Otakuism

Story:

Legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson was often thought to of traded his soul to the devil for his amazing musical abilities. Taking this as fact, Me and the Devil Blues chronicles the life of RJ, a man who has sold his soul to the devil, with all the misfortune in entails, and sets out as a traveling bluesman. Unfortunately for him the first man he meets is the most famous criminal of his day: Clyde Barrow. Del Rey has released a special large edition that collects the first two volumes of the manga into one over-sized volume.

Pros:

Part bio, part myth, part southern gothic, and part classic americana, Me and the Devil Blues is one of the most ambitious manga to come out in America. Akira Hiramoto uses the known parts of Robert Johnson’s life and fills in the rest with an almost whimsical tale of life, death, and blues in the Deep South. Just reading it it’s almost impossible to tell it wasn’t written by an American with its attention to detail. Akira Hiramoto really did his research for this. While there are many exaggerated and magical parts, that’s where the southern gothic comes in, it never purely leaves the realm of reality and always recognizes, in a somewhat subtle way, the real difficulties for a black man in the south in the 1930’s.

Akira Hiramoto has an amazing art style. He doesn’t fall into the usual cliche’s of drawing African-Americans but render each one as purely human and unique individuals. His artwork even sometimes descends into the purely abstract to create some truly devilish images to show that even if this is reality not everything is as it seems.

The characters so far are really the life of the story. RJ, for a guy who sold his soul to the devil, really is a sympathetic guy, characterized in equal parts by his love of blues and his own cowardice. Clyde is just as insane as you would expect a career criminal to be. He’s mad and bad, but not necessarily dangerous to know as he and RJ to strike up an unlikely friendship. RJ erstwhile companion Ike, a devil that doesn’t act like the devil, is really fascinating, undoubtedly for those same supernatural elements. Classic characters of the Mississippi Delta - jealous husbands, cheating wives, prohibitionists, racists - also show up in abundance.

Cons:

The story starts to lose pace somewhat as it shifts in the second volume to focus on Clyde and the heads of a racist town. While RJ is absent for a lot of this he still features heavily as the crux of the story. The compelling, manic Clyde is also interesting enough to star on his own for a bit.

As good as Akira Hiramoto’s art style is when it comes to showing humor it seems to devolve into the kind of exaggerated drawings you would see in a gag manga. Not exactly bad, but out of tune with the seriousness of the rest of the story.

Overall:

Really one of the best, most unique works right now. Fans of mature manga cannot afford to miss Me and the Devil Blues.

Story:

The computer genius Kunagisa Tomo and her very normal best friend/sidekick Ii-chan are invited to the island salon of Akagami Iria, a fabulously wealthy ex-heiress who invites the world’s greatest minds to share in her exile. That is, until one is found murdered. On an island of geniuses the normal Ii-chan is the only hope to solve the case, but can he solve a crime when he can’t even understand himself?

Impressions:

Zaregoto is the long awaited first novel of Nisioisin, the greatest up-and-coming author in Japan, now finally available in English. I’ve already read one of Nisiosin’s other works, Death Note Another Note, and thought that while the msytery was smart the characters just weren’t all that vibrant. Zaregoto fixes this completely as Nisioisin’s allows free reign for his quirky creations and the intricate crime they’re involved in. Quirkiest of all is the apathetic to the extreme Ii-chan. He’s Holden Caulfield turned up to eleven. While half the book is about solving the murders going on, the other half is just trying to figure out what makes this guy tick, with several characters offering their views and not even Ii-chan is sure if any of them are right. Fortunately Nisioisin does all this in a way that doesn’t stop Ii-chan from being a likeable, if baffling, protagonist. Doubly good for me since I hated Catcher in the Rye and everything about Holden in particular.

As for the mystery part of the book I found the constant twists exciting and unexpected. Ii-chan’s constant muttering of “nonsense” really does describe the implausible yet plausible crime of the novel. However, I’m not a big fan of mysteries and Nisioisin’s work has been my only encounter with the classic locked room scenario, so more expierenced readers of mysteries than me may not enjoy it as much if they can figure it out, which certainly there are enough clues to figure it out if you think in a really specific way.

My only problem with the writing is that there’s no “he said, she said” to mark who is talking. In Japanese the writing probably spoke for itself but English just doesn’t work that way. This is especially a problem when there’s a paragraph break even though the same character is still talking. I was still able to keep up with the conversations, though, even the really fast paced ones towards the end. Despite this flaw and some clunky wording in places I found Zaregoto to be an extremely enjoyable read. It’s an exciting mystery that never forgets it’s the characters that really drive the plot, and it shows how to be anime-influenced without feeling derivative. Really one of the best light novels out right now. I look forward to the second volume in December.

I picked up the first volume of Yozakura Quartet recently on a complete whim, intrigued mostly by its cool cover art and perfect minimalist presentation. It’s also a product of Del Rey (aka. I love Del Rey), so I thought it couldn’t be that bad. YQ is certainly a mixed bag and shows all the flaws of a first time mangaka’s work, but on the other hand it holds a certain charm for me that makes it irresistible.

The plot is quirky enough, featuring four teenagers fighting demons in an urban setting. Ok, that’s nothing new, but the characters themselves are pretty cool. Hime Yarizakura is the headstrong leader of the bunch, and by some bizarre circumstances she’s also the mayor of the town they all live in, so at least she has a reason to be bossy. Ao is a demon, complete with cat ears and moe appeal, who can read other’s thoughts. Kotoha Isone is a kotodama user, meaning she can summon anything with words, but she’s also a military otaku, so what she’s usually summoning are artillery cannons. And rounding the group off is normal guy Akina Hiizumi with no special powers what so ever.

The stories featured in this volume show the group fighting some demons and solving people’s problems. For people looking for deep plot or a reason for everything none is given. It’s probably a testament to reading so much manga that I can just accept these characters’s abilities and move on. The charm for YQ undeniably comes from its crisp artwork, very precise with no sloppiness here. The mangaka Suzuhito Yasuda started as an illustrator and it certainly shows. The style of the artwork appeals to me a lot, and it’s probably that little charm that made me enjoyed this rather normal volume so much. Yozakura Quartet is hardly a series for everyone but I think it’s artwork and charm will probably appeal to a select group who know how not to take their manga seriously and enjoy the presentation.

Finally my journey with Mahoraba ends as the final chapters of the manga are translated. I would like to thank Hyioko no Gao for all their work on the project. Despite the lengths of time I’m glad they completed it. To me, Mahoraba, both anime and manga, is one of the underrated gems of the last decade. Before the slice-of-life staples of ARIA and Hidamari Sketch, there was Mahoraba: a charming story of very different individuals living together. Often humorous and sometimes bittersweet, it’s truly a work to remember. I’m sad to see it end, but the final chapter is just so like Mahoraba that I can’t help but enjoy it anyways. Like the characters themselves, I’m glad all my times at Narutakisou were happy ones.

Wait, what? ANN reports that the Haruhi novels are finally coming to the English world - officially, that is - via Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. I’m going to take a shot in the dark here, but I’m guessing they don’t handle translating super popular Japanese novels much. On the other hand, this is a joint acquisition with Yen Press, which is a bit better I guess, though the only thing I really know about Yen Press is that they’re publishing Hidamari Sketch this summer. Frankly I’m shocked someone like Tokyopop, Viz, or even Seven Seas didn’t get them. Though, with a more official publisher with more money behind them, maybe we won’t have to worry about insane wait times and shoddy post-modern covers. Still have to wait a year, though.

Story:

Momo is an unusual shinigami. She wears all white, can’t remember who she was, always interferes in human life, and cries for every soul she takes. Her cat familiar Daniel can’t stand this, but loves Momo enough to stick with her. Together they perform their duty of guiding souls to the afterlife, providing comfort, care, and companionship when they can.

Impressions:

First, I would like to think Seven Seas for sending me a review copy of this book. This volume will be out on March 31st.

That being said, I’m glad I got this for free because that means I don’t actually have to waste money buying it. Ballad of a Shinigami was an absolute chore for me to read through, the worst thing any book can do in my opinion. I literally had to force myself to read it to do this review. The book is uninspired and meandering; a cliche-filled romp into overly sentimental melodrama.

First there’s the stories present in the book. BoaS is not so much a novel but a collection of four short stories, each one involving death, which is kind of the problem. Even the summary on the back says “First encounters with Momo always end in farewells.” So from the beginning there’s no doubt on how these stories will end, or at least what they involve, immediately cutting away any suspense the stories might of had. The trend is bucked in a couple places but overall they all read like a bad date: unpleasant, awkward, and the ending a foregone conclusion. The emotional lesson each story tries to tell is just laughable, artificially worked in and sounding more preachy than anything else.

The characters themselves don’t alleviate any of the problems of the narratives. They’re all cookie cutter at best, molded into what the story demands. Most of them are weighed down with all the troubles and unique situations that the story requires for emotional weight, rendering the characters that much more unbelievable. Momo, ostensibly the main character or at least the unifying one, is never given much depth, but maintains a mystery to the end. All we know is that she likes to meddle, cries, and has an annoying cat familiar named Daniel. I hated every interaction between Momo and Daniel, each one filled with awkward dialogue and Daniel always coming off more as an annoying kid to me.

Then there’s the author’s, K-Ske Hasegawa, writing style, which can only be called passable at best. He appears to ignore the old axiom of all creative writing “show not tell,” relying on constant narration by some omniscient narrator to drive the stories. He chooses to wrap up every story at the end with a summary of the events, laying out everything so there is no ambiguity on the reader’s part, rendering the stories creatively dull. Aside from the narration the rest of the style can be characterized as unexceptional and cliched, often trying to grasp at more complexity or meaning but failing.

The presentation of the book itself is a mixed bag. True to its word, Seven Seas is printing all of its new light novels exactly like they are in Japan, meaning they’re small, and by small I mean tiny - like those books of jokes one always see when checking out at Barnes and Noble. Overall it creates a jarring effect, as I had to get used to the size of the book before I can even read it, and now it just looks ugly standing next to all my regular sized light novels. I really think this plan is going to come around and bite Seven Seas on the butt, as these books would look very out of place on any manga bookshelf in stores. Maybe that’s the point, but I think it’s just going to lead to them lying around in some hidden part of the store. I will give Seven Seas points for the color inserts at the beginning of the novel, similar to what was done with Boogiepop. I wish Tokyopop would take up this practice. The actual art in the book, by Nanakusa, is clean and nice but ultimately forgettable and lacking of any true distinction.

I usually try to find something good in the light novels I read, since I know they’re not high art but just entertainment, but I cannot find anything that deserves to be called good in Ballad of a Shinigami. The whole work is mediocre, written by a novice who apparently is in dire need of a creative writing class. Wiki tells me there are eleven BoaS novels in Japan. Either K-Ske Hasegawa got really good starting at the second novel or the Japanese just tolerate bad writing a lot more. I’m not going to check the second novel to find out.

The leaked cover of Young Jump reveals that Peach Pit will be drawing a Rozen Maiden one-shot focusing on how Shinku was made for the magazine. There’s also news of a big announcement in the next issue, which all conjecture right now is pointing to a continuation of Rozen Maiden after its abrupt and disappointing end in Comic Birz. More Rozen Maiden manga isn’t a bad thing, especially if it leads to a third season, but I’ll have to admit I find the manga impossible to read. The story is alright, but Peach Pit’s artwork is all over the place. I have no idea what is going on most of the time. Looks like we’ll have to wait to the end of the month for any real confirmation on this news.