UPDATES - 7/21/08

Ok, for the record I am not abandoning the blog, its just that right now I am having some issues with life and work that make it very hard for me to be doing constant content updates currently. So I am doing something that I really don't want to do, but this only going to be temporary. I am going to suspend the schedule for the next 8 weeks.

Now don't get me wrong, I am still going to be posting articles and reviews on as often a basis as I can, but to try and hold to a shcedule right now isn't particulary realistic, so keep looking each week and I will do what I can to get new reviews and material up, hopefully by this time in September I will be back into normal run, until my daughter comes along in October, then its anybodys guess.

This week I am going to have a new DVD review up and hopefully a feature article, thanks for sticking with me!

UPDATES - 07/16/08

Whoops!

Ok, sorry about the Manga review not getting up yesterday, I wasn't able to complete it in time, due to some other...distractions...the iPhone Apps store is out and I spent far too much time playing with that monday, my bad sorry. Its really amazing what this phone is capable of, I just need to remember to get my scheduled stuff done first LOL!

Anyways as you know I am in the process of getting ready to move across the country, so things are going to be sporadic for awhile, I will get up what I can when I can, but just be patient, I am going to have a full blown office/studio in the new home which should make working on my art and this site a lot easier. Give it time, I promise not to disappoint [well not often ^_~]

Out for the moment, will try to get that Manga review posted, if not today I will shuffle it to next week.

Sign of the Times

Anime Expo 2008 has come and gone and there is real reason for concern when it comes to the North American Anime/Manga market:

1) ADV Films is in serious financial trouble, they are in the process of restructuring and saying all the right things, but the reality is that they are selling off properties and right now and are in a state of flux with regards to their product offerings.

2) Geneon is now effectively gone, while their employees are completing a number of the properties for Funimation [the new liscensor] their existence as an independent studio is now basically over.

3) "Fansubbing" was a subject of an entire panel with studio execs and legal council, who while they understand the past need/history for fansubbing, are seeing larger and larger losses on products that have been fansubbed before they have ever been released commercially in the North American market. Not to mention the rampant sharing of commercial episodes via Torrents and P2P systems.

4) The Manga industry is having its own issues as well, with the reorganization of Tokyopop, and the well documented drop in sales in major chain booksellers, along with the continued presence of "Scanlations" the Manga industry is feeling the pinch as well.

Not exactly the rosiest picture in the world is it? With the downturn [some would say nosedive] of the US economy the situation isn't going t0 get better, and may in fact get worse, so what can we as fans do to help the industry survive these lean times? In short, we need to start paying for the hobby that we love so much.

I have been around since the early days, when "Fansubbing" was the only way to get any Anime other than the odd offerings of the then fledgling ADV, Viz, Animego, and Central Park Media/US Manga Corps. I understand that there is a lot that has never been/ never will be liscenced over here in Anime form, so I understand the downloading of stuff like that, however, if and when those series get picked up, we owe it to the commercial companies here to buy the DVDs and delete the fansubs. The same goes for Manga, its one thing downloading a "Scanlation" when a series isn't liscenced, but as soon as it becomes available commercially we should be buying it, thereby supporting the company going to the trouble of releasing it in this market.

Now I know that the economy is weak and everyone is trying to find ways to cut back and still enjoy their hobbies [trust me I know how that is] and people feel that Anime is overpriced [unless you used to pay $65 for a 30min VHS personally I dont't think you should cry too much, but thats me] but the reality is that this is still a niche market. What this means is that the costs are going to be higher, we need to be able to live with that if we want the domestic industry to survive!

What does this mean? It means buying your favourite shows on DVD, buying that Manga instead of downloading it, or even worse going into a store and reading without buying! We have all got to do our parts. If it isn't liscenced this isn't an issue, but as soon as it gets liscenced we owe it to the producers to pick up the commercial copies of the shows that we enjoy and makes sure that they are able to keep bringing more and more quality products to these shores.

With any luck the industry will manage to survive this down period and come back as strong as ever.

UPDATES - 07/14/08

Ok, updating term of the week later today, and I should have the usual slate of content this week done, Manga review of Ragnarok feature article on the state of the Anime/Manga industry during the economic downturn in the USA [which isn't good btw.] and then the DVD review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol.2

Take care and thanks for your support!

MANGA REVIEW: Onegai Teacher 1&2

Initial Impressions - 6/10

NOTE: As of this writing it appears that these two volumes are out of print commercially, if you want your own copies check Amazon.com or eBay

I first saw Onegai Teacher [Please Teacher for those of us here in the west] about 3 years ago and fell in love with the story and artwork, while it was far too brief I felt that if it was given a longer more detailed treatment it would be much more enjoyable.

So it was with great anticipation that I ordered volumes 1 and 2 of the Manga, only to find out when they arrived that they were an adaptation of the series, and there were only two volumes total. In addition the artwork looked far different from that of the show, but I was willing to give it a chance to live up to the shows, heartwarming, if flawed story.

Story – 6.5/10

“That... Day I met my new teacher. It completely changed everything.” That line just about sums up the story of a 18 year old boy, who looks 15 [due to an illness where he effectively stops in time] who ends up marrying his 20 something half Alien homeroom teacher to keep her secret, definitely a mouthful, and a lot of stress.

Kei’s and Mizuho’s relationship is one of humor, tenderness, triumph and tradgedy, two people who are brought together under the most trying of circumstances that come to fall in love with one another.

Like all love comedies, other characters fitting into tight Anime stereotypes, the tom boyish girl with the crush on our lead, the somewhat perverted in laws, the very sweet but clueless female friend, all come to play in the story. Sadly the Manga does very little to try and make the supporting cast any more than simply cardboard cut outs for our leads to work around, its an all to familiar problem with romantic comedies, and one that sadly crops its head up again here.

Onegai Teacher the Manga, is an adaptation of the Anime series, so the story doesn’t deviate too far from the show, there are some minor alterations for the sake of brevity, but they don’t hurt the plot in any fashion.

The Manga does have the same flaw that the Anime does however, at only two volumes long there really isn’t a ton of room to develop the characters, this becomes a real issue in the latter volume as they are rushing to tidy everything up quickly, it feels forced and jarring. I had the same issue with the Anime as well, and the problem is only magnified here.

I love the story concept for the series, but its brevity, especially in the Manga format prevents it from jumping into the upper echelons of Manga available.

Art - 6/10

I loved the art direction in the Anime, the characters were fully realized and our heroine Mizuho was a breathtaking sight to behold, sadly the Manga doesn’t live up to this.

The artwork by Shizuru Hayashiya is a mixed bag that falls somewhere between the elongated, pointy look of “Clamp” and the more traditional Anime lines. I found the character design to be very inconsistent and even jarring at points when it seemed like the character was someone completely different two panels later, simply based off of a lack of continuity in the artwork. Backgrounds fair little better, since they are almost non existent through the entire two volume series.

Does the artwork work to tell the story? Yes, but in comparison to the Anime its so crude that it makes it much harder to enjoy the story, and see its true potential.

Final Conclusions overall – 6.25/10

With its even briefer storyline and crude artwork its nearly impossible to recommend this slightly above average two volume adaptation to anyone but pure fans and collectors.

+ Story is still very sweet and tender
Likable main characters

- To brief a space to convey the nuances of the relationships
Artwork is very crude
Completely forgettable supporting cast

Publisher: Comics One*
Cost USD: $9.99
Rating: 13+

*Out of business as of 2005

*SPECIAL REVIEW* Megatokyo

When I came back to Anime/Manga again full force, it had nothing to do with some new amazing Japanese series believe it or not, I owe it all to a North American web comic called Megatokyo.

I had heard about the comic for sometime from my roommate, he told me that I really should check it out, I had run into it in passing before, but never stopped long enough to look, to me it had always sorta been the "Hip thing" "Cool thing" and I am usually the last person that will get involved with the latest craze when it comes to Anime/Manga fandom [part of the reason I have never gotten into Naruto I guess] But I figured that I would give it another try one day when I had a few spare minutes at work, it might be fun to see what a North Americans take on this art for is like, what the heck right? Well, I managed to completely read the whole series current [as of March] in two days!

When I started reading I laughed at all of the gaming industry jokes and the satiric humor between the lead characters, Piro and Largo [interestingly enough, neither one of them ever seems to have a last name] as they try to invade E3 [you can never have too many John Romero/Daikatana jokes], then all of a sudden *whoosh!* they are off to Japan, and that’s where the real fun begins.

Piro is the definition of an Otaku, right down to the complete lack of confidence when it comes to women. Largo on the other hand, he is gamer geek, who speaks almost entirely in “l33t” speak as the series goes on. The two of them couldn’t be more different, but their friendship is wonderful to watch as it evolves and matures, and in many ways goes completely the wrong direction. Into their midst comes Hyasaka Erika, and Nanasawa Kimiko, two female roommates that have known each other since highschool, Kimiko is an aspiring Seiryu [voice actress] while Erika works in a local gaming store, much to her own chagrin.

The love interests and coupling are introduced very early on, but it’s the development of those relationships that makes for some of the more wonderful moments in the series. I don’t want to give a lot away, but by the time you get caught up to the current comic, you will have seen every Anime/Manga stereotype thrown on its ear, but with an amazing amount of reverence and loving care. [watch for Genbu and you will see what I mean] Fred Gallagher has so much respect for the culture of Japan and Anime/Manga fandom that he is careful not to overstep his bounds, his storytelling is very well done, parts heartfelt and amusing all in one.

I have heard people criticize the artwork, one has to understand that Fred has been learning as he goes, he is an architect by training not a comic book artist, so for him, it has been all about learning how the human body moves and emotes, not to mention the process of creating 3 strips a week. The early comics were crude by comparison to the later ones, but I urge you to give it a chance, by the current strips the characters look unique, and full of life. Like any good artist Fred is able to capture the feelings of his characters and render them lovingly on the page.


Megatokyo is available on http://www.megatokyo.com on roughly a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule [though that can fluctuate] and you can read the archives there. But I do urge you to go the Megagear Store on the site, and purchase the in print graphic novel compilations of the series as that will help Fred out, as well as keep the series going for the long haul.

I can recommend this series whole heartedly, you will definitely laugh, you might even cry, its one of the true gems of the web coming scene.

4th of July! Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July to all of you living in the USA, or Americans living abroad...

May you enjoy a safe [preferably non alcohol and fireworks induced death] and happy holiday!

UPDATES - 07/03/08

Ok first off, a sincere hearfelt appology, it seems that no matter what I have tried the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to get anything posted to the site.

But no matter, we are back to normal starting Monday, with a special review to be posted tommorow on the 4th of July.

I look forward to getting this site back and rolling again, as there is a lot that I need to review and get up for your reading pleasure!

Take care!