Ninjas and Office Ladies and Sparkles

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I went to Barnes and Noble today and bought three manga:  Shinobi Life;  Butterflies, Flowers; and Otomen.

I haven’t read them yet but here are the plots.

Shinobi Life by Shoko Conami is about a modern girl Beni who is suicidal and uncouth in her speech.  A thug is attacking her when a ninja falls into the future from the distant past to save her.  He thinks she’s the princess that he has sworn to protect.  She thinks he’s crazy.  The first couple of pages are funny and I like the slightly simple artwork.  I’m not big on ninja but he’s very cute.

Butterflies, Flowers by Yuki Yoshihara.  The title refers to raising a child as gently as you would handle a butterfly or a blossom.  There’s nothing delicate about the story though.  It concerns an inept office lady named Choko who comes from an aristocratic but impoverished family.  Her boss Masayuki is openly set on tormenting her but in a moment of stress, he reveals that he was her family’s chauffeur’s son.  Choko used to adore the boy he was but it’s hard to see that boy in the arrogant man he’s become.  It’s much funnier than it sounds.  For instance, he tells her to say to him, “I look forward to working with you, Director Domoto. ♥”  She repeats the sentence.  Then he insists on the “♥” at the end.  She responds, ““  How could you not like her after that?

Some reviewers were disturbed by the overt sexual harassment in the story.   I’ll have to read more to see if the narration condones the inequality between them.  At the moment, it is much less off-putting than Hot Gimmick.

Otomen by Aya Kanno.  Asuka acts like the perfect male teen (at least in manga): good at sports, emotionally repressed, last minute rescuing of damsels in distress.  However, he has an embarrassing secret.  He likes girly stuff: plushies, romance comics, sewing, preparing bento.  But then he meets the girl of his dreams Ryo who really likes his macho display when he rescues her from thugs.  Now he must keep his secret and win her heart.

My favorite part of the opening pages is when he wanders through stores while pondering his dilemma with Ryo.  He finds himself in the PINK aisle.  You know the one where there’s nothing but pink tulle and glittering tiaras all the way down the aisle.  He stands there surrounded by sparkles and giggling plushies.  He succumbs, of course and comes home with piles of girly stuff.

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THX 1138 (1970)

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THX 1138 is George Lucas’ first feature film.

tagline: Visit the future where love is the ultimate crime.

It is a futuristic story in which people are forbidden to have sex, to experience sobriety or to accessorize their white pajamas.  THX (Robert Duvall) is experiencing trouble at work and with his roommate LUH (Maggie McOmie).  It seems she likes him and wants him to stop taking drugs and escape the city with her.  By the time he realizes that he’s living in a dystopian society, it may be too late to save himself or his girlfriend.

It’s technically quite good.  This is the first time in this experiment that I have seen a movie that looks like science fiction.  I enjoyed the immersive quality to the visuals and the sounds.  The film is clearly influential because most dystopian futuristic movies I’ve seen in the last twenty years look just like it.  Design elements such as the dehumanizing baldness, the ugly white pajamas and the robotic police worked well.  The last shot has been repeated a lot but it still looked good.

I don’t care for films that place style over substance, which is why most contemporary films annoy me.  If the viewer prefers the cinematic experience to satisfying narrative, then this movie should be a treat.

If you’re like me…the movie is only 1 hour and 28 minutes but it’s difficult to believe that.  Immersive narratives are slow-moving and I understand that but they don’t need to be this snail-paced or this confusing.

The opening scenes in which THX works at a dangerous job creating C3POs for a heartless government are quite good.  The most exciting part of the day is when the Totalitarian Medicine Cabinet greets him.  He does drop by a confessional but the automated words of comfort start looping.  LUH, whom we have seen moping at work, joins him at home. She mopes some more and he channel surfs, watching the news, a bit of the old ultraviolence and a naked dancer.

On a side note, I was amused that LUH was wearing eyeshadow.  I’d love to see where she bought it.  Maybe it just showed up in the Totalitarian Medicine Cabinet.

It gets more incoherent after these initial scenes.  Nobody says or does anything much interesting for the bulk of the movie.  The chase scene didn’t enliven things for me either.

I’d recommend it to those who enjoy visually appealing but incoherent stories about former drones crashing futuristic vehicles.  Of course, that describes a number of  recent blockbusters.

A thoughtful review. link.

I hope A Boy and His Dog is more entertaining.

Wordless Wednesday: I’m a fan of

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When in Rome (2010)

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I had some hope for this romantic comedy about a woman named Beth (Kristen Bell) who takes coins from a magical fountain of love in Rome. She is soon pursued by the men who threw them in the fountain.  This is inconvenient and fairly humorous because four unsuitable men become besotted with her.  The real problem is that she took a coin that belonged to a man she’s beginning to fall for.

Kristen Bell stars and was endearing in Reefer Madness the musical and the Veronica Mars TV series.  But, somehow, she’s not particularly endearing here.  I don’t think it’s her.  I blame the director and the dreadful script.

Part of  the problem is the unfunny pairing of physical comedy and loopy love story.  That pairing can work, see:  Bringing Up Baby (1938).  It’s ill-matched here, though.

Bell and Joshua Duhamel (Nick) have as much chemistry as two pleasant people who happen to be standing in the same line at the bank.  It made me miss Logan from Veronica Mars.

Like most romantic comedies these days, the only real entertainment is in the supporting cast.  Bobby Moynihan as Puck is truly funny, and Puck and Nick have the most real relationship in the film. Jon Heder as the wacky magician was funny but not a creeper like the other swains.  It was nice to see Pedro (Efren Ramirez) again too.

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Movies I watched in May 2010

Like the books for May, I know I watched more than this but it’s OK. 

Monk is really showing its age, good thing they retired it when they did. 

Beauty Shop was light-hearted fluffy fun.

I didn’t dislike the Morgans as much I should have which I put down to Sam Elliot – wish the movie had been about him and his wife.

The Time Traveler’s Wife was bad.  The characters were thoroughly unlikable, and they seemed to mishandled their predicament.  I don’t know what I would have done differently but other people have managed real disabilities and chronic illnesses and got on with their lives.  They didn’t just whine about it for a thousand hours. 

Ponyo was cute and beautiful and gentle.  The best part for me was after the storm when the children get in the little boat and float over the drowned towns.  Of course,  in real life, flood waters are muddy and unsafe.  But this was a fantasy and it was just right.  Sigh….

1. Monk 7:3 & 7:2
2. Midnight (1939)
3. Beauty Shop (2005)
4. Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)
5. Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
6. Ponyo (2008)
7. House 2:6
8. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
9. Batman Beyond 2:4

Books I read in May 2010

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I don’t think this is all I read in May but it’s all I have noted.

Stars Beneath Your Bed is a cool concept the dust you sweep away has been part of the stars but it was as dry as, well, dust.

There is a Bird on Your Head got a three year old to declare it was a funny book.

I can see why my elementary kids snap up the Araminta Spookie books – they are wacky and fast moving.

Dancing at Midnight was both sweetly romantic and unpleasant and unnerving.  Not sure where I stand on it.

I enjoyed the chapter in the Great Shark Stories of the account by the scientist who studied sharks the most.

The Ultimate Indoor Games Book is excellent.  Good games, well thought out.

The Ronin – the artwork is a little bit cramped in this early work and the story is more distance than it will be later.  Even with these quibbles, it’s still the best samurai action story in print.

Easy Readers

Minnie and Moo Go to Paris by Denys Cazet

Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust by April Sayre

There is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems

Juvenile Fiction

Frognapped by Angie Sage

In the Garden by J. C. Greenburg

Fiction

Dancing in Midnight by Julia Quinn

Romantic Encounter by Betty Neels

Under Gemini by Rosamunde Pilcher

Nonfiction

Past Imperfect edited by Mark C. Carnes

Greak Shark Stories by Valerie Taylor

The Ultimate Indoor Games Book by Veronika Gunter

Graphic Novels

Usagi Yojimbo: The Ronin by Stan Sakai 1

Usagi Yojimbo: The Samurai by Stan Sakai 2

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went shopping

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Got some father’s day presents and other small gifts for family.  Also bought a container of gold glitter paint for work.

Most importantly, I bought the second volume of  Fall in Love Like a Comic by Chitose Yagami.  A very young artist thinks that having a boyfriend will improve her romantic stories.  He’s happy to oblige. It’s cute and at two volumes, easy to complete. I also bought Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji.  She also made Backstage Prince which was sweet but a little bland.  Black Bird’s premise promises a little more spice.  It’s about a girl and her demon would-be lover.  Finally, I bought Tail of the Moon by Rinko Ueda.  A pathetic ninjette needs to marry an accomplished ninja and reproduce to secure her place in the clan.

Lastly, I bought this journal which I’ve been coveting for years.  I kept hinting I’d like for birthdays or Christmas to no avail.  Now it is mine.

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I put back Leonard Maltin’s classic movie book but maybe that was a mistake.  I may buy it later.  I also put back Nana vol. 1 , Spice and Wolf vol. 1, Love * Com vol. 1, and I couldn’t find volume 1 of Otomen.

• Black Bird 4 (slightlybiasedmanga.com)
• Manga About Manga: Learning Process Via Plot (kuri-ousity.com)
• PR: Viz Media’s New Shojo Beat manga – Stepping on Roses (kuri-ousity.com)