laceblade | Entries tagged with manga: ccs

--I am still watching The Newsroom, but I am loving the ever-living fuck out of Political Animals.

liseuse are both writing great thoughts about the show, and I don't have much to add. EXCEPT THAT I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

--I finished reading Kou Yaginuma's 12-volume manga series, Twin Spica. Its premise is really interesting - a small, young girl wants to be an astronaut, so she goes to space school. There are some flashbacks to a tragedy that took place before the series begins. The protagonist, Asami, meets friends at space camp school and it is sometimes pretty adorable.
After a few volumes, though, the story begins to lag.
And then to wrap things up, the manga-ka takes this turn with chronic/severe illness, basically saying that it is okay to literally work so hard that you kill yourself by refusing to live by any standards that aren't the same as your best friends - so long as you're all together.
This was extremely disturbing to me. The emotional impact of a character death had a way different effect on me than it was supposed to, I think, and this narrative thread kind of retrospectively ruined the entire series for me.

--The first omnibus volume of Mitsuru Adachi's Cross Game was emotionally compelling in a way I wasn't expecting. Highly recommended; I'll be reading more.
I somehow came to this book unspoiled despite everyone & their mom blogging about it the last couple years.
I'd also give a shout-out to the flawless backgrounds. Normally I find this vaguely cartoon-ish drawing style hard to get through, but the amazingly well-done backgrounds make it extremely tolerable for me.

--Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story continues to be fantastic. It's worth picking these up just to sigh at the art. I <3 Kaoru Mori.

--ALSO EVERYONE, EVER, SHOULD READ CODE NAME: VERITY BY ELIZABETH WEIN. HOLY SHIT.

Manga Bookshelf recently held a blog carnival about series by the group CLAMP.
This post about Why You Should Read Cardcaptor Sakura is great, and includes many images from the series. Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my all-time favorites; this blog post does a great job explaining why.

Current Music: Future Starts Slow - The Kills
Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/589618.html

Does anyone know if there's a good reason why a 9-year-old can't read Naruto?

I was all set to give some Cardcaptor Sakura to my 7-year-old niece when I remembered that a 4th grader gets engaged to her teacher....
Maybe she could read Yosuba&! ?

I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything!
There is the ridiculous bust of Tsunade...is there any manga that doesn't have weirdass shit in it?!

ETA: Shugo Chara! Shugo Chara! for the niece!
(If there's any weird shit in there that I forgot about, let me know!)

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/478794.html

The manga Saturn Apartments is about an orphaned window-washer who lives in the future. People have left the Earth and live in a big structural ring surrounding the Earth. Obviously, in order to see the Earth below, the windows must be washed. Usually, only the people who live in the top two classes of society can afford to do so - the window-washers, of course, are of the lower/bottom class. I'm not quite finished with volume 1, but it's pretty great so far. I love Viz's Signature Series treatment. So much win.

Also giving a shout-out to Twin Spica, a series about a girl named Hasumi whose dream is to become an astronaut (or, in her 5-year-old voice, "a rocket driver!"). To do so, Hasumi begins attending a school for teenagers like her, which will teach them how to be astronauts. Hasumi needs to live in the free on-campus housing, unlike her friends, whose parents can afford apartments. Hasumi strives to realize her dream in the shadow of a tragic accident: when she was a child, Japan's first manned-space flight crashed, killing many of Japanese civilians - including her mother. It's just....so awesome! Hasumi's father does everything he can to help Hasumi's dream, and it's so adorable! This series is kind of what I wished Planetes would be. It still mentions political/practical issues of space travel - including the collection of space debris!

It's nice to see some manga (or fiction in general) paying attention to class issues.

Yesterday I got my hands on the Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus put out by Dark Horse. SO MANY COLOR PAGES! It's frickin' gorgeous! The decision is cemented: Even though I already own this series, I will RE-BUY it for these amazing omnibuses. I can't quite figure it out, though - this omnibus version is a new translation, right?

SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS TREATMENT TO SAILOR MOON. I WILL THROW MY MONEY AT YOU.

Also! A cover by Joseph Gordon-Levitt! [Link goes to his tumblr entry.] <3 <3 <3

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/475641.html

SO.

The Dark Horse omnibus of Cardcaptor Sakura has been released.

Even though I already own the whole series, buying it in this newer (larger) format is enticing to me. It seems kind of ridiculous to buy things twice? But if it's better quality and something I love, it's probably a good choice. I do intend to buy the re-release of Revolutionary Girl Utena, even though I already own it. Better image/sound quality FTW.

In addition to How to Train Your Dragon, I watched Castle in the Sky with a niece and my nephew. I've only seen it once before, and I liked it a lot more this time. I enjoy everyone else's dub performance, especially Anna Paquin's, but I CANNOT get over Dawson Leery as Paku to save my life. I'm pretty eager to try watching this one subbed.

I read all of Osamu Tezuka's Dororo this weekend. At this point, I am frankly petrified to read Princess Knight. Tezuka's treatment of gender and trans issues is lacking, to say the least. I know that "he wrote in the fifties and sixties!" but that doesn't really erase it for me. Tezuka's status as "the godfather of manga" does not make his manga enjoyable to me. I think that the closest thing I came to enjoying was Astro Boy, but for that, I'll just read Urasawa's Pluto and have a much better time.

I watched the first five episodes of Saiunkoku Monogatari (Story of Saiunkoku) yesterday and absolutely loved it.

Basically: In a fantasy kingdom, a young girl from an aristocratic family that's lost its wealth jumps at the chance to become the king's consort for six months so that her family can get paid lots of money. The king's advisors made this scheme because they wanted Shurei to get the king to actually care about his duties and actively govern the kingdom. The king is rumored to prefer men over women, so Shurei is hopeful that he "won't try anything weird."

It has yet to pass the Bechdel Test, but the series focus on 'history of a kingdom through the eyes of a woman' is endlessly interesting to me. There is political intrigue and discussion of economics/taxation, and Shurei is the one educating the king! I hope that the series continues as strongly as it's begun.

Health Update is: When I told my doctor, "I still feel the same way!" she basically threw up her hands and referred me to a gastroentrologist. It will probably be a couple of months before I can see the gastroentrologist? At any rate, I've discerned that I must wait for them to call me.

In the meantime, I have scheduled my first acupuncture appointment for next Wednesday. My insurance does not make these visits free, but it does partially cover them. This is my first time trying alternative medicine. :O

Seeing the dentist in an hour, got my flu shot last week. Come on, body! I am nice to you! Now be nice to me!

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/468893.html

I am so pleased that Dark Horse is putting out a new translation/packaging/etc. of Cardcaptor Sakura that I have been giving some serious thought to re-purchasing the entire series as it comes out (even though I already own the entire series). It's really exciting to me that a company cares about shoujo manga originally published about fifteen years ago.
(Okay, maybe they care more about the fact that CLAMP sells really well, and people will want to reread it after they finish xxxHolic and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.)

I really wish that an American manga company would do this for Sailor Moon - I have all 18 volumes, but they were made pretty shoddily, and many are falling apart.

La!

Unfortunately, it looks like they're giving Chobits the omnibus treatment, too. Chobits.....*shudder*

I'm making it my goal to read most of the manga written by CLAMP before delving into their two current series, xxxHolic and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, as the two contain lots of crossover elements. I'm also doing it because CLAMP has made a pretty large impact in the manga medium, and they have written in many different genres. To see my past posts on CLAMP manga, I recommend using the tag system to your advantage!

Technically, volumes 7-12 are called "Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow," and are numbered 1-6. Whatever.

This is the only CLAMP series that I had read once before (most of it, anyway). Like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura is an old favorite of mine. Sakura Kinomoto is a fourth-grader with a special mission: to collect the magical Clow Cards, each of which have a separate magical ability. The Clow Cards were created by Clow Reed, a magician with "supreme powers." Sakura opened a book in her father's study one day and met Kero, who looks like a cute stuffed animal that's a hybrid between a lion and a dog, with wings. He assures Sakura that he is only in this "cute" form because he is low on magic, and his "true form" is "awesome and scary."

The fact that Sakura was able to open the book means that she has magical powers. And thus, she uses them to collect the cards, with Kero's help. The only person who knows about her secret mission is her friend, Tomoyo. Tomoyo thinks Sakura's mission is so cool that she makes different elaborate outfits for every time Sakura goes out to capture a card. In Tomoyo's words, "When you do special things, you have to wear special clothes." Hence the frill.

Tomoyo (a girl) has a very apparent crush on Sakura, who is totally oblivious. Sakura is head-over-heels for her brother's high school friend, Yuki. Sakura's father married her mother when she was only 16 years old, and her father was a teacher!! Sakura's cousin, who is also Tomoyo's mother, is very jealous and angry at Sakura's father for taking away Sakura's mother. This also means that Sakura and Tomoyo are second cousins, and the love of Tomoyo's side of the family for Sakura's seems not to have left. Tomoyo knows that Sakura is completely oblivious to her love for her, but instead of pining and angsting about it, she encourages Sakura to express her feelings to the person she loves: Yuki. This is a very mature attitude for a 10-year-old!

Things grow more interesting when Li Sayoran transfers to Sakura's school from Hong Kong, and tells her that he is a direct descendant of Clow Reed, and therefore entitled to capturing the Clow Cards for himself.

Sakura is a pretty typical cute fourth grader. When Kero (Kerberos) tells her that uncaptured cards can do evil in the world, she asks, "Um, um, evil? Like stealing a snack? Or bending a flower? Or not doing homework? Or staying up late...?" Her cuteness (combined with her determination and courage) will make you love her; I promise.

And all of these plot points are from the first six volumes only (maybe even only the first 2 or 3, I don't remember).

( Spoilers for the series lie behind the cut. )

This series is appropriate for all ages (although it might be difficult for very young readers to keep track of who likes who, as well as some of the plot points). It does not contain the references to panties that Angelic Layer does.

I love this series! It's one of my favorites by CLAMP, although nostalgia might have a lot to do with it, as well as its similarities in structure to Sailor Moon (perhaps my all-time favorite). The series is probably more focused on human relationships than on the Clow Cards themselves, although there are plenty of plot twists to keep that aspect of the story interesting, too.

I like that Sakura is strong in ways outside of her magical powers: she is athletic, and often shown roller-blading and otherwise being active in school. She is also a genuinely nice person, and a responsible role model for young children in that she's often shown taking turns with her older brother and father to take care of household chores.

I love that Sakura's father is shown cooking and cleaning in a way that isn't a hilarious joke. I love that there is gay love that isn't meant to be laughed at. The only thing in the series that made me cringe was the cousin!love and the student/teacher loves.

My favorite characters were probably Sakura herself, Tomoyo for her pure and honorable love, and Toya, for knowing so much but only acting when it was appropriate.

Cardcaptor Sakura looks like it will play an important role in CLAMP's current series Tsubasa Chronicle, as its protagonists appear to be aged versions of Li and Sakura. I look forward to reading it, and will be very angry if Sakura is a passive, useless heroine.

Firstly, a couple of links:
A post, and comments, dealing with the issues Heroes has been having this season when it comes to gender and race. It is not just me, I swear!

Borders plots to ruin my book-perusing experience in every way imaginable. And I had gotten so excited, too, because at the Madison location, they just moved the manga section to be right next to the young adult.

My Real Reason for Posting:
There should be a CLAMP manual. (For those who are confused, and curious, CLAMP is a 4-person team from Japan that writes manga. Lots of manga! They are so prolific that they have their own tropes!)

I’m working on reading all of CLAMP’s manga, and there’s a lot to cover, as they are quite prolific. I just finished reading Clamp School Detectives and Tokyo Babylon. I know that it isn’t necessary to read every other CLAMP title in order to read Tsubasa Chronicle/xxxHOLIC, but I would like to read as many as possible in order to enjoy maximum appreciation. Also, I'd like to read many of the series for the sake of themselves. Still, I think that they’ve written over 20 series, or something equally absurd.

My “must” list so far is X/1999 (yes, I know it isn't finished, but I own half the series, and I want to get to it now that I'm done with Tokyo Babylon anyway), Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Cardcaptor Sakura. Does it matter what order I read these series in?
For that matter, when I finally start reading Tsubasa Chronicle and xxHOLIC, does it matter what order I read those two series in? Start with one, reach a certain point, and then alternate? (As I’m doing with the Buffy/Angel series)

Also, are there any other series I should check out, first? RG Veda? Angelic Layer? Miyuki-chan in Wonderland? Clover? Clamp School Defenders? Man of Many Faces? Suki? Wish? Legend of Chun Hyang?

My God, how is it possible to write so much manga?!

Note to Self: What You're Blogging About Next
* Beowulf movie
* Clamp School Detectives manga
* Tokyo Babylon manga

Current Music: BON BON - Hey! Say! 7 (Lovely Complex, second ending)

Wait, wait, wait. Cardcaptor Sakura is a 12-volume manga, and not 6?? I thought I just finished collecting them all! Now I don't even know which ones I have. And apparently, before when I downloaded and read it all...it was only half the series. Why is this all so confusing??