S.Q. Eries's Blog, page 42

Manga Review: Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol. 6

Magical girls and reverse harems are standard fare in shoujo manga, and you can find both in Aya Shouoto’s Kiss of the Rose Princess. Read on for Volume 6 of the series! (For my review of previous volumes, click here.)

Back cover Blurb

High school student Anise Yamamoto is the “Rose Princess” of four handsome Rose Knights. The Gray Rose has revealed himself to be Mutsuki’s older brother, whom Mutsuki killed in the past. Mutsuki is slowly regaining his memories, but what do two Dark Stalkers want with Anise, the Rose Princess?

The Review

The narrative seems to have gotten overly complicated, what with knight “awakenings,” Arcana card gathering, extraneous Rose Knights, and a Fake Princess. Also, Ella enters the hunt for Arcana cards, and the fact that she collects so many she can afford to give one to Anise makes the real Rose Princess look awfully pathetic in comparison. However, Shouoto-sensei does manage to keep a grip on her readers by wrapping up the Gray Rose arc with a glimpse into Mutsuki’s origins.

Half of Anise’s Knights are not human, but while Seiran is an artificial creation of the present, Mutsuki was around long before his fellow companions. Shouoto-sensei’s been teasing readers about his locked memories, and we finally get a look at them as well as a glimpse of the legacy of the Rose Knights. While the history between the Black and Gray Roses is interesting and tragic, the connection of the Dark Stalkers with the Demon Lord is seemingly at odds with their alliance to the Rose Princess. At any rate, Mutsuki has his first Awakening, leaving the Red and Blue Roses yet to “level up.”

After an interlude chapter that’s mostly silly high school reverse harem squabbling for Anise’s attention, the focus shifts to Seiran. As far as the Knights go, he’s the most insecure. Wanting to change himself, he resolves to accomplish something on his own and goes in search of an Arcana card with Ninufa. His determination to improve is actually quite admirable, but then Shouoto-sensei has to turn his card quest into something of a farce. However, it does end with an action-packet battle against a Counterfeit Knight that gives the Blue Rose the opportunity to display some heroics.

The volume ends with the potential for the story to go in a number of directions. Shouoto-sensei’s been hinting at something between Schwarz and Itsushi-sensei, the Counterfeit Rose Knights are having problems, and Ella’s out to get the Arcana cards and Kaede. Plus, the Rose Knights have a few awakenings to get through before they can get “engaged” to Anise. At least for now, Shouoto-sensei has enough elements to keep things interesting although the plot feels like it going all over the place.

Extras include the opening splash illustration and table of contents printed in color; character profiles for the Black and White Knights; two mini-manga; and bonus illustrations.

In Summary

Our Dark Stalker’s past is revealed! Or at least enough to justify Mutsuki’s broodiness. Then things get complicated in the quest to seal the Dark Lord when the Fake Rose Princess shows up with Arcana cards in hand. The real Rose Princess and her Knights are coming up against a lot of challenges, but it’s difficult to take them seriously when the boys keep devolving back to high school reverse harem squabbling over Anise.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Souvenirs from Asia: Haikyu!! Akihabara Bonanza Part 4

During my husband’s latest business trip to Japan, he managed to spend some free time at that mecca of anime known as Akihabara. And because Haikyu!! is our favorite ongoing series, he returned with a bunch of Haikyu!! souvenirs that ranged from cute to odd. He also went a bit overboard with his purchases so I’m splitting this installment into five parts.

More Haikyu!! chibi characters! This time they’re on a box of manju. The funny thing is that the manju they’re eating looks an awful lot like the nikuman (pork buns) they get from their coach’s convenience store. The characters are super cute and very much in character as they munch on their treat. And inside the box is a bonus sticker! I got Asahi and a very naughty looking Noya.

Manju and bonus sticker!

As for the manju, it was… okay. Standard red bean filling inside a thin skin. Not something I’d go out of my way to eat again.

However, I would go out of my way for another one of those stickers.

Merry Christmas!

Manga Review: My Love Story!! Vol. 5

Takeo Goda, the male lead for Viz Media’s  My Love Story!!  is quite unusual. Bishonen tend to dominate the cast of shojo manga, but Takeo’s looks are about as far from a stereotypical pretty boy as you can get. Still, he possesses tremendous appeal in this hilarious romantic comedy. I had the opportunity to take a look at Volume 5 of the series, and you can read on for the review. (For my review of other volumes, click here.)

Back cover blurb

Takeo and Mariya are chosen to participate in the relay race for the athletic meet. While practicing together, Mariya ends up falling in love with him… Yamato is unsure of what to do about her new rival! Will Takeo and Yamato be able to overcome this crisis?

The Review

After finishing Volume 4, I felt that the conclusion of the Saijo arc lacked closure. Her “I like you as a person” confession left it unclear whether she really felt that way or said that out of consideration for Takeo’s girlfriend. As it turns out, that wasn’t the actual end of the arc, and Saijo’s story continues on to its real end in Volume 5.

Takeo, dense as he is, just takes everything Saijo says at face value, so it’s up to Suna (as usual) to pick up on the emotional nuances of what’s really going on. For those familiar with the anime, the corresponding TV episode lacks a few scenes that are in the manga so the manga actually provides a more complete depiction of Suna observing Saijo’s infatuation with Takeo in the classroom. One-sided teenage angst abounds, but it’s cool to see another girl recognize how awesome Takeo is. When the truth does come out, however, it pushes Takeo to a revelation that has a surprisingly positive impact on his relationship with Yamato.

Then it’s the end of the year, and as they say in anime, Christmas is for lovers. However, Yamato turns their first Christmas into a group event. They’ve organized a few of these mixers with their friends now so the time is right for a pairing to come out of it. The result is that Yamato and Takeo get to play Cupid together, which is fun to watch.

The Christmas chapter gets followed by New Year’s, which is also Takeo’s birthday. Yamato wants to make it special, and it’s hilarious when she asks Suna and Ai for advice about kissing Takeo and inadvertently causes Suna to have a horrific flashback. At any rate, Yamato and Takeo’s first kiss starts off like a stereotypical scene, but then things don’t go as intended. In fact, I can’t think of another first kiss moment that gets derailed in such a fashion. However, it only works because Takeo is the type of character he is, and he does manage to work things out a warm and fuzzy end.

Extras include story thus far, notes from the creators, and a four-page bonus manga.

In Summary

Lots of heartache and laughter in this volume. The heartache, however, comes not from our main couple but Takeo’s classmate Saijo, who has zero chance of separating the two. Then the laughter comes when Yamato and Takeo play Cupid on Christmas Eve and again when Yamato takes the initiative to kiss Takeo on his birthday. All in all, another entertaining chapter from Kawahara-sensei and Aruko-sensei.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Souvenirs from Asia: Haikyu!! Akihabara Bonanza Part 3

During my husband’s latest business trip to Japan, he managed to spend some free time at that mecca of anime known as Akihabara. And because Haikyu!! is our favorite ongoing series, he returned with a bunch of Haikyu!! souvenirs that ranged from cute to odd. He also went a bit overboard with his purchases so I’m splitting this installment into five parts.

Tanaka with chocobanana and Noya with a candied apple

Daichi with squid on a stick and Asahi with something in a box. Yakisoba maybe?

This was my husband’s Akihabara bargain find. It is a drinking glass he found at a character goods store for 200 yen. That’s less than two US dollars at the current exchange rate!

Haikyu!! will recognize the crow versions of our volleyball players, which kind of look like Angry Birds caricatures. Unlike the Haikyu!! items I’ve shown thus far, this glass doesn’t feature Hinata or Kageyama. Instead, it only shows their senpai: Daichi, Asahi, Suga, Noya, and Tanaka.

The overall theme is summer festival, and each bird character holds a different festival snack against a background of clouds and fireworks.

Suga with cotton candy

Not bad for 200 yen.

Just Published: Shifting Fortunes!

Now some exciting news on the writing front: my fifth short story Shifting Fortunes was published in Issues in Earth Science (IES)! For those unfamiliar with IES, it’s a website that provides resources pertaining to Earth and Space Sciences for writers and teachers.

IES has a feature called “Eww, There’s some Geology in my Fiction!” It consists of short stories for middle and high school students that illustrate  Earth Science concepts, and Shifting Fortunes was chosen for their fifth issue. Like all the stories in that series, Shifting Fortunes has an illustration and a science lesson to go with it, and it’s all free!

Aki and Kageyama Inn from Shifting Fortunes. Illustration by Erin Colson

Shifting Fortunes differed from my previous projects in many respects. For one, this was my first time writing fiction specifically intended to educate. For another, it was my first middle grade work. I don’t usually write for that audience, but the concepts of Shifting Fortunes most naturally fell into that age group. This was also the first story where my engineering background came in handy. An added bonus was that a writer in my current critique group is a hydrogeologist at the sister agency of the place I once worked at. So in addition to the group’s feedback on plot and language, I had Yemia to vet out the technical aspects of the story.

Shifting Fortunes wound up taking more time and effort than I anticipated to get just right, but I am quite satisfied with the results. I hope you will be also!

Manga Review: Yukarism Vol. 3

Geishas are an icon of Japanese culture that, although their heyday is long post, continues to fascinate Westerners to this day. If you’ve wondered about the lives of these flowers of Japan’s bygone pleasure districts, you may want to consider Chika Shiomi’s historical/time slip manga, Yukarism. Read on for my review of Volume 3. (For my review of previous volumes, click here.)

Back cover Blurb

Yukari, Satomi and Mahoro are all influenced by their past life personalities and begin to lose control over their present-day behavior. While Mahoro wonders about Yukari’s true feelings for her, Yukari realizes exactly who Mahoro and Satomi were in the past! Meanwhile, Yukari’s journeys to the old days are becoming more and more dangerous…

The Review

Yukari’s a pretty self-absorbed character. It wasn’t for his writing skills, he’d probably be dismissed as a narcissistic jerk. However, in Volume 3, that aspect of him gradually changes. Much the way Mahoro and Satomi get “possessed” by their previous incarnations, Yumurasaki’s mannerisms and skills manifest in Yukari. Shiomi-sensei get some laughs out of it with Yukari’s male schoolmates suddenly falling for him the way Yumurasaki’s Edo era clientele did (though oddly, none of the boys question their attraction the way Satomi does). More importantly, Yukari finds himself wanting to know Satomi and Mahoro better, beyond the novelty of seeing their past and present lives overlap.

As such, we get more back story on Takamura and Kazuma. Although the reasons behind their devotion to Yumurasaki are very different, the intensity of their feelings are similar, and it becomes clear why their jealousy has endured to the present, even if Mahoro and Satomi don’t understand it. As in Volume 2, the two continue lapsing back to their previous selves with the effect alternating between comic and disturbing.

Then the situation gets completely chaotic when the past overlaps with the present. Yukari can’t be the aloof observer anymore, not when he’s actually experiencing Yukari’s sickness in his own body. With his own well-being threatened, his need to know what happened in the past becomes that much more critical, and the story becomes that much more exciting.

Extras include a bonus one-page manga, translation notes, and author bio.

In Summary

Up till now, Yukari has been observing people and the bizarre string of events with a kind of detached amusement. Now he gets dragged out of his ivory tower and into the chaos that is increasingly affecting Mahoro and Satomi. With Yukari getting swept into his past self’s emotions, the story is becoming a much more compelling read.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Souvenirs from Asia: Haikyu!! Akihabara Bonanza Part 2

During my husband’s latest business trip to Japan, he managed to spend some free time at that mecca of anime known as Akihabara. And because Haikyu!! is our favorite ongoing series, he returned with a bunch of Haikyu!! souvenirs that ranged from cute to odd. He also went a bit overboard with his purchases so I’m splitting this installment into five parts.

As if one Haikyu!! noren wasn’t enough, I also got these. I love chibi characters, and these curtains show the main Karasuno lineup in super cute style. While the volleyball players are the design’s most eye-catching feature, it, like the noren and charms in my previous post, also incorporates Miyagi symbols. Amid the volleyballs are silhouettes of Date Masamune, and crescent moons are all over the pattern. Plus, towards the bottom is the kanji for Miyagi.

Now the question is, what am I going to do with all these noren…

Manga Review: Your Lie In April Vol. 2

Despite being a soundless medium, music-centric stories are not uncommon in manga. Now joining the ranks of Nodame Cantible and La Corda d’Oro is Kodansha’s Your Lie in April, and you can read on for my review of Volume 2. (For my review of Volume 1, click here.)

Back cover blurb

After the death of his mother, child prodigy Arima Kosei gave up the piano forever — or so he thought. That vow turned out to be no match for the persistence of sprightly violinist Kaori Miyazono, who’s roped Arima back into the world of competitive classical music. But after so many years, will Arima be able to sit down at the ivories again like nothing happened? Or will history repeat itself, with Arima crumbling under the pressure?

The Review

Volume 1 ended with Kosei’s friends rushing him and Kaori to the competition hall. Soloist and accompanist have never practiced together, and Kosei’s anxiety comes through loud and clear. What is also clear is that Kaori’s personal agenda has nothing to do with winning awards. Usually, the soloist is the one fighting nerves before a competition, but Kaori is the one forcibly keeping Kosei together as she drags him on stage.

It’s pretty much a recipe for disaster. Amazingly, Kosei holds his own against the unfamiliar score for a while but eventually crashes and burns. As mentioned in my review of Volume 1, the anime version of Your Lie has a distinct advantage over the manga because the soundtrack allows you to actually hear the interaction between piano and violin. Even so, the escaping notes that represent Kosei’s disappearing ability to hear and the creepy images of his mother are quite effective at conveying his turmoil. Between those illustrations, Kosei’s internal monologue, and the judges’ and mob comments,  the manga delivers a much better depiction of the music in this performance than for Kaori’s preliminary round. However, toward the end of the scene, it’s not exactly clear how Kosei’s “imagining” the sound turns into a “fight” with Kaori’s violin.

Then the next scene opens with Kaori in the hospital, and it becomes pretty clear what direction the story’s headed. So on top of Kosei’s emotional scars from the past, we have a shadow looming over Kaori’s future. Those two elements create plenty of drama by themselves, but then the manga has to go way off the deep end and make Tsubaki suddenly angsty as well. There’s really no good reason for it, especially since her life is actually pretty good. She even has the coolest guy on the baseball team asking her to be his girlfriend! So when she gets all gloomy, it makes me want to throw the book across the room.

Extras include translation notes and a blurb by violinist Rieko Ikeda about the featured music.

In Summary

It’s not your typical competition scene with Kaori and Kosei delivering a performance that has zero chance of winning. Still, a miracle of sorts takes place on stage though it’s not exactly clear whether Kosei shakes off his handicap or manages to work around it. However, once the applause fades, the story takes a turn toward extreme emo. I don’t mind adolescent angst, but the last half of the volume lays it on so thick, it gets a bit suffocating.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Souvenirs from Asia: Haikyu!! Akihabara Bonanza Part 1

During my husband’s latest business trip to Japan, he managed to spend some free time at that mecca of anime known as Akihabara. And because Haikyu!! is our favorite ongoing series, he returned with a bunch of Haikyu!! souvenirs that ranged from cute to odd. He also went a bit overboard with his purchases so I’m splitting this installment into five parts.

To start, we have a piece of print fabric and two phone charms. Since I can’t read Japanese, I’m not positive as to the purpose of the fabric, but I’m pretty sure it’s a noren, the Japanese cloth divider hung in doorways and windows. In addition to featuring the show’s main characters, these three items have something else in common: they all promote Miyagi, the prefecture in which Karasuno High School is located.

The Kageyama charm features him with a samurai helmet and eyepatch. It looks really random unless you realize the crescent moon symbol and eyepatch are the trademarks of Date Masamune, a legendary warrior from Miyagi. In other words, he is the prefecture’s regional hero. (By the way, the only reason I recognized him was because I’d watched the historical anime Tono to Issho.) That is also why Hinata has the same crescent moon helmet on his lap in the noren.

No, Kageyama isn’t going pirate on us. The eyepatch is a Date Masamune reference.

The Hinata charm’s Miyagi reference was a little more difficult to figure out. However, I managed to get the kanji on the charm into my Google search bar and learned from the Internet that he’s holding a kamaboko, a Miyagi food specialty made from fish paste.

Hinata and a giant piece of fish paste….

It’s a little strange to see anime characters on what amounts to regional souvenirs – kind of the equivalent of Spiderman on an “I heart New York City” bumper sticker. However, I can see why they did it. Tons of anime and J-drama are set in Tokyo. But Miyagi Prefecture? When Miyagi saw how popular Haikyu!! was, it probably figured that associating with their fictional local boys would be a great way to promote the area.

And that’s why I have a cell phone charm of Hinata with a giant fish cake. But that’s okay. It’s still way cool.

Manga Review: Master Keaton Vol. 3

I became an instant fan of Naoki Urasawa in 2004 when I saw the Monster anime. Psychological thrillers are definitely NOT my cup of tea, but he had me hooked with his combination of realistic artwork and gripping plot. As such, I was thrilled when Viz Media decided to release a translation of an earlier Urasawa action/adventure: Master Keaton. Read on for the review of Volume 3! (For my review of previous volumes, click here.)

Back Cover Blurb

Taichi Hiraga-Keaton, the son of a Japanese zoologist and an English noblewoman, is an insurance investigator known for his successful and unorthodox methods of investigation. Educated in archaeology and a former member of the SAS, Master Keaton uses his knowledge and combat training to uncover buried secrets, thwart would-be villains, and pursue the truth…

The Review

Although Keaton wishes to devote himself to academia, he remains unable to find a university position. As such, the content of Volume 3 is for the most part related to his insurance investigative work. Except for Chapter 8, all the stories take place in Europe, but he still manages to run into a number of Japanese citizens during his adventures.

Of this installment, “Wall of Joy” and “A Family Moment” are the weakest. The narrative offers no explanation of what happens at the end of “Wall of Joy,” and it’s difficult to guess from the black-and-white illustrations what is going on. As for “A Family Moment,” the story seems a mishmash of unrelated events that just provide an excuse for daughter Yuriko and dad Taihei to make an appearance.

However, the rest of the 12-chapter volume makes up for these weaknesses. Lloyd’s apparently deals with kidnapping insurance, and “Rules of Negotiation” and “Rules of Ransom” (the volume’s only two-part story) maintain a high level of tension and intrigue throughout. In other chapters, Keaton’s SAS background takes prominence with him disarming a bomb, turning the tables on a military trained dog, and investigating a former Pinochet officer, which should please those who enjoy the series’ thriller aspect. Archaeology only really factors in Keaton’s insurance work in “White Goddess,” and “Wall of Joy,” but an encounter with one of Keaton’s military acquaintances provides the basis for a chapter about science history.

Extras include the first pages of Chapter 1, Chapter 9, and Chapter 10 in color and a sound effects glossary.

In Summary

Master Keaton provides another set of episodic adventures. The stories cover everything from Latin American military culture to animal behavior to chemistry, which definitely keeps the content fresh and varied. In contrast, Keaton’s personal life remains stagnant, and I’m thinking his ex-wife will never actually step into the story. However, if you’re mostly interested in watching Keaton’s eclectic set of skills at work, you won’t be disappointed.

First published at the Fandom Post.