For some reason, I thought this was going to be a rather tame series, focused on the crafting of doujinshi with somewhat realistic characterizations. Doujin-making aside, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Opening with a nailbat wakeup call, lots of metal references, and a quick jump into the world of doujinshi convention culture, this is already looking to be one of the faster paced slice-of-life series I’ve come across, with 3 cons attended and 2 1/2 doujins produced by our lead, author Sekihiko Inui’s isn’t giving anyone a moment to catch a breather. Packed full of pop culture references, small parodies and sight gags, absurd violence, and a number of cute girls, this looks like a winner and, if they can keep it up, should prove quite enjoyable when its time to watch the DVDs.
And yet more A!MG this afternoon as I transition over to shorter 4-episode discs, which means easier to squeeze in, which means easier to keep up with this, woo. Serving mainly to bring our two other primary characters, the demon Mara/Marller and Belldandy’s little sister Skuld into the picture, we get a pair of episodes for each of them on this disc(with the former’s nicely playing up Urd’s Enka-induced narcolepsy), which made for an odd little balance. We’re still in territory that I vaguely remember from the manga, but its pleasant nonetheless, as the animation and vocal performances add a lot for me, even if the visual quality suffers a bit. Actually, I don’t have any recollection of what comes next, perhaps the next disc will venture into new territory for me!
Oops, fell asleep watching this one last night :\ Managed to finish it up this morning before work though, close enough! Seems its gotten its hooks into me after all, and I won’t just be popping it in occasionally. Probably for the best, really, would hate to lose track of it in the middle of things. Not that there’s huge storylines that I’d lose track of or anything, as every episode’s been a one-and-done sort of thing.
Eight episodes in, we finally get to bring Urd into the mix, doing everything in her formidable power to try and get Keiichi to step up his relationship with Belldandy. We also get introduced to Keiichi’s younger sister Megumi, Aoshima, the campus playboy, and a small tease of Skuld frantically trying to keep things working when Urd decides to pay Earth a visit. Overall, more light, relaxing fun and shenanigans, as we start to build up the characters and their relationships with each other, bring on the next disc.
Woo, a trailer for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle has surfaced. The first is easily one of my favorite Wii titles to come out so far, and this tease certainly seems to be just as awesome:
New acquisition! I’d completely forgotten this was coming out, and so was pleasantly surprised to see it sitting on the shelf at Borders this afternoon. When I was actively following scanlations of Tenjou Tenge, this was constantly sitting off to the side of the translator’s site staring at me, but I never got around to reading it. A shame that I hadn’t, as this turned out to be a nice package. Consisting of four tales that are mostly independent of each other, the overall vibe is similar to that of Black Lagoon, but in a future society that’s the had open genetic engineering of people come and go, and much of the criminal element of the underground seems to literally be living underground. It’s in that slightly oversized format, the art’s sharp, characters are distinct with a nice range, and there’s a color foldout in the front with a pair of nice illustrations. Looking forward to the next volumes (might not be able to resist the scanlations, in fact), and the OVA’s release is imminent, so yay for that.
Never expected to receive this for a Christmas present, but I did, so there you go. I do love Carlin’s stuff, and I’ve only ever listened to bits of this one, so it was quite a nice treat to watch him give the full thing. Recorded less than 3 months after 9/11, he wastes no time bringing humor to the table about the situation, good on him (and somehow, this was one of the bits I don’t remember hearing before). On he goes from there about the human body (and our fascination with the bits that fall off of it), people deserving to die in wonderfully creative fashion, and laws, more specifically ones to ignore and ones to trim. All in all, a solid set, and its always a treat to listen to material I’ve never listened to or have forgotten over time. Almost a year on from his death now, it’s somewhat disheartening that we’ll never get to hear more of his madly genius thoughts.
Hrm, even given its thinness, that was pretty much less of everything than I was expecting. I’ve never gotten around to either the OVA or the TV series, but with an android female in the lead, its one of those things that is almost automatically on my radar. Featuring a few short B&W chapters in an older style, and one in full color styled after the OVA, this essentially serves as little more than a trailer for the OVA (only marginally succeeding at that). The saving grace of the thing, honestly, is the 16 postcards making up the back quarter, most of which are really nice Copic Marker illustrations. Even though you’ll blow right through it in almost no time flat, it’s not worth your while unless you can get it for next to nothing like I did. Guess I’ll have to track down the OVA or show to truly come to a conclusion on the property, though its clearly not something that takes itself too seriously, which works in its favor for me.
And another regular bit to add to the blogging, the weekly comics pulls… Starting things off with a hefty week that sees the ends of several stories and arcs, while a few others begin.
DC/Vertigo:
Battle for the Cowl: Gotham Gazette – Batman Alive? – With the Battle for the Cowl mini finishing up this week, this one-shot serves as an endcap to the quasi-event, pairing with the opening Gotham Gazette – Batman Dead? one-shot that kicked it off. We check in with Detective Bullock, Leslie Thompkins, Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), and Vicki Vale while providing a bit of closure and opening some new doors for these secondary characters, and Gotham itself has survived its latest struggle. Reasonably enjoyable, and the art for the Vicki Vale section (each segment had its own art team) was a treat, and served as a nice tease for Guillem March’s upcoming work in Gotham City Sirens.
And with that out of the way, we’re ready to plunge into the new Bruce Wayne-free Bat books, none of which are looking bad by any means. We’ve got the Grant Morrison-Frank Quitely Batman and Robin, Red Robin (okay, this one I’ll probably pass on), Streets of Gotham (my Birds of Prey replacement? the better part of the team’s here anyhow), Gotham City Sirens (Gotham’s bad girls combined with Guillem March’s gorgeous work = eye candy overload), Batgirl (with a mystery about who lingers behind her mask now), and the biggie, Detective Comics with Greg Rucka and JH Williams. Quite a good time to be a fan of the Bat Family.
Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1 – The last of the Aftermath miniseries to get started, Ink puts villian-turned-JLA member Tattooed Man in a very street level tale as he discovers life on the right side of the law. Not a bad start to the mini here, but the story itself seems familiar and looks like it will lead to a bad end… at least, it looked like it was going to be pretty straightforward up until the last page, where we get a bit of a surprise. Consider my interest piqued thanks to that, but still, I like all of the other Aftermath titles better so far. Of course, its still early, with just the one issue out for each, so we’ll see how things turn out.
Justice League of America #33 – Continuing the tale of repowering Dr. Light II (with a nice bit of presumed finality to Dr. Light I) and integrating the Milestone Comics characters into the DCU, this one had something resembling a comfortable flow to it, and a nice surprise in the form of Paladin’s return(a fake/alternate cowboy version of Batman from an earlier JLA arc). To be perfectly honest though, as Black Canary’s prominence in the title diminishes, so does my interest in the book, and her prone form on the cover was all she wrote here. Zatanna’s presence helps, but its quickly sliding to a point where I’ll be dropping it (which is probably a good thing, given the incoming mass of Bat books).
Madame Xanadu #11 – After having what was essentially a 10-issue origin arc, our titular character has finally settled into her fortune-teller/mystic services role in 1940s New York City, something that looks like it could make for some interesting pulpy tales if we stick to this time period. As we open, she’s put on the case of a murder most foul as a woman visits her father’s suite, only to discover his charred skeleton in a case the police attribute to Spontaneous Human Combustion, woo, happy times. We also spend a number of pages flashed back to another historical period, this time Spain under Torquemada’s Inquisition, and its very plain to see that this will come to a Bad End.
Northlanders #17: The Viking Art of Single Combat – Another one-shot in Brian Wood’s ongoing series of Viking tales, this time he’s dedicated an entire issue to a single fight between two champions, that of the drunken Eastern clan leader and that of the Western clan leader whose hall the Eastern leader burned down. As the title suggests, Wood goes into great detail as he enlightens us on the weapons and tactics of Viking combat, provides details about the weaponry involved that’s just as intimate as the backgrounds of our combatants, quotes the Sagas, and somehow makes it all flow together seamlessly with the fighting. Truly another reason why Brian Wood is someone you should be reading his stuff, and the format of Northlanders, with it beginning and ending new tales all the time, makes it a great place to start.
Trinity #52 – And so it ends. Rather than the one last fight teased by the end of #51, we spend the bulk of the issue back at the cafe where it all began, as all the heroes hold a party to commemorate the affair before it fades from memory with one of those happy fun plot devices that keeps things mostly status quo (important here, as it all takes place before R.I.P. and Final Crisis). The changes/introductions include letting Enigma to continue on on the Anti-Matter Earth, which makes me happy as he was quite an enjoyable creation from the series. Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the series, a big huge smashup with an enormous scope that was exactly the sort of thing it should have been, and feels like it would make either a great animated movie or a season-long event if JLU was ever ressurected (which it won’t be, sadly). That said, bring on Wednesday Comics!
Marvel:
Immortal Iron Fist #26 – Another arc finishes as the Immortal Weapons succeed in making their escape from the Eighth City (aka Hell). More fighting, more horrific and appropriately hellish imagery, and more of Danny pushing for a better path of acknowledgement and reconciliation with the troubled history of K-un Lun. Then Danny returns home, where its implied that things aren’t as normal as they seem, and the issue ends. This has me intrigued about what happens in the next issue, particularly as the issues after that are a series of one-and-dones focusing on each of the other Immortal Weapons.
Moon Knight #30 – And another arc finishes… repeating myself much? While there was murder-a-plenty, it was actually a fairly anticlimactic issue, with Moon Knight essentially acknowledging this other Mexican death god(or avatar of, like himself) and walking away rather than getting into a huge brawl like the cover teases. Still, it was nicely done, and I continue to like what they’re doing with the character, such damaged goods, wanting to escape from it all, but constantly being dragged back in. Of course, the highlight of the whole arc was easily the Merc Luchadore brothers, I surely hope they become a regularly part of the Marvel U, as they were quite entertaining. Next arc looks to be gunning for Norman Osborn (wonder if we’ll get a Deadpool teamup…)
Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine #6 – Finally, 3 1/2 years after first starting, all six issues are out and it is complete! The dialogue has easily been my favorite part of the miniseries, and this issue was no exception, both with Wolverine’s internal monologue and his little chats with Banner, Hulk, and Ross. Of all the matchups between the two, especially recently with both Hulk Vs and Wolverine and the X-Men, this has probably been my favorite incarnation of the perpetual fighting between the two of them. Despite my usual hesitation about double-dipping, I’m eagerly awaiting the HC collection, as it was just such a blast (and the singles are going to a friend).
War Machine #6 – In an odd break from what has become the norm, War Machine is starting its second arc with issue 6, rather than finishing the first one up. With his crew in tow, War Machine pays a visit to his mom in the Southwest US before beginning his assault on an American military facility. Giving the issue something to do, American Eagle shows up to try and talk him out of it, giving the appearance of having some pretty hax skills in the process, but falling for a fakeout that leaves you wondering if they’re really all that crazy. More damaged goods, but damaged goods with a purpose, and an inability to turn away from the wrongs of this world (the perfect machine memory certainly doesn’t help).
X-Force #15 (Messiah War Part 5) – Hey look, this one’s only almost finished with this issue. Little bits of development with X-23 and (Arch)Angel, the former showing signs of irritation(hey, for her, this counts), the latter taking control of himself and refusing to bow before Apocalypse. Lots of villianous monologuing, and the first half of the final showdown (which concludes over in the next issue of Cable). Admittedly though, while this has been an interesting diversion for the book, I’m eager for them to get back to the present so they can get back to the arc they were quite literally in the middle of.
Other Publishers:
Ignition City #3 – Warren Ellis’s retro-future tale continues, with lots of drinking, Great Cosmonaut Yuri being great, and the introduction of Corrupt Rocketeer Marshal. While the plot, alterna-history, and dialogue have been quite enjoyable, I think all of the junked spacecraft making up the buildings and backgrounds are my favorite part of the book. Its like they’ve pillaged ships from the breadth of classic sci-fi and crashed them all into the ground on one small island, then let them decay for a few decades.
Special Forces TPB – Finally collected, I finally get to the last part, as well as a reread of the whole, in this distinctly different war story from Kyle Baker. Following a squad of true misfits through a post-war mission in Iraq to capture one of the remaining terrorist leaders, we follow along as everything just goes to shit, one way after another, and the squad’s membership keeps on decreasing before we’re left with two- the autistic Zone doing everything in his power to continue and complete the mission, and the felon Felon constantly trying to keep Zone’s ass alive. An action masterpiece in its own right, its also a powerful tribute to the people who’ve been sent to war to die who had no business being there in the first place, and highly recommended.
Whew, quite a week, thank goodness they aren’t all this full though.
Hrm, well, that meandered a bit for the first third or so in presenting us with some back story on our lead. Sure, it helped flesh things out and clarified other parts as well, but in doing so it brought the extra-insane action of the first disc to a full stop (and really, we’re not here for the story with this one). Thankfully things pick up quite a bit with the remainder of the disc as the big bad puts his plan into action, an obvious revelation is made, and our hero must need be reborn before he can take on and defeat the big bad. In the end, the day is saved, the city has a new champion, a path for future villainy is preserved (thanks to a post-credits scene), and most everyone makes it out in one piece (with a couple exceptions).
Surprisingly, the second half seemed to look much better than the first, which was certainly a welcome surprise (though the males still retain extremely effeminate faces to go along with their rather square jaws). Which leads me to taking a quick look at the staff involved and finding a few surprising revelations. Throughout the show, the thought that I should really rewatch Soul Taker (now that I have my own copy) kept popping up, and here I go and discover that the Director, Character Designer, and a couple other key people were involved in both productions. On top of Soul Taker, a number of the staff also had a big part in the design of The Big O, and I can see some bits of design coming from one to the other. Lastly, the chief Script Writer, whose involvement in anime production consists almost entirely of scripting, has one Key Animation credit for Nodame Cantabile, which struck me as being a rather odd switch in roles (or perhaps not, Nodame has an absurd number of Key Animators listed for some reason, possibly something most other titles just don’t show)
Heh, figures I’d break the streak in the first week. Ah well, that just gives me opportunity to tackle a 2-parter in one shot, so in goes Karas, a 40th anniversary OVA production by Tatsunoko that popped up a couple years ago whose box art looked somewhat interesting and was fairly cheap. That’s honestly about the extent of what I know going into the show. Popping it in… two alien-looking aircraft are duking it out in stormy skies above the city… wait… now its two armored people duking it out in stormy sk- wait… its the aircraft again…. whaaa?
Being a Tatsunoko title, it quickly becomes apparent that we’re dealing with some serious sentai business here (after all, they’ve given us such classics as Gatchaman and Casshern). Still, this isn’t your standard fare for the genre as bystanders are meeting a whole array of grisly fates. Honestly, I’m not really familiar with the genre, but I don’t know that such large such a large dose of the horror is the sort of thing that pops up in these shows (it certainly explains Manga picking it up though), but it seems novel to me, and thus somewhat more interesting.
Story’s a convoluted mess, characters are hit-or-miss, animation hit-or-miss, CG’s mostly miss, action’s a total hit, we’re running pretty middle of the road at the halfway point, time for part the second.
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