Haruhi Suzumiya 1: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Posted: May 29, 2009 Filed under: Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 12 Comments »Nagaru Tanigawa – Yen Press / Little, Brown – 2009 – 9+ volumes
This is the original novel.
So, it’s really impossible not to know about this franchise. I haven’t seen the anime or read the comics, and I know nothing about the novels (is this the first in a series? is the series something different?). All I know is that people are really, really insane into this series. I considered watching the anime, but I usually don’t get the best impression from anime series, even short ones like this. After all the recent hoopla about the new series that just got underway, I decided to try out the original novel as an easy one-shot dose of the series.
Hmm. I guess it’s popular because it uses almost every anime trope in an extremely self-aware fashion? There was a mental checklist I was going through in my head as I was reading it. Angry, pushy girl? Check. Main character who lets everyone walk all over him? Check. Moe girl that gets dressed up in appealing bunny girl/maid costumes? Check. Smiling, popular boy? Check. Quiet girl with glasses? Check. Weird school club? Check. Aliens, time travelers, and espers? Check, check, check. Love story? Check. End of the world imminent? Check. Giants that pulverize buildings? Check. Mecha?
Uh, mecha? Hello? Giant robots? No? Did this even come from Japan, the country that sneaks giant robots in magical girl series?
Despite the fact I normally hate all this stuff, especially when I know it’s being used for maximum fanservice, I couldn’t help but like the book. I liked Kyon, dammit. I like the subtle ways that Haruhi would get angry at him that showed her feelings. I laughed when all three of the other club members came forward to tell their stories to Kyon, how they all had different versions of the same story, and how eventually Kyon got a live display of everything that the three were talking about. And Kyon didn’t really feel compelled to share any of it. Most of all, I loved that last scene which combined the powers of shared dreams and alternate dimensions in its giant-pulverizing-the-school climax. I knew what Kyon was going to have to do. I saw it coming. I loved it dearly anyway.
Mostly I loved the last line of the last chapter. I couldn’t tell if Kyon was being serious or just said it to mess with Haruhi. The ambiguity was excellent.
About the only thing I didn’t like about it was Asahina, who Haruhi brings into the club with no pretenses as to her role. She says straight out that the club needed a moe member, and then proceeds to regularly strip Asahina and dress her in fanservice-y costumes. The book never pretends that Asahina is anything more than fanservice in a book that’s really all about fanservice, but I still hated her. The fanservice certainly wasn’t for me.
I liked this novel an awful lot, enough that I finished it in two sittings. I don’t feel all that compelled to seek out the manga or anime or other novels since the story was self-contained and pretty satisfying, but I can see why everyone seems to be addicted.
Battle Royale 5 (Ultimate Edition)
Posted: May 29, 2009 Filed under: Battle Royale 6 Comments »In all honesty, I was kind of dreading this volume. I knew the showdowns with Mitsuko and Kiriyama and the wind-down weren’t going to last three volumes. So… yeah, there was a lot of talking involved. A LOT. At one point, there was two chapters dedicated to the extreme mental battle Shu was waging with himself during the split second he had to pull the trigger and shoot Kiriyama through the head. There’s a long speech at the beginning about how Shu wants to believe the good in everybody, including Mitsuko and Kiriyama.
Shogo also gave lots and lots and lots of speeches. He has a flashback, but he may give a long speech before the flashback, he gives a long speech to his girlfriend during the flashback, and then he gives a long speech after the flashback. Then another one when the game is pretty much finished. You know the type of thing. Moral stuff, what Shu should keep in mind, how he should protect Noriko… the same stuff we’ve been hearing through the entire series. Again, maybe my patience for this is less since I’m reading three volumes at once, but I kind of hated both of the last two mega-volumes for the lectures I got over and over and over again.
Shogo’s flashback wansn’t actually that bad. He fights with his girlfriend right before his class gets drafted into the game, and he scares her off when he actually plays and kills a great many of his classmates. In the end, something terrible happens that he can’t forgive himself for, which he then decides to use as a lesson for Shu and Nori. Later, we find out that the government got him addicted to morphine in order to ensure his cooperation with the media blitz surrounding his win, and they also gave him an STD for no real good reason.
The fight between Kiriyama and Mitsuko was pretty disappointing. It was cut with flashbacks for Mitsuko and a lecture from the Shogo camp. It was also pretty one-sided, and Mitsuko kind of cracks up in a weird way right away. For whatever reason, Kiriyama just watches her mind go, and… I don’t know, sympathizes with her ravings? I wans’t exactly sure what was going on here. There is a head explosion scene which is one of the most detailed and graphic illustrations I’ve ever seen in a comic.
The fight between Kiriyama and Shogo et al is pretty cool, though I groaned the entire way through as Kiriyama literally kept pulling a Michael Meyers act and getting up and somehow avoiding every major trauma. I mean… shooting the guy through the head didn’t bring him down. His flashback is slipped in here somewhere, and it’s somewhat unsatisfying, but explains him well enough. After he sustains major damage, I’m not exactly sure what Kiriyama is doing, he sort of floats through the air in an extremely contorted position for a few chapters.
The end of the series is decent, though I preferred it with the fake-out ending, only because I like Shogo and I really, really didn’t want to hear anything more out of Shuuya and Noriko. The ending actually reminds you of why the series is cool. It’s a good idea, and it brings up all the weird totalitarian government stuff again, along with the politics of the game. Battle Royale is an awesome idea, and of course people reading it are going to be looking for the extreme violence that the series is good at dishing up. It just… it should never have been stretched out as long as it was. The filler is honestly terrible.
St. Dragon Girl 3
Posted: May 29, 2009 Filed under: St. Dragon Girl 1 Comment »Now, these lighter shoujo series aren’t so much my thing, they’re just a bit too much shallow fun for my tastes. That’s fine, considering the audience for them is actually younger than, say, High School Debut, I’m just not into these types of stories. They are always extremely cute though, and sometimes even I need that extra shot of sugary sweetness.
St. Dragon Girl actually stands out from the crowd a little bit (at least among the stuff I read) because it doesn’t really have much to do with the characters in school. There’s still a shy romance between childhood friends, but the girl is a martial artist and the boy is a magician, so most of the stories are about jobs the boy has exorcising things, or spirits coming to menace the two of them, or other supernatural phenomona the two run into. I actually like it quite a bit for that.
In this volume, Momoka is possessed by a Chinese wedding garment, Shunran and Momoka make friends with the spirit of a little boy (this story had a pretty fun twist at the end), one of Ryuga’s relatives is having problems with his mother and little brother that Momoka helps out with… the stories aren’t really interconnected, and the only continuity seems to be the relationship/crush between Ryuga and Momoka and their family history in their respective fields.
It’s good fun, if you’re in the mood for something light, cute, and action-y. Most of the stories are buildup to a final fight where Momoka beats people up and Ryuga releases the dragon inside her. There’s not to much to it other than that, so look elsewhere if you want something to sink your teeth into.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Masca 1
Posted: May 28, 2009 Filed under: Masca 1 Comment »Here’s yet another orphan volume 1 I picked up at the recent Right Stuf bargain bin sale, and yet another Wink magazine alumni. I’ve actually been looking at this series for years because of the pretty cover… again, I held off because only the first volume was available, but I couldn’t resist the $4 price tag.
Incredibly, when I started reading it, I realized the artist was the same woman who draws Evyione: Ocean Fantasy, one of my favorite series from last year. Masca isn’t nearly as good as Evyione, but the art is still really pretty. You can see how much she improved from this to Evyione, too. I couldn’t believe my luck, I’m pretty happy about this.
The plot is something of a cross between Go Go Heaven, Bride of Deimos, and Gestalt. In a fantasy world of the far future, there is a race of wizards that protects everyone. The Archmage of the continent is a man named Eliwho, and the main character is his pupil Asarella. The story starts with Asarella venturing into the Devil’s territory to retrieve some hostages. The hostages aren’t actually being held against their will, and are in fact in love with the handsome Devil. The Devil of Sibilla couldn’t care less about the lot of them, and invites Asarella to take them off his hands. Asarella came looking for a fight though, and picks one with the Devil when she realizes her trip is about to be wasted. She winds up backfiring a potion horribly and takes the curse upon herself to relieve the Devil of the pain, and the Devil somehow falls in love with her because of this. The feeling is not mutual.
I compare it to Bride of Deimos since they have similar themes of the Devil falling in love with a reluctant bride and frequently showing up to rescue her from danger. The comparison to Go Go Heaven comes since this isn’t really a straight-up fantasy, there’s a little bit of bizarre levity inserted to lighten the mood periodically. It’s just enough though, and nowhere near the focus of the series or as over-the-top as the humor in Go Go Heaven. The heavy focus on spelling, classes, and abilities is what made me think of Gestalt.
The thing about Masca is that it is extremely disorganized in this first volume. The stories jump around quite a bit. At the end of the first chaper, it seems like Asarella is going to be held hostage by the smitten Devil. But in the very next chapter, she is again living with Eliwho. The last chapter in the book inexplicably has her trapped in the Devil’s castle again. The characters are kind of stereotyped and the story is all over the place, but I enjoy fantasy stories like this, and I enjoy anything having to do with devils for some reason, and I like the pretty art, so I fell very much in love with this despite its flaws. Based on how tightly structured Evyione is, I’m willing to bet the plot cleans itself up over the course of the 12-volume run.
The chapters here are kind of serial-ish, where most stand alone after the first chapter lays the groundwork. Two of the chapters in the second half make up a really long, epic story, where a Devil from a different territory comes to challenge Eliwho and winds up tangling with the Devil of Sibilla after he kidnaps Asarella. That story was actually a pretty decent dramatic sci-fi story and is probably more indicative of how the rest of the series would go.
But, for most people, this first volume probably isn’t worth reading. Too messy, not enough development.
Leave it to PET! 2
Posted: May 28, 2009 Filed under: Leave it to PET! 1 Comment »This is more of the same from the first volume, but I think the stories in this book work a little better because there’s more recycled critters running around. The first book got a little repetitive with all the stories about Pet stepping in and helping Noboru, whereas this volume is more about Noboru calling for help and multiple robots showing up and antagonizing him.
Some of the newcomers are pretty cute. For some reason, the others hate Tiny Tin, who is apparently a businessman. I don’t know why. My favorite so far is L’il Bagz, a recycled bag robot apparently designed by a youngster in Japan. L’il Bagz is in training and speaks in a cute little baby voice (conveyed through baby talk, one of the few times I’ve seen it used well in a manga). Also, I’m all about the continued dissing of P-2, the cool-looking robot who is actually too light to be of any use to anybody.
The stories are still only a few pages long each and are mostly full of cute gags. Several here are for introducing new robots, like the recycled cup robot with five different personalities, one for each cup that was recycled, or the Can Crew, two robots who belonged to a deceased old man and now hang around with Noboru. For whatever reason, PET et al also dislike these two, who are vaguely portrayed as bumbling bad guys. Noboru continues to have misfortunes he calls his robots in for help on, like dropping his Game Boy in a puddle, boys who won’t take turns at the arcade, or getting stuck on a fence.
Some of the chapter titles are… interesting. One of them is “I’ll Form the Head!” Another is “The Unbearable Lightness of P-2,” which I’m pretty sure will fly over the heads of most other people reading this, but I certainly enjoyed the allusion.
The book is still pretty adorably designed, with color pages and some activities and information in the back and throughout. The art and format of the stories are kid-friendly, and the humor is actually pretty decent for a kids’ series. It’s not something I would pick up for myself, but it’s pretty good stuff for the target audience.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Lovely Complex 13
Posted: May 28, 2009 Filed under: Lovely Complex 1 Comment »There’s a resolution to the story from last volume about Chiharu and Suzuki. It was fairly entertaining, and involved Otani challenging the judo master trying to steal Chiharu to a match with the totally feeble Suzuki. Suzuki doesn’t know judo, but you know, it’s the thought that counts.
That story is actually blown completely out of the water by the plot that starts later in the volume, when Risa’s grandfather comes into town. Grandpa interrupts a nice visit Otani was having with Risa’s parents and outright rejects him as Risa’s beau based entirely on his size. I really wish shoujo manga had more characters like him, because he is good-naturedly evil and really funny. He’s actually quite serious about not letting Risa date Otani, but it’s hard not to laugh at him, because he’s also totally a dirty old man and only hates Otani because he’s short. No other reason. Risa, Otani, and Grandpa get into several hilarious fights.
The downside to this is that Grandpa then hires a hostess to seduce Otani. One of the best things about Love Com is the solid relationship between Risa and Otani, so I sincerely hope that not a lot of drama comes of this. On the other hand, I would love to see Risa’s Grandpa stick around and make a pest of himself a little longer, since he doesn’t really pose a serious deterrent for Otani or Risa by himself.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Very! Very! Sweet 3
Posted: May 26, 2009 Filed under: Very! Very! Sweet 3 Comments »Actually, the girlfriend from Japan turned out to be less of a drag than I thought she would. She basically gets rejected by Tsuyoshi several times, but she manages to drive a wedge between Be-Ri and Tsuyoshi handily despite the brutal rebuffs. I was really worried about the whole “living in Tsuyoshi’s house, going to Tsuyoshi’s school, sitting at Tsuyoshi’s desk, spending every minute with him” setup more than anything, but he manages to kick Erica out of his house pretty early on. Unfortunately, she still hangs around A LOT.
Even though she’s pretty nasty to Be-Ri, Be-Ri can’t help but do everything she can for Erica, much like she couldn’t crush the impulse when Tsuyoshi was rotten to her. When Erica gets thrown out by Tsuyoshi’s grandpa, it’s Be-Ri that spots her and lets her sleep over for the night. In fact, after hearing Erica’s philosophy on love, Be-Ri really wants to be Erica’s friend. Erica doesn’t really consent to this until it’s convenient for her, but she also treats Be-Ri a lot better from that night on.
Things are about the same on the romance front in this volume, save for the fact it’s more apparent that Be-Ri’s sister is planning to cheat on her boyfriend. Tsuyoshi and Be-Ri are still little more than friends, Mi-Hyuk is still trying hard to woo Be-Ri, and Be-Ri still only has eyes for her sister’s boyfriend.
Later, in order to fool his grandpa, Tsuyoshi makes a deal with Be-Ri so that she’ll act like his girlfriend. These scenes between Be-Ri, Tsuyoshi, and the grandfather were my favorites in the series so far. They do a good job of looking at the importance of certain traditions to both Korean and Japanese culture, no matter how silly they may look to an outsider. It also looks at cultural misunderstandings, and while the characters don’t really understand each other (Be-Ri doesn’t speak Japanese, the grandfather doesn’t speak Korean, and Tsuyoshi’s grasp of Korean is still poor), they come to some of the same conclusions. It really is a wonderful scene.
This was a review copy provided by Yen Press.
Pure Heart 1
Posted: May 26, 2009 Filed under: Pure Heart | Tags: BL Leave a comment »I reviewed Pure Heart for this week’s Manga Minis column at Manga Recon, so you can check out the review over there.
More BL between adult men. I liked this volume a lot for a gruff main character and a slowly developed story with not a lot to it outside the romance. Nicely done, and not too busy like a lot of these BL series are. Best of all, there’s a volume two eventually, and the cliffhanger at the end of volume one left me wanting more.
High School Debut 10
Posted: May 26, 2009 Filed under: High School Debut 1 Comment »I was a little lost at the beginning of this volume, but only because I didn’t realize I missed a volume since the last time I read the series. The story picks up in the middle of some kind of bet between Yoh and an admirer of Haruna, and apparently they were settling the score at the school festival.
Now, I tend not to notice these types of plot devices (ie the sports festival) when I read a story from the beginning and get caught up in the characters, but for these series I’m spot-reading, I’m always a little bummed when a school festival or play happens. It wasn’t such a big deal in this series, since there’s not a lot of hoopla surrounding the setup of the festival and the events and stuff, and most of the focus is just on Yoh’s competitions. There’s also an ouendan segment, and that made me smile, so I can’t be too mad.
Haruna still strikes me as kind of shallow, since most of what she does in this book is cheer Yoh up by being happy and not much else. I like her a little since she is such a positive person, and again, I like this series a lot because of the strong, non-dramatic bond between Yoh and Haruna, something you don’t often see. I got to see a lot of them in this volume, and I was pretty happy with the book as a result.
In addition to the sports festival where Haruna cheers for Yoh, there’s also a short segment where Yoh winds up visiting Haruna’s house and spending the day with her family. The one thing about Yoh is that he always seems mildly uncomfortable no matter where he is or what he does (this might have something to do with the fact the characters in this series are drawn in a way that makes it look like they have bags under their eyes). During the scenes with Haruna’s parents, it’s hard to tell how he’s reacting and whether he’s enjoying the family normalcy or whether he is being made extremely uncomfortable. He mentions later that he was nervous the entire time, which does explain it, but it’s almost painful to watch him looking so uptight the entire time. The creepy scene where Haruna’s dad comes to talk to him while he’s bathing also doesn’t help much.
Later, there’s more creepiness when a girl at Yoh’s prep school latches on to him because of his good looks in order to tell him off whenever she sees him. The girl is sort of unpleasant to everyone, including Haruna and her own brother, but as she starts to see how Yoh deals with other people, I… think she becomes attracted? There’s a weird point of contention late in the book, and it’s possible the girl is in love with Yoh, but that’s a cliffhanger for next time.
It’s not a fantastic-must-read just yet, but it is better than average, and quite fun without laboring over cliches. I’ve read less of it than some others, but it’s probably still my favorite among the shoujo series I’ve been trying out from Viz lately (well, I liked Baby & Me better, but I don’t think that one counts since it’s not really a contemporary of things like High School Debut and Monkey High, they’re different stories and it’s difficult to compare the details).
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
