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Showing posts from April, 2020

Silver Spoon

This manga was not at all what I expected it to be. Based on how everyone was talking about it, I thought it would be really boring and purely factual as opposed to a normal story with factual elements. I was very plesantly surprised! The story starts being interesting right off the bat with a mysterious opening. It also is a lot funnier than I thought it'd be. That being said though, I probably should've expected as much considering that this is the FMA mangaka. I  wasn't expecting this to be just a regular manga at all. While it has some information, I think the info portions are easier to digest in Oishinbo. It has clear diagram pages dedicated to complex topics, and this manga has some little ones (like for the "chicken anus" lol), but there's a lot of other, more complex stuff that just flies by and feels like too much info. Although, I think this might be on purpose so that the audience feels what the main character is feeling too! Overall, great manga

Confessional

Image

Full Moon

I read a LOT of shojo manga in middle school. It wasn't the only thing I read though, I also read a ton of shounen. I went through some of my old books, and there was one mangaka that I ADORED so so so much. Her style is so pretty, and from what I remember, her stories were captivating. The mangaka is Arina Tanemura. She is one of the big reasons why I started getting back into art in middle school. I would look at her work, and try to redraw it. She was a huge inspiration for me back then. Anyways, I went back and reread a little bit of Full Moon. I can definitely see this work targeting girls. There's a LOT of flourishes and shiny things in there, as well as the abundant use of shiny shiny shiny hair. It's just very captivating to look at. Along with that, there's the basic plot. There's elements of wanting to be all grown up right away, even when you're a kid still. I feel like a lot of girls can relate to this, because we were constantly held to a higher s

Annarasumanara

1) Aesthetically I thought it was really cool how he utilized so many pictures and collaging to enhance the story. It never felt out of place. And although it is technically easier than drawing everything, it feels more like a choice. It definitely makes it stand out more. Apart from that, I enjoyed the story overall, and I liked how it was about breaking out from the norm, and that is reflected in the art as well (with the collage). 2) I think this story is still very representative of societal pressures today. Many people in high school are pressured by their family and elders to do something that they don't want to do, like becoming doctors, lawyers, etc. Everything just revolves around what will make the most money, and not what will bring the most happiness. Obviously this issue varies from person to person, and many people are encouraged to pursue their dreams, but it is still very much of a prevalent thing that happens to young people. I was fortunate enough to have a very

Ayako

So I'm about 75 pages into it right now, and I am more interested in it that I thought I'd be. The first few pages, I was kind of bored, but as soon as you find out that the daughter isn't the mom's, everything starts to snowball from there and it gets interesting! The art style also wasn't my favorite, but I love how the 18 year old sister looks. Her hair is beautiful to look at, and the background drawings are very nicely rendered. I plan on finishing this work! I usually don't finish all the way through for most of the things we read in this class, because that would be an exorbitant amount of pages to read. It does a great job of being captivating right off the bat, and I'm interested to see where it goes. I mainly know that it gets super messed up later on because of the class discussion we had. I think it is also interesting that in this work, almost everyone in the family is messed up in some way. I don't think I consume a lot of content that ha

Junji Ito

I wish I could read more of his work, but the link on the blog for most of the chapters was either broken or just would never load. I was only able to read the Face one. Junji Ito is one of the only mangaka names that I know that I hadn't read any works from. It's not that I was uninterested, I just never took the time to read his work. I've always loves his style though. A lot of his stuff plays the line between very stylized, while still keeping a touch a of realism in there. I think his fame has transcended that of just manga. I think this because I always see his work being ripped and put on shirts and other merch. It's everywhere, and highly recognizable. I am able to tell if something is from him without a second thought because of how widespread his work has been for YEARS. Of the little that I was able to read, I liked the Face Swapper (don't remember the actual title). It is subtle, and while technically horror, I like that it is more conceptual rather

Oishinbo

I really liked this a lot more than I thought I was going to! I love how informational it is about everything, while still keeping all the info concise so it is easy to follow. My favorite part is towards the beginning when it explains about the importance of having a clean and precise cut. I knew that cutting was someone important when it comes to sushi, but I never knew why. I'm glad I was able to learn something from this read! I read more than I meant to as well. I think I got to chapter 0.9? I was enjoying myself too much to put it down. Also, I like how the woman main character is sort of a normal person when it comes to cooking? I feel like she serves the role of the reader, so we learn as she learns! She also points out what's happening so it is easy to understand.

That Time I Got Reincarnated Into a Slime

I feel like this is a prime example of the Isekai genre. It hits almost all the tropes! Death and reincarnation as the means of transportation, excessive fanservice, RPG elements; the only thing it doesn't have is a student aged protagonist! I love this work a lot actually. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and its just a big ol' heap of dumb fun. This is portrayed perfectly from the dragon dynamic with Rimuru, and the stylization of the goblins. And also!!! Probably even more so, the stylization of Rimuru. It's just so absurd that a slime would be the most powerful creature in the land, which sets up the whole plot to be a little absurd as well. Over all, I think it is a great work, and would recommend it to anyone who likes anime with game elements. There's a lot of jokes and references to actual games that just make me smile (like the Dragon Quest slime one)!

Takashi Nakamura Presentation Response

Very interesting presentation! I hadn't heard of this director before, prior to listening to this. I like the aspect that his films have a more serious tone. I watch a lot of serious anime and anime movies, but almost all of them have at least a little bit of comic relief, so it's almost always pleasant to watch. I'm interested in the idea of one without any extra padding. I'm not sure that I'd love it, but I'm pretty open to trying out stuff I wouldn't usually go for! I also agree that the art direction is very nice! I really like the 80's anime style, so it's very fun to see it come back in a more modern work. Another thing that I found interesting is that he worked on so many other super famous works (Akira, Nausicaa, etc), before taking up the director role. I guess that's a pretty natural progression, but it just feels very impressive!