Ed’s Twitter page

Comics Worth Reading (Johanna Draper Carlson’s site and an excellent resource for manga)

Ed’s entries on Comics Worth Reading (Ed used to have a regular column there and still writes for it)

Caleb Dunaway’s Twitter

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Please buy Kingyo Used Books through our Amazon links. It helps maintain the podcast.

Amazon UK:

Kingyo Used Books, Volume 1

Kingyo Used Books, Volume 2

Kingyo Used Books, Volume 4

Kingyo Used Books, Volume 4

Amazon US:

Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 1

Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 2

Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 3

Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 4

Side note: I’m now writing almost all the time now for Otaku News with news and review pieces. Check it out and look for my handle in the headers and see else I’ve screwed up on. I’m also writing a monthly column for MangaBookShelf called Shoujo I’m Scared Of.

Today, we tackle Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth Shinobu Ohtaka. A fun little diversion, nevertheless the slight ick factor could threaten to destroy what is otherwise a good manga. Also, I’ve now discovered the best Japanese tongue twister by researching this title. Click on the download link for more info. As always, click on the post image to buy volume 1 from Amazon US. Or follow the text links below for the volumes I’ve covered so far.

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Amazon US links:

• Sumomomo, Momomo, Vol. 1: The Strongest Bride on Earth (v. 1)
• Sumomomo, Momomo, Vol. 2: The Strongest Bride on Earth (v. 2)

Amazon UK links:

• Sumomomo, Momomo: v. 1
• Sumomomo, Momomo: v. 2

A small capsule review of Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story here. I liked this story and I would say that if you’re tired of the usual fare in manga, this is a welcome change of pace. Volume one can be ordered from Amazon by clicking on the post image above and volume two can be preordered by clicking here.

UPDATE: Volume three is now up on Amazon for preorder for March 2012. Here’s the link.

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Thanks to Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson for tackling the manga on their sites. Thanks to Kate Dacey over at Manga Critic for reviewing Bride’s Story and also to David Welsh and lastly to Deb Aoki and Melinda Beasi for putting me on the title in the first place.

Why, oh why would I do this to myself? Why then would I subject others for the same kind of torture? This week I have Alain from the Reverse Thieves and Doctor from the SSAA Podcast talk with me and crucify you with Rio: Rainbow Gate!. It’s been a while since we said we’d cover this on the show. But here we are. Bottom line: Watch this show. Drunk. With friends if possible. Wait, now you don’t need to listen to the show! Ahh! Or…do you?

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The Rio main page on Tecmo’s site. And the youtube video we talked about on the show:

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for listening. And we got through the whole thing without referencing the DOA games!…Right?

Oh, c’mon! You didn’t think I could resist, did you?

Alain’s podcasts

Reverse Thieves

The Speakeasy

Doc’s podcasts

Ass Backwards Anime Podcast,

Just A Gintama Podcast

One Podcast Prevails

However, in Not Love…’s favour, if you want a great side story surrounding the act of food restaurant crawls then this is right up your alley. With “fictional” manga-ka F-mi Y-Naga, the author may or may not be presenting her real life to us. Much of Yoshinaga’s real life is in here, is anyone’s guess. But anyway, the point of the story is that Y-Naga when she’s not doing manga of some sort, goes with her friends and roommate, S-Hara to various restaurants and eateries to sample, enjoy and discuss the food on display.

I love the off kelter take the book has. When we are introduced to Y-Naga, it describes her as making a living “by drawing men engaging in anal sex” and then proceeds to make her both attractive and ugly while showing that really other than food she really doesn’t have it together. And the people around her are just as bad if not worse. Her roommate, S-Hara, is also one of her assistants and he’s just as scatterbrained as she is insofar as he not only tolerates her eccentricities but actually doesn’t care anymore. So their life revolves around work then food and Y-Naga eating like a slob. But the book doesn’t go out of its way to show you their lives all that much. Oh, no. The book does something far, far better.

It’s only goal in life is to sell you food. Mountains and mountains of it. Fumi Yoshinaga went around the eateries and restaurants in Tokyo and wrote down or took pictures of the food, drew the maps to show how to get there and also wrote the side notes of what to expect when you get there, what you should order and how much you’ll expect to pay. With this winning idea, Yoshinaga then begins to spin her web about the characters as they make their way through the menu in front of them and in life. The food on display really is delicious looking. From Korean barbecue, Italian starters, ice cream to New York Chocolate bread, it’s all mouth watering stuff. I want to eat everything they eat! Every meal is described in loving detail and Yoshinaga shows that she sampled every single thing because the way she draws the food and has the characters give their reactions couldn’t have been found in a book.

The characters themselves are as packed together as the food has ingredients. Y-Naga is probably, and I say probably with reserve, the author in real life. But she’s (Y-Naga) a little extreme to be the real girl. Also the way Yoshinaga depicts her is as crazy. Y-Naga goes from being frumpy to wanton to chic in 200 odd pages. She can’t do anything for herself that doesn’t revolve around food. She need help with her work, her life and her friends. She misses that one of her friends is gay. But still she cares for her friends and tries her best to understand them. And we love her for trying. Usually in the mornings, she’s drawn with a headband on, bedhead hair and Henry Kissinger glasses. S-Hara at times, just the same as Y-Naga, is depicted as being an attractive man and then being nondescript. The rest of the cast doesn’t get the same kind of on/off treatment so I can’t comment on the authors thoughts about the other characters.

I’m not going to lie to you. Not Love… is never going to be on many top ten lists in most manga fans books. But the fact that it’s published in English and that it exists is more than enough for me to like it. The fact that it’s quirky characters and amazing concept drew me in as well as it did, speaks to the strengths of the author. It’s a great introduction to Yoshinaga and I recommend it to people unfamiliar to her works.

Psst: (Shameless promotion) If you want to buy this from Amazon, click on the image of the book and I’ll get a cut ;-D

Visiting the dealers room at Otakon, I found myself looking for these titles as I would have to special order them back home. Picking them up, I decided to read them on the plane journey home. Was I glad to have read and now review them? Between the two of them, Not Love… is more easy going and out and out funny. But AMDD, to shorten the title, was a different rhythm and therefore had a different impact on me.

Yukiko, a thirty something woman, lives with her mother Mari. One day she comes home to find her mother has started dating and moved in a young man, Ken, who she met at a host club. Of course, Yukiko thinks that Ken is trying to con Mari out money or God knows what else. However a revelation Yukiko discovers about herself forces her to move out into the big world for the first time. From what I saw of Ken, he seems like a nice guy who can see through Yukiko’s anger and knows that there’s more going on than her just being angry at he and Mari. And so she moves out to stay with friends. Now any other kind of manga would have the story be about Mari and Ken’s relationship developing and Yukiko coming to terms with it. But Yoshinaga doesn’t dwell on it, instead focusing on Yukiko and the people she lives with and hangs out with and their lives. From Mr. Izumi, whose student wants to give, um, “gratification” but not be in a relationship with him to Wakabayashi who tries to find a husband despite not having it in her to be discriminatory.

The stories are varied and Yoshinaga does a good job making me care about people I have literally just met. There’s something about how the casts good and bad points are laid bare and there’s nowhere to go. In Izumi’s case, his relationship with his student starts off sleazy (I don’t know how to say that she started it without it seeming like she’s at fault) and he’s not comfortable with it at all but by the end of their relationship he feels that the girl is on a better path without him. I love the story of Saeki, one of Yukiko’s childhood friends. To put a long story short, when she, Yukiko and fellow friend Yuko were all in school, they all had dreams and hopes for the future. And, well, for some life turns out as they wanted and for others, not so much. Saeki’s story could be yours and mine and it made all the more poignant by the fact that she and Yukiko don’t interact with each other during the story except for one postcard. I found myself *blinking* a lot during her story. Finally the last story deals with Yukiko as we end our journey with her. There’s a fine sense of resolution with her and I am so impressed that Yoshinaga managed to end the story with a great sense of connection between Yukiko, Mari and Mari’s Yukiko’s Grandmother.

Artwise, Yoshinaga treads a fine line between very watercoloury pencil lines for her characters to more absurdist artwork that is more frequent in Not Love… The pace of the story means that I can appreciate her artwork more as I leaf back through the book. There’s a stillness to some of the pages that makes you feel every sigh, sob and laugh. The cover and cover inlays of the book are in colour and I would love to see more of Yoshinaga’s work in colour. There’s a kind of vintage vibrancy to her colour work that I feel like.

Ultimately, the book is less about the trials of Yukiko, Mari and the others than it is about the mirror being put against our own lives as we struggle to make it in the world. You will see something of your own life in these pages and it’s nice to let it out for air once in a while. Ms. Yoshinaga’s All My Darling Daughters helps you do just that.

Psst: (Shameless promotion) If you want to buy this from Amazon, click on the image of the book and I’ll get a cut ;-D

On the podcast front, nothing new. Hiatus is still going on. I don’t like it anymore than you do but I will tell you all when we’re back.

In this, the first show of the year, I tackled the GAINAX show, Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt. while Oni takes on the show Demon King Daimao. We also catch up on the time in between and what we got up to in the downtime. Plus, an apology for someone who has never met Oni. Remember, it’s all Oni’s fault.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with us for all these months! This proves that you love us, you really love us!

Arghh, I need more beer…..

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Hello. We interrupt your regular scheduled programming (namely, none) to bring you the upcoming show preview.

I will be taking on the GAINAX show, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt while Oni will tackle Demon King Daimao from Studio Artland.

That is all. Continue swimming naked. Ah, come on! Continue!

Oh, boy. I am looking forward to this. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about an anime or manga since I read A Drunken Dream. Boy meets girl in school. Girl wants to be a boy. Boy wants to be a girl. It’s not played for laughs. Lordy, I can feel the hope on the streets with this title. Please, please, watch this. Convince Japan to make more of this stuff. Wandering Son starts simulcasting January 13th from Crunchyroll

From the wiki entry on it: In an island casino called the Howard Resort, Rio Rollins is a popular casino dealer with an uncanny ability to bring good luck to gamblers just by walking past them, earning her the nickname “The Goddess of Winning”. Mint Clark, a young child, comes to the Howard Resort with her grandfather and encounters Rio, and the two become the best of friends.

However, Rio’s life suddenly changes when she obtains one of the 13 legendary cards called “Gates”, and gets involved in a tournament for the title of “Most Valuable Casino Dealer” (MVCD). With her reputation on the line, Rio must compete against the world’s top gamblers to become MVCD.

I know exactly what I’m letting myself in for here. I don’t care. I must balance high stuff like Hourou Musuko with Rio. Just roll with me on this one. Rio – Rainbow Gate! is streaming right now on Crunchyroll.

Boy finds girl. Boy likes girl. Girl needs to protected from shadowy forces. Boy offers to protect girl. Girl turns out to be a Dragon Girl. Who knew? Dragon Crisis will start simulcasting on Crunchyroll from the 11th January

OK, guy rescues baby, finds out he’s the pick to protect the child, who happens to the son of the demon king. Oni will love this. Yeah, this is going to be goooood. Beelzebub is currently streaming in North America and Europe from Crunchyroll

And that’s your lot. What do you think? Would you add something to that? Take something away? Tweet us or leave a comment!