I had a few days ill off work at the beginning of the week (some sort of cold/flu, not of the swine variety!) and I thought, what better to do than to catch up with the free comics on Viz's new-ish SigIkki site. For those that don't know Ikki is a monthly seinen manga magazine, published by Shogakukan. Viz have teamed up with Ikki to launch an online, localised version of Ikki featuring several series.
The SigIkki site launched in May, serialising chapters of it's flagship title, Daisuke Igarashi's Children of the Sea. Volume one of this series has been posted on the site in it's entirity and has now been released in physical form. Since the physical release of Children of the Sea, all of the chapters from volume 1, excluding chapter 1, have been removed from the site. New chapters continue to be posted on a monthly basis. I'm not going to offer comment on Children of the Sea as I failed to keep up with it. I think I read the first 3 or 4 chapters and, despite some very lush artwork, it didn't particularly grab my attention.
After the Children of the Sea teaser, SigIkki launched officially in July with, so far, an additional 9 series. The 10 series that are being serialised on the site are, in alphabetical order:
Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane
Bokurano:Ours by Mohiro Kitoh
Children of the Sea by Daisuke Igarashi
Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida
House of Five Leaves by Natsume Ono
I am a Turtle by Temari Tamura
I'll Give it my All... Tomorrow by Shunju Aono
Kingyo Used Books by Seimu Yoshizaki
Saturn Apartments by Hisae Iwaoka
Tokyo Flow Chart by Eiji Miruno
A quick snoop on Amazon.com shows listings for volume one of all of the titles, excluding Afterschool Charisma, I am a Turtle, I'll Give it my All... Tomorrow and Tokyo Flow Chart. On the SigIkki site, you can leave reviews for each title. It seems that Viz's plan is to gauge which titles are most popular and then release those as actual books. I've not left any feedback but I do plan on doing and I urge everyone else to do the same.
I applaud what Viz are doing with SigIkki, but I must admit that the titles on offer are a mixed bag. This is not necessarily a bad thing as everyone has different tastes and, I expect, that the diverse mixture of titles available on SigIkki will draw an equally diverse crowd of comics fans. Although Ikki is classed as a seinen title, there are a few series on the site that I wouldn't be surprised to see appearing in a magazine aimed at younger readers (although, who knows how these will progress).
The stand out titles, for me, at this early stage (no more than 3 chapters of each title have appeared), are Saturn Apartments, I'll Give it my All... Tomorrow and Tokyo Flow Chart. I'm also enjoying Dorohedoro, Kinyo Used Books and House of Five Leaves. The others I'm less keen on, or haven't yet seen enough of to make up my mind.
Overall, Saturn Apartments is my favourite. The story is set in a future where the Earth has been evacuated, in order to preserve it, and people now live on a man-made ring built around it, which is split into three levels. The higher the level you reside on, the higher your class or social status is.
The main protagonist is Mitsu, who resides on the lower level and has just graduated from Junior High. Mitsu has just started work, following in the footsteps of his father as a window washer. This is not an easy task, what with the windows being 35 kilometers above the earth and having to wear a clunky space-suit whilst cleaning, and Mitsu's father died whilst on duty, in somewhat undetermined circumstances. Nevertheless, Mitsu is a strong-willed lad, who doesn't seem overly traumatised by his father's death, and is willing to throw everything he's got into his work.
It's still early days to make too much of a judgement but, 2 chapters in (the 3rd went online today), the story is moving along at a nice, serene pace. It's heartwarming and fairly believable, unlike something like Afterschool Charisma which is full of high school stereotypes and excessive melodrama, which makes me invest an interest into the characters.
The artwork is also very pleasing. Iwaoka has a destinctive style which is cute, but also a little grubby. The characters look like they could fit into a beautifully illustrated children's book and it has a look that is not completely Japanese but still maintains some sort of Japanese influence. It looks as if it was drafted by someone who really cared about what they were doing rather than someone who was just trying to churn out pages or hit a deadline, giving it a warmth that mirrors the content.
Saturn Apartments feels very life affirming and, although I don't want it to be innocuous or wishy-washy, I hope it doesn't become overly cruel or depressing. One of the reviews on the SigIkki site states that this entire series is only two volumes long, but the profile for it on Managa Updates states it is currently up to four so I'm not sure who is right. Either way, these first few chapters have drawn me right in and I'm eager for a physical release.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Guess who's back?
For numerous reasons I've been neglecting this blog. I guess a more fitting name wopuld be Sporadic Recollections, eh?
Anyway, Summer is over so it's about time I got back to it. I enjoy writing this, even if nobody reads it, because it allows me to think a little more deeply about my favourite pastime... comics!
Another reason I've neglected this blog is because I've been trying to sort out a better, faster, computer. So far this has not quite gone to plan, so I'm just going to have to work with the tools I've got! Until I get a better setup, I'm going to concentrate on reviewing Scanlations, that way I don't have to worry so much about uploading images and quuality etc. I'm still pretty poor on the technical side of computers so this blog will continue to be a little rough around the edges! Oh, well...
That's enough about me. Check back in the next 24 hours for a proper post about... that's right, you guessed it... Comics!!!
Anyway, Summer is over so it's about time I got back to it. I enjoy writing this, even if nobody reads it, because it allows me to think a little more deeply about my favourite pastime... comics!
Another reason I've neglected this blog is because I've been trying to sort out a better, faster, computer. So far this has not quite gone to plan, so I'm just going to have to work with the tools I've got! Until I get a better setup, I'm going to concentrate on reviewing Scanlations, that way I don't have to worry so much about uploading images and quuality etc. I'm still pretty poor on the technical side of computers so this blog will continue to be a little rough around the edges! Oh, well...
That's enough about me. Check back in the next 24 hours for a proper post about... that's right, you guessed it... Comics!!!
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Japanese Goodies Pt.1
As mentioned in an early post, I recently returned from a holiday in Japan where I managed to pick up some pretty cool manga. Here's a few photos to whet your appetite. In the not too distant future I'll take some interior shots and try to provide a bit more information...
First up is the August 1980 issue of Garo... this would have been in shops in the Japan the month I was born! I also bought two other issues of Garo from 1982 with King Terry covers. I wish I'd bought more of these as they were fairly cheap and I love the variety of different styles that are featured inside.
Speaking of King Terry, I managed to get hold of a copy of his Heta-Uma Dictionary. It was the most expensive book I bought but was seriously worth every yen! I'll not say too much about it here but I'm looking forward to sharing some more interior pages with you all soon.
In a similar Good-Bad vein to King Terry I also picked up a book by Takashi Nemoto. It seems unlikely that we'll get much more translated Nemoto works (apart from a short piece in Top Shelf's upcoming Ax Anthology), so I bought this to make up for that fact. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to read this? Even if that day does come, god knows if it'll make any more sense to me than it already does. (Again, I'll post more in depth about this book later, complete with some interior shots).
One of my favourite manga-ka's is Shintaro Kago. Whilst in Taco-Che I managed to pick up two self published works. Both compromise of one page gags. The first one has already been given some exposure over at Same Hat!
Just before I went off on my holiday I saw a copy of Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show by Suehiro Maruo for sale on E-Bay. I got a bit carried away and ended up bidding about £40 on it before I had to bail out and, in the end, I think it sold for just over £50. Imagine how I felt when I was browsing in Mandarake's Osaka branch and found a copy for 1,050 yen! That's just over £7! Sweet...
The final item I'm going to post here is the catalogue from the Osamu Tezuka exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo museum. The items on display were mind-blowing to see up close but it was nice to be able to bring this book back and look back over it. Again, I'll put up more details from it in a future post.
Apart from all these items, I've also got another bag full of manga to share with you. I'll put photos of these items in the next post and then I'll get on with posting more in-depth photos from inside some of the books.
First up is the August 1980 issue of Garo... this would have been in shops in the Japan the month I was born! I also bought two other issues of Garo from 1982 with King Terry covers. I wish I'd bought more of these as they were fairly cheap and I love the variety of different styles that are featured inside.Speaking of King Terry, I managed to get hold of a copy of his Heta-Uma Dictionary. It was the most expensive book I bought but was seriously worth every yen! I'll not say too much about it here but I'm looking forward to sharing some more interior pages with you all soon.In a similar Good-Bad vein to King Terry I also picked up a book by Takashi Nemoto. It seems unlikely that we'll get much more translated Nemoto works (apart from a short piece in Top Shelf's upcoming Ax Anthology), so I bought this to make up for that fact. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to read this? Even if that day does come, god knows if it'll make any more sense to me than it already does. (Again, I'll post more in depth about this book later, complete with some interior shots).One of my favourite manga-ka's is Shintaro Kago. Whilst in Taco-Che I managed to pick up two self published works. Both compromise of one page gags. The first one has already been given some exposure over at Same Hat!Just before I went off on my holiday I saw a copy of Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show by Suehiro Maruo for sale on E-Bay. I got a bit carried away and ended up bidding about £40 on it before I had to bail out and, in the end, I think it sold for just over £50. Imagine how I felt when I was browsing in Mandarake's Osaka branch and found a copy for 1,050 yen! That's just over £7! Sweet...The final item I'm going to post here is the catalogue from the Osamu Tezuka exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo museum. The items on display were mind-blowing to see up close but it was nice to be able to bring this book back and look back over it. Again, I'll put up more details from it in a future post.Apart from all these items, I've also got another bag full of manga to share with you. I'll put photos of these items in the next post and then I'll get on with posting more in-depth photos from inside some of the books.
Monday, 1 June 2009
I was meant to be posting about manga...
... that I brought back from Japan and I swear I will in the next few days, or maybe later tonight if I can sort my act out, but, instead of doing that, I've spent the night checking out new music via myspace. Basically, the older I get the harder I find it to keep up with new groups. I kind of alternate between feverishly researching and checking out new stuff and then periods of just listening to my old favourites.
I was in London this weekend, though, and Brainlove Records were holding an all-day event at The Windmill in Brixton that my girlfriend had brought to my attention and wanted to go to. It was £8 to get in, including a free BBQ, and went on from 2pm until late. Kid Carpet and Napoleon IIIrd were the headline acts, both of which I was aware of and was quite interested to see perform, and then there was a whole host of other groups playing, some of which I had heard good things about and others who I was totally unaware of. All in all, for the price of admission it was a pretty sweet deal so we decided to go along.
We got there for about 3 and managed to see pretty much all of the bands that were scheduled to play. There were two 'stages', one inside and then a mostly acoustic set-up outside, and set times were staggered so that no-one overlapped. I managed to see a fair bit of stuff that I really enjoyed. There were a few acts that I was less keen on but I won't mention them here as it all boils down to personal opinion and I don't want to hate.
Out of all the groups that played on the day, my favourites were:
The Middle Ones, who put in a really good show. Nice, twee, folksy tunes played in a really likable fashion. They seemed to be having fun but also seemed kind of nervous. You almost felt like it could fall apart at any minute as they nervously giggled between songs. A very endearing show. You can order a 4 track cd off their myspace, too.
A Scholar and a Physician are a comical electro group who started with an instrumental track that sounded like the soundtrack to a mid 80's bbc2 educational show. I didn't think it could get much better than that but then the next track had them doing some seriously retarded rapping over the top which was completely off the hook. The song was called I'm Not Normal, unfortunately that particular ditty is not on their myspace but I think it is available on I-Tunes and E-Music for download. They also did a song which basically consisted of the lyrics 'I booked a table for two because I love you' and then ended up with them screaming 'Let's eat'. I can't really do them justice in words but they do have some youtube videos which will probably give you a better idea of what they're all about.
Internet Forever and Christopher Alcxxk. Christopher Alcxxk is one member of Internet Forever. As well as playing a solo set and with his band he also seemed to help out with everyone else's set playing whatever was required. His solo set was pretty straight forward and really reminded me of Calvin Johnson, which is obviously a good thing. I think I preferred his solo set but Internet Forever were still pretty good. They seem to be creating a good bit of hype at the minute so you can probably read more detailed and better information about them elsewhere. They've currently got a cover version of Gemini Birthday Song by Why? on their myspace which gives them extra kudos, at least in my eyes.
Keyboard Choir- 5 dudes playing a variety of different keyboards with a few other little gizmos thrown in for good measure, such as a sampler, effects peddles, and a chaos pad. These guys were seriously awesome live. Check this video out to see what I mean. They also have an album out which I bought and is pretty special. Oh, yeah, you can get a free download of their latest ep here as well.
There were some other good bands but these were the ones that really did it for me on the day. I'm really not that good at describing music or explaining why I like certain songs/bands so I apologise if the above paragraphs don't really give you a clear idea of these groups. They are definitely worth a listen, though, and that way the music can speak for itself!
I was in London this weekend, though, and Brainlove Records were holding an all-day event at The Windmill in Brixton that my girlfriend had brought to my attention and wanted to go to. It was £8 to get in, including a free BBQ, and went on from 2pm until late. Kid Carpet and Napoleon IIIrd were the headline acts, both of which I was aware of and was quite interested to see perform, and then there was a whole host of other groups playing, some of which I had heard good things about and others who I was totally unaware of. All in all, for the price of admission it was a pretty sweet deal so we decided to go along.
We got there for about 3 and managed to see pretty much all of the bands that were scheduled to play. There were two 'stages', one inside and then a mostly acoustic set-up outside, and set times were staggered so that no-one overlapped. I managed to see a fair bit of stuff that I really enjoyed. There were a few acts that I was less keen on but I won't mention them here as it all boils down to personal opinion and I don't want to hate.
Out of all the groups that played on the day, my favourites were:
The Middle Ones, who put in a really good show. Nice, twee, folksy tunes played in a really likable fashion. They seemed to be having fun but also seemed kind of nervous. You almost felt like it could fall apart at any minute as they nervously giggled between songs. A very endearing show. You can order a 4 track cd off their myspace, too.
A Scholar and a Physician are a comical electro group who started with an instrumental track that sounded like the soundtrack to a mid 80's bbc2 educational show. I didn't think it could get much better than that but then the next track had them doing some seriously retarded rapping over the top which was completely off the hook. The song was called I'm Not Normal, unfortunately that particular ditty is not on their myspace but I think it is available on I-Tunes and E-Music for download. They also did a song which basically consisted of the lyrics 'I booked a table for two because I love you' and then ended up with them screaming 'Let's eat'. I can't really do them justice in words but they do have some youtube videos which will probably give you a better idea of what they're all about.
Internet Forever and Christopher Alcxxk. Christopher Alcxxk is one member of Internet Forever. As well as playing a solo set and with his band he also seemed to help out with everyone else's set playing whatever was required. His solo set was pretty straight forward and really reminded me of Calvin Johnson, which is obviously a good thing. I think I preferred his solo set but Internet Forever were still pretty good. They seem to be creating a good bit of hype at the minute so you can probably read more detailed and better information about them elsewhere. They've currently got a cover version of Gemini Birthday Song by Why? on their myspace which gives them extra kudos, at least in my eyes.
Keyboard Choir- 5 dudes playing a variety of different keyboards with a few other little gizmos thrown in for good measure, such as a sampler, effects peddles, and a chaos pad. These guys were seriously awesome live. Check this video out to see what I mean. They also have an album out which I bought and is pretty special. Oh, yeah, you can get a free download of their latest ep here as well.
There were some other good bands but these were the ones that really did it for me on the day. I'm really not that good at describing music or explaining why I like certain songs/bands so I apologise if the above paragraphs don't really give you a clear idea of these groups. They are definitely worth a listen, though, and that way the music can speak for itself!
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Back from Japan!
I'm back from Japan! Well, actually, I got back on Friday but most of the weekend has been spent catching up with my girlfriend and generally recovering!
Whilst there I bought a fair amount of manga from different Mandarake stores and Taco Che. I'll be posting more in depth about these over the next few days, complete with photos.
Whilst there, though, I also managed to do numerous other cool things like... attending one of my best friend's wedding! Going to watch the Sumo! Going to the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa! Going to the Osamu Tezuka Exhibition at the Edo Tokyo Museum (I'll post more about this later)!
On top of all this I took my best friend to a maid cafe as a belated birthday treat! Yeah, I know it may not be to everyone's taste but it was a pretty insane experience. What surprised me the most was the amount of middle aged women in there who just appeared to be digging the ultra cutesy environment. I also digged the chip-tune version of the Super Mario music that they dropped at one point. Overall it was a very surreal experience. Plus, I got to eat this...
Finally and most importantly, after a day of looking round Nakano Broadway, I got to go and see Kazuo Umezu's house in person!
Yeaman! Happy? You know I am! Whilst there, there were also 3 middle aged Japanese women, also taking photos, who seemed completely bemused by the fact that I knew who Kazuo Umezu was and had come all the way from England with the intention of going to his house!
Overall, the holiday was fantastic and I'm looking forward to posting about all the manga I managed to pick up. The only down point I can think of is that I traveled all the way to Takarazuka in order to visit the Osamu Tezuka Museum but, when I got there, it was closed for a two week period! :(
Ah well, I guess you can't have everything. Also, it gives me a reason to make sure I go back again!
Whilst there I bought a fair amount of manga from different Mandarake stores and Taco Che. I'll be posting more in depth about these over the next few days, complete with photos.
Whilst there, though, I also managed to do numerous other cool things like... attending one of my best friend's wedding! Going to watch the Sumo! Going to the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa! Going to the Osamu Tezuka Exhibition at the Edo Tokyo Museum (I'll post more about this later)!
On top of all this I took my best friend to a maid cafe as a belated birthday treat! Yeah, I know it may not be to everyone's taste but it was a pretty insane experience. What surprised me the most was the amount of middle aged women in there who just appeared to be digging the ultra cutesy environment. I also digged the chip-tune version of the Super Mario music that they dropped at one point. Overall it was a very surreal experience. Plus, I got to eat this...
Finally and most importantly, after a day of looking round Nakano Broadway, I got to go and see Kazuo Umezu's house in person!
Yeaman! Happy? You know I am! Whilst there, there were also 3 middle aged Japanese women, also taking photos, who seemed completely bemused by the fact that I knew who Kazuo Umezu was and had come all the way from England with the intention of going to his house!Overall, the holiday was fantastic and I'm looking forward to posting about all the manga I managed to pick up. The only down point I can think of is that I traveled all the way to Takarazuka in order to visit the Osamu Tezuka Museum but, when I got there, it was closed for a two week period! :(
Ah well, I guess you can't have everything. Also, it gives me a reason to make sure I go back again!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Shunji Enomoto Scanlations
It's possible that this may be my last post for a few weeks as a week tomorrow I'm off to Japan for 9 days... woo! Also, before that I have a Japanese Oral Exam on Thursday and, in general, I'm trying to sort out my life! Before the hiatus, though, I decided I had to post about Shunji Enomoto.
Overall, I couldn't find out too much information about this artist and there isn't really a great amount of his work available to the English speaking world. Luckily, Wanted Cheap Manga have scanlated 3 chapters of Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World and hopefully they'll post some more sometime soon.
Wanted Cheap Manga is my favourite place to find scanlations. They definitely seem to concentrate on less mainstream affairs and have got numerous projects of interest, such as Dance! Kremlin Palace! by Shintaro Kago (which I'm sure I'll blog about at some point... it's possibly my favourite Kago title that I've read). Unfortunately, it's been a little quiet over there recently (last scanlation was posted in February) but hopefully they'll keep up the good work. It does appear to be mainly a one man operation and, I imagine, the process of scanlating is quite time-consuming so, fingers crossed, the lack of recent activity is down to these factors and they'll soon be back and providing us with some amazing mangas.
Anyway, back to Enomoto. Every time I try to write something about this manga I fail to do it justice. I don't know if there is really anything you can say as it is absolutely retarded. In the 2nd chapter, for example, the main character, Gousuke, is fired from his job on the second page and then spends the rest of the strip on one absolutely colossal freakout, bearing in mind he's already flicked two bogeys at people and farted on another two! See what I mean? This manga is seriously dumb... but it's also complete genius. I don't think I've ever read a funnier comic.
The pacing is also brilliant. Reading Enomoto is like the comic equivalent of the biggest, fastest roller-coaster in the world. Every panel is full of screaming faces, bodies contorted into letters which spell out words, numerous bodily functions, speed-lines and sound-fx's. It almost sounds like there is too much crammed in but Enomoto draws with a very precise and clean line, some of it looks like it has stepped straight out of a mainstream Shonen magazine (especially his anime-styled supporting characters). This juxtaposition of fairly innocuous art and the chaos of what is actually happening adds to the overall hilarity of the work and, thanks to his precise line, no matter how much is crammed into one panel it is never confusing to understand exactly what is happening (although you may be confused as to why a lot of it is happening!)
Seriously, I don't know what else to say about this manga, except to reiterate that it is amazing. I'm definitely going to try and pick up a few volumes of this when I'm in Japan. Even though I can't read Japanese, actually knowing what's been said doesn't seem to detract too much from the overall enjoyment, as Tom Devlin said in an article that appeared in The Comics Journal (read it here), 'while it would certainly be nice to read what the characters are saying... Just imagine that every time someone opens their mouth, they scream "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"' That said, it's still nice to get a translated version, and my ultimate respect goes out to Wanted Cheap Manga for bringing this hilarious work to my attention.
The article on Enomoto that ran in The Comics Journal was entitled King of Shit, although the first 3 chapters of Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World are devoid of this particular bodily function. I did, however, find one other Shunji Enomoto scanlation on the net, a one-shot entitled The Family Zoo at Mangascreener.com, which more than makes up for the lack of shit in those 3 chapters.
The Family Zoo was co-written by Chuya Chikazawa, whom I know absolutely nothing about and was published in Comic Cue. The Family Zoo centers around a typical Japanese family who run a zoo, the only thing is each family member is a different anthropomorphic animal, all except for Granpa who isn't an animal at all and is actually a toilet who enjoys eating the family's shit. If this isn't in enough bad taste for you there's also a healthy dose of incest thrown in for good measure. It's ok, though, as the father says, 'We're animals, man. Anything goes!'
Personally, I wasn't as keen on The Family Zoo as I was on Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World, simply because I didn't find it as laugh out loud funny. It's a longer piece than the short chapters of Enomoto and it moves at a slower pace. I wasn't put off by the subject matter; it's arguable that it's in worse taste than anything we see in the first 3 chapters of Enomoto, but it is so detached from reality that it's hard to really be shocked or offended by it (obviously, some people probably would be but, seriously, get a grip this is incest carried out by a brother who is a big, cuddly lion and a sister with the body of a snake!)
My problem is that I found that the longer format dragged a bit and it didn't have the same level of visual humour that is found in Enomoto. Overall, it's still worth a look but I would definitely recommend Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World over The Family Zoo.
God knows if Enomoto's work is a viable option for a American publisher. Despite the worldwide economic downturn we still seem to be seeing a number of more alternative/unusual mangas being translated and Enomoto seems to have enough western fans out there to make it worthwhile. Until that day though I'm just going to have to keep my fingers crossed that Wanted Cheap Manga keep up delivering the goods.
Overall, I couldn't find out too much information about this artist and there isn't really a great amount of his work available to the English speaking world. Luckily, Wanted Cheap Manga have scanlated 3 chapters of Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World and hopefully they'll post some more sometime soon.Wanted Cheap Manga is my favourite place to find scanlations. They definitely seem to concentrate on less mainstream affairs and have got numerous projects of interest, such as Dance! Kremlin Palace! by Shintaro Kago (which I'm sure I'll blog about at some point... it's possibly my favourite Kago title that I've read). Unfortunately, it's been a little quiet over there recently (last scanlation was posted in February) but hopefully they'll keep up the good work. It does appear to be mainly a one man operation and, I imagine, the process of scanlating is quite time-consuming so, fingers crossed, the lack of recent activity is down to these factors and they'll soon be back and providing us with some amazing mangas.
Anyway, back to Enomoto. Every time I try to write something about this manga I fail to do it justice. I don't know if there is really anything you can say as it is absolutely retarded. In the 2nd chapter, for example, the main character, Gousuke, is fired from his job on the second page and then spends the rest of the strip on one absolutely colossal freakout, bearing in mind he's already flicked two bogeys at people and farted on another two! See what I mean? This manga is seriously dumb... but it's also complete genius. I don't think I've ever read a funnier comic.
The pacing is also brilliant. Reading Enomoto is like the comic equivalent of the biggest, fastest roller-coaster in the world. Every panel is full of screaming faces, bodies contorted into letters which spell out words, numerous bodily functions, speed-lines and sound-fx's. It almost sounds like there is too much crammed in but Enomoto draws with a very precise and clean line, some of it looks like it has stepped straight out of a mainstream Shonen magazine (especially his anime-styled supporting characters). This juxtaposition of fairly innocuous art and the chaos of what is actually happening adds to the overall hilarity of the work and, thanks to his precise line, no matter how much is crammed into one panel it is never confusing to understand exactly what is happening (although you may be confused as to why a lot of it is happening!)Seriously, I don't know what else to say about this manga, except to reiterate that it is amazing. I'm definitely going to try and pick up a few volumes of this when I'm in Japan. Even though I can't read Japanese, actually knowing what's been said doesn't seem to detract too much from the overall enjoyment, as Tom Devlin said in an article that appeared in The Comics Journal (read it here), 'while it would certainly be nice to read what the characters are saying... Just imagine that every time someone opens their mouth, they scream "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"' That said, it's still nice to get a translated version, and my ultimate respect goes out to Wanted Cheap Manga for bringing this hilarious work to my attention.
The article on Enomoto that ran in The Comics Journal was entitled King of Shit, although the first 3 chapters of Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World are devoid of this particular bodily function. I did, however, find one other Shunji Enomoto scanlation on the net, a one-shot entitled The Family Zoo at Mangascreener.com, which more than makes up for the lack of shit in those 3 chapters.
The Family Zoo was co-written by Chuya Chikazawa, whom I know absolutely nothing about and was published in Comic Cue. The Family Zoo centers around a typical Japanese family who run a zoo, the only thing is each family member is a different anthropomorphic animal, all except for Granpa who isn't an animal at all and is actually a toilet who enjoys eating the family's shit. If this isn't in enough bad taste for you there's also a healthy dose of incest thrown in for good measure. It's ok, though, as the father says, 'We're animals, man. Anything goes!'
Personally, I wasn't as keen on The Family Zoo as I was on Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World, simply because I didn't find it as laugh out loud funny. It's a longer piece than the short chapters of Enomoto and it moves at a slower pace. I wasn't put off by the subject matter; it's arguable that it's in worse taste than anything we see in the first 3 chapters of Enomoto, but it is so detached from reality that it's hard to really be shocked or offended by it (obviously, some people probably would be but, seriously, get a grip this is incest carried out by a brother who is a big, cuddly lion and a sister with the body of a snake!)My problem is that I found that the longer format dragged a bit and it didn't have the same level of visual humour that is found in Enomoto. Overall, it's still worth a look but I would definitely recommend Enomoto: New Elements That Shake the World over The Family Zoo.
God knows if Enomoto's work is a viable option for a American publisher. Despite the worldwide economic downturn we still seem to be seeing a number of more alternative/unusual mangas being translated and Enomoto seems to have enough western fans out there to make it worthwhile. Until that day though I'm just going to have to keep my fingers crossed that Wanted Cheap Manga keep up delivering the goods.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Jun Hayami Scanlations
This weekend I finally got round to catching up with some of the scanlations I have been downloading over the last few months.
First up was Yun Hayami. Even before I started reading these I kind of knew what I was going to be letting myself in for but was still not fully prepared for how extreme some of it would be. I got hold of all of these through Flying Teapot Blogspot who also post a lot of Suehiro Maruo and Shintaro Kago stuff as well. Like Maruo and Kago, Hayami is a Ero-Guro Mangaka.
I don't really have much interest in Ero-Guro, although I do like Maruo and Kago to some extent. I mainly enjoy Kago as I think he can be hilarious and I enjoy his experimental approach to page layouts and narratives. I don't particularly enjoy a lot of Maruo's chosen subject matter but I do think he is an exceptionally talented artist and also incorporates surrealist and absurd elements into his stories that manage to justify some of the extreme nature to some degree.
My major concern with Hayami's work is that it doesn't seem to have any redeemable factors. Although his artwork is adequate, his style does not particularly stand out, especially in comparison to someone like Maruo. And as for the content of the stories, well... what to say about that?
Hayami's work is a non-stop tour of sickening perversions; the most violent and depraved activities that you could ever think of, and many that you would probably never be able to think of by yourself! Most happen without very much background, perhaps we discover that the perpetrator was abused him/herself and that's why he/she is driven to commit a certain act of villainy but, other that that, there is normally no valid reason for the events to occur.
On Flying Teapot, the blogger says about Hayami, 'He focuses his work a lot on the sick perversions of people who we see everyday and would never think that they do such things but the truth is that they do and they do it quite often.'
I can understand where he is coming from but I don't feel this approach justifies such extreme work. I can't help but feel that it is overly voyeuristic and, in all honesty, just too brutal and disturbed for me. There doesn't seem to be any hidden message or intention behind these works and therefore they are nothing more than pornography; very twisted pornography at that! I suppose, in his defence, Hayami would probably not argue with his work being described as porn, even though he does have one collection entitled This is Art.
In a few stories Hayami does use different narrative techniques to his usual style and these were slightly more interesting (I couldn't say enjoyable) to read. Regarding Mika follows the title character through a typical day, which happens to be her last. The story begins mundanely, documenting the title character going about her regular daily routine. She catches a train home and we learn that she always sits by herself. The story then switches to another location, a warehouse, where Mika has been taken to by a kidnapper who attacks her with a knife and takes photos. We then see that it is 11 o'clock and we see an image of Mika's concerned parents. The story closes with the lines, 'The 5th of October never came for Mika Otani... All because of the irrational deed of the last person she ever met.'
It's a pretty unpleasant story but I like the way Hayami builds up to the final, gruesome event. In some ways, it reminds me of Audition by Takeshi Miike in the way it is structured. Also, although it probably sounds extreme to some people, it is actually quite tame in it's content compared to the rest of Hayami's work.
Overall, Hayami's work is not for me and, although I believe people should be allowed to read/watch whatever type of fiction they choose to, I can't quite get my head round why people would choose to read this. It would interest me to hear why people do enjoy this, especially if their enjoyment comes from something other than sexual gratification.
One of the things I learned from the net whilst trying to get some more information about Hayami was that, in Japan, many of his fans are young women who have been know to send him love letters and gifts such as their worn pants! I would be especially interested to know why this audience would be into Hayami!
Also, on a recent post on Same Hat I noticed someone mentioning that Jun Hayami was rumoured to be drawing from inside a mental instituation! After reading some of his work, this really wouldn't surprise me if it was true!
First up was Yun Hayami. Even before I started reading these I kind of knew what I was going to be letting myself in for but was still not fully prepared for how extreme some of it would be. I got hold of all of these through Flying Teapot Blogspot who also post a lot of Suehiro Maruo and Shintaro Kago stuff as well. Like Maruo and Kago, Hayami is a Ero-Guro Mangaka.
I don't really have much interest in Ero-Guro, although I do like Maruo and Kago to some extent. I mainly enjoy Kago as I think he can be hilarious and I enjoy his experimental approach to page layouts and narratives. I don't particularly enjoy a lot of Maruo's chosen subject matter but I do think he is an exceptionally talented artist and also incorporates surrealist and absurd elements into his stories that manage to justify some of the extreme nature to some degree.My major concern with Hayami's work is that it doesn't seem to have any redeemable factors. Although his artwork is adequate, his style does not particularly stand out, especially in comparison to someone like Maruo. And as for the content of the stories, well... what to say about that?
Hayami's work is a non-stop tour of sickening perversions; the most violent and depraved activities that you could ever think of, and many that you would probably never be able to think of by yourself! Most happen without very much background, perhaps we discover that the perpetrator was abused him/herself and that's why he/she is driven to commit a certain act of villainy but, other that that, there is normally no valid reason for the events to occur.
On Flying Teapot, the blogger says about Hayami, 'He focuses his work a lot on the sick perversions of people who we see everyday and would never think that they do such things but the truth is that they do and they do it quite often.'
I can understand where he is coming from but I don't feel this approach justifies such extreme work. I can't help but feel that it is overly voyeuristic and, in all honesty, just too brutal and disturbed for me. There doesn't seem to be any hidden message or intention behind these works and therefore they are nothing more than pornography; very twisted pornography at that! I suppose, in his defence, Hayami would probably not argue with his work being described as porn, even though he does have one collection entitled This is Art.
In a few stories Hayami does use different narrative techniques to his usual style and these were slightly more interesting (I couldn't say enjoyable) to read. Regarding Mika follows the title character through a typical day, which happens to be her last. The story begins mundanely, documenting the title character going about her regular daily routine. She catches a train home and we learn that she always sits by herself. The story then switches to another location, a warehouse, where Mika has been taken to by a kidnapper who attacks her with a knife and takes photos. We then see that it is 11 o'clock and we see an image of Mika's concerned parents. The story closes with the lines, 'The 5th of October never came for Mika Otani... All because of the irrational deed of the last person she ever met.'It's a pretty unpleasant story but I like the way Hayami builds up to the final, gruesome event. In some ways, it reminds me of Audition by Takeshi Miike in the way it is structured. Also, although it probably sounds extreme to some people, it is actually quite tame in it's content compared to the rest of Hayami's work.
Overall, Hayami's work is not for me and, although I believe people should be allowed to read/watch whatever type of fiction they choose to, I can't quite get my head round why people would choose to read this. It would interest me to hear why people do enjoy this, especially if their enjoyment comes from something other than sexual gratification.
One of the things I learned from the net whilst trying to get some more information about Hayami was that, in Japan, many of his fans are young women who have been know to send him love letters and gifts such as their worn pants! I would be especially interested to know why this audience would be into Hayami!
Also, on a recent post on Same Hat I noticed someone mentioning that Jun Hayami was rumoured to be drawing from inside a mental instituation! After reading some of his work, this really wouldn't surprise me if it was true!
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