Manga: Komi-san Can't Communicate, Vol 3

 

Content Warning: Teenage girls in bikinis. Don’t be creeps.

Ah, summer vacation. I remember those. Why don’t we get those as adults? Oh. Right. Capitalism.

Anyway. This volume begins with the stuff that comes before summer vacation, finals. Or tests. Whatever. Najimi can’t study to save their life so they try to get Komi, Tadano, and Agari is the librarian. Well, her and Gorimi, who is built like a brick shithouse. The rules are simple, make noise, Gorimi whaps you on the head. Three whaps and you’re out. Najimi doesn’t make it. Even Komi and Tadano get whaps, too. But it was fun.

At this point, summer vacation starts and Komi is bored after a week. Since she doesn’t go out, she just hangs around the house, building up courage to call someone. That someone is, of course, Tadano. Meanwhile, Tadano is also bored and trying to building up the courage to call Komi. There’s also the (very brief) introduction of Tadano’s younger sister and Komi’s younger brother. Leave it to Najimi to invite everyone to the pool. Komi agrees, of course. She turns up super early, wearing the dress Tadano picked out for her in the last volume. There’s some blushing between the two of them. Now, Komi doesn’t have a real swimsuit, so Yamai buys one for her. Say what you will about that Yandere psychopath, she does care about Komi. Inside the water park, there’s tons of fun to be had, including a swarm of people (mostly boys and Yamai) trying to get a look of Komi under the water. And then Komi trips and falls! It’s only a scrape, but it does mean that Komi’s time in the water is over. And Yamai filed down the thing that Komi tripped on. You go, creepy girl? After this, Komi is relegated to sitting on the sidelines, but she wants everyone to stay and have fun. Tadano takes a break and talks with Komi, letting her know that no one is unhappy with her because of her accident. Tadano and Komi have another Moment, until Najimi breaks it up with a squirt gun fight.

After this, there’s some little short stories, so to speak. The first one is Komi going the library and making a baby cry. Nothing important here. The next one is Komi and her father going to get shaved ice. Now, this one is important. Why? Because we find that Komi’s dad also has trouble speaking. After a while, he finally asks her about school and then ruffles her hair. I rather like this one, as it shows that Komi isn’t some anomaly in her family, she’s part of it and has someone who understands. To a degree, I guess. Following this, another important story is the Komi family going to spend time with the Komi grandparents, most importantly, Yuiko Komi, the grandmother. We also meet Ryoko, Komi’s aunt (who’s just like her mother) and Sadayoshi (who’s just like her father, Masayoshi), and then little cousin Akira. Well, more like just a few years younger, not like a kid. She also cries when she’s happy but we don’t find that out quite yet. We do have Komi and her grandmother talking, well, kind of. She does figure out that Komi has a crush and finds Tadano’s name (his first name is Hitohito, by the way) and grandma doesn’t like it.

Next, there’s some more summer stuff, with Komi, Tadano, and Najimi (as well as a few others) going to a festival. So, Tadano turns up in a Yukata, as commanded by Najimi, but feels uncomfortable, until Komi turns up in one. Komi has forgotten her notebook and has to rely on Tadano’s ability to translate instead. They do some typical festival activities, sharp shooting for prizes, followed by candy cutting. They have something to eat and then Najimi tries to win a “legally distinct but closely resembles” a PS4. Najimi fails, Tadano fails, but Komi gets it without even trying. I do like how the Carny has this whole thing about how they fool people so they don’t have to give away the big prize. This, by the way, is why I never play games at arcades and the like. It’s just not worth it. Anyway. There’s some goldfish catching, with special appearance by Nakanaka, but then Komi and Tadano get to sit together. Komi uses a stick to write answers to his questions but quickly erases that she had with just him.

And that’s where things end. Yeah, the whole the thing is filler. And the dragging out of the “will they, won’t they” with Komi and Tadano is a bit annoying but it isn’t everything going on in the story. I don’t like that sort of thing, nor do I like love triangles, but I will accept them if they’re done well. And so far? These ones are. So far...

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: This one is mostly filler but it’s not terrible.

Anime: Those Who Hunt Elves (Episodes 1-6)

Content Warning: Elf ladies getting stripped of their clothes without their consent, a tank running rampage through the countryside, a dash of fetish fuel, and some one note characters. Oh, and Isekai.

Ah, it’s nice to get back to something old here. I mean, I did take up the name “Anime Necromancer” to show that I wanted to talk about the old stuff. And this one is probably one that most people haven’t heard of. I heard about it ages ago, as that same friend who score Kite for me was watching this one and wanted me to get into it. However, I didn’t and I feel like I missed out a bit. But thanks to eBay, and some extra cash, I can now sit down and watch it. First, a shout out to my Twitter friend Natalie Hunter for reminding me that this show existed. You can look her up on the YouTube if you want to watch stuff about current anime.

Anyway, let’s get started. The first episode begins “in media res” without much introduction, as was the style at the time, as several shows with a fantasy setting did this. We get a glance of the backstory, people from another world looking for a way back. With a tank. The episode begins with a group of anthropomorphic sea creature pirates attacking a town, looking for an elf. Our heroes, two of them, are in disguise and try not to get involved. Of course, that doesn’t last long. The two members of the cast in town are Junpei and Airi. Junpei is a Karate master and a bit of a meat head. Airi is more of a rogue build, as a professional, Oscar winning actress in our world. Airi tries to take the place of the local elf lady but she’s come into town to save the town from the pirates. With the plan scraped, Junpei beats the stuffing out of the pirates, making a lot jokes about sushi and seafood. When things turn against him, Ritsuko starts shooting an assault rifle at the pirate leader from a distance. Of course, he’s just the leader of the landing party, as the real captain is aboard the pirate ship. As the ship starts bombarding the town with their canons, Ritsuko uses their T-74 tank to sink the ship. With a single shot. Possible but unlikely. Of course, this is a comedy series, so cartoon physics is in play. The episode ends with Junpei tearing off the elf’s clothes in front of everyone.

The next episode gives us the real backstory, at least as to why they’re trying to rip the clothes off of elves. There was a ritual being done by Mistress Celcia to send out characters back to their world but screws up the spell in a few ways but mostly due to Junpei talking about her behind her back. When they’re told that the spell has been transferred to five elves out there in the world, appearing somewhere on their bodies. Junpei and the others say they’re going to search and strip all the elves they need to find the pieces of the spell and get back home. Initially Celcia just stood back and let this happen but seeing as the actions of Those Who Hunt Elves (they’re actually called this in the show) have become widespread, she now has to take action. Using a magic ring to take the form of a talking dog, she tries to pretend to be someone else. Airi’s acting background helps her see right through Celcia’s ploy but she does agree to help them. She has a lead on someone who might have a fragment, Gabriella, leader of the Dark Elf clan. Well, really, she’s the leader of a band of Porcs (Pig Orcs, orcs that have the old pigmen look) and they attack the city. First, Gabriella tries to use magic to attack, but Celcia counts it easily. Then, she tries to unleash a Colossal stone golem against them but takes a HEAT round to the face from the tank. When she tries to charge across the bridge into the town, Ritsuko has placed a mine on the bridge and most of her forces fall into the river. The few who make it across are easily defeated by Junpei. After a brief fight, Junpei defeats Gabriella in hand to hand combat and strips. They find the first fragment under her eye patch and Celcia takes in on to herself. However, she was still in her dog disguise and now can’t change back. She’s now part of our merry band of pervs and has to try not to kill Junpei, who gets along with as well as gunpowder and match do.

Following this, we have a city under siege by a group called the “Skeletons” but is defended by the beautiful elf lady, Dihal. The Skeletons are terrorists, as the episode opens with a “school bus” (a wagon full of school children) that has a magical bomb strapped to it. Dihal has to choose to cut the red wire or the blue wire, or the whole thing will explode. Of course, she picks the right one. This is the start of several questions we’re going to have about this world, trust me. After our gang of idiots arrive in town, people assume the Junpei is part of The Skeletons because he’s wearing a T-shirt with a skull and flame logo that looks like theirs. Nevermind that he’s never worn this shirt before and it took them reaching a restaurant before anyone noticed the design. The gang is quickly arrested and interrogated by Dihal. And then The Skeletons attack and we discover that they’re… Skeletons! Like, animated skeletons. Who aren’t very smart. Somewhere, there is a necromancer wondering where his minions are. The city guards quickly discover why you use Blunt Weapons on skeletons, not Piercing. Their crossbows are useless against them. So, the gang makes a deal with Dihal, they’ll defeat the skeletons, if she agrees to strip down for them. Once the deal struck, Junpei shows why Monks are the best class against the undead, beating them into dust rather quickly. Things change when the skeleton unleash a dracolich (that’s a skeletal dragon for those of you who haven’t had the misfortune of facing one) on the city. Dihal, in a bizarre turn of events, casts sleep on everyone so she can get some potions that were off-handedly mentioned earlier in the epsisode. Airi, using her acting skills, plays her like a fiddle. I was hoping for Junpei to become giant and stomp the dracolich, if we couldn’t have the tank blast it, but Dihal gets tricked it into using it. Why? So she’ll grow giant and lose all of her clothes, as Airi didn’t think she’d actually strip. As the gang leaves the town, giant Dihal steps on the other potion and detonates 200 megatons of magical power.

The next episode is a Junpei episode, all about the fight. And it starts out with yet another mystery of the world, with a town that is described as “as if they build an Edo period tourist town in this world.” That’s right, we have a little slice of old Japan in this not really explored typical J-Fantasy world. Put a pin in that. The episode is about an elf named Rapier trying to defeat 1000 fighters to lift a curse. They think that she’s got a fragment on her because the curse takes the form of a counter on her back, to keep track of how many she’s defeated. Of course, she’s at 999 and Junpei is going to be number 1,000. While Airi and Ritsuko find out that she’s cursed, after stalking her at the bathhouse, Junpei is dedicated to fight Rapier in duel. During the fight, we learn the full backstory of the curse, and being defeated by Junpei teaches her the lesson she needs to learn to have it lifted.

The following episode is focused on Ritsuko. She hasn’t gotten much attention until now, all we really know is that she’s still wearing her school uniform, with a pistol holstered in a web belt and loves the tank. Of course, the tank has run out of gas and has to be left behind. Junpei is confirmed to be an idiot as he wants to use an animal to travel, rather than the tank that has saved their asses and is very OP in this world. It’s off-handedly mentioned that they’ve been using a fruit that grows and makes gasoline. Airi does make a note of how odd this is but there’s no explanation for it. In the town they end up in, they find that it’s under siege by a cat spirit that takes over stuffed animals and causes all kinds of havoc. After it’s defeated, it takes over a stuffed dog and befriends Ritsuko, who’s still with the tank. When the townspeople come to take care of the spirit, they end up putting it in the tank and destroying the bridge. Ritsuko jumps into the tank as it falls into the river but is somehow saved. How is she saved? The cat spirit is now inhabiting the tank. Good news! No more worries about gas!

The last episode of this disc gives us a lot of backstory. Annette, who has been forced to cover for Celcia while she tries to help the gang, gets fed up and tracks down the gang. She asks Celcia about the spell she used to defeat some big bad not long ago but Celcia says not to try the spell. Of course, Annette gets the spell, ties up Celcia, and lures the group to the top of a frozen pillar. There, she unleashes the spell! And a bunch of stuff from Japan lands on the pillar. Computer monitors, telephone poles, trash cans, and a huge box of curry mix, just to name a few. Celcia arrives and explains that she used the spell and it summoned the gang, and the tank, and they defeated the big bad. That’s why she’s willing to help these pervs with getting home, she’s owes them. Annette now understands Celcia’s passion for helping them and why she’s willing to hurt her own people to do so. But, the pillar starts to fall apart and Junpei casts away his precious curry to save Annette. Seriously. His obsession with find curry and rice is one of his few character traits.

So. This isn’t a great series. There’s a major flaw in the premise, as Celcia is the leader of the elves and should be easily able to just send out a message the she needs anyone who has a weird mark appear on them to report to her. And she should be able to stop the gang from going around and assaulting her people. Minor note, we only see three male elves, otherwise, they’re all women and almost universally attractive. Just going to leave that out there. There’s also some interesting mysteries, with the gas fruit and the oddly out of place Edo era town. I get the feeling that there’s something very interesting going on here. Now, as humor is subjective, this show might not land with everyone. I find it to be funny but I’m also a filthy degenerate, so keep that in mind. The animation is also so-so. It’s not terrible but it’s not the best. It’s adequate for me and the story. Since it’s a comedy, it doesn’t have to be realistic. I honestly like the combative relationship that many of the characters have with each other and how, aside from the first episode, they’re not foretold heroes. They’re not super powerful. Yes, Junpei is a great fighter and the tank is very powerful but this isn’t like modern Isekai. Not a lot of the tropes are there. Plus, the comedy aspect really reduces the blow of Isekai.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Suggestion: While the animation isn’t the best, the premise is a bit contrived, and the whole stripping thing isn’t great, it is pretty funny and is a good time (so far).

Manga: Komi-san Can't Communicate, Vol 2

Content Warning: Here be Yanderes, Ye been warned!

Well, we’re back with Komi-san. I’m sure you’re wondering why. Or maybe you aren’t. Either way, we’re back here for a few reasons. The first is the new Komi-san anime that came out not long ago and I need that sweet, sweet algorithm boost. The second is that I’m not ready to start reviewing some other stuff and Komi-san is pretty easy to talk about. Plus, after the last thing I reviewed, I need a break. Oh, wait, we’ve got a fucking Yandere in this one! Fuck!

This volume starts with some sort of sports day and health check thing. I know some stuff about Japan but I’m not sure exactly what this is. Anyway. We’re also introduced to Yadano, who’s very competitive and wants to beat Komi. She doesn’t, being shorter, heavier, with worse sight and so on. In the end, Komi easily beats Yadano at everything, without even realizing that Yadano was competing with her. It’s a little creepy but kind of funny.

Next up, we have Najimi asking if they can hang out at Komi’s house. Komi is overwhelmed but agrees, and we meet Komi’s mom for the first time. Shuko looks just like Komi, but with short hair. My heart be still. She’s also the exact opposite of Komi, with a hyper friendly personality and stating that she’s eternally 17. This is also the first time that Komi has brought friends home. Soon, Najimi and Tadano enter Komi’s room, with Najimi touching, looking, and otherwise just ignoring cultural norms and exploring. Meanwhile, Tadano is trying not to have a panic attack. I like how Tadano is very in tune with Komi and respects her boundries. However, I do think that Komi needs a friend like Najimi, who is going to push her outside her safe zones and really start to be the person she wants to be. Between these two, Komi has a good set of training wheels, so to speak. Najimi slips out of the room and watches Tadano and Komi… Just being normal and polite, without saying much, having expected them to awkward. Of course, this is just a little side bit but Najimi does discover Komi’s collection of “How to make friends” type books and Tadano realizes that Komi is always alone in pictures.

And now for our Yandere… Ren Yamai is in love with Komi. In the creepiest way you can imagine. She’s jealous of anyone and everyone who gets close to Komi, as she thinks that Komi should belong to her. Even though they haven’t even spoken. Yamai needs help. And maybe a prison sentence. But today is Yamai’s big day! She’s finally going to talk with the love of her life, Komi! And she does! But, let’s be honest, Yamai is a bit… Extra? Is that the word the kids use? Anyway, we discover why Tadano isn’t at school. It’s because Yamai kidnapped him, tied him to a chair, and put him in her room. Yeah. The Yandere is strong with this one. Did I mention that Yamai’s room is covered in creepy pictures of Komi? Because it is. Najimi, suspecting that Yamai might be responsible for Tadano’s disappearance, invites herself (themselves?) and Komi’s to Yamai’s house. Yamai removes all of the pictures of Komi and puts Tadano in the closet, telling to keep quiet. He doesn’t, starting to bang around, and Yamai threatens him again. As soon as Yamai leaves, Najimi checks the closet and discovers Tadano. Yamai returns, with a knife, and gives this speech about how Tadano is scum and Yamai is a better friend than he’ll ever be. And Komi does not take this well. She takes Tadano and leaves. And drops “I decide who my friends are” on the way out. Leaving Najimi alone with Yamai…

The next part is about Komi worrying about Tadano and what happened with Yamai. She tells him that Yamai was wrong about him being a “bottom feeder” and that she thinks that it might be better if Tadano isn’t her friend, because it put him at risk. However, Tadano points out that he chooses who his friends are, too. And they still want to be friends. The crisis is averted when Najimi brings Yamai to apologize to Tadano and to Komi. Of course, Yamai does one of the those backhanded apologies, but Komi and Tadano do agree to let it go. After which Yamai threatens Tadano that she will bury him if he tries anything with Komi.

The next part of this volume is about Komi in her summer uniform and then food. This is where we discover Agari’s secret passion for food. She takes them to a very popular Ramen joint where the cook has a communication disorder as well. Najimi and Tadako have trouble with the process but Agari and Komi get it just fine. We also have a whole thing about Komi putting her hair in a ponytail and I now wonder if the whole country has some kind of hair fetish. This would not surprise me, to be honest. There’s a few more little bit here, mostly about how Tadano is crushing hard on Komi but won’t ever act on it.

Finally, we have the best part of the volume and the introduction of one of my favorite characters in this series: Nakanaka. Nakanaka is “going through a phase” as the manga puts it but really what this is, is Nakanaka is a nerd, an otaku, a dork, and she lives in a fantasy world, in order to cope with her inablilty to make friends. However, she does try to reach out to Komi, in her own way. And Komi is okay with it. When it comes ot gym class, everyone wants to partner with Komi and no one wants to partner with Nakanaka. Except Komi. There’s a page where you can see that Nakanaka is kind of falling apart, with no one wanting to be her partner, but Komi offers to be her partner. While everyone grumbles, Komi doesn’t care.

The volume continues with Komi and her friends going clothes shopping, for her. Najimi turns it into a “battle” with everyone having to find an outfit for Komi. Najimi chooses a Chinese dress, Yamai picks something that would look much more appropriate on an adult, Najimi picks something that looks like a librarian would wear (yes, they went twice), Agari picks something kind of childish, if a little cute, and Tadano picks out a dress that Komi loves, too. You know these two are going to end up together but it’s nice to see all the ground work laid out.

The volume ends with Komi getting a haircut and everyone failing to notice. Except Tadano. It’s just a trim but he knows his lady. Okay, I joke, they’re not together but you know it’s going to happen (I’ve heard it has in volumes currently in Japan and we have a lot more to go through before we get there).

This volume is mostly filler. And that’s fine. We still need to get to know Komi and her friends before moving the story along. It also helps build up the characters, getting us ready for the changes that we know will come. This is a little slice of life story but time is marching forward.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: All hail the holder of the Dragon Force, Nakanaka!

Manga: A Silent Voice (overview)

Content Warning: Bullying, suicide attempts, kids being assholes, and redemption.

This is a bit of a heavy one, in case the content warning didn’t give you a hint. And I’m sure you probably heard of the movie (which I’ll be getting to soon).

Our story begins with Shoya in middle school, being a boy with a lot of energy, taking risks and trying to fight against boredom. His life changes when Shoko turns up in class. She’s deaf and he just doesn’t get it. So, he does what young boys do and starts to tease and torment her. And the adults seem to not really care, no one seems to want to actually stop him, and others, from harassing her. This part of the story is really hard to read. It gets worse when Shoya is punished for Shoko’s missing hearing aids and everyone else in class turns on him. Soon, he is the target of bullying, without friends and getting beaten up, his shoes stolen, and so on. As time goes on, now a high school senior, Shoya withdraws from his peers and starts working to pay his mother back for the money she had to pay. It turns out that he was planning on killing himself once he did so. So, yeah, this is just the first volume and it’s very, very dark. And we’re not quite done yet. The first volume ends with Shoya tracking down Shoko and grabbing her hand. I will warn you that I’ve skipped over a lot in this volume because it’s hard to take but you have to read it to know where everyone is coming from. However, I just skimmed through it and I suggest you do, too, if you’ve had trouble with bullying. I do promise you that it gets better. A final note about this volume is that after Shoya starts having trouble with people, they appear with big X’s over their faces. And, besides his mother, only one person doesn’t have an X over their face: Shoko.

The second volume opens it Shoko just running away from Shoya and him tripping and falling. But, then she comes back and moves her finger on his hand to ask him why. He gets up and returns her note book that he threw in a pond years ago. When she looks at him, he starts to sign, as in using sign language, to explain it. She’s shocked as he took the time to learn sign language. He says it’s so he could “give her a piece of his mind” but it’s clear that he did it so he could communicate with her. He then apologizes for being an asshole and says that he hates himself. But, he also realizes that it’s his fault for what happened, he was being selfish, and he wants to be friends with Shoko. But, that wasn’t his plan. He was planning on apologizing and then killing himself. He just got caught up in the moment, realizing that he hasn’t suffered enough, and wants to do right by her. And this is the core of the story we’re about to go on. While hanging out while Shoko is feeding fish, Shoya reflects on things. Until Shoko’s mom shows up. She throws the notebook into the pond and Shoko jumps after it. Shoya jumps after her and helps her find it. When he asks if it’s that important, she just nods. Shoko and her mom get ready to leave and Shoya apologizes to her mom. The mom comes running back and just slaps Shoya so hard, I could almost imagine that it slapped the stupid out of him. Almost. Shoya starts to live again at this point, helping out a classmate who is having his bike stolen, making friends with him. Shoya tries to meet up with Shoko again but is shut down by a younger kid, saying she’s not there, when he can clearly see her. The boy that Shoya helped is Tomohiro, who quickly becomes Shoya’s first friend in six years. With Tomohiro’s “help” he is able to talk to Shoko again, getting past her “guardian.” While this kid tries to pretend that he’s Shoko’s boyfriend, he’s actually Shoko’s younger sister, who has been trying to protect her. She also blames Shoya (rightly) for all the trouble he caused. But, Shoya is able to win her over. When she tells she’s Shoko’s boyfriend, he’s happy for both of them. And when she tries to tell Shoko, in the bath no less, that she saw him with a girlfriend, the look on Shoko’s face is priceless. Actually, one of the things about this manga is how expressive Shoko, and others, are. But she’s much more expressive, as we don’t have a lot of her words to use, aside from a brief bit of talking and translation of her signing from other characters. This volume has Yuzuru, Shoko’s sister, warming up to Shoya. Yuzuru posted a picture of Shoya jumping in after Shoko, which got him suspended from school for a week. He then finds Yuzuru after she’s run away from home, after Shoko gets upset, and Shoya takes her in. Just like that. Even knowing that she’s got him in trouble. He knows that he’s fucked up and is paying penance. The fact that he knows he’s messed up and is willing to help her, even if it is because of his own guilt, brings Yuzuru over to the side of not hating him. She still doesn’t trust him but she doesn’t hate him. He also says that he’s willing to spend the rest of his life dedicated to her, to make up for his past sins. After Yuzuru runs away, Shoko goes out searching for her, he mom visits Shoya’s mom’s hair salon looking for her, and Yuzuru and Shoya go looking for her. When they find her, Shoko reveals that Yuzuru is her sister and even their mom is starting to warm to Shoya.

The third volume is about expanding Shoya’s world. He, and Shoko, try to track down Miyoko, another girl from the past. She agreed to learn sign language to help out Shoko but got teased for it and ended up leaving school. Shoya asks another old classmate for information and Shoko and Shoya go looking for her. They don’t find her but she runs into Shoya and she has grown. They say she’s 5’1” in the manga but I don’t know it that’s right. Based on my, admittedly limited, knowledge of Japan and the people there, that would be a fucking giant sized girl. Like, 5’6” is tall for women in Japan. Google tells me that 5’2” is average, so yeah, they might be changing that for English speakers. Anyway, Shoya brings Miyoko to meet with Shoko and reflects on how badly he screwed up when they were kids. Shoya gets defensive when asked about seeing people from the old days, because of what happened to him after Shoko left. Of course, she should already know that, as she was cleaning off his desk every morning, cleaning up all the hateful things the other kids were writing on it. I think Shoko doesn’t quite get how different people can be, sometimes. Anyway, we’re soon introduced to another character from the past, Naoka. She was the only girl that Shoya really spent any sort of time with and she hands him a coupon for a cat cafe. After putting on cat ears and a tail. When he goes to the cat cafe with Tomohiro, he doesn’t even recognize her, with her hair up and glasses on. There’s a mix up and Tomohiro gets a note that Shoya was suppose to get, a confession of love from Naoka. She tries to make contact with Shoya, while Shoya gives the cute cat bag thing to Shoko. This also introduces the movie that Tomohiro wants to make, teaming up with Yuzuru and her camera. Naoka tracks down Shoya and forces him to give her a ride home. On the way, they run across Shoko and Naoka starts to tease her like they used to when they were young. When she sees Shoya sticking up for her, she runs away. Shoya later finds her crying and they talk. And this is when her X appears on her face. They have a fight and she tries to undermine Shoya’s progress in becoming a decent human being. When she finds out that he’s trying to make amends for his past, she tries to apologize to him. And he shuts her all the way down. He wants her to apologize to Shoko but Naoka doesn’t want her forgiveness, she wants his. Around the X over her face, you can see how she really feels. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re as dense as Shoya. When Shoya finally runs into Shoko again, she has her hair in a pony tail and tries to talk with him. By speaking. Now, if you’ve never spoken with some who’s deaf or has issues with hearing, they don’t speak like someone who can hear. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just how it works. Because we can hear, we have an easier time making the correct sounds to form words. If you’re not familiar with how they speak, it can be really hard to understand them. So, Shoya has trouble understanding her, which I understand. But, at the same time, he did tell her that he wants to hear her “voice” although, I think he meant it in the metaphorical sense. This volume ends with Shoko telling Shoya she loves him. But, due to her speech, he doesn’t understand her, thinking she’s talking about the moon. Shoya, you are a fucking idiot. If you haven’t figured it out yet, both Shoko and Naoka have feelings for this guy. And he is totally oblivious. I can understand why, he’s been isolated and he seems to be suffering from clinical depression, both of which would prevent you from figuring it out. That said, can someone please slap some sense into him? Or, just, like, fill in the blanks for him? Please?

The fourth volume starts adding in two more characters, Satoshi and Miki. Now, Miki has been popping up here and there through the last few volumes but has had an X over her face, and therefore, is someone not worth noticing. Okay, I’m being a bit hard on her but this is how Shoya is perceiving things, so I’m looking through his eyes in this story. There are some flashes to Shoko and her family but this is really Shoya’s story. For now. Satoshi wants to join the film project and Miki wants to get closer to Satoshi. So, they not have their X’s removed and are going to be part of the story from this point on. Together, our merry band (everyone without X’s and Naoka, who still has one) go to an amusment park. While it was mentioned, Naoka and Miyoko go to the same school and seem to be friends. Everyone is having a good time and Naoka “apologizes” to Shoko but Shoya doesn’t remove her X yet. While at the park, everyone seems to be having fun and a good time, but Shoya, with his depression and guilt, seems to be having a hard time letting go. Eventually he does and starts to enjoy himself. And that’s when things go bad. Naoka tries to re-connect Shoya with his old friend. And when they’re discussing the movie plot, Shoya says that the main character wants to die. Naoka corners him and they talk. She blames Shoko for destroying their lives, how she up-ended what she thinks they should have had. And Shoya is not here for it. But, he does get her talk with Shoko. On the Ferris wheel. And it goes… Poorly. While we don’t know what happened at first, Naoka slapped Shoko on the Ferris wheel. When Shoya confronts Naoka about it, they have a fight and the get together falls apart. Later, Yuzuru goes over to Shoya’s place and they watch the footage from the camera that Shoko had around her neck. We find out that Naoka hates Shoko and will not forgive her. And we find out that Shoko hates herself. There’s flashes of why that is. Little glimpses of the past but Yuzuru tells Shoya that if he wants Shoko to like herself, it’s his job to compliment her. And he tries. Without understanding why. This boy is dense. All Yuzuru had to say was that Shoko likes him and his opinion of her is important to her. But it wouldn’t be YA drama without a failure to communicate! Here, we focus on Shoko’s home life. Yuzuru and Shoko are mostly taken care of my their grandmother, while their mother is a stern workaholic. Of course, they only introduce the grandmother to kill her off. Sure, she’s mentioned early on, but we literally don’t see her until right before she dies. Shoya finds Yuzuru crying, while Shoko doesn’t turn up for feeding the fish on the bridge. Shoya takes Yuzuru to eat and then follows her, to the funeral. Shoya reads a letter from Yuzuru’s grandmother to her, because Yuzuru can’t read it, and Yuzuru adds commentary. When he runs across their mom, she thanks him for being a friend to Yuzuru. But not Shoko, oddly enough. There’s a flashback to how their mother ended up as a single parent and how grandmother was there for her daughter and granddaugthers.

The fifth volume is where things fall apart. Everyone is working on Tomohiro’s movie. Including Naoka. Shoya insists that Shoko be included but it works out. Together, this group starts getting things together for the movie, working together. It’s rather interesting to see how each person changes things little by little of the concept. We also discover that Satoshi is a bit of an asshole but because he was bullied as a kid. He also hates bullies but doesn’t yet know about Shoya’s full history with Shoko. They, Satoshi and Shoya, go back to Shoya’s old elementry school to ask permission to film their movie there and run into Shoya’s old teacher. While the teacher, who blamed Shoya for everything related to Shoko’s bullying and not really trying to solve the problem, talks to them, Shoya gets more and more uncomfortable until he starts all but blaming Shoko for her treatment. However, it is Satoshi that steps up and splashes water on the teacher. Of course, they both get kicked out. Things go well for a while. Until they don’t. Shoya is worried about Satoshi finding out what he used to be like and it causes him to have a fight with Tomohiro and Miki. When he goes to the bridge for the next meeting, it all comes crashing down. Satoshi hits him and everyone leaves. But, Shoko is still there and Shoya makes it his goal to keep her happy. They go to the movies, they go out and he forces himself to smile and laugh. There’s some important pieces here. One thing is that Miyoko sends Shoya a message and simply asks “How can you prove you’ve grown as a person?” This is a phrase that would haunt me, let me tell you. How CAN you prove that? I mean, let’s not forget that he learned sign language, tracked Shoko down, gave her her old notebook, has been hanging out with her every Tuesday, went with her to find people she wanted to know (and some she didn’t), made an effort to include her in the movie, has let her mother slap him, looked for her in the rain, went to her grandmother’s funeral, and hasn’t been a bully in years. But, you know what the real question is? “Have you done enough to redeem yourself?” And that’s the big question. I think, even if he hasn’t, he’s trying. And the person who needs to forgive him isn’t Miyoko, Miki, Satoshi, Tomohiro, or even Yuzuru or her mother. It is and always will be Shoko. Which brings us to the final part of the volume. They go to a festival with fireworks, and even their mom has warmed to Shoya at this point, and spend time together. Shoko says she wants to go back to study. Yuzuru, ever the crafty devil, sends Shoya back to their place to get her camera, hoping to give Shoya and Shoko some alone time. When he gets there, he catches Shoko getting ready to jump off the balcony. He rushes to stop her. And she jumps. But he barely manages to catch her as she falls, pulling her up so she can grab the railing. And then he falls. There’s water below, so he doesn’t die on impact. And that’s where things end in this volume.

The next volume tries to tease us for a while about what happened, first suggesting that Shoko didn’t make it. She did. She hurt her arm but she’s alive. And Shoya is alive, too. But he’s in a coma. This volume instead focuses on the other characters, exploring who they are and, in some ways, why they are the way they are. Shoko jumped because she thinks everything is her fault, that everything she touches, she destroys. And that hits me hard. Shoko’s mother apologizes to Shoya’s mother but she doesn’t want her to. I really like Shoya’s mom, I have to say. That woman is a saint. Miyoko and Tomohito show up at the hospital. But, guess who else does? Naoka. And she corners Shoko outside and proceeds to beat her, blaming her for what happened to Shoya. It’s not that she’s wrong, it’s just that Naoka’s own feelings for Shoya are overwhelming her. She’s been in love with Shoya since before Shoko showed up on the scene and now that he’s back in her life, she wants him. And, yes, there’s blame for Shoko for what happened. What she, and I think a lot of others forget, is that Shoya made a choice. Sure, Shoko put him in the position to have to make that choice, but he still made it. Without hesitation. Miyoko jumps in to defend Shoko but that doesn’t really stop Naoka. You know what does? Shoko’s mom. Without any expression, she slaps the fucking shit out of Naoka. Just whap, whap, whap. It’s a real brawl. And I love every second of it. Because it’s about these two getting their feelings out. When it’s over, we discover why Yuzuru has been taking pictures of dead things: To make Shoko change her mind about dying. Because she confessed to her all those years ago that she wanted to die. After this, Naoko takes up station inside Shoya’s room, not letting anyone in. But, this does lead to Shoko and Tomohito meeting and deciding to work on the movie together. Along with everyone else. Then, we get to learn about each of our characters. Bit by bit, each given a chapter. While these chapters revolve around Shoya and his effect of them, they do show us more about them. And how one life can touch others. The volume ends with a flashback to the night Shoya fell and Shoko having a dream about Shoya. The dream where he’s saying goodbye. She runs to the bridge, where they’ve been meeting, in the middle of the night, and collapses, crying. And then Shoya wakes up in the hospital.

The seventh and final volume shows the same the dream, but from Shoya’s perspective. And then him waking up. After waking up, he manages to free himself from the hospital and finds his way to the bridge, finding Shoko. They both believe that the other is a spirit or ghost for a minute. And then Shoya tells her something important. He wants her to help him to live. And that’s when the parents, or moms, turn up. Along with Yuzuru. And Shoya’s mom faints. It’s all okay, however, and Shoya turns out okay. Just with a scar on his ass. After he comes home, Shoko, Yuzuru, and their mother come over, and the moms force the kids out while they talk. And drink. And bond over how shitty men can be. Moving on, we get to see the movie they all made and it’s pretty powerful, so I’m not going to tell you about it. Shoya kind of embarrasses himself, with being so moved by the movie. He flees to the bathroom and then hashes it out with everyone, figuring out that no one is perfect and it’s okay. But, it’s after this, when Shoya walks around the school festival that the movie version of the story ends. But not the manga. The manga has the film being shown at a festival and gets gutted by some film critic guy. Everyone is bummed until they think about how much better they’ll be in the future. Speaking of the future, that’s what where the story ends. Oh, not with a time skip or anything, just with everyone working out what they want to go to school for. Miyoko and Naoka are going to a fashion school, with Miyoko working on modeling, too. Satoshi and Miki are going to school to become teachers, while Tomohito is trying to convince his parents to let him go to film school. But, what about Shoko, I hear you asking? Well, she wants to become a hairdresser. I have a theory as to why but it’s from something I skipped all the way back in volume one. Why? Because I want you to read the damn thing! Anyway, this would mean going to Tokyo and Shoya doesn’t want her to leave at first but ends up supporting her. And saying he’ll follow her to Tokyo. Keep in mind he doesn’t seem to realize that she’s got a crush on him and he doesn’t seem to be able to express any romantic feelings for her. But, whatever. I guess this technically a romance manga. The story really ends with a Coming Of Age celebration and everyone talking about those plans. And with Shoya finally taking Shoko’s hand as they go to see their old classmates.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading and rereading this story this week. And it feels like there’s always something new to find in it. The word that comes to mind for this one is “Important.” I’ve heard people talking about how the movie “saved” them or made them think about things and I know that if I had found it when I was younger and depressed, it would have made an impact in my life. And maybe it will in yours, too. Of all the works I have reviewed here so far (not nearly as many I was would have liked), this is the one that I feel is probably the best one. This series isn’t my favorite but it’s up there on my list of manga and anime that have had an impression on me, even if it hasn’t been too long for me. When I finished the manga, I had to go to bed and it wasn’t easy. The next day, Shoko’s suicide attempt lingered in my brain, repeating over and over again. I could go on for a while about why this one is lodged in my brain but I’m sure you’re all smart people and can figure things out. Let’s just say that this one hit too close to home, in a lot of ways, and leave it there. And I won’t post links about suicide prevention, because you all have Google, but I will leave you with one final thought, the words I wished I could have said to someone like Shoko: It can get better, give it time. 

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: This is a great work and you need to read it if you’ve seen the movie.

Manga: If It's For My Daughter... - Volume 4

 

Content Warning: None. What? It’s a “cute girl does cute things” series. At least, for now…

Welcome back to the series that has the stupid long name but a very cute little girl in it. We’ve gotten past the first horrible thing and now get a nice long period of world building and character building. Let’s get the ball rolling.

This volume with a few little things being talked about by Latina, Chloe, and Sylvia, including discussion of the difference between human and Demon food, the main thing being that Demon food doesn’t have a lot of flavor. After that, Latina figures out that Dale is babying her, buying her everything she needs and all that. I like this because it shows how aware Latina is. But she doesn’t want to have everything given to her, she has a drive to make her own way. This culminates in a few things, the first being Latina’s decision to get something for Dale’s “birth month” (which gives us a tiny bit of world building). After some observations, Latina figures out that Dale could use a new pouch but there’s the matter of money. Sure, if she asks Dale, he’ll give her all the money she wants but that doesn’t help, as it’s important to Latina that she does this on her own. She talks to Kenneth about the whole affair and he comes up with an idea. He’ll take her on as his apprentice, officially. Sure, she’s a little young but she has been helping in the kitchen for a while now already.

Here, we get some more exploration of the setting, with talk about the gods, those they have “touched,” and a rather interesting way of explaining how the modern system of banking could work in a fantasy setting using magic. The short version is that the blue deity, Azrac, has the domains of finance and commerce, making their temples into banks. The mortals (of every race except for Demons) can be touched or chosen by the gods, given extra powers and such, so long as they obey their gods’ rules. If they break the rules, the god revokes their blessing. Which is something I think is really cool. Anyway. Using a magical registration thing, you can create an account with the church and access your gold anywhere. You can also use the vault but you can only remove stuff from the vault you put it in. You even get a debit card. I mean, they don’t call it that, but that’s what it is. I really like how they did this, with Latina being young and from a different culture, it’s a great way to explain things like this.

After this, Latina makes Dale a pouch and gives it to him, causing much happiness and rejoicing. And spinning. The story finally lets Dale know that Latina is making money and has her own account. And Rita is pregnant! Dale suggests that he and Latina move out but Kenneth and Rita want Latina to stay (they don’t care about Dale) but this does prompt Dale to take a trip back to his home.

This trip does require a few things on Dale’s end. As he’s in the service of the Duke, he has to head to the capital and lets him know about the trip. While there at the capital, he goes shopping for supplies for Latina, like Magical Tools, which will get explained a little better later on (I think). While shopping, he runs into Hermine, a lady elf that he seems to have a history with. He doesn’t really like her but will have her help him pick out stuff Latina, for the sake of Latina. This guy, I swear…

During this, Latina herself starts to prepare for the trip. She goes to Rudy’s family smithy to pick out a knife. Rudy’s dad is a little dismissive until Kenneth explains that the girl is going to travel and needs the knife for cooking on said trip. We also see that Latina is a bit of an airhead, not telling Rudy that she’s going on a trip, which causes a brief moment of confusion.

The volume concludes with Latina promising to write letters to Chloe while she’s gone and little bonus comic about Latina seeing kind of a circus act. Which I’m not going to talk about because you should buy it yourself.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: This is a filler volume but it’s nice to have the break after the last one. You can probably skip it or skim it, as nothing important happens but it does drop some hints about later stuff.

Novel: Ring

Content Warning: Death, suicide, murder, sexual assault, and “Testicular Feminization Syndrome” which is really part of Androgen insensitivity syndrome. Google it.

The Ring (or Ringu as some insist on calling it) is one of the most famous J-Horror movies ever made. For many, it’s the ending and the now iconic appearance of Sadako that makes it so memorable. For me, it was the story, the mystery. So imagine my delight when I found the book series, on sale no less, a few years after I watched The Ring on a VCD with English and Cantonese subtitles. That’s right, it’s series. So, let’s get started with the book that started it all…

Our story begins with young Tomoko home alone on a hot autumn night. She goes down to get a glass of Coke before she is overwhelmed by fear, unwilling to turn around and face some unknown fear. When she does, her story ends. We then jump to a cab driver some distance away, waiting at a red light. Soon, a young man on a motorbike pulls along beside him. The rider then collapses on the ground and the taxi driver goes out to help him, the young man struggling to get his helmet off. After the taxi driver goes to call the police at a payphone (showing how old this book is), the young man is dead with a look of terror on his face.

About a month later, Kazuyuki Asakawa, a reporter, decides to take a cab ride home. As the cab pulls up to a red light, the taxi driver, the same one from just a few pages ago, begins to tell Asakawa about what happened to the young man at this same intersection that fateful day. It’s interesting to note how the taxi driver seems to remember every detail of what happened perfectly, as if it has etched itself into his mind. Asakawa goes home to his wife and young daughter, and begins to think. His niece, the daughter of his wife’s sister died about the same time. Yes, this is the young Tomoko our story started with. This story will not leave Asakawa’s mind and soon he begins looking to these two deaths, soon finding two more that happened at roughly the same time. And finds connections between all four victims. He doesn’t believe that there’s some supernatural happening, even as he talks with another reporter who saw the other two young people pulled from the car with the same look of terror on their faces. This memory is also carved into his mind palace. Asakawa continues to look and find more and more connections between these four, thinking that perhaps a new virus has appeared on the scene, talking about AIDS and how it was such a mystery for so long. His investigation leads him to a cabin in Hakone, where these four teens spent a weekend together. There, he tracks down a video tape that shows him disturbing images. These aren’t just images, however, as he feels things, physically and emotionally, as he watches the tape. The tape ends with a curse that whoever watches it is fated to die in one week, unless… And then there’s something recorded over the rest of the charm, preventing him from saving himself. Getting a strange phone call, where no words are spoken, Asakawa flees the cabin with the tape and returns home.

He soon recruits an old friend from high school named Ryuji into this investigation, given how unique he is. Of course, Ryuji is no saint, having really become friends with Asakawa after confessing that he raped a young women one night. Which makes for a very strange relationship. Asakawa shows Ryuji the video, who seems to just take it in stride, not believing in the curse. However, he does enjoy a good mystery. While Ryuji was watching it, Asakawa made a copy of the video, so Ryuji could watch it at again and study it. They begin their joint investigation, trying to track down what information they can from the video. One of the scenes is of a volcano erupting and Asakawa finds that it by flipping through a book of them. In another scene, a woman is talking in a dialect that neither man knows, but Ryuji (being an assistant professor) shows the part to someone and discovers that it’s a dialect spoken on Izu Oshima. While meeting up to discuss what they’ve found so far at Ryuji’s place, Asakawa meets Mai, who seems to be Ryuji’s lover. While not important in this story, she does become important in other ones, so it’s good to mention her now. The one bomb that Ryuji has to drop is about the video. After watching it several times, he seems to come across something interesting. The video can be divided into two different types of scenes: realistic and abstract. This is important, as during the realistic scenes, the camera blinks. And by camera, I mean person. The realistic parts are not recorded, they are memories from someone. A woman, from what the old lady says in the video, who will give birth to a son. Now, we’re moving on to more supernatural things. While Asakawa was sure it was just a virus, after watching the video for the first time, he believes that this is supernatural, but the fact that this might be some find of spirit photography makes him balk.

At this point, two important things happen. The first is that Asakawa’s wife and daughter watch the video, starting a clock for them. The second is the visit to a museum of a doctor who investigated psychic phenomena. The doctor died two years ago, which seems to coincide with a massive increase unsolicited letters and videos set to newspapers and media nationwide, mentioned earlier in the book, and had a huge amount of records left behind. Going through these records, they find the name that will haunt everyone who reads this book: Yamamura Sadako. That’s right, she’s here. This leads Asakawa and Ryuji to Izu Oshima and our story really kicks off.

They travel to Izu Oshima and learn about Sadako’s mother, Shizuko. Shizuko was a fairly talented psychic, predicting an eruption of the volcano seen in the film. She met a married man, traveling with him, and having Sadako out of wedlock with him. However, after failing a test in public, Shizuko went home and later killed herself. When she turned 18, Sadako left Izu Oshima and went to Tokyo to join a theater group. But, this becomes a dead end, as no one knows what happened to Sadako.

Another reporter, roped into this investigation, chases down leads in Tokyo, finding the theater group, and does talk with people who knew Sadako, all those years ago. They talk about how beautiful she was but how distant she was, how eerie she was. And, again, everyone has strong, clear memories of her. There’s two things of note in this part of the investigation. One of the members of the group found her in a room, thinking the TV was on, only to find it was unplugged but was sure he saw lights through a window. The other is how a director got drunk one night and said he was going to go visit Sadako. The next day, he seemed pale and unwell, dying that day from sudden heart failure. The same thing that killed Tomoko and her friends. Pieces are falling into place.

The final lead comes from Sadako’s father. He got sick and was put in a sanatorium, where they used to put people with tuberculosis, syphilis, and smallpox. For those of you who doesn’t know, Smallpox is the first disease to be fully exterminated by mankind. In the current times of the pandemic, this seems like a distant dream, doesn’t it. But, this will tie into a point I want to make later. Just, hang on, okay? Ahem. Anyway, they find that there’s only one doctor left from this old sanatorium, who has the distinction of being Japan’s last smallpox patient, being infected by one of his while there. So, Asakawa and Ryuji, hunting the last lead they have on Sadako, hoping to find her so she will release them from the curse, track him down. And immediately recognize him from the video. Towards the end. When they confront him about what he did to Sadako, which is interesting given how they don’t really know what happened to her, he gives up. He tells them how Sadako was visiting her father at the sanatorium while he was dealing with smallpox and went with him into the forest. There, for some reason, he raped her. During the assault, she bit him on the shoulder, breaking the skin. And this is where we find out that Sadako was a hermaphrodite or intersex or not really female. While she had breasts, and even a vagina, she also had a pair of testicles. No, I’m not making that up. Perhaps disgusted, perhaps driven by the fever, or perhaps driven by Sadako herself, he threw her into an old well that was there in the forest. Where was this sanatorium and the well? Hakone. Exactly where the cabin and resort was built.

With only hours to spare, Asakawa and Ryuji make their way to the cabin and start exploring, having bought equipment for excavation. There they find the well, capped and covered by the cabin, directly beneath the TV and VCR in the cabin. They get into the well and start pulling out water, with Asakawa the one to find the skull of Sadako. And his deadline comes and goes. And he’s still alive. Thinking they’ve figured out what Sadako wanted, they remove her remains and go their separate ways, with Asakawa going to Izu Oshima to return her remains to her family and Ryuji going back home to get back to all the work he’s missed over the last week.

But, there’s a twist! They didn’t solve the charm! And Ryuji feels the same fear that killed the others in the beginning of our tale. As he starts to die, he tries to get ahold of Asakawa, to tell him that they’re failed, but in the time before cellphones, he couldn’t get ahold of him. Instead, he calls Mai, who hears him scream as he dies. Later, she calls Asakawa to give him the news, and Asakawa is stunned. He thought they solved it but they haven’t. And he has less than a day to figure out what to do to save his family. So, he thinks back to what he did differently than Ryuji, what he could have done that saved him but not his friend. And the specter of Ryuji gives him a hint: back when Asakawa was first investigating the deaths, he thought it was a virus. And what do viruses want to do? To replicate. To spread. To infect more hosts and reproduce. And this curse, made of Sadako’s power and the smallpox virus’ will to spread, wants to do the same thing. So, make a copy. Show it someone. Have them make a copy. And you’ll survive. So, Asakawa grabs his VCR and goes to his wife’s parents’ place, telling her that they need to do something important… And that is where this part of the story ends.

Now, when I first read this, I didn’t pick up on as much as I did this time around. Why? Because when I first read it, the world wasn’t (still) in the grip of a global pandemic. And the points made in this book almost scream out now, how viruses want to spread. How they need to, to survive. And that’s what the video is, a psychic virus, born from a death curse, born of hate and evil, and the will to infect others. But, there’s something else that I picked up on. Did you notice how I mentioned how clear everyone’s memories were of important events? That’s something interesting, isn’t it? It’s like Sadako never wanted to be forgotten but never really made friends. And perhaps it’s why she wanted to become an actress, so everyone would see her. Of course, the rest of the series explores these themes, but the seeds are here, in this first book. As for what I wanted to talk about, especially relevant these days? Viruses mutate. They look to counter-act what we do to stop their spread. Normal viruses usually mutant to be less harmful but that’s so they spread easier. That’s why the cold and the flu are so hard to put down, because they’re mutated towards communicability at the cost of lethality. Today, a virus has spread all over the world, because of stupidity and ignorance. As much as people would like to compare this with the 1918 pandemic, they don’t quite allow for direct comparison. Why? Because the Blue Flu, as it was called by some, burned itself out. It targeted the young and healthy (ages 20-40, who are usually not as effected by diseases) and killed them in not days but hours. Now, that is the problem with Sadako’s virus: eventually it would dead-end because either everyone had seen the video or would be dead. So, what would a virus do in that situation? It’s very simple:

Mutation.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: If you like the movie, the Japanese one, this book will still give you something new to enjoy.

Manga: Gigant Volume 6

 

Content Warning: Nudity, Sexual content, violence, and weirdos from the future (I think)

And here we are, the volume of Gigant that really does nothing. At least, in the major plot. That said, there’s a lot of changes in terms of the interpersonal relationships of people in the story but this whole volume feels a lot like filler. Let’s get started.

This volume starts with our future weirdo squad discovering the joys of instant Ramen and the continuing advance of the Devil in the US. There’s also introduction of Chiho and Rei getting ready to take a trip to Ishigaki Island together. And that right there is the whole story of this volume, just about.

On the plane to the island, Chiho crashes out and gets recognized by a bunch of people, including a little girl. This girl, who’s maybe six, then tries to fondle Chiho while she’s asleep. I’m not even kidding. This does show how “PaPiCo fever” has swept the country. Not only with how busy Chiho has been since defeating the three Gods of Destruction but how little time she and Rei have spent together. They are, however, making for lost time. With lots of sex and just hanging out, spending quality time. There’s not much to discuss about this section. Wait, I take that back, there’s actually two things. The first one is the clear use of reference art that looks jarring when you see the characters in the background, as the backgrounds are photo-realistic and the characters clearly aren’t. I find it really hard to read the words when I’m paying too much attention to the floors, walls, and chairs around the characters. This clearly is a “me problem” but this is where I talk about what I’m reading, so you signed up for it. Now, the second thing we can talk about is the continuing coverage of the Devil’s progress through the US. Rei continues to listen to it during the trip, even when they’re laying in bed, just relaxing. There’s a telling comment when Chiho asks him if he always listens to that, followed by the question if America is really in trouble. After getting told yes to both questions, she jumps into the pool naked and gets Rei to join her. She also gives him a hummer while underwater, to which I can only comment that I envy her lung power… Okay, there’s one other thing that happens during the vacation that I’m going to circle back to at the end. Promise.

Ahem. Anyway. While Chiho and Rei are enjoying themselves, we get our only real piece of action when the Future People Weirdos decide to let their Ramen cups sit on a Yakuza’s car. The Yakuza are killed in such a gory fashion, I was just kind of like… The fuck? There’s also the casual nature in how the Weirdos use their powers to kill them. Like, they don’t even matter. Didn’t you assholes come back in time to SAVE people? It’s also interesting to see how they have different powers that we haven’t yet seen Chiho manifest. Another thing that I find interesting is how these people from the future, including the first one in the first volume, don’t seem to know how to operate in our society. They have serious trouble with chopsticks, even the one that seems to be Japanese, in both name and appearance. Oh, yeah, we get some names for them now. But I’m not using them because I like calling them the Future Weirdos. They also seem to have been caught up in PaPiCo fever but don’t seem to be willing to seek her own. I don’t know why.

Now, for the final part of this volume. Chiho and Rei’s relationship hits the news and it’s more than a little explosive. As I’ve said before, I doubt there would be as big of a problem if Rei was the older one but it’s not the case and Chiho’s career is pretty much shot to hell when it comes out that she’s in improper relationship with a minor. And then Rei starts having trouble when his name and face gets out there in the world. This culminates when an older boy attacks him when he won’t give him Chiho’s number. This older kid beats the ever living fuck out of Rei and his friend. It’s a lot like what’s happened to Chiho in her fights, when I think about it. And then Rei does the thing that I will hate him forever for. He breaks up with Chiho. He doesn’t tell her what happened, not really, he just says it would be better if they would break up. Okay, I’ll cut the kid some credit, as he says to give him two years (until he’s legal) and can make his student film. And I just… I really want to slap this kid. Okay, first of all, there’s a chance that either you or her could be dead in TWO DAYS, much less TWO YEARS from now! Next, you assume that you’ll actually be able to make your fucking film. GAH! I hate stupid teenagers! Yeah, mostly because I used to be one. And, there’s one other thing that I said I would circle back to and the time is now. Rei, this dumb motherfucker, he breaks up with his girlfriend AFTER a condom broke during vacation and he was fucking her brains out. Just, fuck, you just KNOW that she’s going to get pregnant…

Oh, and the final page is the US dropping a nuke on the Devil while it’s in Hawai’i. That means that it’s coming to Japan. Will Chiho and the Weirdos be able to stand up to it? I don’t fucking know! I guess we’ll find out.

Now that I’ve gotten all of that out of my system, I do want to say that this is my least favorite volume thus far and it really feels like there isn’t a guide for what’s going to happen. Oh, and only four volumes left. Yeah. It ended at volume 10 in Japan, so we’re going to waiting about two more years to get them released here.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Suggestion: Ugh. I don’t exactly hate it but I didn’t like it, either. Make of that what you will.

Manga: If It's For My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat A Demon Lord, Volume 3

 

Content Warning: Racism, self harm, and Dale’s cold fury

Okay. This is it. I can do this. I know I can… Okay.

It’s time for The Incident. In a bit.

This volume opens with Latina and her friends attending school and learning things. One of the things we learn is the colors, names, and spheres of influence, which is really interesting. As I mentioned before all of this relates to the number seven. And how rainbows represent them looking down upon the world. There’s a very bitter sweet part about Latina’s father’s wish for her future. Which is only going to make the next part even harsher.

Okay. Okay. I can do this. I’m sorry but every time I read or see The Incident, and what happens after, I cry. I’m just going to power through it.

The happy times come to crashing halt when Latina gets a new teacher. The one with the scary eyes. This teacher scares Latina. Keep in mind, she’s been growing up in a tavern that caters to adventurers, who aren’t exactly the nicest looking people. So, that’s a thing. What happens next is just… Tragic. Latina drops her chalk and her new teacher sees her horn. And she flips all of her shit. Starts talking about how she’s a beast, not human, so on and so forth. Now, I’m going to tell the story in chronological order, rather than the flashbacks in the story.

When this happens, Latina just shuts down. Why? Because in the rant from the teacher, Latina learns that she will live 100 years. You might be wondering why that effects her more than anything that’s been said. Think about it: Latina has been cast out of her home, her father died trying to give her a better life. Everyone she knows now, especially Dale who’s older than her, will die longer before her. Even her friends, who are the same age as her will die as old men and women, and she will still live on for decades more. She’s eight years old and she realized that she will die alone. Thankfully, her friends come to her rescue. Chloe, the best friend ever, throws her slate at the teacher, but misses. Rudy, Marcel, and Anthony leap into action, kicking over the table and putting themselves between the teacher and Latina. The ruckus brings in the other priests, who hear the teacher call Latina “it.” So, yeah, fuck that bitch with a bundle of rusty barbed wire. Just to make this clear, never, ever, EVER refer to a person as an “it” unless they’re a corpse.

Ahem. Anyway. Latina gets back home and looks like a zombie. She goes up to her room that she shares with Dale and… This part is the hardest part to go over. I’m not even looking at it and I want to cry. Inner Strength! Ahem. So… She uses the spell Dale taught her for self defense and uses it cut off her remaining horn. What she doesn’t realize, or maybe she just doesn’t care about, is that the horn has blood vessels and nerve connections to it. When Kenneth makes his way up there, she’s passed out and bleeding. He gets one of the regulars to cast a healing spell and then rushes her to the Indio deity to get more help. When Dale gets home, Rita tells him what happened and he rushes there. After he gets there, he and Latina talk about some hard truths. Even if Latina was human, she would out live Dale, in part because he’s about ten years older than her and also because he’s an adventurer. He tells her how important she is to him and she tells him that he’s her “special person.”

After this, Dale goes on the war path. It turns out that Dale is a high ranking priest of the Yellow deity of fertility. He uses this to go to the school, run but the Green deity of knowledge, to get the whole story out of the headmistress. She tries to defend the teacher by saying that she’s from a village near the Demon lands and her family was killed in a dispute but… Yeah, that doesn’t go over well. Dale then uses his rank and status to get the teacher kicked out of the order. Which, have to say, is way better than she deserves. I’d say put her to the sword but I’m not exactly known for my kindness.

The last bits of fallout is when Chloe goes to see Latina after she recovers. And slaps her for being so stupid. I keep telling you, Chloe is the best. They talk, they cry, and things are put back to normal. Latina then goes down into the tavern and celebrates with everyone, who’s happy to see that she’s recovered. We also find out that Latina has one thing she can’t do: She can’t hold a key or a tune. So, I guess she’s not completely perfect. Just, you know, mostly perfect.

The very last bit, a comic version of a side story presented in an earlier volume, shows how Latina helps out the adventurer community. She draws pictures of missing animals, to help people identify them, and helps some new adventurers with finding work that’s suited to their experience.

This is a good volume. Most of it is about The Incident, which is important. However, one thing I find is interesting is how this stuff isn’t really brought up again in later volumes. Except for the horn. When I first read this, I was thinking that the teacher would become a foe for Latina and Dale but that hasn’t happened yet. Which I feel is a shame. Latina is amazing and seems to befriend just about everyone she meets but here’s a chance to have someone to become a low-level antagonist and it doesn’t happen. Just because you have a setting that has high adventure and monsters doesn’t mean that your enemies must be black hearted villains and monsters. Someone who hates a Latina for getting her kicked out of her order would have made for an interesting threat for her, without it being life or death. Of course, the former teacher would be going against some very rough and tumble adventurers, so…

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: An important part of the story, so far, and one of the more emotional parts of the story. Read it.

Anime: Kite

 

Content Warning: Sex, graphic violence, bloody murder, sexual assault, underage stuff. Yeah.

Oh boy… This movie is one that I’d seen around and knew it was sexy, violent, and bloody from clips here and there. But I never got around to watching it. And I knew that even if I found it in a rental store, I wouldn’t want to be seen renting it (much less buying it) so a friend of mine downloaded it in those Wild West days of the internet. And it’s been moved from drive to drive, unwatched, until now.

Our story begins with Sawa, our main character, dressed up like a schoolgirl, getting macked on by some semi-famous comedian in an elevator. He starts insulting some old lady that’s also on the elevator and knocks her glasses off. After that happens, Sawa takes out the comdian with a gun that puts shoots a bullet that lodges into the body then detonates. So, blood everywhere.

Later, the crime scene is being investigated by a detective. And, as with all detectives, he seems pretty inured to the scene before him. Even the fact that the little old lady had a heart attack when she put her glasses back on and saw what happened to the comedian. Of course, the big reveal later is that the detective is Sawa’s handler and gave her the mission to kill him. We also find out that the detective took Sawa in after her parents were murdered and has trained her to be an assassin. And been having sex with her. So… Yeah. That’s a thing.

The next mission we see is Sawa teaming up with Oburi, a male version of herself. Together, they take out three reported child molesters. We also meet Oburi’s handler, who worked with the detective to train Sawa, but Oburi and Sawa never knew about each other. And Sawa goes out of her way to get to know him. I don’t know why.

The third mission is a complete disaster. Sawa dresses up like a boy and has to kill one twin, who happens to be a Hollywood star. Well, they have three bodyguards and Sawa screws the pooch. She has to stab people, throw around an explosive, shoots the wrong twin, and gets thrown out of the hole in the wall she made and… I will say that this action scene is intense, with her fighting with a guy as they fall through the air, landing on an overpass, having the car fall through the overpass, landing on a truck, having the truck fall through the road into the subway, and then having a sign land on top, making a massive explosion. Out of everything I’ve seen so far, this was the best part of the movie. So crazy and over the top but well done.

Afterwards, we see that the detective’s partner is a rapist. Yeah. Like you thought that these people who trained orphans to be assassins were going to be good, decent people. The detective is mad at Sawa for not only screwing everything up but also for killing the wrong twin, as he was the client. She also wants to go back to the scene to find her earring, as they were made out of the blood of her murdered parents. This girl… Sigh.

Sawa goes to kill Oburi but seems to change her mind. She also knows that the detective and his partner were the ones to kill her parents. Why she keeps doing this, I have no idea. Oburi gets a job to kill a supposed prosecutor on a train. And it also goes to shit, with the target having a gun and they have a shootout. And then, you know, an explosion. Sawa shows up to save him, as he needs it at the right moment.

Oburi then tries to quit by attacking the detective. But he loses to him and his friend. Sawa again shows up to save him. And then the final confrontation happens. And they lose. The detective ends up raping Sawa in front of Oburi. I just… WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK AM I WATCHING RIGHT NOW! Why is this? What is this? I don’t know how this movie had any sort of following! It’s just way, way, WAY TOO MUCH! Oh, it was all an act. Sawa was in on it the whole time. The whole thing with Oburi was a set up. Or was it? Games within games nonsense at this point? Nope. Sawa killed the detective’s partner and then goes to kill the detective. She played along with the detective’s sick game to throw him off and then brutally guns him down, putting a round right in his balls. Which, yeah, well deserved. The movie ends with Oburi getting gunned down by a child with one of their special guns, just green this time. And Sawa waits for him…

Okay. Yeah. This is a A LOT. And it takes a lot to process. I don’t know what to make of this film. There’s some interesting things going on here, what, with the child orphan assassins and the whole thing. But the gratuitous sex and violence is too much, even for the era this move came out. Thankfully, it’s just over 50 minutes long. It tries to ram in so much exposition, and sex, and violence, and it just… It doesn’t work for me. I don’t know… I mean, this came out at the same time (roughly) as the “Holy Sci-Fi Anime Trilogy” meaning, Cowboy Bepop, Trigun, and Outlaw Star. There were so many good things coming out and then… This.

Well, I guess I get to see even more of this as next month I’m going to review the American live-action adaption of it. Hopefully, my head doesn’t explode...

Rating: 1 out of 5
Suggestion: This is probably the worst thing I have ever seen and I don’t know why it exists.

Manga: Gigant Volume 5

 

Content Warning: Nudity, blood, violence, and sex. All things near and dear to our hearts.

Are you ready for this one? It’s been a while since I’ve done a volume of this series as I’m reading and reviewing as they come out. And this one is… Interesting.

Our story picks up in the middle of the battle from the last volume, between Chiho and the two remaining Gods of Destruction. Chiho uses her trick, growing smaller and then expanding inside the Gods, killing them one after the other. The battle ends with Chiho standing naked, blood dripping off of her, in the city. And then the cheering starts. People are openly weeping and cheering her on, their savior. Rei tries to reach her but she’s taken away by the military. Rei’s mother calls him and is relieved that he’s okay.

After a bit, Chiho reaches out to Rei and asks him to return the key to her place. It’s the middle of the night but he rushes over. Chiho surprises him with a tackle hug from behind. Their reunion leads to a lot of tears, both of them talking about how much they missed each other. Chiho has her eye covered by a bandage but she’s okay, it’s just a bit swollen. The make-outs soon turn to sex and then cuddling. Chiho tells Rei that she’s quitting porn, because she loves him. She only started doing porn because she likes sex but never felt part of the industry. Due to her recent increase in popularity, she’s going to start taking other jobs in acting. She actually seems really happy at the thought of doing it. While they lay in bed, Chiho’s cellphone kicks on and starts talking about PaPiCo-san and how they “can hear” her, and how they’re going to start “looking into her” as she’s “interesting.” Who exactly this is, speaking using Siri’s voice, is unknown for now. I don’t know who it is but I’m thinking it’s whoever started E.T.E.

Speaking of E.T.E., they get their servers blocked in Japan, but not the US. As is later revealed, this takes place in 2019 and the Former Guy is in office in the US. He refuses to do anything about it, because, does that really surprise anyone? Anyway…

Meanwhile, PaPiCo “fever” seems to take over the country. Girls begin cutting and dying their hair to match Chiho’s. There’s fan magazines, the price of her AV stuff skyrockets, she’s doing ads and interviews on TV. It’s a lot. But, she still makes as much time as she can for Rei. And, after she tells him that she’s given her number out to someone, he tells her that he trusts her. Oh, Rei, could you be more 17? I mean, I want to trust Chiho but I also know that this is an easy way for the author to make some more drama down the road.

Speaking of things that pop up, we encounter a group of “Weirdos” like the one that gave Chiho her device. And we find out that America has FIVE heroes now. No previous mention of this, just all the sudden of, there’s five of them. The four new characters are dressed similarly to the first one, who finally gets a name. They also say that they’re “too late.” For what, we don’t know yet. What does happen is the five American heroes get killed by a horrific demon in New York. With the heroes dead, the demon begins crossing the US, last reported in Montana. That means that it’s headed towards the Pacific. Put it together.

There’s a few other things that happen. Chiho’s mom calls and guilts her into giving her, and her brothers, money. A lot of money. Have I mentioned how much I hate her family? Because I do. Rei doesn’t react to this at all and I want to smack him.

And that’s where this volume ends. I’m somewhat curious to see what happens next (which Wikipedia kind of ruined for me). There’s a lot here and it looks like the series is still on going, thank goodness. I do like how things develop but there’s a lot of filler in this volume. There’s a group of characters that popped up that I didn’t even mention because I can’t tell if they’re important or not yet. In the end, this is starting to feel like filler. And I keep wanting to know more about Chiho.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: I’m sticking with it but that’s my choice.

Manga: If It's For My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat A Demon Lord, Volume 2

Content Warning: Violence, beheading, and a tragic backstory. No, I’m not kidding.

This volume is one of the most important and yet is also one of the last ones before things start getting… Intense.

This volume starts with Dale having to go to the capital for work. You see, Dale is under contract from the Duke who controls the area that Kruez, the city we’ve been in thus far, is. However, while Kruez is important, it isn’t the capital of the area. So, Dale has to catch a dragon to the capital. What is Dale doing? Well, we’ll get back to that because it’s time for Latina’s tragic backstory! Or, at least part of it. If you remember, Latina was found wandering alone in the woods, after her guardian died, and has a horn broken off, the sign of a criminal in her culture. Latina becomes depressed while Dale is away and begins talking with Kenneth about why Dale is special to her. You see, Rag, her father, was sick and went with her when she was cast out of her home. And then he died. The corpse Latina led Dale to was that of Rag, her father’s. Why Latina was cast out isn’t said, except that was a “bad girl.” That’s why she loves Dale so much, because he was the first one to tell her that was a good girl that wasn’t family. So, Kenneth gets an idea and Latina learns how to make a Shepard’s Pie (or something like that) to make for Dale when he returns. The customers, those grumpy old bastards, are given a discount to eat her first attempts (at a discount) while she learns how to make it properly.

But what has Dale been up to, during all this cuteness? Well… He’s been summonded by the Duke to investigate rumors of the forces of the Seventh Demon Lord being in the area. Dale meets with Gregor, the son of the Duke, and proceeds to gush about Latina. The change between Dale before and after Latina is stark, to say the least. During the trip to locate the enemy forces, we see how Dale is obsessing over Latina. Before long, they locate the forces of the Seventh Demon Lord, who have a dragon with them, and we see exactly why Dale is part of this group. He uses extremely powerful magic to take out most of the demon people, before cutting off the head of the woman leading them. Yeah. Intense.

Upon his return, Dale showers Latina with gifts and has one of her meals. We also find out that Latina is seven, almost eight years old. This means that she’ll be starting primary school soon. We also see that she has remained friends with Chloe, Marcel, Anthony, and Rudy and they play together in a park. We also see that Rudy has a budding crush on Latina but, like most boys, bullies her instead of saying something. I can say that because I was once a young boy and did stuff like that. I will take no comments on that at this time.

The volume ends with us learning more about the world. You see, there are seven gods, each with a sphere of influence and an associated color. There’s also seven races, Dwarves and Elves, as well as Beastmen, merfolk, and a winged race. And there’s seven spheres of magic… Starting to see the pattern yet? Anyway, we discover that Latina has an affinity for Dark and Holy magic, while Dale is able to use Dark, Earth, and Water magic. Since the language of magic is also the language used by the Demon Race, Latina can learn a lot of magic right off the bat. But Dale doesn’t teach her everything. He does teach her some magic that can be used in self defense. After this, it’s just a few little things, like Latina using magic to make ice cream and visiting Chloe, who’s mother (a tailor) has been commissioned by Dale to make something for Latina. There’s also a discussion about how Latina picks things up very quickly. Think about that time, back in the last volume, how Latina figured out that busing the tables was something that needed to be done, could use a pen, and a host of other things. And yet, she also had some gaps in her knowledge, like how to peel potatoes and wring out a washcloth. Latina drops a very cryptic line of how she “hadn’t been decided yet” and then when asked, she says “But… Ri…” and then cuts herself off.

I could drop spoilers, having read the light novels, but I do like they’re giving us just enough of her backstory to keep us interested and still having “cute girl does cute things” stuff as well. There’s even a little bonus chapter but you’ll need to pick this up to see what happens in it.

Sadly, the fun isn’t going to last forever because in the next volume, there’s The Incident...

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: Keep reading, keep enjoying, and just hang on until things get going.