Count_Zero

This volume adapts what I'd describe as the “First Asuka Arc”, with Asuka's arrival at Tokyo 3, and the “dance fight”.

Asuka's characterization is slightly different from the anime, as she acts like much more like a bully problem child, putting on a goody-two-shoes air in front of the adults, but a much more abusive face when they're not looking. It makes for a different take on the character. Whether it's one for the better I'll have to see.

Also, all the problems with how Sadamoto draws the fights are completely gone in this volume. The dance fight is one that, in the wrong hands, could have failed horribly, but here it just works. That said, it also is lessened a little bit by the fact that we don't have the music, which would really help. That said, I mentally went with “Dance of the Hours” by Amilcare Ponchielli.

If you're coming into this book looking for an in-depth explanation of the artistic decisions in GAINAX's work, you'll be disappointed. This book isn't about that. What it is about is what inspired the company's formation, and basically an “inside baseball” look at how an anime studio and a science-fiction convention works, or doesn't, as the case may be. If that catches your interest, and you can find a copy, I recommend giving this book a read.

This was a decent read, but I'm really not sure who it's meant for. Most of the material in this book is material that is compiled from the manga, which means that if you're a fan of the manga and you've already read it (and own the volumes), then you've already read everything in here. If you're not a fan of the manga or haven't read the manga yet, you'll either be lost, or have the manga spoiled for you. Honestly, I really don't see much of a reason to check this out.

That said, I did enjoy the book, and little bits of new material we get (including interviews with Kio Shimoku and Ken Akamatsu about anime fandom) are really enjoyable. However, I can't really recommend buying this unless you're a Genshiken completionist.

This was a textbook I read for class, and I'm only really including it on my Goodreads, because I don't want the readings I've been doing for class to throw off my book count for the year.

Also, I find it somewhat hilarious that while I'm not supposed to cite or reference Wikipedia articles in my writing for class, but this textbook is able to get away with it.

Very well done book, covering how historical China's border-wall building was fueled by (and recursively lead to), their imperialist ambitions and isolationist attitudes, and how that would effect the country in the future. That said, some of the other elements that effect these attitudes (the unpredictability of the Yangtze river requiring any centralized government to focus it's attention inward on that in order to make sure everyone gets fed, is only given brief mention, which is kind of unfortunate.

Still, it's a good book, and you should check it out.

I haven't read OEL manga in a while, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Amazing Agent Luna. I enjoyed the work a lot, though I thought the high school drama elements were a bit much. The cast is almost too tight to quite work. We don't particularly see any faculty outside of the science and PE teachers and the principal. Similarly, the school seems to consist of only two cliques - the outsiders, which Luna latches on to, and the bunch of “Mean Girls” which make up the popular clique. There's no social groups around athletics or drama (or any other extra-curricular activities) to speak of.

Now, I understand that most works set in high school keep the cast tight for an economy of characters. Still, even shows like Daria and series like the Harry Potter books (and movies) have a variety of classes that we see, so we get an idea of what school and the instructors are like, before expanding on these characters and their traits as the work goes on.

SpoilerConsequently, when the science teacher position basically turns into this series “Defense Against The Dark Arts” position, the high turnover becomes even more glaring when there are only so many instructors that we know.

I'm going to admit that I'm kind of oddly disappointed by the fact that Kenjiro Hato isn't transgender, though as the series stands thus far, it's entirely possible that the character could be revealed down the road as being TG after all, but in denial.

Still, it's a good continuation of Genshiken, and it's a nice new start. It's also nice to be a series focused on otaku that isn't focused entirely on material for male audiences, though we'll probably have some stuff along those lines in later volumes.

I look forward to reading the next few volumes.

So, I decided to pick Uzumaki (all 3 volumes) to wrap up my October Horror Manga reviews for Bureau42, and I'm glad I did. This is freaky, disturbing, and tense. Definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of horror.

And I'm probably going to need a palate cleanser of something more cheerful after each volume of this.

So, first, I need to say that Roxy, the JSA's AI, is an absolutely awesome character and if someone doesn't find a way to work her into the New DCU, I'll be bummed. Also, this is absolutely a fantastic superhero team book, with interesting and enjoyable characters, and one of the things about the New DCU that bums me out is the fact that this team doesn't exist anymore.

I'm a bibliophile - something that should be obvious to anyone who is using this site. Also, considering that you, too, use Goodreads, then the odds are high that you are also a bibliophile. Well, this series is basically a fan-service series for bibliophiles. Yes, they're talking about manga instead of more conventional books, but the points still stand - this is a manga about books and the people who love them, for people who love books, by someone who loves books.

The writer, Seimu Yoshizaki, understands books, and wants to share his love of books with the reader - and does a fantastic job of doing it over the course of the manga, through good art and great writing. I simply cannot recommend this manga enough.