Of Media in General

Minna-san, ohayo gozaimasu*!

Yeah, another update, I know... but I do have a review I'm hoping to have finished soon ^_^ So sit tight; you'll likely be seeing it within the next few weeks. That said, it's unfortunately not an anime review (though that may be the third one I get up?), but it's still what I'd call a great series nonetheless (there is an anime for it, though it's unlicensed in America as of now... I'd buy it if it came out here, though).

Also, my radio internship is up and running. It seems that it'll be keeping me rather busy for the next several weeks, but it's fun, particularly when I have to set up and monitor broadcast shows. The station is called Radio Maria; you can find it online at www.radiomaria.us (for America), so if you can, please check it out sometime ^_^ We'd all appreciate it.

With that,

Minna-san, sayounara! ^_^

Hooray for... Overachieving?

Tonight, I was inspired to create a list of all the anime and manga that I wanted to review. So that's what I did... and wow; so far, there are 33 tentative (and published) reviews on it o_o Some of them I'm not going to complete for quite some time, but hopefully, I'll get around to it eventually. This is a hobby, after all... just like crocheting...

Anyways, some of the items are naturally going to take a while. Like One Piece. But not just because it's a long, as of yet unfinished series. It's mostly because there's not only so much of it out there, but also because there's so much that hasn't been brought to America yet. I'd like to just stick with what's been made commercially available here (even if it's out of print). Anyways, when FUNimation releases more of the anime, I'll be able to review it. Right now, the most I could do is the manga, up to volume 56. And there's no way I'm going to cram everything into one review. That's why for the manga, I'm splitting the reviews up by story arc/saga. As for the anime, I'll be going by the number of episodes in the big box sets (the first one, with episodes 1-26, is set to come out in late July).

Thankfully, the end of the quarter is around the corner. All I have to do is just motivate myself to write a long paper, and the rest of the work shouldn't be too bad.

Well, with that said, have a good weekend, and as always,
Minna-san, sayounara!

*Distant Rumbling*

Hey.

As for right now, things have been kind of quiet on the review front. I'm currently waiting on the last three volumes of Oishinbo, so there'll be something to read once my school schedule dies down a bit.

Frankly, though, I'd like to take this opportunity to gripe about something, if I may. I'm not completely sure who those well-meaning people were, but if they said School Rumble was "surprisingly clean," well, heh heh, CLEAN IT AIN'T.

And I had been wondering why the first part of the series was rated TV-PG while there was some dispute between the ratings for the second season (one part of season 2 said TV-MA while the complete season 2 set said TV-PG)... anyways, it's not that it's explicit or anything... it's just that the dialogue's getting too risqué. Baka* Imadori and all his like-minded pals... I had thought the love triangle with Harima, Tenma, and Karasuma was funny and cute, but it's marred by their pervy classmates... and other off-color comments from various people.

So until further notice, I'm not watching the rest of the episodes in that series. Not that I was planning on reviewing it, but let's face it: while it's not the worst sexual offender of anime, it certainly isn't an innocent, sparkly-eyed schoolgirl of an anime either. And I really liked the unpredictable nature of some of the jokes early on (like the message-shot-by-bow incident of episode 3, for those of you who know what I'm talking about). I may go back and watch the earlier, cleaner episodes though, for old time's sake (or language studies, whatever).


I can't get past episode 2 of Full Metal Panic?! Fumoffu either. The first two were really good, but I'm worried about what could come afterwards.

Anyways, for now,
Sayounara, minna-san.

(BTW, the asterisk in the post above? Yeah, that word appears in the glossary, just in case.)

Randomness

Well, I hope you've all had a good weekend, and hopefully liked (or at least were mildly interested in) the first review. It's kind of weird, but I actually feel kind of inspired to finish the collection (well, the American one, anyways, as the Japanese collection is much larger, as far as I know), so you'll likely be seeing more Oishinbo reviews in the future.

Also, HTML was being a pain in the butt when I tried to post the review. Note to self: drag-and-drop reviews out of Word directly into the HTML window to avoid formatting issues. I should also probably learn more about HTML when I get the chance.

Also, I played and finished Portal 2 over the weekend. Honestly, it was really interesting. Frustrated the heck out of me a couple of times (didn't know what to do for a few of those puzzles at first), but it felt so good once I actually found a solution to those puzzles ^_^ I haven't played the first game, since I watched my brother when he played through it (he bought both games at the same time; we were only somewhat familiar with the series beforehand... you know, "the cake is a lie" and all that), but that's all right.

And I can't help but repeat myself (only insofar as I've said this in the real world): I can feel that things are changing. There's no doubt about it. We need to be praying because things are getting really serious, and life as we know it is about to change. Don't know when. Just know. And the same goes for a lot of people; I'm sure many of them can sense it as well. It's actually a kind of unsettling feeling, really. I know I'm feeling it now. But all I can do is just live out my everyday life, doing the best I can.

Anyways, on to the topic of other reviews: I've mentioned Summer Wars, so I'll need to watch it through subtitled and once more in English and then hopefully I'll get a review up for that (my homework schedule went through a slight lull but is about to pick up a bit again, so we'll see what happens). As noted before, keep an eye out for more Oishinbo in the future, and I'll be working on reviews for Mixed Vegetables and the Bakuman volumes as well. I can't explain it, but the majority of my manga collection is from Viz... and this doesn't even include One Piece (which my brother buys... but I'll probably have to buy it once I move out), one of my favorites. Oh well.

With that, I hope to be working on more reviews soon when homework gets a little quieter. For now,
Sayounara! ^_^

Oishinbo - Sake

Title: Oishinbo: Sake*

Author: Tetsu Kariya (story) and Akira Hanasaki (art)

Publisher: VIZ Media

Rated/My Recommended Rating: T for Teen (+13)/+20 (I'LL EXPLAIN BELOW)

Synopsis: "...[A] fascinating, addictive journey through the world of cooking and food culture," as the book's back says, Oishinbo follows Shirō Yamaoka of the Tōzai News Company as he works to put together a project called the “Ultimate Menu.” As he and his coworkers progress, they deal with trial after trial, be it through trouble caused by a rival news company, or through the difficulty of finding the perfect appetizer. In the Sake volume, Yamaoka and others discover, among other things, just how unique and amazing sake is, and how it works well with a number of foods.

Review: As this was the first Oishinbo book I read, it was a great way to start out the series. Granted, the chapters are not presented in the consecutively published order (as each book contains stories relating to a specific topic), so you may have a skip in the plot (for example, two characters could be dating, and then in the next chapter, they’re married, as that chapter’s in a different book), but the book does a fairly decent job of filling in the blanks when you have a skip like that. This book is very educational, and as someone only recently ushered into the world of alcoholic beverages, it told me a lot about sake, and a little about wine and champagne as well. Additionally, there are translator’s notes in the back of the book to clarify just about any topic that readers may be unfamiliar with. I would recommend this for those (obviously) near or over 21, but the content itself isn’t so bad that a teenager wouldn’t be able to handle it. I’d only recommend it for older people because the book portrays alcoholic beverages in a positive light, and while that’s not bad per se, I endorse responsible drinking according to state and local laws…responsible parental discretion is also endorsed (as drinking ages vary or could even be non-existent depending on where you live).

Positive Messages: One could argue that this interest in finding amazing food and beverages could implicitly be extolling all the wonderful things that God has given us to eat and drink. Since Jesus Himself drank wine at parties, it’s safe to say that we can enjoy alcoholic beverages as well, provided we’re responsible with them and follow local laws and whatnot. Additionally, while Yamaoka tends to seem abrasive at first, he really has people’s best interests at heart, and wants to help them when he’s one of the few people, if not the only one, who can see both the problem and its solution clearly in a given situation. One man learns that perseverance is important, and should be applied to not only one aspect of one’s life.

Spiritual Content: There is talk of “respecting” food and drink. One character relates the “spirit” of a country to the “spirits”, or liquor, it produces. Dom Pérignon, the monk believed to have invented the method for making champagne, is mentioned.

Violence: There’s not much violence as the series focuses on food, but what is there is for the most part slapstick in nature, usually in retaliation for someone saying or doing something insulting or smart-alecky.

Language: “D---” and the misspelling “d-mm-t” appear once each. Milder language includes “heck,” “bull,” and “for Pete’s sake.” One character tells another to “stop screwing around” (in this case meaning “stop joking around”). There’s also name-calling, and insults are slung about as well.

Sexual Content: Yamaoka, in jest, says that people are only interested in women when the women are still young. In a written section, the author says that one man, made generous by drinking, offered him his wife as a gift.

Nudity: In a photorealistic panel, a shirtless man is seen from the back, making sake.

Drugs/Alcohol: Well, this volume, while in the culinary realm, focuses on a bevy of alcoholic beverages, be it the book’s namesake, sake (called Nihonshu, or “Japan’s drink”, in Japan… as we find out in the book), wine, or even champagne. That was sort of a “duh” statement. Anyways, some characters are seen drunk (one in particular is an alcoholic and another is practically in a state of constant drunkenness), but it’s not really portrayed in a positive light. In one case, heavy drinking was implied, but in a humorous manner. Also, hangovers are mentioned.

Other Negative Content: A few scenes involve sake-tasting, and, while it’s necessary in any type of alcohol-tasting event to avoid getting drunk, I personally feel that spitting out the sake was wasteful. Not a major complaint, and it could just be me who thinks this way, but I thought it was worth a mention. The waste generated by higher-quality sake is brought up. Corporate corruption is also discussed.

Yamaoka, while he’s a good and intelligent person, is quite brash and can get rather rude and defiant at times, particularly when it comes to his father.

One character expresses the desire to go to a sake brewery and taste all of its sake varieties, even though, as one character points out, she’s apparently pregnant.

Happy Easter!

As the title says, happy Easter, everyone! May God bless you and your families ^_^

Minna-san, sayounara!

P.S. I'm almost done with that review; please be patient with me as school may hamper its progress.

Good Friday Update

Minna-san, konnichiwa!

I apologize for the lack of reviews; I've got a handful of them started, but school has been really demanding lately. HOWEVER, I plan to take Easter Sunday off, so hopefully you'll find a review as an Easter gift here ^_^

With that said, the first review up will probably be "Oishinbo: Sake." I know it's not a really new manga, but it's really interesting (at least, I think it is). Also, I recently saw Summer Wars and bought a copy, so I'll probably do a review for that one, too.

If anything, Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is probably going to take the longest, considering that I've only really rewatched the first episode in my rewatch session, and there are 203 episodes in total ^///^ Yeah... that'll take a while.

Anyways, have a blessed (and safe) Triduum, and for all my Jewish brothers and sisters out there, have a blessed Passover. As for tomorrow, I'm planning on going to the Easter Vigil Mass, like I usually do. It's just amazing ^_^

Sayounara!