah, Seven Soldiers was awesome so I guess I am a Grant Morrison fan after all. I also attended a Tokyopop panel, and there as I watched the slides come on screen, I realized just how much Tokyopop gears towards shoujo and bl now. I feel like it snuck up on me without me realizing it, and now it’s too late.

I attended the Giant Robot Rumble panel, where I got to explain what an Absolute Terror Field actually is, as well as correcting the people who thought one robot was Aphrodai A when it was actually Dianan X. Thanks to this, I was considered a nerd even among nerds. Yes, I am that pathetic. PS Steve Yun please make me a judge next time. Sadly I had to leave early, so if someone can tell me who won, that’d be great.

By the way, Optimus Prime does not lose to Roy Focker/Fokker, at least not for the reasons given. Saying that Roy’s in a plane and Optimus’s mobility is limited is not an argument when Optimus REGULARLY FIGHTS ROBOTS WHO TRANSFORM INTO FIGHTER JETS.

I actually did not buy all that much, which is okay by me. I bought an autographed copy of David Lloyd (artist of V for Vendetta)’s new book, Kickback. The artwork is really up my alley. I took one look at it, and I was sold. The other thing I bought was a 20 minute backrub. It was actually worth it because it helped me take on the 90 minute TM Revolution concert.

And oh boy what a concert it was. TM Revolution has incredible stage presence, and his singing is solid. The most prominent feature of that concert though was the screaming. The loud, fangirl (and boy) screaming, which I partook in on a number of occasions. He covered all of the SEED songs and Heart of Sword, and a few others. By the way, my ears are still feeling the effects of that concert.

I was sitting behind TM Revolution’s Japanese fan club. Before the concert started, and as fans waved signs and hooped and hollered and asked TMR to marry them, I asked the Japanese fan club girls what they thought of America.

Needless to say, they were impressed.

The race against time in importing japanese manga

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If I go to a Japanese bookstore and the book is actually physically there, then it costs less than asking the bookstore to import it from Japan.

This isn’t unexpected or surprising, but it makes me think that with any given manga series I’m going to have to keep an eye out on Japanese releases so I can buy the volumes without any extra shipping fees.

A tricky thing, this timing.

Misleading Shojo Beat Cover Blurbs Annoy Me

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This happens fairly often, but one instance in particular that I remember comes from a recent issue.

On the cover, it mentioned something like “Top 10 Shojo Manga,” and I thought, hey, this sounds neat. It seems like they’re going to rate the top 10 shoujo manga of all time or something. Are they going to base it on popularity in America? Popularity in Japan? There are a number of small differences after all (the popularity of Fruits Basket, for example). I opened it to check just how they were going to approach this topic.

I could not find anything close to what they claimed. I don’t even remember what exactly it said, but it was certainly not what the cover claimed. It seemed to just cover whatever it is that they were showing in the magazine already, with maybe some blurbs about anime or live-action adaptations.

I hoped to find some opinions on titles in the shoujo hall of fame. I got nothing in return. Bleh.

Oh, blind purchasing how I missed you and your devilish ways

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I was at Kinokuniya today, and decided that while I’m there I should totally buy something. This presented a problem, as there are plenty of manga there I’d like to pick up, but I’d be worried about getting locked into a very long series (Otokojuku), or fear of spoiling an anime I’m already watching (Shugo Chara!) or might get more episodes at some point (Bamboo Blade).

So my policy was to buy volume 1 of something I had no idea about. Something I wouldn’t recognize off the bat or have any preconceived notions of. Not easy, when you spend a good portion of your day reading, watching, or reading about the stuff.

In the end I decided to pick up what appears to be a seinen manga called “La Sommelière” and it appears to be about a female bartender. You know, as opposed to a just plain Bartender. I haven’t read through all of it, but you can expect a review at some point.

In any case, I’m pretty glad with my purchase as it fulfilled my desire to give a new series a chance, so that I don’t come at it with any preconceived notions or feel I’m retreading any old ground.

(It also means that I have no idea how long the series is supposed to be, so I don’t feel bad about not buying much more of it.)