animemiz’s scribblings..

Yay, I am not to late, but if you didn’t realize. This past week up to today was American Library Association acknowledgment of Banned Book Weeks. Bannned Books are those books that people would try to get censored in order to further their own opinions on what is right and wrong. While I passed up the chance to go to a Banned Book celebration party, I ended up reading Americus this week. This is a book that has been on my reading list since I heard about it from Book Expo earlier this year.

When I was growing up, the only grip I had my from mom was reading and using my eyes a bit too much. But I am pretty fortunate in what my mom said I can’t and cannot do in terms of what I read. This book has the narration from a boy entering his first year of High School, and in the process of enjoying a fantasy novel series he loves, his town gets hit with a disagreement of what is appropriate or not to be read or enjoyed. He grows up with this happening, and this scenario may very well happen where you live. However, if your mind can be opened up to the world of imagination by reading, then read and celebrate the idea or possibilities of imagination. Never let anyone say that you can’t read a book, when there is plenty of choices. Thousands of books get published every year, and perhaps you can disagree with a plot of the book, if that happens.. then you can put the book down and not read it.

Reading is an individual activity that can enrich minds. So that even when there is disagreement with a book, the solution above can be done, and another solution is to talk with someone else about what makes the book not readable. Yet if a book is published, then there is always going to be anyone that can enjoy or disagree with it. Censorship is ultimately not an answer, but if the United States has the first Amendment compromised, then expect many other things to be compromised. For grownups, there is definitely a choice to read, but if you are a parent then read a disagreed book, and then hash it out with if a child may or may not want to read the disagreed books. Talk about it with teachers and librarians, and a compromise can be reached.  Also remember to be aware of such a celebration as Banned Book Week.

Whenever there is a chance in Manga Movable Feast to talk abut a title that tugged my interest, then you would see a prospective from me. This feast’s pick is Karakuri Odette by Julietta Suzuki, and other blogger responses to this MMF will be hosted by Anna of Manga Report here.

Reading about androids is nothing new in my experience. I didn’t initially think much of Karakuri Odette, since the art really wasn’t that great to look at, but the plot draws people in slowly, and appeal in the discovery department. People can on a superficial level can compare Karakuri Odette to Chobits, but I find myself staring at another works as being something more similar.

Arale as part of a bag, photographed by me.

Dr. Slump.

There is large difference in the appearance, and plot happenings, however there are some similarities to be made between Odette and Arale.

• Both have creators  deceiving a large part of the world on their non-living creation.
• Both have an inherent desire to be a part of the world that they are living in.
• Both do change other people in their life.
• There is the appearance of another robot, that may or may not like the female robot (Chris, and Obotchanman/Carmelman#4)

There are also plot parts that are similar such as the mention of food/cooking, in volume 2, and the part when the professor placed a camera on their robot in volume 1. Both are of different time, so reading is your choice. Dr. Slump deviates from slice of life into talking about other aspects, and ends in 18 volumes, while Karakuri Odette ends with six volumes.

This month’s Manga Movable Feast centers on After School Nightmare published in the U.S. under Go! Comi, which is a manga company that is clearly disappearing. This is one of the few titles I have read from this publisher, and it was Eisner nominated.

Mashiro Ichijo is a student at a school, where you have to go through a trial to graduate. He is definitely a character with secrets, that is unlike Asuka from Otomen. He is actually a she or is she a he? Mashiro is the one of the few characters I have read or seen outside of hentai titles that is actually mentioned as a hermaphrodite, so by the top he is a male, but on the bottom he is a girl. I have not seen the artist draw an artistic representation of his bottom, so what to say other than from what the other characters mention, and the real self that he/she portrays in the nightmare world. If they ever show him naked, he would be totally like a Ken doll  – assexual as I seen on Snow Sakura and Japanese censorship laws placated.

There are self-gender identity questions raised in this series. Is he going to be a manly man with a cute girlfriend, or would he be a female, and give into Sou- a darker classmate of his. I just see this as a continual love triangle between the three, as it is exemplify on the book covers of this series.

My personal preference is to see Mashiro end up with Sou. After a couple of weeks of reading a lot of shoujo titles, I really really am quite happy to see the “bl” scenes that Mashiro has. Can you call them bl scenes? I just see two guys going at at, and to me, my heart started to sigh.. and I can only say “yay!” But then mentally “boo” while Mashiro refuses Sou’s affections.

Warning this title also has incest issues, so please don’t read if you don’t like that. The series makes for a good suspenseful, mystery read though. Probably other read alike would be Future Diary or Deadman Wonderland. There are relationship issues, secrets, betrayals. I cannot truly confirm if this is a gender bender type series, since it is not the lead character either concealing her gender or cross dressing. Yet the self-questioning identity crisis and  gender disassociation type manga title read a-likes would probably be for some readers some comparison to MW or Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Since I skipped last month’s MMF with Paradise Kiss – coming back with August MMF. This time the book chosen is on Yotsuba&! from Yen Press, and other related blog posts will be hosted here.  I will be talking about a bit of Yotsuba and then going onto another title for general manga reading.

Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma is a slice of life story about a little girl who move into a new house – and this is about her discovery, as with her interactions with her single father and three next door neighbors. This is a manga that is aimed for people of all ages… and has had a history of being translated in the United States by two publishers, the now defunct ADV Press and then picked up by Yen Press.

As a frequent patron of the New York Public Library, they have two different copies of volume 1 of this title.  It is a popular title as it should – since it was created by the mangaka for Azumanga Daioh and with its interesting release history in the United States. Yotsuba&! has won awards, so it is a very good title to recommend for young readers.

So far, I have only read volume 1 and decided to stop and drop this title. Manga reading is always dependent on taste, and Yotsuba&! is a title I didn’t want to pursue, based on a personal reason of taste. For the more plot driven adult readers there’s Bunny Drop that is a better title, which is also carried by Yen Press.

But that is not the aim of this MMF at all so with aspect of mentioning – Yotsuba&! and another child-friendly title. I will bring my pick and love for what is an all about general age graphic novel for kids young and old.

Chi’s Sweet Home, by Konami Kanata released in the United States by Vertical Press.

There are currently seven volumes out in Japan, and currently at the time of this post written – two books in English. There’s two anime seasons, I believe, maybe one or two seasons that is available on Crunchy Roll.

Did I have to mention that as a feverent feline lover – that Chi’s protagonist is a kitten? The manga is about Chi’s adventures with Yohei, her young owner – and her discovery of the world from a growing cat’s perspective. She enjoys life, gets into trouble – but is a fantastic discover of the world around her. Very natural!

This is a fantastic series that is adult friendly as well. I love this series, since I am a cat owner and can find relevance with how my cat grew up as well. Plus Chi is all about cute as can be! Kids can find relevance with Yohei… so as with all manga reading – it is an enjoyable read! The other day I read a comic strip, about Yohei and Chi facing Kuro Neko, that I though was very impressive and cute. Used it on my mom to only have her, only to have her snap back – that’s she’s not an animal, and should kick the heck out of me…cues my sister break out in laughter.

The Japanese manga is easy reading for Japanese learners – as it is a manga with nothing but hirigana, for the cat sounds that Chi makes, but in the fact that things happen to her, so this little kitty is thinking. When I say there are seven manga so far in Japanese, that’s how much I collected of the Japanese one.

This is my 100% choice for kids to know, read and fall in love with, so definitely read Chi’s Sweet Home – no matter what!

I was excited when I received this in the mail. I pre-ordered this book a while ago from Book Depository. People can read chapters of this books online for free, from ikki. Nothing for me beats the physical feel of a book though. So what to say about this series, it is a treasure trove of learning for readers who want to learn about popular manga titles from the land of the rising sun.

Japan has an manga industry that publishes more than the United States so far has, and mostly the United States gets its publications from translations of Korean or Japanese older titles. Still, my opinion is that getting the chance to read about works within a work is an interesting way to learn about history.

For each manga title mentioned, there is a bit of a history at the end of each chapter in terms of the ikki version or at the back of each book in the print version. Dr. Slump, Sarusuberi, Moretsu Ataro, Billy Puck, Blueberry, The Chizumi and Fujiomi-kun series, and Magnolia Sho are titles mentioned. With the exception of Dr. Slump, none of the other manga titles are translated in English, so reading these descriptions can whet the appetite for trying to learn Japanese to read some of these book titles.

June’s MMF is on The Colors Trilogy – a Korean Manhwa trilogy by Kim Dong Hwa that has currently been nominated for the Esiner Comic Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material-Asia, with a list of the other fabulous titles, I wonder which title would win? The Colors has the distinction of being the only Korean Manhwa title in a category that is filled with Japanese Manga. The award is going to be announced next month at the San Diego Comic Con.

Prior to reading this series, I have looked at Manhwa titles with skepticism. So when I received these books to be read, courtesy of @funnypages, it took me some time to get through The Color of Earth, since it was a beginning that I was unused to following, but reading the following books The Color Of Water and The Color of Heaven, I realized that I couldn’t put the books down as easily as I had with the first book. The following two books do remind me of the dramas that my mom has watched, of an agricultural based society that is in a transition period with the rest of the world.

It has been pretty interesting to reading about Ehwa’s development, back when woman were just defined by their marriage, and what exactly is their worth or thoughts in the process. There is parts of feeling as Ehwa has the same fears and worries that every developing girl would have. Historically in order to conceal what is sex, it is often regulated to see what the insects and birds would. Then in describing sex there are flowers and other symbols to be seen. Even when Ehwa had her marriage bed, with the bell.

I found myself thinking about The Joy Luck Club or other dramas I have seen where arrange marriage is conducted, especially with the fate of Chungja. Certainly the actions with Master Cho is not the least bit unfamiliar with me. This is a good series to be read to be exposed to a different world and different time period. I have noticed other reviewers mentioning this as a great mothers/daughters read and am saying that this is a great book to be shared, or with any adolescent female.

At the end of each book there is a book discussion section with some questions and a list of further recommendation, that would make this trilogy a useful book in a book club or academic class.I believe than just seeing the fact that there is a great deal of nature in this story, The Walking Man was recommended.

My review on Jiro Taniguchi’s The Walking Man can be found here.

Other MMF posts would be located here.

As Manga Moveble Feast is underway with this month’s selection, To Terra. Anyone can check for links to the other participants here. It is a feeling of mixed bag of nuts and bolts as I revisit the world of the Mu and the Terran. On one aspect, it has all the conflicts and rage of a serious human confrontation as one can see on X-Men or Matrix, or it can be as simple as a school yard conflict with two opposing sides. I would say a song of “Kumbaya” is probably going to be regarded with a huge wave of distaste, so I can only move on, as I try to probe into this work that is To Terra.

This manga is considered to be a classic title, and for that reason, there are fans, and appreciators. My personal feeling is one of appreciation and befuddlement. Appreciation for the nuances that the series is, and befuddlement for why couldn’t the characters in this book be resolving their issues? That is pretty similar to nearly every conflict that has ended with groups wrecking genocide on the other or vice versa. There were so much extremes in this series, that it felt quite gloomy for the most part. I can see for desperate times calls for desperate measures for some people.

Art, I do agree with other MMF’s that the drawings were an art of its times, and that I grew up thinking To Terra’s art seriously looked like the read along fairy tales that I grew up in the 80′s seeing at the Chinese bookstore.

I was very surprised that this work was written by a female. That’s probably a whack to the head, but for the most part, and my lack of knowledge that I write this, since there just isn’t enough graphic novels of this scope to be translated as of yet into English or what I have read to really justify this series as being strong in my list. Volume 2 was definitely not something I really liked, I have considered moments of dropping this series, but for the sake that I read this book before this MMF, I can say that it was a one time read, that would make it justifiable.

Some character thoughts, I was annoyed with Physis’s character, from when she released Keith in the second volume, to the ending when the Terrans mentioned on letting them hold her strange hand. I was thinking whoa… hypocrisy and iconography. I can only mention that times should change from when this book was written.

One of the relatively few scenes that stood out for me int his book, was this scene.

The concept of the earth as a marble/plaything of a higher being is pretty significant. Men in Black or The Hitchker’s Guide to the Galaxy are two movie examples. I find that the series in spit of all its mostly down point, this gave a final hope, that there should be a paradox, that what is viewed as a world, maybe someone’s play thing.

Hisayoshi Tajima is an aloof, yet very attractive 16 year old honor student. He has a princely persona, that has many females in his school admiring him. However, what happens if he falls for teen idol Rima Fujio. Then he gets the opportunity to become an idol like Rima? They meet, and then he learns that she sees him as a rival and pretty much dislikes him?

I was surprised as to how this story was developed in the first volume. I had my fears that this manga would be a typical shoujo manga, that would be filled with plenty of sappy parts to read through. Yet this book may prove me wrong in quickly judging a book just by the cover.  While reading this book definitely does not make me do a turnabout for what my prior fears are about the shoujo genre. This book is unique enough for me to say that this is definitely something new to experience or read. This story has a male at the center of being the main character, where normally the female would be. The story explores from the perception of the male on what happens if he attracts the attentions of more than one female.

The personalities and perspectives of the character in this manga are very personable and realistic. That under the exterior of every pretty face or perfect family, there is always a different or maybe darker imperfect side. Similar to the Loveless, another series of Yun Kouga, Crown of Love is very character driven, and an exploration into the journey of loving a celebrity. I will look into reading the second volume of this series.

Crown of Love is actually a revised work from an earlier work of Yun Kouga. One of the things I appreciate about a manga, are the author notes often found at the end of a volume. They would develop and introduce the author/artist to fans, though the note might be dated- it is still an interesting look into the feelings of a creative individual.

Crown of Love was a courtesy gift from Kris of Girl G33k who I met from Daniella via All About Manga. This review is going to be part of the Manga Blogger Exchange.