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britannicamoore
Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:36 pm
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REAL was one of the next manga I wanted to buy, but I couldn't find a copy this weekend.
I've been wondering about Tokyopop myself, when i went to the store there were at least 10 new titles on the stands I didn't see a week and a half ago. I thought they were cutting back?
Good job as always.
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HitokiriShadow
Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:49 pm
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I personally found the first two hunts in Gantz to be so-so and thought it "got good" with the Buddhist Temple hunt (which I think will start around volume 5). But if you are expecting depth to suddenly appear... you'll probably be disappointed. It is what it is (glorious violence with some sex and nudity for good measure) and I think it does a pretty good job at that.
Quote: | "Charley, a cyborg vampire who does the Vatican's dirty work, |
That's all I needed to know. I'll be staying far, far away from this one.
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darkchibi07
Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5518
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:02 am
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Bwahaha, I give it a YES and a HELL YEAH on Strawberry Shake Sweet as well, and I'm glad someone took the time to give it some spotlight treatment!
Now supposedly there's another volume of it coming soon in which I heard one of the future chapters Julia and Ran actually kissing each other. And with that moment Julia ended up crying and nosebleeding in joy! Awww, now I wait for the everlasting moment for some anime production company to actually make an anime series out of this.
On another note, it would be interesting for Shizuru Hayashiya to do a spinoff of Zlay specifically. That doujin someone made that dealt with them in relation of that hairdresser in Strawberry Shake Sweet was very amusing especially with the girl-on-girl kisses in the style of Yakitate Japan.
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here-and-faraway
Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1529
Location: Sunny California
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:17 am
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Cute title for this week's column. I'm waiting for someone to give a clever rebuttal along the lines of "Stop calling me Shirley!"
I'm glad the book got a good review. I really loved Emma and have been eagerly awaiting this title.
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loka
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posts: 373
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:36 am
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Carlos wrote: | where else are you going to find a lead girl with a pervy dirty-old-man attitude? |
Lucky Star ?
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kadian1364
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 60
Location: Indiana
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:36 am
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It may just be one person's opinion, but Strawberry Shake Sweet sounds like an honest to goodness romance story (yuri or otherwise). In a genre where titles like Shuffle! and Strawberry Panic rule, this might be the alternative romantic narrative more to my liking. But why the fixation of naming titles with "Strawberry"? Strawberry 100%, Strawberry Panic, Strawberry Marshmallow, where's the love for the world's other wonderful fruits? "Pineapple Tango" sounds like an equally tasty tropical drink and a series name I'd be interested in reading/watching.
HitokiriShadow wrote: |
Quote: | "Charley, a cyborg vampire who does the Vatican's dirty work, |
That's all I needed to know. I'll be staying far, far away from this one. |
I know what you mean. Seriously, would it hurt for these synopses writers to even try to describe a story like it wasn't taken straight from The Book of Most Cliched Archtypes, Shallowest Characterization Techniques, and Other Overused Story Tropes? Either that, or I vastly overrate creativity.
EDIT: Strange leftover tags...
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sunflower
Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:23 am
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I got my copy of REAL in the mail today, and the art is just so good. I'm still reading the beginning parts because I go back and stare at how he did this and that, but I think I'll love this series.
The vampire series, Vassalord, confused the heck out of me. Was there some kind of story? I don't know, I couldn't tell, and after that I didn't want to read beyond the second chapter. This is only for people desperate for another vampire story with mxm subtext.
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
Joined: 08 Jul 2004
Posts: 1325
Location: San Diego
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:04 am
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kadian1364 wrote: | Seriously, would it hurt for these synopses writers to even try to describe a story like it wasn't taken straight from The Book of Most Cliched Archtypes, Shallowest Characterization Techniques, and Other Overused Story Tropes? Either that, or I vastly overrate creativity. |
Sadly, it's because they know it'll sell better that way.
For each one of us who has the brains to see past a badly written blurb, there are ten other idiots who are ready to start drooling like Pavlovian dogs when they hear the keywords "gay undead robot vampire-hunting clergy."
(could be worse though, could be "loli maid princess terminally ill childhood friend")
sunflower wrote: | The vampire series, Vassalord, confused the heck out of me. Was there some kind of story? I don't know, I couldn't tell, and after that I didn't want to read beyond the second chapter. This is only for people desperate for another vampire story with mxm subtext. |
Subtext? Seemed more like supertext to me.
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UtenaAnthy
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 694
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:27 am
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I really want to read Strawberry Shake Sweet now, sounds like a fantastic series, and don't call me Shirley (my actual name is Viscount Bartpants Jewelledcat the Infinity Loop).
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:15 am
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Quote: | if it did, it'd be headed straight into the hole of pure failure (i.e. an F grade) where other overly serious vampire stories go to die. |
Now what could that be talking about?
I actually am somewhat interested in REAL, despite it not being even remotely like the series I usually read. I have this book that has interviews with various mangaka however, and Takehiko Inoue was on that it covered and it made this series sound interesting.
It's the only one here that really stands out as something I'd buy, but that may be a good thing, all things considered.
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Jedi General
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 2485
Location: Tucson, AZ
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:40 am
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Clever title, Carlo.
TRSI just shipped my copy of Shirley. I'm very eager to read it now thanks to Carlo's good review. Then again, I was expecting a good review, since Emma is such an excellent manga.
I received and read my copy of REAL last week. The art, while great, isn't nearly as gorgeous as the art in Vagabond, and thus far the story isn't nearly as good either. But, it was just the first volume. Inoue is a great storyteller, so I expect that it will get better later. The second half of the volume showed, if you'll pardon the pun, some real promise. I'm looking forward to the next volume and beyond.
Finally, there's Gantz. I never got past the first episode of the anime, but that was back when my tolerance for the grotesque was much, much lower. Anyway, since I'd heard that the manga is superior, I decided to check it out. If there's any word to describe the first volume, it's engrossing. (Sorry, I couldn't resist making another pun. ) It feels funny saying this, but I enjoyed it. It got completely sucked in my the plot and the cliffhanger ending allowed the series to get its hooks in me. I've already ordered volumes 2 and 3.
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kirbyboy102
Joined: 04 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:53 am
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"Here at Shirley We Jest, we have the most Shirley Temple Memorabilia." -Oscar Wildcat, Queer Duck movie
That title just set off that quote in my head.
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DavidShallcross
Joined: 19 Feb 2008
Posts: 1008
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:33 am
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Quote: | a mysterious branch of the Unitarian Church |
Would that be the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (a real church with about 66,000 members)?
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darkchibi07
Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5518
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:18 am
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UtenaAnthy wrote: | I really want to read Strawberry Shake Sweet now, sounds like a fantastic series, |
The fact that some of the girls actually proclaim themselves as lesbian (without this annoying thick layer of subtext or other crappy gimmicks that's SO prevalent in other series), and it doesn't take place in some all-girl Catholic school gives Strawberry Shake Sweet a unique flavor for the yuri genre.
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Andrew Cunningham
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 526
Location: Seattle
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:58 pm
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HitokiriShadow wrote: | I personally found the first two hunts in Gantz to be so-so and thought it "got good" with the Buddhist Temple hunt (which I think will start around volume 5). But if you are expecting depth to suddenly appear... you'll probably be disappointed. It is what it is (glorious violence with some sex and nudity for good measure) and I think it does a pretty good job at that.
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I occasionally think it verges on being a deliciously cantankerous condemnation of modern youth, but that's about the only depth you can really ascribe to it. But few books come close to it in the trashy excess department.
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