Sleep Is For the Weak

I wrote and posted a Mini Review for the Earl and the Fairy anime about a week ago, but then never did this post to mention that. Genius = me.

Most everyone has already talked about the new license announcements by now, and how Yen Press is going to make a million billion dollars on Yotsuba 6 because nothing sells more comics than all-ages stuff that still appeals to adults, and then there’s a Fumi Yoshinaga book dominated by female characters coming out and that makes everyone happy, and Natsume’s coming (whee!), and another book by the solanin guy is sure to please, and more Taiyo Matsumoto is always a good thing, and this is all lovely, lovely news. My personal favorite (other than Natsume)?

The English-speaking world is getting its first taste of josei sex comedy mangaka Yuki Yoshihara (link kinda not safe for work). I have a special dance for Yuki Yoshihara. You can’t see it, but I’m doing it right now. It’s sort of a hoola-hooping movement of the hips accented with jazz hands.

If you like shoujo satirist genius Ai Morinaga, but you want to turn your brain off a little and just bask in crude lady jokes, read Yuki Yoshihara. She makes me laugh so hard my uterus hurts.

Recently I’ve been wondering how to structure our series of shoujo essays, but then luck struck and Tokyopop released a book with a deep-seeded girl background: the action title Togainu no Chi. The Mini Review gets to explain a little bit about girl media in Japan that hasn’t made it over here, while simultaneously revealing that I play/watch/listen to some pretty embarrassing shit in my free time. I’d like to stress that no one under the age of 18 should ever, ever press [enter] while playing Togainu no Chi.

Now I’m off to play video games. Er…normal ones. Kinda.

Bad Jew’s resolution for 2009 is to write more for the site, so his first Mini Review is of solanin, the manga every critic loves with the fire of a thousand hot Latin suns. It’s got indie appeal, is about 20-somethings who don’t know what to do with their lives, and features a not-very-good amateur band. It does NOT feature its hero gaining experience points for going to work.

My resolution for 2009 is to stop pretending I can run this place and let Bad Jew and NotHayama handle their own updates. They can fix their own grammar at this point. (And if not…I maintain the right to go to the dashboard and fix it in the dead of night so my nightmares go away.)

See you soon. And read Volume 16 of Skip Beat, because it will destroy you with romantic awesomeness.

P.S. - Despite a black-out in release dates that scared the bejeezus out of me, the CMX schedule seems back on track now…and we’ll get more Apothecarius and more Young Magician in a few months. Thank God, because SERIOUSLY.

It’s Geek Current Events time!

1.) I still haven’t been laid off from Tokyopop, huzzah. I even got a new series from them, one with VAMPIRES IN IT. Mweh heh heh.

2.) Speaking of vampires, for any of you who heard the scream of a thousand fangirls this week, that’s because there was a climactic kiss in the most recent chapter of Vampire Knight in Japan. If you want to spoil it, here you go. And let me just say that printing the kiss horizontal in the magazine to the point that it was practically upside-down was a stroke of genius on Matsuri Hino’s part. Agh…she’s so good at what she does! *wipes squee-induced tear*

3.) Both Bad Jew and NotHayama liked the seinen Solanin. Since they never agree on anything, it must be a pretty impressive comic. I’m also considering that the copy they shared had money tucked between its pages.

4.) After reading the most recent (and interesting) ladies-only roundtable at Anime News Network, NotHayama and I are starting to think most people don’t read enough girl-aimed media from Japan to really “get it.” Everyone knows Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket and Ouran and maybe Hana Kimi, but shoujo smut, otome games, BL drama CDs, josei porn, etc. are all part of the bigger picture, the defense against the common claim that Japan is a “sexist” society when compared to our “liberated” West. Japan splits its media almost down the middle so half of it can specifically be aimed at females, yet Hollywood critics seemed completely confused that Twilight did well and that female viewers come in more than The Three Types: tweens who like sparkly things, petty housewives, and bitchy career women. I think a well-rounded discussion of feminism, media, the East-West clash, etc. really needs a full exploration of girl-aimed Japanese media, and thus we’re going to write a series of essays on “the lesser-known sides of shoujo” on this site. And now I’m going to have to write the article I swore I’d never put on a PG-13 webpage: Porn For Girls. *sigh* I’ll keep it as classy as possible. And yes, Porn For Girls isn’t just yaoi (16+ link; click on MOVIE tab at the top, then take your pick)

We’ll be back soon. May Snowflake Jake shoot a cannonball of spices into your loving home, arr.

Several weeks ago, in a living room:

Bad Jew: So, are you ever going to update the f*cking website?
Lianne: I don’t see you doing it.
NotHayama: *snores in easy chair*
Lianne: …I think I’m going to jump on her knees-first.
Bad Jew: You could be spending that time updating the website.
Lianne: Is there an echo in this room? MAYBE I SHOULD SHOOT AT THAT ECHO WITH A SHOTGUN.

Several days ago, same living room:

NotHayama: I thought you said you were going to update the website today.
Lianne: SOMEBODY JUST DIED IN VAMPIRE KNIGHT! HE’S DEAD, YOU UNFEELING MONSTER! I CAN’T WORK - I’M TOO SAD!

Several hours ago, in the lab:

Lianne: Hey, I forgot that I can update from work instead of picking fights on forums. I can write a Mini Review for the Fifth Anniversary of Shonen Jump Magazine!

Several minutes ago:

Lianne’s boss: I already told you to get back to work.
Lianne: Is there an echo in this room? MAYBE I SHOULD - oh, I mean, yes, doctor. Didn’t see you there.

We’ll be back before Christmas. For reals!

In honor of Tuesday’s sure-to-be-terrifying election, we have a special review from Bad Jew: a combo of two political manga, Eagle and First President of Japan. The manga are old, but so is the concept of politics making for good entertainment. Didn’t the Romans start that? Something about feeding political opponents to the lions or something.

We dropped our absentee ballots in Canada’s Great And Reliable Mail*, so any of you in the States right now and registered to vote, go out there and do it. Your government needs you! Or doesn’t; we’re kinda confused on the whole American government thing now that our civil liberties seem to vanish a lot. But it’s hard to care too much from the liberated tundra that is Canada! Mmm, free healthcare. It tastes kinda like fries with gravy and cheese on them!

I’ll be back soon, since I’ve been a huge Internet slacker as of late.

*Note = This statement is hilarious if you’ve ever tried to ship something between Canada and the US.

Recently our site has been having a problem with trolling comments. In a way, it’s a good thing: trolls mean that someone is actually reading our stuff! Always a nice to hear.

The admins have been discussing how best to deal with this. I (badjew) am in favor of us just deleting the worst of the comments that show up here. There are only so many electrons to go around, and I’d hate to waste them on useless trolls. Lianne and NotHayama are concerned that our readers might think that it’s censorship to delete posts that generally disagree with us. I counter that I couldn’t care less what our readers think, but that’s a bit off topic.

But, maybe it’s the readers who should decide. Should we use a strong hand in deleting trolling comments, or should we keep them up so that everyone can revel in their stupidity? To help you decide, I’ve invited respected public citizen Summer Glau to analyze a recent comment on our Death Note review.
Continue Reading »

Oh man oh man…so much good starts in October. I mean, seriously. And who wanted more of this, this, and this? And look what we get in November! Yesssssss.

Also, Bad Jew did a Mini Review of Mixed Vegetables. Exciting!

We should be back next week, since I’ve discovered I can now do these updates at work (as I am right now). My lab bench and gloves are contaminating the hell out of this keyboard, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend 2 hours staring into a tissue bath when I could spend those hours writing annoying things on the Internet instead.

And Happy New Year to the Jews, and Happy Eid to the Muslims. I was too busy at work to celebrate this week, so I’m going to spend this weekend playing something I probably shouldn’t be playing during a religious holiday and eating cereal off my own stomach.

Working on Tactics has made me partial to stories about cute boys and awesome monsters, so when I heard about Natsume’s Book of Friends, I got excited. It turns out the show is way, way better than I was expecting. Here’s a Mini Review for you. Want a taste first? Here you go. Note that Natsume’s Book is Friends is not to be confused with Amatsuki, the other shoujo anime about cute boys and awesome monsters running this season.

Japanese geek TV is so girl-friendly right now that shoujo sub-genres can actually repeat. And that makes me feel all warm inside.

Let me be PERFECTLY clear about something. My use of the word “lolz” in last post was intended to be snarky and topical, since “lol” and “lolz” are often associated with the Internet’s obsession with kitties. It was brought to my attention that some might interpret my use of the word as an acceptance of it, even an embracing of it. Let me just say that the day I use the word “lolz” in a sentence in seriousness is the day I commit ritualistic suicide. If my making bad jokes is going to reflect on my personal character like this, I’m not sure I want to make bad jokes anymore.

In other news, a review! NotHayama read Record of a Fallen Vampire. Can you guess her opinion? I’ll give you a hint - NotHayama is the reviewer, and the story is about sad vampires! You see where this is going.

See you soon.
P.S.–I HATE THE WORD LOLZ AND ANYONE WHO USES IT.