Count_Zero

Unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion that Asian horror - at least the kind Patrick Galloway likes to recommend, is not my cup of tea. The majority of the stuff he's recommending in this book focuses less on the atmospheric and terrifying, and more on the gross-out and disgusting - basically stuff that's closer to saw then The Ring, and with more rape. This was somewhat disappointing, as his book about Samurai films was pretty darn good.

Decent volume, and I like some of the new characters they introduced. However, I really feel like CLAMP rushed the Fuma & Kotari part of Kamui's plot here. It feels like the film handled Fuma and Kotari after Kamui's decision much more gradually then the manga is, which is saying something considering how rushed the movie was.

Having the members of the Mugai-Ryu be just as bad, if not worse, than some of the members of the Ittou-ryuu does make for an interesting way of setting up shades of grey in the story, particularly due to how utterly reprehensible some of the members if the Ittou-Ryuu have been in previous volumes in the series.

This is worth reading for the novelty value, but nothing further. This series and Ennis' Marvel Knights Punisher run made it clear to me - Garth Ennis doesn't like superheroes, thinks they're all stupid, and presumably keeps taking jobs writing superhero books because he finds the lols of trolling not only superhero fans, but also his employers, to be more enjoyable then having to write superheroes.

This book, and the Marvel Knights Punisher Run, have made it clear to me that if I see Ennis' name on a book, I just just put it down, and walk away.

There are some recipes in this cookbook that fit the criteria of Simple, Delicious, and Affordable.

Almost every chapter features multiple dishes that involve expensive cuts of meat like filet mignon, or expensive fish like salmon. Also, while the book is generally good about giving pictures of how to perform some of the more uncommon culinary techniques (like butterflying), the fact of the matter is that I wouldn't have someone try a recipe (or even look at a recipe) that involves butterflying until they'd figured out cutting, chopping, dicing and mincing. Butterflying requires dexterity and a really sharp knife, and if you don't have those (and I'd frankly expect most people to not have those), then it's not something your average reader (who Jamie claims he's shooting for) should be trying to do.

That said, the very first chapter of the book, where Jamie gives a list of (to use Alton Brown's terminology) useful and necessary hardware for your kitchen is incredibly useful and valuable. With the exception of the mortar and pestle, with this assortment of equipment, you have absolutely everything you need to learn to cook. The cupboard list is okay too, though I'd probably recommend dropping the Marmite or Vegemite for peanut butter.

I think Fujishima's art is at his absolute strongest this volume, with some interesting designs for some existing (and new) characters, as well as some interesting mechanical designs (and imagined - and actual - destruction)

I do like the conclusion to this story - with Bell and Keiichi telling each other reaffirming their feelings for each other - [spoiler]and the Ultimate Destruction Program fleeing into a floppy disk, and getting erased by Skuld.[/spoiler]

This was another very good comic - but not without its issues. In particular, there was some odd plagiarism in Silver Surfer #2 which somehow slipped past Marvel Editorial. In particular, several backgrounds from Annihilius' throne room were lifted directly from Emperor Palpatine's Observation Room on the Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. I don't know how that got by, but it did, and I can't not see it.

Otherwise, this is some great writing, and a great cosmic superhero comic. I'm in for Book Three.

Very well written and entertaining book, though there is one thing about the McGuffin that caught my attention, but which nobody brought up.

[spoiler]So, the McGuffin is a Get-out-of-Hell Free Card. Literally. So, you've gotten out of Hell. That doesn't mean they'll let you into Heaven. If you have a Catholic view of the afterlife, then you may still be okay, as you get to do time in Purgatory until you have balanced the proverbial scales. However, if you're taking a Protestant, Purgatory-free view of the afterlife, then you're boned, because that means if you're lucky your soul will be forced to wander the earth for all eternity until something disperses it. If you're unlucky, your soul will be dispersed into the void.

Worse, if any of the villains going after this card have loved ones, if their loved ones are also in The Business, there's a distinct chance that their loved one is going to Hell too. This means that they will also be separated for all eternity. Even if one goes to Heaven and the other goes to Hell, I'd say it's a safe bet that Heaven wouldn't be that fun if you don't have your main squeeze murderous thug to share it with. And that doesn't even get into kids.

Honestly, the only two DC Villains who I could say would really benefit from this card, off the top of my head, would be Cheshire (because of Arsenal and Lian) or Cluemaster (because of Stephanie Brown).[/spoiler]

Rin and Kagehisa finally meet face to face for the first time in this volume, and it makes for one hell of an encounter. I'd kind of compare it to the diner scene between De Niro and Pacino in Heat, to a certain degree - in terms of tension, and in terms of how the two characters really end up talking about why they do what they do, and how that makes them similar and different.

Golgo 13 is entertaining in spite of it's main character. The art is very well done, and the characters are interesting... except for Duke Togo. Golgo 13 is generally a dull Gary Stu. The way that characters repond and react to his presence is more interesting then the character himself, to the point that of the two stories in this volume, the most interesting one is the one that Golgo doesn't appear in at all.

I'd certainly recommend reading the manga. However, after reading it, at the suggestion of Helen McCarthy, I cannot, for the life of me, see the appeal of Duke Togo outside of being a wish fulfillment character for people with limited imagination.

I haven't read any of Attack on Titan yet. Nor have I seen any of the show. However, I have a really good understanding of the work's tone, and I think Knights of Sidonia pulls off that kind of tone better than I've heard Attack on Titan does. The action is gruesome, but it manages to do so without falling back on the same kind of beat over and over, which by accounts Titan does.

The monsters are visually unnerving, without the potential for the designs to become quite as unintentionally comic, as some of the Titan designs can be, due to the monsters being totally inhuman - Spoileruntil they kill a human and transform their appearance into a 30' form of that human..

Also, in this volume, while the body count is lower than the body count from the start of Attack on Titan, the stake's feel just as high, and the writers don't have to casually massacre hundreds of civilians to get the stakes across. Only one character dies in this volume, and it's enough to sell the threat.

This volume is causing the series to risk becoming cluttered, from a plot standpoint. Coming into this volume, the plot had the main driving conflict of “How do these characters, which are almost all infected with a disease that could kill them, survive in this post-apocalyptic world with massive thorny plants that have consumed everything, and also freaking dinosaurs?”

There was also the question of “How did we go from the world that these characters were in when they went into cryo, into the world with the aforementioned plants and dinosaurs?”

This volume, unfortunately, does nothing to answer these questions, and instead Iwahara decides to add a third plot thread to the mix, related to some sort of conspiracy theory about the virus - which at present does nothing to explain any of the earlier questions.

I'm going to keep reading this series, but I do hope that Iwahara learned something from the X-Files and Lost, that too many questions without a hint that there are answers coming doesn't keep your audience hooked - it burns them out.

If I had two complaints about the IDW D&D comic that John Rogers wrote, they are that Tisha Swornheart's outfit is a little too cheese-cakey (primarily with the top - I can cut the dress a little slack because it has to accommodate the tail), and that there isn't more of it. The dynamic between the characters in the book is great, and Rogers makes the whole Points of Light idea that 4th edition was built around work incredibly well in the context of telling a story through a comic book, as opposed to an RPG campaign.

Whenever I've had a rough day, and I feel like I can't remember the last time I laughed, one of the manga or anime I turn to, in order to lighten my spirits is Hayate the Combat Butler. The blend of oddball comedy and reverentially referential humor, along with a willingness to just chip away at that fourth wall blends together well to make an enjoyable comic, and the fact that the characters are incredibly likable really helps to keep me coming back in a way that TV shows like Family Guy, which also relies on referential humor, fails to do.

This volume in particular, with Nagi's attempts to help around the house, and your annual Valentine's Day hijinks are particularly enjoyable. The fact that this volume not only features stories with Isumi, as well as Nagi's cousin Sakuya, and Wataru also helps. The only real point against it is a small sub-plot featuring the ghost of the “priest” from the “Butler's Tiger Pit” storyline, with the premise that the ghost is haunting Hayate and only he can hear and see him, which picks up at the start of the volume and is dropped with very little fanfare partway through.

On the one hand, the end of the plot is somewhat abrupt, and I'm kind of confused over why it was included in the first place. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the character, and he doesn't particularly work well in the context of his main story, so I'm not particularly upset that he's gone. I just wish his departure had been handled better (like with an exorcism by Isumi or something).

Other than that, this is a great volume, and a good continuation of the series. I look forward to reading volume 8.

Interesting fantasy manga from the creator of Fairy Tail. The characters are interesting and the action is really dynamic, which are points in its favor. Additionally, unlike Fairy Tail, Rave Master, at least in this volume, doesn't have Fairy Tail's problem with, well, the bust size of the female characters being rather absurdly large.

There's a lot of overlap here with the other America's Test Kitchen cookbook I've read. Hopefully when the Cook's illustrated cookbook comes out, it'll have a bigger selection of new recipes. Still, the recipes that are here are certainly quality recipes, and I'd definitely consider the book to be a worthwhile purchase.