Tag Archives: sweetness and lightning

Quotable: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for August 2016

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August is full of fun and surprises. For one thing, I have two panels at Otakon 2016: “Greater Uglier Manga” and “Such Dog, Much Anime, Wow.” The schedule isn’t available yet, but when it is I’ll be making a post.

Another bit of news is that Ogiue Maniax has, for the first time ever, been quoted on the back of a manga! The title in question is Sweetness & Lightning:

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I consider this quite the milestone, and I’d like to thank my readers, but especially my Patreon sponsors in particular for supporting me:

General:

Johnny Trovato

Ko Ransom

Alex

Diogo Prado

Sasahara Keiko fans:

Kristopher Hostead

Yoshitake Rika fans:

Elliot Page

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

I’d also like to congratulate Johnny for winning my Love Live! contest.

Perhaps the biggest news of all for the blog is that Genshiken is ending! I’ve written my review for the penultimate chapter, and I already have emotions welling up inside of me in anticipation for the final conclusion. You’ll be certain that I’ll have a lot to say at the end.

If nothing crazy happens (like a third Genshiken being announced soon after), I’m considering doing a series of nine posts to review the original series volume by volume. What do you think?

Other notable posts this month include my Patreon-sponsored article on Purity in Anime, my reviews of the Kyoto subway tourism light novel, Kyo Girls Days, and Girls und Panzer der Film, as well as a report on my visit to the university on which Genshiken is based.

It’s kind of a hectic month looking ahead, so I haven’t had time to think of any new projects for the blog. For now, I’m still watching and reading through quite a back catalog, with the intention of clearing up some time to finally review Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross for Gattai Girls. Luckily, it’s now on Amazon, free for Prime users and 99 cents per episode for non-Primes. So, I have no excuses left!

Once again, I’ll be at Otakon, so if anyone wants to come up and say hi at a panel, feel free to do so! I’m actually a tad shy in real life, and it can come across as surliness, but don’t let that scare you.

Awesome Manga Artist Autographs: Comic Store Wonderland in Osaka

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In many big anime/manga stores in Japan, there are signed images from notable manga authors. Often times, you’re not allowed to photograph them, so they can’t really be shared with the rest of the world. One notable exception is Wonderland in Osaka’s Den Den Town (sort of the Kansai equivalent of Akihabara), where employees gave me free rein.

This gallery includes a number of highlights from Wonderland, so see if you can spot your favorites. However, it doesn’t show all of the ones at the store. If you have the chance, go there in person to see the rest!

By the way, the image above is by Nihonbashi Yoko, who I recently discovered through the manga Shoujo Fight. What a coincidence!

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Eat! Eat!: Sweetness and Lightning

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Over the years, I’ve talked about some interesting manga about food and drink, but a good number of them haven’t been available in English. Fortunately, if you have a hankering for seeing the joy of cooking (and eating!), then Sweetness and Lightning is there for you.

Sweetness and Lightning follows a high school teacher and single dad, Inuzuka Kouhei, who is too busy to cook meals for his daughter Tsumugi. This has transformed into a daily habit of buying bento for her as an easy way to provide delicious meals, but when Tsumugi starts to miss eating as a family, Kouhei looks for a way to make up for his lack of culinary skills. With the help of one of his students, Iida Kotori he begins to learn about preparing homemade meals and experience the wonder of watching his little girl’s eyes light up after tasting a delicious dish.

Thus far, the series follows the same formula, but a lot of care is put into the characters’ facial expressions as they both work through the trouble of cooking and the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of their efforts. The series isn’t as over-the-top as Yakitate!! Japan in that Sweetness and Lightning lacks those extreme reaction shot moments, but the two food manga share a similar sense of all-encompassing excitement. It also comes with a recipe at the end of each chapter.

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My favorite character is probably Kotori. I think it mostly has to do with her intense eyes and her constant desire to eat, two of my favorite traits.

Sweetness and Lighting is available on Crunchyroll Manga with a premium subscription.

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