Monday, May 15, 2006
	| First| Prev | Next |Last | Experimental Comic Kotone #458 "Laika 26" (Story Arc: Laika story arc) | First| Prev | Next |Last | "Laika 26" by Akira (2006-05-15) 05/15 Mon - Nothing happen in this comic strip. I just wanted to express the strange feeling I get when I woke up at someone's house. You realize you aren't at your 'usual' room and remember all the details afte a while. I'll ink and finish the page tomorrow. I also wanted to express the morning sun light come through windows..., but I'm not artistically skilled enough to do that yet ; _ ;... Please write your comment for today's comic strip at pOnju forum. Black Lagoon "Black Lagoon" manga is currently published at "Sunday GX" and five tankoubon (comic books) are out. I was able to get most of the comics at Bookoff around cost of 350 yen, so it wasn't a bad buy. I truely love how action scenes are drawn in this manga, very stylish and cool like "Geobreeders". The difference is, "Black Lagoon" is filled with blood and violence and story is extremely cruel. Most of guest/enemy characters are dead by the end of the series (even a lovable character like... sob...). Here are the arcs up to volume five of "Black Lagoon": "Black Lagoon" - v.s. mercenaries hired by Japanese company (anime ep.1,2) "Chase for ring-ding ships" - v.s. sea pirates/gans (anime ep.3) "Rasta Blasta" - v.s. kickass maid (anime ep.8,9?) "Das Wieder Erstehen Des Adlers" - v.s. neo Nazi (anime ep. 4, 5, 6, 7?) "Bloodsport Fairy tale" - v.s. young twin killers (anime ep. 10, 11, 12?) "Goat,Jihad,Rock'N Roll" - v.s. Middle East terrorists (will not be animated?) "Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise" v.s. Japanese yakuza (will not be animated?) Looking at the official website, it seems like anime is twelve episodes long... I'm guessing "Bloodsport Fairy tale" will be animated instead of later two arcs. I enjoyed "Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise", but it is little too long for reamining three-four episodes. By the way, one of the character is named "balalaika". Konstantin, is there meaning to her name? Please write your comment to this strip at pOnju forum

	Tuesday, May 16, 2006
	"Yabuuchi Yuu" by Konstantin (2006-05-16) As Akira has mentioned, I'm quite a bit of a Yabuuchi Yuu fan. She is a shoujo manga artist whose style is both distinctly shoujo and heart-meltingly moe who specializes in coming of age stories. Since she writes primarily for an audience of young girls, the language is quite simple, making it a welcome respite from trying to claw my way through the MariMite novels with my meager kanji knowledge. I first got interested in her work when I got charmed off my feet by the old Technogirls sub of Mizuiro Jidai, and am now slowly reading my way though her manga, of which I bought almost a shelf's worth when I was in Japan (Mandarake is love). She has become one of my favorite slice-of-life authors, managing to avoid the extremes of shoujo melodrama and the slow-paced boredom that often plague the genre. Mizuiro Jidai in particular has managed to capture all the awkwardness, confusion, and embarrassment of early adolescence, providing a healthy dose of nostalgia (and a bit of appreciation for what my female classmates must have gone through at the time). Her manga Karen has a lot of the same feel, but throws action, mystery, and adventure into the mix. Naisho no Tsubomi, on the other hand, takes the coming of age concept a bit more literally than I expected. I don't think I've ever felt quite as much the dirty old man as when I realized that I was reading a sex ed manga for young girls (and a tastefully done one at that). ^^; Please write your comment to this strip at pOnju forum