manga: Black Cat

You know, I don't think I've ever talked about Black Cat all that much here(and as far as I know none of my flist reads it except mibugirl12)

Black Cat is about Train, a sweeper(bounty hunter) who's also a former assassin.  At first, Train seems to be another of the Kenshin/Vash variety, and in some ways, he is, but it's mostly surface similarities.  Unlike Vash and Kenshin, who basically spend their lives with a happy peaceful facade and really spend their lives wallowing in past sins, Train actually IS a happy, peaceful guy who just happens to be really good at fighting and, when absolutely necessary, killing.  It's not that he's forgotten or doesn't care, it's just that it IS his past, he deals with it when it comes up, but in the mean time, he has his own life and his present and THAT'S what he wants to spend his time with, because as far as he's concerned, it's the part that's important, and is his future.

His partner(who he's perfectly happy to let be the mature and responsible one) is Sven, a former cop who looks a bit like a scruffy hobo but is actually pretty cool and sharp.  Early in the book, they acquire Eve, a young girl who's genetically engineered to literally be a living weapon(and is quite the voracious reader...they can't keep her in books)  Eve basically idolizes Sven(who's essentially adopted her) and, being a kid, sees Train as a challenger for his attentions, resulting in a rather fun and more athan a bit antagonistic(on her side) affable older brother/high strung little sister relationship where everyone knows that she really likes him a LOT more than she'll let on.  They also meet Rinslet, a thief who figures out how useful they can be pretty quickly.

I like Train/Rinslet a lot.  Rinslet is very capable and independent, and is more than capable of taking care of herself.  Unlike most heroines, she doesn't need Train to protect her as much as she occassionally needs a partner or some extra muscle.  Train, for his part, is perfectly willing to help...they both know that, for all intents and purposes he's pretty much whipped and is going to come any time she calls(and though it hasn't comes up yet, the reverse is also true)  However, neither one is exactly looking for a relationship(or in any position to be in one) so they live their own lives.  But they're more comfortable with each other than most pairings are, and are the sort that are pretty much going to take care of each other anytime it's needed, even if they never get together.  That said, Train seems to have found some competition in Jenos, who seems quite determined on the Rinslet front.  (And as an aside, how much do I love the fact that, when Rinslet learned Jenos deliberately tripped the alarm in her robbery so that he could meet and test her, she made him pull the car over and get out so she could devote her full force and attention to slapping him. That's my girl.  Yes, yes it is.)

Anyway, great book(I understand the anime differs a lot, so I don't know about it, though I plan to check it out eventually.  The character designs also seem to suffer from the de-aging syndrome in the anime...) and one I suspect several on my flist would like.

( some pics )

manga: Black Cat

You know, I don't think I've ever talked about Black Cat all that much here(and as far as I know none of my flist reads it except mibugirl12)

Black Cat is about Train, a sweeper(bounty hunter) who's also a former assassin.  At first, Train seems to be another of the Kenshin/Vash variety, and in some ways, he is, but it's mostly surface similarities.  Unlike Vash and Kenshin, who basically spend their lives with a happy peaceful facade and really spend their lives wallowing in past sins, Train actually IS a happy, peaceful guy who just happens to be really good at fighting and, when absolutely necessary, killing.  It's not that he's forgotten or doesn't care, it's just that it IS his past, he deals with it when it comes up, but in the mean time, he has his own life and his present and THAT'S what he wants to spend his time with, because as far as he's concerned, it's the part that's important, and is his future.

His partner(who he's perfectly happy to let be the mature and responsible one) is Sven, a former cop who looks a bit like a scruffy hobo but is actually pretty cool and sharp.  Early in the book, they acquire Eve, a young girl who's genetically engineered to literally be a living weapon(and is quite the voracious reader...they can't keep her in books)  Eve basically idolizes Sven(who's essentially adopted her) and, being a kid, sees Train as a challenger for his attentions, resulting in a rather fun and more athan a bit antagonistic(on her side) affable older brother/high strung little sister relationship where everyone knows that she really likes him a LOT more than she'll let on.  They also meet Rinslet, a thief who figures out how useful they can be pretty quickly.

I like Train/Rinslet a lot.  Rinslet is very capable and independent, and is more than capable of taking care of herself.  Unlike most heroines, she doesn't need Train to protect her as much as she occassionally needs a partner or some extra muscle.  Train, for his part, is perfectly willing to help...they both know that, for all intents and purposes he's pretty much whipped and is going to come any time she calls(and though it hasn't comes up yet, the reverse is also true)  However, neither one is exactly looking for a relationship(or in any position to be in one) so they live their own lives.  But they're more comfortable with each other than most pairings are, and are the sort that are pretty much going to take care of each other anytime it's needed, even if they never get together.  That said, Train seems to have found some competition in Jenos, who seems quite determined on the Rinslet front.  (And as an aside, how much do I love the fact that, when Rinslet learned Jenos deliberately tripped the alarm in her robbery so that he could meet and test her, she made him pull the car over and get out so she could devote her full force and attention to slapping him. That's my girl.  Yes, yes it is.)

Anyway, great book(I understand the anime differs a lot, so I don't know about it, though I plan to check it out eventually.  The character designs also seem to suffer from the de-aging syndrome in the anime...) and one I suspect several on my flist would like.

( some pics )

reading update: mostly manga

( Death Note 10 )

( Skip-Beat 5 )

( Mushishi 1 )

( ES: Eternal Sabbath 4 )

( The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood by Susan Wittig Albert )

Right now I'm about 2/3 through the first Twelve Kingdoms book, by Fuyumi Ono(who's also the author of the books the Ghost Hunt manga are based on) the novel series the anime was based on.  Now, the anime is one of my absolute favorites(incidentally, anyone who's been told not to watch it and the words "Fushigi Yugi" were in any way involved with it needs to ignore the rec...whoever first came up with the idea of comparing the two was nuts...the similarities begin and end with "girl gets transported to a world based on asian mythology."  The worlds, characters and stories are as different as they could possibly be and the only genre they both fit into is fantasy)  but the books is worlds beyond the anime, which is a pleasant surprise, as I was just hoping for something readable enough that I'd get through them so I could read the novels that didn't get to be adapted into the anime.  (My experience with translated japanese novels has been rather shaky)  But this?  This is great.  And deserving of it's own post.  And it's making me want to rewatch the anime.

reading update: mostly manga

( Death Note 10 )

( Skip-Beat 5 )

( Mushishi 1 )

( ES: Eternal Sabbath 4 )

( The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood by Susan Wittig Albert )

Right now I'm about 2/3 through the first Twelve Kingdoms book, by Fuyumi Ono(who's also the author of the books the Ghost Hunt manga are based on) the novel series the anime was based on.  Now, the anime is one of my absolute favorites(incidentally, anyone who's been told not to watch it and the words "Fushigi Yugi" were in any way involved with it needs to ignore the rec...whoever first came up with the idea of comparing the two was nuts...the similarities begin and end with "girl gets transported to a world based on asian mythology."  The worlds, characters and stories are as different as they could possibly be and the only genre they both fit into is fantasy)  but the books is worlds beyond the anime, which is a pleasant surprise, as I was just hoping for something readable enough that I'd get through them so I could read the novels that didn't get to be adapted into the anime.  (My experience with translated japanese novels has been rather shaky)  But this?  This is great.  And deserving of it's own post.  And it's making me want to rewatch the anime.

Smallville Season 4

Ok?  Lois Lane?  Almost compensates for Lana.  Seriously, she makes the show 100 times better.  She and Clark have more chemistry in any one scene than every combined Clark/Lana scene from the first four seasons.  Clark is so far out of his league with her that I'd say it isn't even funny, except it is, and makes the whole thing worthwhile.  Except...on the other hand...there's Chloe.  Know what?  There has been exactly ONE moment in this entire series that has given me an angsty tug in the young love department, and that was the final, 2 second shot  of Chloe's face at the end of episode 3 here.  Lois has just gotten Clark good in the dunking booth and is teasing him and ruffling his hair and he has this half sheepish/half annoyed grin because he'd been taunting her that he didn't think she could do it, and the last shot of the episode shifts to Chloe looking heartbroken because she can see the writing on the wall.  On the other hand, the scene where Lana comments to Clark that she thinks he and Lois might be good together that was supposed to tug at our heartstrings and make us go "oh, poor doomed young love" had me going "YES CLARK!!! LISTEN!!! GET OVER HER!!! YOUR DESTINY HAS ARRIVED!!!"

Also, midseason, I finally realized what on the Lana/Chloe front has been bugging me a bit(not the part where I wondered why on earth Clark and Lex were so hung up on a whiny woe-is-me drama queen) Chloe started out as a Lois standin, and Lana as the Superman-canon Lana, if altered for maximum "sympathy-angst."  However, Lana has consistently moved farther and farther from her origins to the point where she now bears almost no resemblance to her origins.  In the meantime, Chloe has grown into a character independent of Lois, and is actually filling Lana's role.  Lana is the whiny girl who TPTB have been desperately trying to convince us has a point since season 1(you know, I was going to go on about the absurdity of her storyline this season, but it's not worth it.  Except that it was one of the most deperate and failed attempts at convincing us a character was important that I've ever seen)  Chloe, OTOH, is the(much more endearing and mature) girl who stands by Clark, lost him before she ever really had a chance with him, and is the keeper of his secrets.   She is, currently, a far better Superman-canon Lana(without coming across as a Lana ripoff) than Smallville Lana has ever been.  Lana was superfluous already, but now that Lois has arrived, she's extra-superfluous.

Also, a final note...Lana, why did you have to bring Jensen Ackles back from Paris with you?  Didn't you realize it would make it harder to tune you out?  *annoyed*

On the otherhand...Lana plot stupidity aside, that was an awesome ending.

I must find s5 at a good price now.

In other news, I am  ttttthhhhhhhiiiiiisssss close to buying Robin of Sherwood DVDs, even though they aren't as cheap as I want them.  I want my angsty, intense, brooding, historically and mythologically driven outlaws.  Especially my angry, vengeful Will Scarlet who reminds us why he's called Will Scarlet.  wwwwaaaaannnnnttttt

*starts dinner while she ponders what to watch next*

Smallville Season 4

Ok?  Lois Lane?  Almost compensates for Lana.  Seriously, she makes the show 100 times better.  She and Clark have more chemistry in any one scene than every combined Clark/Lana scene from the first four seasons.  Clark is so far out of his league with her that I'd say it isn't even funny, except it is, and makes the whole thing worthwhile.  Except...on the other hand...there's Chloe.  Know what?  There has been exactly ONE moment in this entire series that has given me an angsty tug in the young love department, and that was the final, 2 second shot  of Chloe's face at the end of episode 3 here.  Lois has just gotten Clark good in the dunking booth and is teasing him and ruffling his hair and he has this half sheepish/half annoyed grin because he'd been taunting her that he didn't think she could do it, and the last shot of the episode shifts to Chloe looking heartbroken because she can see the writing on the wall.  On the other hand, the scene where Lana comments to Clark that she thinks he and Lois might be good together that was supposed to tug at our heartstrings and make us go "oh, poor doomed young love" had me going "YES CLARK!!! LISTEN!!! GET OVER HER!!! YOUR DESTINY HAS ARRIVED!!!"

Also, midseason, I finally realized what on the Lana/Chloe front has been bugging me a bit(not the part where I wondered why on earth Clark and Lex were so hung up on a whiny woe-is-me drama queen) Chloe started out as a Lois standin, and Lana as the Superman-canon Lana, if altered for maximum "sympathy-angst."  However, Lana has consistently moved farther and farther from her origins to the point where she now bears almost no resemblance to her origins.  In the meantime, Chloe has grown into a character independent of Lois, and is actually filling Lana's role.  Lana is the whiny girl who TPTB have been desperately trying to convince us has a point since season 1(you know, I was going to go on about the absurdity of her storyline this season, but it's not worth it.  Except that it was one of the most deperate and failed attempts at convincing us a character was important that I've ever seen)  Chloe, OTOH, is the(much more endearing and mature) girl who stands by Clark, lost him before she ever really had a chance with him, and is the keeper of his secrets.   She is, currently, a far better Superman-canon Lana(without coming across as a Lana ripoff) than Smallville Lana has ever been.  Lana was superfluous already, but now that Lois has arrived, she's extra-superfluous.

Also, a final note...Lana, why did you have to bring Jensen Ackles back from Paris with you?  Didn't you realize it would make it harder to tune you out?  *annoyed*

On the otherhand...Lana plot stupidity aside, that was an awesome ending.

I must find s5 at a good price now.

In other news, I am  ttttthhhhhhhiiiiiisssss close to buying Robin of Sherwood DVDs, even though they aren't as cheap as I want them.  I want my angsty, intense, brooding, historically and mythologically driven outlaws.  Especially my angry, vengeful Will Scarlet who reminds us why he's called Will Scarlet.  wwwwaaaaannnnnttttt

*starts dinner while she ponders what to watch next*

movie: Robert Louis Stevenson's St. Ives

How much do I love this movie?  I love it so much that I'm now on my second copy of it.  St. Ives is a pure romantic adventure.  



It's about Jacques St. Ives a French Captain in the Napoleonic wars who is "captured in battle"(or accidentally sent down a hill and into an enemy camp...whichever sounds better) and sent to a scottish prison.  There, two important things happen.  The first is that a young woman, Flora Gilchrist, recognizes a carving he makes as being that of a local nobleman who fled France during the revolution.  The second is that Captain Chevener, who runs the prison, sees him talking to Flora and, as he has a crush on Flora himself, he asks Jacques to teach him, and the two men quickly become friends(not that that's about to stop Jacques from plotting his escape)

From that point own we have a romance of daring escapes, lost heirs, dashing heroes, plucky heroines, clever adventuresses, clandestine rescues, dastardly villains and romantic rescues.  For all that it's light romantic escapism(and, aside from some nudity at the beginning, very clean) the movie "feels" real, and the setting, costume and acting are all great.

Jacques/Flora is one of my favorite kinds of pairings(that never happen in real life)...the womanizer who, the second he meets his true love, forgets all other women exist, even though he doesn't realize it.  Flora is an orphan who lives with her "maiden aunt," Susan Gilchrist, who gave up a life of travel and adventure to take care of Flora after her brother's death.  Flora is a proper young woman, but her aunt's stories leave her craving adventure, and she gets it when she meets Jacques.  For her part, there's no feeling from Susan that she "sacrificed" anything...she had her life of adventure, she was needed, she gave it up, and she's perfectly happy and content living in Scotland and taking care of Flora.  For all that he's a womanizer and a rogue, Jacques is also an all around nice and honorable guy and good friend.  When he befriends Chevener, there's no duplicity or conniving on his part...Chevener is a nice, if somewhat simple guy who asks for aid and friendship, and Jacques gives it.  He also doesn't really WANT to fall in love with Flora--he's a prisoner, and later and escapee, so any connection or contact with him would be bad for her.  Unfortunately(or rather, fortunately) for him, Flora has other ideas and is determined to help him.  I also like the secondary romantic pairing of Susan Gilchrist and Chevener.  At first, he's smitten with Flora even though she's younger than him because, hey, young, clever, intelligent, pretty girl...and the only one around!  But, once he spends some one-on-one time(and gets courting lessons from) Susan, he gets over that and is smitten with the RIGHT woman.  She, for her part, finds his affableness and naivette, and honesty, endearing.  And I suspect that her inner self is a control freak and sees an easy life ahead of her in that regard but hey, I doubt he'll mind.


I also just caved and ordered my Robin of Sherwood DVDs(yyyyeeeeesssss...my angsty bitter outlaws are on their way...) along with a couple anime.  Because I have no self control.

movie: Robert Louis Stevenson's St. Ives

How much do I love this movie?  I love it so much that I'm now on my second copy of it.  St. Ives is a pure romantic adventure.  



It's about Jacques St. Ives a French Captain in the Napoleonic wars who is "captured in battle"(or accidentally sent down a hill and into an enemy camp...whichever sounds better) and sent to a scottish prison.  There, two important things happen.  The first is that a young woman, Flora Gilchrist, recognizes a carving he makes as being that of a local nobleman who fled France during the revolution.  The second is that Captain Chevener, who runs the prison, sees him talking to Flora and, as he has a crush on Flora himself, he asks Jacques to teach him, and the two men quickly become friends(not that that's about to stop Jacques from plotting his escape)

From that point own we have a romance of daring escapes, lost heirs, dashing heroes, plucky heroines, clever adventuresses, clandestine rescues, dastardly villains and romantic rescues.  For all that it's light romantic escapism(and, aside from some nudity at the beginning, very clean) the movie "feels" real, and the setting, costume and acting are all great.

Jacques/Flora is one of my favorite kinds of pairings(that never happen in real life)...the womanizer who, the second he meets his true love, forgets all other women exist, even though he doesn't realize it.  Flora is an orphan who lives with her "maiden aunt," Susan Gilchrist, who gave up a life of travel and adventure to take care of Flora after her brother's death.  Flora is a proper young woman, but her aunt's stories leave her craving adventure, and she gets it when she meets Jacques.  For her part, there's no feeling from Susan that she "sacrificed" anything...she had her life of adventure, she was needed, she gave it up, and she's perfectly happy and content living in Scotland and taking care of Flora.  For all that he's a womanizer and a rogue, Jacques is also an all around nice and honorable guy and good friend.  When he befriends Chevener, there's no duplicity or conniving on his part...Chevener is a nice, if somewhat simple guy who asks for aid and friendship, and Jacques gives it.  He also doesn't really WANT to fall in love with Flora--he's a prisoner, and later and escapee, so any connection or contact with him would be bad for her.  Unfortunately(or rather, fortunately) for him, Flora has other ideas and is determined to help him.  I also like the secondary romantic pairing of Susan Gilchrist and Chevener.  At first, he's smitten with Flora even though she's younger than him because, hey, young, clever, intelligent, pretty girl...and the only one around!  But, once he spends some one-on-one time(and gets courting lessons from) Susan, he gets over that and is smitten with the RIGHT woman.  She, for her part, finds his affableness and naivette, and honesty, endearing.  And I suspect that her inner self is a control freak and sees an easy life ahead of her in that regard but hey, I doubt he'll mind.


I also just caved and ordered my Robin of Sherwood DVDs(yyyyeeeeesssss...my angsty bitter outlaws are on their way...) along with a couple anime.  Because I have no self control.