Red Hot Chili Samurai Volume 2

July 29, 2010 — Zack Davisson

3.0 out of 5 stars No spice

Red Hot Chili Samurai Volume 2 (Kokaku Detective Story)

There are plenty of manga series that start off slow and pick up with the second volume. The first volume may be little more for a pilot, introducing the characters and laying out the tone and pacing without diving too much into the ongoing story. “Red Hot Chili Samurai” is not one of those manga.

The first volume was well-drawn but plagued with issues of convoluted story-telling, lack of clear plot, and lame gimmicks taken from other series. Author Katagiri didn’t seem to have much more than the idea of mixing the basic plot of the popular TV samurai drama “Mito Komen” with the cast of Samurai Champloo, and throwing in a chili-eating gag because as he says “there were so many characters eating sweets I figured a chili-eating character might be a good change of pace.”

All of these same problems are still here in volume two. The story barely continues over from the first volume other than having the same characters. The chili-eating Kokaku Sento is having ethical issues with his teammate Ento over whether or not they should be killing. Ento thinks that carrying a sword means having to kill, whereas Kokaku relies on his crane-tattoo to put the fear of the lord into his assailants without having to kill them. From there the itinerant hatamoto Shikki-sama comes back into Kokaku’s life, tracking down the son of a lord who has fled to live the simple life of a fisherman. At some point in time, Kokaku rides around on a motorcycle, created by the boy genius Tsumugi, everyone goes hunting for a cat and a potential assassin whose face looks like an ukiyo-e print, and Kokaku and Shikki get into a dance competition.

I have gotten more used to Katagiri’s angular faces and spiky hair, and the art on “Red Hot Chili Samurai” is improved. Katagiri draws a mean fight scene, with his characters exploding at each other rather than just facing off. He also has a way with kimonos and period ware which add to the over all style.

The problem is that although he is a good artist, Katagiri lacks storytelling skills. His panels are a convoluted maze, and there are floating dialog balloons attached to no one in particular so it is hard to keep track of who is talking to whom. Some attempt at character development is made, but it quickly fades to business as ususal. Kokaku goes through a minor crisis of confidence swiftly to be replaced by a full-page spread of him slipping his kimono off his shoulder to expose his tattoo and dropping his tagline “because I am the hero.”

It is series like this that make me wish there were more writer/author combinations in Japanese comics. Katagiri has all the drawing skills necessary to pull of a fun action-orientated adventure, but he can’t seem to be able to plot out a story or to write more than “cool scenes” that get everyone into combat as soon as possible.

Maybe things will pick up with the third volume, but so far the odds don’t look good.

Posted in Manga, Samurai, Tokyo Pop, Uncategorized. Tags: , . 1 Comment »

Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co. Pearl River 4×6 Feet

June 17, 2010 — Zack Davisson

5.0 out of 5 stars My new kitchen floor

Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co. Bamboo Rug Co. AMB00200046 Pearl River 4×6 Feet

What you see is pretty much what you get with this “Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co. Pearl River 4×6 Feet.” The whole package comes rolled up in a cloth bag looking very much like a tent or sleeping bag, and when you take it out and unroll it you get a nice bamboo area rug that looks just like the picture.

I bought this because I had just moved into a new apartment where the owner had refurbished everything except for the linoleum in the kitchen, which was pretty nasty looking. I wanted something that would easily cover up the ancient flooring and yet be durable enough to be the floor of my kitchen. When I measured it out, a 4X6 mat was just the right size, and because I have had great experiences with bamboo products in my kitchen that is what I went searching for.

Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co. has several bamboo rugs in this size range, and it was just a matter of picking the color. The Villager Natural looked too much like a standard-issue beach mat, and the Premier was just ugly. I almost went with the Villager Coffee, but ended up getting this one, the Pearl River, because I liked the mix of colors better than a mono-tone rug.

The rug itself (rug? mat? I am not really sure which to call it) is beautiful, and so far does exactly what it is supposed to which is to cover my hideous old linoleum and improve the look of my kitchen. The slats are very small, about a fingers width and length per slat, but it is comfortable to walk on even in bare feet. Cleaning it has been easy, just an occasional wipe-down, but it hasn’t had to deal yet with things like spilt oil and other hot liquids that it will inevitably encounter as my new kitchen floor.

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Deadman Wonderland Volume 2

May 26, 2010 — Zack Davisson

5.0 out of 5 stars What makes the Red Man red?

Deadman Wonderland Volume 2

Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou apparently decided to follow-up on their excellent debut volume Deadman Wonderland Volume 1 with a balls-to-the-wall action fest that never lets the reader breathe for even a second until the final page is turned. And that is awesome.

In volume two Ganta wakes up in a hospital, enjoying the only rest he is going to get for the rest of the comic, under the tender care of Shiro who is busy eating all of Ganta’s snacks. The peace lasts only a few pages however, as Officer Makina initiates the robot Necro Macro to bring Ganta down. Makina has had experience with others wielding Ganta’s blood-power before, and wants to eliminate him before he learns to control it.

After the battle with Necro Macro, Ganta hears rumors of an Area G, supposedly where the Red Man himself is housed. Determined to take his revenge, Ganta enlists Shiro to lead him to Area G, where he finds himself in a topsy-turvy secret area of Deadman Wonderland. Ganta, it appears, is far from the only person able to wield the blood power. There are a gang of special fighters who can manipulate the power, called Deadmen, and they welcome Ganta into their group. Although the Deadmen live in relative luxury to the rest of the prison, they are all slightly insane and spend their days battling each other for the amusement of the crowds. Ganta is given the code-name “Woodpecker” and is sent into immediate battle against “Crow,” a more experienced fighter. The price for losing the fight is very high.

“Deadman Wonderland” is turning out to be a very cool manga, and one that I am looking forward to seeing how the series plays out. Having a writer/artist team work together the same as with American comics seems to be working out great, as author Jinsei Kataoka and artist Kazuma Kondou are allowed to play to their strengths.

Although I thought it sounded goofy at first, the Deadman’s powers of using their own blood as weapons turns out to be really interesting, especially when Ganta finds out he can drain himself dry if he isn’t careful. They act as reverse-vampires, attacking with their own blood rather than drawing it from others. The twist of the new Deadmen was a nice addition, and I look forward to learning more about these strange characters.

On top of that, Kondou’s art is some of the best I have seen, with great line work and a nice balance between cartoony/serious that can really through you for a loop. The final scene of the book, with Shiro unleashed, was so stunning I had to turn the page and then turn it back again just to check that I was really seeing what I was seeing

Posted in Manga, Tokyo Pop, Uncategorized. Tags: . 1 Comment »

Neko Ramen Volume 1: Hey! Order Up!

May 24, 2010 — Zack Davisson

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, this is awesome

Neko Ramen Volume 1: Hey! Order Up!

“Neko Ramen” is one of the funniest manga I have ever read. The 4-panel strip comic has just the right combination of Japanese cuteness, surreal situational humor, site gags, and acerbic wit so that it is never too sweet, or too cynical, or too bizarre. I don’t remember the last time a manga had me laughing out loud while reading it!

First appearing in the monthly magazine Comic Blade Masumune in 2006, “Neko Ramen” features a classic straight man/funny man duo with Taisho (which means “boss” in Japanese, and is a traditional nickname for chefs), the owner of a ramen shop who also happens to be a cat, and Koichi Tanaka, his sole hapless customer who keeps returning and encouraging Taisho even though the ramen is terrible. Taisho is a typical ramen chef, quick to snap at customers and more interested in scheming to get customers in rather than improving his fare. Tanaka is a glutton for punishment with a good heart who can’t stand to see Taisho fail, so he keeps going back and encouraging the fuzzy little chef.

Most of the comics are done in 4-panel style, which is more like a newspaper strip than the usual manga. The jokes usually revolve around Taisho’s inability to perceive the difference between himself and other cats or even humans. Taisho is the only talking cat, with other cats being pretty much normal, but Taisho doesn’t notice this. He even keeps a few cats around the shop as “employees” and tries to pay his human employees in milk and cat treats. In one strip, Taisho uses an expensive can of cat food as a topping when a famous food critic comes to visit, and in another he tries to create a milk-and-tuna ramen noodle. Tanaka points out that these are bad ideas, but Taisho remains oblivious.

Of course, other people notice the unusualness of a cat making ramen, and people come to check it out. In one strip, Taisho is excited that a film crew is coming, and he thinks he will appear on a prestigious cooking show, but instead his clip appears on “Those Amazing Animals.” Other shops try to have animal mascots to catch on to the trend, and of course hijinks ensue.

Humor is the most difficult thing to translate, because it depends so much on cultural clues and linguistic turns of phrases, but translator Kristy Harmon has managed to smooth everything out and delivers a seamless reading experience. About the only gag that might go under the radar of average American readers is the appearance of Futa, a Red Panda from the Chiba Zoological Park who was a sensation in Japan in 2005 for his ability to stand on his hind legs like a human for about ten seconds. I was living in Japan during “Futa Frenzy,” so I got a real chuckle out of that scene.

“Neko Ramen” had four volumes published in Japan, with two specials for six books in total. I must confess I like the Japanese covers better, with their dynamic version of the Japanese flag. The comic spawned a short animated series and the awesome 2009 film “Neko Ramen Taisho” directed by Kawasaki Minoru (The Calamari Wrestler) featuring a combination of puppets, real cats and human actors to tell the story. Hopefully this English-language edition of “Neko Ramen” will be a big enough hit that the series and movie will make it to American shores as well.

Posted in Manga, Tokyo Pop, Uncategorized. Tags: , . 3 Comments »

Shinjuku

May 19, 2010 — Zack Davisson

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful art paired with a disappointing story

Shinjuku

“Shinjuku” is an illustrated prose work combining text with full-page illustrations in black, white and red. Oversized and with a heavy cardboard stock cover, it looks beautiful and is brilliantly illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, but the story by Chistopher “Mink” Morrison comes off more as amateurish fan-fic trying to juggle too many genres.

First off, “Shinjuku” is one of those comics where I might just know too much of the subject to truly enjoy the story. I lived in Japan for many years, speak Japanese and spent considerable time in Shinjuku, Tokyo. I know the place. On top of that, I have a Master’s Degree in Japanese mythology and folklore. So when author Morrison (Sorry. I feel stupid writing “Mink”) writes about people taking the drug “obake” it illicit a giggle, but when he writes that a “bakemono” is a “shape shifter that could take the form of a beautiful woman whose flesh would bestow immortality to anyone consumed it…” I just have to sigh and say….

No it isn’t.

Now, I realize that not every reader has the background that I have, but come on. If I were to write a story set in Seattle featuring a (literally) underground network of to-the-death cage fights, where everyone was snorting “werewolf” to get high and the comic finished in a battle with a 50-foot tall fire-breathing lizard that I referred to as a “vampire,” I think more than a few readers would have a hard time buying it. I’m not saying you have to stick to the textbooks as a storyteller but there are limits. If you want to set your story in fantasyland set it in fantasyland, but be careful of actually referencing things that exist.

Not that Morrison alone is guilty of this. In the way it pops up in movies and comics, I sometimes wonder if Shinjuku has become to Americans what Paris is to the Japanese. In Japan, Paris is built up to be such a fantasy of romance and beauty that when some Japanese actually visit the real-world city the disparity between their idealized image and reality causes a psychological shock. (It’s true. Look up “Paris Syndrome” if you don’t believe me.) Any Americans heading to Japan might experience a similar “Shinjuku Syndrome” when things don’t match up with their expectations.

Of course, Morrison gets around this by setting the story in the immediate future (2020), and by using some scientific techno-babble to say that Shinjuku sits on a sort of nexus of realities, points where parallel dimensions intersect and people “cycle” from one reality to another (A similar concept to Will Farrell’s 2009 Land of the Lost, in case you need a reference). Morrison’s Shinjuku is the territory of three gangster families who each corner a black market, be it in girls, fights, graft, or the ubiquitous drug “obake” which is some sort of super-opium genetically distilled from poppies.

Into this Shinjuki comes Daniel Legend, a licensed bounty-hunter called a Scout, following the trail of his sister Angela Legend who disappeared into Tokyo’s underworld many years ago. The trail leads him to a bar called Poppies, run by the mysterious Shi (which means “death” in Japanese. How clever.) and his trio of supernatural women who work as hostesses at the bar. Angela also works as a hostess, along with a mysterious young girl called Rokkun who seems to be able to disappear at will, as do several others under Shi’s influence.

A dangerous man himself, Daniel soon finds himself working off a debt to Shi as the star fighter in his underground death-matches, all the while trying to find a way to get himself and his sister safely out of this world. But the more he tries to escape, the more deeply he gets entangled and things get even more complicated as an American mobster named Sticky arrives in town seeking vengeance, allying himself with the Russian mob who have their own desires to take out Shi. Shi, on the other hand, seems more interested in the Daniel and Angela’s father, and his theories of parallel dimensions, and in raising a Bull-headed god named Togensa and, in the best Lo Pan tradition, can go off and rule the universe from beyond the grave.

The whole story comes off as a mish-mash of disparate elements from other works. The monstrous Shi and his three hostesses are Dracula and his three brides. The “secret Asian underground where monsters dwell” is right out of Big Trouble in Little China, and Rokkun might as well be Go-Go Yubari from Kill Bill. It is funny that Morrison said the seeds for the story came from when he was in Tokyo directing the 2005 Steven Seagal flick Into the Sun (I know. I have never heard of it either.), and one can even get a sense of Seagal here with the underground fight clubs and ex-military heroes. Sci Fi. Horror. Fantasy. Hard Sci Fi. Noir. Morrison tries his best to pack it all in.

His characters are all as flat as cardboard, with absolutely no development or story arcs. The main protagonist, Daniel Legend, might as well be called Mary Sue as he is practically perfect in every way, able to out-fight, out-shoot and out-think any problem that comes his way. Some of the plot contrivances are just ridiculous, as when Daniel arrives in Shinjuku and the police hand him a GPS tracker so they can watch him, warning him never to lose the card or he will suffer the consequences. When he does lose the card, the cops reaction is basically just finger-wagging and then handing him a new card. What is the point of adding that to the story? A lot of tidbits are tossed in that way, such as the brilliant (and of course, strikingly beautiful) Dr. Sato that appears on stage for no other reason than to give Daniel a love interest and a satisfying conclusion.

So why should anyone buy “Shinjuku?” For the artwork. If you think of this as an Yoshitaka Amano artbook with some unnecessary text pages thrown in then it is totally worth it. The style here is completely different from previous Amano work such as his delicate paintings done for Gaiman’s Sandman: The Dream Hunters). His style here is brusque and immediate, being aggressive ink-strokes on stark white paper with red washes for tone and effect. The work here has more in common with his exhibitions done in the Galerie Michael Janssen in Germany than his usual refined images, although everything in “Shinjuku”  is much rougher even than his German work.

It is a thrill to see Amano work so differently from his usual style, almost to the point where it is unrecognizable as Amano. I didn’t realize he had the capacity to do such raw work. If you are a fan of Amano, then by all means pick up “Shinjuku”. Just do yourself a favor and don’t waste too much time on the story.

Posted in Manga, Uncategorized. Tags: , . 1 Comment »

Saturn Apartments Vol. 1

May 10, 2010 — Zack Davisson

5.0 out of 5 stars Window Washers in Space

Saturn Apartments, Vol. 1

I don’t know about you, but I am scared of heights. Few things freak me out more than seeing those window-washers hanging off the edges of skyscrapers with nothing under their feet than empty air, and nothing holding them up but a slim cable. Imagine, even more so, what window washers will be like when mankind makes its eventual move to outer space.

That is the basic premise of “Saturn Apartments,” which sees a future where the entire planet Earth has been set aside as a nature reserve, and the human population has been moved to an artificial enclosed ring system in geosynchronous orbit. The ring itself is split into three levels, the upper level where the wealthy make their homes, the lower level where the poor are, and the middle level which seems to be set aside for public services like schools and hospitals.

The story follows Mitsu, who has just graduated school and is set to replace his father as a window washer for the ring system. This means he suits up in a spacesuit and rappels across the ring-structure until he gets to his client’s window, where he washes it. It is a dangerous job, due to the threat of meteorites and running out of air, or even having your lifeline cut as happened to Mitsu’s father. Of course, because the window-washing service is expensive, it is almost entirely the upper level that can afford the luxury, while the lower levels survive in only artificial light and no view of the outside world.

“Saturn Apartments” is essentially a “job manga” in the same was as the Science Fiction series Aria, where the story revolves around Mitsu and his various clients and his struggles to fit into the world of his father. There are a few reoccurring characters, like Jin who had been Mitsu’s father’s partner and now is showing Mitsu the ropes, and Sachi, a girl who lives in a cleaning-machine that perpetually crawls the surface of the ring, as is set up as a possible love interest for Mitsu. But mostly the stories revolve around the quirks of Mitsu’s clients, and the various reasons why they shelled out the massive amount of cash required to get their window’s cleaned.

The art is, of course, simply beautiful. Iwaoka Hisae is more than just a manga artist but has also achieved recognition as a fine artist, participating in Murakami Takashi’s “Tokyo Girls Bravo” exhibition. Her artwork walks the balance between ultra-detailed and simple, with people’s faces being little more than round shapes with mouths, eyes and noses dotted in, but then ring-system itself is fully realized and completely believable. Iwaoka definitely subscribes to the “dirty future” style of Science Fiction, where all that machinery and tubes and gears that keeps everyone alive in a hostile environment needs to be maintained by somebody still willing to pull on a worksuit and gets their hands dirty for a low wage.

One odd thing about Iwaoka’s art is that it is difficult to tell anyone’s age. Her main character Mitsu looks like he just got out of Elementary school and is about nine or ten years old, but then in another seen he is sitting at a bar with Sachi (who looks the same age as Mitsu) getting drunk. Maybe this is the way the world works in the future, but it can be a bit disconcerting not being able to reconcile the character’s apparent ages with their behaviours.

But that is the most minor of minor complaints, and all in all “Saturn Apartments” is a satisfying comic. It will be interesting to see if the next volumes are all “Customer of the Week” or if Mitsu, Jin and Sachi’s characters and story arcs will be further developed. Either way, I will be on board to see what happens.

Posted in Manga, Uncategorized. Tags: . 1 Comment »

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

May 10, 2010 — Zack Davisson

4.0 out of 5 stars Are you my Friend?

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

The three-film live-action adaptation of Urasawa Naoki’s (Yawara!, Monster) “20th Century Boys” (Japanese title: “Honkaku Kagaku Boken Manga: Nijuseki Shonen” or “An Actual, Scientific Adventure Comic: 20th Century Boys”) is one of the most expensive in Japanese film history, with an overall budget of 6 billion yen and a cast of 300 people. Sometimes referred to as the Watchmen of Japanese comics, obvious care and attention was taken when adapting the series to the big screen.

This first film in the series, called “Beginning of the End” (a direct translation of the Japanese “Owari no Hajimari”) covers volumes 1-5 of the original comic series, and shows the life of a group of misfit boys (and one girl!) who had a secret club in elementary school where they played together. The children also worked on a science fiction adventure story, dubbed the “Book of Prophecy,” that foretold the destruction of the world by a super villain and the emergence of the club members as a super hero team that would unite to defeat the evil. Now, grown up and middle aged, the members of the club run into each other at a class reunion, and ask each other questions about a mysterious new religious cult that has been gaining in popularity, lead by a mysterious figure known only as “Friend.” The symbol of the cult, the eyeball inside a pointing hand, is the exact same symbol that the group used for their childhood secret club, and it seems like somehow the events written in the “Book of Prophecy” are coming true.

Like the comic book, “20the Century Boys: Beginning of the End” moves backwards and forwards in time when telling the story, starting with Endo Kenji (Karasawa Toshiaki, Casshern) as a failed rockstar who now works at a convenience store with his mother and cares for his sister’s infant child Kanna. When new members of the group appear, the story flips back to the childhood club, introducing each in tern and slowly leaking clues as to the identity of “Friend” and the events of the “Book of Prophecy.” The club members know that the “Book of Prophecy” ends with a stereotypical Giant Robot attack on Tokyo, and they all wonder just how much ability does “Friend” have to realize the story they wrote as kids.

I think calling “20th Century Boys” the “Watchmen” of Japanese comics is fitting in that neither movie lived up to the promise of the original material, but were good in their own right. If I had never read “Watchmen,” I probably would have loved the flick and those who haven’t read “20th Century Boys” stand a greater chance of loving it. Director Tsutsumi Yukihiko (Happily Ever After) didn’t take too many chances straying from the source material, and as we have seen many times when directors try to simply re-create a beloved comic on film it can lack the energy and pacing demanded by a film. The flash-back/flash-forward sequences work well to create tension in the storyline, but sometimes it also just muddles everything into confusion.

Actor Toyokawa Etsushi (Hula Girls), playing club member “Otcho, steals most of his scenes playing the lone wolf and dangerous member of the group who runs a business rescuing captive Japanese business men who are being blackmailed for their “exploits” in poorer Asian countries. Toyokawa is a great tough guy, and brings some realism to the fight scenes. Takako Tokiwa (Brave Story) playing the only female member of the club Yukiji is a little bit wasted as comic relief, and the romantic tension between her and Kenji never really feels authentic.

The whole “Cast of 300″ kind of worked against “20th Century Boys,” as there are too many famous faces popping in for cameos and then disappearing. If you are not really familiar with Japanese actors this won’t be a problem, but having Takenaka Naoto (Ping Pong) pop up for a few seconds to flash his trademark grin just comes off as distracting and takes me out of the storyline. (Seriously, I love the guy but it seems like it is almost illegal to make a Japanese film without giving Takenaka Naoto at least a bit part anymore…)

The big budget, however, was well-spent. Staying true to Urasawa’s claim of an “Actual, Scientific Adventure Comic” the way they deal with the Giant Robot attack is fantastic. It is not all science, however, such as when Friend appears at the end astride Okamoto Taro’s “Tower of the Sun” from the Expo Commemoration Park in Osaka. I have to admit, this scene gave me an extra thrill as I lived in Osaka for many years and have stood before that bizarre sculpture many, many times (I even have a miniature version that I bought sitting on a shelf at home). I would always comment how the tower looked like it would come to life and do battle with Godzilla, so it was very cool to see that almost happen on film.

There has been some confusion as to what exactly happens at the end, and you have to remember that this is a three-volume series so don’t expect to get a complete story here, but all I can say is hold on and wait for the next film. Not that everything will be explained totally, but it does make more sense overall.

While I think the “20th Century Boys” comic is superior, overall I didn’t enjoy this movie adaptation as much as I enjoyed both Death Note and “Death Note II: The Last Name.” Both of those movies knew when to deviate from the comic to tell a story that worked well for film, and unfortunately that didn’t happen as much with “20th Century Boys.” While still an excellent movie, “20th Century Boys” just ever so slightly misses the mark.

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I am a Yokai Professor

May 6, 2010 — Zack Davisson

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes you are

If anyone can give themselves the title of “Yokai Professor” it is Mizuki Shigeru. He is the greatest living authority on the Japanese folklore monsters, and has dedicated his life to preserving the ancient legends along with adding bits of his own.

“I am a Yokai Professor” is one in a recent series by Shogakukan that mixes some of Mizuki’s older work with new material, and repackages the master for a new generation. The books are not typical manga size, nor are they the full-length of some of Mizuki’s Yokai Encycopedias, but a sort of half-way size between the two.

In “I am a Yokai Professor,” Mizuki takes a biographical look at the events that made him the leading authority on yokai. It starts with his first experience of the mystical, with a flower that he thought could change into a bird, and the influence of his neighbor Nonnoba who taught him all the local folklore and revealed to him the secret world of yokai. From there Mizuki presents small memories from his childhood, like his favorite collections (found animal bones, pura models, bugs, and all the usual treasure of a young boy) and his dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete.

From there, Mizuki presents the yokai he has had personal experience with, such as the crying Kawaakabo (Red River Baby) and the bizarre Kurobozu (Black Monk). For Mizuki, the yokai are all those mysterious sensations and noises that people encounter but that most people dismiss as tricks of nerves or senses. To Mizuki, as he explains, these strange feelings and sensations are the realm of yokai, open to those willing to experience it.

He gives two longer comics presenting “true story” encounters sent in by readers. One is a young boy taken to the underwater realm of a kappa, and one is a boy who is given an accidental glimpse into the spirit world and protective ancestors. Mizuki follows this up with personal memories and photographs of traveling the world looking for mystery, and finding the monsters of Africa, Europe, New Guinea and Easter Island. Finally, there is a longer story of an encounter on Easter Island, and one of Mizuki’s “Yokai Quizzes” to test yourself against the Yokai Professor.

All of the artwork is by Mizuki and done in his signature style. If you are not familiar with it, Mizuki is the absolute master of a technique known as the “masking effect,” where cartoonish figures are presented in detailed and realistic backgrounds (ala Herges’ “Tin Tin”). Some of the pictures in the “Yokai I have Met” section are reprinted from his “Yokai Encyclopedias,” and some of the other material is new.

Because I love Mizuki Shigeru, I liked this glimpse into his childhood and his personal thoughts about yokai. If you are just starting to get to know the master, then “I am a Yokai Professor” might not be the best place to start, as the book assumes familiarity with the man who has entertained and educated generations of Japanese children.

Posted in Kodansha, Manga, Uncategorized. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden

April 30, 2010 — Zack Davisson

 
4.0 out of 5 stars It is because of the war, Mary
 

Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden

The subject of the Japanese internment camps during WWII is a personal issue for me. Being married to a Japanese woman, I realize that if we had been alive at that time it would have been my wife and children being put onto buses and being forced into isolated desert camps.

Which is why I was so looking forward to “Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden.” A children’s book is a nice way to teach about this inherently sad subject, but to do so from a promise of hope for a better future rather than just feeling bad about things that happened in the past.

Originally published as “Flags” in 1999, “Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden” has been republished in a softcover format, preserving the original text and illustrations. The story is by Maxine Trottier, and the illustrations are by Paul Morin, who did full oil paintings on canvas.

The story is a very simple one, beginning with the girl Mary spending the summer at her Grandmother’s house near the Pacific ocean. A prairie girl, it was Mary’s first time away from the flatlands she knew and into the mountainous wonder of the Pacific Northwest. There she discovers a beautiful garden unlike any she has ever known, a garden make of carefully patterned rocks instead of flowers, and a pond filled with red and white fish. She becomes friends with the owner of the house, Mr. Hiroshi, who teaches her how to feed the fish and rake the pebbles. But Mary’s grandmother is worried, because she has read in the paper that Japanese people are being gathered together to send to camps. She hopes they will not take Mr. Hiroshi, who was born and raised in Canada and has never even been to Japan, but eventually the buses come for him to, and all he can do is to sadly ask Mary to feed his fish and watch his garden until he returns. But Mr. Hiroshi never returns.

The story is told in very easy language, with at most a paragraph or two per page. Yet even in these few words I felt Maxine Trottier was able to convey the depth of the relationship, and the feelings behind the words. One of my favorite scenes was when Grandmother and Mary release Mr. Hiroshi’s fish back into the river, and Mary wonders if they will be able to swim back to Japan.

The illustrations I must confess I did not enjoy as much as the story. The style preserves the grain of the canvas, which is nice, but can add some odd textures to certain scenes. His use of color is bright to the point of being gaudy, which works beautifully in some scenes like the illustration on the cover but less so in others. There is one painting that is a close-up of Grandmother’s face that is almost ghastly and gave me a shock. I was also disappointed in the pictures of the garden itself. I have spent time in many Japanese gardens, and I don’t think Morin’s paintings capture the quiet beauty. He does, however, paint fish very well.

The setting for “Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden” is in Canada, but this has almost no impact on the story and the same heart-breaking story could have (and probably did) happen in innumerable places. In fact, I was surprised at the Canadian setting, because I always thought that the Japanese Internment Camps were a particularly American evil, and I didn’t know that Canada had done the same.
Posted in Uncategorized, WWII. Tags: . Leave a Comment »

Mugen Spiral: The Complete Two-Volume Series

April 30, 2010 — Zack Davisson

3.0 out of 5 stars Wasted potential and an unfinished story

Mugen Spiral: The Complete Two-Volume Series

“Mugen Spiral” (Japanese for “Dream Spiral”) is almost a great comic. It has an interesting premise, well-developed characters, lovely art and the story starts strong but the whole thing just sort of…fizzles out. It fizzles so hard, in fact, that one wonders if the series was canceled out from under author Mizuho Kusanagi (as happened with her other 2-volume series Game X Rush) of if Kusanagi just isn’t that great of a storyteller. She is a fantastic artist, to be sure, but of the two series I have read of hers now, both have the same rambling narrative without anything resembling a satisfying conclusion. (Although she is currently on volume five of NG Life, so she must have improved in that area.)

Originally serialized in Shojo magazine “Hana to Yume” in 2004, “Mugen Spiral” begins right in the middle of the action. Sixteen-year old Yayoi (a name I kept misreading as Yaoi…) is the 78th in the line of Suzuka mystics, and the wielder of the Spirit Wheel that gives her access to the assistance of 108 guardian spirits as well as other powers. Being the most powerful mystic on Earth also makes her the prime target of a race of demons who absorb other’s powers by killing them, and are currently in a battle royal contest to see who will become the new King of the Demons. Every demon wants to drain Yayoi dry, and the first up to the plate is Ura, son of the current King who foresees an easy victory over Yayoi. She proves a little more difficult to kill, however, and seals away Uru’s power with a Cat’s God Rosary that forces him into the shape of a harmless and very cute black cat. All of this happens on the first three pages.

From there we get to move on to the comedy/action/romance series that works really well. Yayoi decides to keep kitty Uru as a pet, much to the Demon Prince’s chagrin as he keeps insisting that he will scarf down Yayoi as a tasty meal as soon as he frees himself from the Cat God’s Rosary. Of course, then some other demon’s come hunting for Yayoi and she finds that she may need Uru’s help to stay alive long enough so that he can kill her. Also into the mix come Hakuyo, Ura’s younger cousin, who wants to see Ura win the Demon Throne so that he can take his place as Ura’s lover and live a life of luxury, and Ouga, Ura’s younger brother who envies and hates is older brother, and uses this moment of weakness to striker and claim the throne for himself.

Overall I thought the series was balanced very well, with great action in the demon battles followed by the comedy scenes of Ura in cat-mode (I love the scenes where he gets angry because Yayoi pets him in the wrong direction, or where neighborhood cats give him advice on his owner), and a fully believable developing romance between Yayoi and Ura. Long ago Ura declared that he would never love a woman who wasn’t stronger than him, and after having been bested by Yayoi he finds himself impressed and attached to her. Meanwhile, Hakuyo, seeing his dreams for an easy life slip away, becomes the prankster character who tries to break the bond between Yayoi and Ura.

So where does the series fizzle? Right at the end. Clearly, there was enough story here for five volumes, but all of the sudden in the midst of the greatest point of drama, just when one threat has been defeated and the stage has been set for a new and more powerful enemy, when Yayoi and Ura almost admit their feelings, you turn the page and…you see the words “The End.”

That’s right, the series just ends. Right out of the blue. No resolution, the promised new enemy never appears, the romance never blossoms, the cat-curse remains unbroken, the demon throne untaken…absolutely nothing is resolved. And there is so much more story that could be told. We meet only two of the 108 spirits commanded by Yayoi, and could have met more. More demons could have attacked, and Ura could have been pulled further between his love for Yayoi and his duty to his father and his people. Seriously, the series could have gone on for at least four more volumes.

So what happened? I have no idea. The final fourth of the book is given over to two “Mugen Spiral Special Stories” that are well-done but only frustrating due to the lack of conclusion. They are brief character sketches that deal with Yayoi, Ura, Hakuyo and Ouga as children and some events that developed their characters. They would have been nice side-stories in the main plot, if it had ever been allowed to resolve.

I wish Mizuho Kusanagi would go back and finish “Mugen Spiral” someday, but seeing as how the series is now six years old that isn’t likely to happen. This single-volume collection collects what was previous two separate volumes and is in a little bit larger size than your average manga. It is billed as a “Complete Collection” and that is technically true, as all the “Mugen Spiral” published is collected here, but it is hard to call this unfinished story “Complete.”

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