May
26
Learning Japanese through manga
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A couple of people have asked me recently on how they can use mangas to actually study Japanese. I don’t think I’m truly an expert at this, but I can share my experience on how manga has helped me understand the language. The truth is, I can barely brag about my Level 3 certification but I can say, by my experience, that reading manga does help a lot in building my vocabulary and grammar. I must admit that it’s the very reason why I started learning Japanese in the first place.
Beyond the usual route of taking classes, mangas provide an avenue to learn more words and grammar patterns which can open up more areas for knowledge and understanding. Besides, for me, it was the best way to put to use the Japanese mangas that used to gather dust in my closet. I think we can relate to that one point in time wherein we merely bought Japanese mangas to support the mangakas. If you’re up for it, then I hope this entry encourages you to take those mangas out of the closet. I cannot guarantee that you will be an expert in Japanese after reading this (you definitely won’t be close to an expert at all!), but at least you can start your learning process and proudly say that you managed to at least read that Japanese manga that you bought.
So, are you ready to start your Japanese?
May
14
Congratulations to Ishikawa Masayuki for winning for Moyashimon!! Finally, they notice the genius of processed foods and the power that bacteria has in our favorite foods!
The 32nd Annual Kodansha Manga Awards has just been announced and Moyashimon got an award for Best General Manga. It also won the grand prize for the Tezuka!! Yay! I’m not so sure if the anime played in its popularity or at least exposure, but a lot of interesting things did happen to the manga last year so it’s quite amazing that way. :3
Another personal favorite of mine won. It’s called Kimi ni Todoke and it won for Best Shoujo. I’m not so sure if it’s licensed yet, but yeah, this is another great shoujo story and I hope it gets translated in english too. Its story is similar to The Wallflower without being too repetitive and stubborn. Its delightful without containing too much drama from shoujo mangas.
Manga awards are a great way to find titles outside your usual haunts. Some people are always iffy about award-winning mangas because some think it’s for those with sophisticated tastes and all that. However, it would never hurt to understand why it was shortlisted or why it even won for that award. I was a Naoki Urasawa fan and was pleased to see Pluto win for a Tezuka before. That same year, there was that shortlisted manga named Nodame Cantabile that got me curious. After checking it out, I was blown away with Nodame’s insanity. That experience convinced me that there’s a greater world out there other than those deemed as ‘popular’. So don’t be afraid to check these mangas out if you can. It’d be quite an experience. :3
So for a short quip, congratulations to Moyashimon for winning the lot this year!!
みんな！かもすぜー！
Feb
25
This weekend’s bacterial invasion
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We had a three day weekend in Manila and I was caught by surprise when my mailman knocked at my door last Saturday telling I had a package. He gave me TWO big boxes of things. One box, we won’t be really concerned about, but the other… WHOO BOY! It’s too cute to pass up.
Let’s just say that last Friday, there’s a riot in Akihabara for something yellow and something cute. As announced sometime ago, those who will buy the Limited Edition of Moyashimon Vol. 6 will receive a 40cm A. Oryzae stuffed toy. Months ago, I was struggling between getting this or getting the DVD stuffed toy. The DVD stuffed toy was a palm’s width and when you press it, it says “Kamosuzo!” It was cute and all, but somehow at the last minute, I backed out and didn’t decide to buy it. On the other hand, there was that 40 cm. cuteness which I thought was too big for you to actually enjoy as a bacteria. Time came and went and I was supposed to cancel my order again at the last minute, but my reliable vendor has already shipped it. I was partially aghast, then thoughts of “Imma sell it when it arrives.” came to my head.
Then it arrived Saturday, just a day after its release in stores in Japan. YES!!1 I’ve got this huge box and when I opened, the cutest and LARGEST A. Oryzae just popped out and I can totally hear him/it screaming “Kamosuzo!!” It was too cute to pass up that I literally washed my hands and my face just to cuddle the BIG BACTERIA!
A. Oryzae was so cute!! He was so cute that all my thoughts of selling the damn bacteria just disappeared. Funny how it had a big big box for Oryzae and right at the bottom was the manga for volume 6 of Moyashimon plus a clear file that served both as book cover. Sweet. Really sweet.
A friend of mine has told me that I’m picky to buy mangas for because I always enjoy the limited edition stuff. Well, partially true. The Japanese have a knack for creating GREAT limited edition stuff. I mean, for a doll bigger than my head plus a manga and a clear file, that’s got to be the best 2,500 yen (1000 peso) buy that I have ever bought!! My word of advice, if you love a series too much and YOU KNOW they’re releasing something that is limited edition and it’s to your fancy, buy it without regret. It’s bound to be good.
I’m totally happy with my moyashimon buy! :3 Had I known moyashimon when volume 4 came out with those chibbi bacteria figures, I would have bought it. ><;; But this deal is good enough for me. I wonder if US Publishers would ever release limited goods like this with their manga. I’ve heard about the Naruto cabinet, but other than that, have there been fun ones released with the manga? The Japanese Nodame comes out with a special audio CD for their supposed ‘art book’ that contains feature on the music and stuff. Volume 18 came with a keychain. Hmm, I wonder when US would start having cool stuff like that. I might be buying more english mangas if they do. I’m such a sucker for stuff that way. XD
- This is why I love BK1 [↩]
Dec
31
2007 looked good. :3
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And so I round things up, just like before, about the fun things and the good things that I read and played with in 2007. I managed to read a lot of good new manga and reconnected with the old. :3 I did a couple of recommendations for mangacast already so we’ll just stick to the fun titles that I had fun with this year.
This year was all about Moe for me. Moe and otaku culture got me strong this year so pardon mates if these are fan-frenzied choices. :3 Maybe it’s all that toy collecting. Or maybe I’ve been reading Heisei Democracy and Ace too much. :3
Lucky Star. A story about nothing and everything. This totally got my heart ablaze especially with Konata’s Otakon (Otaku Spirit). The humor is simple although you do need some otaku knowledge to get past Konata’s jokes. I cannot stress enough how much i enjoyed watching this and how this has changed my karaoke habits forever. Must I add that I love it so much I preordered the nendoroid konata? Oh yeah. love.
Darker than Black. Bones struck gold with this one for me. It was a good well paced story with enough action to keep the fanboys going. I personally loved Hei’s team and how they stick together to the end. This really isn’t a Moe selection, but Mao’s got enough Moe for all of us. :3
Moyashimon. Bacterias talking and fermenting. I’ve been hooked on fermented items this year so to see the bacterias behind just makes my heart flutter so. I cannot resist Oryzae and for 3 months, I was wishing I had that talent to see them. But sadly I can’t. But thank god for Moyashimon. :3 Love the manga too. The covers rock.
Kekkaishi. I’ve been loving the manga for some while and now that the anime is out, I’m totally hooked every week. I love the story, the kinship between the brothers and the families that nurture and protect them. The story is well paced and I see that there’s no rush to follow to the manga (Oh yeah! No filler arcs… yet.) And if you played the DS game, oh darn it’s wicked!!
Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei. I actually started following Shonen magazine because of this. But yeah, a manic-depressive suicidal teacher and a plethora of lovely students to his call and beckon is worth getting desperate over. I enjoy this series in the sick and twisted humor way.
Lovely Complex. Ah~ High School Manzai Love. <3 <3 Seto no Hanayome. Yakuza mermaids. What more can I ask for? :3
Nodame Cantabile. Because I’m a fangirl.
Gintama. Oi. This came out last year, so why am I pimping it? Because it deserves pimping. yo. And I’m using that as a lame excuse to place this image in my website.
All in all. It was a great year. :3 A very fun year, I might add. :3 There wasn’t enough drama but there was lots of comedies this year. Or maybe I was really just choosing the comedies. :3 I hope next year would be just as fun! I look forward to next year! :3
Nov
27
Making manga out of anything
Filed Under Features, Insights | 9 Comments
I’m in the midst of post amazement season. I’ve been watching/reading this really funny series named Moyashimon. It’s been running for a month and I’ve been pimping their widget, the yellow thingie at the side that has rounded floating objects that would scream “Kamosuzo1” and every second or so. To the untrained eye, they’re just mascots. But for those who know, they’re actually… bacteria.
Yes. Those icky microbes that some of us are afraid to mess with has a manga of their own named Moyashimon and I’ve been pimping it to everybody I know at work, at home, at my friend’s blogs (and my personal blog), and basically everywhere!
Honestly, bacteria. Who would have thought of that?! A true cohesive story about a boy who can communicate with bacteria. As Itsuki-sensei says it in every episode, “Sugoi yo ne2”. The series even has E.Coli and Dysentery presented as cute and lovable characters. YES! Even E.Coli and Green Fungi (P. Chrysogenum) are too cute to resist!! I’m completely forgetting that they’re lethal and icky bacterias!!
I mean, this is, part in part, a fan who is just in awe of the extent of manga’s topics. What have they not done? Giant Robots. Done. Soo done. Animals. Done. Talking animals. Done too. Zombies. Done. A galactic bakufu that features a pet duck, a lazy rounin, cross-dressing geishas and the shinsengumi. DONE! Mermaid Yakuzas. SOOO DONE. What is left?
…I’m actually stumped.
So let’s play a little game, shall we? I’d like to ask my readers (and if you want, ask your friends too, if they’re interested) if they think that there’s a topic or a theme that manga hasn’t handled yet. And readers can also answer if these topics have been done. Think the craziest!
Like I’m sure there’s no manga yet that has one of those chemistry cooking things wherein you cook your food (like curry or pasta in liquid nitrogen). I’m also sure that I haven’t read a sentai BL manga (ooooh! Imagine the tension among teammates!). I was about to say about a super pessimist guy that not even a ghost can make him more negative (Oh wait, Oda Eiichiro just did that in OP). I’m stumped… honestly! I’m really stumped. So, do you have any themes that you think mangakas haven’t written and should write about it? :3
On a side note… if you can read Japanese, read Moyashimon manga. If not, then watch the anime. There are subs lurking around in places. :3
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Otaku Champloo is...
a small serving of bittersweet manga bits by a manga addict named Khursten.
She currently digs mangas about boys who live to be men. -
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