Jul

25

Blown ‘5 cm per second’

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Oh my god. Was that a great film or what? In the midst of all the hyped up psycho surreal high animation stories comes a gem like this one. I’ve only seen part one and oh dear, I wish I had known someone like that when I was younger. The film has made me realize how some relationships in our lives need some care and trust. ;_; Drat. To travel that long. To wait that long. It was all worth it. ;_; Watch it people! Now that it’s been licensed too, try to grab the DVD and watch it!!

Jul

25

#06 - Touch by Adachi Mitsuru

Filed Under Comedy, Drama, Reviews, Romance, Shounen, Sports | 8 Comments

Touch by Adachi Mitsuru
Published by Shogakukan
Serialized in Shounen Sunday

Touch. I got into Touch one afternoon where there was nothing I could do but watch some free videos online. It was considered as the highest rated anime ever. It is so popular that it’s an institution. It is, as some have noted, a classic among all manga stories. According to my friend’s mother, it was so popular in Japan that TV stations looked for girls like Minami. Koushien became the most popular sports event over the summer. And the manga turned Adachi Mitsuru as the premier mangaka of the 80s. In short, it was the series of the decade.

Years later, a stale lunch, natsu anison, a visit to Manga Kissa 10, and a random curiosity caused me to grab the series from the shelf. So what was it in Touch that touched the hearts of many Japanese? Well… Koko de touch. lol. ^^;;

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Jul

23

Fill my heart with song.

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Hideaki Anno… I missed you. I’m totally looking forward to this. Now that he’s seeing this anime in a new light, I can only wonder what story he can tell. Honestly, even if he said that it isn’t a retelling, scenes from the movie can be easily pinpointed to scenes from the series. Oh but who cares. Eva is eva. :3

Jul

17

Manga Kissa finally has titles for girls!

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Ah~ Manga Kissa finally has a line of shoujo and josei titles. From Kocha Ouji, Hanakima, to Nodame and Gokusen, Manga Kissa has all the lovely shoujo goodies for you~! I’m so happy they fulfilled my requests during my last visit. I placed Nodame & Kekkaishi and true enough they were there when I visited them this weekend! YAY! Thank you MangaKissa Tenchou!! ^^v Shoujo addicts can now have a good read in Manga Kissa. It’s not as extensive as their seinen or shounen titles, but it’s good enough. :3

Jul

16

The most amazing women in manga

Filed Under Features, Insights | 3 Comments

Last week, Oricon released a poll citing the prettiest women in manga. The question was simply “who are the prettiest women in manga?” However, as the answers started piling it, the list turned out to be closer to ‘who are the most amazing women in manga?’ The list is very interesting, consisting of ladies that are really at the top of their game. However, what I find most fascinating about these choices is the variety of women in the list, most especially the choice of a swindling lady like Fujiko and the girl next door Minami. Is Mikiso Hane’s theory of the ‘pure lady as the most attractive’ already of the past? Do Japanese men love their ladies to be a little ‘dirty’? To further look into the issue, let’s see first the list of Japan’s top 10 hottest women in manga.
Manga’s Hottest Women - The general choice

  1. Fujiko Mine (Lupin III)
  2. Minami Asakura (Touch)
  3. Sailormoon (Sailormoon)
  4. Nana Osaki (Nana)
  5. Maetel (Galaxy Express 999)
  6. Reika Ryuzaki (Ace wo Nerae)
  7. Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (Rose of Versailles)
  8. Lum-chan (Urusei Yatsura)
  9. Ran Mori (Detective Conan)
  10. Nami (One Piece)

Free-spirited ladies
There are many girls in manga that the choices for this survey was rather hard and quite broad. But it seems that the respondents had a universal stereotype that they loved. And these were, the free-spirited ladies.

From the rocker chick to swindlers, the girls listed down are all tough and free-spirited ladies. Does this mean that the Japanese have had it with princesses? What about Sailormoon? Well Sailormoon is still a little of a ditz, but in the end, she still has a strong personality. More so, they wrote Sailormoon and not Usagi.

I once read Mikiso Hane’s Easter Phoenix and in his last chapter, according to him, the Japanese have a particular preference for the pure types of ladies. Hence innocent characters such as goddesses and demure princesses were always the preferred characters of men during the postwar era. But if we look at these choices, the types of ladies chosen are those that have prolly grown out of their shells and have faced reality. Just look at Fujiko. She is far from being naive. Some of the girls may be a little ideal such as Minami, however they do resemble a more real woman, one who doesn’t just cry in a tower to wait for her prince. Perhaps for most Japanese, the free-spirited woman is the new ideal.

Girls like ‘em tougher while men love them sweet.
Along with the top 10 list, Oricon also released the top 5 choices of men and women. It seems that women prefer Fujiko, Nana, Sailormoon, Reika, and Oscar. While men prefer Minami, Fujiko, Maetel, Nishino Tsukasa (Ichigo 100%) and Nami.

The girls’ choices were really geared towards the liberal women. You have strong characters like Oscar and Fujiko who really set a trend in terms of characterizing women in manga. It is easy to say that they chose these women because they have characteristics that women wish they had. Even I understand why Fujiko is at the top. She’s sexy, smart, sly, and always gets her target. But at moments when her heart is in turmoil, she always never forgets that she is a woman first. Perhaps a more organic feminist?

Looking at the boys’ choices, most girls were sweet in nature. I cannot say for Nishino because I haven’t read Ichigo 100% (Should I? TAT;; I fear to tread this harem manga! ><;;), but at least for Minami and Maetel, they have a very endearing and charming element in them. If we look at the top 10, other girl next door types like Ran and Minami are there. The charming point is the ever loyal girlfriend who will always fight for you and be your best friend until the end. Fujiko also has this sweet aspect in her. Even Nami, as long as it doesn’t concern money, can be a very charming lady as well. Men pointed their choices towards their ideal girlfriend. Which points out an interesting thing… even men can’t stand to have a girlfriend like Sailormoon. lol.

In the end, they were very cool girls.
In my case, I think the choices are fair and justified. I too love these characters and they are really beyond just pretty characters, they are truly amazing.

I was quite surprised that Ran of Detective Conan was there. Ran is one of my favorite female characters in manga because unlike some leading ladies in shounen mangas who only serve as an excuse to make the manga look straight and not a potential BL manga (Sakuno? Misa?), Ran is such a strong character who Aoyama really utilizes to bring the story forward. Conan may appear a little episodic for now, but I’m going to look forward to the day that she finally meets Shinichi again. Hang in there Ran, Aoyama-sensei will take care of you.

I’m surprised that the likes of Maya Kitajima of Glass Mask (or at least Ayumi Himekawa) didn’t make it to the list. They were quite strong themselves. Maybe they’re not enough spark for the top 10 (or has the series been too long that Japanese fans are already drained of the story? ^^;; I kinda understand that too). Otaku favorite Suzumiya Haruhi or Seed’s Lacus also didn’t make the top 10 cut. Isn’t that quite interesting?

If I were to make a list of the most beautiful women in manga, here’s what my list would look like: Oscar de Jarjeyes, Minami Asakura, Miyuki Umino (Happy), Megumi Noda (Nodame), Ran Mori, Nami, Nico Robin (One Piece), Maya Kitajima (Glass Mask), Sapphire (Princess Knight), and Tokine (Kekkaishi).

How about you? Who would be your top 10 amazing women in manga?

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