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This blog is a storage space for various thoughts, observations and musings centering on shōjo manga (少女漫画, Japanese comics for girls), josei-oriented manga (Japanese comics for women) and manga created by women (in the widest sense). Topics from other fields of relevance, such as music, art, literature and film may be discussed here as well.

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For the most part, Japanese names appear in their original order - surname first, followed by the given name.

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Author: Dia



Takanashi Mitsuba’s new series – Beniiro Hero

I love Betsuma 1/03! Just got it today and I can’t stop looking at it. Takanashi Mitsuba’s new series (Beniiro Hero – Crimson Hero) has finally started! There was a Beniiro Hero postcard in the last issue of Derama and I quite liked it, I also liked the few preview pics in the December issue of Betsuma, and now I’ve finally been able to read the first chapter. There’s something about Takanashi’s recent chara designs I don’t like that much (the chins?, the foreheads? I don’t know, but the faces look a bit weird)… the story is okay so far, nothing that hasn’t been done before but I won’t say anything negative after this one chapter… we’ll see!

Aaaand there will be an Akuma de sourou Illust-shuu!! More info on when the artbook will be out, how much it’ll be and stuff will be announced in the next issue of Betsuma (out in mid-January).

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Categories: Manga, Various.
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Posted on Dec 27, 2002 (Fri, 9:58 pm). .

Nana, Betsuma, Newtype, .hack, Wolf’s Rain and Merry delights

I got a huge package from my trusted Japanese bookstore today. What a delight. Got Betsuma 12 (one more issue until Takanashi Mitsuba’s new series starts!!), the latest two Nana (Yazawa Ai) tankoubon, Gouhou Drug 2, Newtype 12 with .hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu on the cover aaaand CLAMP’s X calendar for 2003. I haven’t opened the calendar yet but it looks a bit different than this year’s huuuge wall calendar. The new one’s a desk calendar which is quite practical because I have only very little free space left on my walls.

I had to go to my media class after I got the package but I opened the package and started to read the 6th Nana tankoubon. Aah what a mistake! I almost missed my bus… that manga is so addictive and as I don’t buy Cookie regularly, I’m always anxious to get to read the new tankoubon.

Just had a quick peek into Betsuma 12 because I haven’t even finished reading Betsuma 11. I did flip through Newtype attentively though and YES! there will be a new .hack TV anime starting on January 8. I don’t have too many good feelings about that series though… I don’t like the Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu manga to much because it’s more of a parody manga and I don’t expect the same-titled anime series to be much different. The characters look too young, too. And what I’ll really miss is that serious, mysterious atmosphere of .hack//SIGN. Wolf’s Rain, a new anime TV series that’ll also start in January, looks pretty promising though. I’m defnitely looking forward to watch that show.

Amy‘s back! I had intended to post an Amy-poking message here to make you blog again because I’ve started to miss you. Btw, if you like Yasei no bara, you should really try to get some of Katsumoto Kasane’s other manga, Amy. I can recommend Sono te o dokero (8 tankoubon) and its spin-off Oretachi o tenshi to yobu na (2 tankoubon). Her series that ran in Asuka before Yasei no bara was Hikaru no ko. I liked that one too, even though it featured less bishounen than her earlier titles. It’s a really cute love story with a bit of the usual Katsumoto angst, something very nice for cold and rainy November evenings^^

Oh and merry! I’ll get my CD package tomorrow, I’m so excited!! And on their Club Quattro oneman show merry announced they plan a oneman show at Nippon Seinenkan and the release of a full album for next spring. How great is that?!

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Categories: Anime, JRock/JPop, Manga, Various.
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Posted on Nov 27, 2002 (Wed, 6:20 pm). .

A thank you note plus anime reviews!

First of all, thanks to everyone who’s emailed me in the past few days and weeks. I’m …touched… really, and it certainly feels nice and comforting to have people around who care. I’m sorry if it takes me ages to reply, I’m as lazy as anyone could possibly be. I just want you to know that I’m really really grateful and happy!

Okay, one more thing I’ve been meaning to do for so long but have been putting off all the time: anime reviews. October is one of those magical months because so many new anime series start in that month and now, with November having almost passed, I’ve finally managed to watch a few new titles.

One of the most anticipated new shows of this autumn was definitely the Ghost in the Shell TV series, Stand Alone Complex. Personally, my hopes of getting to watch something enjoyable weren’t too high as I’m not a big fan of neither the manga nor the movie. So I started watching the first episode and almost fell from my chair: Yohko Kanno wrote the soundtrack! Yes yes, for all you well-informed anime geeks this was no surprise at all and I, too, remembered reading something about her being involved in that project but I’d totally forgotten about it! What a pleasant surprise – which turned out to be the only positive thing about the series… The music is brilliant, but so far Kanno-sensei has never ever let me down. The anime itself is boring and, I’m almost afraid to say it, feels so American. Well, everything from the clothes to the hard-boiled action scenes to the story line feels like it comes right out of an American comic. Which is probably not bad, just not my taste really. So now I have more episodes on my HD and wonder what I should do with them… Be brave and watch them, hoping the show might get better? Extract the sound of each episode, ignore the dialogues and listen to Kanno’s wonderful music? We’ll see. So far I’ve simply ignored the files ^^;

I also saw the first episode of Gundam Seed. This is typical Gundam with a nice chara design (though my favourite is still Turn A Gundam, and that’s not just because Yohko Kanno wrote the soundtrack ^^; no, I also love the chara design, the story itself and the awesome retro feel of that series), the usual interstellar war, the conflicts and the coolest mechs. Will watch more episodes as soon as I’ve finished RahXephon. Btw, Rahxephon looks so much better than the Gundams! I want one to fly to school with, I think it’d look cool to have it parked on campus ^^; (I wonder if I’m the only girl having a bad bad case of mecha obsession ^^;)

The series I’ve enjoyed the most so far is Haibane Renmei. I had absolutely no clue what this show was about until I saw episode one. It’s based on the doujinshi series by lain and Nie_7 papa Yoshitoshi Abe so I don’t have to mention how gorgeous the characters look! The show has such a lovely atmosphere… I can’t really describe it, you have to see for yourselves to decide whether you like that type of anime or not. It’s light-hearted but also mysterious, has some serious undertones but can be funny and cute, too. I’ve seen the first three episodes so far and I think that everyone who enjoys the more quiet type of anime will like this one a lot, especially Miyazaki fans! Even though Haibane has absolutely nothing to do with Ghibli, their works and Haibane have a similar feel and atmosphere…

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Categories: Anime, Various.
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Posted on Nov 21, 2002 (Thu, 9:57 pm). .




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