Otaku Champloo

Category: Fujoshi Life

  • Barefoot Gen drama special on the telly

    Oh dear. Just when everyone of my friends is home from Japan, they show something quite important like this. -_-;; I have to thank Comipress for this. Apparently, FujiTV is releasing a drama special of Barefoot Gen on the telly from August 10 to 11 to commemorate Hiroshima bombing. I wish someone in the drama community rips this and uploads it… If not, then I suggest everyone should have a chance to actually read the manga and reflect on it. And kids should not complain that they can’t read it! My university has a copy of Barefoot Gen, both in English and Tagalog for everyone to read! I’m pretty sure other universities with libraries would have this manga as well. Maybe. Nonetheless, to those people who have access to it, either by their libraries (because I’m sure it’s no longer for sale here! It’s quite vintage!) or if you’re rich enough, via buying it online, then do so. It is a must read for any manga fan not because it is an old classic manga, but because it is a manga that will open your eyes to what history really is.

    In war, history is often told by the victor. This is the easiest way to teach history to students. The side of the loser never has the chance to really get themselves heard except for their own country. The reason why I think Barefoot Gen is so important is it presents to us an alternate perspective of the Pacific World War. It makes history not just HIS story, but OUR story.

    World War II is such a painful memory for the Filipinos. I have met and read old folks who have nothing but anger for the Japanese due to the war. But we really can’t blame them. The war experience was truly painful and you can’t take that away from them. However, the beauty of having access to works such as Barefoot Gen is that it allows you to understand that even on the side of the Japanese, the war was just as painful. It wasn’t just the bombing that hurt them. Even before the bombing, life was hard for them. Women working hours to buy grub for families. Fathers and sons sent away to suicide missions. War casualties is never on the side of the victim alone, but also on the aggravator as well. Barefoot Gen gives us this glimpse that is understandable for anybody because it is in the form of a comic. In our case, it is both in English and Tagalog hence anybody can read it. Too bad that the tagalog version is quite vintage already and is not easily available. Bookstores too don’t have a copy of the English version. DRAT.

    On my end, this is a manga that moved me more than Grave of the Fireflies ever did. In that film, it only shows the hardship of two children. Anybody can pity children. Pity is not the key to understanding. Barefoot Gen gives greater depth to this by introducing to us a whole town moved by a propaganda and a family trying their best to live. It shows you their world and the machinations behind the war. The pity bit happens only during the bombing. But after that, it was all about the will to live. I cried reading this manga. Four years as a History Major, reading this tale moved me in different dimensions altogether. I can go at length on its historical weight, but I think what’s important here is that through this tale, I found out that my country’s pain was not mine alone.

  • Happy Yaoi no Hi!

    Fujoshis run wild because today is your holiday! Today we are celebrating Yaoi no Hi, an otaku holiday derived from the 801 combi that represents ‘ya-o-i’ in Japanese culture.

    To celebrate things, they’ve released Tonari no 801chan2 in Akiba! Tonari no 801chan is a book based on the mangas done by Ajiko Kojima in her blog. Her comics are hilarious, but the book has more extras on 801chan’s crazy fujoshi antics. lol. I think a DVD with their stories will be released soon. September 5? The premise is the story of a guy who has a fujoshi girlfriend and how he gets by in getting along with her. There is also another novel, Fujoshi Kanojo, which has already sparked the interest of movie makers. lol. I guess the Densha Otoko craze has now turned to the fujoshi side.

    Speaking of which, Mangacast announced before that Mediablasters is licensing “Mousou Shoujo Otaku Kei”. I had the chance to read the manga thanks to a friend and love it to the core. It’s the story about this guy who fell in love to this fujoshi. The fujoshi is… really weird to an extent. She’s quite hardcore with nothing but her pairings and her doujinshis at the center of her universe. How the guy tries to win the girl’s heart is hilarious! XD I learned a lot about fujoshi culture, and laughed my heart out when the girl said “Can you call me Shinji-kun instead!?” XD People curious about the fujoshi life should try getting this manga. Honestly, reading it is like listening in on how my fujoshi friends and I babble like mad idiots about our favorite series and BL seiyuus. It’s really nice. If you know the fanfare (e.g. Hagaren no Oujisama = overkill!! XDD) the series is a lot more fun. I wish Mediablasters does a good job with translating it. Although, I must say, even if they translate it, I won’t get to buy it because novelty titles such as this one rarely gets here. *sigh* otaku life is so hard on this side of the planet. I wish I lived a few degrees higher.

    p.s. If you guys don’t know what a fujoshi is, here’s a great explanation! (yes! New site to troll!)

  • The most amazing women in manga

    The most amazing women in manga

    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?

  • #05 – Lovely Complex by Aya Nakahara

    #05 – Lovely Complex by Aya Nakahara

    Lovely Complex by Aya Nakahara
    Margaret Comics
    Shueisha

    A tall girl. A short boy. Both have a knack for words and together they make the manzai comedy pair of their school. However, our giantess, Risa Koizumi, finds herself caught in quite a pinch. After getting to know her unforeseen comedy partner, Atsushi Ootani, she eventually falls in love with him. How would she get by? How would she able to show this midget that she’s more than a funny girl? Aya Nakahara shows us a how a comedy combination turns into a love combi in Lovely Complex.

    Edit : It seems that Viz / Shoujo Beat picked up Lovely Complex. So some things written down there might not be applicable.
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  • Lying and Cooking…

    Last spring was a breath of fresh air after the stark dry season that is post-Nodame. Yes, Nodame’s drama and anime was such a blast that nothing came close to compare the fun and energy that Nodame had. Until of course, spring came. Now, there are many series to keep note of during the season. There were many GREAT animes that came out, but what really sparked my curiosity was the line of dramas that came out during spring. Particularly, Liar Game and Bambino.

    If lying and cooking is your turf, I recommend that you watch these two series. While you’re at it, read the mangas as well.

    Liar Game is brilliant, and Death Note would have been this brilliant if Ooba Tsugumi only knew where to stop and control herself. LG’s story revolves around Nao and Akiyama, two people caught in a conniving game that encourages its players to lie in order to fulfill the task of the game. Nao is one extra-gullible girl, not because she was stupid (although this is really the impression you get when you read her), but because she has an infallible faith in humanity’s honesty. She’s too trusting that you just want to bop her in the head. On the other hand, Akiyama is an ex-con who swindled a big company in his youth. It turns out that it was this very company that drove his mother insane in turn killing herself. Upon the advice of a local ‘policeman’, Nao sought for the help of Akiyama. Akiyama, finding a lot of his mom’s qualities in Nao, helped her to get out of the game. Little do they know that the game is more complex than it appears. Winners have the chance to leave only after they have swindled others of their money. And this could be a little difficult when you have someone like Nao around.

    Liar Game     is flawless, in my opinion. The manga was well paced and although the art is something to get used to, it was apt for series. It was dark and piercing. And the drama adapted these images really well. Despite how much annoying Nao is, her presence has value unlike Misa-misa. One might wonder why I compare DN to LG, well it’s because it revolves around the same aura of mystery and psychological warfare. Liar Game had a great avenue to present a battle of wits and so did Death Note. However, unlike DN, Liar Game managed to explore the capacity of man’s greed. DN only managed to set a holier than thou setting. Almost there, but not quite complete.

    On the other hand, there is Bambino, a story about a boy who discovered the world of Italian cooking during his internship in a big Tokyo Italian restaurant named Baccanale. To begin things, the premise of Bambino is not close to Oishinbo and Yakitate! Japan where you come up with all the weird breads, pastas, and all that what’s not. Instead, it’s closer to Antique Bakery and Cafe Kichijouji De: its about learning how to be a part of the restaurant and how to love its food and customers. Ban, the series’ main character, had to learn these lessons the hard way. There are times where I just wished that I could bop him personally but yeah, thank god everyone around him gave a beating.

    Fans of Matsumoto Jun will love this drama, but since I’m not a big fan of his, I can’t say that this is worth a watch because of MatsuJun. I swear, I had to hate his character before I found him acceptable (which was towards the 9th eps. And it’s already ending this week!). The major thrill about Bambino are the different things that Ban had to learn to finally get things right. The lectures from his colleagues and their motivation to pursue what they love were truly passionate. Might I add that the food featured in the series was major fun! They all looked yummy and I made sure that I watched the series after dinner or with a bowl of pasta already at hand. It can make you hungry. God. Hungry is an understatement. If you didn’t crave for a risotto or a ravioli afterwards, you must have an eating problem (or at least full!).

  • Ah~ I know how you feel.

    This morning, I was reading through my feeds to see a translated interview of Hagio Moto by Matt Thorn. I was rather surprised to find Hagio-sensei to be a girl. All this time I thought that the writer of one of my favorite SF stories, They were 11, was a guy. I ahve never read the manga and only saw the anime through a friend and I was breathtaken. I was rather surprised to see that she was a girl. More so, she’s one of the Magnificent 24!! So I just had to read it and sure it was fun to see her experience as a writer and how she is paid this much money for a page (which then made my wonder… “do mangakas take advantage of the amount of cash they earn per page that’s why sometimes… they waste pages on long and pining battle scenes?”) What was interesting to read though was when Moto-sensei mentioned…

    “I know how you feel. I know exactly how you feel!”

    She said this in lieu of reading Ozamu Tezuka’s Shinsengumi!. For her, seeing characters express their feelings and being caught in their emotions was the heart of being a mangaka. My heart went a flutter just thinking of all these nostalgic moments in manga where I have wept, leapt, and tore my hair out in frustration for the next chapter. And true enough. There is a strength in manga which I seem to not find much in anime. It is this aspect of feeling the character, as though you were that character or his best friend.

    Anime is all about the visuals, like a wikipedia entry or a webpage that doesn’t like to use the cut option. Everything is laid out and all the cards are shown. Not all animes are like this, however weekly animes tend to be as predictable as cheeseburger. They expect you to accept the character for who he is. Unlike in manga wherein you grow with the character.

    Growing with the character is something that I think you can grasp stronger in manga. It is in manga where page by page you discover more about the character and mangakas make every effort to make a panel say a thousand words. There is an inner mystery that only the mangakas reveal and only those who get affected can discover. And so true. God, I can attest a lot of scenes that have swept me off my feet and have literally taken me to their world.

    Ahahaha! I can only imagine a number of anime nuts who could possibly hate me for this entry. But this isn’t an entry about an age old debate. Anime and Mangas are two entirely different mediums and you can’t compare an apple pie and an ice cream sandwhich. Both are great in their own right and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

    I wrote this because well, friends always find me silly crying, whining, laughing over a manga. They’ll say “Dude! It’s just manga.” But to me, the emotions felt in a manga are real. The emotional connection between a character and its reader is no different to that of the reader and his friend. Its true and as pure or deceitful as it gets. Just like real life. Hence, I know how you feel… exactly how you feel.

  • Yes! Another Year of Fangirling fun!

    Yes! Another Year of Fangirling fun!

    This year, we only have one battlecry: ?????There??????s no girl who doesn??????t like yaoi!?????

    LO 2007: The 4th Lights Out Philippine Yaoi Convention

    Featuring Film Screenings, Round-table Discussions, more BOUND Pairs Cosplay, the LO Yaoi Library, the LO Pr0n Trading Post, and our first ever ILLICIT Illustration Contest. Win cool prizes, pick up some great freebies, and have lots of giggly not-worksafe fun with your fellow yaoi fangirls.

    MAY 26, 2007 from 1PM to 6PM
    Venue announcement to follow
    Tickets @ PhP 150*

    *PhP 130 for Lights Out Mailing List Members and Ongaku Society Preferred Members

    Register with the Official Website now for news, updates, and information on the upcoming convention and other related activities! Site members also gain access to our exclusive features, including customized avatars and signatures, interactive article comments, full forum access, shoutbox access, members-only downloads, and so much more!

    So what are you waiting for?! Support Lights Out and log on now! See you at the Con!

  • Finding more titles from Kissa10

    This is quite a late entry (as other entries), but I gave myself a shot at going to Kissa10 just to see what they are up to and for those who have been monitoring what’s new and what’s not at Kissa10, I’m sure most of you guys would be interested on what else you can read there.

    There is still no sign of Kissa10 grabbing english titles. I can understand it on their part since English titles are rather pricey, but Filipinos can all hope for it. In the meantime, just enjoy the latest manga zasshis.

    What is interesting is the line of shoujo mangas available in Kissa10. They have added Nana in their roster, along with other oneshot shoujo titles that I really didn’t bother to read with because they were shoujo smut, as a friend puts it. ^^;; Not that I’m being a manga elitist or something, but I did say the last time that I was planning to finish some titles. And so I did! I read Happy! and more!

    I had 3 hours to try to get to read some more mangas from their shelves (which is at its 65% capacity), so naturally, I caught on Happy! which ended up having a very nice ending. I would still recommend it for the same reason. And no, I don’t hate Oohtori anymore and he has his saving grace in the series. It was a little dramatic, especially towards the latter part where scenes seem to have been ripped from a Yakuza soap opera, nonetheless, the series ends happy!

    I also managed to catch newer volumes of Ciguatera by Minoru Furuya. Mangascreener has this as one of its projects and I suggest you guys give this a look as it is funny. There are some issues in the manga that was highly exploited, however one of the main issues remain unresolved (in fact, I was left hanging by volume 6 on what happened with the new bully issue. ^^;; So yes, 3 volumes just about him and his girlfriend. ;A; Great.) This is one of the few series that are okay to keep track of. But I can at least sleep on it for a while since I’m quite annoyed with the hero’s girlfriend.

    Another interesting manga that you guys might want to check is “School of Water Business/Toritsu Mizusho!” I accidentally saw this while looking through the Urasawa pile (which now has 20th Century Boys! Yay!) and this was a manga I’ve been hearing about but never really had the guts to read, until now. So far, 1 group has scanlated it, but I’m not so sure if they’re continuing it.

    Toritsu Mizusho! is the story of a school specializing in the ‘water business’ trade in Japan. Water business is a term that is used to refer to businesses of the pleasure trade, such as host clubs, cabaret clubs, soap salons, and the likes. So this school teaches high school kids in the pleasure trade. There are even different sections such as one side specializes in being waiters, the other in being hostesses and the likes. The students are outright funny although honestly, for me, their logic, especially on entertaining guests just fails me. XD Its not advisable for people who are queasy about issues related to the sex industry, but if you have no troubles, give this a read. It’s dead funny.

    Other new titles added in Kissa10 is Spirit of the Sun! I have yet to read this, but I’m sure some of you guys already know about this title. One cool aspect that they added in the shop is they now ask the customers what they would like to read in Kissa10. Naturally, dear me requested for Kekkaishi, Nodame, and Bokurano. I’d definitely kill some heads of salarymen if I ordered for BL, but maybe next time, if I cross tenchou, I might ask him if it’s okay to bring in some BL titles for fujoshi’s like me. ^^ ehehehe…

  • Manga Kissa 10 e ikimashita~!

    Manga Kissa 10 e ikimashita~!

    keaton ?????????,??????:*:????????????o(?????????????*)/????????????(*?????????????)o?????????,??????:*:????????????

    Waaaaaiiii!! Yesterday was the happiest ever because my friend and I managed to go to this new and probably the ONLY manga kissaten (cafe) in Manila! (?????????????????) Yesterday, a manga cafe just opened in Makati. The place is owned by a Japanese and it caters to the Japanese salaryman who’s comissioned to stay here in Manila (along with other Japanese nationals who reside in Manila). Hence, most mangas are either seinen or shounen in nature. More than that, all of them are in Japanese. ^^v. The place is located near Makati Square. From Waltermart, you can see MANGA KISSA 10! lol. I swear, it’s old man’s humor but I thought it was funny to name the manga cafe like that. lol. The owner is very nice and they even have maids!! it’s like a maid cafe and a manga kissa all in one! I felt quite pampered yesterday. :3 ??????????????????????

    What I found strange was that everyone was talking to me in Japanese. That might sound strange but I do look like Filipino and I am living Manila, and yet here were the nice maids asking me if I want another cup of coffee in really polite Japanese. The manager would also remind me from time to time to check on what I want and stuff. And even if I looked Filipino, they would talk to me in Japanese. ^^;; Yesterday, I came in with my Japanese friend, Yue-tan. And we were browsing through the shelves and I was just happy to see the entire set of Captain Tsubasa. The manager came to me and asked what mangas do I like. Yue-tan then tells tenchou that I can understand Japanese and I’m like “OH DEAR! I HAVE TO TALK IN JAPANESE! DAI-PINCH!” ^^;; I’m so used to reading it, but I’m not entirely used to speaking. Nonetheless, tenchou asked me the same question in Japanese and I go… “Spo-tsu manga ga suki. Seinen manga mo suki… (I like sports manga. I also like Adult manga)” in a very nervous and weird sort of way. Iyaaa hazukashii na. But tenchou was nice to talk to me in Japanese the whole time and thank god I didn’t painfully misreplied or anything. I think. ^^v

    There are a lot of good titles, and I can’t even know where to start. What I love is it has a mix of old and new along with new manga zasshis!! <3 Particularly Shounen Jump and Shounen Sunday. As for the mangas they have complete sets or at least until the latest of: Golgo 13, KochiKame, School of Water Business, Captain Tsubasa, Kisaragi, and a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa mangas. Did I say a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa!? Yeah I did. <3 <3 They have Pineapple Army, Master Keaton, Yawara, and Happy! And they’re complete! WAIIII!!! So yesterday, I took a shot at reading Urasawa-sensei’s mangas… and naturally, here’s what I think…

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  • The year in review. (^w^)/

    The year in review. (^w^)/

    Every year, I do a little list of the fun things I’ve read and seen during the year. And in the spirit of doing lists, I thought I’d make a list of all the things that made my hobby go further down the drain this year. These are anime and mangas I’ve read throughout the year which have made an impact in my life and will definitely be my ruin for the next few years until their series finish. lol. So, let’s look how this dear otaku’s life went down the drain this year. ;A; Drat.

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