#like this some Urasawa themes for real

[good-wine-and-cheese]

The absolute GRIP this chapter has on me

[hellspawnmotel]

well you guys really called my bluff on this one, haha. I have a lot to say on the topic so this will probably turn into a long post but the answer really depends on this: what interests you about astro boy, pluto, and the franchise/tezuka's body of work as a whole? what do you want out of this experience?

if you're just looking for places to read/watch these things and that's it, I'll put some links here at the top so you don't have to dig through this whole mess.

you can read astro boy (original manga) here (there are occasionally missing pages on this website, if/when you run into those you can switch to this one which is harder to navigate but complete)

you can watch/download the 2003 anime (english sub) here

you can read naoki urasawa's pluto here

so you're interested in astro boy but aren't sure where to start: my opinion as someone whose point of view you respect for some reason

it didn't occur to me until recently that for a lot of people who follow me, your cultural touchstone for the concept of astro boy is most likely to be the 2009 american movie. I didn't watch that as a kid, I was 14 when it came out and fully into my "anime is superior to western animation" phase, but I've watched it now and well.... if you like it that's great! I did not. I'm not going to dwell on that, but I think it's worth noting that whatever your opinion on it as a movie is I don't really think it's a good representation of astro boy and its themes. moving on.

the manga

if you want the pure, unfiltered astro boy experience, this is as close as you're gonna get. it's gonna be a little haphazard though because the dark horse publication, which is probably the only way you're gonna find to read it in english, does not order the stories chronologically. I don't think that really matters because there's not a lot of continuity so as long as you understand the basic premise you can read in whatever order you want, and this puts a lot of really good stories first anyway so it's nice too. personally as far as all versions of astro boy proper go, the manga is my favorite. it's not always an easy read, for reasons I'll get into in a moment, and it's not always good either. some stories are phenomenal, some are just plain silly, and some are downright terrible. but given how long it ran for and how consistently and without breaks tezuka worked on not just it but all his other manga too I think that's too be expected. but even the bad ones I think are worth a look! this is the history of manga as a medium right here! and I love the manga, it's fun, funny, wonderfully drawn, compelling, shockingly dark at times, and just a fascinating read for those with an interest in classic comics.

all that said, I think it would be irresponsible of me to recommend it without also including a big fat disclaimer, which dark horse was kind enough to put at the front of the book.

if you have an interest or familiarity with classic/vintage manga, anime, comics, and cartoons, you probably saw this coming, but some of this shit gets REAL racist, most often in terms of how people are drawn. some of tezuka's biggest inspirations were the rubberhose american cartoons of the 20s and 30s, and all that implies. for whatever the opinion of a white american is worth, based on his writing I really do believe he had good intentions- he consistently speaks out against racism and bigotry in general, in astro boy especially. you can tell he was very passionate about it. but I'm not gonna defend the guy either, you can't be drawing people like that, even if it was the 40s-80s. a lot of the experience of getting into tezuka is reading a story where the moral is "racism is evil! end discrimination!" accompanied by straight up racial caricatures in the art. it's baffling and infuriating. if I could I would travel back in time and hire the man a sensitivity reader, but I can't, and he's been dead for 35 years so we'll never know what he would've done about it today. all we can do is take it as an opportunity to learn and do better. but, if all that puts you off getting into the manga or the series at large, I don't blame you!

with that out of the way, the size of the manga might intimidate you. there's a lot of it. lucky for you you don't have to read all of it if you don't want to! I've read the entire thing because I'm a completionist at heart, but I've had several friends come to me for a smaller and more manageable reading list, which is as follows:

(stars for my personal favorites, grimaces for "I did enjoy this one and I think it's worth reading but I don't feel good about recommending it". I also think "the artificial sun" and "atlas" are important reads if you're interested in the history of the franchise because they get referenced a lot, but they are VERY racist and I don't think theyre good enough overall to make them worth putting on the list despite that.)

that was long. next up:

the 2003 anime

I am not quite done watching this one but I'm pretty close so I feel confident in saying: on the whole, it's great! it looks absolutely fantastic for a tv anime from that era, the character and world design is top-notch, and overall it does a really good job adapting the best and most important parts of the manga into a continuous story, although it softens the blow of the darker moments quite a bit (which might be a good thing for you, depending on your tastes). it's pretty beloved by western fans, and for good reason.

I do have my issues with it, for one this might not be a popular opinion but I think they majorly screwed up on adapting the "greatest robot on earth" arc (my favorite arc btw, yes I might be salty), for another they really sand the edges off of uran's character compared to the manga and make her a lot more meek and girly. but that's just my opinion and if this show is the only one you've watched you wouldnt know that anyway. so don't let that deter you if you're interested, you'll be missing out on a pretty fantastic kids show.

so, if you're looking to really dive chest-first into astro boy as a franchise and understand all there is to know: maybe don't start with this one. it changes a lot from the source material and kind of does its own thing. but if you're just looking for a good story thats fun to watch and total eye candy, go nuts!

pluto

pluto by naoki urasawa is an adaptation/reimagining of astro boy's most famous and beloved arc, "the greatest robot on earth". it's also what got me into the franchise and one of my favorite manga ever! pluto reinvents the story as a detective thriller set in the aftermath of what is effectively, and obviously, the iraq war. it's brutal and harrowing, and beautiful and cathartic and hopeful. to me it is the gold standard for "dark and gritty reboot of a children's story" because urasawa adores tezuka and respects the original version, which was always a dark tragedy anyway, just presented differently. you might have seen pluto got an anime adaptation last year as well. I've watched it, it's pretty good! it doesn't change all that much (I don't like the few things they DID change but whatever) but I just think urasawa's artwork, paneling, and pacing are completely unmatched so I'd recommend the manga first. I'm not gonna be that asshole who insists you gotta read the manga over the anime though, if anime is easier for you you're better off having experienced pluto that way than not at all.

(if you ARE interested in both astro boy and pluto and are considering which to get into first, it's important to know that reading the arc pluto is based on will spoil a loooooot of things about the story. so weigh the pros and cons of that before making a decision!)

so, that's basically what I have to say. I haven't watched the 60s or 80s anime adaptations so I can't give insight on those, and I'm by no means an expert on any of this. I only started reading the original manga like three months ago and before that my memories of the other stuff was pretty faded, before I revisited it. if you're interested though I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy yourself if you decide to take the leap! it's kind of a rabbit hole. I did not know what I was getting into when I decided to reread pluto, but I'm sure glad I did.

if you have any other questions about my personal opinions, feel free to shoot me an ask as well!

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

TOP 10 personal Favorite Manga.

Here's just a couple of manga that I love & just think are top-notch.

NUMBER: 1 : TOKYO GHOUL

A series that means a lot to me in many ways. When I first got into Tokyo Ghoul it was by the very first season of the anime during 2014 and upon hearing the opening theme of Unravel and seeing the first episode, I was hooked and went into the manga series right after. A nuanced morally compelling storytelling with an array of so many cool and great characters and narratives, incredible art progression from Ishida Sui, and overall just a satisfyingly great conclusion to boot.

NUMBER: 2 : J NO SUBETE

On the surface, looks like a regular BL series, but underneath an emotional-roller-coaster and pretty heavy story about a transwoman named J. Set in the 40s /50s, you fellow J childhood and the awful, rough bullshit she deals with in life as well as her love & massive admiration of Marilyn Monroe. Really such a good story that deals with some real heavy shit...but still so good.

NUMBER: 3 : MONSTER

Not only one of my favorite anime adaptations but also equally as wonderfully engaging & just as well done as a manga as well. Monster is such a captivating, intense story and truly one of my favorites from Urasawa's works. Following Dr. Tenma, a talented neurosurgeon who has grips with the moral dilemma of either saving the Mayor or saving a young boy who was shot in a murder. Tenma chose to save the boy instead and while it costs him being demoted he still believes he did the right thing. Unfortunately years later discovering the boy he saves...turns out to be a killer. This series is such a banger from its storytelling to the characters and just one of the best from Urasawa's.

NUMBER: 4 : GOODNIGHT PUNPUN

At first glance of this manga, you might think of it as something of a cute slice-of-life story about a cute cartoony bird. But actually when reading it...IT'S WAY MORE DARKER and GETS A LOT MORE FUCK UP! For real Goodnight Punpun is one of those series that's start-up pretty light-hearted and a little bit goofy with Punpun being a cartoony-drawn bird amongst very average-looking humans as a young kid in the first volumes of the series. But as things move forward within the story as Punpun gets older and his family situation gets more unstable as well as his life, the tone gets more depressing as a whole. Love the dark psychological storytelling, although it definitely the type of story you can only read once in awhile or in a good headspace because it definitely can be a hard read.

NUMBER: 5 : BERSERK

Seriously, what can I say about Berserk that already hasn't been said on some level. But this manga is seriously, I feel one of the most top iconic series within manga as well as one of the most engaging, moving, fantastic, epic storyline I've read thus far. I know the series itself is still ongoing, and I've been keeping up-to-date with this story since reading the very first chapter. Hearing about Kentaro Miura death....was tough, I knew he had serious health issues, which is why volumes would tend to go on pretty long hatiuses... but man. Another influential iconic figure in manga gone, Berserk is definitely a series any manga-lover or anime fan should read once in awhile.

NUMBER: 6 : SHOUWA GENROKU RAKUGO SHINJUU

Not only one of the most beautifully mature, well-written, compelling storytelling I've seen thus far in an anime series. But as a manga, even more so, a well-crafted story on the life and times of a sad, burden-ridden, slightly bitter, depressed, old man known as Yakumo Yurakutei, who is a highly skilled and experienced master of Rakugo, which for those who don't know is an traditional Japanese verbal form of entertainment. Think of it as something like a form of Improv done by only one person playing different characters to tell a story, This series has many layers to its storytelling that's is done so well dealing with Yakumo and those in his life that has impacted him as to the type of pained almost broken old man he is within the present time. Just a overall good & bittersweet but fantastic story that's deserves to be check out more.

NUMBER: 7 : INNOCENT

It is one of the most beautifully drawn manga series that I have read so far while also being equally gruesome as well. Innocent is a fictionalized historical manga set during 18th century France about the story and legacy of Charles Henri Sanson (actual real historical figure), who is the fourth generation of a family of Executioners known as the Sanson family who are the royal Executioners of Paris. The story follows Charles rough journey towards his path of becoming the Monsieur De Paris. This absolutely such a fantastic piece of work, both in terms of the visually amazing stunning artwork and along with the historical storytelling of Charles coming to terms with his hated lineage and becoming Executioner of Paris but also showcasing the societal/political chaotic changes and upheaval of France slowly leading up to the French revolution. Although some historical aspects are obviously fictionalized, but still such a good series.

NUMBER: 8 : THE PROMISED NEVERLAND

While my feelings on the anime are highly mixed due to really, really, really not caring for the way they handled parts of the storytelling from season 2 of the anime series. But the manga, on the other hand, is a totally different story. Seriously, reading this series was a blast and just an enjoyable experience from beginning to end, as well as seeing Emma and Ray also Norman grow & and develop throughout each arc was great to witness including seeing the rest of the kids thrive and survive the outside world. For this manga was a great read, and definitely, I'll say at least personally to me was done far better then the second season flimsy adaptation.

NUMBER: 9 : HOMUNCULUS

Truly an mindfuck of a manga in more ways than one. But still a pretty damned good and wild story, Homunculus is a story about a homeless man named Susumu Nakoshi who ends up meeting a seemingly antagonistic young medical student named Itoh Manabu to do a little experiment on him by drilling a actual hole in his skull for a total of 700,000 ¥en. Itoh, who is very fascinated with studying the human minds and amongst other things such as ghosts and the occult, but ultimately he thinks he can unlock the hidden psychic potential of Susumu brain. Nakoshi goes through the process, and at first, nothing seems to happen after going through the the operation. Until he closes his right eye and starts seeing otherworldly nightmarish monsters and shapes with his left eye when he looks at other people. This series is truly a weird but also such a highly intriguing and fascinating psychological read while at the same time being a bit of a downer, but still an excellent but messed-up good story.

NUMBER : 10 : ATELIER OF WITCH HAT

Okay, so I just recently started reading this manga series not that long ago, about a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm so freaking hooked. Atelier of Witch hat has truly captured my heart and mind with its engaging and creatively fascinating world-building involving witches and magic to the just as highly interesting characters and storytelling. Which centers around our young protagonist Coco ( the girl on the cover) who is this super adorably passionate girl who has such a huge love for all things magical /witches and deeply wishes she could become one as well, but unfortunately normal people or "outsiders" can't become witches, you have to be born into it, but that's doesn't stop Coco from trying her hardest to still wanting to be a witch. One of the things I love most about this world and how it handles dealing with magic and witches is that magic is really normal within this world and how witches tend to uses it to help and serve regular people in need or even for lighting up a cobblestone pathway also I really like how the magic system is structured in this series, such as instead of casting spells or any from of magic with words or a phrase, magic is casted by drawing, Coco here ends up in a pickle with accidentally casting magic that ends up turning her mom into stone & thus Coco journey towards witchood begins.

Seriously, even though I've just recently gotten into this manga & and its ongoing tale it's already has captivated me on so many levels and I just can't get enough of it so far wonderful storytelling and amazingly beautiful drawn artsy apart of it which really adds a lot of this series fantastical elements. Definitely a must to check out!!

Wanted to do a list of a couple of some of my most top favorite manga series and ones were I feel other's should give them a shot at checking out if there into any of these stories. (^ _ ^)

[brickleandfickle]

Billy Bat: Thoughts & Analysis

I finished Billy Bat recently so I thought to throw my hat into the ring and try dissecting it. All my thoughts are under the cut since I don't want to clog up anyone's dash. Much love <3

Note: I am in no way saying that my analysis is correct. It is simply my interpretation. Thank you if you choose to read this all the way through haha. Also I wrote all this at 1 AM so there may be some points that I ungracefully explain but hey, that's how we roll.

I finished reading Billy Bat within the span of the week. Overall it was an 8/10. I think I got the message but it felt bogged down by certain sections of the story. To me, the central intention is directed towards artists. Artists take what is going on around them and reflect it through their art. Essentially, genuine artists are the greatest historians since they cover everything as they see it, not biased through any political affiliations. Biased artists are not applicable to be carriers of Billy Bat. There is also a theme about legacy, not that artists necessarily steal from one another, but how artists build upon other’s work. All artists are self-conscious and worried that their work will never come out correctly or that their work can’t compete with others. However, through solidarity and legacy, one can persevere to continue drawing what they imagine in their head, following through on their visions (either of their independent work or trying to create a statement about the world). After all, most art is realism with a dash of fantasy.

At the start of the manga, Keven Yamagata said that artists have a responsibility towards their work and their audience, stating that art has the power to instill hope. This same value is reiterated with Chuck since he wanted to use the Toon version to shift the world into darkness. Artwork itself is powerful for both uniting and separating people since at the core, art itself is born from the act of creation spawned from reactions to real life.

I don’t have the patience to leave specific sources but Billy’s attitude is cheekily remarking that he can’t do anything since it was the artist who created the art, not Billy. My interpretation is that Billy can deliver predictions/inspiration, but the artist is the carrier. Although one can argue (as both Kevins do) that they are not the source of the prophecies, the fact that the images themselves were transcribed incites responsibility for the artist. After all, the pride of creation deems that one embraces their work above all else, even if no one else does. Also, as previously stated, artists chosen by Billy are supposed to be the most unbiased historians. The act of creating the Billy Bat stories with accurate predictions, anyone can do it. Timmy did it. My point is that the chosen carriers only get a nudge from Billy to follow through and create, as if giving them a gentle nod that Kevin is following the right path. This is all proven when Billy’s last decree is to “Draw”, not noting what to draw, just trusting Kevin to keep drawing no matter what. 

The political intrigue and conspiracy were also top-notch. My man Urasawa clearly did his homework as usual :^D Let’s goooo. I think the general commentary is that there is an innate human desire for mankind to both preserve and destroy itself simultaneously. It is sad yet fascinating. My interpretation of artists ‘making predictions based upon reflecting the world to the reader’ comes full circle when Timmy goes on his monologue about democratic backsliding, America playing cop, the EU crumbling, water becoming a scarce resource, etc. These are all things that could happen in real life, making Urasawa’s manga itself a prediction of the future.

All right, let me end this with a tangent about what I didn’t like about this series. I love Urasawa’s work and admit that he is great at slow burns, but Christ almighty, some sections were weighted down with bricks. There was never anything unnecessary nor anything to slow down the pace to a halt, but some sections felt meandering. The ‘Kevin Goodman vs. Walt Disney’ arc was the worst offender and felt as slow as paint drying. I love Kevin Goodman. He’s handsome and genuinely a great guy. It was this arc though that I kept thinking “Where are we going with this?” and not in a good way. To me, suspense can not be properly built unless I know the stakes. After the scroll was taken, I felt like the stakes became more ambiguous. Still palatable, but foggy nonetheless. I remember so clearly when I was reading Chapter 150 and thinking, “Dude, this manga is ending in 15 chapters and it doesn’t even feel like the finale. Where is the payoff?”

I can report though that the last 5 chapters rescued this manga from the jaws of defeat. It left me feeling pensive, as if I'd gone on a satisfying journey. All I could do is take my dog out for a walk ... all the while staring up at that fuckass moon.

TLDR: Damn Urasawa, I didn’t know you were chill like that.

[violentlydefending]

i understand the impulse to want to humanize or sympathize with johan (in naoki urasawa's monster) and i do think there are some story beats and elements that promote such thoughtfulness towards the character but i feel like doing that too much to johan is a complete detriment towards the main themes of the story and a disservice to the arcs of like. every other major character. "johan was right," "johan did nothing wrong..." but like. he wasn't right. he did do things that were wrong.

like the worse of a person he is (worse spoken in relative terms, but you know what i mean) the more significance is given to the other characters in the story, ESPECIALLY nina and tenma. like nina being the one who went through the trauma of the red rose mansion and johan being only a reflection of it, and then nina also being the one to forgive him… if johan was "in the right" then what nina goes through and what she ultimately ends up doing loses all of its weight!!

and the same goes for tenma!! through the entire story he tries to steel himself and "take responsibility" for bringing this "monster" back into the world, surrounded by people who care about him and who don't want him to take that step from being a doctor that saves to someone who kills. and then tenma comes to the conclusion that, yeah, he IS a doctor, and what he does IS save people, regardless of who they are. again, if johan is "right," that loses so much of its meaning!!

even like. with dieter and wolfgang who explicitly go through experiences that directly parallel what johan has experienced wrt kinderheim 511 and then like. choosing to be good anyway. basically if johan "right" then why dieter and wolfgang and nina.

and going further w that it's like. the lack of real "reason" behind johan's actions work as an exploration of the senselessness of "evil" and the importance of thoughtfulness towards oneself and others in the choice to be kind!! he can still be a good and compelling antagonist without being somehow "correct"

i just. idk johan isn't like. a "good person" or someone who has done "right" things or suffered the correct amount to "justify" being forgiven and saved. bc it's about nina and tenma making those choices for themselves bc of who THEY are, not who johan is.

[not-souleaterpost]

20th century boys - scrapped reveals and plot twists?

Don't know if anybody cares about speculating something as hard to proof and irrelevant, but I had a few ideas while reading, which even if didnt come true, seemed to be getting hinted at and with how much was made on the spot I wonder if they were originally the plan...

So not really them mentionened besides random yt comments that may or may not be an alt account of me...

Spoilers of course.

Donkey was supposed to be friend?

Remember how Donkey was first introduced? As the weird kid others ostrociced and didnt really want to include, who actually was very smart and talanted all excentricitys aside.

And he was the first "friend" to die, as a classic misdirection - while having an obvious excuse introduced to fake his death "Oh all his siblings look just like him..." (Also the evil twin angel was really emphasised with the fat bully kids at the start, hmmm....)

Donkey was the one that had the skills and near supernatural abilities while being the classic story of a good kid cracking and turning - tieing the dark subversion if shonen magazine tropes.

His whole skepticism of things could tie into too with him cynically learning that "Oh people want to fall for superstitions for illusions, really friendship is fake as well, so why not start a cult, not like its hard for me to make some tricks..."

The symbol being sent by him would be than a cheeky hint, the intentional start of a goose chase, but no geese will ever outrun a donkey...Even all the showing of Donkey in the first half would not just be as motivation for the middle aged friend group, but a setup for this dark twist, while laying the seeds of the themes, maybe even having Dunkey in his twisted logic think he did it for their sake, to make them be the heroes they didnt become.

Oh and also the whole Aldrin Moon Nasa thing seems to work the best for him - with him being the stereotype of a "I fricking love science" kid (who if I dont misremeber is said to have actually wiaited till it happened and didnt fall asleep, but maybe Im misremebering that part) and also his familys lack of money stoping him from enjoying many activities with his "friends" (even having to watch tv with Kenji...)

Oh and for any "well how would he set it up, was the one injured guy lieing about what Donkey said before he threw him of??? Or was that all part of his plan??!"

And yeah its convoluted and kinda breaks the "trying to figure out a mystery without the author just lieing and pulling bullshit" part - but Urasawa does it anyways, with all the reveals obviously not being planned before getting changed again (as he admits)

Oh and also that applys to the "real" reveal (the first one) - we literally saw the friend guy have an emotional breakdown, say he knows who the real friend must be, remove the friends mask and say he isnt that and then fall to his death

So if the Dunkey twist goes against the story, so does the real one. "Ohnono, you just had to assume that he lied and hired actors for his family and then did a double misdirection plunge to the dead and-" Yeah ok Donkey could have done that too.

but for the other theory

Kiriko/the protags sister had a "virgin birth"

So remember when there was that random detail about "Godzilla being a girl and giving a birth without a father"? And how this godzilla thing getting a callback with the mom saying she is one cause her virus killed that many people?

Well isnt it weird that the actually weird part wasnt adressed? Especially when Kanna was mysterious from the start and that at the same time talks of a "Holy Mother" started, as did all the Christian imagery with saviors dieing, resurecting and the pope (with Catholics having the biggest connection with Mary...)

But then it didnt pay of - guess she really had a secret relationship with a random half-friend of her younger brother🤷‍♂️ Not saying that that is more fantastical than all the magic and conspiracys but still a weird detail, especially with the romance and relationship not being explored at all.

It even seems to be anti thetical, with the sister being very mature and selfless, while "friend" is childish and egoistical (well maybe a certain codependent weird thing makes sense now but ehh...)

Still what would make more sense in a dramatic story with supernatural elements - the model sister suddenly just having a kid and abandoning it without ever telling anyone about the father who she only found out was evil after having a consensual relationship which she didnt really have a reason to hide at the start

Or if she DOES have a miracle birth...

Like Kiriko was literally shown to be a perfect sister, doing everything for her brother, being responsible, taking everyones shit, even sacrificing her well being for her brother and others while having a stoic expression.

Maybe she actually did magically get a baby and that scared here enough to abandon it without explaining because who could believe it.

Or maybe something cause it, something she couldnt explain.

Like Friends "magic" or "science"(magic) - hence why Friend calls himself "the father" - he kinda is, in some way, indirectly, idk

Or, as a subtheory...

Kiriko was friend. Think about it, she would be "the father" if her research developed a way to create a child without a fathers DNA (I mean there is a magic anti-proton bomb, and the virus is also not really scientific), the "father" being the part of her that is the alter ego executing the plan, the magic and the tricks.

But more importantly, it would be the perfect obvious misdirection - they were so busy searching for a boy in their class, missing the obvious girl who was just a few years older, who may even in younger photos, if she could have had short hair as that other girl love interet with the dog as a kid had, may have looked as a standard early middle school boy.

And the thematic motivation would be perfect too - she allways just saw everything from the outskirts, she had to be the older and responsible one, not having a chance to ever play like her younger brother did, being resentful of not being able to have a secret base and alll, especially when the other girl could join later.

The scientific angel is there too, as the metaphor of "being in the space capsule while the others got all the fun and glory"

Also it would be a perfect hiding in a plain sight twist thing "Oh my sister disapeared and left a baby, I wonder who this mysterious masked individual is who seems to know me and my friend so much while even knowing the name of my sisters kid... Guess we'll never know🤷‍♂️" (bonus connection - the concert being "not real rock" could be the sis either trolling him on porpuse, or doing it as a intentional thing while also not understanding why it doesnt work, showing that there is this misunderstading between siblings that could get solves in the end)

[stackslip]

do you have any recommendations for youtubers who discuss anime/manga? the only ones i can find are ppl who say stuff thats already agreed upon by most fans or just straight up misogynists

hm i mean it depends what you're looking for? i like some reactors/people who discuss stuff or people who hype up their fave manga/anime, like supereyepatchwolf, who's so enthusiastic that even when i disagree i appreciate his sheer love for the work. (his take on chainsaw man's ending is COMPLETELY wrong though). rn i like semblance of sanity's rgu discussions and the times they watch anime i like personally bc i feel like they actually pay attention to what's happening and the themes and characters unlike so many reactors/analysis channels. re chainsaw man there are very very few good vids on it tbh, as you say a LOT of them are misogynists or are completely stuck up on the "ooooh it's wacky as hell and then DARK" or talking about how Wild fujimoto is and...... not much more. i liked some of aleczanderxr's hunter x hunter vids (though crucially, not all of them) and i really do not care for most of his chainsaw man takes tbh lol.

one of my issues is that like, outside of chainsaw man or hunter x hunter, most of the anime/manga i like and really love to see analysis/meta of or even like, some truly heartfelt gushing for, don't get that much in-depth attention? yumi tamura's 7 seeds and basara are practically unknown to lots of people, there are videos on urasawa's 20th century boys but they're more like general overview videos than in-depth analysis, there's ONE real long in depth rgu video which i like but don't love (there are some very short ones but i haven't watched them mostly bc i feel like tackling rgu in 8 minutes or less feels kind of useless).

the sad truth is that it's easier to find real good video game discussion channels than manga/anime ones, bc either the work is well known and it feels like the general fandom has a Settled Interpretation and as you say is incredibly misogynistic, and also bc most of these reviewers/channels are far more intent on Explaining The Thing rather than connecting with themes, or talking about how they personally connected with the work. OR the manga/anime isn't that well known and the few vids are like some "the best anime you never watched" entry-level works, or some v short and not in-depth analysis. i might find better stuff at some point but i'll also say that i've kinda stopped seeking out some of that analysis/meta on youtube bc of how many bad takes there are and i can only take so many false starts before i get irritated haha. but if i find others i'll def rec. rn at least i'll say semblance of sanity is my go-to in terms of certain anime, even if they're more reaction vids and following discussion rather than actual full video essays.

anyway i'm just desperately waiting for someone to get out and be the noah caldwell gervais or jacob geller or sulmatul or codexentry of anime/manga. talk to me about your own personal connection and experience with the work!!! talk to me about different interpretations and techniques used by the author!!!! talk to me about the actual layers of it all without then dissolving into Quips and Zingers. begging someone to do it bc there's no way my executive dysfunction would allow it.

[2centsoframblings]

Two cents of ramblings on: “Monster” (Anime)...

...and why I STRONGLY recommend it.

GENERAL DATA

Title: MONSTER

Media: Anime television series

Adaptation of: “Monster” Seinen manga by Urasawa Naoki

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Psychological thriller

Directed by: Kojima Masayuki

Written by: Urahata Tatsuhiko

Studio: Madhouse

Original run: 7 April 2004 – 28 September 2005

Episodes: 74

WARNINGS: There's murder, child abuse, racism, child experimentation, torture

The plot in short: Despite the director’s wishes, Brain Surgeon Dr. Kenzo Tenma, believing ‘all lives are equal’ operates Johan Liebert, who was admitted earlier in the hospital, instead of the mayor, who arrived later, and saves Johan’s life. Little he knows Johan, despite being a kid, is a dangerous killer, who resumes murdering as soon as he’s better. Tenma ends up being suspected for Johan’s crime and has to escape. He then starts hunting for Johan.

HOW DID I STUMBLE INTO IT

“Monster” is the sort of classic manga/anime one has to see and I waited even too long in watching it so, as soon as I had some free time, I decided digging into it.

THINGS YOU MIGHT WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE TACKLING THIS

I mentioned “The Fugitive” an American movie directed by Andrew Davis dated 1993

MY TWO CENTS ON IT

THE SHORT VERSION… or what I can tell you about this while trying to keep spoilers at the very bare minimum.

Opening & ending: The anime uses as opening “Grain” by Haishima Kuniaki and, as ending,

- for episode 1 to 32 “For the Love of Life” by David Sylvian.

- for episodes 33 to 74 "Make it Home" by Ingrid Fujiko Hemming.

I’ve mixed feelings for the opening. “Grain” is an instrumental music but that gives a fitting atmosphere. The visual however seems more fitting for the second part of the series, as it kind of spoiled it. I mean, after the title we see a wasteland and then Tenma into the city with the look he’ll had later in the story, when he’ll be a fugitive without even Dieter with him, his shoulders hunched over as he keeps away from people or escapes. So it’s not like it’s bad, but when I watched it with the first episodes, it just felt spoilerish and gave me the wrong vibe.

The two ending basically shows images from the story “The monster with no name”, a tale told in the story. The idea is interesting because at first you don’t understand what they’re showing, especially considering they don’t show the whole tale but just a bit of it, but then you notice that, after a while, they change and show the next part of the tale, and then the next, and then the next, and you start getting curious with the story that’s being shown… then you get familiar with the tale and figure out what you’re seeing and it’s intelligent and interesting. So, while at first they might not make much of an impression, as the anime progress, you start watching them with interest.

The plot: “Monster” was inspired by “The Fugitive” but it’s much more than just Tenma escaping and trying to prove he’s innocent and chasing the real culprit. The story digs into complicate themes like ‘if all the lives really are equal’, what’s the sense of self and identity, social relations and how they affect people, trauma and how it destroy them, what makes happiness, if people want to die or not, the fact that different choices can bring to different results and so on and it’s all so damn good. I love how also some themes are delivered by paralleling the stories of the characters with the tales of child books. Really, this is a great and complicate story.

The characters: The characters are amazing. They’re different and well constructed, realistic and intriguing. They make you feel for them or they make you hate them but they’ll hardly leave you indifferent. With some you can empathize really hard, with some is more difficult and Johan is an enigma we try hard to unravel and we’re probably not fully meant to but still it’s all so good and even minor characters feel so real so yeah, it’s great.

The visual: “Monster” isn’t something that makes me think ‘oh this is so pretty’ but this doesn’t mean the visual doesn’t have its charm. The character design for each character is very different and well constructed. They’re often not meant to be pretty but to feel real, to feel like the tons of people you meet everyday, not like the bishōnen/bishōjo of manga tales. The colours aren’t bright but they fit the mood of the story. There’s still a care for the scenery, a realism to it so, although it’s not pretty, it’s good. The characters come out as expressive and nuanced so yeah, it’s a good work.

The musical background: Haishima Kuniaki gave this series a rather fitting BGM, which can very well get you unsettled when the story needs you to be. It might not be something you’ll want to listen on a happy day, but it fits very well the mood of the story.

Overall: It’s a great and complicate story that will make you ponder a lot about many things. Yes, it takes time to watch it all because it’s 74 episodes and many of us have gotten used to series of 12 episodes but that time is well spent. Without rushing this series will lead you through its plot and its themes, offering you emotions and points to ponder in an amazing travel through plenty of important topics so really, spare some time to try it out.

THE LONG VERSION… or what I loved and hated about this with, of course, TONS OF SPOILERS.

There’s so, so much to love about “Monster”.

I love, love, love the way this story digs into the psychology of the characters, how it focuses on their ideas but also on their growth, how it forces them to face ‘the other side of the coin’, challenging their beliefs and their determination to pursue them.

Let’s pick Tenma, for example. He tries to stick to a noble idea ‘all lives are equal’ and then… he sees this ideal challenged when he discovered not only that he has saved a serial killer who also killed people he knew merely because he overheard him saying they were better off dead. Tenma’s travel through the whole story is amazing, how he decides he has to correct his mistake of saving Johan by killing him yet how he can’t make himself do it because he still values human lives, how he stop himself from helping whoever he meets, how he blames himself when he believes he killed Roberto in self defense, his fear, his determination, everything is good, relatable, solid, down to how he ultimately manages not to kill anyone and even decides to save Johan’s life.

But Lunge’s travel too is interesting. This man, persuaded he’s always right and that, therefore Tenma has to be the culprit and that he’ll arrest him and have him executed, comes to realize he was wrong and, ultimately, although he knows Johan’s role in the mess, makes it so that Tenma will have a chance to save him.

Or what about Eva? At the start she’s a terrible person, then she sinks into despair and further ruins herself and worsen her character… but then, thanks to her meeting with Martin and his efforts to save her, she manages to pull herself out of her misery, both her anger at Tenma and her grief for Martin, drop drinking and start a new life as interior decorator.

And what about Doctor Gillen, who first has a low opinion of Tenma, due to having been envious of him in his university years and believing Tenma caught him as he cheated during the final exams and looked down at him, things he hated... so he wants to hand off Tenma to the police, but then discovers that Johan is real and therefore Tenma is innocent and tries to help him.

Or Verdemann, the lawyer who’s plagued by the idea his father was a spy and therefore he can’t trust people… but by starting to work to help Tenma learns more about his deceased father and manages to reconcile with him.

Or Grimmer, a former subject at 511 Kinderheim, who’s a really nice man but, due to what he went through at 511 Kinderheim, has troubles connecting with his emotions… who in his death finally manages to connect and express with his own pain for losing his son.

And then there’s Johan, who’s an enigma, characters constantly theorizing on him and on what turned him into a monster and they’re all on something but no one seems to even grasp the full truth because a person is just that complicate.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg in a story who has plenty of interesting characters.

Also, the adaptation does it’s best to be faithful to the manga Urasawa Naoki demanding everything in the manga was adapted and giving directives during its making.

“Monster” is an amazing story on trying to discover what turns people the way they are, on what saves them or sinks them and on how humans are actually so very complicate that often it’s not possible to find those answers because although everything contributes into turning us “US” it’s actually quite difficult for us to find the exact point in which a path derailed in a way or another.

Long story short, it’s for adults and it’s not what I would call a series for someone who just want to pass a fun time without thinking at deep stuff but I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT as it’s deep and intriguing and make you ponder and it’s mysterious and well constructed. Yeah, it’s long but just watch it, you won’t regret it.

And now let's end this with an AMV about this series I recommend watching Running Up That Hill PT. 2 - Johan Liebert & Anna Liebert

[tenkasato]

Curious question. What does Tenkasato mean? I love your fics btw!!!

Oh boy (cracks knuckles). I want to thank you, anon, because this gives me an opportunity to recommend three of my most favorite animes/mangas.

Tenkasato is a combination of the names Tenma, Kasane, and Toshio. They're the main characters of Monster, Kasane and Shiki, respectively. Let me indulge myself and discuss briefly about how awesome they are.

1) Naoki Urasawa's Monster

You've probably heard of this masterpiece. It was and still is pretty famous. In my opinion, Monster is the most brilliant work that was able to explore the themes of human existence, nihilism and the value of life. Its narration and the dialogues of the characters did an impeccable job to making audiences/readers think critically and ask questions which otherwise are often looked over upon or forgotten. The story is about a prodigious neurosurgeon Tenma Kenzo who chose to save a patient, a young boy, over another high status patient who came much later despite the orders of his superiors. As it turns out, the boy Johan grows up to become a serial killer, and Tenma is left questioning his decision over saving the seemingly innocent boy.

Are all lives indeed equal? Or do some people deserve saving more then others? Tenma embodies that question thrown to us at the beginning of the series. It's satisfying to see him and the other characters (who also have so much substance and depth) figure their way out in the manga. I suggest you go watch it if you haven't, nonnie.

2) Kasane by Daruma Matsuura

Where do I start? I'm sure very few have heard about Kasane. It isn't at all popular, unfortunately, despite the richness of the plot and characters. There was a live action in Japan, but I think it wasn't able to grasp the whole essence of Kasane. Anyway!

Kasane explores beauty in people's eyes. Who is beautiful in the standards of the world we live in? Who is deserving of the right to stand on stage and perform in front of the audiences? On surface level, that's what Kasane is all about. Stage play actors and actresses with aspirations.

However, it goes much deeper than that. It picks apart human psyche, human desires, fantasies—touching on the darkest parts hidden in one's humanity and the brightest as well. Kasane starts with a very talented young girl with a disfigured face. She inherits a lipstick from her deceased mother who was once a famous actress. She finds out one day that she is able to steal faces using that lipstick, and you would not imagine what else could transpire with this seemingly cliche plot point. Additionally, the art is wonderful. Unique. Fresh. Visceral, dare I say. The lore, oh my. It's so good in a cultural standpoint.

Would recommend you give this a try. It's so criminally underrated I'm actually mad it's not popular and known.

3) Shiki (novel by Fuyumi Ono; manga drawn by Ryu Fujisaki)

Lastly, the vampire anime. I'll have to put a disclaimer that it has a lot of medical inaccuracies... my pet peeve since I work in the medical field. (There are some in Monster as well, but to a lesser extent). Shiki was pretty popular before so I won't be surprised if you've heard about it. But what I really like about it is how it makes you question who the real monster is.

Shiki starts out introducing the vampires/undead/corpse demon (known as shiki in the anime) as antagonists of the story. As the plot progresses, the humans lead primarily by the doctor Ozaki Toshio find out about the shiki and start hunting them down. It was inhumane. Blood-curdling. Bone-chilling. As audiences, we start asking ourselves if we're still supposed to side with the humans. It's sort of similar with Tokyo Ghoul and Shingeki no Kyojin where things become morally gray, and you realize no one or everyone is the enemy.

I am hardly the person to write metas about them. I don't think I can ever give them enough justice. I chose these names to honor these mangas/animes. I want to be able to write novels like these authors someday. I hope maybe you guys can give these a try.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I'm happy to be given an opportunity to talk about things I like.

[midnight-in-town]

Can you ecommend me any good mangas for these days? If you have also hardly anything to read I can recommend you Fire Punch, Monster and Jiro Taniguchi's works. Stay healthy. Je te souhaite une belle journée

Hey Anon. :)) Sure I can, but aside from recommending you all the series I’ve ever posted or reblogged about, I can’t do much if you don’t tell me what genre you’re looking for? :3 

As for me, I’m good, thank you so much! I have a lot to read (I haven’t read Fire Punch but I know it’s good and I already read Urasawa Naoki’s Monster). (^3^)/ 

First of all, if you’re into animes, here’s a list of anime originals that I can recommend. As for new manga to read, my blog is full of different titles, but again it will really depend on what you enjoy reading?  

I’ll try though, by sorting them into categories and linking to summaries. :) 

The Shonen™ holy trinity + TG

a.k.a Kuroshitsuji, Shingeki no Kyojin, Ao no Exorcist and Tokyo Ghoul. These are titles that you must have seen on my blog if you pass by sometimes, because they’re some favorites of mine. 

They’re not similar stories but still, in my opinion, they are titles that I would recommend to someone if they told me that they enjoyed at least one of these four (see here why).

Anyway, they’re all good series with a mysterious plot & plot twists, a good cast with lots of character development. Also TG is over but the other three are still on going. Check the summaries and don’t hesitate to ask if you’re interested!

The Seinen Must-Read

Yet another batch of favorite titles that I’d recommend if you read either of these three: Berserk, Vinland Saga and Blade of the Immortal (I’m putting Urasawa Naoki’s Monster in this category too).

Please watch out for graphic violence sometimes, but these are famous and popular series, known for their incredible writing & artstyle and they’re truly a delight to read. 

10/10 would recommend, just make sure to check the trigger warnings first, if there are some things that you really can’t read about. 

My weekly series

These are the weekly series that I enjoy checking out: none over, but all very very good and I’d 100% recommend!

Check their summary and see if they can be your next manga to read: Beastars, Golden Kamuy, Chainsawman.

Special rec: if you read & enjoyed Tokyo Ghoul, then you’ll most likely enjoy Beastars. :))

The hilarious series that actually have a serious main plot 

You know what I mean: the kind of series that makes you laugh like crazy with short funny arcs and that you don’t necessarily expect to have a real plot at first, but when it turns out that they do… well, it is very powerful . x)

These series are Gintama, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Cuticle Detective Inaba and Beelzebub.

I’ll add Spy x Family on the list too, which is a year old by now, but which is of the same type and very enjoyable. :) 

The slice of life series

Best rec of this category gotta be Chihayafuru without a doubt, but if you enjoy the slice of life & chill genre with sometimes comedy and romance, I also have other titles: Yotsubato, Gokushufudou, Koi wa ameagari no you ni, Shimanami Tasogare, Amaama to inazuma and Barakamon.

I don’t know why but these are series I usually read during summer haha, must be their vibes or something. x))

The hidden gems

Don’t know why I’m grouping them together (again, must be a vibe thing because it makes a lot of sense to me, despite the very different plots), but I sure recommend them: these series all have a mysterious plot, some action, slow-building romance, amazing worldbuilding, hella beautiful artstyle… in short I love them. :D 

=> Akatsuki no Yona, Witch Hat Atelier, Song of the long march, Otoyomegatari

Special mention: Blade of the Immortal that I mentioned above could actually fit in this category too (same vibes++), it’s just slightly more violent sometimes.

Did anyone ask for lots of action, as well as sword & gun fights in modern settings?

Because if that’s what you’re seeking, it’d be calling for these series: Gangsta., Black Lagoon and Until death do us part. 

For real, if you’re looking for good & dynamic plots, some adrenaline rush and complex characters, these are the series for you!! Bonus: sexual tension or romance are a thing. 👌👌

The psychological thrillers

a.k.a series that mostly deal with uneasy, difficult and controversial themes like sexual & child abuse, depression, suicide tendencies, murder, etc. ://

Please only check these series out if you feel comfortable with their summary, because they can be disturbing: Oyasumi Punpun, Killing Stalking, Sensei no shiroi uso.

Also don’t hesitate to stop reading if it turns out that they’re not your thing!

Others a.k.a series I read when I was younger so I don’t remember them so well, but I do remember enjoying them

Who knows, maybe they’ll be stories you’ll want to check out, haha: The Breaker, Zombie Loan. :))

TL;DR

…That’s about it? Nah, I’m probably forgetting some titles here and there, but you already have a good list to focus on. Most of these series have a tag on my blog anyway, so feel free to look around. ;)

Also please note that I’m sleep deprived because I worked all night, so I apologize if this is too much and it doesn’t make sense ^^” but I hope you’ll find something worth your time amidst all these titles. :3

Merci d’être passé Anon, je te souhaite une très belle journée également! ^3^ Porte toi bien!!

[randomnotesofmyown]

Psycho Pass: final thoughts

A) Overview: 

I liked every episode. Each of the 22 episode in season one was enjoyable. The whole season was packed with interesting topics, a clear storyline without distraction, and I made some discoveries while blogging about it. And the episodes in the second half of this first season were so laden with details that could be overlooked easily that it took me longer than I initially expected to go through each of them.

B) Most memorable characters: 

Tsunemori had several memorable moments in the series, especially when she talked back at Ginoza and when she defied the Sibyl System by pointing that dominator at her heart. It was sad to see she became hardened by the end of the season. As if by achieving growth, she had to give up a part of her: the optimistic outlook of life. 

Kogami was a caring, thoughtful, sharp, and well-read person, It was as sad to see him become a fugitive after taking his nemesis down. 

C) Comparisons between Psycho Pass - Death Note and Psycho Pass - Monster

Again I would bring up the list of ten anime series that are similar to Death Note, because I started this project and the previous one on Urasawa Naoki's Monster as a result of that list.

First, Psycho Pass versus Death Note. Both are equally enjoyable, but perhaps Psycho Pass has fewer episodes, it did a better job sticking to its central themes: what it means to be human, and topics relating to humanities. Throughout the series, Makishima tried to seek the qualities that made human valuable, he tried to find answers to free will, to how people would react in trying moments. As for topics relating to humanities, it made references to theories by Rousseau and Weber, to the effects the internet had on humans, to the importance of printed books, to good versus evil, to Japanese deities (Yama and Uka no Mitama) and to Blblical texts. 

Death Note, however, started off with the questions of what is justice, and what is the right thing to do. But after the death of Yagami Soichiro, the focuses shifted more or less to the rivalry between Yagami Light and Near and who would laugh last.

Then, Psycho Pass versus Monster. Monster touched on a lot of topics regarding the dark sides of humans, but with 74 episodes and a myriad of topics it tried to cover, the series was just too loooong and too confusing. Worse, there were episodes and characters that I wish didn't exist.

And so, I would rank the three series in the following order: 1. Psycho Pass 2. Death Note 3. Monsters

D) Regrets: 

Again this series covered a lot of things and it came packed with details, hints and suggestions that I do think I missed out quite a lot. And in fact, I started blogging about the first season of Psycho pass with the initial completion date set at the end of October. It ended up taking twelve more days than I expected because of all those details here and there and the extra times I had to spend googling things, with other imminent real life tasks at hand and I hate to leave a project unfinished, so I had to rush things through, the quality of the blog posts I created for later episodes suffered as a result. Nonetheless, I do not regret spending the time and effort on this series, I felt it was worth it, it made me think and become aware of how little I know about the humanities topics it referred to that I couldn’t say anything much about how they shaped the storyline and added meanings to it. 

But it is a shame that I’m literally running of time, if only I didn’t have to rush it through.

[good-wine-and-cheese]

Billy Bat Thoughts

Ah finally got around to this post! Anyway just a bunch of my thoughts about Billy Bat. Since it’s spoilery I’ll put it under the cut.

Plot

To say this one was on the weird side would be putting it lightly...I knew very little going in except that one panel of Smith over an uncooperative Kevin’s shoulder like “Draw!” so it was pretty wild the whole way through. I thought 20th Century Boys felt “bigger” at least so far as “this is a threat against the whole world” but lmao Billy Bat makes it seem much smaller by comparison. It was nice to see the story split between protagonists again, both Kevins were lovely people to follow. I did have a harder time keeping up on this one since there was so much more jumping around and I feel like I need to read it again to grasp the flow of time a little better.

Art, Manga & Media

Billy Bat went a lot further into the creative process than I thought it would! I knew there would be a lot of themes about art and the artist struggle since I’d seen a few posts about that, but I was happy to see that Billy Bat went into TV/film production too? And of course being more of a writerly type myself the struggles of falling into plot holes and not having any stories was very real for me. Definitely the whole coverage of the process of creating a manga story, from concepts to publication and even to TV serialization really gives a greater appreciation for what creators have to deal with. Getting to see different interpretations of the same character was very cool too.

Characters

I’ve mentioned already I liked both Kevins. Admittedly I found Kevin Goodman a little more relatable and engaging as a character; Kevin Yamagata was good, but Goodman like, upstaged him bigtime. Yamagata I really felt awful for given just how much he goes through but at the same time he pushes through and even at the very end he’s still drawing...that’s very incredible. One of the other things I liked about Yamagata was the concept that it’s okay to move on to different ideas. At the end he really doesn’t want anything to do with Billy Bat and has this new story he has so many ideas for. As a writer I sometimes feel guilty when I shift focus from the “current” project to something else I have ideas for, so the message that it’s okay to move on and do something different was good for me.

With Kevin Goodman what I liked was that despite him being the rich kid I honestly kept forgetting that fact....he really did just come across as your average guy, the way he behaved and the way he dressed and all that just seemed more “average”. Also his desire to just do his own thing and not be stuck anywhere with what other people are telling him...it’s very relatable

And lastly I just gotta say old man Kevin is so refined. He looks so respectable and warm and I love it and I want that life...when I get old I wanna just go live somewhere in the middle of nowhere and draw. That’d be great

Outside of the protagonists the characters that I particularly became fond of were Chuck Culkin (...the real one not Mr. Disney) and Smith on the men side, and then Audrey, Diane, Cissy (Devivie’s mother) and Monica (Kevin’s old gf). Chuck I love for similar reasons I love Yoshitsune...but man oh man his story just hurts me so bad. I’m glad that he got to give his apology to Kevin at the end but I really wished it was more like his hug to the other Kevin ;_;

I think that overall Audrey might actually be my favourite? Kevin Goodman is quite charming so there’s a little competition but Audrey really won me over a lot. As female characters go Urasawa did so much right with her. He let her be flawed but still a “good” influence, he let her fall and pick herself back up with grace, and she was also a top tier businesswoman which I cannot stress enough is so rare for female characters. I’m in love

As an aside, more than a couple times some scene would happen, I would say something out loud and then in the next few panels read exactly the thing I just said....which is cool in that the characters follow a fairly human line of thought but at the time it creeped me out lmao

Timmy....

Okay here is where I am a bit sad....I feel like Timmy had a lot of potential but we just didn’t see the development enough. He starts out quite kind and sweet and has good aspirations, but even early on (at least for me) you could tell he doesn’t see the Bat and....when everyone around him keeps asking him what Billy told him, and is calling him a prophet, you can see where he would start to degrade into what he becomes, but unfortunately the shift just feels a bit too drastic too quickly...I really would have liked to see the gradual shift because Timmy would have been an excellent tool to express what can happen when a creator is pressured into being something because people see them a certain way and they want to live up to that expectation.

Fave Moments

Literally everything to do with Diane is amazing and I can’t really pick just one...and of course the whole arc between her and Tony was great, particularly getting to see Tony stand up for himself and his wife for once.

This??? This is the cutest thing in the whole manga. Maybe topped by baby Kevin smiling at Kevin Yamagata but still incredibly cute

The entire arc between Shishou and Cissy really became a fond one for me...it had a bit of a more self-contained mystery feel to it, which was a nice breather from the whole rest of everything else. And it managed to still feel hopeful and warm despite how sad it is. Their dynamic really worked well to me

This isn’t really a “moment” but this particular set of panels left a very big impression for me. The idea that the towers represent a “fantasy” of peace is a very pointed message to send.

And that’s all of it...I feel like this is a big mess and kind of all over the place and there was definitely more I wanted to say....basically Billy Bat was quite a good read....very human-like characters, and some very very very good messages. I actually teared up at the very end with Kevin’s final speech with the bats....I know it was just the same old “people can be surprising and do good deeds” feel-good thing but boy does it feel good...

[recentanimenews]

All You Need is a White Piece of Paper and Pen: A Conversation with Monster and 20th Century Boys Creator Naoki Urasawa

Editor's Note: This is a republication of a feature by Cayla Coats that originally appeared on Crunchyroll News on 2/6/19.

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    This article is brought to you by JAPAN HOUSE. JAPAN HOUSE is a cultural project that aims to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan in the international community. Through outreach projects centered in its three locations in Los Angeles, São Paolo, and London, JAPAN HOUSE aims to drive further intellectual exchange between Japan and the world.

***

Naoki Urasawa is one of the modern masters of manga. The artist behind series such as Monster, 20th Century Boys, Master Keaton, and Pluto, his work has earned countless accolades from critics, including the prestigious Eisner Award (think the Oscars of the American comics industry). Urasawa-sensei’s work is currently on display in an exhibit titled This is MANGA - the Art of NAOKI URASAWAat JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles. This is marks the first solo exhibition of his work in North America, and is truly a landmark achievement for mainstream acceptance of manga as an artform.

I had the huge privilege of being invited by JAPAN HOUSE to attend the exhibition and interview Urasawa-sensei. The exhibit was, without exaggeration, quite breathtaking. As a lifelong fan of anime and manga, seeing Urasawa-sensei’s impeccable art framed and displayed with the same care one could find at an art museum was truly wonderful. Images from my visit will follow below, but if you have the chance to see the exhibit in person before its closing on March 28th, please do so. Urasawa-sensei has to be one of the most thoughtful creators I have had the pleasure of interviewing–every answer he gave seemed like a selection from a well-researched written essay! I’m extremely grateful to Japan House for giving me this opportunity to speak with one of manga’s living legends.

Our first question is about how you began as a manga artist. You graduated with a degree in Economics from Meisei University. Did you originally plan to work in the financial industry? What led you to becoming a manga creator?

I think very early on the idea of becoming a manga artist wasn’t on my mind. I started writing manga when I was about four or five years old and when I was eight I drew my first full story to completion. It’s interesting, because at that age I sort of understood the depth of what it meant to create manga, so I could really feel the deep gulf between what I was doing and what a real manga artist was doing. I didn’t want to publish manga for the sole purpose of just making money–I could see that there was a lot of manga that had been commercialized and you could smell the money in it. That really wasn’t what I was interested in.

It’s funny, when I was really young, when I would visit my uncle he would tell me, “oh wow, Naoki, your drawings are so amazing! You could become a manga artist!” That’s when I thought, “oh man, this guy doesn’t know anything about what real manga is.” That’s why I never really thought of pursuing the path of a professional manga artist. I studied economics and thought I would work at some company somewhere.

Colored panel from Monster above a display case with drafts of spreads

We’re going to move into some questions about your specific works. Your manga Monster is set in Cold War-era Germany. What made you decide to tell the story there instead of Japan?

A little while back, I wrote something called Pineapple Army, and it was originally set in New York. But my editor at the time felt that the reader demographic for this particular magazine was males aged 40 and over, and they’re probably more likely to be engaged by stories set in Europe. That’s why, after a turning point in the story, the setting moves to England, the same setting of another series I worked on called Master Keaton.

I think in Japan, our medical industry was influenced by a lot of German technology at the time, so when we think of medicine in Japan, a natural association is Germany. So when I began to write Monster, the protagonist is a doctor and setting the story in Germany seemed natural. As I developed the story, it made sense to place it specifically in post-war Germany so the story could incorporate the neo-nazi movement into the story.

That’s so fascinating. I think a lot of American readers probably missed the connection between the Japanese medical industry and German influence. I think they’ll be very interested to hear that.

When you have your medical records in Japan, often doctors will write them in German as well so that the patients can’t see what the doctor is writing down. That’s just another small way Germany shows up in the way we practice medicine.

The ‘manga tent’ was one of the coolest aspects of the exhibit. You could walk through it!

Moving on to your series Pluto, what led you to pursue a retelling of Astro Boy?

Within the story of Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka wrote that the character of Astro Boy was built in 2003. So in 2003, to celebrate the birth year of Astro Boy, the rights holders opened up the property and many different manga artists reimagined the story of Astro Boy in their own style. Lots of artists were doing tributes and illustrations or short one-off manga to celebrate his birth year.

“The Greatest Robot in the World” is a very popular arc in Astro Boy, so I asked, “isn’t anyone going to remake this? It’s a great story that needs to be developed more!” Of course, no one had the courage to take on such a big task. My editor asked, “hey, why don’t you do it?” and I said, “oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that, that’s crazy!” Of course, here we are now.

Was the goal with Pluto always to tell a darker story that referenced contemporary events, or did these themes arise organically through the course of writing the story?

I think that the idea of Tezuka’s work being lighthearted is a common misconception–his stories are actually very, very dark. I think when it’s been animated and adapted into many different formats, the general consensus about Tezuka’s work is that it is “pure” and “family friendly.” Astro Boy even aired on primetime TV in Japan. In this way, his work has sort of been reimagined as very wholesome and safe content, but if you really look at Tezuka’s work on a deeper level, it’s very dark. If you aim to properly adapt or remake any of Tezuka’s work, you will naturally end up with a very dark story.

Costume for the character ‘Friend’ from a live action adaptation of 20th Century Boys

Are there any other stories from other artists that you would like to retell in the same fashion as Pluto?

(Solemnly) Never again.

(Everyone laughs)

I’m a very big fan of Tezuka’s work, so I think that sheer amount of respect really affected me as I was working on Pluto. That enormous amount of pressure that I felt both from outside and within myself began to affect my health, and that’s a big reason I don’t want to do that again.

Many of your works could be considered part of the mystery genre. What about the way mystery stories are structured appeals to you?

I think a lot of that comes down to what we perceive as being fun or intriguing. You could take a lot of popular TV shows–I’m sure you all have been in the situation of saying “oh, I have to find out what happens next!” and you binge through Episode 1, 2, 3, 4. Every story that is able to do that to its audience has an element of mystery. You can even take a love story–if you’re binging it and you’re curious about what happens next, then I think there’s a strong element of mystery there. That’s the core of what makes a narrative so intriguing.

Colored panel from Pluto

Unfortunately we only have time for one more question, so I would like to ask a pretty broad, open ended one. What can manga do as a medium that no other art form can?

Let’s take another format–the movie, for example. You have a massive budget and so many different people involved. It takes years to gather all the sponsors, get the casting just right, there are so many players involved to create just one product.

With manga, all you really need is a white piece of paper and pen. No other medium lets you translate your imagination into visuals as fast as manga. Manga can take you to the other side of the universe in an instant. Manga can take you to the distant future with spectacular technology or to the far past when there were dinosaurs. I truly believe that no other medium allows creators to express their ideas as efficiently as manga.

That’s a beautiful place to end, thank you so much Mr. Urasawa.

© 2000 Naoki URASAWA/Studio Nuts

“20th Century Boys” was originally published by SHOGAKUKAN

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[sombersnake04]

Johan Vs Lawliet

Type: Psychology

Hello, and welcome to my first character vs. character! Today's characters will be starring L Lawliet and Johan Liebert, and who'd reign victorious in a battle of wits.

For those lesser informed on these characters (if you're an anime lover and don't know Lawliet who tf are you? Kidding ♡♡) I'll provide an overview that's 95% spoiler free (aside from necessary facts)

》Johan Liebert: Monster-> Naoki Urasawa, a man without a real name, who was saved by Dr. Tenma after Johan had been shot in the head earlier, and grew up wanting Dr. Tenma to be one of the last in the world to witness the end of the world

•He is the main antagonist of the series

•Capable of manipulating loads of people

•Genius intellect, charisma, language fluency

•Idealist, good actor, able to persuade many due to his charm

•Became a "killer" during childhood (around age 10, by causing a revolt in an orphanage)

•Main goal: A "perfect suicide" (until later on, but that would lead to spoilers)

》L Lawliet: Death Note-> Tsugumi Ohba, detective who's goal in his series was to capture Kira, a murderer with a notebook that can kill people through their name and face, and stop his murders, and managed to find Kira rather quickly, despite him not having enough evidence to accuse him

•He is the main antagonist of the series

•Secretive, good at misinformation

•Genius intellect, extremely good deduction

•Idealist, sometimes uses his own means to reach his desired goal

•Main goal: To capture Kira

I am doing this from a majorly unbiased standpoint, as I like practicing it, and in a case like this I should.

Now, in our hypothetical scenario, let's say Johan is an unnamed mass murderer, and L's the detective. Basically an edited version of both stories so they're combined. L is on the hunt searching for Johan in order to prevent any further casualties and keep him from achieving his ultimate goal, while Johan is trying not to be caught.

I'll begin with their seperate strengths, continue to similarities, than their differences, and ending with who would win, and why.

Now for their seperate strengths, Johan's very persuasive, to the point where he can cause people to do his bidding, or if he's trying to eliminate them, to commit suicide. He's even gotten the doctor whom saved him, Mr. Tenma, into loads of trouble and despair. He was able to bring down an orphanage he used to reside in, and have around 50 people battle to the death, while he simply stood at the top and watched it all. Considering he was a kid at the time, this is a rather impressive feat.

L was able to, through simple deduction, locate Kira's near exact location within a short time frame, when Kira could've been nearly anywhere in the world, and most would have an incredibly difficult time searching for him. He learnt many things about the death note quickly, including learning quickly there was a possibility it existed due to how the deaths happened to occur.

For similarities, many of you'd likely say there's not many due to their conflicting personalities, and for the most part you are correct. However, cognitive wise, if you think about it, they both appear to be idealists. Both are willing to do what they can to achieve their own ends, and not much seems to be capable of altering their opinions. Other than that, it's likely if they met, that L would likely not meet Johan's interests, and L wouldn't be concerned about much of Johan other than capturing him, confining him, and putting him to trial.

Differences: L is concerned with following justice, while Johan has an apparent and noticeable lack of concern of the morality of his actions. Despite L being rather calm, it's blatently obvious he appears to have more of a "personality" when talking to others than Johan does, though most of the time he uses his abilities to achieve his own ends by seeming charming.

Now onto some "fair points". L, despite believing Light (Kira) was guilty, managed to be tricked into believing that Light really wanted to be L's friend, which was ultimately one of his downfalls. So, considering overall I'd say Johan was much more charismatic and manipulative than Light, it could easily lead to his fall.

However, Johan's not entirely emotionless, I have reason to believe in fact that most of his "psychopathic behavior" was due to events early in his life. Continuing to my main point, it's possible something could emotionally stimulate Johan into being distracted enough for L to counter.

Now, so they are going man to man so it's fair, that means Johan doesn't have the upper part of having others do his will, which is typically one of the leading factors to his victory. Due to this he has a rather hefty handicap. Technically L does too, as Johan could blend in with the mass and L wouldn't have much to aid him.

Victor: Johan Liebert

After considering all that, here's my final argument: It is likely, though clearly not 100% certain, maybe closer to 65%, that Johan would win. Why? Well, considering neither have support but have their own resources to this psychological battle, regardless that they can't recruit anyone, Johan overall has the upper hand. He's more calm, is able to evade discovery, and is relatively "unknown" except for those he chooses to allow them to know about him. While L likely would catch up on some of them, it's likely that he'd never catch up due to Johan's lack of a known backstory (except for the main characters and watchers/readers of course), and L has a rather good chance of being manipulated. Though, I have to give him credit as he'd likely get far ways among finding and tracking Johan before he would win.

[junker-town]

Here are 4 of our favorite posters for the 2020 Toyko Olympics

Conceptual art and sports make for a great combination in these 2020 Olympics posters

Much of the art surrounding sports nowadays is very commercialized and branded. Picture a high-contrast image of a player surrounded by shapes and lines to create motion, maybe with a big fat logo behind them. We’ve all seen it. So when we see art that is more conceptual, especially when it focuses on sports, it is easy to pass it off because it feels too different.

With the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games curating a series of posters to promote this year’s Games, I wanted to share some of my favorites because I believe aspects like this are lost when looking at the Olympics as a whole. At first glance, it is hard to tell if many (or any) of these posters have anything to do with the Olympics. I would urge you, though, to read the artists’ descriptions of these pieces to help shed some light on the intended message behind them, and allow yourself to walk away with a different perspective of the art.

I love art. I love sports. I want more of both of these. We all know art plus sports has the potential to be bad, especially when attempting to represent an athlete’s likeness or challenging fan perspectives. In this instant digital age, a lot of the art on sports stories is little more than a photograph with a splash of added color, and this is coming from someone who makes his living adding a splash of color to sports photographs. There are incredible pieces out there that, once you dig a bit deeper, can reveal interesting perspectives on the psychological and physical aspects of sports.

Now it’s your turn!

Naoki Urasawa (Manga Artist)

Manga is an interesting art form, and I think for most people it sits on that line where they either love it or barely know it exists. That doesn’t matter here because the way this is paneled and structured is fantastic. You can immediately get a sense of the athlete in the tunnel getting pumped and hearing the chants before going onto the field. The artist explains, “Concluding with the line, ‘To be continued!’ each weekly episode has left readers on the edge of their seats, just like watching a real match.” Everyone can relate to that, and I think no matter the art style used here, the concept delivery is so strong. Comics are the best, for those of you who don’t know.

Ludus

Viviane Sassen (Photographer)

This arguably might be the most “sports” of all the posters, and I believe the simplicity of this poster is what makes it so strong. The restraint brings clarity to the movement and form. The artist’s comments on diversity in the Olympics and the use of ring colors are subtle and tastefully done. I would love to see a series of these or maybe see what the artist would do if this was country-specific.

EXTREME REVELATIONS

Theseus Chan (Art Director)

A piece like this typically makes a lot of people scratch their heads and say things like, “I could make THAT!” or “What the hell is that supposed to be?!” To me, this piece felt familiar and I liked it from a mere visual perspective. Once I read the explanation by the artist, though, I was in love. This is the representation of the bottom of a skateboard! I am someone who has spent most of his life skateboarding and even I forget that skateboarding, along with a few other “extreme” sports, is now in the Olympics. The artist’s explanation is so thoughtful and it resonates with me on a few levels. Sometimes it is hard to believe a bunch of paint swishes and scratches can connect dots in your head.

Horseback Archery

Akira Yamaguchi (Painter)

Unfortunately, this poster for the Paralympics doesn’t have an artist explanation, but it probably doesn’t need it. At first blush, it looks like something out of a fantasy novel. But when you take the time to study this piece you can see it is all about the games. I was so enamored by the details that I almost missed that the athlete is shooting their bow with their legs and teeth. Every little background piece seems important and serves a purpose. And to top it off the colors are so dreamy and contrast perfectly with the intensity of the archer. I could look at this all day.

I’ll also mention these posters are supposed to revolve around the theme of “Requiem and Rebirth,” but I have a hard time picking that up on any significant level. And I also have questions about the posters’ actual purpose. Were these meant to act as advertisements put around the city? Or was the idea to use the collection as a museum exhibition? I feel as though these wouldn’t serve well as a marketing tool because of the conceptual nature and their inability to quickly communicate the poster’s intention, which is (or should be) to bring attention to the 2020 Olympics. Either way, these are some really interesting pieces of art that are worth spending some time with and learning more about.

It is also worth checking out past Olympic posters for a little perspective from where it’s all come from.

[midnight-in-town]

Hi I've being following you for a veeery long time, and since you're a fan of Ao no Exorcist I wanted to know what makes you enjoy reading it (I've mad up my mind to start it so I need a bit of motivation)

Hey Anon! Thank you so much for staying around for so long, it makes me very happy to read that. :3

When it comes to AnE, gosh, I have so many reasons to love reading this series… And so many to hope more people will give it a try. xD

Maybe I should start with the fact that it’s the only manga I read in which twins are written as what real twin siblings are actually like? 

(@hamliet​ this one is for you xD)

Shouldn’t be news to you (since you said you’ve been following me for a while), but if there is one thing I dislike, it’s all those twin tropes in manga, where these poor siblings are a literal copy of each other, or have a telepathic bond, or end each other’s sentences, or anything that just makes you wonder if the author ever met twins. 

I tend to tolerate it, because it doesn’t have to ruin a story (I love Kuroshitsuji, TG and Urasawa Naoki’s Monster), but Kato-sensei doesn’t bother with those tropes and that’s great and refreshing:

The two brothers are depicted as having a beautifully complex sibling dynamic that feels so very real (at least to me, a person who happens to have siblings), as in: yes of course you love your sibling(s), but it doesn’t have to always be simple and without issues. 

It’s also at the very center of the plot, just saying, and I just love those boys. 

The second reason would be an amazing cast, as well as many character developments to go with it.

Well, obviously I live for this lmao, but in AnE it’s even easier to love, since the cast is diversified, incredible and they all get a development. 

Seriously, the writing is top notch on that and, most of the time, it targets deep personal issues that revolve around the theme of “family”. I don’t want to spoil though, so I’ll stop there. :)

That’s the third reason why I love AnE: the big focus on the family (and what’s related) theme. 

It’s both a subject of issues and plot, but also a very heartwarming topic. A family doesn’t always have to be a mom, a dad and kids: it goes deeper than that, with a lot of different examples and I love how Sensei plays with it. 

Fourth reason would be… Mephisto. 

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, then all the better because you will discover him by yourself. I think it’s honestly the only character who manages to scare and fascinate me, both at the same time. The thing is, I’m easily fascinated by many characters, but I’m not easily scared and that’s why I think he represents a whole reason why AnE is so enjoyable. 

Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t scare me because he’s actually scary, but he’s very hard to read (even for me and I love the clown type) and he does live up to, well, what he is. I can’t say the same of Sebastian Michaelis in Kuroshitsuji or even Femto in Berserk (but for different reasons). 

I actually tend to suggest to watch the first two episodes of the anime (which cover the first chapter of the manga), because Mephisto’s introduction in the anime remains one of the biggest surprises I ever had. Also, the way the anime is written and animated for those two episodes gives a good look into the series.

Fifth reason: plot and plot twists. 

Again, I don’t want to spoil, but I assure you that the plot is more complex than what you can first expect. 

As for the plot twists, well, I love to theorize and it can sometimes damage the surprise effect, but frankly several moments I fell from my seat while reading. And I’m always expecting some more. xD

Here’s a summary [x][x] of the series, by the way!

Sixth reason: art style and pace…

…Which are both A++. If you follow me because of Kuroshitsuji, then you may have noticed I can complain about the pace, more often that not. Doesn’t happen with Ao no Exorcist: it’s monthly but it delivers each time. 

As for the art, you’ll be the judge of that, it’s always subjective. :)

Seventh reason: women’s place in the story. 

Can sound random, but again if you’ve been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I tend to really enjoy strong and positive female representation, whatever form it takes. Again, AnE does deliver on that. 

For example, Rin’s mentor is a woman and it actually means a lot to me, because I don’t see that very often. And that’s only one example.

Eighth reason: emotions. 

On par with Gintama in my opinion, maybe not in how it’s depicted (Gintama remains #1 in that) but, since the story focuses a lot on the family theme as well as nature vs nurture, it can get very sad or heartwarming real fast sometimes (at least I know the story can make me cry). 

Ninth reason: dead characters and flashbacks. 

Sorry, I don’t know how to name this one better. xD I mean it as in, character development post mortem or in retrospect being actually a thing and very well written. Would be a spoiler to say more if you really don’t know who I’m talking about here, but if you start the series, you’ll soon understand. ;) 

Mainly, I love the fact that no one is perfect in this story and thus no one should be presented as such. And if someone (or an organization) seems to be, then there will come a moment in the story when their flaws are going to be exposed.

It goes with the second reason I mentioned, but I specifically love that approach with dead characters: it’s not because they’re dead that they’re out of the plot. Nope. x)

Tenth and final reason (since I gotta stop somewhere): how faith is presented and used in the story. 

Worldbuilding encompasses that and it’s a point that’s hard to explain on its own, but since we’re dealing with Exorcists in the story, I find it’s interesting to read about how Kato-sensei chose to talk about topics such as religion, faith, beliefs, etc and how she built her universe around these notions. 

I think I may have reblogged posts explaining how she must have researched a lot about what she’s writing, so it’s really interesting, even if it’s not something you’ll get to read about immediately.

There is also a big part of the plot that focuses on science vs religion and, well, even nowadays it remains an important debate sometimes and Kato-sensei does include it in the plot. I don’t know, I just think it’s neat and well done. :))

There you go! Don’t hesitate if you were looking for other reasons, but I think you’ll have to specify a bit in that case. :))

Sorry if that makes no sense, but I really didn’t want to spoil on anything. :3

Thanks again for the nice words Anon and please tell me if you ever start AnE and if you enjoy it! Have a nice day! ^3^