Anime Infatuation

This totally rocks!

Ryuu and his cat are being chased by the police when they have an accident and fly through a portal into the future to 2050…and land straight onto a futuristic police car! Things just get worse for Ryuu as he can’t remember who he is, or where he’s from. As if getting arrested by a vain traffic policeman Claude wasn’t enough the Master Fuhrer (Master of Crime!) is planning his kidnapping. Will Ryuu survive in the future? Will he ever return home? I can’t wait to watch more and find out!

I love how funny this episode was, from treading on a cat’s tail accidentally which causes the accident, to the cat landing on a girl’s boobs and the ‘almost’ Claude-Ryuu kiss, and the fact that Claude loses the handcuff key, that’s convenient *wink wink/waggles eyebrows*.

The artwork was great too. I loved the 80s imagined vision of Neo Tokyo, the cars splashing through water in the rain, the trippy time travel sequence, and all the character design. In particular I liked Mylene for being evil and foxy, Aka for being the funniest cutest anime cat I’ve ever seen, and Ryuu for his mad facial expressions, I think I’d pull that many faces if all that happened to me! Even the soundtrack is good, although not sure about the dodgy lyrics …”I want to ride the midnight submarine with you“…eh?

Claude has some of the best lines to show his vain, womanizing character, and Sophia’s naivity in her belief that humans are fundamentally good, and that knocking someone over the head with a hammer (where did that appear from?!) can cure amnesia was pretty funny too! ^^;

*Wow!* All in all, I found this highly enjoyable and I would recommend you go watch this NOW! I can’t wait to see what the bad guys want with him, what other funny antics Aka will get up to and how Ryuu will end up in the police force! It’s so refreshing to see some action and retro artwork after all the January cute girl shows.
Overall Enjoyment Level: 10/10

Here are my favourite screenshots ^_^

Poor Aka!

Reminds me of a dopey Jess from Postman Pat!

Liked the dated weather art.

Yeah, you realise by now I think the cat rocks!

Oh no! A giant time portal! Nyaaaaaaaa

Aka’s poor tail!

The Claude-Ryuu almost kiss

Shock!

Claude’s wonderful lines:

Cat + Boobs!

Poor Aka!

Futuristic Tokyo

Evil Mylene.

Amnesia!

Lost the key?! Nooooo!

One of the most visually enjoyable things I’ve seen for a while, even if it is pretty silly. :D

Anime Fans: The Cult of Japanese Animation in Global and Historical Perspective - Susan Napier (Palgrave Macmillan)

I can’t find much info on the content of this book, but if you’re poor like me, you might not want to pay £35.60 for the hardcover, wait untill August for the paperback at a more reasonable £7.76. At 304 pages that sounds like a good deal if it’s quality writing!

ISBN: 1403962138

Girl to Grrrl Manga, How to Draw the Hottest Shoujo Manga - Colleen Doran (Writers Digest Books)

Although this isn’t necessarily the most attractive cover for this book, after reading an interview with the author/artist it seems a great deal of thought has gone into showing the reader how to draw not just one type of shoujo manga, but the full whack. Classic, retro, modern, ladies’ contemporary, children’s…

There is another book in the works for how to draw your own manga comic, as this focuses on the facial art, so keep an eye out if you’re into art guidebooks. An appealing aspect of this book is that is shows you how to draw with everyday materials, no expensive computer technology here, and it sounds like she hasn’t fallen into the trap of excess irrelevant details such as background/ the ‘right’ way to draw fashion. This is something I’d like to look at because among all the host of shoujo styles there should be one style I find attractive enough to play around with. It’s 128 pages long with 210 b+w photos and 90 colour photos.
ISBN: 1581808097

Cool Careers Without College For people Who Love Manga, Comics, and Animation - Jim Wentzel + Sherri Glass (Rosen Publishing)

This boasts that: “Readers who want to be comics writers, pencillers, inkers, or colorists, manga letterers or translators, or animation artists, voice talent, directors, or producers will find that this timely book can set them on the path to professional fulfillment.” (So I needn’t have bothed with university and my huge debt then? *Eek!*)

ISBN: 1404207546

How To Draw Manga The Next Generation Superskillz Supersize - Ben Dunn (Antarctic Press)

No details of this on the Antarctic Press website, it seems to be part of a series of books? I hope this isn’t just a new cover for an old book!

ISBN: 0977642488

The Naruto Saga: The Unofficial Guide - Kauhisa Fujie and Walt Wyman (DH Publishing)

With a sequel to Naruto out in Japan next month and thousands (hundreds of thousands? - *hides*) of Naruto fans in the West I’m guessing this will sell well, but will it really reveal the mysteries and secrets of Naruto? Are there mysteries and secrets in Naruto? It’s one of those series I’ve never got round to watching, and have heard abundant criticisms over the childishness/ fillers/ fan mentality?! I should check it out for myself but I doubt I’ll watch all 220 episodes ^^; this is part of a series of unofficial guides to popular anime, others include Fruits Basket, Negima etc.

ISBN: 193289716X

Chibi Vampire: The Novel - Tohru Kai (writer) Yuna Kagesaki (art), 13+ (Tokyopop)

For hardcore fans of ‘Karin‘ the vampire anime and the manga. The weird ‘vampire’ who suffers from nose-bleeds and injects blood into victims! I only saw one episode of the anime and it was lighthearted and amusing. Even though there is art I think this is mainly text?
ISBN: 159816922X

Total Volume Number: 7

Amazon has these manga listed as being published in January 2007, however, they have no covers and I’m not sure what the official word is on Central Park Media. Does anyone know? These are the titles of the possibly ‘imaginary’ books, which is a shame because a I’d really love to read a few of them!

Sweet Cream and Red Strawberries - Kiriki Nananan

Four short stories about four different women, an artist, an office worker, a prostitute and a girl looking for a lover. Depressing art aimed at older girls/young women. (That would be me then ^^;)
ISBN: 1578007135

Otogi Matsuri: Dark Offerings - Junya Inoue

A girl who can see supernatural beings and a boy who fights demons, the cover of the Japanese manga looks extremely pretty.

ISBN: 1578007275

Princess - Seung Won Han

Romance and politics. Not sure what this one’s about!

ISBN: 1578007151

Knock Your Heart Out - George Asakura

??

ISBN: 1578007062

So if anyone finds out if/when these books are really going to be published please let me know. I don’t want to go ordering imaginary books! ^^;