Tag: Manga

Analysis

Honey, Clovers, Sweet Osmanthus

 [source]

Honey and Clover fans would be familiar with the ubiquitous Ferris Wheel and weathervane symbols from the anime adaptation, but there are several less explicit symbols that aren’t telegraphed in the OP/ED videos. I noticed while reading the manga that the sweet osmanthus–apparently a common flower in East Asia–features prominently in Yamada’s narration. (The flower’s orange colour and Ayumi’s hair colour is probably a coincidence, but it’s a fun coincidence at any rate).

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

Chica Umino no Yuutsu

I’ve always maintained that tone and atmosphere can trump plot given the right author’s touch. This was more or less the case for Chica Umino‘s first manga series, Honey and Clover, which successfully finds the middle ground between subjective narration and a show-don’t-tell approach to character development. It’s an odd but effective style that results in characters that range from translucent to opaque depending on the time of day.

Her follow-up series, March Comes in like a Lion, hereby referred to as Sangatsu no Lion or 3gatsu, is similar. Its plot is a departure from Umino’s previous manga: it follows the life of a teenage Shogi pro who also happens to be an orphan (or the other way around as the story quickly implies). Unexpectedly, the plot is roughly the same as every other slice-of-life or coming-of-age anime, featuring lonely protagonists interacting with an upbeat cast to discover a less lonely world.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Analysis

Liar Game and Game Theory

One of the miracles of shounen manga is the fact that they can be about anything. It’s one thing to make a shounen series for every sport on the planet – the eroge scene can compete in that regard – but it’s no new discovery that shounen extends far beyond its traditional premises, arguably a bit too far. You could probably dig up a shounen about Gunpla building or babysitting and they’d still be as over-the-top as the rest of the genre, and proud of it.

Following this train of thought, it took me a while before I started looking at Liar Game as, quite simply, a shounen about Game Theory.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

The Girl Who Talked Through Time

I stumbled upon an interesting gem the other day in my quest to actually start reading manga: Kimi ni Shika Kikoenai. Also known as Calling You, the comic is apparently adapted from a short story by the prolific Otsuichi. Since I almost literally stumbled upon the story, I read it blindly, without knowing anything about its origins or the writer. Needless to say, I was surprised that a nameless manga in my backlog turned out to be so good.

Now that I’ve read some of its background info, I can see that my surprise was unfounded – Kimi ni Shika Kikoenai is in fact not nameless or obscure, and for good reason. There’s something compelling about the manga that quickly made me realize that I was in for more of a treat than I expected.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

An Imouto a Day

Obligatory myface.jpg

Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!! is… well, first of all, it’s a mouthful to say. I’m not even sure if there’s a convenient nickname or acronym for it so I guess I’ll just have to refer to it as Oniichan.

More importantly, the series is – for lack of a better word – good. I can almost guarantee that it’s better than the image you have in mind of a stereotypical siscon ecchi series with pandering characters, lighthearted dialogue, and a touch of fanservice where it counts. Of course it has all of the above, but the mangaka does a few things to keep it fresh. It’s been a while since I’ve read something so thoroughly enjoyable, even though enjoying something like this feels as awkward as enjoying a low-budget harem anime. In fact, this may well be the only comedy/ecchi manga I’ve read that’s actually funny!

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Analysis

Megatokyo’s Meta: An Examination of Wish Fulfillment

You’ve probably heard of Megatokyo – the American 4-panel webcomic that evolved into a published manga series both in the English-speaking world and in Japan. I wasn’t around for its birth and rise to fame so I can’t comment specifically on the history, but Fred Gallagher already said that the story was never expected or intended to turn into what it is today (not unlike the history of 4chan). Despite the fact that Megatokyo‘s decade-long history comes with its fair share of awkward pacing and different visual styles, it’s more or less a mandatory read for OEL manga fans and people who enjoy meta anime like Genshiken.

The interesting thing about Megatokyo is that its plot can hardly stand on its own: without any cultural awareness on the reader’s part, the story is flat-out illogical. Luckily, this also means that it provides a surprisingly engrossing experience for readers who can relate to the protagonists and their bizarre journey through the zombie hordes and love triangles of Tokyo. There’s a reason why I like Megatokyo as much as I do, a reason why it trumps all of Japan’s anime-about-anime-fans in my eyes – its secret lies in the fact that the meta concepts are woven into nearly every aspect of the plot.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.