Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai
Miyamoto Musashi is an instantly familiar name to any Japanese citizen, a legendary swordsman who has become part historical figure and part romanticised hero of myth. In addition to writing one of the key texts on Japanese samurai tactics and philosophy – The Book of Five Rings – he is also famous for inventing the Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu style of fighting with two swords, perhaps the most obvious, internationally recognized visual trademark of the samurai.
But even with so much academic study dedicated to Musashi's life, so many books written on him and an almost infinite number of movies, anime and manga stories inspired by his legendary exploits and teachings, still questions remain unanswered. Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai attempts to answer one of these in particular – what motivated the great warrior to adopt and perfect his dual bladed style?
Toriko Serves up Fights, Monsters and Foodie Fun
I don't watch a whole lot of TV lately, but one thing I'm still addicted to is cooking and food shows. Two of my faves are No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. Why? Mostly because those shows combine travel, adventure and lots of strange but wonderful foodstuffs that you don't usually see at your local supermarket or diner.
So it stands to reason that I love cooking manga, like Oishinbo and Yakitate! Japan. But now there's a new gourmet graphic novel hitting the shelves, Toriko by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro from Shonen Jump Manga.
Toriko follows the over-the-top adventures of a muscle-bound "gourmet hunter" who seeks out the rarest, wildest, most difficult to find and most delicious foodstuffs available on the planet. We're not talkin' digging for truffles or hunting for wild boar -- nope, that'd be too easy. Toriko battles giant four-armed apes, catches 30-foot cod with crayfish claws, and risks life and limb to capture a monster gator, all for the sake of a good meal.
Afterschool Charisma Injects Sci-Fi Suspense Into High School
In your average high school drama manga series, you'll find the usual cast of characters: the jock, the brain, the bully, the sensitive artist, the prissy girl, and the hussy. Kumiko Suekane's Afterschool Charisma has these archetypal characters, but with a twist: they're all teen clones of historical figures. The brainy kid has the same DNA as Albert Einstein. The girl most likely to succeed? She's the clone of Queen Elizabeth I. And the bully is... Mozart?
It'd be entertaining enough to see teen Sigmund Freud, Florence Nightingale and Rasputin deal with the everyday drama of high school, but Suekane takes it to the next level by injecting sci-fi/psychological suspense into the plot. The clones of St. Kleio Academy are already struggling with meeting their teachers' expectations when one of the school's most famous graduates, a clone of John F. Kennedy is assassinated on live TV. This turn of events sends a ripple of fear throughout the school. The clones begin to ask themselves: are they doomed to repeat the lives and deaths of their predecessors?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Takuya Mitsuda's Major Baseball Manga Nears Its End
The Japanese publisher Shogakukan has confirmed in its preview for this year's 31st issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine that Takuya Mitsuda's Major baseball manga is nearing its end after 15 years. The story follows Gorō, the son of a major league batter who dreams of making it big himself. The manga has been running in the magazine since late 1994, and the 76th compiled book volume shipped in Japan last month.
The manga inspired its first television anime series in 2004, and the sixth television anime series just launched this past April. The manga also inspired an anime film titled Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot in 2008.
Samurai Harem (Asu no Yoichi!) Complete Collection
Yoichi Karasuma was raised and trained in the mountains in the disciplines of the Divine Wind School, but when he finally betters his old man in skill, his father decides that Yoichi's new “training regimen” should be learning how to live in a different wilderness – i.e. the city.
To that end Yoichi journeys to an in-town dojo of his school, which becomes a challenge not only because of his unfamiliarity with the setting but also because he's never really been around girls or women, which is a particular problem since the dojo is operated and inhabited by the four young Ikaruga sisters: the gorgeous elder sister Ibuki, second sister Ayame, third sister Chihiya, and youngster Kagome. Much nosebleeding and bashing about by Ibuki ensue over Yoichi's innocently inappropriate behavior. Local tough Ryou Washizu, who is head over heels for Ibuki, sees Yoichi as an obstruction to his romantic goals, while various warriors from rival martial arts schools occasionally pop up to challenge Yoichi. As he and the Ikaruga sisters soon discover, though, the fox-masked brother and sister behind most of the attacks have their own sinister goals involving Yoichi and Ibuki.
Director: Rion Kujo
Screenplay:
Hideyuki Kurata
Tatsuya Takahashi
Music: Tomoki Kikuya
Original creator: Yuu Minamoto
Chief Animation Director: Yumiko Ishii
Animation Director:
Hong Chen
Yumiko Ishii
Yutaka Matsubara
Masami Nagata
Kiyotaka Nakahara
Yooichi Ueda
Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa
Monday, June 21, 2010
NY Times Manga Bestsellers: Hellsing Climbs The Charts, Battle Angel Alita Returns
Naruto, Vampire Knight and Bleach: these three perennially-popular titles claimed the top 3 spots in last week's chart, and they're still holding strong to their positions in this week's New York Times Graphic Books Bestseller List. But nipping at their heels in the #4 spot is the 10th and final volume of Hellsing, the ultra-violent, no-sparkly-hunks-here vampire saga by Kohta Hirano from Dark Horse.
The sole newcomer to this week's chart is the latest volume of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order by Yukito Kushiro from VIZ Media, the current adventures of a powerful cyborg who seeks out her forgotten origins and the circumstances of her past life. The first Battle Angel Alita series was one of the first manga series that VIZ Media put out back in the day, so it's nice to see that this latest series has maintained its popularity with readers.
Japanese Box Office, June 12-13
The second part in the ongoing Kamen Rider film trilogy, Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider The Movie Cho-Denō Trilogy Episode Blue, dropped from #2 to #5 on Kogyo Tsushinsha's box office chart during the June 12-13 weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, the film fell to #6 in its second weekend and earned US$1,075,522 more on 215 screens for a total-to-date of US$3,744,531.
Nodame Cantabile Saishū Gakushō Kō-hen (Nodame Cantabile: The Final Score Part II), the second film in the two-part theatrical finale inspired by Tomoko Ninomiya's Nodame Cantabile musical romance manga, dropped from #12 to #15 in its ninth weekend in theaters. The film garnered US$217,695 on 317 screens for a total-to-date of US$39,606,244.
The live-action Seaside Motel film adaptation of Yukio Okada's Motel manga and Ginmaku Hetalia - Axis Powers Paint it, White [Shiroku Nure!], the first film based on Hidekaz Himaruya's Hetalia - Axis Powers web manga, are no longer listed on either box office chart.
Source: Kogyo Tsushinsha
The Tyrant Falls in Love dj - Aru Hi, Mori no Naka
Synopsis
AU story featuring the main characters from Koisuru Boukun (The Tyrant Who Fall in Love). Kuma (Bear!Morinaga) wishes he could get to know Ookami-san (Wolf!Tatsumi) better, but Ookami-san doesn't seem interested. Until, one day, Kuma finds Ookami-san badly injured and takes him in... (Source: MangaUpdates)Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Koisuru Boukun dj - Aruhi Mori no Naka, One Day in the Forest
Information
Type: Doujin
Volumes: 4
Chapters: 4
Status: Finished
Published: Not available
Authors: Takanaga, Hinako (Story & Art)
Serialization: None
Mangettes: Gate 7
Between our conscious, waking world and the subconscious state of slumber, there is a thinly veiled plane of lucid dreaming. While the conscious state belongs to individuals, the hidden plane of dreams is one shared by all human minds, past, present, and future. Yet only a few have ever possessed the power to enter this secret realm at will - where a war is being waged to control the waking world. For our earthly wishes and desires are not our own, but under the manipulation of these unseen masters of dreams. The heroine of Gate 7 is Hana, a high-school girl hailing from Kyoto, the daughter of a temple caretaker. Her peaceful ways give her the self-control to act in the hidden realm. But Hana can only reach it through the strange beast that acts as her totem in the world of dreams - and her companion on a journey to confront the puppeteers of our reality!
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