insaneneko

To cleanse my mind of the ick from earlier I thought I'd squee about Hakkenden volumes 7 and 8. Ahh, how I love this series. What's not to love? Beautiful art and really fun characters, and bizarre mysteries I pray will not turn out to be lame. I wonder how long this series is going to end up being? In some ways, I'd love it to be 26 volumes like Komatta Toki, but at the same time I just want to know. :P (Does even Abe-sensei know where her story is going, though? Sometimes I wonder about these manga artists and their meandering, long series...)


( Things I really want to know )

( Things I want to mention )

The only bummer is that the next volume comes out in August. So far off!

Devoured Hakkenden volume 6 by Abe Miyuki and desperately want more. ;_; It keeps getting more interesting with every volume, there's lots of prettiness and drama balanced nicely with the grotesque and the humorous. I wonder how long this series will be? It feels like it's going to be quite long--Shino still has to find at least two more of the eight dog warriors, plus rediscover the two guys he and Sousuke met on trains.

While I wasn't too pleased with how things turned out with Karen Kohaku (I keep thinking of her as Karen from X...that wavy hair, the sexy clothing, the older woman feel...), that was probably the only negative thing in the entire volume. Why did she have to sprout those wings? So pointless, so excessive.

The things I loved:

-The mystery of the two Sousukes deepens! What is the relationship between Sousuke and his shadow? Why is shadow Sousuke collecting body parts? Why is he going to come to get Shino when the time is right? What does he feel for Shino, if it's not love? What will happen between shadow Sousuke and Keno?

-Also, there is a huge element of the power of wishing in this manga--I am confused as to whose wish was the main cause of the current situation: Sousuke or Shino? Sousuke apparently was so attached to Shino that he wished for Shino to stay a child forever if he was going to die....

-Not only is Genpachi caring for furry one-eyed creepy thing, he gave it a name! A (cute) name!

-Kaname and the foxes thinking Riou was with his lover and into some bizarre kinky play when it was just grown-up Shino and Murasame wanting more blood in exchange for healing Shino...


( pics! )

I was disappointed that Hamaji didn't get to see grown-up Shino...partly for her reaction and partly because I would think she'd make him wear kimono (and I want to see him properly dressed up in kimono!).

It's rather depressing how dead things are on LJ now. Does it always get this way around this time of the year? I can't remember previous years thanks to my stunningly bad memory, but considering that I'm not posting much myself thanks to work, Christmas activities, and general seasonal weariness (make the traffic and the crowds GO AWAY please), I suppose it'd make sense.

I am still amazed I got through half the episodes of Weiß Kreuz. I wonder if I'll ever pick it up again? (Possibly only if I'm assured that Aya never speaks again...But that's just total wishful thinking, I know...) I still haven't returned the DVDs to my friend...

( random thoughts on fanfics and BL novels )

Oh yes, and about fanfics? I love AUs, really I do. But when an author gets so caught up in her AU world everything she writes is set in that AU? I can't help but stop caring. What'll get me to lose interest even faster is if an author writes fics centered around OCs all the time. Even if the OCs are awesome, they aren't why I read fanfics of that particular fandom. I can just read original fic in that case.

I just discovered the raw scans of a manga called Nekrateholic by Wasabi Maguro [1] being posted on yaoi_daily. See Chapter 1 (1, 2, and 3 of 3). For the rest see the latest post, Chapter 4 (1 of 3), which has links to all the previous posts. The manga has a lot of things I like: vampires and vampire hunters, hunted vs. hunter, (sort of) non-con, blood-sucking during sex, obsession bordering on love, etc. And it's all wrapped up in pretty art. It's just that I can't shake the feeling that it's all so...ヌルい. You know, weak. The angst and obsession don't have a keen edge, and the switches between the serious and humorous/light-hearted moments feel a bit muddled. The characters lurch around looking for some consistency and solidity while trying to keep up with the switches in tone. The S&M references thrown in are so feeble they shouldn't have even bothered. I'm not saying I don't like the manga. I simply think it feels like a half-hearted attempt at hitting a variety of moe points and not really striking any of them, which is a pity. It could've been so much more...

[1] Wasabi Maguro is the pseudonym Higashiyama Kazuko, a collaborator of the manga Tactics with Kinoshita Sakura, uses for BL stuff, both doujinshi and commercial. I am a bit curious about the Tactics doujinshi the wiki entry refers to, "Love Sick." I only managed to get through five volumes of Tactics before losing interest, but there's only eight total out anyways...

I finally got Hakkenden volume 3 and Silver Diamond volume 9, months after their publication. ;_; But they have both provided me with great amounts of joy so I guess I shouldn't complain too much (better late than never, right?). I love their combination of very detailed and pretty art with interesting and compelling characters and story lines. (My intro posts of Hakkenden and Silver Diamond from oh so long ago. )

First off, Silver Diamond. I love the mix of the slightly off humor (that comes from slightly off sensibilities) and drama. Rakan breaking into a huge lecture about being faithful to one person to Chigusa and Touji and completely forgetting the slightly dangerous situation they are in? Chigusa and Touji seriously taking Rakan's words seriously while the manga makes asides about the absurdity of a situation where a high school student lectures two grown adults? Chigusa, following Rakan's words, choosing to be faithful to one person, who subsequently has an "invisible" arrow pointed at him which Touji and Narushige sense? So funny and so cute!

I love the way Sugiura-sensei expands on Chigusa's basic ability to "see well" into such things as spying and seeing into dreams. It's logical and really trippy. I love how Chigusa misunderstands Rakan's attitude (it's so cute though logical!), while Rakan is embarrassed at his own thoughts (I can't tell three grown men not to fall in love because it'll be an inconvenience to me!).

Love the sakura in full-bloom. So pretty!

I can't wait for the next volume! What will happen to the two conscious guys with elf-girl plotting their demise? What will happen to the two guys in dream-land? I want to know!!!!

I'm very happy to see that this title has gained a lot of popularity since that first post I made about it over a year ago. I suppose it's only logical because it has so much going for it. Now this series deserves to be licensed!

On to Hakkenden...it's a denser story, so I had to really take my time to wade through it. Also, I had to reread the first two because when I started reading volume 3 in earnest I realized I had been a bad girl and had only skimmed volume 2 and would have to go back...so I figured I'd reread it from the start. Um, wow? It's been a while since I've taken a look at Hakkenden, so it was wonderful to submerge myself in such pretty (and detailed!) art. As for the story...it's going to be of epic length (at least, it feels like it should be of epic length), thus a lot of slow progression and occasional revelations is par for the course, unfortunately. I am still trying to puzzle out a historical time period to stick this manga in, and how things have changed from real history. When and how did the Church gain such prominence in Japan? Does it mean they were never suppressed in this world? And why are they so openly tied to supernatural elements (well, this last bit I can chalk up to the tendency of Japanese manga to ignore the realities of Christianity)? But besides questions on the setting and background of the world, I am filled with questions as to exactly what kind of story this is going to become. A quest? It the story just going to meander around or will it become focused in some way? Is this going to end tragically (I don't know if the original Hakkenden has a happy ending or not)? And of course, ultimately what will happen to Shino and Sousuke? Particularly Shino, as he will be left behind if things keep going the way they are. But there are hints about Sousuke that I find extremely unsettling....I like him, I don't want something bad to happen to him! I do like the relationship between Shino and Sousuke. It's odd and layered and very very complex.

I'm glad that Abe-sensei is once again providing us with an interesting variety of females, from the strong (but not bitchy) to the weak and tragic (though only mentioned, I found Nui to be an interesting contrast with the very strong-willed characters that dominate the manga).

I look forward to seeing the rest of the eight dog people. I assume that they will all turn out to be people who have been taken out of the cycle of normal human life because of a brush with the supernatural and their own powerful desire to live. What will happen to them all, and what kind of connection do they have with Mr. attached by Inu-gami hot young priest dude Satomi? And what connection does he have with Shino? GAH. Questions, endless questions.

I don't think this series is being scanlated, which is a pity if true because it's really damn cool.