Hige vs. Otaku

Summary
Sasuke-hime draws his sword for Naruto (we giggle) and Sai jumps in, grabbing his hand and seemingly halting the attack. Sasuke compliments Sai’s defense and Naruto, after a nifty backflip, puts Sasuke into a cripple-hold. Yamoto sees a chance to shoot a root from his palm, but this is abruptly deflected as Sasuke explodes with Chidori Nagashi – a new attack that Sakura describes as a Chidori coming from his entire body. This disables both Naruto and Sai, and only Sakura is left to watch, recounting her promise to actively help bring Sasuke home. With this she makes a run at him and Sasuke-hime stares coldly at her, readying his fancy new Kusanagi sword. Yamato, still conscious, clocks Sasuke’s intention and jumps to protect Sakura using a kunai to deflect the sword. Sasuke’s Kusanagi cuts through it with ease and he pins Yamato to a rock, his sword impaling Yamato’s elbow and numbing his body by channeling chidori through it. Naruto struggles to his feet, approaching Sasuke partly transformed into his human Kyūbi state. The scene switches to Naruto’s internal thoughts as we see the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon taunt and jibe him to break the final seal and gain the power he needs to kill. Naruto rejects him, stating he no longer needs the Kyūbi power. The demon mocks Naruto, reminding him of his constant reliance on its power in his times of need and Naruto defiantly raises his hand. The Kyūbi is shocked, though not originally from the obvious. A hand touches its snout and it is revealed to be Sasuke, who is evidently able to see into Naruto’s consciousness. Sasuke turns to Naruto and exclaims at his discovery; shocked that such a power has been inside Naruto all this time.

Thoughts
After writing that summary the old innuendo lobe of my brain is having a riot. Sasuke’s new phallus; a Sai-Sasuke-Naruto three-way; Yamoto and his wood. The fangirls will revel in this chapter’s homoerotic subtext – assuming it actually ever existed in the first place, which is just a silly slashfic fantasy and we all know it. No, this was actually a really enjoyable chapter. Sasuke-hime gets to show off his new gift from Orochimaru, as well as some powerful tricks, and Naruto has another Kyūbi confrontation, which I always enjoy. The shock of Sasuke somehow witnessing this internal battle was a nice surprise, perhaps suggesting a new level of advancement for the Sharingan. All in all I had a good time reading this installment and was particularly glad Orochi didn’t show up to ruin the fun.

It was disappointing to see Sakura’s wee attempt at smacking Sasuke down flouted by Yamato’s valiant defense, however. Granted I’d rather have that than Saruka eviscerated, but assuming she could actually make contact I think the girl could bitchslap Sasuke into place. Really, just the whole notion of Sakura pounding Sasuke is loaded with redeeming qualities. And yet no, we’re not given that kind of satisfaction. I genuinely hope Sakura isn’t relegated to annoying pining whinger now Sasuke is back. She was doing so well in Part Two.

Sai seems to only exist in the first few pages of each chapter these days. I was glad he stopped Sasuke’s attempt on Naruto’s life – his swift defense telling of his supposed ANBU creds. And if he was ever going to die a martyr it would have been then. I’d be interested in seeing what kind of place Sai holds in the coming chapters. Perhaps Danzou won’t take his betrayal lightly and have him assassinated. I suppose it’s probably a bit unfair to keep theorising his death so often, but he doesn’t really accommodate much discussion beyond it. It’s Sai, people. Even Kishimoto has shown awareness of his lame stand-in position. Still, the lad grows on me with each passing chapter. I wouldn’t be annoyed if he became a proper regular of the series, though his place is hard to predict.

The artwork is at its usual high standard. It led me to wonder about Kishimoto’s next project after Naruto – the generally restrained mature style suiting something similar in tone/characters. Of course, I want Naruto to go on forever but I’d love to see Kishimoto pen a series like Death Note or something using Shonen Jump’s ‘older teens’ philosophy. His character designs are so simple but beautifully appealing. The more I see of his cleanly scanned work the more I rate him as my favourite mangaka along with Sadamoto. I’ve ordered the latest three tankobon from Amazon Japan, so I’ll be seeing his lovely line work IRL very shortly. The man needs to start designing for anime or video games. Who needs bloody Toriyama!

Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Scanslation: Naruto Bunshin

Seeing as I bought a whole buggerload of manga recently, much of which is quite old stuff, I thought I’d take the opportunity to change the review format a wee bit. God bless timesaving measures during exam season, eh?

Love Roma Vol. 1
This title has always caught my eye but I’d never been inclined to actually buy it, until a recent whim decided otherwise. What attracted me initially were the unconventional illustrative style (it seeming quite rigid and blocky at first glance while being really expressive) and the general sense of ‘different’ about it.  As it goes, this superficial assessment was right on the nose and I love Love Roma all the more for it. Completely dismissing the aggravating standards of romance manga, Love Roma goes straight for the solar plexus (of love) and produces some hilarious character situations in the process. Its two leads are the opposite of what you might expect: Hoshino, the boy, is entirely without mystery and honest to a fault and Negishi, the girl, has average looks and a stubborn streak. The two collide with a kind of charm that just shouldn’t work but does, and Love Roma is all the more the addictive oddity for it. Delrey gets yet another tick and I have yet another series to spend my non-existent comic budget on.

Death Note Vols. 1 – 3
I know, I’m a little slow on the uptake with this title, but I spent the longest time ignoring the scanslation fandom and merely admiring the pretty covers. Similarly to Love Roma, I picked up the first three of volumes on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Even with the slow start (an expected factor of manga) Death Note builds into a seriously compelling mix of detective and fantasy. I really love the underlying darkness about it, too; it’s rarely overdone but its presence is ever looming. Light Yagami’s (a Viz-assigned name) gradual descent into madness is also fantastically done, with his supposedly high sense of morality ultimately working against him as he delves deeper and deeper into his crusade of justice. The battle of wits between he and L, master detective, acts another strong point and pushes the plot along at a slow, but intense pace. The dialogue sometimes felt slightly silted and wooden, which could be a poor translation job from Viz or a more fundamental problem with Ohba’s writing. Still, once the plot gets rolling it becomes less important. Obata’s artwork is stunning as well – definitely a contender for best artwork in a manga series.

Naruto Vol. 10
With Viz’s painfully drawn-out release, the English licensed version of everyone’s favourite ninja manga acts more as a pleasant history lesson rather than required reading for me. And after Viz’s idiotic and inconsistent translation it’s better served as a hardcopy for Kishimoto’s artwork than a complete manga experience. I sometimes wonder why I don’t just buy the Japanese version, print off fan-translations and slip them in the front cover of each. It would probably honour the original work more. Still, volume ten of Naruto provides one of the best old-school fights between Gaara and Rock Lee, with Kishimoto showing his fun take on the Dragonball standard of multiple power levels. The artwork relating to Gaara’s sand is especially noteworthy, with its own menacing personality eerily present. You could possibly find another purchase justification in the occasional notes from Kishimoto between chapters, which are often insightful and entertaining. Even though there’s not much sign of Viz getting a grip, I’d say this volume is still worth your $7.99.

P.S. You can now add HVO to your Livejournal friends list here.

Summary
Now Sasuke-hime has been found and fully revealed, he and Team Naruto spend a little time to chat. Sasuke enquires after Kakashi and Yamoto steps up, explaining their intention to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. Sai whips out a weapon and Sakura drops another bollock, but Sai quickly explains his position of support for the team, reiterating his curiosity about the bonds between Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke-hime poo-poos Sai and writes him off as another weakling (like most of the audience have). He then goes on to further stick the boot in by explaining why he discarded the friendship of Naruto and Sakura; he viewing the bonds they shared as another form of weakness. He admits to one bond, however – in the form of his hatred for Itachi, his brother. Flashbacks abound as we are reminded of Itachi’s advice to Sasuke, that being his need of hatred to become stronger. Naruto counter-attacks with even more flashbacks to the now-generic Touching Moment when he explains his bonds to Sasuke, then demanding to know why Sasuke didn’t kill him in their previous showdown. The princess flippantly explains he merely decided not to do so on a whim. Then immediately appearing beside Naruto, Sasuke reminds him of what most the audience have been screaming out loud about during this whole arc: Naruto’s quest of becoming Hokage and his lax in its pursuit. With this Sasuke draws his sword and states he will now kill Naruto on a whim. Seemingly unperturbed, Naruto explains that a person unable to save their best-friend is not worthy of becoming Hokage.

Thoughts
This chapter had two halves. The first consisted of the regurgitation of the same old dialogue we’ve been getting for the past month, and the second consisted of unanticipated awesomeness. Sadly this latter part only counts for the last four pages, but it saves chapter 307 from being entirely pointless.

The amount of flashbacks in this chapter was somewhat silly. Fair enough, Kishimoto wants to reestablish all the past rivalry and so forth, but Naruto hasn’t been shutting the hell up about this for the past seven or eight chapters . . . well, more like the past hundred chapters, but regardless we know exactly how each side feels. Sasuke-hime is perhaps more entitled to a flashback because we haven’t seen him for so long, but surely 2.5 years would’ve given him more perspective, or at least better articulated reasons for hating Itachi. Some signs derangement or insanity would’ve been great, but no, we get the same-old same-old without any hint of growth or festering. Perhaps the coming (implied) fight between he and Naruto might provide a better-developed degree of insight, but I’m not holding my breath.

Sai is a total write-off this chapter, too. Is he physically able to say anything other than ‘I want to understand your bonds more’ these days? The deprogramming he went through obviously destroyed any hope of future personality as well as whatever it removed in the present. I’m still holding out for the martyr-like death just so he develops a purpose now all the mystery has been quashed.

Anyhow, enough about the exhaustively boring aspects of this chapter; thankfully we have those last four pages to pull it up from needless filler. Sasuke decides to bank on the opportunity to murder his best mate and appears beside Naruto, drawing his sword. Of course a fight in some respect was to be expected, but Sasuke’s immediacy comes as a surprise; almost suggesting the long-winded blather before it was done for a reason. Almost. Either way, Naruto seems shocked initially but not scared as he responds to Sasuke’s question. I, like most of fandom, am ready for a gritty dogfight between the two, with 2.5 years worth of extra arse-kicking experience respectively. But how much do you want to bet that Orochimaru will show up and interrupt the fun? Seriously, how much? The maxims of long-running Shonen Jump manga must be obeyed and any of that kind of immediate gratification is a naive dream.

Oh and I still really like Sasuke’s new look, jim-jams or not!

“Cibo’s body dies in the battle between the Electrofishers and the Safeguard. Killy siphons power from a dead Exterminator to unlock the limiter on his Graviton Beam Emitter. He destroys the Great Cyst Safeguard and most of the surrounding area. Killy and Cibo, transplanted into Sana-kan’s body are the only living beings. Cibo believes information about Net Terminal Genes are in a correctly-functioning AI somewhere close.”

With the shocking events surrounding the latter part of volume three of BLAME! this forth volume was a long time coming. Four months, in fact. The big whinger in me wants to moan about the massive wait period between each volume – especially with a manga that has so little dialogue – but practically I understand there’s a whole host of possible reasons for Toykopop’s drawn-out release. For now, I’ll merely suggest it as flattery.

One of the more justifiable annoyances about the lengthy wait, however, is that I could barely remember what happened in the previous volume, and with volume four’s direct continuation this grated a fair bit. Still, after a quick reread of the last few logs (chapters) of volume three I was on track and ready to press ahead. Evidently, I’d also forgotten the relentless pace of BLAME!’s action. It’s certainly one of the selling points of the manga, the artwork being so frenetic and exhilarating, but sometimes it became tricky to follow. I found myself sometimes relying on the sound effects to tell me what was happening rather than the artwork itself, which was frustrating. Yet with something as dense and expressive as Nihei’s work a reread is always beneficial, if not required.

Really, fantastic visuals and BLAME! are synonymous and there’s very little to actively criticise on that front. Some personal highlights in this volume were Sana-Kan and her ever-changing form as a Safeguard, grotesque and menacing as it was. Another morbid highpoint is Cibo’s half cut-away body as the Safeguard attack her consciousness, and the consequential arse-kicking she lays down as she occupies Sana-Kan. Nihei’s ability to juxtapose dark and light is particularly vivid and his female characters seem to serve as the main contrast between these two factors. As Killy and Cibo (now in Sana-Kan’s body) enter Toha Heavy Industries I almost felt my pupils contract in reaction to the stark whiteness of the environment after the constant dankness. This offers further opportunities for Nihei to show his meticulous flare for architecture while introducing a few more mainstay characters in the form of Mensab (the A.I. consciousness of Toha) and her guard, Seu (who incidentally has a huge, fuck-off sword, which is somewhat awesome).

Story-wise, BLAME! is really beginning to pick up. Volume three was almost jarring in its abundance of plot-points when comparing to the first two volumes’ sparseness, but the newfound inclination for some story is a good thing. Cibo did the manga a world of good with her introduction, not simply in terms of interesting character dynamics but also giving the plot a more direct purpose. She and the other supporting cast supply some much-needed relief from the quiet, rather stilted Killy, who prefers to communicate with his gun than words.

Volume four is not without its quirks, however. Cibo’s seeming ability to interface with anything is strange, especially as she and Killy enter Toha Heavy Industries – a place that outright rejects Safeguards. Granted, Cibo notes how Sana-Kan’s consciousness disappears as they enter the place, but surely her Safeguard body would be rejected as well? Both Killy and Cibo are eventually kicked out by Mensab and this suggests unrest at their presence, but I’m still inclined to think the protection surrounding Toha would be more abrupt. BLAME! also covers its backside with a scene involving Cibo having to severe her finger to avoid being back-hacked by Mensab, but this is somewhat undermined by their later discovery of The Machine That Can Make Anything. I don’t need to explain the laziness of this little oddity, especially as Cibo uses it to make two things: some food and something we aren’t shown, which is a bit too blatant in its foreshadowing. There’s a couple of other things that caught my attention – the suggestion of there being thirteen caves of Toha and its apparent purpose as a manga long-run setup – but they’re just niggles. More often than not, BLAME! pulls off its intentions with skill and precision.

Conclusion
Volume four of BLAME! continues to offer the stunning artwork and enigmatic storytelling that make it so appealing. Its action is relentless and usually successful in rendering the scene, but occasionally it becomes hard to follow with the sheer amount of detail verging on overwhelming. Killy is still as wooden as ever, but Cibo and his supporting cast offer more than enough personality to compensate. All in all, BLAME! continues to be a top-tier manga and something I’d happily recommend to anyone and everyone.

Author: Tsutomu Nihei
Publisher: Tokyopop

We learnt a number of interesting plot points in this episode, but first and foremost we learn that Pino knows. I think this is the first time where I’ve really cared about Pino. She’s provided the relief, the cute-factor and the occasional touching moment (Queen’s death, for instance), but with episode nine she finally takes on a more definite role: the only genuine companion of the now-isolated, despondent Vincent. The final scene of Vince and Pino sailing on the Rabbit is really touching stuff, and for a series that enjoys isolating and confusing its audience it’s all the more affective.

But let’s take it from the top. The first part of the episode continues to foster the bewilderment created by the very bizarre episode eight. Vince wakes up in a foreign room with only the handgun given to him by the soldiers as a memento of what’s happened previously. In his search for Pino he discovers a strange blond chap with healthy appetite for red wine and suspicious amounts of man-cleavage. After finding Pino, Vince and Man-Cleavage sit down to chat and lots of ambiguous prophetic statements are spouted everywhere. Pino shows a genuine dislike for Man-Clevage and for good reason, later discovering an army of the auto-rave knights that were wreaking so much destruction in the previous episode (as well as knowing truth, we later find). Vince confronts Man-Cleavage about this, handgun firmly holstered in his belt, and Man-Cleavage proceeds to provide countless explanations to their current situation. The female Proxy witnessed prior to Vince’s collapse was called Senekis and his mate, and better yet Man-Cleavage wants to find a replacement in Vince, who he holds responsible for her death.

Obviously, Vince is very much about the WTF at this point and outright rejects Man-Cleavage, confused about his role in Senekis’s death and how his connection to Proxy is more direct than originally thought. Offended by Vince’s choice to discard his memories, Man-Cleavage forces Vince to confront the truth: he is a Proxy, and one of numerous. Man-Cleavage reveals his second form as Kazkis Proxy, emissary of Light, swearing vengeance on Vince. After a brutal pursuit where Vince takes a number of gunshots to the chest, unharmed, he ‘awakens’ and lets his inner-Proxy break free. Following a prolonged fight, in true frenetic Ergo Proxy style, Vince (now Ergo Proxy) kills Kazkis with the old arm-through-the-chest manure and finally accepts his true self: something not human and a harbinger of death. With this he discovers he is entirely alone with no home and no source of contact. Apart from Pino, of course. They board the Rabbit and set sail for Moscow.

Ergo Proxy maintains its trend of providing a few answers while simultaneously dumping twice as many questions on top. Still, some fractured insight to what exactly a Proxy is and Vince’s role in all of this is given, and I’d be lying if I said the speculation wasn’t one of the main draws of the show. From what Kazkis suggests there seems to be a number of Proxies, each an emissary for a various elemental aspect of life and each with curious religious pretensions. This backs up much of Daedalus’ explanation to Lil on what Proxy (Ergo) is; a god-like being who evidently is going to spell the apocalypse for humanity. No wonder Vince was suppressing all this so desperately.

How this factors in Romdeau’s involvement is completely uncertain. Will it be similar to Evangelion in exploring man’s interference with ‘heavenly’ beings to avoid our ultimate destruction, or are the Proxies a man-made creation? Kazkis’ brief but enlightening appearance suggests they exist independently of humanity, with other Proxies still sleeping. Another fascinating trail of thought is how Lil Mayer factors in all of this. Will she be Vince’s Senekis? And is she even alive after episode seven’s dramatic conclusion? Judging by the general Protagonists Never Die rule, it’s fair to assume she’s alive, though the show is taking its sweet time in giving us the answer.

Conclusion
Ergo Proxy is a mysterious little bugger, ain’t it. Assuming it runs to the traditional twenty-six episodes, we’ve obviously only just tipped the top of the iceberg when it comes to the unexplained. This gives rise to some potentially damaging inconsistencies along the way and I’m curious to see how manglobe & co will manage the show’s burgeoning collection of loose ends. Yet Ergo Proxy hasn’t given us any reason to doubt that it is tightly scripted with a definite conclusion in sight. I’ve grown beyond the initial excitement of the show’s ambiguities and mysteries onto a definite investment in its characters and story. If it were shown on TV I’d make special effort to sit down and watch it every week. And I haven’t made a claim like that since Six Feet Under ended last year (may it RIP, hohoho . . .urgh, sorry).

Director: Shukou Murase
Production: Geneon Entertainment, Inc.
Fansubs by Anime Jiyuu

Summary
After his rather rude wake up call from Sai, Sasuke demonstrates his minor annoyance by obliterating the surrounding structure and getting some high ground. Sai gasps, impressed that anyone can discard his ninjitsu so easily. Kabuto comments posthumously on Sasuke’s crankiness and Team Naruto rush to the scene to investigate. Sakura storms ahead and lunges for Sai’s neck, demanding explanation on his double-double cross. Sasuke nonchalantly notes her appearance and she gazes up, transfixed and dumbfounded. Naruto hears Sakura mumble Sasuke’s name and he runs, weakly stumbling toward the light, to see for himself. Sasuke continues looming down upon the three, with he and Naruto gazing at one another in silence surrounded by the recent destruction.

Thoughts
Firstly, before any voluble fanboy drooling, Kishimoto deserves special art kudos for this chapter. Very little in the way of time progression actually happens in 306, with each scene taking a number of pages, but hot damn is it all wonderfully rendered. From Sakura ringing Sai’s scrawny neck to Sasuke looking down on Naruto, Sakura and Sai as they’re surrounded by rumble, it simply looks fantastic. Kishimoto’s excellent character design gets a special chance to shine as we finally see Sasuke-hime in full light. And yes, fangirls rejoice, he looks as pretty and distinctly cool as usual. I’m just relieved he’s kept the more human look after the whole demon curse business from the end of Naruto I. The close up of Sakura’s face as she looks up at Sasuke is also just beautiful in its simplicity.

Story-wise there’s very little to talk about. The whole chapter is dedicated to the gradual (but short) sense of nostalgia as both the characters and we as readers feel as Sasuke is reintroduced. Sai gets flicked away by Sasuke in a rather explosive fashion and Sakura finally gets a chance to do what most of Naruto fandom have been desperate for since Sai was introduced. Naruto’s desperation as he fumbles to see Sasuke is especially moving with the final two-page spread suggesting both a touching reunion and strange menace.

This was a fantastic chapter. It didn’t have much in the way of content, but seriously, we didn’t need any. Sasuke is back, and Kishimoto handled his reintroduction expertly. All that’s left now is questions to what happen next. How will Orochimaru factor into all of this? Will Sai be able to convince the team of his true feelings before Orochi annihilates him? Just what the hell is Sasuke actually going to do now he’s out in the open and confronted by his old comrades? Kishimoto has a bucket-load to work with in the coming chapters and let’s hope he can keep up this kind of quality. Great stuff

Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Scanslation: Pwned Hokage

Somehow I should be more excited about playing games that look as good in real time as most do in their pre-rendered FMV, but really I’m just jaded to the whole affair. Perhaps my old age has, urgh, matured me beyond being impressed by graphics and I now value the less aesthetic-dependant aspects of a game. Or perhaps graphics are hitting a plateau and the sense of design is what really elevates a game beyond its peers. Regardless, the next-gen world of uber polygon counts just doesn’t give me the same buzz I had ten years ago when the SNES/Mega Drive > PSX change-over took place. Yet, if there’s any game that can be relied upon to have a fantastic sense of design it’s Final Fantasy.

FFXIII no less! Before XII has even graced Western shores! Really, I think Squenix’s approach with ‘revealing’ FFXII all those years ago was much more affective. None of this full motion, in-game trailer business; just a beautiful teaser poster that gave you bugger all clues (forewarning to the epic development time we wonder). Well, given the atrocious wait period for Europeans and FF games, I should probably get used to huge void of information:first-hand experience. It’s hard living in the first world, eh?

My immediate impressions after watching related to ‘A female protagonist? Feminist high five!’ that was swiftly demoted to an ‘Oh . . .’ when I found out Motomu Toriyama was directing. My only experience with the man is the distinctly mediocre FFX-2, which consequently wasn’t the most empowering game for women with its Sailor Moon dress-up and sassy Charlie’s Angels posing. Still, the female character here seems to be more serious, more inclined kick arse in order to more forward than strike a pose and pout. Not to suggest as she doesn’t pout however, but it’s all done with serious intent. Her movements bare a striking resemblance to FFVII: Advent Children’s Tifa as she bounces off the walls with gravity-defying acrobatics.

In terms of character design and general aesthetic I like what I see. FF’s golden child Tetsuya Nomura continues to mix his taste for the ostentatious with robust, expressive anatomy with his usual flare. The high sci-fi feel has the distinct whiff of the latter two Matrix films while still feeling distinctly FF. I suppose they are the new standard for sci-fi work now Star Wars has been put to rest. Still, it doesn’t detract much and Squenix’s unique style is executed with the usual authority. FFVIII fans will be happy to know that the gunblade make an interesting high tech comeback, too.

From the briefest glimpse we get at the battle system it seems similar to FFXII in the ability to move in real time as you fight. Whether this will translate to a true real-time battle system it’s impossible to say. The sense of movement seems much more dynamic with FFXIII, which could suggest more interaction than just walking your character around the environment, but it could easily be the snappy editing of the trailer. Of course, Toriyama’s involvement implies a much faster, frenetic battle system and what we’re shown here certainly supports that assumption. I’m definitely interested, either way. I appreciated FFXII’s move from the traditional ATB and I’d welcome more innovation.

The trailer certainly caught my interest. The suggestion of a female protagonist humoured the raging feminist in me (named Delores, apparently) and the overall feel of dynamism in movement was very exciting. While the character and environment design look top notch, the colour scheme struck me as somewhat lurid and the influence of the Matrix films could potentially be damaging. The short clip of music we get is a bit underwhelming, too. But still, it’s a Final Fantasy game, so the tolerance level for the occasional fault is much higher than usual. And this was merely a three-minute glimpse into a certified epic.

The trailer can be viewed here. Special thanks to Memento for providing the link.

Seeing as I’m all blogsuki’d and thus awesome’d, it’s time to crack out an editorial. I had actually planned on writing one of these soon, in respects to Typepad sexiness, but what better time than now to give you a brief but continually upsetting view into my brainmeats.

So, HVO isn’t really a conventional anime blog: partly out of my abject poorness, partly out of general preference to manga and partly due to moderate snootiness when it comes to anime. My inner Lit Facist dictates that spending money on books, comics or otherwise, is a much better purchase than DVDs (although RPGs trumps them both, strangely). Not to suggest I don’t love the anime; seriously, I am officially The Anime Friend and my flatmates take great joy in subtly directing the conversation to anime and just watching me go.

Rather, I’d say my taste in anime (and manga) leans more to the stranger, darker FLCL-side of things. Perhaps it caters more to my ‘unique’ blend of interpretation or perhaps I am just a bit mental, but regardless I like the black sheep of the genre and HVO’s content has a habit of reflecting this. Of course this isn’t to say than I’m not a totalz NANA fanboy like everyone else. I might just spend a bit more time writing highbrow ponderings on their weird, elongated alien fingers rather than gushing about the fashion.

Well, there’s probably a lot to be said about writing this kind of thing at 2am after a day of 3-hour-long Literature exams and over-exposure to the sun (it actually hit 21c/70f here in Glasgow today – people were practically stripping off in the street . . . so much rotund Scottish flesh . . . -_-), but I think I’ve painted a suitable picture. Usually I’m mister technical with manga volume reviews and mister flippant smarm with Naruto chapter thoughts – anime varying between the two – but I do try and say something interesting each time. I see this blog as an opportunity to write something everyday (tentative) on a topic I have a keen interest in and it’s a sweet bonus that there’s also a fantastic community surrounding it.

Oh, before I rush off to bed to allow my body to fall unconscious I’d like to do a couple of plugs. Firstly to everyone/thing/group on my link lists to your right. Most of them have linked me or offered some kind of service I greatly appreciate, and they deserve your time because they are distinctly sexy in their respective ways (especially Kotonoha, the foxy bitch). The other is a link to the manga_talk community on LJ, because the place is fantastic for intelligent manga chat and I do like a good forum of discussion.

Right, I think sleep deprivation may have caused my contact lenses to weld themselves to the conjunctiva of my eyes, but I got this done and that’s all that matters. I’ll be back soon with less deranged rambling and more blog awesomeness!

Signed,
Hige

Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Scanslation: Woush Yume-Hime

Chapter Summary
With Orochimaru’s discovery of the invading Naruto and Sai, a fight breaks out between the three and Naruto commands Sai to search for Sasuke while he holds off Orochi. Yamato picks up on the spike in Naruto’s chakra and he and Sakura rush to Naruto’s aid. Orochi, livid from finding Sai’s betrayal, dismisses the three and decides to pursue Sai to gain a spot of vengeance. As Sai discovers the whereabouts of Sasuke Yamato searches Sai’s bag and finds a bingo-book full of hit lists: those that Danzou considers a threat to Konoha and need to be assassinated, with Sasuke being next. With this they understand the warped thought processes of Danzou, who ultimately wanted to remove Orochi’s new body (Sasuke) for Konoha’s benefit rather than betray the village. Sasuke quickly notices Sai’s approach and demands an explanation. Sai admits to his original intention of killing him but explains that Naruto has helped him understand the importance of bonds, and that he wishes to help protect the bond Naruto is attempting to mend with Sasuke.

Thoughts
For the sake of all the virginal eyes out there: THANK F**K, KISHIMOTO. I know I swear rather a lot on HVO without censoring, but capitals are a different matter. I just felt a wealth of redemption with this chapter of Naruto. The big reveal isn’t as calculated and surprising as I may have liked, but regardless it still isn’t bland or conventional. Sai retains much of his developing pathos and Team Naruto understand the truth, while completely misunderstanding Sai who is evidently genuine in his change of heart. How this will play out is completely up in the air, with both Orochi and Team Naruto now vying for Sai’s blood. And this doesn’t even consider Sasuke-hime’s (newly dubbed) decision, which could save Sai or cost him his life. Of course, this assumes that Sai has even found Sasuke in the room, silhouetted and obscured as he is . . .

I’m not sure how much I like the newly domesticated Orochimaru, however. He’s lost a lot of the menace he had in the past and seems slightly inconsequential, even as one of the manga’s arch-villians. Granted, having the Akatsuki to compete with in terms of Evil Bastardness is somewhat unfair; but still, I just don’t have the spike of excitement I once did when Orochi faces one of the gang. Perhaps the conflict between he and Naruto-Kyūbi undermined his potential as an actual threat, or even that we’re seeing a little too much of him in this arc, but there’s definitely something missing these days. Yet, how he deals with Sai may redeem him in terms of malevolence.

This chapter was satisfying. It didn’t have me hopping up and down on my chair with excitement but it did everything I want from a weekly installment of Naruto, and after a few weeks of some fairly choppy storytelling it hit the spot nicely. The art is keeping with Mishimoto’s generally high standard, the environs still not being especially conducive for breath-taking art. Still, it does the job and this chapter pulled a lot of what I love about Naruto together with its traditional panache. Bring on 306!

Author: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Publisher: YOUNG Magazine
Source: Raw scan and translation by ‘M’

I could open with a prolonged gush about my love for Evangelion; the draft before this had a hundred word introduction doing just that until I realized I wasn’t saying anything that hadn’t been said before. Yep, I love Evangelion for exactly the same reasons you probably love Evangelion. No end of personal accounts could really differentiate my experience from anyone else’s, so lets just suffice to say that Evangelion is special.

So the question is: does the manga honour the show, or even compliment it? All the important boxes are ticked, most of which revolve around Yoshiyuki Sadamoto – mangaka and Gainax elite – and I’m inclined to say this one of the best anime to manga adaptations around (though I’d be the first to point out that the manga technically came first). More often than not Eva the manga has supplemented the anime with wholly relevant and interesting material. Granted, conversely, it could be said that Sadamoto has merely pandered to the otaku by giving us more Kaji and more Kaworu, but this is unfair. Each of these diversions from the original work has been solidly entertaining and enlightening stuff. It’s rarely felt like Sadamoto was deviating from the original – simply filling in the gaps, cutting away a lot of the chaff that dogged the anime (i.e. the monster-a-week format). There have been some fairly major differences in story-telling, with Gendou ingesting Adam in this Stage serving as an example of that, but ultimately these are irrelevant. Evangelion the manga is a worthy companion to its legendary sibling.

Stage 71 deals with the later part of the series – around episode 24 of the anime. Ritsuko has destroyed the dummy plug, Kaworu has received his orders from SEELE and Gendou is preparing for Instrumentality. Misato recounts the day of the Second Impact and Shinji gradually realises he has no one left. Consequently, this latter part gives rise to one of the most appealing aspects of the manga so far: Shinji’s massively different relationship with Kaworu. After Kaworu’s previous attempted advances (yes, those kind of advances) on Shinji he no longer considers Kaworu a friend and discards him appropriately. Rather than taking the ‘loved-lost’ approach of the anime Sadamoto seems to be playing the out-right isolation card for Shinji, suggesting a much more muted descent for the forthcoming Instrumentality. I genuinely respect Sadamoto for taking this route; it partly addresses much of the controversy over Shinji and Kaworu’s relationship and spins it on its head while making a clear, definite break from the anime. These subtle (and no-so-subtle) breaks from the original are what make Evangelion’s manga such essential reading for Eva fans.

And then there’s the artwork. I’ll admit it outright: Sadamoto is my Art God. Evangelion, FLCL (especially FLCL), the .hack series. The man is at the top of his game. And his seminal manga effort never, never disappoints. Even if it was substandard story-wise, which it clearly isn’t, his artwork could carry it beyond most other work of this kind. The sequential order is lucid and expressive; the character design moreso, and the composition of each panel is simply clear and beautifully rendered. I still kick myself for not buying Der Mond, Sadamoto’s artbook, when Viz still published it. If I had the £140 it seems to go for these days I’d buy it in a minute. The man just inspires verbose fanboy love like few others.

So apart from the appalling wait between each chapter, this is fantastic stuff. The closer we edge to the final moments the more I keenly anticipate Sadamoto’s take on Instrumentality. Will it be a gratuitous mindfuck of End of Evangelion proportions, or a considered abstract Eva TV approach? Regardless, it promises to be breathtaking. Only another three or four months until the next Stage, eh?