Link Spam: A Post For All Seasons

Time to unload more great posts from fellow bloggers as well as just straight-up interesting finds from the Internet. Tell me what you're reading this weekend!

• ANN's House of 100 Manga recently looked at the classic sports manga Cross Game, which has been reviewed on this blog extensively. We need more Mitsuru Adachi manga in English, please!
• An interesting conversation at Manga Comics Manga on translating manga from Japanese to Spanish. Whoever lettered that Sailor Moon manga should feel bad, man.
• Great news for World Trigger and JoJo manga fans: Viz is putting the former to print for the first time and reprinting the latter. Considering that the World Trigger manga is soon to become an anime and the Jojo anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, that's a smart move on Viz's part.
• LOST fandom produced a fair amount of Oceanic-flavored blogs between 2004 and 2010. But how about a blog about watching the final season - by someone who never saw the previous five seasons of LOST? Oh, this shall be fun.
• I'll let this post headline from DVD's Worth Watching tell the story: Loki sells cars. Also, something something glorious burden.

Wednesday Briefs: Between Dreaming And Waking

It's been a while, but here's another short story for the Wednesday Briefs, that feature that always lets you know what day of the week it is! This week is another LOST fic, although it's a stand alone and not related to the previous multi-part adventure featuring Desmond Hume. The finished version of that one will come later! For now, enjoy the latest Brief!

Inter Somnia/Whilst Dreaming: LOST; Alpert-centric; established Richard/Isabella; PG-13 (for cursing, idk, it's not my fault Frank and Sawyer swear like sailors). Post-series, spoilers for seasons 5 and 6. Also features Miles Straume as a character, references to several other 815 survivors. Prompt used: "Sorry, I must have dozed off for a second."

>>>

Richard Alpert dreams of water. He dreams of a beautiful, big ship floating on the surface of the ocean, underneath a clear blue sky and the light of the summer sun.

Manga Review: Attack On Titan GN 5

Attack On Titan volume 5
Author: Hajime Isayama
Kodansha Comics
192 pages

Thanks to Eren, humanity has taken the town of Trost back from the Titans. Exhausted, Eren falls into a coma for three days – and wakes in shackles, staring at Erwin Smith, leader of the Survey Corps. Certain that Eren’s father’s research holds the key to the mystery of the Titans’ rise, Smith wants an expedition to retrieve it from the house where Eren grew up. But that’s deep in Titan territory, and to get there Eren will need to master a power he still doesn’t fully understand…(Source: Kodansha)

The fifth volume of Attack On Titan is Isayama making an attempt to temporary put the brakes on the main action. And it works, for 2/3rds of the book. The action slows down and we see Isayama begin to rearrange the cast to his liking. But this a series about the terror of humans living under the thumbs of flesh-eating giants; it doesn't stay quiet for long.

This volume deals with many of the issues that were raised in the previous volume, from Eren's current Titan abilities to the mystery of whatever the heck is in his basement back home. Surprisingly enough, this soon becomes common knowledge and what defines Eren's worth in the Survey Corp to everyone beyond Armin and Mikasa, who are currently his only true friends in the world.

Casual Reminder That This Blog Is Still Here

Between working on my original fiction, my freelance writing for Examiner.com, and learning how to code online, Nagareboshi Reviews has sadly been relegated to second string in terms of priority. But this looming stack of manga demands attention, as does this blog, so I'll be blogging a bit more regularly from now on! Especially when I start writing Wednesday Briefs again.

Here's a hint as to what my next blog post will be about. Much like manga blogging, it's vicious and blood thirsty and loves steamed potatoes. Wait, what?

PR: Bisco Hatori Fans Get New Millennium Snow, Omnibus Rerelease

Sennen no Yuki © Bisco Hatori
1998/HAKUSENSHA, Inc.

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RETURN OF THE HIT SHOJO MANGA SERIES MILLENNIUM SNOW

Catch The Digital And Print Debut Of A Brand New Volume From Creator Bisco Hatori’s Paranormal Romance Series; New

2-In-1 Omnibus Manga Release For Earlier Volumes Also Debuts

San Francisco, CA, May 20, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, invites manga (graphic novel) fans to mark to the much-awaited digital and print debut on June 3^rd of a brand new volume from Bisco Hatori’s hit manga (graphic novel) series – MILLENNIUM SNOW – as well as the release on the same day of a new 2-in-1 omnibus print edition.

Volume 3 of the romance about a handsome young vampire and an ailing teenage girl will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. The new release marks the return of the critically acclaimed series after it had been put on hiatus by the creator and has never before been released in English.

Manga Review: Fushigi Yugi GN 6

Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play volume 6
Author: Yuu Watase
Viz Media (Animerica Extra Edition)
192 pages

Miaki Yuki is an ordinary junior-high-school student who is transported into the complicated world of a book, The Universe of the Four Gods. Now that she seems to have gathered all seven of her Celestial Warriors, she is ready to summon the god Suzaku who will grant her three wishes. But Miaka's former best friend Yui has become her mortal enemy, and Yui's nefarious general Nakago has a secret plan... (Source: Viz Media)

This sixth volume of Fushigi Yugi is an actual step-up from the previous volumes, but it takes a long time to get to that point. The majority of this book still contains the same tired hallmarks of a Yu Watase shojo series – heroine running off in an ill-guided attempt to make things right, brainwashed lovers, back-stabbing ex-friends, and lots of unrequited crushes and love that never go anywhere. But the ending might show the different and very welcome direction this series is ready to take.

Fujoshi O'Clock (5/18/14)

What time is it? It's Fujoshi O'Clock, the biweekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• The trailer for the No Touching At All live action film is now online. The film is an adaptation of a Kou Yoneda BL manga by the same name.
• YaoiCon will be hosting the manga-ka Shoko Takaku at its September convention. Several of Takaku's works are available in English.
• For the Love Stage fans: singer Daigo will be voicing one of the characters. He joins other seiyuu who have been announced as the cast of the upcoming Love Stage anime.
• I found this amusing (and possibly NSFW cos of language) Keep Calm parody for fujoshi on Twitter: Keep calm? Bitch please I'm a fujoshi I'll never be calm.
• At the Mary Sue, they discuss the nerd semantics of Japanese fandom, including words like otaku and yaoi.

Reviews:

• llama kitten reviews Because, Isn't It Love?! by Yuri Ebihara, a collection of stories which sounds like there's a bit of oyaji action going on.

Am I missing your blog? Got some awesome fujoshi-related news and reviews you think deserve a shout-out? Poke me with a link and a bit of description over at my Twitter: @theseventhl. I'm always on the look out for more BL love!

Manga Review: Bleach GN 60

Bleach volume 60
Author: Tite Kubo
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
192 pages

Everything But The Rain: As the rain falls in Karakura Town, Isshin faces off against a mysterious Black Hollow. But when a familiar face joins the fight, Isshin will need all the help he can get. Ichigo's dark past is revealed, but can he recover from the shock of finally learning the truth?! (Source: Viz Media)

It's pretty obvious from the beginning of the 'Everything But The Rain' arc that Kubo has a story he has to tell, or else Bleach as a series will never proceed properly. He's gone long enough without telling Ichigo's true origins, and so does so in the manga's sixtieth volume, which is a great milestone for a title of any genre. 

As a whole, it's a volume that answers a lot of lingering questions, including a few readers probably didn't realize they had, shedding light on Ichigo's past as well as the history of the Shinigami and the Quincy.

PR: Viz Media To Attend Acen 2014 With Booth & Blood Lad

VIZ MEDIA RETURNS TO ANIME CENTRAL WITH SPECIAL PANEL DISCUSSIONS, ANIME PREMIERES, AND A HOST OF FUN BOOTH GIVEAWAYS

VIZ Media marks its return to Anime Central (ACen), the Midwest’s largest anime convention, as it announces a weekend full of unique booth giveaways, informative panel discussions, exclusive anime screenings, and other fun activities. Fans can look forward to some very special and big announcements from the company during the show.

The 2014 Anime Central convention takes place May 16^th to 18^th in Rosemont, IL, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and the adjacent Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, located less than 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. VIZ Media will be located in Booth #126. Complete details on Anime Central are available at: http://www.acen.org.

Stop by the VIZ Media booth throughout the convention for a host of special giveaways including RANMA ½ postcards, full-color collectable posters for NARUTO, ONE PIECE, RANMA ½ and more, along with free manga samplers featuring a range of popular characters and bestselling titles from the North America’s leading publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime.

In The Universe of the Four Gods: Reading Fushigi Yugi

Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for the first five volumes of the Fushigi Yugi manga. Books 2 and 4 were the Animerica Extra edition, so there may be discrepancies in translation between those and the later Shojo Beat editions.

Without a doubt, Fushigi Yugi is the defining work of Yuu Watase's bibliography. It has also proved itself a long standing fantasy/shojo classic, up there with Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon and CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura. It's also a mark of an entire generation of readers who became familiar with the constant cries of “Miaka!” and “Tamahome!” and the collection of the Celestial Warriors, from the cross-dressing warrior Nuriko to goofy priest Chichiri.

Funnily enough, until this year? I had not read any of it. I had seen some of the anime when it aired, years ago, on the International Channel, but not enough to get a feel for it. I'm no stranger to the works of Watase, but dipping into Fushigi Yugi were both familiar and new waters.

And now, five volumes into Watase's veritable magnum opus, I'm starting to see why I put off reading it for so long. I may be disappointing an entire group of shojo fans when I admit that, try as I might, I'm not loving Fushigi Yugi as much as I wish I did.

Western Press Can't Stop Talking About Babymetal, Example #815

The Riverfront Times, Saint Louis' premiere and popular alternative press, has a big question on its mind: What the hell is Babymetal? (Note: do not read the comments.)

From the above article:

But in 2010 a new breed of metal music surfaced with a group known as Babymetal. A rising trio of famous teenage Japanese female models, this act has a foundation of "J-Pop," -- a fast, upbeat style of pop/dance music more suitable for clubs playing Britney Spears and other teen idols than dive bars blasting Pantera and Behemoth. But the vocalists are backed by a band of musicians that merge the heavy sounds of Slayer [...] with traditional pop/dance music replete with hints of techno and hip-hop [...] It may have started in Japan, but look out...the evil is spreading.

I'm amused at the fact that Babymetal's cute rock act is still attracting the attention of Western press, who spend most of that time scratching their heads and wondering what the hell Japan is up to. Luckily, RFT has a history of being respectful of Japanese pop culture, even when it seems bizarre at first blush, so it doesn't treat the Babymetal music movement with derision.

Here Be Djinn: On Magi's First Volume

Deep within the deserts lie the mysterious Dungeons, vast stores of riches there for the taking by anyone lucky enough to find them and brave enough to venture into the depths from where few have ever returned. Plucky young adventurer Aladdin means to find the Dungeons and their riches, but Aladdin may be just as mysterious as the treasures he seeks. Together with the djinn Ugo and his friend Alibaba, Aladdin sets out to find his fortune in the depths of the endless dunes... (Source: Viz Manga)

Spoiler alert: Post contains spoiler for the first seven chapters/book one of Magi by Shinobu Ohtaka.

I have to admit, I didn't love the first book of Magi, but I want to read more. Is that strange? I gave the book two stars on Goodreads, and I don't give books in a series a second chance with a low rating like that. But I've been told Magi has promise, that Magi has character development and gets better with each volume. Honestly? With the way it starts, it better. Or I'll be done with it by book two.

I have a bias for shonen manga by female manga-ka, since shonen is such a male dominated demographic. Manga-ka like Arawaka Hiroku and Toboso Yana are terrific at what they do. But I can't love Shinobu Ohtaka's Magi with the same fervor I love Full Metal Alchemist and Black Butler. Those two titles had amazing stories, heartbreaking plot twists, and characters someone could really care about. At the end of Magi's first volume, I couldn't find much of the same elements and I was left wondering what the point would be. Endless dungeon grinding for treasure? I'd rather watch my mom play Diablo II.

PR: Viz Media Launches Limited Time Promo Sale Of Three Shonen Titles

BLEACH © 2001 by Tite Kubo/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES A SPECIAL DIGITAL PROMOTION ON THREE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST MANGA SERIES

First Volume of BLEACH, NARUTO And ONE PIECE Available With Special Digital Pricing For A Very Limited Time Only

VIZ Media celebrates May Day with a special digital promotion of three of the world’s most popular, critically acclaimed manga. For a very limited time, starting on Thursday, May 1^st 2014. The first volume of each series will be on sale for $1.99.

FOR ONE DAY ONLY!! on Thursday, May 1^st, Volume 1 of creator Tite Kubo’s supernatural series – BLEACH – will be available digitally for only $1.99 (U.S. / CAN).

During the Rest of May

Volume 1 of the smash hit ninja action series, NARUTO, along with the high seas pirate adventure, ONE PIECE, will also be available digitally for only $1.99 (U.S. / CAN) through May 31^st.