Why change something that's already as good as it is?

Why change something that’s already as good as it is?

July 12, 2010  |  Blog  |  No Comments

This week marks the start of the Moyashimon live action TV-series. Beyond the cute bacterias… like every good manga turned into a drama… the drama produced was completely different from the manga. AGAIN.

Can’t these drama folks keep the story as it is, the way the people have loved it in the manga, the way that the manga is popular to begin with? For those who have followed dramas, we have seen how in the likes of Yoshinaga Fumi’s Antique, they had to make Ono straight rather than gay. Now… they kind of jumbled the story line of Moyashimon, turned Kei into a girl and… I… whatever happened to the relaxed pace of my bacterial manga!?! Everything bursted out of this comic like hiochi that the sudden skips from this to that made the story lose its laidback yet interesting turn of events.

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Popularity: 31% [?]

Those Nakamura Eyes

Those Nakamura Eyes

June 10, 2010  |  Blog, Fangirling  |  1 Comment

I have been terribly busy as of late due to school concerns but there’s this one mangaka that sets me at ease whenever I read her mangas. I love looking people’s eyes but I never really paid attention to them in manga. To me, most of them are drawn generally the same. They can be expressive I’ve never been drawn into them in a way that 
I would just stare at those eyes for a good long while and mumble “beautiful.” At least until I read Nakamura Asumiko’s Double Mints.

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Popularity: 45% [?]

If this is awesome, what can get more awesome than this?

March 10, 2010  |  Blog, Fangirling  |  No Comments

Yes. This totally made my day.

I’ve been trying…. TRYING to restrain myself from oggling a little too much but I honestly can’t. Americans you guys are lucky folks for having Hagio Moto during Comic Con and I think the world is blessed to have more of her stories FINALLY printed in English. And since the news said that it won’t be the last, we’re all looking forward to more.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

The Odds and Ends with Emma

The Odds and Ends with Emma

March 9, 2010  |  Features  |  No Comments

Warning: This article is a reflection after having read the entire series. A lot of spoilers are mentioned. This review is also a part of the Manga Moveable Feast hosted by Matt Blind. See the other reviews and hopefully you’ll be encouraged to read Emma as well

Years ago, a friend asked me of my opinion of Emma. I had to correct her and asked if she was referring to Jane Austen’s Emma or the Kaoru Mori’s manga. Of course, she was referring to the latter (although she had to think twice since in a way, both are similar) and she felt that as a history major and a manga enthusiast, I had a lot of things to say about the manga and she thought I could give a word on its historical accuracy. It honestly surprised me because as much as the entire manga is lined with images of Victorian England, at that time, I was really more caught by the story of Emma and William. Of course, back then, I was fresh from following the monthlies and like a sparkly-eyed teenager, I was rooting for the romance to work. My mind was full of William and Emma’s love affair that I answered, “There’s really more to Emma than its history.”

But as time passed and after having read it again in full, this time for this Manga Moveable Feast, I realized that while Emma’s romance was beyond history, it was because the story was steeped in its history that made the romance beautiful. Emma was not just a manga about romance but a true Victorian story of love and more.

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Popularity: 42% [?]

The Tezuka Vertical Covers

February 18, 2010  |  Features  |  No Comments


I have something to confess. I rarely buy English mangas. Don’t be hatin’. I have my reasons.

I rarely buy English mangas because they’re expensive in the Philippines. What would cost $8 in the U.S. might cost $15 in our bookstores. If I order Japanese mangas, it would cost me around $5 for shounen titles or $8 if they’re seinen, bl, or josei. Cost wise, I would sooner run to a Japanese online bookstore to get my stuff than go to Amazon where our customs will sniff the damn book and tax me heavily. The cost for getting my manga in English is a hassle. But there are exceptions. Vertical’s Tezuka line is always worth the hassle.
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Popularity: 37% [?]