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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:53 am Reply with quote
I remember when Name of the Flower was announced awhile back, I'm glad to see that it lives up to its promise because it sounded very interesting. I might also check out We Were There. I wasn't sold by the Shojo Beat preview, IIRC, but it was much better than most of the other stuff that we get snapshots of.

Now if only I wasn't going to be unemployed as of next week and had money to buy stuff Razz
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15542
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:10 am Reply with quote
Quote:
If you ever start to fear that everything is in the same genre and style, turn to this series for a unique choice of subject matter (just try not to mind the fact that it reuses a lot of familiar plot formulae).


But how does it compare to Cocktail? Wink
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violetsquirrel



Joined: 06 Nov 2004
Posts: 69
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:03 am Reply with quote
From a sensible manga fan point of view, yeah Blank Slate is kind of dumb and predictable and not anything special. But I have to admit, from a fangirl point of view it has some of the most beautiful character art I've ever seen. Yeah, the designs themselves aren't original, but something about the art style just makes me want to look at it forever. Mind you, I looked up Blank Slate due to looking up the mangaka's work after reading Otomen and loving the art in that, so I was in it for the pretty pictures from the beginning.
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Mistypearl



Joined: 03 Oct 2008
Posts: 517
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:40 am Reply with quote
Quote:

"Devastated by the loss of her parents, 18-year-old Chouko loses her will to live. After staying with several different relatives, she settles in with a handsome young writer named Kei and finds solace in tending to the flower garden. Kei's a solitary person who doesn't quite know how to deal with this emotional young woman, but Chouko's dedication eventually leads him to accept her presence. Will their mutual affection grow into something more?"


Will I get shot if I say it sounds even remotely simliar to Fruits Baskets? o_o [/quote]
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Mistypearl wrote:
Quote:

"Devastated by the loss of her parents, 18-year-old Chouko loses her will to live. After staying with several different relatives, she settles in with a handsome young writer named Kei and finds solace in tending to the flower garden. Kei's a solitary person who doesn't quite know how to deal with this emotional young woman, but Chouko's dedication eventually leads him to accept her presence. Will their mutual affection grow into something more?"


Will I get shot if I say it sounds even remotely simliar to Fruits Baskets? o_o
[/quote]

Depends if there is a talking cat in the other story.

I've actually read some of Bartender and the manga adaptation is much more interesting. As for Momo tama, I don't think I could really enjoy a series like that. I used to really like Negima, but as of volume 18, I lost all interest. Far too much fanservice and not enough actual story line for me.
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lys



Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1016
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:04 pm Reply with quote
Hooray for CMX recognition!! They don't seem to get much in the way of publicity, but I'm always impressed with the unexpected series they choose to publish.

Mistypearl wrote:
Quote:

"Devastated by the loss of her parents, 18-year-old Chouko loses her will to live. After staying with several different relatives, she settles in with a handsome young writer named Kei and finds solace in tending to the flower garden. Kei's a solitary person who doesn't quite know how to deal with this emotional young woman, but Chouko's dedication eventually leads him to accept her presence. Will their mutual affection grow into something more?"


Will I get shot if I say it sounds even remotely simliar to Fruits Baskets? o_o


Haha. Nothing to shoot people over, but I do think Name of the Flower is a bit more of a realistic depiction of someone grieving the loss of her parents (and this is more of the central theme of the story), while Fruits Basket kinda goes veering off into a different topic.

Actually, I can think of quite a few shoujo series in which the death or departure of the main character's parents is the beginning of a grand new adventure (often an excuse to live with a bunch of hot guys). It can be entertaining and all, but when I sit down and think about it, I wonder how on earth they can be coping with death so well. So it's nice that Name of the Flower takes the topic a little more seriously or believably.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:03 pm Reply with quote
Bartender sounds rather interesting :3
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3495
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:26 pm Reply with quote
Grant... you do realize "Godchild" is actually the sequel series to "The Cain Saga," right? The "warm-up episodes" are in that series, not this one.

Not that I blame you for the confusion; for some reason, Viz started releasing "Godchild" before "Cain." But you need to read the other first to understand what the hell is going on.
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konkonsn



Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 172
Location: Illinois
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:33 pm Reply with quote
Lys wrote:
Actually, I can think of quite a few Disney movies in which the death or departure of the main character's parents is the beginning of a grand new adventure (often an excuse to live with a bunch of hot guys). It can be entertaining and all, but when I sit down and think about it, I wonder how on earth they can be coping with death so well. So it's nice that Name of the Flower takes the topic a little more seriously or believably.


Fixed. Very Happy

Carlos! Sad The manga that would have been perfect to answer your question was the first manga you reviewed. I pretty much stuck put it up for sale the minute I finished it.

I regret finishing it...should've stopped when they entered that compound.
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:48 pm Reply with quote
Carlo

Tite Kubo is the last person who you should be asking how to use 18 pages right. Hell recently the man has been unable to use an entire volume without wasting the entire thing on the crappiest fights known to man.
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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1529
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:09 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Hooray for CMX recognition!! They don't seem to get much in the way of publicity, but I'm always impressed with the unexpected series they choose to publish.


I agree. They have a lot of good series that I never seem to see any reviews about. Their books are always easy to read too - the translations don't seem stiff.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3495
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:59 pm Reply with quote
Charred Knight wrote:
Carlo

Tite Kubo is the last person who you should be asking how to use 18 pages right. Hell recently the man has been unable to use an entire volume without wasting the entire thing on the crappiest fights known to man.


That's just because he's started to realize that he's getting near the big finale and wants to drag it on for as long as he can...
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pinkchanwithamask



Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:11 am Reply with quote
Why oh why they published Blank fricking Slate first, instead of OTOMEN, I will never know. You should review (or just read) Otomen, to see what all the Aya Kanno fuss is about. (Actually if the timing is right, you will probably be getting a copy in the mail soon anyways...)

VIZ IF YOU ARE READING THIS STOP PUBLISHING THE INFERIOR OLDER WORKS OF POPULAR ARTISTS. And hurry up and license Cat Street plzthx.

HELL YEAH GARTENDER! I like the anime more than the manga, if only for the awesome OP. It's a pretty predictable formula, so I'm glad the anime ends when it does, but it's a pleasant enough watch/read for the first few episodes. It's basically a manga delivery system for drinks trivia.

For your next Import of the Month, you should do another food manga, "Toriko". At least finish chapter 2 so you can see his special attack. You can thank me for enriching your life later!
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:15 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed Blank Slate. Sure it was cliched, but all the twists and turns made up for it I thought. Plus the art is fabulous. It's pretty, but not too pretty so that it doesn't suit the story. I don't regret buying it at all.
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