some manga

[meganbmoore]

been working my way through the stash of manga I recently acquired

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Abducted Alchemist: Very amusing, just like the first. This one deals with terrorists who kidnap the children of military officials and hold them for ransom, and who also blow up rail lines. Roy tries to brush off Ed and Al on the train so he can flirt, and Ed gets revenge by calling him "Daddy" as loudly as he possibly can. You can guess how things progress from there. Naturally and rightly, everyone is more concerned about whether or not the kidnappers will still be sane than they actually are about Ed’s safety.

Kino No Tabi Novel Vol 1 The Beautiful World Book 1: I’ve been looking forward to the Kino novels for quite a while. "Kino’s Journey" is one of my favorite animes, and judging from this, the anime only covered the first 2 books. The series is about a rather androgynous young woman named Kino who is a professional traveller. She travels from country to county(small, county-like countries) on her talking motorcycle, Hermes. The series is largely an allegory for humanity, with each country taking one idea or trait(majority rule, the need for citizenship, truce, etc.) and taking it to the extreme. Highly recommended(both novel and anime)

Scrapped Princess Novel Vol 1: The basis for both the manga(still lurking in the backlog) and the anime(not quite as high on my list as Kino, but it’s up there) The anime(and, as I understand it, the manga) starts considerably later in the story than this, which features when the siblings originally learned of Pacifica’s origins and went on the run. Quite good, regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the anime, and the parents go a LONG way towards putting Raquel and Shannon into perspective(not that they weren’t great before)

 

Her Majesty’s Dog Vol 4: One day, I’m going to sit down and see which came first, this or Inu Yasha(I think this very slightly predates Inu Yasha) Because, really, it’s Inu Yasha in present day...future leader of a clan of powerful priestesses, whose bodyguard/near-boyfriend is a500 year old(but still teen...) dog demon, who, by the way, has to obey her orders? Uh huh. Anyway, just as fun as usual.

Night of the Beasts Vol 1: Ok, the Japanese have a thing about teenaged girls and 500 year old demon boys(though, granted, in this case, it seems to be a 18~ year old guy possessed by a 500 year old demon...) Basic idea is that a guy named Sakura has been possessed by a demon that will use him to wipe out hundreds...and all the hundreds have been given nightmares about the day he’ll kill them. The only person able to subdue the demon is a girl named Aria, who’s from a distant branch line of the family or some such that has special powers(that she, naturally, knows nothing about) I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I have a suspicion that it may end up a little closer to horror later.

Tail of the Moon Vol 1: Best description(that only a few here will get) is if "It Started With A Kiss" was about ninjas in the late 16^th century. Essentially a romantic comedy about the future leader of a ninja clan who’s absolutely hopeless, so she’s sent off to marry the leader of another clan to strengthen alliances. He objects, but agrees to let her stay and try to learn to be a better ninja there. Rather fun, but I’m hoping it’ll develop some more depth later on.

Threads of Time Vol 8: I think Sali Tayi just became my favorite character, which is scary, considering what a sicko he is. I just have a weakness for characters who are so incredibly screwed up that only one person keeps them moderately human. Incidentally, I just noticed that he and Sasuke in Naruto have the same hair...maybe it’s the symbol for "I’m completely messed up and beyond the point of redemption, but it’s not really my fault." One thing I like about this series(moving past Sali Tayi) is that, even though it’s a time travel fantasy, a genre that usually glosses over unpleasantness and things modern minds wouldn’t "get," it’s almost brutally honest in regards to politics and war, and what happens to women as a result. I don’t mean rape/death/slavery(though it doesn’t pretend that doesn’t happen) but it doesn’t pretend that a storybook fairytale is the only path to happiness, or that you can’t make what we’d consider to be a bad fate work.