#Tomohiro Maekawa

[sesiondemadrugada]

Foreboding (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2017).

[brand-upon-the-brain]

Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2017)

[half-lies]

[undeadimpulsereviews]

Livingstone

What is a life? What does it mean to die? Why can’t we truly grasp the mystery behind a persons life? Humans have been on this earth for ages, but has humanity really figured out the ins and outs of life and death? It’s hard to say, humans have come far, but the spiritual and scientific aspects are vast. At the moment it’s pretty much up to interpretation; what does a life, your life, mean to you?

Livingstone, a seinen manga from mangaka Maekawa Tomohiro and Kataoka Jinsei, delves into the idea of life and death. This supernatural story was started back in 2009 and ran for a total of six years. In that span it released up to twenty three chapters, which totals out to four volumes. The illustrations of the manga are from the mangaka of the popular Deadman Wonderland. Since it’s initial publication in Morning Magazine, the manga has be localized for both English and Spanish readers. As for online readers, the manga hasn’t fully been scanned. Only two volumes have been translated in full, and part of the third as well.

I found Livingstone online one day; there was no real rhyme or reason as to how or why I came to read it. Though after a while I couldn’t continue due to the lack of releases from scanners. Thanks to Kodansha however, I was able to read the manga in full. While I don’t dislike the manga, I would have liked a little more from it. The story is interesting, characters are well done, and visuals are unique; however it feels really limited in a sense. To understand what I’m getting at let’s start with the story.

Sakurai is your average Japanese business man, or at least on the outside he may seem that way. In actuality there is something about Sakurai that only a few humans are able to do. Sakurai can peer into the memories of those who have past. Using an item known as psycholith, Sakurai can look into the soul of those who have died. These psycholiths are the collective souls of humans; each human is set on a path and upon their planned death the psycholith leaves their body and then is transferred to the next life. Though, what if a death is unplanned; what if people are diverging from their soul plan? Unplanned accidents and suicides contribute to the decay of the psycholith and begin to push those of the living further off their plan and closer to a unplanned death, and thus a vicious cycle starts. As collectors Sakurai, and his partner Amano, must retrieve the decaying psycholiths and clean areas filled with decay. Though even a planned life hold many mysteries.

Livingstone is definitely an interesting story, but it’s short and has some minor problems. Now these problem are a product of opinion; for you, you might find the manga doesn’t have such issues. For me I just couldn’t fully get into what I was reading. There were moments I liked but, in the grand scheme of things, It was just alright. One of the biggest problems I had was the level of early exposition in the manga. The mangaka thought it was necessary to have an explanation for what a Soul Collector is every chapter until the middle of volume 2. Once, maybe twice, is enough; the first explanation provides every basic thing the reader needs to know. Though instead the same information is given countless times; it’s just altered to seem different.

The biggest problem for me was the overall structure of the manga. A very common thing with short manga is that they don’t have a definitive story line. There doesn’t tend to be an end goal in mind; instead short manga tend to just tell short stories. This is fine, but can it keep a readers interest? For me It was on and off. Some chapters kept me invested, while others felt like needless filler. In my opinion the manga could have been the same regardless of these chapters being present or not. The thing with Livingstone, however, is that there is an end goal. The goal isn’t presented from the start, but it’s somewhat obvious what it revolves around. I think Livingstone should have focused more of it’s time on the goal, instead of taking more time to produce short stories. Regardless of this, the manga does an amazing job at conveying the idea it wishes to sell.

One of the best things about Livingstone is the emotion. The manga provides such a great sense of emotion throughout it’s short span. The manga starts with somewhat of a dark tone; however, as the manga progresses, you get these really deep effective moments. Later in the manga you meet two female characters.

I can’t go to deeply into their story due to spoiler reasons; however, much later into the manga you get a scene between one of the girls and Sakurai. The women he is speaking to seems cold at first, but it’s for good reason. This scene, as well as other scenes, is really strong. The manga takes the ideas of life and death, and uses them in such deep and amazing ways. Some times it’s sad, other times it may be portrayed in a more light-hearted nature. One such story speaks of a graffiti artist who died of unknown means. People idolized this man for the creations he made, and stories of his “heroic” death started to arise. This made him even more of a wonder among individuals. Nothing could change their views, not even the knowledge of how he actually died. It’s not perfect, but the story has it’s moments. It’s not for everyone; it’s clearly for a specific demographic. Though it’s really only the story I have problems with. In fact the characters are what keep the manga interesting in my opinion.

The cast of Livingstone were surprisingly far better than I originally thought they would be. In the beginning I didn’t know if I’d like the cast. It’s a little slow to start, and the first impression doesn’t do to much. Sakurai is shown as this character who’s a little in over his head; his partner Amano is a little less human than the normal individual. That’s to say, he has no soul. Amano is a mystery, he’s a human, but the soul has long died. In it’s place is a replacement Psycholith. This psycholith is enough to make the body move, speak, and think; however, it lacks emotion. From the start this duo doesn’t seem to appealing, but as the manga goes on they start to grow so well. Not only them, many members of the cast see a nice development arc.

The cast is the main reason the story works; Sakurai learns a lot about life and becomes such a strong character. He learns of the importance of a life, and the effect it has on others. Amano takes some time for story reasons; though, just like Sakurai, he grows into a strong character. Amano slowly becomes more human as time goes on. Learning what death means to those who can experience it. The biggest thing with this cast is that they are human in the sense of their imperfections. You aren’t reading a story about people with extraordinary powers; sure Sakurai isn’t your average person, but he’s not running around saving the world.

I find that development of characters can be hard when it comes to shorter manga; Livingstone manages to develop it’s cast to an amazing degree. Character development is not a problem for this manga. Overall the cast is by far the best part, though the visuals are a close second.

Livingstone may have some familiar visuals for some readers. Those who know Deadman Wonderland will memorize the illustrator. Kataoka Jinsei provided the illustrations for Livingstone, and they look great. The visuals are extremely detailed; even the cover art is artistically done.

When it came to who was behind the visuals, I was a little scared. I said before that I’m not to into Deadman Wonderland. So going into Livingstone, just like the characters, I was a little skeptical. Not knowing really what I was getting into, I thought I might see some things I tend to dislike from Seinen manga. Though I was pleasantly surprised; the visuals were a lot more tame than I thought it was going to be.

The visuals convey what they need to; when someone is sad, or an integral moment appears, there is just enough detail implemented to get the point across. The frame above is a beautiful moment; Sakurai is distraught, he feels that all psycholiths hold a grave tale. Though, after seeing one he was never truly meant to see, his mind is more at ease. The scenes Sakurai has seen before are segmented; this is usually due to the fact that Sakurai doesn’t wish to see these dying moments. Though a psycholith is the collection of all memories, and not all memories are bad. The scene at the frame above it presented so vividly, and at this point he knows that this job has it’s perks.

The visuals aren’t the biggest selling point of the manga, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be; there is one scene I wish I could show, but it’s part of the last couple chapters. This scene is one of the strongest scene in the manga and the attention to detail and visuals used to show the scene are amazing (I also can’t show it due to lack of translation as said before). Overall I think the visuals are brilliantly done. They aren’t just eye candy to excite you; they serve a purpose, and contribute a lot to the manga as a whole in my opinion.

This review was hard for me, I’ll be honest. My opinion of the manga wasn’t easy to grasp. For me, and me alone, I’d give this a 6 out of 10. I don’t think it’s bad, but I didn’t care for it that much either. There were good moments, and then alright moments. Though from an unbiased stand point, I think the manga at least deserves a 7. I do believe it does what it sets out to do; does it do it perfectly, no, but it’s pretty well done regardless. For me I’d like the story to be altered to some extent; nothing serious, but I’d like a little more from it.

The next review is Sonic Forces, sorry for the late reviews; I’ve been busy, and quite honestly somewhat lazy at times. I’ll be sure to get that out soon. 

[tyukito-blog]

[zonanegativa]

Seguimos repasando Livingstone, obra de Tomohiro Maekawa y Jinsei Kataoka que comentamos en ZN

[kirara397]

昨日のステージでは最前列の通路に、お客さんと同行した盲導犬が座っていて、本番中の2時間全く身じろぎせず、カーテンコールになって拍手が始まると、くーっと大きく伸びて、拍手するように尻尾をフリフリしていた。なんて観劇マナーのいい子。Fan of the dayをあげたい

前川知大 Tomohiro MAEKAWA (@TomoMaekawa) Jun 2, 2022

[imasallstars]

The cover art for「THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS COLORFUL FE@THERS -Luna-」album has been released and the album is set to be released on 17th of February 2021. It will feature the solo songs of the Luna Group idols, along with a title track sung by them!

The crossfade of the album is located here. You will also be able to listen to each song in-game before the official crossfade is released!

Tracklist:

Tr.01　Reflect Sign 　Lyrics: Erica Masaki　Music: Masaki Iehara, Lauren Kaori 　Arrange: Masaki Iehara 　Singer(s): Team.Luna Tr.02 　Twilight Identity 　Lyrics: Yohei Matsui　Music&Arrange: Sonosuke Takao 　Singer(s): Mamimi Tanaka (CV: Chisa Suganuma) Tr.03 　I Am My Own Protagonist! 　Lyrics: Tomohiro Akiura　Music: Yuki Honda (Arte Refact) 　Arrange: Tsukasa Yatoki (Arte Refact) 　Singer(s): Koito Fukumaru (CV: Saran Tajima) Tr.04 　Until Tomorrow 　Lyrics: Shizuna Suzuki　Music&Arrange: JUVENILE 　Singer(s): Tenka Osaki (CV: Ryoko Maekawa) Tr.05 　Eternal Garden 　Lyrics: Shin Furuya　Music&Arrange: Tomoari Taguma (Dream Monster) 　Singer(s): Rinze Morino (CV: Wakana Maruoka)     Tr.06 　Plastic Umbrella 　Lyrics: Ameko Kodama 　Music: Kana Yabuki　Arrange: Wataru Maeguchi 　Singer(s): Yuika Mitsumine (CV: Runa Narumi)     Tr.07 　Going my way 　Lyrics: Yu Shimoji 　Music: Toru Watanabe　Arrange: Hirofumi Hibino 　Singer(s): Mei Izumi (CV: Sayaka Kitahara)   Tr.08 　Setsu・Getsu・Fu・Ka 　Lyrics: Erica Masaki　Music&Arrange: rionos 　Singer(s): Kiriko Yukoku (CV: Yuina Mizuki) Tr.09 　Slow Motion 　Lyrics: Kanata Nakamura 　Music: Ryota Iwakoshi　Arrange: Keita Miyoshi 　Singer(s): Hiori Kazano (CV: Reina Kondo)

[millenni-uhm]

Livingstone (2009) manga by Kataoka Jinsei and Maekawa Tomohiro.

Jinsei's style is unsurpassed

Edit: Just finished it, this is the best manga I ever read.

[professorharrysaxon]

Deadman Wonderland reference in Livingstone!

As you may know Livingstone is a great manga written by Maekawa Tomohiro and drawn by Kataoka Jinsei with a little help from Kondou Kazuma.

and why is that important?

in volume 3, at the end of chapter 14, we can see Amano and Sakurai walking in a crowded street, surrounded by random people, living their daily lives.

I thought to myself - “drawing so many people is boring and tiring for sure, maybe she hid something funny in there to pass the time?”. So I checked again, this time I tried to look more closely to see if I can find something out of the ordinary.

and then..

I FOUND IT - A DEADMAN WONDERLAND WRETCHED EASTER EGG

Do you recognize them?  Senji, Genkaku (with his guitar XD) and Hibana!!

What a lovely surprise :)

It would be nice if as many fans as possible will see this post so please re-blog :) 

[ishikawadesu]

[Sakiyama Tsubasa - News] Hana ni Kedamono ~Vita Sexualis~ Theme Song & Zekkyo Drama Appearance!

This week (or last week, depending on where you live xD) Sakiyama Tsubasa threw several bombs related to work, so I'll start with these two announcements~

The first one, Tsubasa’s song "Snow gift" is gonna be used as the theme song of the movie comic "Hana ni Kedamono ~Vita Sexualis~", sequel from the manga "Hana ni Kedamono". “Snow gift” is the second song Tsubasa wrote for his first album UTOPIA. The first one, Re:quest, is being used for the movie “Kurogarasu” in which Tsubasa is the main character.

Distribution starts on March 20, 2019 on dTV. More info HERE and HERE.

(SOURCE)

The second one, Tsubasa is going to appear in the drama "Zekkyo" ("Scream", also known as "The Voice Calling Your Name") from the novel of the same name written by Hamanaka Aki and now directed by Mizuta Naruhide.

Summary

A decayed body is found in an apartment. The dead woman is identified as Suzuki Yoko. Detective Ayano Okunuki heads up the investigation. After learning about the victim's background, she comes to the conclusion that the body may not be that of Suzuki Yoko.

Drama: Zekkyo Cast: Ono Machiko, Yasuda Ken, Konishi Manami, Katagiri Jin, Maekawa Yasuyuki, Koyanagi Yu, Sakai Wakana, Kaname Jun, Asou Yumi, Kaku Tomohiro, Rokkaku Shinji, Ikushima Sho, Sakiyama Tsubasa, Hamatsu Takayuki, Kobayashi Ryoko, Okunuki Kaoru. Genre: Suspense Episodes: 4 Release Date: March 24th, 2019- April 14th, 2019 (Sundays 10:00 PM JST) on WOWOW. Official Site: HERE

(SOURCE)

[half-lies]

[strangemonochromes]

Livingstone (リヴィングストン) //  Jinsei Kataoka & Tomohiro Maekawa

[undeadimpulsereviews]

Late December Update

Hello everyone; it’s Christmas eve, and a happy holiday to you all. If it’s not one thing it’s the other with me. Though I am on break from school, work has been a thorn in my side. While more hours means more money, it also means a lot more unneeded stress. Though I didn’t come to vent, I still have two reviews scheduled to drop sometime this month. I will be releasing one tomorrow is all goes well, and then the other one near the end of the month. Though I’ll be changing the manga review. I originally said it would be JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean; however, I decided to hold off on that review for another time. Been thinking behind the scenes about making new themed months and I’d like to make a JoJo month. That aside, the review replacing JoJo will be the manga Livingstone. Just recently finished it and thought I’d get the review out post haste. With that said I’ll hopefully see you on Christmas, though if not Happy Holidays once again.

[leenaevilin]

[Announcement] 朗読劇「青空」(roudokugeki aozora)

the show will be running from October 8th, 2018 to October 19th, 2018 (Tokyo) @ 三越劇場 (Mitsukoshi Gekijou)

Cast:

October 8th

Takeda Tomohiro Nagashima Seira Matsui Yuuho Yonehara Kousuke

October 9th

Ishii Masanori Satou Hinata Sorihashi Souichirou Honda Reo

October 10th

Kotobuki Minako Maeshima Ami Mizushima Yuu Yagami Ren

October 11th

Ishikura Saburou Ino Hiroki Nakajima Tomoko Yamazaki Ginnojou

October 12th

Ishida Haruka Inoue Kikuko Hirata Hiroaki Mizushima Yuu

October 13th

Aoki Sayaka Asakura Shinji Itou Yuuichi Kotobuki Minako

October 14th

Oozora Yuuhi Komiya Arisa Takahashi Hitomi Takenaka Naoto

October 15th

Zaiki Takuma Nakajima Hiroko Maeshima Ami Murata Takehiro

October 17th

Ogino Yuka Ozuki Tooma Maekawa Yasuyuki Mizutani Atsushi

October 19th

Oota Masaki Okamori Akira Kondou Shouri Sakurai Keito

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[zonanegativa]

Livingstone, obra Tomohiro Maekawa y Jinsei Kataoka que reseñamos en ZN.