Unita Yumi

Unita Yumi is best known for her josei slice of life manga/anime Usagi Drop, both of which have seen releases in North America.  She has been a rather prolific manga-ka since the end of the 90's with her realistic slice if life tails aimed at women readers.  She has a particular style with her character designs.  They are generally tall, slender and long-limb.  The women tend to have a homely/comfortable 70's hippie look to them and the men usually look at bit like idiots.  The artwork is lined and simplistic, with little in the way of shading and detail.  What lacks in depth of the artwork is more than made up for in the depth of the writing.  Unita-sensei focuses on interpersonal relationships for the heart of her stories.  She expresses human emotions and rationality in plain and realistic ways.  Many of her female leads go through a range of difficulties in their journeys,  sometimes rather aloof to their circumstances.  My review of a longer and pleasant slice of life series called Yoningurashi can be found here as well.

Below are a number of her one shot and shorter manga titles.

Nomino:  18 year old Mitsuya has to deal with his childhood friend, Noko, who is a bit more dense than the average person.  He has to take time out of his exam studies to ensure that she doesn't get into trouble.  It seems that the almost childlike Noko is convinced she will be with Mitsuya for he entire life and isn't concerned for her self.

    This is an interesting story for Unita-sensei,  given that the female character is incredibly simple minded and lacking self sufficiency.  By the end of the story you almost wonder if she doesn't have some sort of learning disability.  Its like shes a 6 year old in a 16 year old's body.  Mitsuya seems duty bound to protect her from her own naievity.  You almost feel sorry for the girl,  as it really doesn't seem as Mitsuya has any intentions of marrying his childhood friend.

The Girl on the Other Side of the Glass:  Takahashi is a 29 year old office worker who has begun to notice a young woman always crossing his path in the morning at the train station.  The problem is he can't talk with her, they are going opposite ways each time and a wall of glass separates them.  When their brief relationship seems to be in peril he does what he can to actually connect with the girl.

    This is a sweet story about chance encounters possibly leading to wonderful things.  Takahashi doesn't have anything to look forward to in his dismal worker bee life,  except the kind smile of the girl heading the other way every morning.  It was short, simple and ended in an manner that would make you think life just continues on as it always has.

 

Mani Mani:  The first story deals with an unrelated woman who returns to the countryside after leaving her job to figure out what she wants to do with her life only to become romantically involved in a childhood friend.  The rest of the stories deal with Fuuko and her mother, Kureha.  Fuuko is struggling to remain focused with with her studies and frequently skips school, but she gets help from her older tutor boyfriend and wants to try harder.  She doesn't know the trials her mother faced at her age in being a single mother trying to make it in a society that looks down on you.  Kureha made poor choices when a teenager but worked hard to provide the best possible life for Fuuko.  Atthe same time she trusts her own daughter to make better choices than she did.

    The first story is out of place with the rest,  although I have not been able to read the final chapter so it may all tie together.  The other stories weave a fascinating ans realistic tale of delinquency,  poor choices and the struggle to redeem them...working to make a better life out of the bad choices.  I would put this the best story out of all of the shorts and am eager to be able to finish it up.

Toribako House: Miki is stuck in a long term and controlling relationship with an older man she isn't sure she loves any longer.  Due to this situation and her own hang ups she has a hard time interacting with others.  When he explodes about her being out late with her friend and two college students they accidentally ran into she sees a side of him that scares her and she decides to make her move.  One of the guys she ended up chatting with at the bar does what he can to help her stay out of a dangerous situation.  She ends up boarding with him and a small group of odd men in a ramshackle boarding house know as toribako,  or bird box.  Now she has to start over and be self dep3ndant all well trying to keep from being hurt by her ex boyfriend.

    Unfortunately I have only been able to read about half of this story but what I was able to read was enjoyable.  I wonder about Miki and her pathetic-ness.  When Unita-sensei chooses to make a female lead a stereotypical helpless woman it makes me feel somewhat cheated.  I keep hoping that all of her female characters will be strong willed champions of feminism.  Yet they mostly do not fit that bill and when they are as pathetic and hopeless as Miki its hard to be satisfied.  Even with the leads weakness the story is enjoyable,  especially the odd ball residents of the boarding house.

Yuku Yuku: These are stories about the side characters from Toribako House.  The first story deals with Miki's best friend and he own relationship issues.  The second story deals with an otaku who lives in Toribako House and his efforts to get a girlfriend.  There appears to be a third chapter that I have not read though.

    It was nice to see side stories from Tokibako House, it would be cool to have one for all of the side characters.

Sukimasuki : Heisaku is a slacker college student who has a bizarre habit of peering into shadowed spaces in the world; small spaces between buildings, drains and any other shadow space left forgotten by others.  The space that has the most draw to him is the slit between the curtins of apartment across from his bedroom window and the mysterious women he sees there.  He stresses about what he is doing might be peeping but can't help himself being drawn to the space between the curtains and what the world beyond them holds.  One night at school he runs into a girl who may very well be the woman who lives in that space between the curtains, that he spies on every night.  Little does he know the girl has been secretly spying on him as well.  Obsessing over him and amassing an impressive collection of photographs.  When the first chance encounter leads to her joining his small group of friends he has to figure out if she knows hes been spying on her or not and figuring out the easiest way to get to know her better.

     This was the first non-Usagi Drop manga I read from Unita-sensei and it was a bit of a departure from what i was used to.  Given the breadth of her work that I have read since then, I would say its the other way around.  Heisaku is an idiot and he can't help himself.  Once he does begin interacting with the woman he has been spying on he becomes even more of an idiot.  The woman too shares her own insecurities and problems so it's only a matter of time before they can actually interact with each other normally.  I liked this one and would like to see it turn into a short anime.  I do believe there is a live action version that either came out recently or is in the works.
 

 

    I really have come to enjoy her various pieces and would like to see more of them licensed in North America...but a lot of people may shy away from her given the ending of Usagi Drop and how much its upset readers.  I would like to see more feminism from her, but she does a good job as it is with providing complex and strong female characters, even if they sometimes need a 'mans' helping hand from time to time.

Mizu no Kotoba

Mizu no Kotoba (水のコトバ) is a short science fiction piece by Yoshiura Yasuhiro and originally aired in Japan in 2002.

    Set in a small and darkly lit cafe, this 9 minute film centers around a series of conversations between the cafe's patrons.  The conversations are separate and between pairs of people but their topics sometimes bleed into other conversations.  You could say the main character is a man at the counter who is conversing with the amiable barista.  Through hints and suggestions the barista questions his perception of conversation, motives and reality.  Finally leading him to an alternate view of the cafe which causes her words to truly sink in. Powerless words vanish right away.  But powerful words remain, even after they're spoken.

    This is an interesting template for Yoshirua's other, more detailed cafe of conversations anime, Eve no Jikan.  The artwork is a bit clunky and disorientating but works well with the frame of the story.  There is not much you will take out of this short film other than interesting ideas on the weight of conversation and the meaning of words.  Then at the end, a curve ball of sci-fi-ness.  Worth the short time span.  In all honesty it really makes me want to re-watch Pale Cocoon more then Eve no Jikan.

    Mizu no Kotoba is available in North America via streaming on Crunchyroll.

Some of the Japanese food I make at home

I wanted to expand on the washoku post and get into some of the dishes I make frequently and explain ways to make cooking Japanese food easy for westerners.  A large portion of recipes for Japanese cuisine require 3 out of the 4 ingredients listed.

The most important ingredients


Dashi.  Dashi is fish stock.  It is created using flaked bonito fish and kombu seaweed.  Like other broths it is created by soaking and boiling the ingredients with a measurement of water.  For ease of use there is also instant dashi stock that comes in small granules that you add to whatever you are cooking per instructions in the recipe or on the packaging.  For years I made my dashi myself, but its expensive.  I have recently switched to instant dashi and I can't believe I waited this long!  Its more cost effective, stores more easily and makes for quicker dish preparation time.  Many recipes call for instant dashi anyways so it makes for easier cooking all around.  It is harder to find than bonito flakes and kombu (which are also difficult to find outside of Asian gorcery stores).

Mirin.  Mirin is sweetened rice wine specifically used for cooking.  Mirin is becoming more readily available in American grocer's.  Kikkomon sells a few varieties but I stay away from them due to all the additives they have in them.  Recently at one local grocery store I discovered a higher quality and cheaper mirin in the liquor department!  I've told management a few times they should probably move it as you don't want to actually drink mirin.  If you can not find mirin adding a little sugar to sake should get you close to the flavor you are looking for, but won't be exact.

Sake.  The iconic Japanese alcohol.  It is used widely in cooking, much like wine in French/Italian.  It is readily available in many forms through out North America.  If you are lucky your grocer carries lower cost sake specifically brewed for cooking with.  If not, go with a bottle of the cheap stuff, like Shochikubai.  You can also substitute dry white wine for sake but ultimately the flavor will be a bit different.

Shoyu.  Soy sauce is the easiest to acquire.  It is a staple in North America.  What can be hard to find though are the different styles.  There is plain normal shoyu which is readily available.  There are low sodium varieties, lighter varieties, darker varieties, etc etc.  The differences in each can change the outcome and subtleties of the dish you use them in.  But, don't stress about it, if all you can get is a 'normal' bottle of Kikkoman, go for it!  Pro tip: buy in bulk, shoyu lasts and if your going to be using it frequently the half gallon sized containers can save you a bundle in the long run.

Now for the dishes!!

Ramen/Soba/Udon: Ramen, soba and udon are all different noodles.  Ramen is made from alkiline water and wheat.  Soba is made from buckwheat and udon is thick and made from wheat.  Udon and soba are usually served in a simple broths with a variety of toppings.  Udon can also be served in a cold broth dish and soba can be pan friend to create yakisoba.

   Ramen is the most well known non-sushi food stuff out of Japan.  Originally an import from China is was a staple of the aristocracy until about the 1800's or so.  It has now become synonimous with junk food and college level dietary poorness.  All thanks to the designs of Ando Momofuku in 1958.  Ramen its self is actually a rich, warming and flavorful soup that is a staple of street food in Japan.  It is estimated that there are 2 to 3 times more noodle shops in Japan than all of the McDonals in the entire world.  Noodle shops can be found in every variety and quality through out Japan and are one of my favorite places to get lunch while there.

    There are 3 basic types of ramen, tonkatsu, shio and shoyu.  Tonkatsu is derived from boiling pork bones for a long time.  The broth for shio is more derived from chicken stock and shoyu comes from a soy sauce and chicken stock blend.  There are more varieties than these three basics and each type has its specific style of ramen noodle and traditional toppings.

    I tend to make a hodgepodge when it comes to noodle soup.  I typically do a tonkatsu/shoyu blend.  Substituting boiling pork bones for 20 hours with a spoonful of pork bullion.  I also add mirin, sake, dashi and wakame seaweed to the mix when I am cooking the broth.  Premade, dried roman noodles, like real ramen noodles, tend to be elusive unless you have access to a Japanese specific grocer.  There are plenty of other wheat noodles you can use and i will be killed by purists for saying, it doesn't matter too much!  Since real ramen noodles are hard to come by premade you can make them your self, which is relatively easy.  Once rolled out and cut up you can coat them with loose flour and freeze them for months on end.  When I make them I tend to do large batches that will last for a while.  But I'm lazy so I tend to not actually make my ramen with ramen noodles.  Instead I keep premade, dried soba and udon noodles on hand.  These have become easier to find in conventional grocers as they do not come with the stigma ramen has.  I prefer the thick noodliness of udon.

    Typical toppings when i make noodle soup are; hard boiled egg, spinach, cubed tofu or agedashidofu, green onion, daikon radish and togarashi (chili pepper seasoning).  For special occasions I will add kameboko (fishcake) and pan friend pork, chicken or beef.  Sometimes I make the eggs softboiled or crack a raw one into the broth as its finishing up cooking.  When I add miso to the mix I enjoy including corn kernels as well.  But really, you can add anything you want that will go well with the flavor of the broth you make, these really are versitile and can be healthy dishes that really only take about 20 to 30 minutes to make.  You want to make sure to cook the noodles separate from the broth and add them when it is all finished.

Sukiyaki: The first real Japanese cuisine I began making is a favorite in my house.  This is the most well known of the nabe (one pot) dishes and gained fame in otaku circles due to Ranma 1/2.  Nabe are traditional communal foods in which a number of ingredients are cooked in a broth inside of a earthenware pot.  The different variations are usually due to the season/ingredients included and the style of broth.  Sukiyaki is a newer nabe that was introduced after the acceptance of the consumption of beef by Emperor Meiji in the late 1800's. 

    Sukiyaki uses a sweat soy broth that is made in two parts then added to your cooker.  I have a table top electric cooker I specifically use for sukiyaki.  The broth requires a specific order of boiling on the stove, once the two parts are down I add an amount to my cooker once the thinly sliced beef had been started.  From there we add in all the other ingredients, cover the cooker and let it stew for a while as everything cooks and the flavors marry.  We typically stick with the traditional ingredients; cabbage, green onion, mushrooms and rice noodles (shirataki is rather hard to come by outside of Japanese grocers).  When the food is done everyone digs in, taking what they want from the cooker and putting it in their bowls.  You can eat it on rice as well but we tend to fill up on the nabe its self.  In addition to the traditional ingredients we have come to like including hard boiled eggs, agedashidofu and gyoza (pork dumplings).

   We typically make sukiyaki in the colder months and invite friends and family to share it with...unless we feel like being gluttons.



Nikujaga: This has become my favorite Japanese dish.  It is literally meat and potatoes.  This is a Japanese variant of beef and potato stew.  I try to have a stock of frozen Philly sandwich steak on hand for whenever we want to make this comfort food.  In one pot on the stove you cook the thin sliced beef (or ground meat) with cubed white potato, carrots, onion and mushroom in a soy/mirin broth until its thickened and everything has cooked thoroughly.  You add green beans during the last few minutes of simmering.  It can be served on rice noodles or rice but we have found that that's too much food as this is an incredibly filling and satisfying dish...a little amount goes a long way.  We also tend to eat agedashidofu with it...we find any excuse to eat agedashidofu actually.

Miso Soup: The mysterious soup that comes with your dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  Miso is fermented soy and is a staple in many Japanese dishes.  It comes in a variety of styles and strengths.  While becoming more common it can still be elusive in traditional American grocers.  Trader Joe's has been carrying a house brand of yellow miso that suffices my requirements.  But when I hit up an Asian grocer or a Japanese specific store I like to pick up red miso (akamiso) as I enjoy the flavor more.  It is a very basic dish, filling and versatile.  All it takes is water, dashi and wakame.  Bring the mix to a boil, turn off the heat and stir in miso paste until blended.  Typicaly small cubed tofu is also cooked in the broth.  It is sweat, tangy and highly satisfying to eat.  While used as an accompanyent to dinners it is also a traditional and widely eaten breakfast food.  It goes great on cooked rice and you can add other things to it as well.  As with everything, agedashidofu finds its way into various miso dishes I make.  Cracking an egg into the broth as its cooking does wonders too.  I tend to add shelled edamame to the mix as well.

Curry: While originally a type of dish originating from India, not actually a name of a dish all in its own, the Japanese have taken this import and made it their own.  Japanese curry is best described as a massaman curry.  It is made more like a gravy, beginning with a oil/thickening agent roux.  Then various seasonings and stock are added to the roux, like a typical European gravy.  Cuts of meat, potatoes and various veggies are then cooked in the curry gravy until tender.  This is served with a side of rice and can very in heat.  This style of curry is incredibly easy to make and flexible.  All you need to make sure you have are the various spices; curry powder, turmeric, cardamon, ginger, garlic, pepper, coriander, cumin.  All of these are pretty easy and inexpensive to come across.

Straight up Rice: Rice is the staple grain in Japan and has a huge importance on the culture and history of the country.  Rice is served with a vast number of meals in Japan, usually separate from other portions of the meal.  I like to make random sauces to pour onto mine, which would make some Japanese people shudder in horror I imagine.  You can really add anything you want.  Lately I have been making dashi/soy reduces and tossing in shelled edamame, tofu, eggs, whatever else I have on hand that would go well.  A traditional breakfast is rice with miso soup poured over it. 

Agedashidofu:You would think this is my favorite thing out of Japanese cuisine based upon how much i try to add it to other dishes.  While not a dish of its own this is an awesome use of tofu.  Its simple and easy to do.  Take extra firm tofu, cut it into thickish slices or cubes, use its moisture to apply a thin coating of potato starch.  Then fry in oil until golden brown.  Let drain onto a paper towel.  Traditionally you are supposed to use potato starch, but I have been playing around with other things instead.  I started off using flour, I tried it un-coated and have recently been pressing panko (the coating used to make tonkatsu) into the tofu for varying degrees of success.  To keep it healthier I pan fry them in olive oil.  Its the only way my kids eat tofu and they actually beg me for it.  Sooooo goood.



Sushi: The food synonymous with Japan.  I have eaten maki, zushi and sashimi for a long time now but did not start making my own until fairly recently.  I stick with making maki (rolled sushi) and don't stick too much with tradition.  Maki rolling is something that requires practice and technique.  Its done professionally with bamboo mats and other specialized tools but I have found them cumbersome and don't deal with them since I don't have some master beating their use into me.  There are a few keys to making sushi.  The rice works best freshly made and around room temp.  You need the stickiness for it to work well.  Sushi rice is highly recommended for this process, but in desperation/laziness I have even made a quick maki with cold basmati...to semi good results.  You take a half cup of the rice, mix it with a spoonful of sushi vinegar and place it on a piece of nori (all of which can be acquired from a local grocer but can sometimes be stupidly expensive).  Place thin slices of ingredients on the bed of rice.  For my own personal consumption I try to have sticks of imitation crab on hand, but my wife and daughter dig mushroom on theirs.  Add a small amount of wasabi along the rice, more if you like to clear the sinus.  Dabbing a bit of water/vinegar on the front end of the nori fold the leading edge over the ingredients and continue rolling tightly until you get to the end.  I dab the other side with water/vinegar to form a nice seal and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.  The key to slicing is to have a sharp and 'wet' blade.  You can pretty much make whatever type of maki you want and over time you will become good at rolling it up.  If I have rice pre-made I can make up a maki roll in about 2 minutes and have done so on many occasions as a quick lunch or snack.

Along with Japanese styled dishes, meals at my house also consist of a variety of Indian, Ethiopian,  Lebanese, Thai and other random non-American ethnic styled dishes.  I like variety and enjoy food from many different regions around the world.  Each country has at least one awesome dish to eat and make.  Food is what you do with your life and I try to provide as much variety and freshness with the meals I eat and serve others.  Its not hard to make these meals, as long as you have the ingredients at hand and the familiarity with making them.  It takes only a few minutes longer to whip up a small batch of miso soup to pour on pre-made rice instead of having a bowl of cereal in the morning.

Sasameki Koto

Sasameki Koto (ささめきこと) is a seinen romantic comedy of the yuri variety.  The manga was published between 2007 and 2011.  It was written and drawn by Ikeda Takashi.
 
    High school student Kazama Ushio likes girls and isn't afraid to make it public.   Her confidence and comfort with herself is all thanks to her best friend Murasame Sumika.  Kazama goes crazy over cute model type girls and obsesses over them in rapid succession...enough to make the most perverted teenage boy proud.  In middle school she was finally able to be open, sometimes too open, about her sexual orientation, all due to the support of Murasame.  Murasame is the heir to a karate dojo.  She is smart, strong and pretty much rejected by everyone due to those traits.  In middle school she took it upon herself, as class rep, to help Kazama, who was a transfer student, not be an outcast due to her fondness of cute girls.  What started as moral obligation quickly developed into a strong bond of friendship as they found companionship for the first time in each other.  Kazama is openly gay but no one knows what Murasame's sexual preference is.  In high school their peers have accepted Kazama and the friends go on with their lives.  The pair however quickly gains attention from twogirls who are long time lovers.  They glom onto them, thinking they are in the same situation and force their friendship, soon wrapping a few other girls into the mix.  Murasame though is battling with feelings she has developed for her closest friend since middle school and doesn't want to destroy what they have by confessing to her.  As the band of oddball girls, some of whom are open about being gay, becomes closer, the tension between Murasame and Kazama becomes thick and intense.   As the story progresses various members of the group try to diplomatically ease the situation, knowing that both parties are in conflict with their emotions.  In the end can Murasame spill her heart out to her best friend whose eye only goes after cutesy girls?

    I picked this one up after reading, very recently, a review of the second tankoubon on Anime News Network.  I was intrigued by a highly recommended yuri romance manga that appeared to be missing much of the typical shonen/seinen romance trappings.  In most romance manga you get lead characters so blind to the world around them you want to reach into the page and smack the hell out of them at every turn.  This series doesn’t have as much of that as others but there’s still enough of it to piss you off.  The biggest obstacle in the was of the main characters relationship is their uncertainty.  It’s difficult enough for heterosexual people to talk with their crushes,  there’s more anxiety when you’re attracted to the same sex.  This series gets into the social pressures about homosexuality a bit,  but unlike America,  it’s slightly more accepted in Japan.  Still,  adolescence is an insanely hazardous trial period and everyone’s playing hard.

    The manga is good but it has its glaring faults.  Over its course it tends to get off track.  The author at first wasn’t anticipating this one shot being picked up as a serial so had to scramble from time to time extending the story.  A few times it seemed like some gimmicks were thrown out, grasping at straws.  There was a quick attempt at fan-service which fortunately didn’t stick around.  What did stick around and got pretty annoying was focusing on Murasame's karate career.  A foreign loli character shows up and mostly served little purpose.  In the beginning it seemed like the lesbians were coming out of the woodwork, as if every girl in the school that was gay glommed onto the main pair.  In the end the main characters were well developed and likeable.  The story had some good drama and interjected a ton of comedy to ease the tension.  I enjoyed the artwork quite a bit.  The character designs were pleasant and Ikeda-sensei has a great eye for clothing design.  The series was like a good blend of Azumanga Daioh,  GE Good Ending and Ranma 1/2.  It is worth the time.

    The manga is currently being released in North America by One Peace Books. An anime adaptation was also made.  Stay tuned for a review of that as well.

Washoku: Japanese home cooking

    I started to eat actual Japanese food around the time I turned 17.  A friend of mine couldn't understand my obsessions with the nation and my lack of taste for the cuisine.  It started by him dragging me to a sushi restaurant and force feeding me tekka maki.  The chef's laughed at me as I had to have my chopsticks converted to gaijin status.  The following year, a few days before my first trip to Tokyo, I had a different friend of mine teach me how to properly use them.  Close to 20 years later Japanese cuisine finds its self on my diner table through out the week (I have been eating miso and rice for breakfast quite a bit lately) and my children are adept at using chopsticks and cheer when diner is nikujaga.

    For the average American the only thing they relate to Japan usually is sushi and instant ramen.  For a long time I also didn't have access to a good deal of recipes and was mostly working off of a simple book for any dishes I was making.  Unless you have access to well stocked Asian grocery stores some ingredients for Japanese cuisine can be hard to come by and/or stupidly expensive.  It took me a while but I eventually found a fantastic resource to fulfill many of my culinary desires when it comes to the recipes.

   Cookpad.com is one of Japanese largest community recipe websites and an effort has been in place for a while to translate many of the recipes into English and host them on a website aimed at English speaking people wishing to cook more Japanese food and to learn ways of cooking non-Japanese food with flair.

   The link to the English version of the website is en.cookpad.com and is easily navigated.  If you're feeling adventurous and trusting in your Japanese language ability jump over to the main site and explore even more recipes.

いただきます!!

Fall Season Dropped Shows and a mid season recap.

We are about half way through the Fall season so lets take a look at the refuse and the bright notes.  First up, the shows that weren't dropped immediately.  Then a quick look at two shows I haven't talked about yet.  The concluded with the shows I like the most in this seasons offerings.

Terraformars:Set 500 years in the future a group of specialized humans are sent on a suicide mission to Mars to find a living sample to help combat a fatal parasite on Earth.  Unfortunately they have to deal with mutant blood thirsty cockroaches in the process.

    Even with access now to the unedited versions of this show it interests me little.  The artwork is rigid, the story is uninteresting and incredibly implausible.  I gave it about 3 episodes before really just being disgusted with it.


Ai Tenchi Muyo: You know what...after 18 3 minutes episodes I still have no clue what the hell is going on.  This show has proven that Shin Tenchi is no longer my least favorite title in the franchise.  The show has no apparent central plot other than Washu sending Tenchi somewhere/sometime(s) to rescue two friends.  No rhyme, no reason, nothing.  You find Tenchi bouncing between two worlds; one were he poses as a teachers aid in a private all girls high school and another with him in feudal Japan/China.  Side characters appear in both worlds with semi-related personalities.  This series makes absolutely no sense after 2 weeks of being broadcast and has so much random fan service it just becomes annoying.  Fuck...



Doten ni Warau: Post Tokugawa Shogunate we find resistant ex-samurai causing issues and having to be imprisoned on Japans variant of The Rock.  The only people entrusted with escorting these dangerous dissenters are 3 orphaned brothers of a local temple.

    Yeah...there's a number of things I dislike with this one.  The character designs are annoying and appear to be strictly for cosplay.  The historicity of this series is horrific.  The plot devices they hint at and tease with in the few episodes I watched are boring and uninspiring.


Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai : Taking place in a massive academy of accelerated learning a random male student is wrangled into befriending a lonely and socially inept girl to open up to people and try to gain friends.  The club they form ends up being wrangled into investigating a school mystery based upon legends and rumors of a phantom working in the shadows.

    I don't have any time or patience for this bland harem romance.  The artwork and character designs are undesirable to me and I have no interest in finding out the secrets of this fan service show.


Shows still on the chopping block are; Sora no Method and Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete.  I have not been able to watch enough of either to determine if I want to continue watching them.

    I had neglected to do a preview of Sanzoku no Musume Ronja.  After 3 episodes I enjoy it, even if the animation is poorly done motion capture CG.  Its a fun and fantastical tale about the daughter of the leader of a band of forest robbers growing up in her odd and loving world of nature and family.

    I also watched the first episode of Yuki Yuna wa Usha de Aru but stopped watching it once I realized it was a magical girl anime.  I actually almost stopped watching that before hand because it was a really slow and pointless slice of life before the magical girl thing took place...my kids are watching it and enjoying it, so it must have something worth while, just not for me.

    The biggest surprise for me is that, 5 episodes into it, I am started to enjoy Parasyte the maxim.  The main character suffers from the standard spineless fear of confrontation but the ideas brought up in the show about examining humanities special exceptions in the world are interesting.

    So far my top pick for the season is Shingeki no Bahamut, this finely animated fantasy romp has equal parts humor, action, compassion and mystery.  It reminds me heavily of Cowboy Bebop.  The continuation of the second season of Mushi-shi is greatly welcome and these episodes seem to be some of the best in the show.  Gugure Kokkuri-san is everything a comedy should be and so much that Keroro Gunsou wasn't able to get right.  Inou Battle wa Ichijou-kei no Naka de has continued to be about nothing but normal life, even though everyone has super powers, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

    With the end of the year approaching the one thing I can say for sure is its been a great year for TV anime in my book...and it hasn't been this good since 2006 or so.

Our attachment to fictional characters

    With issue 37 of Fuuka (風夏) by Kouji Seo, released in Japan the last week of October 2014, a group of devoted internet fans lost their minds.  The reason for this was due to the title characters apparent death, leaving everyone to wonder what will happen to the manga moving forward with its main character no longer part of the story.  I thought, why not take a look at the psychology behind people's attachment to fictional characters...I did some research with this one!

    Parasocial Interaction is the term used for a one way relationship between two people, sometimes one of them being fictional.  Person 'A' knows much about person 'B' while 'B' knows nothing or little about 'A'.  Person 'A' feels they know and understand the object of their attention, sometimes to an intimate level.  Yet due to never having the opportunity for social interactions with the person there is always a distance felt, regardless of how much person 'A' believes they understand 'B'.  Many times person 'A' will fabricate portions of person 'B's personality and background to fill in any gaps and to create a sense of continuity and understanding.  Parasocial Interactions are not always a negative thing but studies have suggested that the age a person is and what the personality they attach to is like heavily determines how that relationship will affect their behavior.

    Its interesting to step back from your perception of a celebrity that you know about based upon media information.  Think about how many gaps in that persons personality you have filled in using those bits of data you have acquired about them.   You never truly know anyone, especially those that you will never have personal contact with.  Yet to help us relate to them in a desirable fashion we always apply our own perceptions and views onto other people based upon the information we receive about them, whether its factual or otherwise, but that's getting off track.

    Many studies suggest that we cling to fictional characters and their stories as a way of helping to deal with social rejection and the negative psychological impacts of such rejection.  Its hard to have a negative emotional experience with a fictional character when it's entire purpose is for the reader/viewer to positively relate and identify with them.  The old adage a 'dog doesn't judge you but only loves' can also be applied with fictional characters.  Sure, there are some extreme cases were a character can have an adverse psychological affect on the reader/viewer, mostly in the body image area, but generally speaking fictional characters provide a positive feedback loop.

    It's easy and expected to become emotionally attached to fictional characters.  The character(s) are usually what draws us in to a story and keeps us wanting more from it.  We hope for the best for them.  Success in their pursuits, happiness in their lives and over all positive endings.  When a character that is endearing to the reader is dealt a tragic, especially realist, blow from the stories writer, the reader/viewer can easily feel personally attacked.  Why the hell would you do that?  What was the purpose of such a horrible and pointless act?  You have let me, the fan down, and for that you have lost my fandom

    A problem I have with that type of mentality is the idea that an author has to always bow down to the pressures of the fan base.  I am highly leery of stories created to meet popular demand.  I think their should always be a separation between the creative process of the author and the audiences expectations.  There will never be a case of discovering an author and liking their creations based on their meeting your demands...its impossible to happen.  Instead everyone finds a creator they enjoy and then begin to mentally expect remuneration for their desires and projections from the creator solely based on their enjoyment of that creators previous works.  When an author begins to bend their creative process to meet the popular demands of the audience the way they created stories to build those fans in the first place dissolves and you get an entirely different product.

    I for one like characters being killed off, it takes guts and I respect that.  I lean towards stories set in the real world that have realistic outcomes and scenarios.  Life isn't always sunshine and happiness.  At some point it is filled with overwhelming pain and loss.  Portraying that in a fictional story is powerful and greatly appreciated in my mind.  I am a little nihilistic with my world view (I prefer to think of it as realistic) so I get irritated by constantly positive stories from time to time.  The good guys don't always win, no one is perfect and everyone commits bad deeds from time to time.

    It will be interesting to see how Seo-sensei continues the story of Fuuka.  I'm more interested in the manga now than ever before.  Before this it seemed boring and rote.  He usually adds little bits of realism into his otherwise typical shonen romance fantasy world, but this is a more drastic step than previously taken.  It's a shame though, that the fan base, who are upset by this, can't lay off of the criticism.  There has been a lot of yelling at him via the internet, much by people who can't even legally read his manga and are not actually paying him for his hard work regarding this series.

    No matter how much you want to bend the story to your will it shouldn't bend.  If the ending to a story was known ahead of time there would be little benefit from going through it.  People need to calm down or move on.  Attacking someone because they displease you in ways that do not actually affect your health and well being are pointless and counter productive.  Hopefully Seo-sensei has some thick skin and can shrug this off with out it affecting the plan he has set in motion for his creation.  Lets reiterate that...his creation.

    Now it may seem strange that I take this view point, given half of my purpose for this web log is to criticize and critique things created by other people.  I don't actually expect what I complain about to change the course of any given story.  Instead I am offering a criticism to support issues I personally have with something, explaining why something isn't to my liking as a fan.  Just because I don't like something doesn't mean it's not a quality product though.  But the entire internet and then-some needs to step back from their frothy-ness...but that will never happen as the access and anonymity is too readily available.

    

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki

Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki (ポヨポヨ観察日記) is a 52 minute anime adaptation of the 4koma by Tatsuki Ru.  The anime originally aired in Japan through out 2012.

    While wandering the town drunk one night easygoing Moe finds a stray cat and decides to adopt him.  She ends up naming the cat Poyopoyo due to his excessive roundness and he quickly becomes a cherished member of her family.  She, along with her younger broth Hide and hardworking father, gush over the round and fluffy cat.  The series goes through their daily lives and ordinary adventures being cat owners. 

    This is a pretty fun and easy going comedy.  It's like an adolescent version of Chi's Sweet Home as the 3 humans interact and grow to obsess over the odd ball cat they adopt into their home.  A small cast of neighbors and their pets are also introduced through out the series which only runs 4 minutes per episode.  The show is straight forward comedy, with gags, situational humor and goofy character designs.  It's fun and easy going with a catchy opening song.  It is not Chi's Sweet Home and some material my be a little inappropriate for younger viwers...a neighbor cat likes to hump Poyopoyo from time to time...which is done rather comically.

    The series is available streaming on Crunchyroll and I doubt it will ever see any sort of disc release.  The manga is being translated and distributed electronically in North America by JManga.

Tokyo ESP

Tokyo ESP (東京ESP) is a 12 episode super natural action series based on the manga of the same name by Segawa Hajime.  The show originally aired in Japan during the summer of 2014.

    On Christmas night a group of people with various psychic powers hold Japans Diet hostage, going as far as ripping the building out of the earth and floating it above the city.  They demanded that Tokyo be handed over to them in order to create a haven for ESPers.  However, the group behind this effort are not the good guys.  Instead they are terrorists who have waged a campaign of death and destruction leading up to this point.  A small band of ESPers are all that stands between the terrorists and their total control.  The shinning beacon of hope is a member of the group known by people was the White Girl.  The girl, Rinka, finds herself months earlier gaining the ability to phase through objects after she sees a strange floating fish.  She, with the urging of a school mate, Kyotaro who can teleport, decides to begin fighting bad guys, to become heroes of justice.  Little does Rinka know how involved they will get in their fun little hero business, months later facing down the terrorists holding Tokyo hostage.

    As I have mentioned before, this is what you would get if the X-Men were originally created in Japan. That said I actually rather enjoyed this show (as a kid I got into comics with the X-Men but as a teenager the amazingly visceral Image brand started up and offered more awesomeness).  The animation isn't anything to write home about; sometimes the characters are rather plain.  What was well developed was the variety and uses of psychic powers the characters exuded.  The first episode didn't impress me but part of that was due to not understanding what was going on.  The second episode rewinds time a bit and starts from the beginning of Rinka's entry into the world of super powers.  The tone of episode two is a complete 180 compared to that of episode one.  Episode one was intense and oppressive, episode two was light and comical.  Rinka is quite self-sufficient and strong but the sudden realization that something had changed inside of her and she doesn't understand it terrifies her.  This pattern of self reliance on others perpetuates and becomes rather annoying.  Rinka is presented as this self confident and completely capable mature teenager who is strong and reliable.  Yet time after time throughout the show she is also presented as a sniveling and weak 'girl' unable to do anything by herself.  In the middle of the show it begins to devolve into a boring and played out shonen fight training and growth story.  Rinka is schooled again and again by a junior until they both come to life affirming realizations instigated by a talking panda...what the fuck?  Even in the end Rinka has to succumb to the assistance of others.  Why do I make such a thing out of this?  Sure anime is filled to the brim with heroes who can only overcome adversity by relying on others, that's ALL that Dragon Ball Z is, Goku continuing to rely on all of his allies strengths.  It’s no secret that this is a subtle if even intentional way of reinforcing Japans maddening pursuit of social harmony and group unity.  What also upsets me with the treatment of the shows hero is that they set her up to be this strong and self reliant, yet grounded and likeable person, and then reduced her to a stereotypical representation of a weak girl. Even in the end she ends up needing the help of a man...disappointing.

    With that said, I still really enjoyed the show and hope it will get a second season.  The characters, even with their weaknesses, were fun and entertaining.  The show had a good balance of serious drama and goofy comedy.  There were a number of pop culture references; such as one character who looked amazingly like King Leonidas from 300.  The Ghost Busters show up at one point and one girl even emulates Bruce Lee when she gets her hands on a pair of his nun-chucks.  Its super powered good vs. evil done in a modern and enjoyable way with much head nodding to older series' that have tread this path before.  Unfortunately the entire backbone of the story, how and why everyone all of sudden gets super powers is pretty pathetic and annoying.  With all its faults I don't know why I enjoyed the show; I just did, because looking at it from afar it wasn't a good show.  It had a main character that ended up being completely undervalued and an underlying plot that was absolute rubbish.  Either way, I still hope for a season 2!

    The series was simulcast in North America via FUNimation.  I'm sure a disc release will be imminent. Surprisingly the manga has not been licensed in North America, but that may change if the show picks up any popularity.