Dear Masashi Kishimoto,

I understand that Naruto is an incredibly long manga series, and that it’s incredibly difficult to draw/write a series week after week and keep it new and fresh. My hat goes off to you for creating such a popular series, one that I have enjoyed over the years.

However, you have to know by now that some things about your series have become cliche. For instance, whenever anyone in Naruto covers their eye(s) or for some reason their eye(s) is obscured it is automatically assumed that they have a Sharingan.

The first time, with Kakashi, the Sharingan reveal was a surprise. The Mangekyo Sharingan reveal with Itachi was a surprise because we’d never seen the Mangekyo before. The reveal with Obito wasn’t a surprise, but it wasn’t meant to be – we knew this was where Kakashi would be getting his Sharingan. The reveal with Tobi? Not so much. His mask is a giant spiral with only an eye-hole! Of course there was going to be something up with his eyes!

And so, giving Danzo a Sharingan after having him cover one eye the entire series? NOT A SURPRISE. For a clan that supposedly only had two members left, the Uchiha sure left a bunch of Sharingan eyes floating around.

Just thought I’d give you a heads up, because the internet? Not surprised at your twist.

Sincerely,
Cat named cat

Rawr! Naruto copyright Masashi Kishimoto & Viz

While I’m all for more adventures of Lord Grumpy-Pants and his Über-Butler of doom, how the hell are they going to pull that off with the way the first season ended?

More under the cut – Massive spoilers for the ending of the first season!

How the hell are we going to pull a 2nd season out of our asses?!

First of all, the debut season ended … conclusively. There was no ambiguity, no room for a sequel. It ended the way it ended, and that was that.

Sebastian took Ciel’s soul, and that was a gutsy move on the part of the anime staff. They teased it the whole series, hinting at what the contract between Sebastian and Ciel really meant, but didn’t really have to go that far. Most anime series probably wouldn’t – most series would’ve shied away at the last minute, finding some filler-loophole in the contract that lets the dynamic duo continue as they were. But they didn’t do that. I gave them mad kudos for that!

So how exactly do you go from the last scene being Sebastian taking Ciel’s delicious shota soul, right into another season? How do you ret-con that?

Mmmm, Ciel's soul...nom, nom, nom

Second of all, do they have enough manga-material to keep them from falling into filler-doom? One of the main problems I (and most of the internet, it seems) had with the series was the random anime fluff that kept the show from really getting to the good stuff. I don’t know if the ending fight with Angela/Ash was filler-ified, but I’m willing to bet it was, at least in part.

The pacing was all off in the first season: The random first episodes were so boring that they kept non-manga-readers from getting into the series, and they racked up the episode count too fast so that the ending Lao-betrayal arc and Angela/Ash arc had to be dealt with in just a short amount of episodes and felt totally rushed.

Grell is happy for 2nd season! Maybe I'll get more screentime?

So, if they can somehow convincingly wrangle a premise for a second season, and hopefully use the manga material effectively (avoiding the timing and pacing issues from the first season), this could be a vast improvement and let the show really shine.

…

Or, it could be a total waste of a second season and really do injustice to the potential of the first, aka the Code Geass R2 effect.

07-Ghost - copyright Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara, Studio DEEN

From episode 2 to around episode 8 nothing happened.

Seriously, nothing happened. There were mermaids for some reason, and that was about it.

Teito is an action!bishounen for two seconds - copyright Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara, Studio DEEN

The “daring” escape from the first episode made me think this would be an exciting anime with a unique fighting system, or at the very least a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game with the main bishounen fighting for his life against an all-powerful enemy.

Not so much.

Continued after the cut – contains spoilers!

Instead, Teito escaped, fled to a strange church filled with bishop!bishounen … and hung out for 9 episodes. He kept saying he was going to leave, but never did! He still hasn’t!

At least after 10 episodes, it seems that the plot is moving.

The bad guy is actually attacking instead of just glaring menacingly and Aizen-like at nothing in particular.

Ayanami's grumpy face - copyright Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara, Studio DEEN

And, of course, the love interest best friend character has gone and died in order to give Teito more angst and more reason to get the hell out of boring!church of doom.

Which brings me to my next rant.

When watching the first episode of 07-Ghost, I decided on my favorite character. I usually have a ‘type’ of character that I like, and it becomes easily apparent who my favorite will be from the first or second episode. (Unless, of course, Akira Ishida is in the series, in which case my favorite automatically defaults to the character he voices.)

Teito Klein didn’t impress me, other than the fact that Mitsuki Saiga is voicing him. Ayanami was pretty cool I guess, if only for the Sho Hayami factor.

Since the priests hadn’t been introduced yet, that left Mikage.

Mikage: aren't I cute? - copyright Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara, Studio DEEN

Here’s a short list of anime characters that I instantly liked and decided were my favorite as soon as I saw them:

Wolfwood (Trigun)
L (Death Note)
Hughes (Full Metal Alchemist)
Spike (Cowboy Bebop)
Kamina (Gurren Lagann)

Notice a trend?

Poor Mikage – he was so likable and fun, so cute and funny, and he loved Teito so much. Definitely doomed.

I understand that in order for Teito to have angst grow as a character, Mikage needed to die.

I understand that Mikage’s death will provide the motivation Teito needs to continue down his path towards self-discovery and give him the strength to confront Ayanami.

I understand that Mikage’s limitless optimism and faith had no place in this show, which is actually darker than it lets on.

But, seriously?! My favorite character had to die in a show that I’m not even that invested in? Oh, come on!

Mikage: At least I got a sparkly, feathery hug before I died!

Just the title alone is enough to send casual manga readers packing, with its unapologetic, multi-syllabic Japanese, chock-full of consonants and an abundance of ‘u’s.

Once past the cover, first-time readers will be impressed by the artwork and confused by the dialogue. If they make it through to the daunting 11 pages of translator’s notes at the end, they’ll have gotten a small introduction to the ironic, sardonic, cynical, reference-filled, parodying world of bizarre characters that is Class 2-F, led by Mr. Despair himself.

SZS is bound to have another set of readers, however, and I have the feeling that Del Rey is counting on the hard-earned (or not) cash of the second set: the socially inept yet strangely socially conscious, black-humor loving, translator’s notes reading, anime/manga completionist Otaku. (Yeah, this is definitely where I fit in, I won’t deny it.)

Zetsubou-Sensei & his class - copyright Koji Kumeta, Del Rey

Nozomu Itoshiki is an incredibly negative person who constantly despairs and dreams of suicide. Kafuka is an intense and oddly cheerful person who refuses to believe in negative events, even when they are happening before her eyes. Itoshiki ends up being the homeroom teacher in Kafuka’s class, and the story unfolds from there.

Kafuka works as Sensei’s foil, constantly thwarting his suicide attempts and refuting his rants against society. The series focuses on Sensei’s exploits in a classroom full of students as bizarre as he is. Five other characters are introduced in Volume 1, each with a quirk or characteristic that defines them and sets them apart (for instance, Meru, who only communicates through email – her name coming from the Japanese pronunciation of “Mail”).

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Vol 1 - copyright Koji Kumeta, Del Rey

Del Rey’s adaptation preserves the strangely gorgeous full page spreads, as well as the extras such as attendance file inserts for the class members, the mock “sneak preview” that was released before the first chapter, the author’s ramblings in his “paper blogs”, the full text of Meru’s hateful email to Sensei, and more. Fans will recognize most of this material from the anime and appreciate its inclusion.

Japanese-language purists will appreciate Del Rey’s use of honorifics, and the reference-nuts can’t help but be pleased by the translator’s notes at the end (11 pages worth! Though I honestly wonder how much was cut for space …).

Even the cover pleases me as a fan of the series – the simple design with Sensei standing at attention holding his briefcase portable suicide kit is set against a cheerful pale pink, flowery background with lively pink lettering. It’s the perfect way to undercut the black humor of the series with it’s deceptively cute characters and artwork.

For all his craziness and generally dark view of society, Kumeta is also an excellent artist. His style is crisp and clean, with his lines so sharp that the anal-retentive, OCD character would undoubtedly approve. His art is incredibly detailed without becoming cluttered, and his contrast of white space with solid black is striking. First time readers may be put off by the bizarre characters or abundance of in-jokes and references, but they certainly won’t be by the art style.

The manga version of SZS won’t disappoint readers already familiar with the sociopathic 2F classroom, but it is a niche title whose black humor and extreme parodies will not appeal to everyone. Kumeta’s artwork is beautiful and bizarre, as are his characters.

Del Rey’s version certainly did the best it possibly could with this complex source material, but I don’t expect SZS to be a best-seller by any stretch of the imagination.

Our first introduction to Despair-Sensei - copyright Koji Kumeta

Hetalia! Copyright Hidekaz Himaruya, Studio DEEN

You know that guy you knew in high school that was way into History, specifically WW2?
Maybe he was a teacher, maybe Government or Politics or even History, something like that?

He collected WW2 memorabilia in his garage and talked about the decisions that the US made like he was there – even though he’s only 35. He knew every battle, every concentration camp, every army division’s position, every bombing of London, knew the names of the grandkids of the guy who painted the design on Little Boy.

You know that guy?

Hetalia is what would happen if that guy dropped a bunch of acid and totally spaced out – and Korean animators drew everything he saw on his wacked-out trip through history.

And…uh…he knew Japanese, so the whole thing was in Japanese.

That’s what Hetalia reminds me of.

People making overly dramatic statements has left Sensei in despair!

From Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which is a crazy anime that is basically a collection of parodies along with shorts that expand on a theme. Usually a word-play of some sort, or taking a common social experience and turning it on its head …

Bizarre humor is bizarre.

Sebastian Michaelis - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

Kuroshitsuji has all the elements of an anime that I generally like, as if it were tailor-made for fans like me. But even knowing this, it still failed to live up to its potential completely and didn’t grab me as much or as quickly as it should.

I’ve used a lot of pictures in this review, so I’ll cut it … also, obviously contains spoilers for all of the series, so read at your own risk!

What Kuroshitsuji has going for it:

1. Gothic atmosphere and designs, complete with lacy, goth-loli attire, undertakers and shinigami.

Ciel Phantomhive - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

2. Definite yaoi vibe between the two main male characters to the point of innuendo and suggestive bathtub scenes.
Bonus point: Reversed power balance – super-powered demon bowing in reverence to a tiny, bratty 12-year-old.

Nope, nothing suggestive here - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

3. Demon dog. Huge evil puppies are just plain fun, especially when they latch onto (sometimes while in human form *nosebleed*) a self-professed cat-person such as Sebastian.

Nom nom nom - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

Where it falls short:

1. The series takes way too long to get to the good stuff. The first few episodes are cute, but don’t pull the viewer in enough to make them stay for the Jack the Ripper arc.

2. Waits too long to develop the other servants besides Sebastian. They are cute and all, but pretty disposable until episode 21. And what’s the deal with Finny and his super-human strength anyway???

3. Under-use of Grell and the Undertaker, and out-of-thin-air betrayal of Lao. These are two very intersting and silly characters, but they go nowhere! Especially Grell, whose crazy relationship with Sebastian is good for a laugh, and whose crazy relationship with the other Shinigami seems too interesting not to explore.

The scissors ... not as scary as the chain saw - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

4. Sebastian has no limits, which destroys any suspense during battle scenes. Only Alucard can pull off the I-am-an-immortal-demon-and-therefore-untouchable act without becoming ridiculous … well, becoming more ridiculous than he should be, anyway.

Sebastian channeling Alucard - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

The one thing Kuroshitsuji did really right was the end.

Not the showdown with Lao, that came out of nowhere. Not the showdown with Angela/Ash, that also came out of nowhere and was waaaaay too random.

But the very, very end – the fact that Sebastian actually took Ciel’s soul – that was awesome, and very gutsy for a show that otherwise played it safe.

…And now, fun with Sebastian and Pluto!

Sebastian loves kitties, Pluto loves Sebastian. Pluto is jealous of teh kitteh!

Pluto is jealous of the kitteh - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

Pluto attacks! - copyright Yana Toboso, A-1 Pictures

Credits:
Screencaps from The Brownie Post

Lately, I’ve been reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris and really enjoying them – the fact that each one is a self-contained mystery is really fun, and Sookie herself is a hoot.

In reading “Dead to the world“, I noticed a some similarities between events in this book and “New Moon”, the second book in the Twilight series. I won’t even link anything to Twilight because really, everyone knows the tweeny vamp series by now. I love to hate Twilight, and someday I’ll go on a huge rant as to why.

So anyways, here is my mashup of “New Moon” vs. “Dead to the World”!

Copyright Stephenie Meyer, Charlaine Harris

Conclusion:
Bella – acts like a selfish, hormonal teenager (which she is).
Sookie – acts like a young woman who may not know who she wants, but definitely knows who she is.

Winner:
Sookie Stackhouse by a long shot!

After the credits of certain episodes, Gintama adds an additional alternate-universe parody called 3rd Year Class Z Ginpachi-sensei (which is a parody of the Japanese Television show 3 nen B gumi Kinpachi-sensei).

This video features Gintoki as Ginpachi-sensei and parodies a certain character’s bad habit from a certain anime which was edited by a certain company. Ok, it’s One Piece and 4Kids.

Sanji’s ridiculous cigarette/lollipop from the 4Kids version of One Piece:

Sanji - smoker or addicted to candy? Copyright 4Kids ... or now, I guess it's Funimation...

PMK Volume 1 - Copyright Tokyopop, Nanae Chrono

In Japan, the first set of volumes to the story by Nanae Chrono was called “Shinsengumi Imon PeaceMaker” – which Tokyopop shortened to “PeaceMaker” – Ok, fine.

But then the series switched magazines in Japan, and became known as “PeaceMaker Kurogane” – which Tokyopop kept as is. Ok, fine. But ADV actually did a version of PeaceMaker Kurogane a couple of years ago … without ever doing the first series (“Shinsengumi Imon PeaceMaker”). So there are now two versions of the second part of the series (the new, Tokyopop one is what I’m reading) but only one version of the first series, by Tokyopop.

Confusing!

So, instead of stating the fact that PMK comes after PeaceMaker 1-5 … Tokyopop just calls it PMK Volume 1 and lets readers figure it out.

This is probably not the way I would have done things, but then again, I’m obviously not paid to do these things. So, confusing even loyal PeaceMaker fans, we have PeaceMaker Kurogane Volume 1, by Tokyopop.

Since it isn’t made completely obvious – PMK is a continuation of PeaceMaker and should be read after PeaceMaker volume 5. NOT BEFORE! The entire gag of the first chapter depends on previous knowledge of the characters – without knowing how ridiculous and juvenile Tetsunosuke is, or how hard-nosed and downright cruel Hijikata is … the joke would sail right over the reader’s head.

This volume jumps straight back to the story (after a brief time-skip of 3 months – which actually seems too short…) and builds on the incidents of PeaceMaker volume 5, which Japanese history buffs (and anime fans who pay attention) will be familiar with – the Ikedaya incident.

Dealing with the aftermath of the bloodbath at Ikedaya, the series turns a little darker, a little angstier, and adds a dash of the supernatural. I enjoyed the darker feel of the volume, but it may turn off fans who were simply looking for sword-fighting bishounen. The comedy is still there, as are the awesome sword fights – but there are also severed heads, pedophiles and creepy cat-children.

The mangaka even apologizes at the end of the volume for the “unpleasant scenes” and states that she is “mindful of the growing angst.” Even though this volume does deal with a lot of pretty disturbing subjects, it also adds character to Suzu (who had been pretty flat before, simply worshiping his psycho master Yoshida but lacking any personality of his own) and makes Tetsunosuke a little more interesting and a lot less annoying (taking away some of the Naruto-ness of his character).

The darkness of PMK Volume one adds a sort of spooky, doomed atmosphere to the story – which fits right in with the story of the Shinesngumi, not exactly a happy chapter in Japanese history.

One problem I had with this volume is that I’m really getting into the story – and yes, that’s a problem. Because I know that it’s going to end, and abruptly. The series never got a satisfactory ending in Japan, ceasing publication before the story concluded. The fact that I’ll never get to read the ending is leaving me in despair!

I’m really starting to dig the creepy atmosphere, and Suzu as an evil villain, gearing up for Yamanami’s betrayal and the upcoming drama with Itou – along with the introduction (finally!) of Sakamoto Ryoma, the weirdly awesome character with inexplicable dreadlocks. But I know it doesn’t have an ending! Despair! Despair, I tell you!