Manga - LOL - Part 2

Kimi wa Pet Volumes 1-14! Like Shaman King , this is another series that I started to read because of a tv interpretation, and just dropped. And then just now realized that the mangaka finished it up...-xxx- years since I picked it up. This is a manga about a smart career woman who picks up a young man off of the streets, and offers him a place to stay as long as he becomes her pet, Momo. The jdrama was and still is one of my favs. Yayoi Ogawa's art is attractively fluid. She also writes well; I like the occasional time-shifts and changes in POV. It's a shame her newer works don't seem to be around or popular enough to browse. I think the main reason I dropped Kimi wa Pet was that I never got into the love triangles, and still, I didn't have much interest in them upon the second read. I did enjoy Sumire's spazzing, and the banter between Sumire and 'Momo' was enjoyable throughout the series. I definitely skimmed the clingy office girl parts. The other supporting characters were good though. ~9/10 rating~ for a good interpretation of RL drama.


...catching up on the new anime next!

New anime - Part 1 - Librarians vs. Postal Workers

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra ! Toshokan Sensou...fantasy version. Armed librarians fighting against...the Church!

+ seiyuu cast of fan-favorites, but
- bland everything

Quick impression ~ Humans become books (stone tablets) when they die and memories resurface when someone touches the book. Armed librarians protect these books. The Church of Smarmy is using/killing humans/meat for something. The production was dull, the characters even more dull, and opening/ending just as dull. For a story with such potention and detail, the first episode bored the heck out of me. A brunette Dolly Parton and half-arsed action will not convince me that this is worth watching.

Letter Bee 1! Armed postal workers fighting against...beetles...

+ Interesting premise, insect monsters, names, etc
+ Fukujun, Suga Shikao
- Mediocre animation, but
+ Overall decent production

Quick impression ~ Gauche Suede (Fukujun), a Letter Bee/mailman, is assigned to deliver Lag Seeing, a young *spoilers* girl boy, somewhere. They encounter mechanical bugs who are after heart energy(?) and fight them with guns powered by amber (which has a mosquito encased inside?) and their heart---something like that. In the first episode, you learn that Lag's mother was taken by 'mysterious' men, and Gauche's motivation for working is to make money to cure his crippled sister (hm, Fukujun character with a sister-complex?). I enjoyed the world the mangaka created, but Studio Pierrot's production lacks the extra oomph to make this exciting. Maybe this will pick up after a few more episodes. As reference, the OVA covered a random story when Lag was already a Bee, while this starts at the beginning when Lag learns what Bees do.

Postal workers win this round...

Not so new anime,,,

Firstly, a drama pick for this fall:
You're Beautiful is a kdrama about a cross-dressing girl in a boy band. It looks like my style of cornball humor.

Inuyasha: The Final Act 1! Alright, simultaneous release on Hulu and a guaranteed conclusion...even though I've finished the manga already, this looks pretty good. This re-introduction jumps right into the middle of the manga (Volume 36 by all accounts) and immediately throws all the characters into battle with the various offspring of Naraku. I don't recall if this is an exact continuation, but most news sites say it is. This isn't for new viewers, as it doesn't give any explanation as to what is going on. It is a good quickly-paced episode for the old fans. I didn't actually watch all 167 episodes of the original series, but it was easy to get an understanding of of this series if you know the major players as they seemed to harp on the shikon shards and Naraku for 56 Volumes. Anyway, unsure whether I'll follow this again (especially since they've got Volumes 36-56 to cover..another 100 episodes?), but it was a decent revival, and the ending visuals are pretty.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 26! Isn't it time for a new opening song? Sukima Switch was reported to be doing the next one. Episode 26 was piped full of great plot points from the King Bradley flashback to that last scene. Totally amused at the ending shot.

Buy a trashy novel instead of a graphic novel

Yen Press has dropped down to TP's level in terms of designing/marketing JP light novels. They seem to think that there are more people wanting to be seen reading a book with a naked woman on the cover than a 'manga' girl. They do try to redeem themselves to the fans by offering the original slip cover design when you buy their magazine. Honestly, they should have just used the original back cover as the front cover to reach a wider audience. And really? They are including the original illustrations anyway. So anyone picking the novel up will know what kind of novel it is? What are they trying to change? or hide?

..I think I am done littering my lj today. :/