Pupa: A Monster Frustration

Poopa.

If I ended the review right now, it would be comparable to the length of this show.

Each episode of Pupa is about four minutes long, if you include the title sequence, which is a solid minute. A whole QUARTER of every episode is the freaking title sequence. I've watched the first five episodes, which took up less than half an hour of my life, but it was a hell of a frustrating hour.

The show actually has excellent artwork, and it probably has an interesting story. (It's about monsters and it has some implied gore) However, three minutes doesn't do shit to tell you about that story, and it makes insanely huge jumps between episodes. Sometimes there are flashbacks, or something? It's just really really difficult to follow, even if you watch it in sequential order, it has the most disjointed feeling.

Until it gets about thirty episodes and some intrepid Internetite takes it upon themselves to cut out the title sequences and throw it into a single comprehensive piece, Pupa is probably not worth the effort required to try and follow the story. Just rewatch Neon Genesis for the hundredth time instead.

Pupa and neglect made him cry.

Now and Then, Here and There (anime): First Impressions

This encompasses up to episode three or four of this series.

Let me just go ahead and give you an idea of where I'm coming from in this review. I picked up the boxset from a used bookstore, and this is the cover:

You get the idea, it's a cool, gritty, apocalyptic-y cover. Cool art style. Weird, overly wordy title. Everything points to an intriguing series! But then you put in the disc, and the art style looks like this:

Wha-huh? Weird. Weird weird weird.

However, I try not to be a style snob. (I'm totally a style snob though) I decided to give this series a chance. Based on the style, I was expecting a light, somewhat childish series. Little did I know what was in store for me.

This series is BRUTAL. The whole of episode of 3 is the main character being tortured, beaten, strung up to die, and picked at by a crow. It's got child soldiers and moral quandaries. This is not kid's stuff. I'm not sure who this is for, actually. It's actually a little on the brutal side even for me...I don't like seeing girls get beat up (happens a lot).

Alongside some confusing political intrigue, with the MOST ABHORRENT CHARACTER EVER CREATED, King Hamdo, there's also a full scale war going on.

I actually don't have too much to say on the story, because it's kind of confusing up to this point. They're actually on some sort of other planet/dystopia/other dimension/future earth. It's one of those, I think the translation was not particularly good and a bit of lingual finesse was lost. There's also the factor of the English voice actors being a little annoying. Not real real bad but annoying enough to take away from it a little bit. There's a lot wrong with the series, but in general it is pretty well done for a slightly aged series.


I mean, I haven't turned it off yet. ;)

Spice and Wolf (anime)

Imigin/Funimation 2008

Based on the light novel series (11 volumes) by Isuna Hasekura (writer) and Ju Ayakura (ill.)

Rating: PG-13 (A little bit of wolf-girl nudity, and a little bit of violence)

It's the MOOOOOOOOOON!

There are two kinds of werewolves in the world. The ones we are most familiar with are the kinds that are people first, cursed by fate or a bite or any number of "causes" these people transform from human into animal and wreak havoc on others. The second kind of werewolf is a different thing altogether a wolf who, through magic or kindness or age or wisdom or courage (there are a lot of stories), becomes a human in order to assist humanity in some way. Sadly, we don't see very many depictions of these kinds of werewolves, but there are cultures (surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, because of isolation and turmoil, my Appalachian culture is one of them) who look to these werewolves as kindred spirits and protectors. I love stories about these kinds of werewolves, so I actually write about them a lot.

The wolf in Spice and Wolf is a god. Holo, the wise wolf, has been blessing the town of Pasloe with abundant harvests of wheat for over 600 years, but times change. Old gods fall, and new religions arise, and new technologies come into play. When the story begins it seems that the need for Holo's blessings have fallen to the wayside and the town of Pasloe is held in suspicion by the new Christian Church for it's pagan ways. Holo knows it is time to go. She sheds her wolf-skin and sneaks her way into the back of a travelling merchant's cart where Kraft Lawrence discovers her, looking all of 16 and naked but for her tail and ears. 

Overall, I'm going to say the story is good, but Holo is weird. And bossy, and drunk, and naked, and kind of all...naughty for apples.

Holo has a thing for apples. 

And Kraft Lawrence is a little strange too. He's a shifty merchant with a heart of gold who I am supposed to feel sympathetic towards. He does seem like a gentle guy, but he's also a bit of a con-man who takes advantage of his customers and his fellow merchants.

Don't you try that innocent look with me. 

Around the middle of the first season I got excited by some brief discussions of Church dogma and pagan persecution, but sadly none of that story line really seemed to pan out at all. That disappointment combined with some rather "odd" discussions about trades, tariffs and monetary exchange rates that were either generally confusing, or way over my head, to create my wishy-washy reaction to the series as a whole. It needed something...more oompf, more direction, less discussion of medieval guild practices, more burning pagans at the stake...something, anything. It was, sadly, kind of a let-down.

But, the animation is pretty, and the series wasn't a total bore. Plus there's the fact that the closing credit song is perhaps one of the cutest I've ever heard (and it's a total earworm). It could be vying with _Furubu_ for cutest ending song ever. Just...just, hit play:

Did you hit play? Okay. Now, can we talk about this? OMG, I KNOW, RIGHT? Supercute! Done.

All in all, I don't know that I'm rushing out to watch the second season, named Spice and Wolf II, but I will share the trailer. The second season aired last summer on the Funimation Channel. 

I wish it were meaner werewolves. 

The Deal with Translations: An Emotional Plea by Dr. M

Here's the thing: words are magic. If you don't think so, consider that pretty much everyone in the world  learns how to write by spelling. We make words by learning to spell...get it? Words are  magic. And they mean very particular things. I feel like admitting some things about myself in this post, so bear with me, Dear Readers, as I have a hissy fit make an emotional plea to translators, and  wax all academic up in this mug  discuss the complications of writing and translating in general.

ABRACADABRA! 

Now something magics itself into being right?

Aren't you glad I didn't say Avada Kedavra?

(First Harry Potter reference of the day, y'all!)

First, I am an English Professor (not that you'd know it by my improper comma usage), which means that I deal with language all the time. I teach students how to translate ideas in their heads into writing language on the page which can then be translated by another person back into ideas and understanding...WHEW! This process of communicating (translating concepts, experiences and emotions into squiggles someone else can comprehend) is something that is extremely difficult for even the most talented of writers. When I teach I admit that. I actually do have a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing, and I still get frustrated and overwhelmed when I write. As a writer I am always trying to pin down an elusive thought or feeling into the exact right words, and sometimes failing. The reason for the difficulty is not only the nuances of our personal experiences, but the complexities of language itself. I warn students regularly about misusing the thesaurus, explaining to them that although there are many words for what seem like the same thing, but those words are NOT the same.

Every word is a living, adapting, evolving signifier with at least, if not more than, two "definitions." The first is a bare-bones basic definition, the denotation of the word. We can look this up in the dictionary and read about what a word means on its most basic level. But every word also carries within it a secondary connotation, a definition that is not only in flux (adapted, defined and redefined), but which often contains either value, judgement, nuance, emotional connection, or cultural association. What does this mean, well, maybe we should use an example? I'll use something scandalous...I know my audience.

The word Bitch means, quite literally, female dog. That's one of its denotations. The other denotation is that it is a pejorative term for an aggressive or contentious woman. Lots of words can mean two things. Unless you're a dog breeder, you aren't really thinking of the first definition, so let's look at the second one. Bitch can mean a lot of things, and the connotation of the word depends on the situation, speaker, audience and implications. If I am poking fun at my best friend (something I cannot help but do) and she laughs and calls me a bitch, I'm okay with that, because the context of the situation (our relationship, the mood, the tone of voice, and the implications of that word) makes it fine. If my sister puts a sticker on the back of her car that reads "Super Bitch," I might roll my eyes, but I know that a sticker like that is actually doing something very subversive; it is re-appropriating (redefining a word that is hurtful within the dominant culture for positive use within a minority culture) that term in a way that she can identify with, and implying that she is a strong, independent woman.

It might be interesting to discuss,
but I don't want this sticker on my car.
(Image from eshirt.com)

If a waitperson at restaurant calls me a bitch, though, he or she will NOT be getting a tip (and I should probably check my food for spit)...the context of their comment is wholly negative, critical and could even be sexist depending on the gender and intention of the server. If someone at a bar calls me this, I will wind up in a fist-fight (I told you, Dear Readers, I am admitting things today). The word itself does not change, but the meaning does all dependent on the speaker, audience and context. Over time language can morph and move in and out of popular use, it can completely change meanings in remarkable ways because language is alive.

Ichigo is confused by all of this.
Let's just let him go fight bad guys.
He's not really a semiotics/sociolinguistics fan.
(Image from Anime Vice News)

So, if writing is hard even within one's own language, imagine the difficulty translators face when attempting to move not only from artist to audience but between languages which might have very different understandings of what words mean. To be a translator you have to know a culture very well and understand not just what words mean, but how they are used in day to day interactions, between various groups of people (among whom a particular word may mean something different in different contexts). The language of a culture reflects the ideas, values, and texture of a culture. There are words for things in some languages which simply do not exist in another language because there is no cultural equivalent, or because such a language has no use for a particular word (check out this list of 20 Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Jason Wire at Matador Abroad). There are also cultures that are naturally multi-lingual in a sense, adopting words from other languages and absorbing, adapting, redefining them into their own daily use. Both English and Japanese adopt words regularly from other cultures when there is no equivalent in their own language. Although the words adopted are often used in similar ways to the original language's meaning, there are subtle differences in connotation. There are even cultural groups who technically speak the same language, but their use of it is so different that it causes translation issues. English is spoken in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, England and some island nations. And yet even close neighbors like the USA and Canada have language differences significant enough to cause translation and comprehension issues. Even within a single country like the USA, there are regional and cultural differences reflected in language. I live in the rural Southeast of the United States. Shakespeare lives in an urban environment on the West coast. We both lived in the upper Midwest for a while. I am from Appalachia. Each of those places has different speech patterns, dialects, regional speech, and values reflected in word usage, syntax, etc. People in different social, economic, cultural, regional and even social-specific groups can have an impossible time understanding one another, despite speaking the same language.

Shuichi is mad that Dr. M's poor fansubbed
Gravitation didn't do his story justice.
(Image by shubear88)

Translation IS hard. And I admire anyone who attempts it. In order to get my degree one of my requirements was to translate poetry (a slippery genre if there ever was one), and a snippet of critical theory from French into English. I had a hell of a time, despite knowing both languages rather well. I had a decision to make too, would I translate literally (this word is equal to this equivalent word) or would I translate for meaning and nuance (this word implies this meaning with this related word)? The whole thing is baffling and takes a careful, patient willingness to engage with original text, language and audience. I admire and respect translators to the utmost. Especially those translators who started out as unpaid fans of anime or manga, working only for love of the genre and a selfless desire to share the thing they love with their fellow fans. Fansubbers/Fanslators helped build a market for anime and manga. Now, as both traditional and digital publishers scramble to keep up with the demand of hungry fans like me, those amateur translators are starting to receive recognition for their work. They become parts of translation groups, and places like Digital Manga Guild hire them, finally paying them for their talents and dedication. Some groups are phenomenal (our new pals Cynical Pink, for instance) and produce translations that take into account the complexity of language. Some groups, on the other hand, need an editor and proofreader NOW! (Incidentally, I charge around $3.00/page for proofreading and $12/hr for editing, if anyone is interested. I have a lot of experience, and I expect people to pay for it.)

Nausicca approves of decent translations!

So, translations are hard, I understand that! They take time, and there are deadlines and rushed jobs, but regardless of those constraints they need to be thorough. Some publishers are very good at providing final edits and proofreads for their translators, and some are, well, some are...um...what's up with the bad translations lately? I find the whole thing rather dismal, and I hope that it isn't the trend of things to come. Rushed translation jobs with multiple errors in usage, syntax, and grammar (not to mention the questionable stylistic choices) are not the answer to a growing interest in the genres. I would rather have no manga and anime, than poorly translated, formatted or (for whomever's sake!) edited works. I hate slop. Slop is hard to read. Slop does not do credit to the original work, and it does not successfully convey the complexities and nuances of a story. A consideration of language, the medium by which a story is told, is CRUCIAL! For this reason, I'm glad that Shakespeare has chosen to highlight the translator, or translation teams, working to bring us manga and anime when possible. I plan on following suit, and giving credit where credit is due. Kudos to those translators who love the genre enough to pour their time and effort into the difficult process of moving between languages. And shame on those who don't take it seriously. Poor writing is sometimes the fault of the original author, but more often than not, it is sloppy, unconsidered language that can make the difference between a good story (with bad writing) and a great story. I want great stories. I think we all do, so I'll end with that plea I promised.

Dear translators,

Thank you for your efforts to bring us stories we might never have access to, but please do remember to take your time.

Love,
Dr. M

Why I Read Yaoi

Oh, Erioca With Love, I love you for your Bowie-esque-ed-ness

Yaoi, also known as boys love, shonen-ai, BL or whatever, here in the States, is a genre of story telling, specifically manga and anime, that focuses on male to male pairings involved in romantic and sexual relationships (though those two need not be mutually exclusive). Stories sometime only nod to romantic possibility and some get down right and dirty.

Yoai is written primarily for women by women. I've tried to share yaoi with gay men friends of mine, and they were just not interested. That's not to say there aren't men out there who love this stuff.

I'm just generalizing here.

Jazz's Doc and Naoki are desperately in love, but it takes them a long time to figure that out.

Why would a woman make a comic about two men getting it on for other women to read? Why would a fangirl get all squee seeing two boys kissing? I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm all that hetronormative, but I would like to, one day, marry a man and hold hands and have a stork bring us a baby. Reading stories about sloppy sex between two guys is not scoring me many points in that department, but I'm not about to put the manga down, at least not until I finish this next scene:

Fake's Dee and Ryo share a private kiss in their patrol car.

There's some speculation and research into why yaoi has become so popular. Some folks think it has to do with women gaining more power in society. Others think it has to do with sexuality. Some apply feminist or other theories to the phenomenon. It's all really interesting.

Because I'm always thinking about stories and how they're told, I think the reason I like yaoi is because if feel like it essentially sucks gender politics right out of the narrative and the characters' relationship with the reader.

What the heck does that mean? I'll tell you! To me, it means all of the characters in a story are on equal footing. The story may be full of sex, but free of sexual politics. There's no, this is how a woman should be in relationship to a man and this is how a man should be in relationship to a woman.

The reader isn't obligated to identify with the character of her sex/gender just because that's who it's natural to identify with. She can identify with any number of characters, and in the context of stories about sex and relationships, it becomes a safe space for her (the lady reader) to explore different roles and dynamics. The reader doesn't have to ally herself with female characters who might be weak or coy or strong even, or who fall into acceptable societal roles and have the same parts that she does. Nor does she need to feel uncomfortable in forsaking female characters (and thereby rejecting a part of herself) because she embraces and relates to qualities present in the male characters.

As a younger reader/consumer of media, I often identified more with male characters. Frankly, a lot of them were more active, fun, adventurous and stoic than the female characters I encountered. We don't have to go into the psychology of this right now, but as a little girl, I spent endless hours fantasizing about growing up to be GI Joe's Storm Shadow or Snake Eyes. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were way more capable and engaged than Leia in my mind and Indiana Jones was such a bad ass compared to any of his weaker female companions. Even my real life heroes, Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi (look, I was a weird little kid) were men, and the smart people, too, Einstein, Jung, Freud (Yes, weird, weird little kid.).

What would Storm Shadow vs Snake Eyes slash look like?

That's not to say I didn't encounter strong female characters who I absolutely loved. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Menolly from the Harper Hall stories (Oh yeah, that's one for the deep geeks out there) are a couple. It was their fortitude I admired, less than their "masculine" strength.

I'm in my mid-thirties and I'm sure the young women who were born after me had subtly different experiences. I was raised by a parent who grew up in the fifties and sixties and though she was a wild child, I'm sure she had a lot of values about male/female relationships present in her psyche. I observed that a lot growing up, and felt very resistant to it. I was always uncomfortable with being "a girl" or "girly" because I didn't feel it represented me or who I was inside. I do love being a woman, but sometimes, especially when I was younger, I found society's definition/shaping of that gender identity very chafing.

I found a lot of relief in identifying with the male characters I saw on the big screen and television and read about in my books, but I also felt uncomfortable. I wasn't a man, nor did I ever want to be a man, and I felt a slight self-disgust, like, am I a hater of women? All of these female characters aren't like me. Am I rejecting them because they are women or because I don't identify with them? Do other people ask these questions when they read? I really hope so.

Preach it, Fumi Yoshinaga!

In Yaoi, all of the couples are "male" and in some sense genderless. This gender-less-ness creates a space free of preconceptions about what a man or woman is or should be or what-have-you. There is an equality between the characters not present in a man/woman pairing, where each member of the couple comes already imbued with a preset notion of gender identity.

When she reads yaoi, a skinny teen girl can be the brawny, strong and silent type, the pushy type, the shy, quiet type; she can be any type. She can explore whether and from which side she likes unrequited love or if she believes in love at all. She can be the top or the bottom. She can think about sex outside of a the context of gender politics. She can, and so can any other woman: housewives, day traders, grocery baggers. There's something revolutionary in that, a freedom, albeit a little strange, but healthy and fun.

A sweet, public kiss between the two main characters of "Only the Ring Finger Knows"

For our yaoi readers, I'd be interested to hear about why you like the genre?

For the love of Gravitation!

Dear Readers, I promised some Rock 'n' Roll around here! And, I mean to deliver! I've been thinking for ages about how to talk about Maki Murakami's classic many incarnated animanga-marketing extravaganza: Gravitation.

But, where do I start? Let's see, there's an anime, an OVA, a manga, a "remix" manga, light novels and oh, also dōjinshi, which Maki Murakami authored herself (and it is some really sick stuff, folks, sick.). I mean, who does that? So, meta. Actually, I think it was just so disturbing her publisher wouldn't touch it, but anyway.

At the heart of the blitz of materials that make up the Gravitation-verse, the story of a budding pop / rock star, Shuichi Shindou, and his love for a tortured romance novelist, Eri Yuki (sigh...). Shuichi, the lead singer of Bad Luck, is a little pink haired freak with too much energy, self-doubt, self-belief, passion and OCD. And, hrm, he is completely not like anyone I happen to know...

I've been thinking a lot about Shuichi lately, and why I even like him as a character? Point of truth: he can be a little annoying and abrasive, moving from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows, creatively and emotionally; he goes chibi too often for my tastes, and he is kind of pathetic. His band only has like two songs, and he wears the same outfit at every concert (oh, that's just the anime? Production value? Whatever.)

But, the thing is, I just love this character.

Shuichi is naively open to love. He sees what he wants, and he goes after it. He often agonizes and mopes, but he realizes that he shouldn't deny how he feels even if others don't approve. He's passionate about his creative life, and about the people he loves.

I'm going to go on record as saying: Shuichi Shindou inspires me!

In a forthcoming post, I will actually talk about one of the myriad associated comic type, moving picture what-have-you's that he appears in.

Squeefinity in the Haps!

Dear Readers, quiet though you may be (comment already, you guys...we see you lurking), Squeefinity is trying to make ourselves louder. We had a great 2011, because we began to take our role a little more seriously this year. For 2012, we want to step it up a notch with more reviews, another attempt at a give-a-way (no one wanted a copy of the worst manga Dr. M owns? Bizzare, right?), polls and queries, news and maybe a few guest bloggers.

This past year we began, in earnest, to post a few regularly scheduled theme days, and tried to bring you our unique (read that as: weird-old-academic-literary critic-fangirls) perspective in reviewing anime, manga and even a light novel or two. We write because we love. And we do love, Dear Readers, we love you, we love characters, we love complex plots, we love silliness, we love angst, we love triumph, we love frailty, we love good writing, and we love hot anime boys, because we are, admittedly, kind of pervy at times.

This next year we resolve to bring you more. So follow us on twitter @squeefinity, circle us on Google +, follow us here, put us on your RSS feed, drop us a note, a comment, an email, and in return we promise more good things on our end.

WE JUST WANT YOU TO LOVE US!
WHY WON'T YOU LOVE US?

So-Good Sunday! Cosplay at the New York Comicon

Check out Senen Llanos' fantastic portraiture of cosplayers at this years New York Comicon.

http://www.senencito.com/my-blog/2011/10/15/faces-of-new-york-comic-con-2011-saturday.html

Some impressively made and worn costumes from the worlds of comics, anime, manga, video games, film and pop culture.

One of my favorites:

Ciel Phantomhive...nice!

Ciel wasn't the only Black Butler character in the portraits; scroll through to see a very impressive Sebastian. Also worthy of note: an awesome Alucard from Van Helsing.

These folks may have spent $1000 worth of time (and maybe even a lot of cash) on their cosplay gear, but I still respect their singular efforts to impress. Much more impressive to me than that ready-to-wear Akira  jacket. These are some talented fans!

And Llanos is one talented photographer as well. I love how he isolated the images from the busy backgrounds of the convention floors in order to highlight the characters, and the people who play them.

So-Bad Sunday! Cosplay/FanCollectable Quandry--how much is too much?

Akira is groundbreaking stuff!

Do you love the anime film AKIRA? Lots of people do.  The future-dystopia, sci-fi classic, released in 1988, is pretty groundbreaking stuff. The film is based on a manga series began in 1982 by Katsuhiro Otomo, the manga series is one of the first to ever be translated in its entirety, and is certainly one of the forerunners of cyberpunk as both a term and a genre of post-modern literature. AKIRA  is a big deal. I am a careful fan of the film, and have had the manga series on my "to read" list for a million years. The problem is, it's pretty disturbing stuff. Post-apocolyptic, Neo-Tokyo, is not a pleasant place. It is overrun by gangs, espionage, government corruption, scientific exploitation...just about every negative path the future could take. Amidst it all the Capsule Gang, riding some pretty bad ass bikes, attempts to survive. Main characters Kaneda (leader of the Capsules), Tetsuo (burgeoning psychic heading towards destruction) and Kei (a member of an anti-government terrorist group) become embroiled in government espionage. Meanwhile there are psychic experiements going on, and the group learns about the mysterious Akira (a psychic rumored to be a biological weapon to have the power to stop or change the tides of the conflicts taking place in Neo-Tokyo).

To sum things up...this is a groundbreaking piece of literature that spun a groundbreaking film, it is a fan favorite, and it has a pretty important place in the world. If you haven't read/seen it, go do it.

So why is this on So-Bad Sunday!? Well, it isn't the film, or the manga, it's this:



For only around $1,000 US you can own your very own cosplay jacket
based on the Kaneda's Capsule jacket.
Bike, pants, boots, gloves, not included.

 I don't even necessarily think this is "bad," in fact it is more than half-awesome, but I am still taken aback by it. This has been put out by Bandai as part of a celebration of the manga's 30 year mark. But, $1000 dollars? Seriously? I'm really bothered by this. Maybe it's because I spent two months convincing myself that it was okay to be a $25 dollar (75% off...I was lucky there was still one left) jacket last spring. Maybe I have a skewed sense of the world? Or a skewed sense of priorities?

Am I wrong in thinking this is bizzare? Now if this were a display item, or a piece of art (not to be worn), or hand-made cosplay attire, or even part of the wardrobe of some live action Akira...then I would be all "Holy hell, that's awesome." But, nerd-friends, this is meant to be sold to fans. This crazy piece of decadence has my head in a twist. By all means, if you have the money for such things, Dear Readers, indulge, but if you don't...please don't. I am the voice of reason, "YOU DO NOT NEED SUCH THINGS!"

And by all means PLEASE don't listen to the advice of Comics Alliance  http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/10/akira-jacket-kaneda-red-black/ who said, "We urge you in the strongest possible terms to purchase this jacket at once. There is no downside whatsoever. Just do it. And then send us the photos." Bad, bad, Comics Alliance, don't encourage nerds like me to part with our money for your amusement. I guarantee that the first photo that comes in is quickly met with a "I can't believe someone spent that much money on a jacket like that."

At least that will be my response.

So-Bad Sunday! --Sometimes things are SO bad that they are good.

Today's So-Bad Sunday offering is actually live-action...well, it's half live-action. If you've ever wondered about the overly expressive gestures and gesticulations of anime and manga characters and thought to yourself, "Self, I wonder what that might look like in real life." Well, wonder no more.

A trio of Philippine students in the video below, created by moymoypalaboy, addresses the sometimes disturbing smirks, smiles and grimaces worn by anime characters. And although I find this video highly creative and extremely amusing, I still want to offer it as a So-Bad Sunday! post. The intentionally bad nature of the video, and the oftentimes painful faces made by the trio, draw attention to the fact that most anime would be fairly startling were it translated into live-action in a direct way. Things can be so bad that they're actually good.




I have to admit these guys are great. Fantastic even. Look at the dedication to the (near humiliating) task of syncing their actions pefectly to the trio of anime girls syncing the Backstreet Boys...stunning! And sort of shame-inducing...and creepy, don't forget creepy.

Galaxy Express 999 -- First Impressions

Those space train shows are so popular with the kids these days.

The other day I was at Japan Video, and it seemed like every drama cover had a couple or a couple and some kids and dogs all kinds. It was like someone had an alright idea for a show, but EVERYONE who had anything to do with producing it knew, if they just added a dog or two, that show was going to go from okay to SUPER GREAT!

Well, you get the picture. Dogs! Dogs, everywhere.

Speaking of dogs, do you know what else seems to be as ubiquitous in Japanese anime as dogs in Japanese cinema? I will tell you: Trains!

And, do you know who really likes to write about anime with trains in it? ME! Dear Readers, that's right! I love writing about the "animetrain" genre so very much!

If you remember my previous post on Miracle Train in which a gang of street tuffs, er, I mean Tokyo train stations embodied by androgynous young men help solve girls girly problems, or my even more previouser post on Galaxy Railways in which someone thought it was a great idea to build trains through space and then wondered why people would attack them, then you know, I just LOVE anime about trains. Blurg.

A space train being a train in space.

But, let's talk Galaxy Express 999 of which I have only watched one episode but am not surprised to find that it is a beloved classic of Japanese animation, long running and forever returning like Dr. Who. Though, unlike Dr. Who, Galaxy Express 999 is not so beloved by me.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: BUILDING A TRAIN TRACK THROUGH SPACE IS A VERY BAD IDEA.

Despite that, some of you Dear Readers may find the show enjoyable, so I will relate its premise to you now.

It's the future or some distant planet and a bit dystopian. Rich people have enough money to get their souls implanted in cyborgs so they can live indefinitely, while poor people have to stay human and live in unbelievable slummy poverty. The only hope for these slum dwelling human scums is that one day they might be able to get on the space train, the Galaxy Express 999, which will take them to a planet where they can get their cyborg bodies for free.

In this setting we find our poor hero Tetsuro Hoshino, a twelve year old urchin wandering though a snowy wasteland with his surprisingly pretty mom..

I really hope my cyborg body is more attractive than my human one!

Pretty mother and not-so-pretty son are on their way to the Galaxy Express 999, when a group of cyborgs led by a fellow named Count Mecha decide to go on a human hunt and kill his mom intending to skin her and make a trophy out of her.

The less attractive prey, Tetsuro, escapes and lays down in the snow to die but is saved by the mysterious and also very pretty Maetel:

I'm pretty and mysterious.

She tells Tetsuro she will give him a pass on the train if he takes her with him. Tetsuro agrees, but they aren't going anywhere yet, not before he takes an automatic weapon and goes and blows the sh*tballs out of Count Mecha and his buddies and burns down his manor. Then the cyborg police come after him with their crazy cyborg dogs, but Maetel saves Tetsuro with her cyborg horse and sleigh.

Long story short, they get to the city and rent a hotel. Tetsuro hears Maetel talking to someone in the bathroom, and he walks in on her while she is showering...wouldn't it be great if I stopped right here? Hee, hee!

Oh, but it keeps going. Shower scene over, the two are confronted with more cyborg police, and they escape to catch the Galaxy Express 999, a train that leaves its tracks and makes its way for the stars.

I won't knock this show too much because I know it is really loved, highly acclaimed, and I have not seen the whole thing. I will give it another go despite my train prejudice.

I just wonder if there will be any episodes involving dogs?

Geekend Round-up!

Dear Readers, Hello!

While M is an ant and writes her posts weeks in advance, I am a grasshopper and I fly by the seat of my pants! It is Labor Day Weekend, and thus, this bard has not yet labored in service to anything that might have the word "productivity" attached to it.

No, no work, indeed, for that would be an affront to this special holiday that so many workers of the world toiled to beget, so that I could lay down and do nothing. Still, there is no holiday from being a geek. At least not yet.

I spent most of my weekend in the city (The City being San Francisco, and not The Town, my dear Oakland, where I hang my hat). Scrabble was played, and I was put to shame. Yesterday, my friends and I took a long walk through Pacific Heights and the Presidio, which is so restful and smells so fragrant the experience can only be recreated by putting on a New Age music CD whilst sniffing a satchel of potpourri.

Then it was off to breakfast in J-town. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries to start the day, followed by a very fresh and very tasty red bean taiyaki and a Diet Coke! CRAZY! Someone call the paddy wagon, for I have gone B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

This display of gluttony was followed by a small shopping spree, and I am now the owner of some Relax Bear folders, a kitchen backsplash, some scarves and a darning needle! Luckily, my pockets were empty by the time I got to the manga shop and all the things I was thinking about reading became a little less essential in my mind.

For those high-density urban residents who have not yet gone to Daiso I recommend a trip! There are many cheap items (upon which my eco-centric self usually frowns), which can be very useful in the postage stamp sized apartments of us city dwellers. From Tupperware all kinds, to space savers, compact drying racks to cleaning supplies and candy, this store literally has everything, and it is all about $1.50 a pop.

Additionally, you can find great items like this swan shaped inflatable penis:

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elrio/

Or, your very own set of novelty breasts as described on this blog

I somehow managed to practice restraint with the above items and left only with what I could reasonably carry back home on the bus.

Today, I'm taking a cue from my cat and celebrating the holiday with a nap. I hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend, too!

Tales from Earthsea--Anime (Film)

I hate to say this, because this is a Studio Ghibli film, and therefore something I should adore, but...um...I fell asleep watching Tales from Earthsea. No, literally, I fell asleep. That's not a metaphor. And then, when I woke up the next day I tried to convince myself to watch the end, but it turns out I didn't care. I don't know if this lack of caring is a result of my general tiredness and malaise, a result of the Ursula K. LeGuin novel series this film is loosely (very loosely) based on, or a result of the film itself. Usually I am all gung-ho for Ghibli films. But, to fall asleep? That's not a good sign.

I'm not one to fall asleep at movies. Not at all. Mostly because I'm not one to fall asleep. Period. I have the insomnia and a lot of what I like to call "sleep fetishes," so falling asleep on the couch has only happened a handful of times in my life. Overwhelmingly those times have been when I was ill. So, to fall asleep during a movie when I'm perfectly fine when the film began is more than a bit odd.

It's not that the movie wasn't beautiful, because anime fans know that pretty much everything from Studio Ghibli, if nothing else, is stunningly beautiful.



The music is outstanding, and the panoramic scenes, in true Ghibli fashion, are breathtaking, but it just didn't come together for me. The last thing I can remember thinking about the film before I conked out on the couch and drooled all over my arm was, "How much longer is this film?" It just didn't hold my attention at all. The characters lacked development, the central crisis was poorly explained, and the whole film (at least the parts before I fell asleep) was void of the sort of emotional complexities and appeals (pathos) I come to expect from Studio Ghibli's writers and animators.

I suppose at some point I will have to attempt a re-viewing of this film, if only in hopes that somehow the ending was so magnificent and powerful that the whole film is redeemed. That re-viewing is way on the back burner. I'd much rather watch Howl's Moving Castle for the 26th time.

In a way, as a result of my interrupted viewing, this review isn't much more than a first impression. But, first impressions are important. My first impression of this film is that it is cinematically beautiful, but otherwise mediocre. It is certainly worth a watch, but don't expect a lot from plot or characters, this is not an award winning film like many of Studio Ghibli's films have been in the past. It's an admirable attempt to translate the LeGuin novels onto the screen, but it fell short in a lot of areas. As a result, it was unable to hold my attention until the end, and to be honest, I will watch some fairly boring and horrible things just for the sake of watching them. So, take my review for what it's worth. This film may be fantastic in some way I overlooked--I honestly hope it is! Or, it could be a dud. My first impression didn't leave me with enough interest to want to discover which it might actually be. Keep your expectations low, Dear Readers, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Strait Jacket--Anime (film)

When I grow up I want to be a few things:
1. Dean Winchester! (Or Sam, if I have to. I'd be a little disappointed though...so close to perfect, yet so far away.)
2. Part of an evil travelling circus akin to the one Bradbury writes about in "Something Wicked this Way Comes."
3. A priest who is called upon to advise church leaders in instances of supernatural phenomena as a result of my occult research.
4. One of a small group of intrepid folk who fight for survival during the coming zombie wars.
5. A secret rock star like Hannah Montana (well, maybe not that one).
6. A tactical sorcerer like the characters in Strait Jacket (as long as I don't turn into a gross blobby monster thing).

The film is set in a steampunky alternate future/past (I can't tell which) where scientists from the Potter-esquely named Magic Administration Bureau have successfully brought magic (in the form of a sort of laser alchemy?) "from myth into reality." After this "scientific" discovery the government and private sectors began utilizing magic in everyday life to aid public welfare, medicine, agriculture and, most inauspiciously, in connection with the military. Surprise--things go wrong!

People using magic are occasionally transformed by something referred to as "The Curse," turning into gross blobular demons who do things like cut people in half with their demonic appendages before eating them. And a terrorist group known as The Ottomans starts using magic to run amok in the city. But I guess it's not like they could, let's say, STOP USING MAGIC IF IT MAKES PEOPLE INTO MONSTERS! Jeesh! It turns out it isn't that easy. People are addicted to magic and the power it brings...it's like crack. There are even children being born with "hereditary magic poisioning" which the MAB calls Child Sorcery Addiction like a sort of otherworldly supernatural Fetal Alcohol Syndrom. These kids are magic crack babies. Something must be done!

The MAB creates Tactical Sorcerers to combat the growing numbers of demons and counter the terrorist magic attacks. Tactical Sorcerers are protected fro their own tranformations by sigil body paint and charmed armor called "The Mold" which keeps them from turning into the demons they battle. It is this "mold" that earned these warriors the nick-name, Strait Jackets.  Unfortunately, "The Mold" isn't infallable the Strait Jackets are always risking their own lives in more than one fashion when the battle these demons.

The film begins as Junior Agent Mary Simmons is called to a hospital under siege from a doctor who transformed mid-surgery into a blood thirsty monster (and a gross blobular one at that). The city itself is in dire straights, so many people are transforming as a result of sabatogued molds (by terrorists) or irresponsible magic use that there aren't quite enough Tactical Soldiers to go around. Without options and with the death count rising inside the hospitals wards, Mary finds herself suddenly calling on the assistance of unlicensed (and illegal) Tactical Sorcerer Reiotto Steinberg. Rey is hot as hell and kind of a grumpy bad-ass who spends his time atoning for past sins. He seems callous on the surface, but has a weakness for kids coupled with an admirable sacrificial/suicidal streak. These are all of the things I like in my reluctant heroes.

A sinner looking for redemption. Oh, tortured Rey...mmm...

The animation is a little graphic, but quite beautiful. The spell-casting battles against demons are dramatic with a whole lot of interesting shouting. "I defy all laws and transcend reason!" I think that's a great battle cry.  I kind of wish that were my battle cry.

The story of Rey's attempt at redemption is touching and unnerving at points. He is a sympathetic character who pushes himself closer and closer to the breaking point in every battle. Mary proves herself to be more than the annoying petty beaurocrat she seems at first. One of the side-characters, a very heroic Tactical Sorcerer named Hammond, serves as a foil to Rey, and his life, like the lives of others before him, ends badly. In fact, everything ends badly. But, like the Winchesters say, "it all ends bloody or sad," Dear Readers, sorry. Strait Jacket ends  bloody AND sad,  but it's still worth a watch.

DMP/Akadot Retail --Site/Store

http://www.akadot.com/


In honor of their 801 line of Yaoi manga, Digital Manga Publishing and Akadot are celebrating Yaoi Week with some fairly good sales. All this week 8/01 to 8/08 discount bundles of random yaoi will be available. Plus if you buy $30 dollars worth of books they'll throw in some mystery gifts. (I like a mystery gift!)

Your mystery gift will not be a fruit tart, I can almost guarantee that!
But it could be some yummy food-centered manga!

Although they are pushing Yaoi this week, remember that DMP doesn't JUST produce yaoi manga.  They do have a wide range of other titles for those of you who aren't as into the boy/boy as perhaps...um, me?

I usually wouldn't be pushing you, Dear Readers, to part with your well-earned money, but after the sad/slightly-expected demise of TokyoPop in the spring, it seems important for us anime-junkies and manga-philes to support the industry. While it is true (I remember seeing a t-shirt that said this, so it MUST be true) that crack is a cheaper addiction than anime/manga, please consider giving back to the those publishers/distributers/manga-ka who form the supply line for your addiction...and lay off the crack. DMP isn't a huge company, but they are prolific, and they do produce (mostly) decent translations (there have been a few glaring exceptions) of Japanese-language manga into English. They also carry quite a few of the titles Ms. Shakespeare and I have reviewed, including some of my favorites Yellow, Little Butterfly and Love Song for the Miserable and Ms. Shakespeare's favorites from Fumi Yoshinaga (Antique Bakery). If you've been tempted to purchase some of the titles we review, think about doing it now while there are deep discounts to be had--I saw a copy of Antique Bakery listed for $4.00...that is cheap!

So, go support these distributors who so kindly feed the addiction for your hostesses here on Squeefinity.

More reviews to come!

Witchblade--Anime

"Sought by the greed of men since the dawn of human kind, but only bestowed upon the women whose fate it forever scars... The Witchblade. Is it the righteous sword of God? Or hand of the Devil himself? Now a new bearer has been chosen. And she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin."--Witchblade

BOOBIES! No, seriously,  boobies!

Check out Masane's boobs! They are powerful!
RAAARRR! BOOBIES!

Any of you, Dear Readers, who are fans of the original Witchblade comic series from the mid-90s, or the television series of the same name, might find yourself confused by  the futuristic boobosity of the anime reincarnation (good word...punny) of Witchblade. The only connecting factor between the different retellings of the Witchblade's story is the insistance on the witchblade itself and its dubious history. The witchblade, a gauntlet-type cuff when not in use, transforms into a symbiotic weapon that is both blade and armor for the woman who weilds it.  It, and the female warrior who carries/bonds to the blade, has capabilities for both good and evil. I think the "history" of the witchblade (as a dispenser of justice passed down from female to female in a line extending through time) is interesting, as is its insistance on bonding ONLY with strong, female characters...but that's the comic book and tv series, not the anime.

It isn't that I don't like the anime, I actually do think it is interesting, bit just isn't what might be expected in terms of evolving from the pro-feminist mythos of the other series. The main character of the anime series is a clumsy, goofy, single mother living in a post-apocolyptic Japan. As the series begins we realize that Masane has no recollection of her past, or the father of her child. She was found miraculously unharmed (and holding her newborn infant daughter) after the apocolyptic earthquake in what has come to be called Year Zero.  Once activiated the witchblade transforms Masane into a savage warrior, almost impervious to harm. The downside of the witchblade is that it takes control in this symbiotic relationship and ultimately burns through the life-force of the bearer, killiing them.

Couple this with an evil corporation intent on copying or cloning the blade (and a group of genetically engineered "bearers" with psychotic tendencies) and you have a very action-packed series...with a lot of boobies. Do not worry, butt fans, there are butts too! In fact, there was so much skin showing  on the bearers in their witchblade states that the Japanese censors blocked many of the scenes with those ubiquitous black bars. The American cable channel Chiller (does Chiller still exist?) however saw no problem with the prodigious ta-tas and bare-assed battles. Hooray, America!

Boobies aside (although they ARE a big, BIG part of the series), there are some things that make this series worth watching. The devotion Masane feels towards her daughter, her "fighting spirit," and her sense of right and wrong make her a sympathetic character, but the vascilation between horror and obligation she feels towards the witchblade and her duties as its bearer make her closer to tragic. Althought the plot is far-fetched, the outfits are ridiculous, and the story-line is sometimes convoluted to an extreme, it is the small moments when the characters interact with one another that kept me watching. That and trying to figure out exactly how she was keeping that outfit on...seriously. Baffling.

Supernatural Anime Series -- 2 days to DVD release! Squee...

In live things turned into anime news:

Supernatural The Anime

It's supposed to be darn good, my friends, at least according to folks who've had a sneak peak at the San Diego Comicon.


Man, I remember a long ago time when I used to get go to things like that, get all fanboyish in a fangirl way before geek was chic. Oh, man, I sound like an old lady, but in Geekdom, I think I might be.

In anime turned into live action news:

Avatar: The Last Airbender should have remained an anime.

Speaking of adaptations, I'm currently watching the live action adaptation of my beloved, beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's very white-peopley, ugg, and the narrative is a mess.

But, if you are a fan of the animated series, you already know the live action film is a complete stinking pile of crap. :( Why am I watching it, you ask? Because it is streaming on Netflix, and I find I will watch things so much crappier than my sensibilities would normally allow because I can.

Oh, wow, exposition. Want to learn how not to write? Watch this movie!

No.6, Episode 3

Okay, I don't plan on doing episodic breakdowns of every show I watch, but seriously, any anime that quotes Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde gets a little extra attention.

In Episode 3, Nezumi, with the help of his robotic rats, having saved Shion from the fate of a deviant within the walls of No. 6, introduces his charge to life outside them.

Shion is suffering a kind of innocent Shion-esque culture shock, not fear really, curiosity, maybe. When it starts to sink in that he won't see his mother again, he starts to have some doubts. Shion begins to exhibit signs of the scary "virus" that took down his co-worker in No. 6; he feels an infection at the back of his neck and tells Nezumi to cut it out. Nezumi does so without any anesthetic, and Shion begs to die. Nezumi convinces him he wants to live, reminding him of his mother and this girl that has been a lifelong friend.

He cuts out the infection to discover it is a pupa of some kind. Shion sleeps for three days. When he wakes up, his hair has turned white, and he has a strange spiraling scar that runs up and down the length of his body, but he is alive.

He and Nezumi discuss the killer bees, which are born from the pupa and bound to infect the inhabitants of No. 6. Nezumi wants them all to die. Shion is perplexed. This goes on a while, then Shion says he wants to know the secrets of the city. They go together to see a woman called the Dog Keeper.

Wow, well that is the breakdown. Killer bees, huh? We shall see. I like the interplay between Nezumi and Shion, and like I said before, I won't be surprised if fangirls get all fanfic up in their biz.

There is definitely an intimacy between them. Nezumi/Rat feels a deep affection for Shion. He says it's because he saved his life, but I think he's moved by the fact that Shion is different. He's not a fully submissive No. 6 citizen, nor is he jaded by life outside its walls. Shion is his own special something.

Nezumi is pretty rad, though I hope he doesn't spend the entirety of the series being all disaffected and emo like so many characters of his ilk before him.

The series feels like something new, so I really, really hope it can and does deliver something new.

Squeefinity Stir!

Hey, people are starting to notice our little blog. Sure, half of them are here searching for pictures of Ciel Phantomhive, but some of them might stay to read our rambling reviews about crappy (and fantastic) anime and manga.

Here are some places we've been listed/shared/linked to recently:
http://www.gameycrazy.com/
Mangawriter.com
http://childrenofsaintclare.wordpress.com/
japaneseclass.jp

People have been reposting/linking us from other countries and have even been tweeting/retweeting links to our posts. Cool!

We started this blog a few years ago as a way to share our love of good and bad anime and manga, and we were (maybe) a little lax for a while, but we've picked up the pace and would like to keep going.  We've got plenty of posts, reviews and even a few theoretical discussions slated for the coming months. If any of you dear readers would like to make a suggestion for a review or discussion, or reading/viewing recommendations please comment and let us know. I think I can speak for Ms. Shakespeare when I say we are both excited that people are interested in anime and manga, and that we love that people are coming by to read our comments on new and existant titles in the genres.

I'm super geeked about the whole thing. How geeked?

Ryo is surprised and slightly embarassed. Awww...Ryo!

That's a pretty good illustration of it.
Ryo is sooooo cute!

Guess Who's Back?

Yes, Dear Readers! It is I, Shakespeare!

This isn't me.

I'm back from the desert with a strong foundation and direction for the novel I'm working on. It will one day win the National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize or something. Such delusions of grandeur! Actually, I'll be happy to finish it and start getting it out in the world.

Now, I'm back in the Bay, working two jobs, fighting for every minute of solid good creative time I can get, and feeling like I just cannot get it all done. Sigh. I'm a little tired, Dear Readers! But, I vow to keep up with Squeefinity, because it brings me happiness.

It looks like M brought you a lot of steamy boys on boys action. Nice, M.

Some Random BL Pic

And, in the coming weeks I plan on delving a little more deeply and intellectually into common themes and metaphors in anime and manga. I've been an avid fan for years, but I can't say I always understand it. Yaoi and Yuri and common genres of the medium will be a part of it, but there will be plenty of other stuff.

And, as always, reviews, reviews, reviews.

Oi. I have missed so many episodes of Blue Exorcist. What is a girl to do?