Watching and Reading Update

I’m super busy today, so here’s what I’m entertaining myself with.

Books

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowlings.  I’m on chapter 10 and I’m being entertained.  It’s so big to carry around that I’m neglecting it a little.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. I haven’t actually started this one.  The last one was emotionally intense and I’m a little reluctant to start this one.

This Place Has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger. I think I read the first chapter?  It’s a fluffy SF, so I should be able to finish it quickly once I start.

Ill Met By Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt.  I have had this in my TBR pile for several years.  It’s about Shakespeare and Fairies, and should be just perfect but I had a lot of trouble with it.

I showed it to my sister and told her how I was stuck.  She said that I should at least try to get past page 17.  I hadn’t realized how little I’d read.  In an instance of great irony, the author introduces the good stuff on page 18.  I’m on chapter 7 17 now and enjoying it very, very much.

Movies

Ultra Maniac. Anime. 7 volumes.  The final volume is due in this week.  It’s an OK magical girl story.  Sometimes the animation falters badly and some of the plots are boring.  The manga by Wataru Yoshizumi is  much better.

The Big Lebowski (1998).  I’ve seen it years ago and I wanted to see something funny.  It keeps getting bumped down my queue.  It’s due this week.

Iron Man (2008).  I ordered this to watch with friends but it’s not that high on my queue.

Kino’s Journey. Anime. 3 volumes.  I’ve just finished the first volume – this is amazing.  The artwork is delightful, the sound effects, the music, and the stories are first rate.  Animation for grownups (as opposed to anime made for kids, teens or the lascivious).

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 1

Image via Wikipedia

Loved the 00 episode with the amateur film.  My favorite bits were the slipping cat and the increasingly disillusioned narration by Kyon.

The first episode disgusted me and I’m glad I saw it much later than the other episodes.  I was especially disturbed by the blackmailing of the computer class.  Haruhi with her shenanigans has put Miss Ashahina in a dangerous position. Miss Ashahina is the obviously the weakest link in the chain and she could be the victim of one of the boys in the club striking back at her rather than at Haruhi.  I’m also furious with Kyon – Miss Ashahina needed his help, in fact, she begged it.  He promised her that he would help her.  He failed not because he wasn’t aware that she needed his help or that he was afraid of Haruhi.  He was just too turned on to bother.  This was nearly unforgivable.

(Note: this situation is softened by the end of the series.  It was still unpleasant and I’m glad I watched it out of order.)

Otherwise, I liked the introduction of Yuki Nagato.  That explains why she reads so much – a little anyway.

The final episode has Haruhi signing them up to play baseball.  Everyone is reluctant except for Itsuki Koizumi (I don’t trust him).  It turns out to be a highly entertaining game with everyone playing in character (screaming when the ball approaches or swinging enthusiastically with no results).  I liked this episode and I think the creators do their best work when subverted cliches without entirely abandoning the framework.

It’s a mixed bag but the series is excellent overall.

Flame of Recca – disc 10

Well, this is the end of the series. The first part (before they go to tournament) was still super fun but the battles got in the way of the interaction between the team Hokage which is my favorite part.

Also, the anime ends with tons of unfinished subplots: Fuko did not solve the mystery of her full powers, and ’s access to her ultimate powers, Tokiya never finds his sister’s killer much less avenge her.  The Kurei escapes, and his future is not told.

Most puzzling to me, how did they readjust to normal life after all their adventures?  I think it’s fair to say that they are adults now – and I can’t imagine how they would be content to be high school students.

Anyway, the final battle was satisfying and the team glomping Recca after they win was amusing.

Tiamat has good things to say about the manga and notes the problems with the anime version.  But I don’t know that I want to invest more time in the series.

Shojo Beat April 2008

Cover: Love Sand Chronicles and I’m happy to see Ann on the cover but she fades away because she’s so pale.  Would have like something with more pop.

Ultimate Anime List by Nancy Thistlewaite

I’ve read many manga volumes but I’ve seen very few of these anime.  Hmmm….

Cardcaptor Sakura – Though I saw one of the movies, and own one of the mangled version DVDs, I can’t say I’ve seen it.  I own five of one of the series of manga.

Sailor Moon -  This was my first shojo anime.

His and Her Circumstances – read the first 8 volumes of this series but then I lost interest.

Fruits Basket – not seen the anime but read the first 6 volumes of the manga.

Vision of Escaflowne – I must see this one.

Fishigi Yuugi - I’m embarrassed to reveal that I’ve not seen this series.

12 Kingdoms - I didn’t know this series was available.  I’ve heard many good reports of it.

Princess Tutu – the character designs were unappealing to me but maybe I should try it.

Little Snow Fairy Sugar -  I adore this series.

Vampire Princess Miyu – I want to see it but I’m not sure if it’s readily available.

NOT SHOJO

Inuyasha – I watched several of the early episodes and read several of the manga.

Stellvia – SF with a girl heroine – wow!  I’ll have to find it.

Someday’s Dreamers – This one is one my Q.  I have the first manga and a DVD of this series.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Great series.

Culture and Trends

Honey & Clover anime looks cute.  The characters are very appealing in color.

Shojo Beat On the Silver Screen

I want to see

• Aishiteruze Baby
• Baby & Me
• Nana
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Ultra Maniac (I have seen this one – a lot of fun)
• Vampire Knight

I want to see Toshokan Senso (Library War) too.

Spoilers – Series Comments

Flame of Recca 7, 8, & 9

Quick notes on the episodes of discs 7,8, and 9 behind cut.

Flame of Recca, disc 6

For the first time since I started watching this series, the pre-fight posturing bored me.  Then again, that could be due to watching disc 7 first.  It made me impatient.

The leader of Team Ku,  Kukai, was dull.  He was dull as the saint and dull as his later incarnation.  His backstory was boring.  Bleh.

I liked Saicho.  I not only liked his personality but I liked that he recites poetry to build up his chi.  It’s difficult for me to think of a USA movie with poetry-reciting fighter, other than Aragorn in G. I. Jane.  And in reference to the poetry, the joke about Tokiya’s snobbish attitude made me laugh.

The best scene was when Yanagi realized that she’s a cipher in the storyline.  Her healing power has all but been dropped by the writers.  Nevertheless, Recca, perhaps mindful of potential nookie, attempts to bolster her flagging self-esteem.  It works because they go sparkle-vision for each other.

Ultimately, Recca plays with his fire-dragons and people get the hell knocked out of them.  Not surprising but very satisfying.

Sexy Witches

I just found a blog, Sexy-Witch by Red Witch. It seemed to be a narrow topic but she makes it interesting. I particularly enjoyed following her time line and seeing how the depiction of the young witch has changed over time. They range from cutesy to strong. Be warned – lots of undress and a few wanton poses. You can also watch her slide-show on youtube, if you prefer.

Back to Sexy-Witch, I’m a bit surprised that Circe didn’t show up but maybe she’s just in backlog.

Circe

There is a Circe who was the enemy of Wonder Woman – she showed up in Justice League Unlimited. Still, all sexy witches owe the mythical Circe a lot.

Circe in Justice League Unlimited

Take a look at the photograph of the White Witch of Narnia from the Image of the Muse website. I tend to think the villainess in movies and books are more interesting that the heroine. As the blogger of Other Kids Pack Lunch puts it, “Like so many villainesses, the White Witch had a great sense of fashion.”

Maleficent

Here’s quiz to find which Disney villainess you are. I was Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty – which is fine by me. She is a bit too austere to be sexy but I loved her tormenting the hero by telling him that he’ll get old. Heh. Plus, there was the whole dragon transformation thing.

Queen

The Queen in Snow White is also a bit icy but it’s hard not to root for her.

Archie

Archie’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch in her first comic book incarnation is missing as well. Sabrina was lots cooler than either Veronica or Betty and I think her freckles are cute.

Sabrina - manga style

Her new mangafied self does not appear particularly sexy but she looks tons more interesting than before.

Magik - Illyana Rasputin

Illyana Rasputin as Magik -a super-victim if there ever was one. But pretty sexy – if you can look past the horns and glowing eyes.

Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch - sexy despite the weird red/pink outfit.  I think maybe she was not using magic but instead was a mutant.

Queen Narcissa from Enchanted

Queen Narcissa, stepmother/queen/witch, of Enchanted is certainly bosomy as the animated character.

Frieda from Happily N

Same thing with Frieda, the Stepmother/Witch, in Happily N’Ever After. She was embarrassingly slinky for a kids’ cartoon.

Karla from Record of Lodoss War

There is also Karla from Record of Lodoss War. Whether she qualifies as a witch or not may be arguable. I thought she was sexy in a creepy kind of way.

My ultimate favorite witch is Bunny from Charm School by Elizabeth Watasin which I’ve mentioned before. I have only read/purchased the first book but it turns out that there are five out now. Yeah! Bunny is the blond witch who is super cute.

Bunny from Charm School

Flame of Recca vol. 5

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

(Recca will say something cocky. He will be reprimanded. He will then say something else cocky.)

Recca’s team moves from story mode to tournament mode. They are invited to Kurei’s Mortal Kombat. To no one’s surprise (except for Yanagi), they accept. Kurei is the evil fire-wielder whom Recca must defeat at some point.

Ganko (the cute little girl) introduces the team’s mascot, a fox named Kondo.
There is an amusing bit in which the team members offer their treasures as tribute so that they can enter the tournament. I have to say that Ganko’s offering was the most enticing of the four treasures offered. It also made Yanagi and Ganko part of the team, which I liked.

Tokiya’s fight against Daikoku was dull. I think the creators didn’t exactly know what to do with him, and he is much less entertaining than Recca, Fuko or Domon.

Domon’s battle, especially the first part was funny, funny stuff. At the beginning of the series, I disliked his character but he’s completely won me over. It’s the Jayne effect.

Fuko deserved better than to fight a lecher like Fujimaru. The subtitled version described her as a high school student, and thus should not be subjected to the crowd’s view. In the dubbed version, she is described as a virgin. I think her dignity was better served by the subtitled translation. However, she fought well and managed to unnerve her male team members – which I think they deserved.

Saicho, the origami fighter from team Ku was gentlemanly to Fuko – the only gentleman in the whole crowd as far as I could tell. His battle with the intemperate Recca should be interesting…

Flame of Recca Disc 4

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

(The characters with big, starry eyes are not bad no matter how much they protest otherwise.)

Ganko appears to be a permanent character which makes me happy. She was wearing ponytails in this episode and she looked very cute.

Several episodes concerned the mystery of Recca’s origin and his destiny. Much of the story line was set in the Civil War era of Japan. It appears that a lot of noble sentiment and melodramatic declarations make up Recca’s heritage. Part of the story had all the characters (except Tokiya) swirly-eyed with emotion.

Now to the stuff I liked best.

Recca was very cute as a baby. Awww!

Yanagi prayed to a Jizo but when Domon mocked her, Tokiya and Recca threatened him with bodily harm.

At one point, Recca offhandedly beats up a villain.

There is an ass-groping of the wrong team member and some random punching. It’s puerile but it makes me grin.

Tokiya is mistaken for a girl and he realizes it. Wish that happened more often.

The following episode was all about training in the mountains during summer vacation. A fellow viewer wondered why they didn’t band together, taking their healer, to whale on train with each other all summer. I guess he was thinking of a ninja Valhalla. My guess is that the creators were saving the characters’ increased abilities so that there could be a reveal during battle.

I need to start rationing the disks. I don’t want to become surfeited with the series.

Flame of Recca (1997) disc 2

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

The female characters will become inexplicably less than dressed every couple of episodes.

I am really enjoying this total shonen (boy) series. It’s got melodrama — goofy humor — comradery — sweet romance. And lots of battles.

Kagehoshi (the mysterious crazy woman) offers the rejected Fuko (the busty fighter) a madogu (magic weapon) of wind power. Fuko quickly gets the knack of using the weapon and challenges Recca again. This particular madogu turns its user into a seductress. Fuko gets purple-eyed and sends forth gale winds and double entendres. Domon (the muscles) indirectly declares his love for Fuko; Yanagi (the princess) faints a couple of times.

One of the things I love best about the series is how it undermines the characters’ dignity. For instance, Yanagi starts crying and snots all over Recca’s jacket. Recca takes on postures and expressions that would wow the Azumanga Daioh girls.

Recca accidentally sees a girl naked and has a nose bleed bad enough to smack his head against the pavement. The girl in question punches him, her boyfriend punches him, and then Yanagi yells at him. A disheveled Recca says, “You too, princess??!!!” Yanagi doesn’t punch him.

Yanagi is abducted by villains and Recca’s new team sets out to save her. Each character battles an opponent on a each floor of the stronghold. It feels like a platformer though I don’t point it out as a flaw.