Entries Tagged as 'Reviews'

Kieli, Volume 1: The Dead Sleep in the Wilderness

July 1, 2011

While browsing the Yen Press site, I stumbled on the light novel series Kieli, by Yukako Kabei. Per their page there, it spans at least nine volumes and as far as I can find in Amazon Japan, that's the full length of the series. The story premise sounded interesting. Being so pleased with Yen Press' release of Spice & Wolf and wanting to try some more light novels, I decided to do a rare blind buy and get the first two volumes of the series. Kieli is a reclusive, isolated girl, having been left orphaned and a ward of the town after her grandmother died. She has no friends at her school, no other family, and seems easily forgotten by those around her. And no one knows she can see and communicate with ghosts friends other than "Becca", the spirit of a former student who is Kieli's only "friend" and her roommate.

Kieli isn't a particularly happy person, and one gets the impression that she feels very much invisible and unloved. Then while playing a regular "game" with Becca going home, they meet a man named Harvey, who can see Becca as well and is rather rude to her. Becca recognizes him as an Undying, one of the last of a group of immortal soldiers used by the Church to take over then marked of execution once their usefulness was done, and suggests she and Kieli play a cruel trick on him. Kieli is appalled which leads to a fight and Becca doing the trick alone, with unexpected consequences. This eventually leads Kieli deciding to join Harvey as he journey's to take the Corporal, a spirit that haunts a radio, to the place of his death. He is, after all, the only living person she's met who actually seems to understand her.

Overall I found the story to be quite good. Kieli is initially very withdrawn and with good reason, but you soon find that she has a good heart, a strong will, and a friendly personality when she's not being constantly downed by those around her. Harvey is similar in some ways. He rarely talks and shows little emotion, but as you come to know him his reactions to various situations make it easier to tell what he is thinking and feeling. The Corporal is a gruff character, and oh when his temper blows better watch out, but the dynamic between himself and Harvey is interesting. Having been long dead, he of course offers a different perspective on the situations they encounter as they travel.

The novel is mostly told from Kieli's perspective, but we do occasionally get to peek at Harvey in a more limited POV. The first novel primarily serves to set up the main characters and getting them together, establishing the relationship between Harvey and Kieli, and the journey to lay the Corporal to rest. It also gives us some good background on the Church and its place in society, and the threat that hangs over both their heads from the group.

The writing style is well done, and as I've come to expect from Yen Press, the translation is well executed. As with some of their other light novels, its published in a more standard paperback size and it includes the full color images in the front. It was certainly good enough to lead me to want to read more, and I quickly tore through volume 2. I now have 3 & 4 in my "to read" piles. If I had to voice a complaint, I'd have liked to see more on Kieli's powers and the origins of them, however having now read volume 2, I can say it is coming. :-)

Rating: A-

I Am Here!: Omnibus, Volume 1

May 8, 2011

I Am Here! is a five-volume manga series written and illustrated by Ema Toyama.  For the English release, Del Rey is publishing it as a two-volume omnibus.  It focuses on Hikage Sumino, a "plain" girl in the eight grade who is invisible to her classmates, almost literally. No one remembers her name. No one notices when she is in the room. And no one seems to notice how much she wants to be part of the group and the fun. Even outside of class, she is so used to not being seen it is as if she is invisible. She has to wait hours to be served at a restaurant. She even started school late because a driver ran over her after she ran into the street to save a cat, and he only saw the cat!

Suffice to say, such invisibility leaves her with a very low self-esteem and low self image. But despite that, she isn't entirely alone. She loves taking pictures, and has a photo blog that has exactly two regular followers: Black Rabbit and Mega Pig.  They are the only friends she has, and they regularly encourage her not to give up.  Then one day, she is accidentally locked in a room because her classmates forgot she was there. Hinata, one of her class' most popular boys, finds her and confesses he's been watching her for a long time. Her online friends tell her it means he likes her, but before Sumino can fully absorb such a shock, she finds herself suddenly getting noticed at school. But it isn't in a good way as Hinata's fans don't like his giving her attention and begin bullying her. Will Sumino be strong enough to stand up to the girls and begin finding her place in the world, or will she withdraw back to invisibility?

This omnibus volume packs in the first three volumes, so it covers a lot of ground. The translation is, of course, well done. Wouldn't expect less from Del Rey. Alas, no color pages and it doesn't give the volume breaks, but it does include translation notes. Overall, I quite enjoyed it and am looking forward to picking up volume two when it is released near the end of July.  Sumino, who I think is adorable, is a sweet girl, who still has some inner strength despite having been left lost for so long. The online exchanges she has with Black Rabbit and Mega Pig are well done, giving both "unseen" characters personality purely through their responses to her.  Hinata, and his friend Teru, are an interesting pair, and while it is Hinata that Sumino is drawn towards, Teru is more well fleshed out to me with his abrasive personality hiding a good guy underneath. Seeing as this is a shojo, you know she'll end up with one or the other, but it will be interesting to see which one it ends up being.  And of course, we have to know if they will reveal who Black Rabbit and Mega Pig are? So far the series has given no obvious "ah ha's" though as the end of the omnibus volume draws near, I began to have my suspicions. :-)

Rating: B+

The Japanese Have a Word for It

December 4, 2010

The Japanese Have a Word for It: The Complete Guide to Japanese Thought and Culture, written by Boye Lafayette De Mente, provides an interesting, if slightly dated, view of Japanese culture. The author is clearly well versed in the nuances of Japanese social constructs and the insane nuances of Japanese language. It is mostly aimed at those interested in possibly doing business in Japan or with native Japanese rather than the lay person, but De Mente writes in an easy to read and follow manner. Many of his insights are quite interesting and, for anime/manga fans like myself, can add a new level of understanding to events in your favorite series. Be warned, though, that the book was written in 1997, and some of the things noted is no longer true or are likely less common than it was when the book was written.

The biggest drawback I found with the book was its format. It is arranged as 230 "phrase-focused" chapters of 1-2 pages each, with each prodiving a bit of info on what De Mente considers to be "key words and expressions". With such an arrangement, the last 1/3 of the book or so became increasingly difficult to read because it became more and more repetitive. There are a small number of major points that seem to repeated in almost every chapter, and the latter chapters are more like mild variations of the previous ones. I think this book would have worked far better if it he done a different arrangement that focused on those different major aspects of Japanese culture. With the book supposedly targeted towards those who are new to doing business in Japan, I think such a method would have been far better than having it focused on these phrases that the reader would presumably not be familiar enough with to just to straight to one to study.

On the whole, I'd recommend this one for anyone interested in reading more on Japanese culture, but I'd suggest reading only the first half of it, then putting the rest aside for awhile before tackling part second half to avoid the tedium.

Rating: C+

Spice and Wolf & Tears to Tiara: Quick Views

November 30, 2010

Took a break from NaNoing to take a peek at some of the anime offers available through Hulu and to check out some new to me series earlier this week. In both cases I watched the subtitled versions only.

Spice and Wolf - Released in the US by Funimation, this series is set in a time frame similar to Europe in the Middle Ages when the Church was starting to frown on "pagan" religions. A peddler named Craft Lawrence travels from town to town in his horse drawn carriage, and seems like a generally friendly fellow. While visiting one town, Pasroe, he encounters Holo, the wolf "God" who long ago made a deal with the village to give them good harvests of wheat. The humans, however, no longer respect nor rely on her, feeling she is to "capricious" because she sometimes lets them have bad crops to keep the land fertile. As they no longer want her, she sneaks into Lawrence's wagon where he first meets her. She has a human-like form, with tails and ears, but shows him her true form to convince him that she is really THE Holo. She asks him to take her back to her homeland and he reluctantly agrees, so long as she helps earn her keep.

I ended up watching all of the available episodes (all of the first season, first four of season two as of the time of this post). The build up in the relationship between Holo and Lawrence is nicely paced. As time passes a growing sense that their journey north will not be nearly as easy as it might first appear. Both seasons underscore the light-hearted comedy and frequent back-and-forth barbs between our duo, with the more serious overall storyline including their having to deal with betrayals that nearly cost Lawrence everything, and is own clumsy actions that leave Holo heartsick. Definitely recommend this one. Funimation's original Season 1 DVD set is available now, or you can grab the lower cost Viridian Collection on December 7th. The anime is based on a sixteen volume light novel series, which in turn has a short manga adaptation. Both are being concurrently published by Yen Press, with the first two of six solicitied light novel volumes and all three manga volumes available now. I plan to get both so will let you know how well Yen Press did with each.

Rating: A

Tears to Tiara - a psycho "priest" named Drwc kidnaps a girl named Riannon of the Gael who is said to be the ancestor of an Elf and can see the future. This guy is like demented! To make her obey, the threatens to rip the fingers off two children one by one. His goal is to awaken Arawn, the Demon King who is supposed to bring destruction to the world, with Riannon as the living sacrifice. Things don't quite go as planned though, as Arawn frees Riannon from Drwc's spell and kills Drwc instead. Great opening sequence, and a very interesting story that moves at a good pace and seems to have the makings for a dark, exciting drama as the entire Gael clan revolts against the Empire to protect Riannon and Arawn, an Empire that has its own internal issues to deal with. It also seems like it will have plenty of humor here as Arawn has a fun attitude and Riannon's brother does not like the early romantic connection between Riannon and Awarn. Watched the first two eps and will be watching more. The subtitles are good, though the whole things appears a bit too dark and impossible to see in some parts on the stream (I suspect it may just be the system I watching on though). Will still keep watching though :-)

The series itself is based on a Japanese tactical RPG game that I've personally never played. In the first few eps I've watched so far, though, I didn't get that "OMG this is a video game" feel like you do with some other adaptations. The English release was done by Section 23, which has released the entire series as a 4-disc DVD set and a 2-disc Blu-Ray set.

Rating: B

Mixed Vegetables (series)

October 1, 2010

Hanayu Ashitaba and Hayato Hyuga are a pair of talented students in the Oikawa High School Cooking Department.  She loves cooking sushi, he loves making pastries, and each dreams of a career making what they love most.  Its too bad their father's are famous for their pastry and sushi shops, respectively, or is it?  Hanayu comes up with a plan to make Hayato fall in love with her so she can marry into the family, which would give her the excuse (and replacement) she feels she needs to follow her dreams.  The plan quickly falls apart and she is found out, but Hayato is a good sport as he'd been working on the same plan himself.  No surprise that real feelings develops between them, with each standing in awe of the other's famous fathers.  Together they struggled to find the courage to tell their parents the truth about what they want in life, but first, Hayato has to choose between his dream and a memory.

I was first drawn to Mixed Vegetables because of the premise (and promise) of being centered around restaurants, cooking, and food. I love food, and I've found that manga series revolving around food tend to offer some fun looks at the food culture of Japan, as well as offer recipes. They also tend to be just plan fun, and Mixed Vegetables does not disappoint. The initial set up of the series certain has some tinges of His and Her Circumstances, but it quickly shakes that off and finds its own stride.  Hanayu is a strong girl, not just physically from years of hefting baking supplies, but also emotionally. Where Hayato spends several volumes wavering between his career choice, Hanayu is ready to make it a reality.  At the same time, she is still a young woman in love and susceptible to jealous, hurt feelings, and excessive pride.  Other than being indecisive with his career, Hayato is fairly likeable and  shows strength and determination in his other areas of life.  He also helps life Hanayu up when she needs it, and gives her a kick in the butt when her pride gets in her way. 

I like the dynamics of their relationship.  I particularly like that the series explores Hanayu and Hayato's jealous over the others skills in their respective desired careers.   It is nice, as well, to not have the couple inundating with suddenly appearing characters that suddenly fall in love with one of the principles.  There is only one person really who throws out the competitive vibe, but even early on it is hard to take him seriously.  The supporting characters are a bit spartan, with Ayumi Komura mostly focusing on the couple and their relationships with one another and with their families.  The ones who do appear are interesting and help move the story along, and there is a fun and unlikely couple that adds a bit of subplot that quietly entertains in the background.

Overall, Mixed Vegetables, is a well told, fairly straight forward romance and worthwhile read. At only eight volumes, it isn't a huge investment in time or money. I think the length works for it, as Komura keeps things tight and moving right along rather than meandering as some longer series do. The art is decent, though I wouldn't call it gorgeous.  Komura draws well detailed scenes and backgrounds, but like most shojo artists, her characters all have big eyes, including the guys. However, in many scenes, she changes to a rather freaking looking eye that looks almost hollow or non-existent. With her soft lines, she never quite succeeds in making Hayato look particularly masculine, and there are times where its hard to tell him apart from his father due to their similar designs. Still, I enjoyed the read and didn't find those negative bits a huge drawback. Viz's English release, under the Shojo Beat imprint (of course) is its usual high quality work and I noticed no errors in any of the volumes.

Series Rating: B+