Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Manga Reviews 2

Pretty Face or Mx0?
Two Next Generation Manga

As many manga fans should know by now, Midori Days have been licensed and released about a year ago or two ago, while Pretty Face has just been licensed and halfway through it's set.

Kazurou Inoue of Midori Days, and Yasuhiro Kano of Pretty Face, have started on new manga.

Kazurou Inoue is currently working on Love & Collage, while Yasuhiro Kano is working on Mx0. I love both their works, and this time, they've one-upped everything they've done on their earlier works before.

Midori Days is about a tough guy who stumbles across a freaky situation he must keep a secret (although others do find out), and for the rest of the series is looking for a way to revert it while being able to hold on to the love of his life.









Pretty Face is about...the same thing.













With this much similarities, I guess the only other difference between the two is what they can make of the situation. Drama, comedy, action, romance, possible adventure, more comedy, it's all about how to please the crowd. Pleasing the crowd, by the way, as in NOT going 'Naruto' on everyone. I like to keep things fresh and original. These guys do to.

Midori Days (I don't even know why I'm summarizing something you can find all over the blogging universe, but whatever,) is about Seiji Sawamura, a delinquent who thirsts for brawling, and Midori Kasugano, who watches him from afar, almost like a stalker keeping bare minimum with a restraint order. Just kidding. His signature 'Devil's Right Hand' earns him a role model to avoid by all girls, and one to attack by all guys. One night, he mutters to himself, "At this rate...my only lover will be my right hand!", and wakes up the next day with a doll-sized girl attached to his demon fist! Now he's got to defend himself, both body and pride, from the rest of the world. All while looking for a way to revert whatever happened.

Pretty Face is about another delinquent, Masashi Rando, who, at the peak of his life (except for the fact that he's yet to confess to the girl of his dreams, Rina Kurimi), dies in a bus accident. Fortunately, he's not dead, waking from a year-long coma. Unfortunately, however, he wakes up to see his face has been changed to an exact replica of Rina. In desperation, he dashes out to find that his family moved away, and now he's got nowhere to go. Amidst the chaos, what else happens? He runs into Rina. What? you want more? Of course you do! That's why Rina mistake's Rando for her twin sister Yuna, who ran away about a year ago as well! So now we have Rando/Yuna, staying at his crushes house, Rina, attending her school, all while the only other thing he can do before changing back is finding her real sister and bringing her back.

Overall, I'd have to give Pretty Face the one up, because of a few things:

-Same situations, Pretty Face takes it one step further with hilarious comment
-Art is more defined, rather than solid chibi-esque style
-The secret multiple endings
-Crossdressing is ALWAYS fun to laugh at

So far:
Midori Days = 9/10
Pretty Face = 9.5/10

Now, onward to the next generation...

Love & Collage is about a somewhat tough guy who falls in love and chases the acquired target to a school. Harems set in, and now it's become a sort of love comedy.










Mx0's about...hmm...













Well, this definitely makes things better, because there is quite a gap between these manga this time around. Love & Collage focuses more on Hachibe Maeda, a fetishist, and his lust for his desired body parts, which are conveniently attached to the girls who share(?) his dorm. The problem with Hachibe is that he's never experienced love, just an extreme liking to parts, so the girls have somewhat mixed feelings for him.

Mx0's Kuzumi Taiga isn't as fortunate, trying to get into a specific school, only to be asked the entrance question, "If you could use magic....what would you want to try?"
His answer? "Conquer the world." (If you took in people and taught them magic powers, I don't think these would be the kind of students you should accept.)
Anywho, a girl attending the entrance exam, Aika Hiiragi, starts laughing at him like she's just heard a Micheal Jackson joke, and ultimately, he doesn't get in. Blaming her, he tries sneaking back into the school to give her a piece of his mind. Only THEN he realizes that the school secretly teaches magic. Circumstances occur, and not only is he accepted into the magic school but he's believed to be the strongest magic user in the school, when really he has zero magic ability.

And it looks like the next gen manga are as follows:
Love & Collage = 9/10
Mx0 = 9.5/10

...As I noticed the ratings I've just given.

Well, please take my review into consideration, mina-san!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Season's Greetings!!

I've been doing alot, so blogging is at the end of the tunnel for me. Unfortunately, I've watched alot of animé and even finished up ALOT of seasons, and while I want to blog about those, I'll never get the time to do it properly, so I'll list them the best I can in these lone 5 minutes of peace:

FALL 2006

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi - 8/10
Branched from generic low budget fighting to memorable masterpiece. Hope to see a season 2!

SPRING 2007

Darker Than Black - 9/10
Matrix, anyone? Really, who DIDN'T like the Matrix?

Kaze no Stigma - 7/10
Shana, made in Korea. hope for a season 2 as well!

Lovely Complex - 4.5/10
Okay, it was decent, but I practically dragged myself past the last 10 episodes...

Lucky Star - 8/10
Just a filler series, really, since Haruhi'll be coming soon!

Nagasarete Airantou - 8.5/10
Girl's Bravo, only instead of a planet, he's stuck on an island!

Seto no Hanayome - 9.5/10
Mermaid cartoons aren't boring anymore!!

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - 9.9/10
Epic. Again, epic.

SUMMER 2007

Baccano! - 7.5/10
I'll need to watch this series again and again to catch everything.

Doujin Work - 5/10
The poor(/perverted) man's Comic Party.

Code Geass - 9.7/10
I count the OVAs as the end of the 1st season. All I can say?: Season 2? SEASON 2!!?

School Days - 8.5/10
((O_O))

Umisho - 9/10
LMAO!! "What IS that?" *peek* *peek*

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~

A series over, a blogging finalized, an animé etched.

...or something along those lines.



The series was, for the most part, a downer. Don't get me wrong: the way they started it couldn't have been any better, in my mind, but there were a couple of things that seemed to show that they've run out of ideas/budget/sanity.
I'll try a break-down for once.

THE GOOD:

The way the episodes picked up in the beginning. Light hearted and funny.


Ero-Goggles: Classic.


S&M Play Caught: Priceless.


Lucky dog...


"Sera~ fuku~!"


And you thought Louise was bad.

In episode 3, right at the 17:11 mark, you can hear a random girl in the background screaming, "SAITO NO BAKA!!". I couldn't stop laughing when I first heard it!

I truly enjoyed the situations mainly with Saito, with the exceptional Louise:


Where'd Louise get her attitude from? Saa...


Ruthless Chibi: Meet thy match.


Looks like a scene right out of Higurashi. I approve!



Yuri scenes make EVERYTHING better!


Nyaa?


I was shocked when I saw this scene. Saito's a 'man'?



Not to say this was a good thing, but an honorable mention: "Sayonara, Colbert-sensei."

THE BAD:

The basic plot. It just kept treading from bad to worse.

-A princess who doesn't want war personally declaring it.
-A princess relying solely on a drop-out noble and a commoner familiar. (She's princess of a huge kingdom: isn't there anyone ALOT more powerful and reliable than them? Or does she just not have friends?)
-A side story about Agnes. (Took up TOO much time. No one cared.)
-Back to the war.
-The abrupt ending. The war still goes on.



The cousins incest. And the fact that the princess is love blind as a bat.

The dog name calling. By now, everyone who's watched ZnT should know all the possible dog insults usable.



The antagonist. She hasn't even shown up for more than 10 minutes in total!

THE UGLY:


Sakuran: Jessica's father(mother?), and Siesta's uncle(onee-san?).

The series, minus the plot, had alot of good drama and perspective in it. I was practically shedding man-tears at the last episode, when Saito let loose 300-style (which, by the way, is the manliest movie I have ever watched!), and the series was leaning towards what would be a series almost on par to that which is Gurren Lagann, if not for the last 2 minutes...those horrible two minutes...


Yes, this is the enemy campus.


Hide in the shade, Saito!


Where's Wald--er, Saito?



The lack of introduction of the big tit fairy.

----

Come on! We KNOW by now that there WILL be a 3rd series to carry on, so why'd they have to rush a good series? Keep Saito dead, keep the drama, and THEN show us up in the 3rd season! THAT there, is master planning! Jeez, J.C. Staff, you and GAINAX are beginning to swap roles.

Ah well...I rate it an:

8.5/10

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Manga Reviews 1

Didn't wanna list JUST animé here, although with a title like this, how could I blog about anything BUT animé...?
...I fail...

Anyways, one day me and my friend came across our city popular comic shop, and found manga on incredible sales! All the savings made the manga HALF-OFF!!, so me and my buddy spent ALOT of money on these treasures.

Of all the ones there, rather than buying SO many popular titles, I indulged and ventured into newfound territory and discovered manga no one's every heard of. At least around these parts.

There are a bunch of 3rd party manga I never knew of. I mean, everyone's heard of Tokyopop, VIZ, and now Del Ray, but Studio Cats? DMP? Dr. Master?

And so...manga review #1:

Enchanter - 1



Art & Story: Izumi Kawachi
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing (DMP)
Rating: 10/10

Probably my new favourite manga right now, Enchanter is AMAZING in terms of characters, story, and art! A story about Haruhiko and Yuka, and their magic counterparts Fulcanelli and Eukanaria, in a story revolving around demons and school. The series in Japan right now is at 12, and over in these here parts, we're at lucky number 4! I WILL collect this series!

Hurrah! Sailor - 1



Original Story: Rintaro Koike
Character Design: Kouichi Kiga
Comic: Katsuwo Nakane
Publisher: Comics One
Rating: 7.5/10

A story about galactic wars and crashing on a serene planet, a unit trying to return home while living a peaceful life, the events in between are just TOO funny. I will continue this series, at least for 3 volumes!

Na Na Na Na - 1



Art & Story: Show=Tarou Karada
Publisher: Comics One
Rating: 7/10

Okay, I recently found out THE Ken Akamatsu-sama helped with this manga, so I am obviously going to hold this manga in high regards! Story about a "Negi/Keitaro" character who finds a "Mutsumi" android who promises each other several years back, and the "Naru" childhood friend tsundere. Again, hoping for 3 volumes.

Po Po Can - 1



Art & Story:Masakazu Iwasaki
Publisher: Comics One
Rating: 8/10

One of those manga where they kick logic to the curb, I love how zany they can make a generic and standard element. Going for 3! 3!

Free Runners



Art: Jennyson Rosero
Story:Bill Strauss
Publisher: Seven Seas
Rating:6.5/10

Only 1 volume, really, so how do I sum this up? Oh, yeah: Air Gear minus the skates.

Pretty Face - 1



Art & Story: Yasuhiro Kano
Publisher: VIZ
Rating: 10/10

While not a 'hidden gem', back in the days of unlicensed merchandise I found myself enjoying this work far before it transferred over to North American shores. A piece that rivals Midori Days, I like this one slightly more, due to the more possible situations. (Do I call a sex change more possible than a possessed hand? I do. And funnier at that.) 6 volumes, I believe, so I'll complete the set.

That's all for Manga Review 1!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Murder Princess - OVA

Things in life are occupying my free time more and more, and thus as a result, blogging, and even watching anime, less and less. Anyways...

Sayonara Zetsubou Hime - 01



A "woman" who can only see everything in a negative light.



A "girl" who can only see everything in a positive light.



A meeting that was never meant to happen.

LOL! Bad joke! Seriously, though!

----

Before I start the real summary of this fine, yet short, yet fine again series, may I add a few comments:

"It's Murder Princess, NOT 'Maadaa Princess'." ('Not Yet, Princess')

"It's Master, NOT Mazda."

*Okay, deep breath*



Murder Princess was, for the most part, a very original story, albiet with very unoriginal characters...but what characters AREN'T unoriginal nowadays?


The Real Falis: Bounty babe. Name never mentioned again.


The Real Alita: Useless hime.


The Real Milano: One time Meido. Never seen again.


Milano's granpappy: Jodo Entolasia.



Frankenstein and Grim Reaper: Pete Armstrong and Dominikov.


Onion Head: Dr. Akamashi.


Gothiloli Dolls: Yuna and Anna.


Siegfried-wannabe: Prince Kaito.


The Baddies: ("Nightmare") Dark Knight and Cecilia.


The story takes place in a near similar medieval setting, all starting with a 'coup de tate' is in progress. Runaway Princess Alita finds herself looking down a katana at the hands of Bounty Hunter Falis. Both of them, facing death together, end up swapping bodies, and thus the title 'Murder Princess'.


Alita: Version 2.0.


Falis--er, Milano: Version 2.0.


"WTF?"


Can anyone say "Ghost Rider"?


After the 'coup de tate', the Princess is to be crowned the new leader of the country, since her daddy kicked the bucket. The series continues with Falis now trying to live high class, which she really isn't getting used to. All she can really do is fight. And what kind of fighter wants to stay stranded to the throne?

You then find out that Alita has an older Brother who's throne priority is higher than her own. After another attempt by Dr. Akamichi, her brother returns, although you know what's about to happen. Only her brother becomes this crazy Onii-sama who wants to destroy mankind, for little logical reason. He makes Ralph Werec look like a scholar, oi!

All in all, the series started great, but each episode was worse than the last, until it just gave up making sense. The manga is great though, since the original creator, Sekihiko Inui, was the mangaka for Comic Party!


Fanservice. Because that's what friends do for each other.


Oo la la...


Naughty naughty...





Okay, they didn't kiss! So sue me! But this anime makes them out to be a VERY persuasive yuri pair!