#Mizukami Saki

[jpidols]

[saint-miroir]

Series: Working Musume

Artist: Wataru Mizukami

Publication: Nakayoshi Magazine (07/2000)

[luna-rainbow]

platinum data

I had been meaning to watch this for several years but never got around to it until now. I bought the original book recently with the intention to read it before watching the movie, but I ended up watching the movie before I finished the book.

Even as I read the book, I thought the text would make a much better series than a movie, and the movie confirmed that. There was simply not enough time to make the characters and subtext as interesting and memorable as they were in the book. I thought Ann was en pointe for Shiratori Risa but it was both a waste of her casting and of the character by how short her appearance was.

Without having finished the book - the original story looked at interesting Big Brother themes like government control of DNA profiling that can elicit an alarming amount of detail about a person's physical, health and psychological attributes, as well as the potential for abuse of a system like that, whether it is through the exploitation of privacy or the use of power and money for cover-up. It also explored self and the definition of being - is it by genetics? Physical traits? Personality? And then there was a futuristic psychotropic addiction which I thought was fascinating, where people became addicted to a device that induced direct brainwave stimulation.

A lot of these were sacrificed to make the movie more like a thriller. There were lots of running and car chases and dangerous stunts that took away time from the story but added some suspense and gave the illusion of pace.

Kagura/Ryuu was always going to be a difficult casting - you'd have to find someone who can manage both Kagura's arrogance and extreme rationality, as well as Ryuu's incredible sentimentality and his belief in the intuitive. The Ryuu in the movie is a lot weaker than in the book, and that's partly due to the way the story was changed. For much of the book it feels like Ryuu mocks Kagura for his narrow-minded dismissal of emotionality. In the movie, Ryuu was the innocent artistic shadow to Kagura's shrewd logical mind.

In that sense, I thought Nino did an amazing job with the characters that were written for the movie. The segue between Kagura and Ryuu and back in his meeting with the detective and at the final confrontation were two of the most memorable scenes in the movie, and certainly reminds you of why a lot of directors gush about him.

I don't have a lot to say about the other characters as most of them were pared down to quite thin version of themselves. Mizukami is changed to female, which is curious - and I'm glad Japan can do that without its netizens kicking up a furore like it happens in Hollywood *eyeroll* The relationship between Mizukami and Kagura works for the movie, but again takes something away from the original plot, which is that a lot of Kagura's grief comes from the loss of his father and Mizukami becomes his father figure.

The choice to change the ending is not something I understand very well, and I wonder if it became that way because of how much plot they had to cut down.

**********SPOILERS AHEAD*************

In the original story, Kagura and Asama confront Mizukami together, and Mizukami was about to kill both of them when Ryuu appears and shoots Mizukami out of grief because of Saki's death. In the movie, Kagura meets Mizukami alone and during the speech, Ryuu appears and kills her.

In a way I sort of like how that it gave Ryuu a purpose and allowed him to make a choice for the greater good. On the other hand, I think Ryuu (in the book) was someone who really did not care for the outside world, and is in reality a lot colder in his apathy than Kagura. Ironically, it is Kagura who is the more idealistic, and even if he has a God complex, he genuinely wants to make the world a better place.

Finally in the movie, I think the ending is left quite open and ends with an interlaced scene of Ryuu painting Saki and of Kagura being arrested, and it's not clear which one happens (though it is suggested that Kagura disappears). In the book, it is Ryuu who disappears but Kagura is spared from punishment (in exchange for silence), and it is suggested that he picks up some of Ryuu's hobbies and characteristics. Again it's a change that doesn't quite make sense, but in a way I liked how sweet and almost platonic Ryuu and Saki's relationship was in the movie.

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I feel like it's a movie that managed to tell half the story, and I'm honestly not sure I would have understood as much if I didn't read the book and I honestly think I would rate the movie lower if I hadn't read the book beforehand. It tried its best to trim what was quite a complex, multi-layered plot about society and people and psychology into something much more straightforward, but that took away a lot of the enormity of the social issues that made this book so worrying. I think the actors did an amazing job with what they were given, but it could have been a much better story over 10 hours instead of 2.

PS: Yes, Nino is gorgeous in it.

[recentanimenews]

Manga Giveaway: Tokyo ESP Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the Tokyo ESP manga giveaway is… AshLynx!

As the winner, AshLynx will be receiving the first omnibus in Hajime Segawa’s manga series Tokyo ESP as published in English by Vertical Comics. Tokyo ESP is a relatively recent example of a manga that’s about psychics and espers. The subgenre doesn’t seem to be quite as common as it once was in translation, but it’s certainly still around. And so for this giveaway, I asked that participants tell me a little about their favorite espers and psychics from manga. Mob from Mob Psycho 100 was mentioned the most frequently (I really hope an English-language publisher will license that series soon!), but there are other really great characters mentioned in the giveaway comments, too!

Some of the psychic/esper manga available in English: A, A’ by Moto Hagio Akira by Otomo Katsuhiro Alive: The Final Evolution written by Tadashi Kawashima, illustrated by Adachitoka Baoh by Hirohiko Araki Betrayal Knows My Name by Hotaru Odagiri Beyond the Blindfold by Sakura Tsukuba A Certain Magical Index written by Kazuma Kamachi, illustrated by Chuya Kogino A Certain Scientific Accelerator written by Kazuma Kamachi, illustrated by Yamaji Arata A Certain Scientific Railgun written by Kazuma Kamachi, illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa Clover by CLAMP Descendants of Darkness by Yoko Matsushita Drug & Drop by CLAMP Domu by Otomo Katushiro ES: Eternal Sabbath by Fuyumi Soryo From the New World written by Yusuke Kishi, illustrated by Toru Oikawa Ghost Hunt by Shiho Inada Hands Off! by Kasane Katsumoto I.O.N. by Arina Tanemura Jihai by Toshimi Nigoshi Kimagure Orange Road by Izumi Matsumoto Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service written by Eiji Otsuka, illustrated by Housui Yamazaki Legal Drug by CLAMP Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer by Satoshi Mizukami Mai, the Psychic Girl written by Kazuya Kudo, illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami Maoh: Juvenile Remix by Megumi Osuga Mistress Fortune by Arina Tanemura The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya written by Nagaru Tanigawa, illustrated by Gaku Tsugano Night Head Genesis by You Higuri Please Save My Earth by Saki Hiwatari Psychic Power Nanaki by Ryo Saenagi Psycho Busters written by Tadashi Agi, illustrated by Akinari Nao Psyren by Toshiaki Iwashiro Rasetsu by Chika Shiomi Spiritual Police by Youka Nitta Telepathic Wanderers written by Yasutaka Tsutsui, illustrated by Sayaka Yamazaki To Terra… by Keiko Takemiya Tokyo ESP by Hajime Segawa Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP Wild Com. by Yumi Tamura X by CLAMP Yurara by Chika Shiomi YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi

That’s quite a list, and I’m certain that’s not all of the manga with psychics and espers to have been released in English. Even so, I think there’s a nice variety of genres and even types of psychics represented, and you’ve got to start somewhere. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared your favorite espers with me. I hope to see you again for the next giveaway!

By: Ash Brown

[jpidols]