#obata castle

[odaclan]

Speaking of Rakusan’en, though. They recently released this new souvenir card for Rakusan’en, featuring Nagano Tsuyoshi’s Nobunaga artwork and some fancy gold foil lettering.

These souvenir cards are called Gojou’in 御城印, which are commemorative cards that you can buy at various castles in Japan. Castles usually would have a booth with a stamp of the castle’s site, and you can stamp on pamphlets or your personal journals as "proof” that you visited the place. These cards are intended to be stamped with those castle stamps, to keep as extra special memorabilia of your visit. 

Rakusan’en is just the garden, but it seems that the residential mansion that was attached to the garden is actually Obata Castle. Since Obata Castle no longer exist, they offer cards for both Rakusan’en and Obata Castle that applies to the same site. I didn’t realise this at first because there are other Obata Castles in other places, and I’d gotten slightly confused before.

I’m not sure why the office didn’t just commission Nagano-sensei to draw the proper lords of the domain, but maybe Nobunaga is just more recognisable and therefore more attractive to customers. Though Nobukatsu is ostensibly the first lord of the domain entering the Edo period, he doesn’t seem to be distinguished as an independent lord of his own right by the city. All the Oda lords are collectively remembered as “Nobunaga’s bloodline”.

（Edit: Just to avoid being misleading, I meant “first” lord of the restructured/reorganised domains, that is, in the Edo period. Naturally, before the Oda were assigned here, this area was governed by different families. The city claims that the Oda were the ones who revitalised the area, so all the fanfare is about them, and Nobunaga is a very well-known name besides. I’m not sure if there’s much talk about the clans that lived there prior to them.）

The "castle stamp” is not even some unique design either. Instead of a special design that says either Obata Castle or Rakusan’en, it’s literally just the Tenka Fubu seal. Example of a stamped card being sold in the Mercari reseller site:

[neoneun-au]

A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing. 

All time favourites are marked with a ☆

All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye.

(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)

Anthology/Short Story Collections

Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆

Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle

Difficult Women - Roxane Gay

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

Essays

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆

Bluets - Maggie Nelson ☆

On Freedom - Maggie Nelson

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Malleable Forms - Meeka Walsh ☆

Fiction (Classic)

Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆

Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Fiction (Modern)

All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆

Bunny - Mona Awad

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach

The Pisces - Melissa Broder

White Oleander - Janet Finch

For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆

Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆

Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi

The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆

After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆

Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell

The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi

Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

The Overstory - Richard Powers ☆

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

Blindness - José Saramago

How To Be Both - Ali Smith

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Ru - Kim Thúy

Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

Big Fish - Daniel Wallace

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

Horror/Thriller

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Gerald’s Game - Stephen King

The Shining - Stephen King

Audition - Ryū Murakami

I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid

Manga/Graphic Novels

Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa

Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou

Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆

Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa

Uzumaki - Junji Ito

xxxHolic - CLAMP

Memoirs/Journals

Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton

Speak, Okinawa - Elizabeth Miki Brina

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty

I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi

Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆

Non-Fiction (General)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain

The Red Market - Scott Carney

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson

The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White

Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda

Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆

The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Plays

The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

Poetry Collections

I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy

Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon

The Beauty of the Husband - Anne Carson ☆

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire

Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong

Speculative Fiction

Dune - Frank Herbert

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel ☆

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

True Crime

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆

Young Adult

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆

The Diviners - Libba Bray

The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon

[seasideoranges]

art that’s giving you life/inspiring you right now?

YAAAY I'm so glad someone asked me this question!! There's so much out there that inspires me, it's really hard to select just a few, so here's a list of all the things that's been inspiring me lately! Movies/TV:

The Last Unicorn

Fantastic Mr Fox

The Rat Catcher, also by Wes Anderson (I love his style of art direction in his films and the dialogue he writes for the characters)

ATLA

Berserk

Any Ghibli movie really, but Princess Mononoke and Howls Moving Castle especially.

Better Call Saul and The Bear. (Putting these two together bc they're my absolute favorite shows at the moment. Again, art direction, the dialogue, too good...)

The Prince of Egypt

Paranorman

Tokyo Grandfathers

Individual Artists:

Jamie Hewlett

Rebecca Sugar

Dana Terrace

Satoshi Kon

Takeshi Obata

Kim Jung Gi

And of course, all my friends and mutuals, I love y'all's works so so much and y'all continue to push me to work harder <3

[vinylfoxbooks]

Christmas Fic!

I have a Christmas special finished that I was going to put out today but I'm tired and my bed is comfortable so it'll be out tomorrow (Dec 26). Here is a list of the songs I listened to to get the vibe (not including the ones I actually mentioned in the end notes):

*Merry Go Round of Life - both Andy Morris & Joe Hisaishu

*Chalkboard - Jóhan Jóhannsson

*Kingdom Dance - Tangled Soundtrack

*Solas - Jamie Duffy

*Experience - Ludovico Einaudi

*I Hear a Symphony - Cody Fry

*Isabella's Lullaby (イザベラの唄) - Takahiro Obata

*Middle of the Night - Joel Sunny

*Tonight ve Dance - Peter Gundry

*Howl's Moving Castle - Vitamin String Quartet

*Sway - Michael Buble

*Eleanor Rigby - Cody Fry

*Arctic Waters - Soetkin Milbouw

*The Sleeping Beauty Op.66 - Tchaikovsky

*Kaiser Walzer (Emperor Waltz) Op.437 - Johann Strauss II

*The Nutcracker Suite Op.71a - Tchaikovsky

*An Der Schonen, Blauen Donau (The Beautiful Blue Danube) Op.314 - Johann Strauss II

*Voices of Spring Op.410 - Johann Strauss II

*Swan Lake Suite Op.20a - Tchaikovsky

*Tarantella Napoletana - Gli Italiani di leri

*Can Can - Jacques Offenbach

*Jessica's Theme - Bruce Rowland

*Vivaldi's Autumn (Four Seasons)

*Tarantella in D Minor, Op.23 - Oliver Gledhill

*13 Pieces Op.76 - Jean Sibelius

[amberfaber40]

Heading to New Mexico? Rent the Vintage-Furnished Ranch of a Beloved LA Fashion Designer - Sight Unseen

Heading to New Mexico? Rent the Vintage-Furnished Ranch of a Beloved LA Fashion Designer - Sight Unseen

New Mexico is again becoming a haven for creatives, including LA fashion designer Raquel Allegra, who bought a home in Taos that she rents on Airbnb.

KHUÔN studio shields an inner oasis with 'armoured' façade in ho chi minh city

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Here is a list of Florida living room ideas that include paint colors, accents, flooring, furniture, lighting fixtures, and home decor.

Prefab homes: what to know about prefabricated modular homes

The latest prefabricated and kit homes have emerged as eco-friendly, architecturally designed living spaces. Here’s to the new home delivery...

13 Paint Colors For Your White Brick House

All about the white brick on our house, maintenance, and the best paint colors for white painted brick houses that have us drooling!

Stay | Casa Cook - Pampa Journal

Inside the Light-Filled Los Feliz Home of Two Art-World Wonders

Between the collection of gallery owner Nino Mier and his wife and Barbara Gladstone Gallery partner Caroline Luce, there are over 300 works of art

Bu Bodrum Mutfağı Görüntü ve İşlev Konusunda Tam Notu Hakkediyor! | Ev Gezmesi

Şimdi sizi beyaz ve gold yansımaların kucaklaştığı bir mutfağa götürüyoruz. Bodrum'daki mutfağımız evini yeni yeni düzmeye çalışan ev sahibimize ait. Yakın zamanda evlenen ev sahibimiz, yeni evinin her detayıyla bizzat ilgilenmiş. Sıra mutfağına geldiğindeyse bu alana biraz daha torpil yapmış. Sıfırdan yaptırılan mutfakta ilk etapta ferahlık önemsenmiş. Tabi kullanım kolaylığı da yabana atılmamış! Beyaz shaker kapakların kullanıldığı mutfakta ahşap mutfak tezgahı tercih edilmiş. Samimi bir atmosfer sağlayan bu görüntü gold renkli kulplarla hareket kazanmış. Mutfakta sıcak ambiyansı korumak isteyen ev sahibimiz, ankastrelerinde retro tasarımları tercih etmiş. Alan için seçilen her aksesuarı da özenle seçen ev sahibimiz, tavanda eskitme glop avizeye yer vermiş. Diğer aksesuarlarda da country ruhu yansıtan parçalardan yana seçimler yapmış. Mutfağın bir başka köşesinde yer alan kahve bölümüyle birlikte alanda hiçbir eksik kalmamış. Fotoğrafları arasında gezinirken keyif alacağınız mutfağımıza geçmeden önce şuraya bir not bırakalım: Takip etmek isteyenler için ev sahibimizin Instagram adresi: @_birceyizmeselesi Buyurun konuk olalım.

This Instagram Page Collects Incredible Examples Of Modern Design, And Here Are 50 Of The Very Best Ones

Your home is your castle. But your castle doesn’t have to have chilly corridors, flickering torches, crumbling walls, and chain-clanking ghosts. It can be comfortable and cozy. It can look great and inviting. It can look, well, like a home.

Before-After-Design-Makeovers

What defines your interior style? Is it your love of antiques or your hate for clutter? Your desire for entertainment or your preference for all things bohemian? Truth is, no matter the answer, you will find something you like on the Instagram account Before & After Design.

obata noblin office envisions its cascade house to overlook the forested san juan islands

Gallery of Tacuri House / Gabriel Rivera Arquitectos - 9

Image 9 of 58 from gallery of Tacuri House / Gabriel Rivera Arquitectos. Photograph by BICUBIK

04.22.21 Interiorsby Monica Khemsurov If the headline of this story seems to assume that you might, in fact, be heading to New Mexico soon, it’s entirely intentional: More than a century after Georgia O’Keeffe took her first trip to her eventual home of Santa Fe — to be followed by the likes of Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman, and Larry Bell — the state is again becoming a haven for a new wave of creatives. During the pandemic, we saw friends decamping to everywhere from Montana to Maine in search of lower rent and more access to nature, but many were bound for Santa Fe and Taos, which had been attracting increasing numbers of artists and designers even before COVID hit. Today we’re featuring one of them — the Los Angeles fashion designer Raquel Allegra, who went to New Mexico a year and a half ago in search of real estate for a healing commune she was planning with a group of friends, but ended up buying her own sprawling 8,000 square-foot vacation home in Taos, where her neighbors include Petecia Le Fawnhawk and Mark Maggiori. Allegra didn’t intend to end up with such a big house. In her home base of Topanga Canyon in LA, she lives in a relatively modest 700 square-foot cabin. But the first time she toured the Taos property, she had a powerful visceral response in which she felt the house calling her to transform it into something new, and she felt compelled to oblige. In the 7 months it took to renovate, she realized she could rent the house out on Airbnb during the times she wasn’t there, which would help her break even on costs. She also saved by filling up its cavernous 24 rooms (!) with furniture she treasure-hunted on the Nextdoor app back in Santa Monica and Malibu, where the wealthy often get rid of pieces for next to nothing. In that sense, her approach to the project wasn’t unlike her approach to her eponymous clothing label, which she started in 2002 first by deconstructing and tie-dyeing vintage t-shirts and then by upcycling disused tees from LA county jails. The home’s cozy interiors also echo what her line has since become, a full collection of sustainable womenswear that’s laid-back, gauzy, and mostly neutral-toned, with bright pops of color. Allegra calls the house a “retreat,” and credits its 5 acres of lush desert-valley landscapes with helping her — like so many artists before her — creatively recharge. We recently spoke with her about Taos’s singular appeal, the house’s transformation, and why it’s been so important to her to be able share its restorative effects with guests. If this story inspires you to start renting your own space, visit this link to get started! PHOTOS BY KATE RUSSELL Can you tell us the story behind how you acquired this house, and what brought you to Taos? The original idea was to get together with a small group of women and create an alternative-living community space. The woman that brought us all together was Sibyl Buck, who was a supermodel in the ’90s. When she stopped modeling, she started to focus on yoga and meditation, and she’s a very big counter-culture, alternative-living person. She lives two minutes away from me in Topanga and happens to be my best friend. We got closer over a period of time when I wanted to understand myself better; I’d gone through a bad breakup, and I knew I needed a deeper evolution. Because of her own journey around that, and her beliefs about the toxicity of urban living and the disconnection between nature and self, her idea was to create a space for healing, with different levels of experience based on what you could afford. So possibly a bigger house, and then smaller houses on the property, or maybe tents. But the group dissolved pretty quickly because I was the only person able to financially commit to it at this scale. That’s what brought me to Taos, though, through the lens of looking at real estate. What happened with this house, though, is that I walked in and I started to cry. The house felt like it was calling for help. I know that’s a weird thing to say, but it had been built, renovated, and lived in by a man who was a bit emotionally dark and heavy, and you could feel that throughout the house. You could feel that it was made with love, but he’d lived in it for 10 years by himself after his wife had left him, and you could feel, in the environment, his unraveling. It was like the house and the land was just calling out to be rescued, and I just couldn’t turn away. I was so full of emotion, and it was so unexpected. I live in a 700 square-foot cabin in Topanga, and that’s where I feel cozy and at home. I didn’t imagine myself living in this house full-time. I don’t need all this space. But the house said save me, and I said okay, let’s do this. Did it need saving physically, too? What shape was it in when you bought it? Yes. The amount of tiny projects that the owner had started and never finished in the house was dizzying. And I think that came from him being in a relationship with a very wealthy woman and her funding the building of the house, and you could see the difference as she moved out and he continued to build without her funds — there was a whole unfinished section that had plywood as floors and had holes in the ceiling. That was one of the bigger elements to wrap my brain around, figuring out how to integrate those spaces into the feeling of the rest of the house. It needed renovation everywhere. All the walls are plaster, and there were so many plants in the house, and there was so much water damage from them being watered. None of the switch plates matched, and most were broken. Every corner of the house needed something. But the things the prior owner did manage to do here are so incredible. He’s a rock mover, and he uses giant rocks to build water features, like the giant ones you’d see in Las Vegas. So the property is full of these giant rock walls and rock waterfalls, and there are giant rock steps placed at the river’s edge, so you can walk on these stone steps into the river. They do make the house feel very masculine from the outside, so that’s one of the things I’m working on most immediately with a permaculture landscapist, to add more of a feminine feeling. There are these giant rocks and wood pillars sticking out of the ground, almost like giant phalluses, and I can’t wait to topple them and turn them into circles where people can gather, rather than giant statements of masculinity. I met a woman on Instagram who’s a marble carver and had created this beautiful marble bust, and I was so inspired by it that I asked if she’d create one for me. We’re putting it in the front garden, so there will be this beautiful, ancient-looking bust in white marble with these beautiful wings, on a basalt pedestal. So there will be this beautiful, feminine, quiet statement in the front yard, which was really calling for that. I want the interior and the exterior to be in harmony. How much time have you been spending at the house? And why did you decide to rent it out on Airbnb the rest of the time? I spend about a week out of every two months here. Having my company in LA really holds me there, but as a creative, it’s also incredible to be able to leave LA for a week and be in nature. It almost feels like I’m off the grid when I’m here. I spend time sleeping. I spend time sitting outside and just watching birds and deer. There’s something so calming about the environment that when I do go back to LA, and into my more intense day-to-day work schedule, I’m recharged, and my mind is more open. I see things from a more stepped-back perspective. I’m a better-balanced person, a better boss. Little stuff doesn’t bother me as much. It really helps me with my overall perspective. Having this space to come to is really invaluable for me, but I couldn’t just have it and have it sit here empty. Working on the house for 7 months, I had all of that time to imagine what the best way to have the property pay for itself would be. That’s all I wanted, for it to be able to sustain itself. Airbnb felt like a logical thing to do, to have people rent the home and get to enjoy it, and that helps to pay for it. My deepest desire is for people to be here to enjoy it. I also think it will continue to evolve; Sibyl and I have discussed what it would look like to have retreats here, and reach out into that community. So it’s more of a long term investment for me where I get to benefit personally. You said your real estate hunt brought you to Taos, but why Taos in particular? That was Sybil’s doing. Taos has long been a place where artists have been called to come and create and work, from Georgia O’Keefe to Dennis Hopper. There’s something so special about the landscape here, with the oppenness and the sky and the gorge of the river that runs through it. It has a certain feeling and wildness. Valdez specifically — where the house is — is a canyon, nicknamed the Witches’ Canyon, and there have been a lot of generations of women here working the land, and having a deep relationship with it, and understanding how through that relationship we can heal ourselves, which is something I believe in. Taos is also changing a lot, developing. Lots of stores are opening here. I have lots of friends who have moved here from LA in the last year, during the pandemic. My model muse moved here with her husband at the end of last year; another friend who helped me load the truck and move out here ended up moving here a year later. Patecia Le Fawnhawk just moved here with her husband and baby. We all had ladies’ dinner last night. There’s a whole crew of women here that I love. The thing that’s different about this valley is that it’s not your classic sagebrush terrain that most of Taos is. It’s a lush valley that benefits from all of the melting snow. So there are giant willows on the property. It’s lush and green and feels totally different. The house is completely surrounded by aspens. It doesn’t feel like any other place in Taos. The interior of the house, though, does have a signature New Mexico style. Were those amazing archways and curves all there when you got it? And how did you approach your own design process? Inside the house, the shapes were all there, but it was also covered with giant-man leather furniture. The previous owner was a big guy, and it was like a man cave in here. Even though the rooms are big, the furniture was way too big for the rooms, even. When I first saw the house I felt like it couldn’t breathe — it just wanted to be emptied and cleansed and thoughtfully filled with more of a gentle touch. When I started, I knew that I would be spending time here, but I also knew I would be sharing it. So I wanted to furnish it in a way that didn’t feel precious, so that when guests were here, they could really enjoy themselves and not worry about breaking something. I wanted there to be an ease with the furniture in the house, so people could really just be comfortable and have a relaxing time. I have a hard time with environments that are too stiff or too precious, so that was my original lens through which I made all the decisions about the furniture. I wanted guests to just live and be comfortable. The most important part of decorating the house was finding that line between having things I love, and that feel good in the space, but that if they get ruined, okay, so be it, it’s not the end of the world. To me that sentiment really relates to your clothing — it’s stylish, but decidedly comfortable and easy to wear. Yes, I guess it does. I really live hard in my clothes. I do everything in them. I’m a big gardener, and I don’t mind wearing things that have dirt stains on them. Also, I started my company by recycling t-shirts from the prison system in southern California — I’ve always been inspired by things that exist already, and having a relationship with that thing, whether it’s a t-shirt or a home. And listening to that thing tell me what it wants to become. You also recycled existing furniture into the house. Can you tell us about your process of furnishing it? When you have big rooms, you need big furniture, and big furniture is expensive. I did a bunch of treasure hunting, and have been slowly putting the house together. Some of the pieces I bought in Taos, and some in LA. The foot chair in the bedroom (above) is a piece I bought from my friend Jonathan Pessin, who has a vintage gallery in LA called Not For Sale. Since I began spending my weekends gardening instead of flea market strolling, he’s been my window into treasure hunting.  We both love furniture with personality. Many of my favorite pieces in my Topanga home are from him. There are also three African Sanufo beds in the house, made by the Sanufo tribe out of a single carved tree trunk, so there are no parts that have been connected. It’s like furniture that’s also art, that also feels indestructible. They’re made from one of the hardest woods, called ironwood, and they’re heavy as hell. And yet as big as they are, the forms also have this femininity because of the way that the wood is arched and curved. They’re still very soft. One of the beds I use as a coffee table, and one of the beds is so big that when I’m here with groups of friends, we’ll lay someone down on it and do energy work on them. One person can lay down and two people can sit on either side of them, and you feel so supported by this giant piece of wood. Besides those beds, most of the bigger pieces of furniture I found on the Nextdoor app, around Topanga. I picked those pieces up over a handful of months while I was doing construction on the house, and when enough of it was done, just before the snows came, I transported them to Taos. I was able to find insane furniture for really low prices. My giant orange sofa is probably a $5,000 sofa, but I got it for $300. So many people who live in LA have so many resources that if they want something new, and want to get rid of the old thing, it might as well go on the street. So I really got lucky. The green chairs are from Craigslist; Sibyl actually found them. The rounded dining room chairs around that big copper dining room table, I found those on Craigslist too — they came out of a big cruise ship. They were $12 each. This house was so big that I knew I had to be really clever about how I was getting the furniture. There’s just so much already made, why not keep it and move it around and breathe new life into it? One thing I noticed in the photos are the amazing carved-wood shutters. Who made those? The shutters open and close the main bedroom off from the atrium, which is the center of the house. A local artisan carved them many years ago — they were already here when I bought the house. There’s a tradition of carved-wood doors in this part of the country, a tradition that takes many different forms. I recently commissioned a friend of mine, someone I met here, CJ Burnett, to hand-carve the door for my dishwasher. It’s funny, but it’s so beautiful. He and his brother are artists, and carved all the doors for the restaurant his family openened, and they’re so insane. Someday I hope to have him carve all new cabinet fronts for the kitchen. For now though there’s just one. I have so many dreams for this house, like making all the bathrooms special. When you’re hosting guests, how much guidance do you give them about the house and how to experience it? I’ll tell them about the property and the land, and things I think they should do. I have stand-up paddle boards by the pond, because it’s really fun to paddle around while the sun is setting. The swallows dip and dive and eat bugs above you. This house is the very last house at the very tip of the canyon, so there’s no other property between the house and the sunset. It sets just in between these two big hills, and there’s big green pastures and fields in between you, on the paddleboard on the pond, and the sunset. So that’s super special. It’s real soul food. There’s a giant sleeping porch outside the main bedroom, and I offer to set up beds outside so you can sleep outside and have the sounds of the river while you’re sleeping. I engage with each group or each person in a different way. I don’t do one thing for everybody, but feel the group out, or whoever’s making the reservation. I see what they’re looking to do and I respond accordingly. I have lots of favorite restaurants, and a dear friend who does horseback riding lessons. As a host, I stay very connected to the people who stay here. I do most of the communication with them, to make sure they can have the most special time here possible. There’s something for me in it that really is a give-back, and that give-back is really valuable to me. With clothing, half the conversation I have with myself when I’m making it is, will a woman feel good wearing this? Will this bring her comfort? So creating this space and knowing people are coming into it and getting this really special feeling, it all comes from the same place for me — it’s about the way I care for people, whether I know them or not. I have a lot of caring instincts. That’s really part of it for me. This post was sponsored by Airbnb, but all thoughts and editorial content are our own. Like everything at Sight Unseen, our partner content is carefully curated to make sure it’s of the utmost relevance to our readers. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Sight Unseen.

[geminiiviolets]

wasn’t tagged but I saw this and thought I’d join!! :]]

My Castle Town - Toby Fox (Deltarune OST)

Writing on the Wall - Will Stetson

Common World Domination - PinocchioP and Hatsune Miku

22194- Takahiro Obata (The Promised Neverland Season 1 OST)

Fontaine- HOYO-MiX (Genshin Impact OST)

vs. EVE - Funk Fiction (No Straight Roads OST)

911 - Lady Gaga

Veridis Quo - Daft Punk

Utopia - Goldfrapp

Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Dazzle - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife - LE SSERAFIM

Replay - Lady Gaga

Embrace of Sea Waves - HOYO-MiX (Genshin Impact OST)

Area Zero Theme - Pokémon Scarlet and Violet OST

tagging anyone!

15 songs you listen to lately

tagged by @meiyanaalexia, thank u!! 💗💗💗

playlist with them all :3

Mili - Ame to taieki to nioi

Oomph! - Labirynth

Mili & Kihow - In hell we live, lament

Mili - Bulbel

Daniel Licht - Honor for all (Dishonored)

Mili - Children of the city

Mili - Sleep talk metropolis

Fall Out Boy - Centuries

Okamoto's - Where do we go? (Dr.Stone)

白鲨JAWS - VORTEX (《时光代理人第二季》动画片头曲) (《时光代理人第二 (Link Click)

Miracle of Sound - Savior's seed

Kian & Kafu - Liminal

Fan Ka - Overthink (Link Click)

闫东炜 - 萤火虫の怨

The Sisters of Mercy - Mother Russia

yeah that mili phase is not going away ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

tagging: @spacentimecreature, @lacertae-dreamscape, @megumi-fm, @kimdokjas, @olyollyoxenfree, @creative-shine, @pirahnnov, @aretheslugsblessed, @starboykeith, @justanotherking

[timstolejasonscorpseagain]

A list of LU charas with some songs that I feel either fits them or makes me think of em when I listen to it. 

I was very surprised I had as many as I did with Legend tbh, but then I realised he’s an edgelord and so am I. 

Time: Sounds of someday - Radio Company  Family - Austin Wintory Eternity, served cold - Seth Peelle, Toby Fox, Malcolm brown and Joren de bruin Deja Vu - Crusher P, covered by Rachie and Jubyphonic

Twi:  Beast in Black - Beast in black  Separate ways - Journey Wolves - Marshmallow ft. Selena Gomez Wretched and Divine - Black Veil Brides Black & Moonlight - Machigerita Can't be tamed - Miley Cyrus Animals - Maroon 5 Flesh - Simon Curtis Black Moon - Ghost town Bête du Gevaudan - Powerwolf Tear you Up - A-ONE ft. T.stebbins Wind:  Nostos - Orion's reign ft Minniva Oceanlove - Anggun Thrilling one way - Aqours Way back home - SHAUN ft. Conor Maynard (Sam felt edit) Rain Dance - A-ONE ft. T.stebbins The Riddle - Gigi D'agostino Inner Child - BTS (Taehyung Solo) He's a pirate - Scotty remix Moonchild - RM Dark Link:  TROUBLE - Parov Stelar ft. Nikki Williams  Love Love Nightmare - Kiichi Bang! - AJR Devil's Manner - Tatsuya Kitani Diablo - Simon Curtis Play with fire - Sam Tinnesz ft. Yacht Money Demons are a girl's best friend - Powerwolf March of Mephisto - Kamelot ft. Shagrath Kamikazee - MISSIO Come with me to the other side - Orden Ogan. Ft. Liv Kristine FAITH - A-ONE ft. T.stebbins Every breath you take - Chase Holfelder Poison - Asking Alexandria  Monster - KIRA covered by Kuraiini/Nijigenki

Legend: The Last -Agust D 134340 - BTS If I killed someone for you - Alec Benjamin Hvorfor har du busker på? - Moster Moster Too Soon - Orden Ogan The things I deserve - Ghost Over and Over - Three days Grace Paradise Lost - Hollywood Undead Sleepless - Josh A The worst in me - Bad Omens I hate Everyone - Falling In Reverse Angel - Judas Priest Violet Prince - DJ Sai Tee Yobanashi Deceive - Jin ft. IA Sleep - My chemical romance Wild: Dead man walking - Smiley Circles - KIRA covered by Rachie Snowblind - STYX To hell And back - Sabaton The bards song - Blind guardian, covered by Van Canto Isabella's lullaby - Takahiro Obata Interlude:Shadow - BTS (Yoongi solo) Donut Hole - Kenshi Yonezu  Calendula Requiem - Kanon x Kanon Gekka Reijin - BUCK-TICK Mikazuki - Sayuri I don't wanna die - Hollywood Undead Mother Murder - Hollywood Undead 'Till I collapse - Eminem  Alive or Undead - Powerwolf Time Will Tell - A-ONE ft. T.Stebbins No Guardian Angel - A-ONE ft. T.Stebbins Karma - AJR Castle Walls - Styx Entomologists - Ghost It kills me - Lil pitchy Up there - Post Malone Maisou - Yasuharu Takanashi Chichi to Haha - Yasuharu Takanashi I don’t wanna know - SEDO Sounder Self-Inflicted Achromatic - Nekobolo

[neonun-au]

A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing. 

All time favourites are marked with a ☆

All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye

(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)

Anthology/Short Story Collections

Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆

Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle

Difficult Women - Roxane Gay

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

Essays

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Fiction (Classic)

Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆

Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Fiction (Modern)

All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆

The Pisces - Melissa Broder

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆

Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆

Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi

The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆

After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆

The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi

Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

Blindness - Jose Saramgo

How To Be Both - Ali Smith

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Ru - Kim Thúy

Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

Big Fish - Daniel Wallace

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

Horror/Thriller

Tender is the Flesh - Augustina Bazterrica

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Gerald’s Game - Stephen King

The Shining - Stephen King

Audition - Ryū Murakami

Manga/Graphic Novels

Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa

Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou

Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe

Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆

Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa

Uzumaki - Junji Ito

xxxHolic - CLAMP

Memoirs/Journals

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi

Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆

Non-Fiction (General)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain

The Red Market - Scott Carney

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson

The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White

Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda

Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆

The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Poetry Collections

I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy

Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire

Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong

Science Fiction

Dune - Frank Herbert

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

True Crime

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆

Young Adult

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆

The Diviners - Libba Bray

The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon

BONUS: Or, A Book I Hated So Much That it Deserves Mention Here

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy

[greed-the-dorkalicious]

Some fun stuff for new HikaGo fans:

The reason Hikaru’s clothes all seem to have the number 5 on them is because “5″ is “go” in Japanese, so it’s a pun. This is why May 5th is Hikaru no Go day; May 5th (a holiday known as Children’s Day in Japan) is also the in-universe date of the big Thing that happens in episode 60, and the irl date that the volume the Thing happens in was released in English.

Sai’s former host, Kuwabara Torajirou (better known as Hon’inbou Shuusaku), is a real historical figure widely regarded as one of Japan’s all-time best go players. He’s best known for having 19 straight wins in the Castle Games (an important go tournament during the Edo period), and the famous “ear-reddening game”, in which he played against a higher-level player and appeared to be losing until he made a comeback with a move supposedly so good that his opponent’s ears turned red. Torajiro eventually became heir to the prestigious Honinbou go school, but never actually inherited this role; When a cholera epidemic swept Japan in 1862, Torajiro insisted on tending patience in the Honinbou house, and died of cholera himself at age 33. (His teacher and head of the school at the time, Honinbou Shuwa, didn’t die until 11 years later.) Also, yes, Torajirou shares both his last name and his title with Kuwabara-sensei (although the modern Honinbou title is a title won in a tournament, since the Honinbou school closed in 1940). It’s unclear if there’s any actual connection between them other than their names. Oh and here’s a piece of rare official art that I’m fairly certain is of Torajirou’s death. :)

Speaking of names, Hikaru, Akira, and Akari all have first names that have to do with light or visibility (”shining/bright/glittering”, “clear/light/bright”, and “light/glowing/lamp” respectively), while Sai, Hikaru, and Akari all have last names that include the character 藤, meaning “wisteria”, associated with the Fujiwara clan. (It’s the “dou” in “Shindou”, and the “fuji” in “Fujiwara” and “Fujisaki”). Again, nobody’s 100% sure of the significance of these connections.

Sai’s hat is called a tate-eboshi (standing cap), and his robe is called a kariginu. His clothes are typical casual wear for a Heian-era nobleman. His hair, however, is not how men wore their hair at the time, but rather how noble women did (it’s a style called “taregami”, aka keeping your hair silky and as long as you can possibly grow it). His makeup and earrings are not typical of the period. Sai also uses gender-neutral pronouns (not that this is especially noteworthy, it really just means he’s polite, Roy Mustang uses the same ones ffs), has been shown in flashbacks interacting face-to-face with both men and women at a time and place where that wasn’t really a thing unless you were married or biologically related, and the publishers for the English edition of the manga thought Sai was a lady until the author corrected them on which pronouns to use.

Go is known as “weiqi” in China, and “baduk” in Korea. Yes, there are go leagues in other countries. Yes, there are standardized English go terms. I don’t know WHY nobody in this fucking fandom ever uses them, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING “GO-ISHI” LITERALLY JUST MEANS “GO STONES” AND ISN’T SPECIAL, but here’s a convenient list of terminology for when you’re reading a fic and have no idea what the hell anyone’s talking about.

There’s an old PS1 RPG that takes place in a Heian-period AU in which Akira is an onmyouji (sort of like a wizardy priest I guess), Hikaru is a police officer in Heian-kyo (the capital city), and Sai is an ex-noble and legendary go player. The three of them have to work together to save Heian-kyo from a mysterious, seemingly go-related influx of yokai attacks. You can read my incomplete translation of the game here.

Paper Cranes by @tenspontaneite​ is the most gripping fic you will ever read for any fandom, and blissfully ship-free. Don’t read it until you’ve finished the series, but do read it!! It’s SO GOOD and I really need to catch up oh my god

Everyone loves to mock Akira’s fashion sense, but it’s actually made worse by the anime; In the manga, his hair was black with a lavender tint, so it went well with his lavender/pink/blue wardrobe. Then the anime came along and decided to make his hair FUCKING FOREST GREEN, BECAUSE THAT LOOKS GREAT WITH LAVENDER AND HOT PINK. Sai’s lipstick was also a lot less garish in most of the manga art, and if anyone ever tries to convince you that Sai’s lips are “purple” to represent his death via drowning, they’re an idiot who does not know what a drowned corpse looks like, or what the color purple looks like. Sai’s hair was also black in the manga.

Here’s the famous “long hair Akira” image, a drawing by Takeshi Obata of what Hikaru and Akira would look like 10 years after the end of the manga. I forgot what this was drawn for, I think the anniversary of the manga maybe? Idk. But yeah, here it is.

[sparklyjojos]

Let’s Read & Suffer: Tsukumojuku by Maijō Ōtarō [part 19]

Today`s recap: In which Tsukumojuku finally enters the Illusionary Castle, reunites with a character that I honestly forgot existed, discovers a very convoluted serial killer puzzle, and then things once more get pretty damn meta. [tw: gore]

STORY 4 PART 3

After Tsukumojuku discovered her crime, Serika and Seshiru had to escape once more. They both looked very hurt, with Serika crying and saying that she didn’t want to get separated from Tsukumojuku again, even if she understood that he had his own life now, what with his marriage and kids. [No, I don’t know how he can get married at like 16 either.]

(Love was a memory kept by the whole body. Made in the brain, spread with the blood throughout one’s entire being, and would never cease. ...and the love he once held for Serika was nothing more but a distant memory, he realized.)

When the twins fled Chofu, they left two disembodied hands of a man in the hidden room. According to Serika, that man’s name was Okubo Kengo. Well, that's proof enough. Tsukumojuku returned Ryouko's hollowed-out body to the police, and said that the criminal was Seshiru, leaving out the truth about Serika. A lot of bodies were later pulled out of the river, among them Okubo Kengo.

Tsukumojuku got the 10 million yen prize, transferred half of it to the twins' bank account, bought the magazines for his mother-in-law, and returned home in time. Whew! The mother-in-law questioned why he only got half the money, and he couldn't thought of a reason other than “er, must have dropped it on the way here?”, but it seemed they believed him.

He then learned that since Yanbe Tetsuo, the Illusionary Castle's owner, was quite rich, a prize for solving the Castle case had been funded: 30 million yen, which was something they could definitely use.

–

That night Tsukumojuku read the Third Story. Apparently Okubo Kengo was a serial killer there. In reality... well, you could say a lot of killing was done by his hands. [*rimshot*] In the Third Story, Seiryoin Ryusui was trapped in the Castle... maybe that meant they’d meet tomorrow, once Tsukumojuku got through the underground waterway. (The Castle’s underground... wasn’t that where the monster Gajobun was supposed to live?...) Maybe him thinking about the flag of Gibraltar, showing a key under a castle, really did make sense after all. Did the cross and the crown mean something too?

When he went to the park next morning, there was still a lot of policemen in there, investigating the terrain around the hidden room. A journalist came up to him like “Oh, so you're that Great Detective Tsukumojuku”. Since Tsukumojuku was afraid Ms Suzuki or Tsutomu would learn from the media where he is, he made the journalist faint before he could get any material. The police warned him against more noisy reporters, and didn’t say anything as he entered a manhole, although they looked a bit confused as to why he was doing that. Tsukumojuku went some distance underground, turned on the flashlight he'd brought with him, and looked around.

The waterway was full of ghosts.

STORY 4 PART 4

Of course the waterway was full of ghosts, their faces twisted in sadness or anger; lots of people had died in the Castle. Maybe they were trying to look for their way back? As he walked forward, their numbers increased, until he had to practically squeeze between them to proceed. Finally, he found the place where all the souls were looking up at the same spot. A hole in the ceiling. It seemed no soul could pass through it: a lot of them were frozen in mid-air reaching for it, and Tsukumojuku used that fact to climb them like a makeshift ladder. [Sure.]

Once he climbed out, he noticed a rope ladder, that this “Seiryoin” had probably been using to exit the Castle. If he really was the culprit of the Geneijo case, and these souls were the victims, then it’s kinda weird they didn’t do anything to him.

Tsukumojuku wandered the Castle’s cramped passages for some time before hearing upset voices:

“...I don't knoooow! This makes no sense! Enough! Enough!” “Calm down, Abe.” “I'm serious! I want out of here, right now!” “Stop crying, it's annoying! There's no reason for it! We're fine! Your assistant should be able to do something...” “He’s not my assistant, he’s more like a little brother to me...”

Following the voices, Tsukumojuku opened the door to what looked like a giant chapel, with stone pillars and stained-glass windows. Above the altar, maybe 15m above the ground, a giant crucifix with a figure of Christ was suspended. There were about 20 men and women in the chapel, and one of them was someone very familiar to Tsukumojuku: Abe Atsushi, or Daibakusho Happy. (安倍敦, or 大爆笑ハッピ)

[If just like me you have already forgotten who the hell was that -- it’s that private tutor from the First Story who couldn’t teach for shit, constantly repeated the rakugo “Dowry”, and hanged out with little Tsutomu a lot.]

Tsukumojuku followed Abe’s horrified sight to see what this was all about. On the altar, there was a box with a woman's head inside. Her pale face had a red circle painted on the right cheek, and a blue circle on the left cheek. Her eyes were open, dark eyeliner and fake eyelashes applied. On the box’s inner side was written the name “Geneijo” in red, and the number “5” in blue. On the head's right side somebody had put a clown doll dressed in black.

Oh, and there were 42 other boxes.

Small or large, all rectangular, sometimes containing a head and sometimes half a body. All were decorated with colors, had some kind of toys inside, and were numbered.

Three boxes didn't have bodies: one was numbered ���7″ (seventh column from the left) that happened to be next to another “7″. “5″ (tenth column) was empty too, and also had another “5″ as a neighbour. A “1″ (2nd column) also had another “1″ next to it, but instead of being empty, it contained a hand made of clay. So, a double box number would distinguish the empty ones?

The 43 boxes all symbolized individual covers of the 1975-1999 issues of Geneijo, a detective novel magazine. The empty boxes corresponded to '75 July Extra Issue (with Edogawa Ranpo on the cover), and '76 May Special Issue (with Yokomizo Seishi). The box with black clay hands was the '78 New Year Special Issue.

[The next four pages are Tsukumojuku’s drawings of the boxes -- don’t worry, you don’t actually have to pay any attention to these for the plot, but I’m putting them here just because. 

Columns 1-2:

Columns 3-5:

Columns 6-8:

Columns 9-11:

–

Among them Tsukumojuku found Ryouko’s head, wrapped in pink scarf, with lips painted pink. (He hoped the white rose in the box would be, as stupid as it sounded, a bit of a comfort to her lost soul... though her soul was still stuck behind that bookshelf.) 

He quickly understood the reason why the criminal had used 12 bodies from outside the Castle. During its first year being in circulation, the Geneijo magazine was published by a company called Geneisha, which eventually bankrupted. The magazine was from then on published by a new company called just Geneijo. So the first year issues, from February '75 to January '76, were “from outside Geneijo” -- from outside the Castle. And so were the victims.

- - -

Tsukumojuku approached the group of people, and told Abe that he was Tsutomu's older brother. Abe recognized him (“Oh, it’s you! You alright? How did you get here? Does Tsutomu know you’re here?”) Tsukumojuku told them about the waterway entrance, and everyone cheered, for some reason shouting “Kick-kick-kick, four-dimensional kick” in happiness. A tall man thanked Tsukumojuku for coming, said that everyone in the chapel was an entertainment group [as in actors] called the Angel Bunnies, and asked for his name.

“I’m the Great Detective Tsukumojuku.”

The cheering stopped abruptly.

"What the fuck?!” Abe yelled in tears. “That's already the third Great Detective Tsukumojuku! I don't understand anything! Is the world made out of Tsukumojukus?!”

The tall man tried to console Abe saying that it was all fine, they could leave now -- but Tsukumojuku quickly said that actually, they couldn't leave yet, since the criminal may be among them.

“But,” he said, “I can guarantee that the case will be solved in the next 30 minutes!” Just in time to get back home for lunch. “So please be patient and--”

“But that's exactly what the other Tsukumojuku sa-a-aid...!” Abe was completely hysterical, so Tsukumojuku asked everyone else to look away and took off the sunglasses. Now that the nuisance was temporarily gone (along with two other people too curious for their own good who also had looked his way), he put the glasses back on.

The tall man was like “oh shit, that really is the Great Detective Tsukumojuku, what's with the unnatural beauty and all”. Huh? So that other “Tsukumojuku” was just as beautiful as him?

- - -

The Angel Bunnies introduced themselves to Tsukumojuku. [You don’t have to remember these names at all, don’t worry.]

The name of the tall man was Fukushima Manabu (福島学). People who had fainted alongside Abe were Kawabe Keisuke (河辺恵介) and Nakai Sayaka (中井紗也香).

Other members, men: Kawai Kazuhiro (河合一洋), Hongou Takeshi (本郷雄士), Tanaka Masatsugu (田中正嗣), Kumono Takuya (雲野巧也), Hoshino Masato (星野真人), Aoyama Gen (青山元), Furutaka Masayuki (古高雅之).

Other members, women: Mizoroki Fumie (溝呂木文枝), Kajiwara Ayako (梶原亜矢子), Nomura Rie (野村りえ), Obata Aki (尾畑亜紀), Nonaka Mami (野中麻美), Yoshida Yukino (吉田由貴乃), Iwai Yumi (岩井ゆみ).

A total of 19 people. There were 20 of them once, but unfortunately Higashimoto Mika (東元美佳) was currently stuffed in the box symbolizing the November '76 issue of Geneijo.

As for what they were doing there: apparently Tsutomu (now Great Detective Daibakusho Curry) had been invited to the Castle party. He and Abe were a part of the Angel Bunnies, so when he got the invitation to the Castle, everyone went together with him to have some fun.

Needless to say, it wasn’t fun. Among other casualties, Seiryoin Ryusui vanished without a trace the very first day. Other weird shit was going on too. Apparently some actual JDC members had appeared out of nowhere: Ajiro Souji, Hikimiya Yuuya (氷姫宮幽弥), and the Detective God Tsukumo Juku himself. The rumor was that they had come to protest the publishing of Seiryoin's JDC books, and that Tsutomu / Daibakusho Curry was secretly cooperating with them.

Three JDC detectives... each with his own method of reasoning. Ajiro Souji would ponder the topic endlessly, Detective God would wait patiently and gather evidence that showed up with time, and Hikimiya was mostly there to write the data down. Apparently this now meant that Ajiro was worrying himself with Geneijo on a break from his usual telephone detective stuff. Detective God mostly closed himself in his room and napped [probably because why bother when the evidence hadn’t showed up yet?]. Hikimiya was running around and calculate many weird things like how many chairs and bed there was on the first floor (the same that the number of pages in Seiryoin’s Cosmic, apparently), the number of windows (99, like the number of chapters in Joker), and how much space the carpet took (the same as all the illustrations, table of contents etc. in Carnival.)

Hikimiya was now busy reading through the entirety of the library, counting how many times individual characters show up, or some weird specific shit like that. (...Tsutomu’s cooperation probably meant he was taking care of poor Hikimiya while he was working. Tsutomu was just the kind of person who’d want to take care of others.)

- - -

Since the Angel Bunnies had no idea what the hell the Geneijo magazine even was, Tsukumojuku explained.

Geneijo was called that after Edogawa Ranpo's famous essay. The same essay’s name was also given to the mysterious castle showing up in Seiryoin's book -- in these books, the Castle’s owner was even called Hirai Tarou, which happens to be Edogawa Ranpo's true name. In Joker, a serial killer called the Artist killed a whole lot of people in Geneijo, and the JDC detectives had to stop him... but of course, that was just a story. To make things even more meta, in the JDC books there actually appeared a character called “Seiryoin Ryusui” who was simultaneously writing the JDC books.

Just a story... But the JDC detectives had appeared in reality now, as the Angel Bunnies pointed out. But maybe they were just cosplayers, who would made up things using words and numbers -- anagrams, math puzzles, word plays and so on. If you kept doing this long enough, one thing would always lead to another. For example,let’s say we want to connect “words” and “numbers”. If you moved the voiced consonant in “kotoba” (word) from end to beginning you'd get “gotoha” which you can write down as “五とは” which has the number 5 in it, isn’t it just amazing?

Or that the word “suuji” (numbers, 数字) would also be read “suuji” when written as 崇辞, and if you now swapped the second kanji in that for same-reading 詞, you'd get 崇高な詞 (a sublime word?) which are 本物の言葉 (real words). Words within words. Words without unnecessary decorations. (余計な装飾のない言葉). Words by themselves, to sum it up.

[I’m equally confused by the word play onslaught, don’t worry.]

There were a whole lot of these word games, and obviously some common theme would always crop up if you banged one concept into the other hard enough. These puns and anagrams were the essence of the JDC series, so naturally, it wouldn’t be strange that these “hardcore JDC cosplayers” would also love them.

- - -

In an attempt to solve the mystery, Tsukumojuku then took Ryouko’s head out of her box and using a knife carefully cut off her face to make a mask, which caused the horrified Angel Bunnies to run away to the other side of the chapel because what the actual fuck, dude. Tsukumojuku put the makeshift mask on, and just like when putting on her skin, Ryouko’s memories instantly attacked his brain. They were so strong he fell on the floor in convulsions, and actually broke three ribs in the proccess. Too many memories, way too much information, too great of an impact, and then suddenly – the memory from just before death.

Chofu, near the river, late at night. Somebody trying to catch Ryouko – it's Serika, wearing Okubo's hands like gloves. Ryouko ran, but was caught and tackled to the ground. Serika sat on her chest, and yelled for someone to keep her legs down!”. A man with long black hair and glasses -- Seiryoin.

Mystery solved. In Geneijo, Seiryoin was God.

And as he took the mask off, that God’s “Angels” -- Ajiro, Hikimiya and JDC’s own Tsukumo Juku -- entered the chapel along with Tsutomu.

- - -

IMPRESSIONS:

*Maijo voice* how many layers of meta are you on? you’re like a little baby, watch this

Jesus, just how many tiny kanji can you fit on all these diagrams, Tsukumojuku? Good thing the details don’t really seem to matter in the grand scheme of things, at least as far as I’ve read, so I don’t have to translate this mess.

I love the scene with the ghosts. The soul ladder reminded me of the Kars ladder from Jorge Joestar, for some reason.

I don’t know if this is the intentional reading here, but I love the idea that the Detective God would just chill out in his room while shit is going on because he knows how mystery novels work and that the case’s not gonna get solved before the writer wills it. “Gonna take a nap, wake me up once the scared witness gets shot just before revealing the killer’s name.”

In the JDC series, Hikimiya Yuuya specializes in crime statistics and such, which requires him to always carry a laptop he can calculate data with. He loves quoting mystery novels whenever he can. While working as an assisstant to such great detectives like the Detective God or Ryuuguu Jounosuke, he has some complexes about his own power of reasoning. Not a very remarkable guy, at least on first sight.

>>>>NEXT PART>>>>

[monochrome-typewriter]

This has been in the works for a long time, and I think I’m finally satisfied. Here’s my current top 50 favorite anime ost tracks. The numbers could probably be moved around a bit, but this is good enough for now. My only rules were the track had to actually play in an anime, and it couldn’t be the primary op or ed. I also kept it to one track per anime for simplicity (not counting alternate adaptations and such).

Because I can’t number things backwards on here, I’m gonna list it as a count-up instead of a countdown. So number 1 is my least favorite on the list, and number 50 is my most favorite.

the legend Kajiura Yuki (Fate/Zero)

Unmei no Yoru -UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS- Kawai Kenji (Fate/stay night UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS)

M08b Kajiura Yuki (Gekijouban Kara no Kyoukai "Fukan Fuukei")

Requiem Hiiragi Nao (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia)

Katyusha Matvej Isaakovich Blanter (GIRLS und PANZER)

fuuin Kajiura Yuki (Elemental Gelade)

only i am missing Kajiura Yuki (Boku dake ga Inai Machi)

Kyoukan Soshite Wakare Katou Tatsuya (Mirai Nikki)

Main Theme Ooshima Michiru (Nabari no Ou)

Plus Ultra Hayashi Yuuki (Boku no Hero Academia)

ship of fools Kajiura Yuki (Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)

DéJà VU DAVID ROGERS (Initial D)

Unmei to Koigokoro Wada Kaoru (Inuyasha)

happiness of marionette dai (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)

Unmei no Yoru Kawai Kenji (Fate/stay night)

The World of Midnight Minako “mooki” Obata (BLACK LAGOON)

Monochrome ~ version de l'apprivoiser Kousaki Satoru (STAR DRIVER Kagayaki no Takuto)

Kyrie II Hirano Yoshihisa (Death Note)

Wondering Sakaue Masumi (Haibane Renmei)

My Song Maeda Jun (Angel Beats)

Kyuuketsuki Dobashi Akio (Dance In The Vampire Bund)

The Reluctant Heroes Sawano Hiroyuki (Attack on Titan)

IiMuRoYa-$.feat 3rd-Mov.:HEiW@→KiZUN@ Sawano Hiroyuki (Blue Exorcist)

Villkiss ~Kakusei~ Shikata Akiko (Cross Ange)

It’s only the fairy tale Kajiura Yuki (MY-HiME)

Le chant de Roma (For the Oppressed) Iwasaki Taku (Akame ga Kill!)

Fellow Citizens Ike Yoshihiro (Ergo Proxy)

a stray child Kajiura Yuki (.hack//SIGN)

Dragon Force Takanashi Yasuharu (FAIRY TAIL)

Main Theme Kawai Kenji (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)

Carrying You (Chorus Version) Hisaishi Joe (Laputa: Castle in the Sky)

Noi! Kajiura Yuki (Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica The Movie: Rebellion)

Hoshi ga Kanaderu Monogatari Kajiura Yuki (My-Otome)

Sound Life ~LEM Akima Tsuneo (Trigun)

lit(var) ushio kensuke (Koe no Katachi)

Ake ni Somaru Takanashi Yasuharu (Jigoku Shoujo)

In Regards to Love ~Agape~ Umebayashi Tarou (YURI!!! on ICE)

Sho’s Song (Instrumental Version) Cécile Corbel (Karigurashi no Arrietty)

Parade Hirasawa Susumu (Paprika)

Sis puella magica! Kajiura Yuki (Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica)

Blumenkranz Sawano Hiroyuki (KILL la KILL)

Senya Takanashi Yasuharu (Naruto Shippuuden)

Hanezeve Caradhina Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss)

hanna Kanno Youko (Zankyou no Terror)

Country Road (Violin Version) Nomi Yuuji (Mimi wa Sumaseba)

Sparkle (Movie Version) RADWIMPS (Your Name.)

The Girl’s Fantasy Togoshi Magome (CLANNAD)

Continued Story Kuroishi Hitomi (CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2)

Brat’ja Ooshima Michiru (FullMetal Alchemist)

Forces Hirasawa Susumu (BERSERK) [shout out to Forces II for also being awesome]

As a bonus, I’ll throw in my favorite character themes (as in their theme tracks, not character songs) since a good chunk of them are on my favorites list, while others had to be left off due to the “one per anime” rule.

Kyoukan Soshite Wakare Katou - Uryuu Minene’s Theme

ship of fools - Wei Fong Reed’s Theme

Dante - Dante’s Theme (FMA ‘03)

happiness of marionette - Eva Beatrice’s Theme

Natsu’s Theme - Natsu Dragneel’s Theme

L’s Theme - (Death Note)

Decretum - Miki Sayaka’s Theme

Nagisa - Furukawa Nagisa’s Theme

Sho’s Song/Arrietty’s Song - Sho/Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty)*

Blumenkranz - Kiryuuin Ragyo’s Theme

Senya - Uchiha Itachi’s Theme

Gats - Guts’ Theme (BERSERK)

*(I couldn’t pick one over the other. They tie)

[phantomsteve2000]

Studio Ghibli = スタジオジブリ – Studio Ghibli 7inch Box = スタジオジブリ７インチBox Label: Tokuma Japan Communications ‎– TJKA10021, Studio Ghibli Records ‎– TJKA10021 Format: 4 × Vinyl, 7", EP, Reissue, Remastered Vinyl, 7", Bonus Disc (Red, Blue or Yellow) Box Set, Compilation, Limited Edition Country: Japan Released: 10 Jul 2019 Tracklist 4 x original 7” (see below for more details) + special coloured disc + original adapter for large hole 7” vinyl record ① Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind / Wind FairyVocal: Narumi Yasuda (25.1.1984: ANS-2008) ② If I can fly / I donʼt need Virgin Road Vocal: Yoko Obata (25.5.1986: 7AGS-7) ③ My Neighbor Totoro / Carrying You Vocal: Azumi Inoue (25.10.1987: 7AGS-12) ④ My Neighbor Totoro /Hey Letʼs go Vocal: Azumi Inoue (25.3.1988: 7AGS-14) ⑤Special Disc Carrying you / My Neighbor Totoro Crystal audio master *colored vinyl record Disc ①〜④ ＝ Reissues of the original EP Special Disc ⑤ ＝ Instrumental versions of crystal audio New jacket artwork Red, blue or yellow disc is included at random Adapter ＝ Studio Ghibli Records Original Adapter 風の谷のナウシカ / 風の妖精A–安田成美*風の谷のナウシカB–安田成美*風の妖精もしも空を飛べたら / ヴァージンロードなんかいらないC–小幡洋子もしも空を飛べたらD–小幡洋子ヴァージンロードなんかいらないとなりのトトロ / 君をのせてE–井上あずみ*となりのトトロF–井上あずみ*君をのせてとなりのトトロ / さんぽG–井上あずみ*となりのトトロH–井上あずみ*さんぽ特典Disc: 君をのせて / となりのトトロ – クリスタル・メロディーズI–井上あずみ*君をのせて (クリスタル音源)J–井上あずみ*となりのトトロ (クリスタル音源) Notes Movies featured: 1984: 風の谷のナウシカ (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) 1986: 天空の城ラピュタ (Castle in the Sky) 1988: となりのトトロ (My Neighbor Totoro) @normanrecs @ghibli.movies @ghibliuk #MyNeighborTotoro #となりのトトロ #NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind #風の谷のナウシカ #CastleInTheSky #天空の城ラピュタ #StudioGhibli #株式会社スタジオジブリ #MyLatestVinyl #LimitedEdition https://www.instagram.com/p/B2C4_dsHxw_/?igshid=atmd92vrvk3n

[sinmenongames]

Review : Castlevania Judgment (Wii)

Como uma empresa de games com renome pode conseguir dinheiro rápido sem se esforçar muito? A resposta é óbvia: fanservice. Várias companhias já fizeram isto, seja a Square com Kingdom Hearts, Tales com Tales of the World e outros exemplos menos famosos ou sucedidos em RPGs (Cross Edge, Chaos Wars entre outros) e os vários jogos de VS da Capcom (Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Marvel vs Capcom, Capcom vs SNK e inúmeros outros) ou até mesmo o Dissidia em jogos de luta. Basta jogar os personagens favoritos dos fãs, criar uma história qualquer só para ligar os pontos (Cloud e Squall lutando lado-a-lado? Dante batendo no Ghost Rider? Quem se importa o motivo?) e pronto. A Konami já tinha feito algo parecido com o obscuro DreamMix TV World Fighters para Playstation 2 e Gamecube junto com a Hudson e a Takara e tinha personagens que variavam de Castlevania, Metal Gear, Adventure Island, Transformers, Bloody Roar e uma espécie de "Barbie" japonesa chamada Licca-Chan. IGA, o principal responsável da série Castlevania, queria fazer um jogo da série para o Wii que utilizasse os controles sensíveis a movimento mas achou que uma aventura tradicional poderia ser cansativa (vide Soul Calibur Legends por exemplo) e resolveu fazer um jogo de luta. Takeshi Obata, ilustrador de Hikaru no Go, Death Note e Bakuman foi chamado para fazer o design dos personagens e o resultado criou tantas controvérsias quanto o próprio produto em si. A história Um ser chamado Galamoth (um chefe opcional de Symphony of the Night do PS1 e grande vilão de Boku wa Dracula-kun/Kid Dracula do NES) envia uma criatura chamada "Time Reaper" de 10.000 anos no futuro para destruir seu rival, Dracula, no passado. Um homem chamado Aeon que serve aos mestres do tempo descobre o plano e invoca 13 campeões vindos de diferentes eras para uma fenda temporal. Após coletar a força das treze almas apenas um dos guerreiros pode ser digno de enfrentar o Time Reaper e manter a integridade do fluxo temporal.

A história é apenas uma mera desculpa para ter Simon e Alucard se enfrentando ou ter Sypha, Maria e Shanoa decidirem quem é a melhor maga da série. Alguns detalhes, histórias e personalidades ficaram interessantes, principalmente os personagens de Castlevania III e o Eric de Bloodlines. Outros, como Alucard, Carmilla e Cornell ficaram pouco inspirados ou simplesmente sem importância nenhuma. O pior ponto do jogo foi a des-caracterização de Maria (Rondo of Blood/Symphony of the Night). Uma das personagens mais queridas da franquia foi reduzida não apenas a um comic relief mas a uma piada de mal gosto com fixação por seios. A escolha de ter o Golem também foi estranha, eles nunca foram nada além de inimigos comuns e alguns poucos chefes. Dá a impressão que ele foi colocado por simplesmente colocar.

Uma das coisas irritantes do jogo é ser obrigado a zerar com todos os personagens pelo menos uma vez para que Aeon possa "coletar as almas" e liberar o verdadeiro modo história para enfrentar o Time Reaper. Dificilmente alguém se importaria de fazer isto com alguns dos personagens como Trevor ou Cornell, mas outros mais difíceis de controlar (especialmente Dracula) pode ser uma experiência terrível. Não que os finais sejam muito inspiradores, há apenas um epílogo escrito e nada além disto.

O jogo O jogo tem vários modos clássicos, como Story, Arcade, Survival e Versus, mas também tem algumas outras novidade como o modo Castle que é uma espécie de "modo de missão" como se estivesse investigando Castlevania até chegar no Dracula. É um conceito interessante mas que não trás nada de novo ao mesmo tempo. No modo Story é o mais importante, cheio de cenas extras entre as batalhas e com ocasionais batalhas contra inimigos aleatórios e um mini-chefe no final. Mas como já citado, é obrigatório zerar o modo Story pelo menos uma vez com todos os personagens para liberar a batalha contra o verdadeiro chefe final e isto pode ser um tanto cansativo.

A jogabilidade lembra um pouco o clássico Ergheiz do PS1 com a navegação livre dos cenários. Um botão serve para pular e poder se deslocar melhor nos vários niveis do cenário. Alguns deles tem armadilhas como poços de ácido, zumbis que atacam e clássicos como "ring outs" o que dão um pouco mais de diversidade nas lutas. Existem também candelabros e outros objetos para destruir e pegar sub-weapons e corações como na série clássica com exatamente a mesma função. Para controlar o personagem é possível usar o Wii remote com o nunchuk para ter os ataques utilizando o sensor de movimento (extremamente impreciso) ou o controle classico/Gamecube/Arcade que é um pouco melhor mas que continuam sendo terríveis para mirar e ter uma boa noção da luta.

Apenas o botão "A" é o botão de ataque, mas combinando com as direções, bloqueio e os outros botões abre a possibilidade de fazer outros ataques e combinações, enquanto o botão "x" executa um hyper (simples assim). O sistema peca em praticamente tudo: diversidade, precisão e profundidade. Faltou refinamento e controle dos personagens. É visível que a Konami não tem experiência no gênero e que falhou em fazer um teste de audiência eficiente.

Gráfico Enquanto os cenários são maravilhosos, a escolha de Obata para o visual dos personagens foi infeliz. Ele teve a liberdade de re-imaginar os personagens como Ayami Kojima fez em Castlevania Chronicles mas o resultado não foi muito animador. Aeon é obviamente inspirado em L, Maria é Misa-Misa, Simon poderia se passar pelo Light e Death é o Ryuk de Death Note. Este último, por sinal é nada menos do que uma aberração. Também é difícil compreender as decisões tomadas para compor o visual do Dracula e do Alucard, ambos ficaram no mínimo esquisitos.

Existem menos roupas alternativas e detalhes do que em Soul Calibur II e III, que são menos de 1/3 do tamanho do jogo. Isto é em teoria compensado pelos acessórios que são liberados com o tempo, mas eles também não são interessantes e alguns bem que poderiam ter alguma animação como a fairy familiar. Com tão poucos personagens (14) merecia mais material. Som A trilha sonora não tem como errar: remixes de Castlevania, variando de clássicos do NES até os mais recentes. A trilha é sensacional, uma das melhores remixagens da série. Um dos pontos positivos do jogo é ter a opção de audio em japonês ou inglês. Embora as vozes americanas sejam boas há exceções, para qualquer puritano esta opção é muito bem-vinda.

Conclusão Não recomendaria este jogo, principalmente para quem gosta da série. Ouça a trilha sonora e veja os vídeos do story mode do Simon, Trevor, Sypha e Grant pois é só isto que presta.

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Whew, another month has come and gone. It is officially fall where I live, and I am ready to curl up with a hot beverage and a comfy blanket and some great reads. First I just need the weather to cool down a bit more. It’s still really hot here.

First up, let’s check in on progress for the yearly goals.

Reading: I finished 22 books and got about halfway through two others, so overall I’m at 164 books read for 2019 so far, which is outstanding.

Blogging: There was a blog post up every single day in September, so I’m still on a roll in this area as well

Writing: I’m about two months into my Weekend Writer blog post series now, so I’m diving deep into research into the writing craft, but I really haven’t done much creative writing. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next month.

Conventions: We went to Cincinnati Comic Expo this month to work at the Colorworld Books booth, and it was amazing, but it also gave us a lot to think about when it comes to our lives and the possibility of how our future could be.

Next up is the wrap up section of today’s post. As always, if I have a review up already then I will include the link just in case you’d like to check it out.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Vol 1 by Yoshinobu Akita and Mungi — 3.5 stars

Platinum E.N.D. Vol 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata — 3.5 stars

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson — 5 stars

Delicious in Dungeon Vol 5 by Ryoko Kui — 4 stars

Magus of the Library Vol 1 by Mitsu Izumi — 5 stars

Hunted by Meagan Spooner — 3.5 stars

Critical Role Vox Machina Origins II #3 by Jody Hauser, Matthew Mercer, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway — DNF

Escape from Castle Ravenloft by Matt Forbeck — 5 stars

The Mad Mage’s Academy by Matt Forbeck — 5 stars

The Girl from the Other Side Vol 7 by Nagabe — 5 stars

Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters by Nikita Gill — 5 stars

Well Met by Jen DeLuca — 5 stars

Uncanny Collateral by Brian McClellan — 4 stars

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir — 4.5 stars

Accomplishments of a Duke’s Daughter Vol 1 by Reia and Suki Umemiya — 3 stars

Victor Boone Will Save Us by David Joel Stevenson — 4 stars (review to come Oct 3)

Suggested Reading by Dave Connis — 5 stars

Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer — 4.5 stars

The Beautiful (Sampler) by Renee Ahdieh — too soon to give a rating, but I like it so far

A Guide to Being a Dog by Seamus Wheaton, Wil Wheaton, and Lar Desouza — 4.5 stars

Mythical Beast Investigator Vol 1 by Keishi Ayasato and Koichiro Hoshino — 4 stars

The Sacred Blacksmith Vol 1 by Isao Miura and Kotero Yamada — 4 stars

Okay, book haul and OwlCrate Unboxing time. Well…we bought quite a few books this month. Oh man, I doubt that next month will be much better because there are so many books I’m looking forward to, and B&N is having a Kodansha Comics sale (Buy 2 get the 3rd free) through Oct 29, so yeah, I’m probably going to be buying a bunch more manga.

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Finally, let’s talk TBRs. I’m not putting my TBR up yet for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, because it is at the end of the month and I don’t know what I’ll be in the mood to read. Other than that I’m feeling like some spooky and/or atmospheric fantasies are what I want to read.

How was your September? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

September Wrap-Up and October TBR Hey all, Dani here. Whew, another month has come and gone. It is officially fall where I live, and I am ready to curl up with a hot beverage and a comfy blanket and some great reads.

[recentanimenews]

The Manga Revue, 5/14/18

Hey, y’all… apologies for the radio silence last week! I was knee-deep in term papers and final exams, but I submitted my course grades yesterday and am back in the manga-reviewing saddle. As penance for skipping a week, today’s column is super-sized, with review links galore and the low down on Cutie Honey a Go Go!, Seven Seas’ newest Go Nagai offering.

Cutie Honey a Go Go! Original Story by Go Nagai; Story & Art by Shimpei Itoh; Planning Cooperation by Hideaki Anno Translated by Zack Davisson an Adrienne Beck Seven Seas, 400 pp. Rated T, for Teen (Nudity and bloodless violence)

Cutie Honey a Go Go! is not a conventionally good manga. Its plot is riddled with holes, its characters are two-dimensional, and its artwork is an unholy marriage of Nixon-era character designs and Photoshopped backgrounds. Yet for all its obvious limitations, Cutie Honey a Go-Go! is cheeky fun in the manner of an Austin Powers movie; it’s a cartoon of a cartoon, an irreverent send-up of the original source material that simultaneously captures the original manga’s naughty tone while updating the plot and characters for contemporary readers.

The source material is a mixture of Hideaki Anno’s 2004 film and Go Nagai’s original 1973 manga, plucking characters and storylines from both and combining them into something new. Per Anno’s film, the story’s characters are primarily adults, not teenagers, and the Catholic overtones of the original series are muted. Per Nagai’s original Weekly Shonen Champion series, the final act of Cutie Honey unfolds at the Saint Chapel School for Girls, where the transforming android and her human pal Aki Natsuko square off with the lethal beauties of the Panther Claw organization.

Shimpei Itoh’s greatest skill as an adaptor is his comic chops. In Cutie Honey a Go Go!, Aki Natsuko is no longer a blushing school girl with a crush on the titular android; she’s a hard-charging inspector who supervises a bureau of men and faces down danger with the brash confidence of a Harrison Ford character. Most of the manga’s best gags involve Aki and her hapless subordinate Todoroki, who plays Hildy Johnson to her Walter Burns. Itoh also has a flare for introducing the Panther Claw ladies, all of whom look like Betty Paige cosplayers wearing outlandish animal print bathing suits; their entrances are choreographed like musical theater numbers, complete with synchronized minions dancing, prancing, and throwing lethal objects with consummate precision. The sheer exuberance of these sequences helps distract from the clunky artwork and cheesy dialogue, goosing the proceedings with an infectious energy that’s impossible to resist.

As for the fan service, it’s there — Itoh serves up plenty of gratuitous nudity, just as Nagai did in the original. (Cutie Honey’s clothing dissolves to tatters whenever she transforms.) Yet for all the T&A, Cute Honey looks more like a 1962 issue of Playboy magazine rather than a contemporary manga; there’s a pin-up coyness about the cheesecake that renders these images benign. And c’mon… how can you not cheer on a heroine who’s rocking a half pair of assless chaps while saving the world? I rest my case. Recommended.

Must-Read Reviews

Siddarth Gupta pores over last week’s Weekly Shonen Jump Bonus Issue. Over at Hakutaku, Alana posts a thoughtful introduction to Leiji Matsumoto’s Captain Harlock, tracing the character across the creator’s entire oeuvre. And while you’re there, take a minute to appreciate her review of Hello Baby, a one-shot title from Takeshi Obata (Death Note, Platinum End) and Masanori Morita (Rookies, Shiba Inu) that focuses on “wannabe gangster” who “plots to murder a high-ranking yakuza boss.” Further afield, Kelly Chiu explains why every series manga fan should read Fullmetal Alchemist.

New and Noteworthy

Again!!, Vol. 1 (Helen, The OASG)

The Bride Was a Boy (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

The Bride Was a Boy (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

The Bride Was a Boy (Maxy Barnard, Friendship! Effort! Victory!)

The Bride Was a Boy (Morgana Santilli, The Manga Maven)

The Bride Was a Boy (Publisher’s Weekly)

Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, Vol. 1 (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

Chi’s Sweet Adventures, Vol. 1 (Sarah, Anime UK News)

CITY, Vol. 1 (Tobias, Third Impact Anime)

Claudine (Erica Friedman, Okazu)

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 (Jordan Richardson, AiPT!)

Devilman vs. Hades, Vol. 1 (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

Dragon Half Omnibus Collection, Vol. 1 (T. Shapira, Multiversity Comics)

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 1 (Allison Ziebka, Bloom Reviews)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition, Vol. 1 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

I Give to You (Eric Cline, AiPT!)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Vols. 1-6 (Matt Brady, Warren Peace Sings the Blues)

Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale, Vol. 1 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 1 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

Monoke Sharing, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 1 (Jordan Richardson (AiPT!)

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1 (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1 (Manjiorin, The OASG)

Perfect World, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)*

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

Silver Spoon, Vol. 1 (Maxy Barnard, Friendship! Effort! Victory!)

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 1 (Thea Srinivasan, Comic Bastards)

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 1 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! (Marion, Otaku She Wrote)

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 1 (David Brooke, AiPT!)

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 1 (Katherine Dacey, The Manga Critic)

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 (Allison Ziebka, Bloom Reviews)

Yuuna and the Haunted Springs, Vol. 1 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Ongoing Series

Again!!, Vol. 2 (Alisha Taran, Reality’s a Bore)

Black Clover, Vol. 11 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

Bleach, Vol. 72 (Cold Cobra, Anime UK News)

A Bride’s Story, Vol. 2 (Allison Ziebka, Bloom Reviews)

Complex Age, Vol. 2 (Ken H., Sequential Ink)

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Vol. 5 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 8 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Food Wars!! Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 23 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 3 (Krystallina, The OASG)

Haikyu!!, Vol. 19 (Donovan Bertch, LRM)

The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Vol. 8 (Alisha Taran, Reality’s a Bore)

Imperfect Girl, Vol. 3 (Eva Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 6 (Kyle Lesniewicz, LRM)

Kakeguri: Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 4 (Matthew Alexander, The Fandom Post)

Kiniro Mosaic, Vol. 6 (Krystallina, The OASG)

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 8 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 7 (Krystallina, The OASG)

My Hero Academia, Vol. 6 (Eric Cline, AiPT!)

Nameless Asterism, Vol. 2 (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

One Week Friends, Vol. 2 (Justin, The OASG)

Silver Spoon, Vol. 2 (Krystallina, The OASG)

Silver Spoon, Vol. 2 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

Skip Beat!!, Vols. 4-6 (Allison Ziebka, Bloom Reviews)

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 8 (Krystallina, The OASG)

From the Vault

Angel’s Coffin (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Appleseed Alpha (Ken H., Sequential Ink)

Himeyuki & Rozione’s Story (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Mr. Mini Mart (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Once Upon a Glashma (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Present for Me (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Queen Emeraldas, Vol. 2 (Ken H., Sequential Ink)

SP Baby, Vol. 2 (Thea Srinivasan, Comic Bastards)

Tokyo Mew Mew, Vol. 1 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)

Tropic of the Sea (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Uncomfortably Happily (Dani Shuping, No Flying No Tights)

Yukarism, Vol. 4 (LG, A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)

* Denotes a digital-first or digital-only release

By: Katherine Dacey

[stacks-reviews]

New Releases 9/5/17

Happy New Release Day!

In Books --Death Note All-in-One Edition by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata Containing the complete hit manga series in one volume. This All-in-One Edition comes in a silver slipcase and contains a never before seen in English epilogue. Size wise the edition stands a little slower than the individual volumes and a little shorter width. It is one massive collection. I saw the ones we got in at my work and it looks really great. Or at least the slipcase does. They were covered in plastic wrapping. It is $40 but if you haven’t read the series yet and would like to, this is the less expensive way to do it. I have never read the manga but I did watch the show when it was on Toonami. I have heard the manga is better and I am debating on buying this edition. I’m not sure if I can do so right now.

–Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. The Emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one and knows she could be the best in the world if someone would give her a chance. When the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village he demands to hire her to help retrieve a rare talisman. Instead of her sister Lusha who everyone thought he would pick. Kamzin finally gets her chance to prove herself because she’ll have to climb Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer. Kamzin will have to decide what’s more important: protecting her sister from the perils of the climb or beating her to the summit. With avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and even worse perils, it will be a challenge unlike anything Kamzin has faced thus far. As dark secrets are revealed, she’ll have to unravel the truth of their mission and her companions while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

Really love the uniqueness of this one. At least unique for me. I have never read a book solely about mountain climbing. And in a wintry climate. Movies, sure. But in most books I’ve read they go over the mountain. They don’t try it this way. With harnesses and all that proper equipment. It sounds really good. A race to the top of a dangerous mountain, a mission not what it first appears to be, and what promises to be danger at every turn.

–Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust “At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone - has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother. Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do - and who to be - to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all. Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything - unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.”

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is one of my most anticipated releases for this year. I have been looking forward to this book for months. It did come in early at my work and since we could go ahead a sell it; we didn’t have to wait till today’s official street date, I picked it up last week. So here is my short first impressions. I just finished chapter seven so I am not very far into it. About 90 pages. It is around 330 pages total.

The description was a little misleading at first. I thought both Lynet and Mina were 16 during this story. Which is partly true. In the chapters where we follow Mina; at least so far, she is 16. But in Lynet’s chapters Mina is 32. Mina was 16 when Lynet was born and it has been mentioned that Lynet was a few years or so old when Mina married her father. I am enjoying the story so far. Lynet has not been giving the southern territories yet but her birthday should be within the next few chapters so the rough patch between them should soon be coming up.

It is starting to show though. Lynet recently found out that she is made of snow and has been very upset that no one told her before. Especially toward Mina who Lynet was sure would be the one person who would tell her everything.

--One-Punch Man Volume 12 by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata “At the martial arts tournament, Suiryu of the Dark Body Art shows promise with his outstanding strength. But outside the stadium, a large number of monsters are pushing the heroes, even Genos, to their limits! Saitama, unaware, awaits his true match against Bakuzan!”

This parody series has finally entered its tournament stage. Most of the volume follows quick matches in the tournament while Genos is out keeping monsters from getting too close to the stadium. A few other heroes; at least the ones still standing, are also out there but no one seems to know what is causing the outbreak in monsters. And we finally get to see Watchdog Man fight. Well, a glimpse really. But I’ve been curious about him for a while because up till now I only remember seeing him sitting and watching over his city.

--Queen’s Quality Volume 1 by Kyousuke Motomi “Fumi Nishioka lives with Kyutaro Horikita and his family of “Sweepers,” people who specialize in cleaning the minds of those overcome by negative energy and harmful spirits. Fumi has always displayed mysterious abilities, but will those powers be used for evil when she begins to truly awake as a Queen? Fumi has never shown much romantic interest in Kyutaro, the quiet but formidable Sweeper who may be the only one who can help keep Fumi’s power under control. But when Kyutaro tells her that he’ll never leave her side, she unexpectedly starts to fall for him!”

The sequel to QQ Sweeper by Kyousuke Motomi. I loved her series Dengeki Daisy so when I heard another series by her was coming out I was very excited. Overall I didn’t like QQ Sweeper as much as I enjoyed Dengeki Daisy but the series is still enjoyable. And a little darker with all the negative energy that people can have and the problems that they face. If you haven’t read the first series, Sweepers clean away the negative energy that people have in order to help them. And not just in their mind but by also cleaning their home with regular check ups.

--Skip Beat Volume 39 by Yoshiki Nakamura “Kyoko finally knows why her mother treated her so coldly when she was a child, and the story is more tragic and full of betrayal than she could have guessed. But hearing the painful truth isn’t a new wound on Kyoko’s fragile soul. In fact, it actually releases her from some of the ghosts of her past. She might never have a loving relationship with Saena, but she’s more determined than ever to become an actress to make them both proud.”

I am behind on this series. I only own up to volume 25 but I usually read and flip through the new volumes as they come out. I didn’t get to read all of the last volume so I don’t know all the details surrounding the story Saena was telling Kyoko. I am happy that their relationship has improved but still a little strained, if that’s the right word here. It’s a more realistic approach.

--Sun Bakery: Fresh Collection by Corey Lewis “Mecha-suit space documentarians, wish-fulfillment magic jackets, social-status swordplay - just a taste of the stories featured in Sun Bakery….Collecting the completed stories “Dream Skills,” “Arem,” “Layered Jacket,” as well as supplementary artwork and more.”

This graphic novel caught my eye because of its cover. The art style looks really good and the stories sound strange. Strange is always a good thing. Except strange like how some movies I saw recently are strange.

--Tales of Zestiria Volume 2 by Shiramine The second volume based off the hit video game. I unfortunately can find almost no information about this volume. Every description I looked up just told the same thing that was on the back of volume one, the English edition I could not find on Goodreads, and I have not had an opportunity to pick up the first volume so I am not sure where it ends and picks up here. I am going to guess that volume one ends with Sorey becoming a Shepard or leaving his village of spirits for the first time ever.

In Games --Destiny 2 Yes, technically the street date is tomorrow but the midnight release is tonight. And I’ve heard that we might be able to get it around 11pm instead of midnight so we are going to consider this a release for today. I am very excited to finally see some new planets. And I hope the story will be a bit less jumbled. 

Oh but how I already miss my swords, my Iron Gjallarhorn, my favorite ship and sparrow. But most of all my Black Spindle.

FOR THE LOOT!

In Movies --Gosick P2 “The petite detective and her confidant return! After a pleasant summer, their new semester starts off with a strange case involving an alchemist named Leviathan. But even after successfully solving this case, the duo cannot rest when Victorique is suddenly swept away to a convent. And as more is unveiled about the Gray Wolf’s powers, these two find themselves with their biggest mystery yet!”

The second part of this series rerelease by Funimation. Contains episodes 13-24. I have not had a chance to try this series out yet but I still really want to.

--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks “ An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950′s.”

Based off the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot which is about the true story of how Henrietta Lacks’ cells where taken without her knowledge. Her cells were used to find the vaccine for polio; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important medical advances like cloning, gene mapping, and vitro fertilization. Her unknowing contributions to science would not be known to her family until 1975. This movie and the book goes over all the importance that Mrs. Lacks’ cells were used for as well as the family’s response to finding out what was done to her without her consent.