Forums are coming!

So...I have decided to add a forum to this site, still working on the bugs of how to get it setup, probably at least a month or more before they go live [in beta form at least] These will be full featured Anime/Manga forums, should be a lot of fun to meet new people and get to know them.

I will be looking for moderators probably pretty soon, I would like to have 2 of them, so if you are interested [Only those over the age of 18 please, some adult content will be present on the site]

Anyhow take care, hope to have some other small updates today and tommorow, then I will be off for most of next week with life returning to normal the following one.

UPDATES - 05/28/08 - IMPORTANT

So I hope you all had a good holiday weekend, we were busy with the S.C.A. for a good chunk of it which meant no real updates to the site.

I am going to be very busy working on my house and getting ready for the main part of the job interview process next week in Pitssburgh, so artciles and content may be few and far between in that time. I will try to bank a bit of content that I can use the Blogger Scheduler to be able to post while I am gone, but realisticly it will likely be the week of June 9th before things get back to normal.

There will be mostly quick news updates, and a First Look posted this week, other than that I will be mostly gone.

Take care, I'll keep ya posted!

GAME REVIEW - Triggerheart Excelica

One has to wonder sometimes what Microsoft is thinking with their XBOX Live Arcade for the 360, don't get me wrong I have gotten some really great games off the system, but I have also seen a lot of clunkers on there that cost an arm and a leg to own, It would be nice if Microsoft would apply some sort of quality control to what gets released on the system. Triggerheart Excelica falls somewhere in between the two categories, not being amazing, but not being totally horrible either.

Triggerheart Excelica is a rerelease of a Naomi system arcade game that was ported over to the Dreamcasst in 2007 [yes apparently there were still a few games coming out for that doomed system even after it was officially dead, who knew?] the premise is like most other curtain shooters "Kill them don't die" seems simple enough? The unique mechanic here in an "anchor button" that shoots out and latches onto opposing ships which you can then use like a mace to destroy other attackers with. You play one of two armored female Anime characters on a quest to save their home planet, game lasts five stages with end bosses for each.

Gameplay 6/10

Ok lets start right off by saying that five stages simply isn't long enough, especailly for a game that is priced in the premium category of 800 Microsoft Points [roughly $10 USD] there should have been more to the game for that price, certainly at least double the number of levels.

The two main characters are virtually the same, one has a spread weapon the other uses a direct fire gun, but honestly the gameplay doesn't vary much for either, why is that? Because the anchor gun is virtually the only way to survive long term in the game and rack up the needed points for any of the achievements, its a shame that the game is so reliant on one mechanic as to reduce all others to window dressing.

As said above the game consists of only 5 levels, with end bosses for each, other than the final boss there really isn't much creativity when it comes to the bosses and their design. The game supposedly has a system built in that the more powerful you are when you get to a boss the stronger it is, I can't say I really have noticed a difference, since their attacks are so cheap its nearly impossible to stay alive.

Enemy design has the same flaw, with very little variety between the different levels, lots of palette changes, but not much else.

You aren't also going to be really powering anything up either, which takes some of the fun out of a curtain shooter, you do get to power up your main gun some, but I'll be damned if I actually saw any form of difference. You do get the requisite big bombs and they are quite effective, but other than that, don't expect many spectacular weapon attacks.

Its a fun game that feels more like a puzzle game than a shooter, the problem with that is that the anchor gun is anything but reliable and controlling it can be a royal pain, you never feel completely in control of the system, which makes it problematic to control and use effectively.

Graphics 6/10

Very little makeover has gone into this game since its release on the Dreamcast, the Anime character portraits that you see in the menus and closing credits are lovely, but other than that the in game graphics are pretty bland, nothing certainly to write home about in this day and age of HD television.

Sound 6/10

The music in this game is pretty standard fare for a shooter using lots of techno to make its point, its nothing special and won't be memorable for very long. The voice effects are pretty limited and the screams of the girls as they get killed...well...they sound like something else to be completely honest.

Nothing horrible, but nothing amazing in the audio department either.

Overall 6/10

For a little simple curtain shooter Triggerheart Excelica works, but since you end up paying nearly $10 for a game that can be finished in 30 minutes I can't help but rate the game just above average, if it ever goes on sale it might be worth looking into, but for 800 Points, it is far from a reasonable offer.

Platform: XBOX 360

Cost: 800 Microsoft Points [roughly $10]

Something fun...

Ok, so on the heels of yesterdays review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I found the most beautiful prepainted resin statue on eBay. I thought I would share!


Its a lovely piece of her in a Loli-Goth type look playing here guitar, seems to run around $60 USD shipped! Little expensive, but I would love to get my hands on one.
Anyways, I am working on a game review of Triggerheart Excelica for the XBOX 360 which I hope to post later today or first thing in the morning, so be on the lookout for that.
I will be gone most of saturday and sunday, so I won't be on much, also with monday being Memorial Day here in the US I am going to likely take my gal to the local waterpark, so I might not get the regular monday updates done, we will see though...
Take care, talk at you later!

DVD Review - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol 1

Initial Impressions - 10/10

Few shows have had as much hype as this one going into is North American release, ever since its release in Japan The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has and almost cult like following [if you don't believe me, look the title up on YouTube] so I had a good idea going in what to expect. The DVD is nicely packaged and from its front cover alone you can tell that the show is going to be something special indeed. 4 Episodes [5 if you count "Episode 0"] are included on the disk with the usual Japanese language with subtitles, and English Dub.

Story - 9/10

Wow, where to begin, it seems like a simple premise, the main character is a freshman highschool student, Haruhi Suzumiya, who on the first day of class stands up and announces that she wants to only deal with "Interesting people" Time Travellers, Aliens, Espers. Her classmates seem to think she is basically insane, and ignore her, only one Kyon, has the guts to engage her. He finds a somewhat cute, spunky, girl that gets no enjoyment out of any of the school clubs, since she already joined them all and left almost immeadiately.

It is fr0m this that Haruhi litterally kidnaps Kyon into forming their own club, the S.O.S brigade [Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade], which's mission statement is "To find Aliens, Time Travellers, and Espers and PLAY WITH THEM!" needless to say hijinks ensue a plenty. She recruits [kidnaps in one case] others into the club and through a rash of autocratic, morally questionable decisons, manages to form some semblance of a club.

A couple of things stand out about the show, Kyon is the one telling the story from his perspective which makes for a lot of laughs mostly due to his sardonic humor, seeing how he views Haruhi through his own eyes is amusing in of itself. Also the show takes so many Anime sterotypes, the Moe [Cute girl] fetish along with so many others and pulls them all together into what could be termed either an Otaku's nightmare, or greatest joy, the fan service, is rarely sexual and makes fun of itself when it is, its nice to see the standards flipped on their head once in awhile and this show delivers that in spades.

In addition to those who might have seen this fansubbed, be aware the episodes run chronologically in the DVD realease as opposed to the scrambled order of the original TV release, this makes for a more organized [maybe a little less unique] viewing experience.

WARNING SPOILERS: What Haruhi doesn't realize is that all of her club members other than Kyon are actually what she is seeking, Alien, Time Traveller, and Esper. They have been sent by their various organizations because there are a lot theories that Haruhi could be a threat to space and time itself. Kyon handles all this with a remarkable amount of resolve and understanding, while simultaneously trying to make sure that Haruhi doesn't get them all suspended or expelled with her antics.

Art - 9/10

For a show that has a pretty normal setting, the art is wonderful, the characters are each unique, from the cheerfully demonic Haruhi, through the wide eyed Mikuru to the sardonic Kyon they each have their own wonderful mannerisms and traits that brings the whole series to life.

The colors here are bright and cheerful, I was especially thrilled with the clarity on my Plasma TV with the DVD transfer, the series is an absolute joy to watch indeed.

Extras - 8/10

Textless openings and closings, along with the infamous "Episode 0" highlight the bonus materials on the disc.

While the former are pretty obvious "Episode 0" is something quite different, its done in a documentary style about the life of Asahina Mikuru [Haruhi's usual abuse target] and was done as a sci-fi entry into their schools film festival. I would advise NOT watching this until you have seen the other episodes on the disk as a lot of the material is more humorous after seeing the inital set of episodes, a great additon to be sure though.

Final Conclusions overall - 9/10

I haven't anticpated getting my hands on a series in quite some time, and I can tell you that I wasn't disappointed, it is a lovely light hearted show, with remarkable depth, that is absolutely Japanese in its tone and structure. I loved every minute of it, and cannot wait to get the rest of the volumes, for enjoyment and review.

+ Wonferful characters and story

Great artwork

- Would have loved more than 4[5] episodes.

Studio: Bandai Entertainment

Price: $9.99 [Got it on special at FYE, usually retails in the $24.95 range]
Rating: 13+

A note about reviews

Just a side note about my reviews, specifically DVD reviews, you will note that I usually don't talk about the Audio, I will be adding a sound track section soon, but I don't speak about the dubbing.

The reason is that I usally only watch my Anime subtitled, this comes from years in the fansubbing world, I just prefer it that way. If there is interest I will start talking about the dubbing and the English voices, its just that up til now I haven't felt the need.

Anyways enjoy todays DVD review, and I will talk at you again later today or tommorow!

Gashapon - The new collectible drug

Figure collecting and building have always been staples of the Anime/Manga scene, from the garage kits of old [see feature article next weds for their history] to the PVC figurines of the last few years. However probably the biggest change in the figure scene have been the collectible Gashapon figures of the last 6 years or so.

Gashapon figures are similar to the vending machine toys over here in the USA except for the fact that unlinke here where we spend .25 for a piece of junk they will spend anywhere from $3 - $7 for a wonderful collectible figure.

These figures have become the latest Otaku craze in Japan and overseas, primarily due to the advancements in PVC casting and painting the figures are realistic looking and of sufficent detail to make them deisrable collectibles. Some of them have been known to fetch quite a decent amount on the secondary market, where limited edition "Secret figures" go for quite a premium.

I personally have a small number of them, mostly from the series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya they are wonderful little figures and I am supremely happy with them, here is a picture of one them that should be arriving any day now.

I am more than impressed with their quality, you do pay a fair chunk for them, about $10 US shipped for the most part [based off of eBay] there are places selling them new in the capsules, but they are harder to find.

If you fancy getting into Gashapon collecting I would try looking on eBay, and put in "Gashapon, Figure" and see what shows up, you might even find something from a series you have never heard of but think look cool none the less.

There are a few collector sites out there as well, they are a bit hit and miss, one that I found to be somewhat useful is http://www.gashaponcollector.com/ they have a nice selection to show what has been/is available and a news section as well.

Have fun collecting!

UPDATES - 04/21/08

Sorry about the lack of the Manga review for yesterday, things have been a little hectic with people sick around the house and stuff, so I got a bit side tracked.

I am working on a feature article that will be posted later today, then I should have the DVD review ready to roll for tommorow. With any luck I am going to get a substitute quicky game review up here in the next few hours, so watch for that.

Again, sorry about issues with updating, its a crazy time in my life right now. But I promise I am going to get back to normal here soon.

Talk at you later!

Crazy schedule

Ok so for the next few weeks my life is going to be VERY hectic, I have a job interview that is going to be taking me out of the state for a little while, plus with S.C.A. [Society for Creative Anachronism] events coming up the posting schedule might be a little off.

I am going to try to keep to the regular schedule but there is no guarantee, I will keep you posted as to the plans as they happen.

Cya!

UPDATES - 05/16/08

Ok so I am seeing more and more traffic to the site, which is a good thing indeed! I am going to start adding some game reviews as well, as always this stuff is going to be slow coming, its based off what I can aquire as until I get this more established, its pretty unlikely that the game companies are going to send me free copies ;)

I am working on something special for this afternoon, hopefully it will be up before I leave for home for the night. Keep your eyes peeled!

Gotta run!

UPDATES - 05/15/08

Ok so we are getting better here, I got all the promised stuff for the week posted [Term of the Week, Manga Review, Feature article] and this weeks DVD review ended up being a film review. So all things considered its getting better.

Assuming that I get the chance I may post an extra feature article this week as a thank you for hanging in there with me while I got myself on schedule better. Keep watching for it.

Gotta run right now, see you later!

MOVIE REVIEW - Speed Racer

Speed Racer has been hyped ever since it was announced that the Wachowskis [of Matrix and V for Vendetta fame] were helming the adaptation of this classic Anime. So was the result worth the hype? Equal parts yes and no.

I have to say that I am mixed on the work of the Wachowskis, I loved the original Matrix, but the sequels felt more like an attempt to cash in on their original success than realy furthering the story, and in many ways felt like a regression. V for Vendetta was a masterpiece, they stuck to the original source material and created a compelling, haunting vision of what the future could hold. So it was with a slight trepidation that I went and saw Speed Racer on opening night.

The story follows the one in the Anime to a large extent, Speed Racer [Emile Hirsch], is a young boy who can dream of nothing else than racing cars and being like his older brother Rex, who is tragically killed in a mysterious racing accident after leaving the family racing team to go his own way. When Speed grows up he eventually asscends in the family team run by his father "Pops" [John Goodman] and begins to carve his own path, when an unusual racing Tycoon, Royalton [played masterfully by Rex Allam] comes into the scene Speed must decide between doing whats best for his family, and fame and fortune.

The visual presentation screams Anime, the colors are bright, vibrant and oversaturated, the cars are every bit as crazy as they were in the TV show, and the characters and environments have that wonderful larger than life feel [when you see Royalton industries you will understand] There are also some wonderful touches to the show that harken back to its Japanese roots, you will see row upon row of cherry trees in full bloom and the writing is almost all in Japanese, its a lovely touch that shows the Wachowskis reverance for the material.

The action scenes are second to none, while obviously computer generated its hard not to get caught up in the environments and their majesty, from the rally race to the main race tracks their is an over the top insanity that manages to still stay realatively grounded in reality. You will laugh at the absurdity at the weapons used, but find the scenes draw you in and not let go. The sense of speed is amazing, and I don't doubt that some will get motion sick watching this film.

So if you add that all together, then what was my issue that left me thinking this was anything less than perfect? My problem comes down to the casting, primarily the use of all the Australian and British actors, for a story that is supposed to be set in Japan you see very little of the Japanese, the actors they hired are amazing, but the film felt jarring with them in it, I wasn't prepared for the constant barrage of British and Aussie accents, it felt out of place.

Those thematic issues aside the cast did a very good job headlined by Rex Allam as Royalton and Matthew Fox as Racer X, those two along with John Goodman as Pops, Susan Sarrandon as Mom, and Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer gave convincing performances as both family and foe, the journey was fun to watch for all of them, each playing off the other with the delicateness that the script required. The comedic performances by John Goodman and Christina Ricci [Who honestly looks like an Anime character given life] were price of admission alone.

Crowds have been mixed, as opening weekend numbers show, its certainly not the Matrix, but it wasn't meant to be, it was meant to be a fun family film harkening back to a simpler time, and it does that in spades. While the true Anime fan is going to have some niggles, even they won't be able to resist it charms and have a great time.

Final Conclusion 8/10

The Golden Era [From a matter of perspective]

This article goes hand in hand with my one from last week, trying to explain in more detail what I mean about "Golden Era"

You hear people talk about "Golden Era's" all the time in history, the Rennaisance is the big one, the Roaring 20's being another. So what do some people consider the "Golden Era"of Anime/Manga fandom? The result may surprise you.

For ME and a lot of old timers the "Golden Era" was when there was very little commercially available on the Anime/Manga front, yes the prices were astronomical on stuff released over here and we were watching 8th generation tapes poorly subtitled, but there was something special at the same time, blazing a trail, opening a new frontier.

I was a member of the Vancouver Japanese Animation Club [VJAC for short] that was responsible for a group called Arctic Animation, this is the same Arctic Animation that would go on to do the complete fan sub of Maison Ikkoku, Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War and others. If you were a fan back then, chances are you saw a lot of our clubs work. This was a really neat time to be in fandom, we would get new series all the time and see them sometimes completely without subtitles [let me tell you The Five Star Stories basically make no sense without them, but it was fun anyways] but we loved it all because we thought there was something really special about what we were doing.

Trying to aquire merchandise was also a nightmare, really the only major places that you could get them were in California here in the USA and then from overseas, quite often in the UK, it was insane. But we loved getting each and every little piece that we could aquire, they were treasures to us.

There wasn't activism then about certain series, in fact it was precisely the opposite people were excited about anything new and unique that came down the pipe. There wasn't the whole "My series is better than yours" it didn't exist because we were thrilled with anything that came out.

We hung on every new release, hunted down Gundam kits like they were going out of style, these were great times to be a fan, maybe one day we will get back to them...

UPDATES - 05/13/08

Ok, Term of the Week has been changed, and the latest review [My HiME V1] has been posted, on schedule no less! We will see if I can keep this up for the week, but so far so good right?

I just preorderd Vexille so I hope to have a review of that up pretty close to release date.

Also I am planning on adding a "Series/Episode Review" and a "First Look" sections. "Series/Episode Review" will cover a look at individual episodes or sometimes a full series, "First Look" will be a preview of upcoming releases here in North America, as well as sometimes a quick peek at a series before a complete review can be done.

Talk to you later!

MANGA REVIEW: My - HiME V1

When Fuuka Academy is attacked by strange creatures called Oprphans, the school sets up a special task force of its female members---called HiMEs---who must team up with a unique “Key” to battle these invaders! Yuuichi Tate is the new boy in town, thrilled to be at a new school. But he soon discovers that he’s the key for not just one but TWO HiMEs!

Two highly competitive, rival schoolgirls. One overzealous boy. And that’s just the start of the trouble!

Initial Impressions - 8/10

NOTE: This title comes with a Parental Advisory warning. This title may not be suitable for those under 18 years of age.

So I decided to go ahead and do something different this time round with my latest Manga purchase, I decided that instead of buying something I knew something about I would grab something off the shelf I hadn’t heard of. I took a look at covers and read the back synopsis, and ended up setting on My-HiME.

First off the cover has a really nice portrait of one of the female leads from the series, even if she is a bit on the ridiculously endowed side. I appreciate the parental warning very clearly displayed on the book, makes it very clear that this title isn’t intended for those under 18 years of age.

The story from the read on the back cover sounded interesting, so the initial impression is very good.

Story - 6/10

I haven’t seen the Anime of the same name that people say is markedly so very different. So I am basing my story judgement based only on the Manga, I hope to get some of the Anime at some point to judge better.

So theoretically this sounds to be a bit of a harem comic with a Magical Girl twist to it, the problem is that it never seems to be either. It’s a spastic story at best, I got lost 10 pages in as to who was supposed to be in charge of what, it gets started fast which is good, but there are a lot of details left out. Such as how does an apparent 8 year old end up running a school?! There are also a number of jarring flashbacks of our hero that don’t help as much as they hinder.

Another problem is the translation, he holds a Kendo sword and talks about being in the Fencing Club?! What the heck? Also he goes on to speak about having fateful encounters at one point when referencing girls? There seems to have been a huge disconnect with translators and quality control on this one.

Once you get a little deeper into the story one can see there might be some promise, I will probably grab volume 2 to see if there is an improvement.

Art - 7/10

The art in the volume is nice, the action scenes are very well done and the character designs work well if a bit generic. There is a total lack of details in the backgrounds at points which some people might find off putting, I don’t mind as it really keeps the focus on the characters.

There is a ton of Fan Service in the volume if that is your type of thing, but for the most part it isn’t explicit, but after awhile you question if they just ran out of story ideas. It’s almost jarring the amount of times the girls clothes seem to explode into nothingness.

Final Conclusions overall - 7/10

I really wanted to enjoy this volume more, it looked to have a fun premise and from what I could see the artwork looked decent. But the story is really what’s holding it back, it just leaps around with no sense of direction or clarity.

Hopefully future volumes will improve on this.

NOTE: For the most part the story and art in this volume doesn’t seem to warrant the 18+ warning, however the last few pages definitely take an adult twist…Parents, you have been warned.

+ Decent artwork

- Storyline is a mishmash
Little background detail
Large volumes of Fan Service [bordering on the pornographic]

Publisher: Tokyopop
Cost: $9.99
Rating: Explicit Content 18+

A bit of writers block

Ok so last week was a disaster, good news was I got an article posted and the "Term of the Week" changed. Bad news was that everything else didn't get completed.

I am not going to make excuses for why things aren't getting done, honestly I could come up with a thousand reasons and it wouldn't matter. What really does matter is that I am promising content that I am currently not delivering. There is a bunch of new stuff in the pipeline that I should be able to get finished today or tommorow, which will cover me through the next week or so then we will go from there.

With any luck [yes I know that I have said that before] I should be able to get a enough content created that I am really only worrying about the articles and the news and will be able to keep pace with that.

Thanks for the understanding!

Quick updates...

Ok so I got the first article up and posted on time, along with this weeks term of the week, the Manga review is a few days late, sorry about that, I am working on getting it all sorted out. I am hoping to go on a binge this weekend and write a half dozen or so reviews to try and make sure that I keep on track for the next few weeks.

I removed the poll, no one voted LOL, if anyone out there is even reading this, I might only be writing to myself, I really hope not but you never know ;) I will revisit the issue in a couple of months to see where this is then.

I am also going to be using some more of the "Blogger in Draft" features, so be aware some things may look strange while I get the kinks worked out.

Gotta run, at work as usual, will try to get the Manga review posted tonight.

Community in Anime/Manga fandom

NOTE: This was a response to the Answerman question "Do you feel a sense of community with fellow Anime fans?" over on Anime News Network, they published it so I thought I would share it as this weeks article...

Enjoy, and give me your thoughts...

You know, when I got started in Anime fandom some 15 years ago there was a real sense of community, we were a bunch of people dedicated to a very niche hobby trading tapes and stories, honestly for me and many others that was a golden age. Now, the times have changed…

Commercialization of Anime has brought about some wonderful advances [go to your local DVD store of note FYE, Fry's and you will see] but at the same time its caused the soul of the community to vanish.

One first has to understand what made the community what it was back 15 years ago, we were people that were interested in Japanese culture as much as we were the animation, there was an understanding that we were watching things that were as much a cultural window as entertainment. The problem with now is that the fans really don't have a clue where its all come from, they complain about the $30 DVD with 4 episodes, I remember paying twice that for VHS tapes with one episode on them! We never would run around calling each other “Chan” and “Sama” honestly, we would have felt that to be an insult to the culture not the least making fools of ourselves. For us it wasn't a fad so much as it was a hobby that we really didn't care if it was understood or not. Now, all you hear is people calling themselves Japanese names and glorifying series as the greatest ever without even looking at what came from the past.

I recently saw it first hand when I was in our local comic shop, one of the employees was there and I looked up at the screen and saw an AMV playing of Oh! My Goddess The Movie. He proceeded to tell me how amazing this show is and how it's the pinnacle of modern Anime, and wanted to know if I was interested in coming to the store's Anime night. I asked him what they would be showing and he listed the episodes of Naruto and Bleach along with Bubblegum Crisis. I politely declined, he asked why, I explained that for me, when I used to go to club meetings, it was to see something new, not the same stuff from the TV. He looked at me and said “How can you call yourself an Anime fan and not love Naruto?!” I couldn't believe my ears. It underscored to me how today there is far more activism in Anime than there is community, I shouldn't have to defend not liking Naruto to be a fan, but its more of a “Look at me I'm an Anime fan!” than anything else anymore. Call me old and jaded, but being told by a couple of kids how everything prior to Bleach sucked is more than a little annoying.

There is community to be found, but its in the smaller niche groups, Cosplayer's, Fansubbers etc. honestly I would love to see the community go back to smaller more focused groups without all the commercialization. Where true fans could really enjoy themselves and not be lumped in with the kids who don't know what fandom really is.

I would love to see community rise again, truly I would, I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

*SPECIAL REVIEW* Star Crossed Destiny

I know I said that I wouldn't be getting any new content up until next week, but I just got permission to post this review, and I really wanted to get this up. This is going to be more stream of conciousness than my normal reviews, but there is a reason for it, this review is as much about the process and the courage of the creator as it is about the final product...

So I present to you my readers... Star Crossed Destiny

I came across this web comic by accident, I was over on the Megatokyo fourms and found someone that had a link to it in their signature, for the heck of it I clicked away...I found the page and started reading, I finished 2 days later, reading as much as I could on breaks between calls at work, I was pulled in, and it never let go...

The story that the author Juno has created is absolutely amazing, she has a wonderful sense for character and storytelling that you rarely find in this day and age. So often authors get caught into standard Anime/Manga/Comic stereotypes that they don't have the guts or creativity to carve new ground out for themselves. Thats where this piece is different, the author had the guts to take her characters in a vastly different direction, people caught out of their own world, changed forever, its a beautiful story and don't want to ruin it here.

Artwork is simply breathtaking, I know that the author has at times complained in her own blog about its quality, but honestly her sense of movement and color are wonderful, as it her job of characterization, its a wonderful blending of Anime/Manga style and North American Comics, she is to be commended for bringing two totally diverse styles together with such skill. Again where others are willing to stick to a standard formula, the artist is willing to branch out and try something different and risky, I give all the credit in the world to people willing to do that.

As I said from the outset, there is more to this than simply a review of the comic, as seems to be customary these days the author provides a sort of commentary along with her pieces of work. I have actually found myself equally drawn to the story of the artist who created the comic.

This is her life's work, she is a talented young woman that is trying to make her way at something that few people even remotely suceed at, she deserves so much credit for that alone, I have read all the posts she has written about squeaking by financially because she is trying to make this dream real, I could never fault someone for that. Dreams are meant to be chased, and if possible caught. Juno's work to overcome all that she has to get this far is a testament to her strength as a person and an artist.

She is an inspiration to me, I have my own dreams when it comes to comic writing and the web, I have designs and ideas floating around in my head that I am just trying to figure out how to get on paper. Her site inspired me to keep chasing the dream of the story I have to tell...Thank you...

I am going to post links to the comic here on the blog, I encourage you to go read it, enjoy it, above all, if you do like it, support it!

I told you this wouldn't be a normal review, but I hope that it can show the passion one woman has for her work and the passion she has engendered in others. I only hope to make this site and my dream just as successful one day.

Ok...So me and scheduling have some kinks to work out..

Ok, folks, sorry, this actual "Schedule" I am trying to be on has been harder than I thought it would be. I have half completed reviews and articles, but nothing ready...So I am going to ahead and get all the content done and ready for posting for next week...Hopefully if I have a full week of stuff under the belt I might get ahead and then be able to work on articles and stuff for the future weeks...So thats the plan...LOL...

The comic? Well I got my art pad yesterday for my new laptop [thats a whole post it itself about assumptions we make about shoppers] and I am really liking it so far, I have some stuff in the works right now, the style is very different than what I have posted so far but I think you will like it!

Anyhow, I am out right now, I am going to get the computer story typed up so I can post it later tonight or tommorow...