Recently in Anime Category

This article was originally posted on anime.advancedmn.com on October 6, 2009.

Disc Description: Sato's life is going down the drain. He's dropped out of college, only goes outside once a week, and sleeps sixteen hours a day. Surviving on a steady diet of internet porn sites, he finds himself falling further into a pit of despair. Then he has a sudden epiphany. Sato decides that the sinister broadcast company known as "The NHK" is trying to transform their viewers into jobless, societal recluses, and they bombard them with images of cutesy anime girls.

Unable to resist the charms of such addictive programming, innocent victims like Sato are soon too busy watching TV, reading erotic comics, and playing pornographic computer games to pursue a normal life.

In Sato's darkest hour, he has a chance encounter with a beautiful girl named Misaki, who claims that she can cure him of his perverse ways. Is this mysterious visitor an angel of mercy, or a devilish agent of the NHK? Will he get a job and counter the evil organization, or will he submit to his weakness and download porn all day? Swimming in a sea of corruption, Sato prepares for the battle of his life. Welcome to the NHK!

This article was originally posted on anime.advancedmn.com on March 2, 2009.

Disc Description: A brave young warrior named Guts fights for his fortune as a mercenary on the front lines. A fated encounter unites Guts with the charismatic and deadly young man named Griffith. Leading the rogue soldiers known as the Band of the Hawk, Griffith wields his formidable force like no other. Driven by a quest for status, the Hawks exert military and social prowess the likes of which have never been seen before. The armies of Midland will quake with fear as Griffith and Guts set off on a path that will bring the world to its knees.

This newly pressed release brings you the best quality possible with masters struck from fresh prints.

This week, anime director Satoshi Kon, aged 47, died of pancreatic cancer. Normally I don’t get all emo over something like this but Kon’s passing is truly an important and sad moment for anime. With so many shows and movies just repeating the same memes, Kon always managed to bring something new to what otherwise has felt, at times, like a tired medium.

It probably hit me the hardest when I read some of his last words:

With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen.

Well, I'll be leaving now.

Satoshi Kon

It’s hard to explain why the words affect me as much as they do. I think that if he hadn’t died he would’ve had much more to give to anime, but at the same time I think he was satisfied with what he’d given, and was at peace with himself. I hope that when it’s that time for me, I’ll be able to be half that cool.

It seems that Berserk writer and artist Kentaro Miura has moved to a 12-month release schedule, or something close to that. The newest volume, 31, releases stateside on September 7th, while it hit Japan last September 25th. The last hit before that in October 2008 and then in November 2007. There’s no note on the official Japanese page about Berserk 25. I’m starting to get really concerned that the guy’s never going to finish the series.

That said, every time I pick up a new volume it’s easy to see just why it takes so long to release a new book. There’s more detail in each page than most artists could be bothered to put into a single piece of work.

Berserk, Volume 27, Page 2

Thinking about how much time Miura must spend on each image is enough to just about drive me mad. And he’s been working on this series since 1991. 34 volumes, 200+ pages each; The guy’s done something like 7,500 pages of this.

Somewhere in the middle, I started to get worried; it felt like he’d moved over to Monster of the Week, and the crew following Guts feels a lot like a D&D party (Druid, ranger, rogue, healer, and of course the Berserker). That said, the last few volumes have felt a lot more like the story I’m used to. Guts is getting beaten senseless on every page, interesting character interaction is everywhere, and again that detail.

Berserk vol. 31, page 1

I just wish it could move a little faster. I’m going to be sitting in the old folks’ home with my friends, reading the newest volume of Berserk (probably volume 42 or so!).

A truly evil villain is fun to watch for a while, but the really interesting bad guys are the ones you can sympathize with just a little bit. Often, they’re not so much a villain as they are an antagonist. That’s the perfect word to describe Granny Honi’den, marching relentlessly after Musashi and her son Matahachi on their separate paths. Just as long as Musashi has carried a sword, Granny’s been there to tell him exactly what she thinks of him, popping up in all sorts of unexpected places.

Unfortunately, though, Granny’s striking resemblance to Yoda isn’t just visual. She’s really old, and stomping angrily across the country has taken its toll, and she has fallen ill. The cleaned-up and newly sober Matahachi stays by her side, still battling with who he was even as he prays for her health. Finally deciding he’s out of time, Matahachi helps his mother onto his shoulders to carry her back to Miyamoto village. As the two walk, the dissipating anger and hatred comes off the page in waves as Matahachi has a mostly one-way conversation with her.

Check out the full review.

Real volume 7 feels a bit like a midseason game: Loud, fast, a fun ride – but it merely moves things forward. The Tigers practice for and then finally play their game against the Dreams. A recruiter goes after Kiyoharu, while the Tigers are encouraging a new player to join them. Tomomi tries to hold down a job and keep his frustration and desperation in check. It’s a filler volume, without the meaning or consequences of these actions being obvious quite yet.

The Tigers’ game against the Dreams takes most of the book, both the preparation for and the game itself. Despite the excitement inherent to an important game, it’s hard to match the power of watching someone relearn to live after an accident, or watching people come together to form a close-knit team. The best part of a basketball manga isn’t the basketball – it’s the people.

Check out the full review.

Have you ever wondered if that guy on the bus that says he can see things might not be crazy? Maybe he really is having a conversation with the mold on his cheese sandwich.

Sawaki Tadayasu, Moyasimon’s primary protagonist, wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss him. Since childhood, Tadayasu has possessed the ability to see microbes around him without the assistance of a microscope. Instead, he sees incredibly cute little beings floating around, saying all kinds of adorable things like “I’m going to turn some sugar into starch!” as they bob around.

Check out the full review.

A couple weeks ago, I finished watching the anime Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. As a very realistic portrayal of a major earthquake in a highly populated area, part of the story simply has to be about loss. However, to say exactly how that manifests would be what we refer to on the internet as "Spoilers."

Once in a while we get something a bit out of our usual range to look at. When One Peace (you read that right!) Books asked us to take a look at So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds, I had to jump at it to satisfy my curiosity.

One of the first releases from One Peace books, 15 Pounds is also Torii’s US debut. According to the back cover, she’s a well known author in Japan, with a list of best sellers in the health and beauty categories.

More than anything, the tone of the book is what makes it work. Torii writes in a very open, warm way that comes through in the translation. The book doesn’t feel like a science lesson or a cult induction, rather more like a friend relating some of her struggles. The format reminds me a bit of Azumanga Daioh. The comics are short and cute, with simple, but expressive art.

Check out the full review.

Like any good biography, fictional or not, the best thing about Vagabond has always been how intimate it is, and not just with its main character. It’s never a history lesson and it never feels like it, though Japanese history does play a significant role when talking about someone like Miyamoto Musashi.

In this volume of the story, we are once again watching Musashi try to heal from the injury he incurred in his big battle against the Yoshioka. We spend time not only with Musashi, but with some of the other people who have come together to support him while he heals. Everyone seems to be embroiled in deep, thoughtful conversation. There’s little idle chatter in Vagabond and even less of it in this volume.

Check out the full review.