I am pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a BL that doesn't include explicit sex scenes. Sometimes, I don't need my media that spicy. Queue up The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter by author Yatsuki Wakatsu and illustrated by Kikka Ohashi for the light novel and the artist for the manga is Kazuki Idori. I've been reading the manga all the way up to volume 6.
I watched the first two episodes and put it down, not feeling it. After watching Collen's Manga Recs and her praise for the artwork in the manga, I decided to give the anime and the manga a try.
I just got volume 6 via Inter Library Loan (for some odd reason we don't have 6 locally) and am disappointed that I still haven't caught up to the last episode of the anime. I already have ILL requested the last light novel since I need to know what happens in the last arc of the series.
Overall, this is a cute read. It is not earth shattering or anything radical but it sort of is a nice, pleasant read. Instead, of our MC being transported to another world without dying; the entire story hinges on the MC being an innocent by standard in another world's magical summoning process. We have an extreme workaholic who ends up in a situationship to avoid dying with a hot magical knight genius. The relationship is pretty slow burn and the artwork is adorable.
I'd wish the anime would have had a bigger budget but who am I kidding? So many series I enjoy do not get the budgets they deserve. Anyhoo, just putting this out there to spread the love for a cute series that slowly moves things forward.
I've been chugging through a range of series based on availability from my local library. These are in no particular order either:
7th time loop - I've reached the most recent volume of this fun and enjoyable series. I had to ILL this sucker from someplace in Colorado but it was worth it! I love Rishe and her clever plans to find a way to live past twenty and become a slacker. The pacing, the characters, this is just something I enjoy. I'm am beyond sad that the English translation has caught up to the Japanese volumes! Hopefully, a new volume will come out in early 2026?
Yona of the Dawn - I am up to volume 40. I will wait until a few more come out so that I can read them in bulk. Until then, I'm on hold with this ongoing manga.
Thousand Autumns [Qian Qiu] - Technically, I read this before it was licensed but the translations were hit and miss. This is slowly making it to the top of my danmei list due to the author's writing style specifically. Meng Xi Shi spends a lot more time describing the geopolitical context, how Shen Qiao reflects on his journey and setting the stage for future events. For a light novel, this Meng Xi Shi is more my vibe. I like clear and detailed descriptions which allow for me to get a rich vision of what is happening. Plus, the entire premise that Yan Wushi is attempting to corrupt Shen Qiao amuses me.
Guardian [Zhen Hun] - I read all three volumes fairly quickly and had not read an unofficial version prior. I felt like the pacing on this was poor. Volume 1 had a great mix of action, mystery and tension between the MC and ML which left me wanting more. Volumes 2 and 3 were a let down and this particular light novel from Priest was light on descriptions so there was a lot of wild guessing from my mind trying to determine what things could look like not being Chinese or culturally adjacent. I feel that Priest's works vary a bit when it comes to pacing and set up but I do not know off hand if this was an older or newer work by her.
Kamisama Kiss - Up to volume 11. I watched both seasons of the anime before reading this. My library is very much lacking for volumes of this manga with there frequently only being 1 volume between the county and the city! I have finally reached the end of the anime and moving forward, the next volumes will be new. I am disappointed that they cut out entire characters or chapters for the anime to keep it shorter. The art style is different than I would have expected as Tomoe has a different visual vibe compared to the anime which sort of made him a little more solid? Manga Tomoe is very svelte and delicate visually (not magically delicate).
Overall, I'm excited to enter new material beyond the anime!
Lord of Mysteries - Oh ho, I got sucked into this massive light novel of great internet fame. I even went as far as starting by reading the physical print version from Yen Press which covers chapters 1-76. The entire work covers 8 "volumes" of different arcs and I'm now slugging along digitally. I will pick up Part 2 of the Clown in December. I vastly prefer reading a print edition and for this series in particular it makes it much easier to keep track of things.
I'm current in Volume, 2 Faceless. As far as the writing style, the print edition reads much smoother than some of the other versions out there and names are spelled differently. I personally prefer the Ascetic Order of Moss with their Hidden Sage as opposed to the Order of Moses. lol. I will now think that the ultimate Hidden Sage is a plant sitting in an herb garden.
Volume 1, The Clown, starts slowly as the world building and basic principles need to be revealed over time as Klein figures them out. The author can sound repetitive at times, but in part it has to do with the fact this is a web novel where you are reading by chapter not entire work. It helps to keep the reader on track about some of the key actions - I'm sure if this were written for print from the start, an editor would have culled out a lot of content for flow. What I'm enjoying is that the connection and major points continue to grow forward as we learn more and more about things.
All in all, the parallel Victorian England setting allows for it to be diverse in both where it pulls concepts from as well as grounding it in a time period of both great progress and deep division of the working class from the elites. The Beyonder system so far makes sense; the author had it all mapped out from the start. However, it gets hard to keep track of all of them when you are learning them bit by bit with Klein - I'll likely sit down and do a summary cheat sheet but I don't want to go to a spoiler place since I currently only know Seer up to level 5. The ever present focus on money and finances makes me wonder if the author was a poor university student as having the main character determine if he's got enough money to take the streetcar home was strong in the first volume. Even now, the amount of thought Klein puts into taking public transit over a carriage to save money is running in the background while he deals with much more dangerous situations.
I'm still chugging along taking advantage of my local public library. Currently struggling with the low copy numbers for Yona of the Dawn from about volume 25 to 35. But we are getting to a place where there are more copies available now, thank goodness. I definitely was on some hold lists for awhile.
I have to say, I am still absolutely loving Yona. The series has a great depth and breadth of characters and I'm loving how natural it feels for what is a historical fantasy setting series. Most importantly, the Yona and Hak relationship is natural and doesn't seem forced or wrought with excessive amounts of drama. Just more cute obliviousness on the Yona side. By this point you can tell the author knows her characters inside and out and they are dealing with complex situations. And Yun - he's still the precious handsome boy genius!
Nina the Starry Bride - this story is much more hot boy forward but I love the artwork. Still leaning towards Sett despite his broken boy trope. Though I enjoy the liner notes from the author where some of her assistants have clear ship biases. The comment where she asked the colleague if she 'was Sett's mother' gave me a chuckle. I loved the final page here with all Nina's boys protecting her. I'm really starting to like Holt as well with his nerd with glasses/serious badass without glasses dichotomy.
It appears that the paperback versions of these are popping up fairly quickly as the digital version of this is much further along. To savor the pleasure of reading physical media, I will continue to check out each volume as it comes out. No need to be on top of everything. I'm spending enough time offline or not interacting with most fandoms that I'm in a spoiler free zone all alone. I will fully admit that I can only dedicate my brain and limited free time to 1 fandom at a time and it is still Kekkai Sensen.
Last but not least -
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad. Not manga or a light novel but still read recently. This novel won the Giller Prize in Canada in 2021, which is awarded to an up and coming author. I have friends who for years would read every single Giller Prize winner until life/work caught up to them. The novel is short and sweet coming in under 300 pages. It has a parallel timeline format with alternating chapters as you piece things together how a young Syrian boy ended up on a Greek beach via Egypt. It also is a retelling of Peter Pan to an extent - and highlights the biases and inability of Western societies to see their own blindness about the issues.
The material is a critical look at the impacts of colonialism (my Golden Kamuy meta topics right there), dehumanization of migrants, desperate people trying to escape the Middle East/Africa for a better life in the vague West. I enjoyed the writing, striking a good balance of details while not getting bogged down by overly complex statements. I've been annoyed by some other recent novels (past 10 years of so) which are absolutely painful to read due to their rambling, convoluted, ridiculously detailed and bloated run on sentences. [see what i just did there]
If anything, it is a shame it took me this long to read it - I told other people to read it back when it got the Giller thinking I'd read it but work - life - moving - new job etc etc. The ending of the book will likely make it or break it for you. Since it is so short, it both reads quickly yet there are elements of it which really need to linger in your brain. Marinate a bit if you will. I personally enjoyed the antagonist of the two children the most a former EU military peacekeeper who served in the Balkans in the 90s and now spends his time chasing ghosts.
Omar's writing personally reads kinda like Michael Ondaantje. Neither of them bury you knee deep in text yet are able to convey powerful statements elegantly. I wonder if it has to do with the idea that they are from countries that were under colonial rule by Europeans (Egypt/Sri Lanka) were educated in another country (Quatar/England) ended up in Canada. Both of them have a globalist perspective on things which I think comes from a lived experience that most of us don't have. I'm currently rereading In the Skin of a Lion, and yes, their writing is still unique but i just get this vibe. Anyhoo, if you want a book that will make you feel things that may be unpleasant but beautifully written than give it a read.
I'm following it up with more Yona of the Dawn and the silly 7th Time Loop light novel series by Touko Amekawa.
That's all for now! Support your local library and save money!
Chill reading update - juggling all my holds on queue at the library
Various things over the years have really decreased my ability to sit down and churn out in depth analyses. Partly due to my current job, and volunteering in three local organizations that I am passionate about. And really trying to keep my brain from burning out on the news.
The point of my meta aren't overtly political but if you read me over the years, you can likely glean some aspects of where I fall on the spectrum. I have deliberately pulled back a lot of spending outside of the necessities since November 2024. Another effect of this has been my increased use of my local library. I'm still supporting local bookstores by purchasing manga here and there, now I'm really taking advantage of how many books are available through the library and celebrating that books I'd only dreamed of in my youth are readily available.
With my increased library use I've been reading the following series:
Witch Hat Atelier - read through volume 12. I love this series and it got heavier faster than I'd anticipated. I'm a little nervous about the upcoming anime adaptation. The art really lends itself to the page! Not surprisingly, my two favorite characters are Olly and Agott. The entire cast is amazing but yeah I have a thing for anal retentive work-a-holics with dark hair. Looking forward to picking up volume 13 soon.
I was at my local anime con a week ago - I made sure to pick up some art from the artist's alley. Turns out everything I got was from the series! A wooden charm with all the girls and two acrylic ones of Agott and Olly. I also got a Coco riso print and a beautiful Qifrey as well.
I also got a picture of a Qifrey cosplayer with a brush buddy on their shoulders! So cute! I was expecting more people to be involved in the series or more cosplayers but only saw the one all three days.
We'll see how this series plays out in the greater fandom community when it gets an anime. Compared to the standard popular shounen, it really might be pushing people to really think about grey areas and how one finds a purpose in life. I got sucked in since I love me morally grey areas, personal growth and development and questions about using powers for good or not.
Honey Lemon Soda - read through volume 6. I've watched the anime which was good. They skipped a few manga chapters here and there. The series really speaks to my bullied middle school self, who struggled to find footing in high school. And I didn't get a fresh start since the same people were still there. It is that classic by the book plain Jane girl with the flashy bad boy but somehow keeps it fresh. I think being in Uka's head and the struggle to learn new habits while being true to your best self is difficult in your teen years. It likely is a relatable tale for a lot of readers young and old.
Yona of the Dawn - I'd read through about volume 20 several years ago. Life got busy, and I got sucked in the Golden Kamuy with no brain space for anything else with my busy work schedule. I'm now up to volume 29. It is a great series - the character development is solid and rewarding as they navigate difficult situations. The continued focus to always keep the revolving cast fresh as well as having a lot of women playing key roles through the stories just makes it such an enjoyable read.
Yona - amazing. Hak - amazing. Yun - amazing. Gija, Sinha, Jae-ha and Zeno - amazing. For secondary cast members I've grown to love Riri, Tae-jun and Tae-u and we cannot forget the Earth tribe general Guen-tae and his bubbly wife Yun-ho.
I'm chugging along, reading about 4-5 volumes per check out. For some odd reason the library has few copies of the volumes from around 25-mid 30s on the shelf.
Nina the Starry Bride - read up to volume 8. This is my guilty pleasure read. I watched the anime and have been reading the manga to get further into the story. I do enjoy it - don't get me wrong, but I don't get Nina and Az. Sure Azure is a total dreamy ideal hot guy - yet their initial romance didn't do it for me. They barely knew each other and somehow fell for each other. There is no sweet build up or payoff for them; they defaulted into wanting each other. My controversial take is that a Nina-Sett endgame would be a better payoff. That is a relationship that actually required investment!
However, Sett is also such a trope-filled dumpster fire of a person that really Nina should not do the emotional labor of a trained therapist. I'm interested to see where it goes but let's just say I very well may have further complaints about how it plays out. Yet, I'll keep up with it because it is such a good series for fluffy, candy, political drama shoujo romance. I also really like the style, it's a bit more on the minimal side and gives the panels space to breathe as opposed to the sheer shoujo-ness of something like Honey Lemon Soda.
Yuwu - not a manga, but the meatbun series that I enjoyed reading as a fan-translation. I have strong opinions on 2ha - some of them positive, some very negative. Yuwu was much more what I wished 2ha would have been. Yeah, there are still some very cringe plot points in the story and meatbun really know how to write terrible humans being horrible to other humans. However, when I first read about Murong Lian in the early chapters and noticed that meatbun put him the linernotes/footnotes, I knew he was going to become important even though he'd been introduced as a shit individual. That investment in waiting to see what his role would be paid off. This is directly due to the fact that I am a sucker for pretty boy characters who are bitches. Or really just men who are bitches. Plus, the fact that Murong Lian, "Greed" plays up being a bitch to his advantage. I also really liked Jiang Fuli as they made up 2 of the 3 "poor" traits of Chonghua, as "Wrath".
I'm up to volume 4 on with a physical book which makes for a more comfortable read. I'm doing it all for Murong Lian. Mo Xi and Gu Mang are fine - I'm all here for a chain smoking bratty bitch.
That's it for now. Doing my best to juggle various series as I put holds on them and wait for pick up.
Because, I don't have the time to do as many in depth analyses as I once did, but still like to.
Kekkai Sensen - Beat 3 Peat finally gets us to Klaus' backstory/fang hunter origin. Just like Nightow to wait until oh, 16 years into a manga to explain something.
We first got the introduction of the additional Reinherz siblings, Gabriel, Ignatz and Rebecca who converged on HL to fight a part of the count who turned Klaus into what he is today. This allowed for the info dump from Zed to Leo that most fang hunters survived blood breed attacks and didn't become ghouls nor blood breeds thus able to fight them.
I'd been waiting for all of the chapters to drop so I could look at them at once and really get my feel for it.
In Bloody Thursday part 1, we meet a twelve-year-old Klaus as adorable as we'd expect and friends with another kid named Edgar. Edgar has some outdated fashion sense with suspenders instead of a belt and a relaxed vibe. A clear altercation with some Slavic blood breeds, who go as far as implying that Edgar is even his boyfriend, leaves Klaus shook and incredibly upset. When Diana and Klaus interact with the blood breeds they are scared but Edgar coldly looks at them unimpressed.
Later at their hang out spot in the woods Edgar tries to get him to cheer up. However, Edgar's words aren't those of another young teen, they serve as direct foreshadowing with the highly specific 'from here on' and that the 'impact' of the day's event will lessen over time. That closing line that he thinks Klaus behaved the right way and the endorsement that it means more than anything to Edgar implies how critical this was.
Sure those Slavic blood breeds are obviously bad, but you immediately get the sense that something is off with Edgar.
Soon after this incident, the boys enter their hideout (which just happens to be the lair of the blood breeds). Bloodline gate bats separate the two of them after Klaus hears Diana's scream. He enters the lair to find her killed and being eaten by the trio. Klaus cries out in horror, is terribly wounded losing all of his limbs.
In the darkness Edgar appears and finds Klaus in a giant ziplock bag (for freshness, I guess) and he takes Klaus back to their tent. There he tells him it is the end of the line for him unless he let's Edgar help him him. Klaus appears to be somewhat are and when Edgar asks if he'd like to avenge Diana's death, he leans in really close to hear what that reply is. Based on Edgar's reply, it seems Klaus agreed to it.
The chapter ends with Edgar tearing up while bearing his fangs telling Klaus they will walk the road together and he'll be there for him. All of this clearly indicates that Edgar wants Klaus to be with him. Edgar clearly respects Klaus but also wants his friendship.
Bloody Thursday part 2 - or how to almost make Klaus a Blood Breed! The manga doesn't waste time as Edgar sinks his teeth into Klaus' neck to do the usual vampire thing.
Edgar than talks to Klaus describing what is happening to his body as he transforms. And why did Edgar go to all this work to set up this horrible event for Klaus. Because he's lonely and wants another blood breed [boy]friend! He didn't just choose him from a hat, he got to know Klaus over the period of several years and determined that he was worth of being next to him.
Of course this isn't without risk to Klaus, so he makes it clear if this doesn't work out and Klaus isn't the person he thinks he is - well its over.
With all the disappearances, Lucky Abrams appears again with Magdalena. We learn that the fog is directly related to a powerful blood breed and they are continuing to investigate on their own. I love to note that Magdalena continues to sport heels, indicating that one can choose whatever style of shoe for blood freeze techniques.
Meanwhile, Edgar continues to push Klaus to evolve, referring back to the levels indicated in the original KKSS one shot, where level 13 is the point of no return. We learn that Edgar has pushed the incredibly buff Klaus to level 12. At the same time, Edgar has trapped the three other blood breeds in the bunker having recalled the Bloodline gate bats.
Edgar only opens the door to let Klaus in who quickly demolishes the henchmen and Vladimir is able to escape with Klaus in hot pursuit. The Reinherz family rush to the woods, Vlad realizes the fog has lifted before he and Klaus get frozen by Magdalena, with her thorns of absolute zero. Another botanical attack from her on the books as well.
Klaus was able to break free of her ice and he kills Vladimir easily. Klaus is completely confused and his family quickly surrounds him as Edgar comes out from the shadows, requesting they hand him over. The family look confused and Edgar tells them to get more information from the fang hunters near by.
They are unwilling to let go, so Edgar tries to suck them all in with Klaus so that they can facilitate the completion of the last step in the ritual to get Klaus to level 13 as he observes Klaus' tears falling on the grass. Klaus finally gets up and embraces Edgar in a hug. It appears that Edgar may be blushing? as he then presses off the ground.
With all the force he can summon, Klaus leaps into the air while hugging Edgar into the opening of the giant cross. Klaus is crying while he pushes them into the mouth of the opening while Edgar goes from a calm expression to a soft smile. Was he expecting Klaus to do this? Is he relieved Klaus is trying to push them in together to save his family?
A tooth impales Edgar's head and the entire structure collapses. It seems like he's fine with this happening. Everyone is released and the chapter ends with Abrams report. Edgar was not just some Blood Breed, he was one of the Elder 13, Count Mobius Zoa El-Linkal. Seriously, can these old blood breeds not have such complicated names?
And the chapter ends calling for full support for poor Klaus, a twelve-year-old now in a level 12 form and still human.
First impressions from these past few chapters.
1.) Klaus got the 'Wolfwood' treatment having a strange advanced aging technique used on him, but instead of aging him more quickly it more was about refining his form to become a full blood breed. I was never a fan of that aspect of Trigun Maximum, it sort of soured things for me since Wolfwood gave off snippets of wisdom that didn't fit his final age. At least Klaus now is super tough and very hard to kill [shurgs]. This does align with the original one shot with the blood breed marks and leveling system.
2.) Edgar/Count Mobius is a very lonely guy. Seriously. Trying to understand the rationale and existence that he's been living for thousands upon thousands of years. He's been looking for a companion who can share his experiences. To think that he went to the effort to put himself in orbit of Klaus, get to know him since he was seven and then also move undetected in the presence of others is impressive. With both of them crying during the course of the events did Klaus and Edgar love each other?
It makes me wonder how many other times he'd tried to make a new friend and it failed or if he'd known he would need to find the right person who would understand him?
Now, should you be doing this to a twelve-year-old who cannot consent to the full intent? No, that would be bad. But then again if you are an almost immortal being who doesn't value humans as a whole and really have been craving someone to be your equal, it wouldn't be that hard to rationalize your actions easily.
Additionally, it doesn't seem like he's upset when Klaus cries as he pushes him down into the spiky teeth. It could be read that Edgar/Count would accept someone like Klaus finally killing him, releasing him of his thousands of years of possible suffering?
He likely found a way to lure the low level blood breeds to the area when he'd decided he wanted Klaus and watched things play out as he expected. He lead Klaus to be close to them, and knew that they'd likely take an interest in Diana. The fog and all the strange distortions in the forest were in response to what he was doing to Klaus. When Vladimir notices the fog has lifted he knows he's in trouble since all of it was done by someone more powerful than him, including the summoning of the Bloodline gate leaving them trapped.
What is still unclear is how involved the Reinherz family is in the overall fang hunter scheme. I'd assumed that his family was always involved in them but their father was the one who pulled them away from it. But if they were a family that were involved it would mean they had the possibility to become fang hunters. They clearly did not know Blitz or Magdalena when called out in the moment.
Does this mean Steven met Klaus after this incident? He'd be sixteen at the youngest, since he's four years older than Klaus. I'd always assumed they met when they were younger, but maybe not if Edgar was one of his few friends? I have so many questions! I need more answers.
I've known for years how important Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio was to manga, but I still was not prepared for what I read.
This is a complex work which touched on so many different issues that get to the heart of the human condition.
So much is crammed into it when you read it all in a few sittings it makes it hard to take your time with it. A great work which I will have to revisit to fully appreciate it.
That's it. I'm glad I broke down and added it to my bookshelf next to my Rose of Versailles 5 volume set.
It's not really a reboot and more of a faithful adaptation of the manga. The old Ranma show didn't cover the entirety of the Manga and had a lot of filler.
Hello there! Yes, you are correct that Ranma 1/2 2024 does appear to be a very good adaptation of the manga. Which is a pleasant surprise that I am enjoying. Until we got the first few episodes though, it was always up in the air. I will admit my disappointment in Trigun is not going to leave the back of my mind anytime soon.
Hopefully, this version is successful enough that they will continue to do more seasons to finish out the manga! That would be great.
Soooooo, we are up to episode 5 of the new Ranma 1/2 from studio MAPPA. And how am I feeling about this? I'm enjoying it! That's right, as a silly martial arts/romance/zany humor series it so far is delivering decently.
I was completely nervous about yet another older series getting a reboot, but this one has already cleared my low expectations. I wasn't sure how I felt with the more pastel/muted color palette from the previews but after a few episodes, I like it.
First off, they decided to keep the series set in the 1980s which means we didn't need to have the full technology upgrade - which another one of Rumiko Takahashi's famous series would completely fall apart with. That's right, Maison Ikkoku wouldn't work with ubiquitous cellphone/texting.
They also leverage the 80s decor/aesthetic well, reflecting it through the normal clothing and outfits along with Akane's bedroom.
I first read Ranma 1/2 long before watching the original anime so I'm less attached to the original anime. Sure, it was fine and the first OP will live rent free in my head until I die. I appreciated how the remake made sure to keep the feel of the original OP even with a much more smoothly animated version of the martial arts moves that Ranma and Akane did in the original OP and expanded it to contain Ryoga and Shampoo which was great.
Therefore, unlike other series that I watched a lot more, I couldn't even do a one to one comparison of the original version and the 2024 one if I wanted to.
I have to admit the family friendly censorship of Ranma's frequently carefree attitude towards his female form seems a bit odd as a manga fan. I get it, I'm not some fanboy getting my knickers in a twist over it - more like it matches the self-censorship that is omnipresent with shirtless males in anime. I honestly think the last time I recall a male character in anime had legit nipples it was Spike in Cowboy Bebop. I just don't get it, there was a time when male nipples existed freely in anime but now it is no nipples. I'm not looking for an answer, just scratching my head that this is a line that can't be crossed in more recent series. [cough cough] Golden Kamuy [cough cough].
Anyhoo, I've gotten off course . . .
Five episodes into the series, I'm enjoying it. The color is fun, I like the dynamic panels, extra effects and the much more manga adjacent feeling. The manga is so bonkers and over the top and this anime really seems to capture it well. Since it is a silly manga the gags can be approached from a number of different ways. It appears that someone on the staff is a huge Kuno fan based on his even more dramatic entrance in this version.
The biggest disappointment with this first season is we will only get to the introduction of Shampoo - I'm going to have to wait awhile for my gal Ukyo to appear with her giant spatula.
Welp, that's all at the moment for comments on the 2024 version. I'm also reading the manga currently, past where I had gotten with my first edition books. It continues to be hilarious and I'm currently in the middle of the 'food fu' arc which is a great snapshot of how the series captures that weird sense of humor.
That's right. In this era of anime remakes, Ranma 1/2 is stepping up to the plate and will be animated by Studio Mappa! I do like me some works by Mappa.
I just saw the new OP for it and so much of it refers directly back to the original OP, including keeping a few key animation sequences! I dunno - I don't want to be disappointed by it but at the same time I want to watch it.
Out of all of the remakes bouncing around this one pulls at me the most. Sure, I was all on board with Sailor Moon Crystal ten years ago but Ranma 1/2 was the first manga I ever bought! The nostalgia and continued love of the series is strong within me.
It is definitely hitting different seeing that this was my first manga series ever. I put a Shampoo sticker in my Ti-34 calculator which only recently went on the fritz at the ripe old age of twenty-eight and is still in my desk at work.
I have a Ranma 1/2 poster still in my old closet at my parents' house (someday I should actually, you know, grab it), I bought fan art at Anime Expo in 2022 and even this summer I got a Ranma double sided charm from a local artist at an Asian food festival who also tables at local cons/art markets.
I have to admit, I got all excited for the Trigun reboot and if you've been reading along you know I was incredibly disappointed. And you also have a rough estimate of my age based on when I watched it originally as a fan sub. Yet if there is any series that can be used to date me it is Ranma 1/2 since I bought all of my manga before university. I oddly kept telling myself I'd round out the collection when I got older and had more money to complete it. I never did and it has remained a mess of the original Viz editions.
Behold! The first English edition of Ranma 1/2 in the left-to-right, hand lettered, and redrawn sound effects all in English.
Volume 1 cost $16.95 when I bought it which would have worked out to a whopping $33 adjusted for inflation, with a publication date of May 1993. Purchasing those early volumes from Viz was not for the faint of heart or those with shallow pockets. This is reminding me why I never back filled volumes 5-7 within my own collection, coming in at $15.95 each. I'm pretty sure that a few of them were likely Christmas presents as well . . .
These editions are what eventually came to match the size of the Viz Signature versions like Maison Ikkoku and Gokinjo Monogatari. These are hefty books and have held up pretty well over the years.
So I now find myself in the exact same position I was in before Trigun Stampede - do I reread the manga and finish it off since I likely only read the first third of it? And then do I take the time to review the new anime from Mappa?
Unlike Trigun which required me to start from scratch having only watched the anime, I've read up to volume 12 of the original manga and filled in the gaps by watching the original anime back in 2014/2015 to around where I'd read it - I think.
One of the issues is that I have the old format for it where there are no chapter numbers like it would have run in the weekly magazine to directly compare with. Viz did a really weird format since it started out as a comic with different arcs and parts and all mine have part 1-13/14 per volume. If I'm not mistaken, there were two subsequent editions of Ranma 1/2 in English; a right-to-left reprint of the original Japanese tankobon with the sequential chapter numbers from the magazine which then was later bundled into a 2 in 1 edition also in the right-to-left format.
Going by chapter names, I'm going to check out various volumes of the 2 in 1 edition from my local library and hope they line up to cover my gaps and then continue onward from chapter 142, The Mark of the Gods.
I also read the edition which really struggled to describe okonomiyaki to a non-Japanese reader. For several years, my young mind tried to square how they were like pizza when they were made on a griddle but had lots of toppings?!?!
I still don't know why the translators chose to localize it this way. They could have simply called it a savory pancake and it would have solved a lot of reader confusion.
It wasn't until university when I was hanging out with friends that I had the chance to make real okonomiyaki (a friend's roommate was Japanese) and the first thing I blurted out was something along the lines of "Like Ukyo from Ranma!" Granted, Ukyo was one of my fav characters at the time.
Anyhoo, perhaps I'll do some meta posts as I read the manga and build up to watching the new anime. I don't think I'll have it in me to compare to the original anime since I read the manga long before watching the anime here in there for about fifteen years. I'm also curious to compare the later English editions with mine to see if there are some minor differences or not. I haven't seen the solid colored books like mine since I bought them in the first place.
Current manga[ish] reading list in no particular order
Neighborhood Story (Gokinjo Monogatari) by Ai Yawaza - I now own up to volume 3 of the English release of the manga. The four volume set is based on what I believe was the 10th Anniversary reprint of the manga in Japan. The French edition also follows the four book format but I think the German sticks to the original seven. I have the original tankobon editions for volumes 1-3 where when you line them up, it creates a long dinner table with the entire cast.
I read the entire manga in the early 2010s via scans and had spent the late 90s to that point praying for an official release after Paradise Kiss was printed by Tokyopop. The series was old enough that in the late 90s early 2000s no one was out there doing the line by line translations that I used to use to read manga. I read all of Wish that way with the original manga and the speech bubble guide. e.g. page 12 panel 5
Overall impressions - this was a white whale for me - I likely bought the original manga when I was sixteen or seventeen based on the art style alone. I would say it falls into your standard dramatic shoujo manga with high school students but the lives of ones in counter-culture, outside the norms of usual expectations. When I read the scans I enjoyed it and while it was nothing mind blowing it is a rewarding read. The various individuals sporting alternative fashions is one of my favorite aspects of it. You have a MC who leans mostly towards mod style (Twiggy from the 1960s) with a strong vintage twist, punk, lolita, generic 90s alternative dude, preppy and your designer brand girl.
I look forward to getting volume 4 and completing the set, just it will be likely 28 years later than I would have wanted.
The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda - I sprung hard for the recent English hardcover editions. One of my friends lent me her roommates 2 volume tankobon set of this series in 2000, but it too lacked a good translation to find online and read along to it. I watched the anime in 2014 and bought the DVD box set. Of course, I couldn't say no to this classic shoujo manga. I'm through the first three volumes and slowly working my way through it. Seeing that I already watched the anime, nothing in it is overall surprising.
I have noticed that early on the level of gay is pretty high and this current "twist" of Andre getting closer to Oscar is much stronger than I felt in the anime. The entire loss of Rosalie and her fawning over Oscar was a disappointment, also toned down in the anime. There is a lot more questioning with Oscar's character as to who she is, what she desires and how to fit into her world. I really wish it pressed those questions more but alas, I'm really starting to feel the Oscar x Andre pressure ramping up. In the anime I felt like it sort of came out of nowhere and in the manga it is more like - okay Rosalie's crush was cute but real adult relationships need a man. lols.
Even with my different opinion on the manga compared to the anime, I cannot stress how owning such a fundamental manga series is. I don't think I'll ever attempt a meta on this - more than enough already exists about this with how long it has been around.
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - An impulse purchase at The Comic Swap on Allen Street. I'm pretty sure some of the individual volumes of X and other early 2000s manga were on the shelf when I was in university.
I'd heard some good murmurs about this manga and a friend kept recommending it. I can't explain how blown away I was this series. The art style is amazing with little use of screen tones and the emphasis on line art. With the author's previous work for DC and Marvel it shows but in all the good ways as far a composition and again that line art. And we haven't even gotten to the story itself!
I have read through volume 3 and the pacing is excellent. It doesn't info dump how magic works and the world building is natural and unforced. It already has brought up great questions about who controls knowledge, disability vs accommodation, dealing with trauma, what is your purpose in life/goals. It has the right amount of whimsy that you feel cozy but at the same time you know when shit is serious.
What I feel the most is that Witch Hat Atelier is intentional with everything in it. It is a carefully constructed story and comes together naturally with a good balance of young pupils and adults. And the character designs! Oh my goodness, I love them all.
The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuuga - Can't skip my gal Mao Mao. I mean I cosplayed as her back in April because how frequently do you get a pragmatic female lead with deadpan humor and is a scientist who likes plants? I also watched the first season of the anime loving every moment of it and how it really shines with its focus on women navigating a world not made to really benefit them. I decided to read the original light novel instead of the manga based on the light novel. I think by time I finish volume 2 I will have caught up to season 1 and hopefully, pull ahead of the eventual second season which comes in 2025, I think.
Out of all the titles, this one is likely my biggest guilty pleasure as a plant biologist; Mao Mao as a character has a lot of common scientist traits which make her very relatable and fun to see in any sort of media. Her obliviousness to certain things not because she doesn't have an eye for details but because she can't be bothered is realistic but rarely given to a female character in most forms of media regardless of cultural context.
Will I dive into the rest of these series for a meta? I'm honestly not sure. I may do a "quick" review of Gokinjo Monogatari when I complete volume 4 but it isn't the sort of manga that feeds into deep critical analysis. It is a coming of age story about artistic kids and looks cool.
I'd likely be more inclined to tackle Witch Hat Atelier but sometimes I just want to read something and not deep dive into it even if it intellectually feeds my curiosity. My current plan is to catch up on the manga and I'm relying on my county library to read volumes 4-13. If I really like it, I'll probably become a sucker and buy it at some point but I need to be a little more mindful of my manga purchases for the sake of my overflowing bookshelves. I took one of those surveys about how much manga you own and I wasn't expecting to clock in at almost 200 volumes when I've given away/sold/donated them from time to time.
I've got some thoughts on Kekkai Sensen but I'm waiting for the next chapter to drop since it ended on a cliff hanger with that plot twist where the "Count" from previous statements in the manga was not some old frumpy classic Dracula like Blood Breed but instead in a teenage form as Edgar. I liked the twist since I was suspicious of his character but didn't think he might have been the true mastermind of things. But we'd be lazy readers if we'd forgotten that Blood Breeds can easily shapeshift as demonstrated with Girika and Tonio. I will always give her ultimate cougar cred testing out her boy toy before committing to making him a Blood Breed instead of snacking on him.
Gokinjo Monogatari got an English release. I am just - feeling like I got my wish from 1998.
That's right, I'm alive but not very active on the meta for the time being. 2023 sped up for the second half; work got crazy busy for Q4. I worked up to Dec 18th through several weekends so yeah, needed some recharge time.
I don't know how I missed this, but thanks to watching Coleen's Manga Recs, I discovered that the one shoujo manga title that I had been wanting an English release for has finally arrived. Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa!
I discovered Gokinjo Monogatari in '98. One of the local comic stores had the first three tankobons and I bought them based on the cover artwork alone.
It wasn't until undergrad I was able to meet a few more people and figure out more than just the name and artist. I tried to find the translation of the manga online, but was unsuccessful. I have to remind people that before scanlations, you had to buy a tankobon and hope you found the text based translation which would have the text according to page number and what panel location. I read a fair bit of Kenshin that way, but sadly, this series was not that popular with readers in the States.
I've been moving my entire adult life hauling my three precious volumes of the manga hoping that someday I would first, collect volume 4-7 to complete the picture and that I'd have my matching English version. Granted, I haven't done a good job of looking for volumes 4-7 when I've been in Japan . . . or using the internet either.
As if to spite me, the follow up manga, Paradise Kiss, did get a translation in 2002 from Tokyo Pop which exists in the same universe as Gokinjo Monogatari. Note that a previous manga's characters show up at the Flea Market in Monogatari as well and Yazawa likes to keep a lot of her series tied together. Eventually, the scanlation of the series appeared and I read it around 2011. I'd only found an episode or two of the anime during the golden age of file sharing, but didn't follow through on it. I wanted to read the manga before watching the anime.
In 2017, I visited the Manga Museum in Kyoto, got to see a cool display about Ribon magazine and of course they had Gokinjo Monogatari merch! I bought the file folder set and stickers! I bought the Gokinjo Monogatari UT shirt from Uniqlo featuring Ribon series. Yet each time I found more stuff, the universe got the last laugh. Japan released the collectors set with four volumes, there was a French translation, German etc and never one for English.
So, you have to realize how I absolutely lost my mind when the thing I'd figured would never happen, happened! Not only was it a thing, I'd even missed the December 2023 release date -at least I didn't have to wait for a pre-order to get volume 1.
I'm happy to see that this version included some of the original color pages!
It has a few more at the end with a photo wall of Mikako's outfits. Everything about the style of this manga, I absolutely love. The fashion goes so hard even now. I get nostalgic with all of the mid-90s Japanese street fashion which has a mix of 60s mod and 70s flare. I think the series also does a good job of capturing that awkward time in your teenage life when you are trying to figure out how to act with people you are interested in. But failing to sort things out. Unlike a lot of other high school manga series, this one stands out with the much more "normal" appearance of the students.
I remember picking it up and thinking that the characters looked like they could be my peers; though there is no way Mikako's outfits would pass my high school's own liberal dress code where dyed hair and piercings were permitted. Her bare midriff would get her in trouble . . . Funny how now when I look at it, this is a very unusual high school set up for a Japanese reader likely coming from a more regimented school environment with a uniform and strict dress code. I never thought about it at the time. More that I was plotting my own hair dying plans for when I moved out of the house for undergrad just like the characters had - while still in high school.
I did read Parakiss back when it came out from 2002-2005; however, it never really resonated with me the same way a series that I couldn't even find a decent translation for. I started to watch Nana but couldn't get into it at all. Maybe it was my mindset or the fact that I wasn't the mood for young twenty-somethings figuring their shit out.
Yet, here I am in the winter of 2024, and I have volume 1 of the collectors edition format of Gokinjo Monogatari and I'm still loving every little bit of the story as I read it. Perhaps, Parakiss and Nana were more edgier/grittier than something like this which is why they never quite clicked with me. I wanted my fashionable shoujo drama but not over the top.
I'm not sure what I'll write about it. It isn't a well known series both due to the fact it is from the 90s and that it is shoujo but perhaps I can reflect on what I was drawn to it all those years ago and what I think about it now.
I finally got my copy of the B3 B5 book and was most excited to flip through it despite the fact I'll never be able to fully appreciate it with my terrible at best understanding of Japanese.
Besides having the original Kekkai Sensen one shot with Klaus, Chain, and Gilbert, it has a info for the first 10 volumes of the manga and the first season of the anime along with tons of color chapters and anime promo art. Interviews with both bands for their OP and ED themes as well as with the anime director.
Of course, I care about Daniel. His manga entry page isn't that detailed but does give us all his basic stats.
His name is only written in kana with no matching English for the manga character guide.
However, we also have his anime info box, where he is Lt. Daniel Low.
Besides him having the last name written as Low, I'm more disappointed at how lame his character design is. I don't think we ever even get to see him standing up in all of season 1 (which the book is only based on it). The very straight nature of his posture is a bummer, the anime at least still kept Steven's noodle posture but Daniel's is gone. His waist is not very cinched unlike in the manga. The anime guide also doesn't have him smoking in his character art. It seems so odd to not include that.
Interestingly, Aligura's Monster Truck is also in the B5 book where it is referred to as a "Monster Track" . . . the whole kana to English always results in things like this. It does seem that most of the Japanese media wants to write his name as Daniel Low(e); yet for me, my brain will always go with the anime Law which as I've stated previously, is hilarious.
I sort of wish there would be an updated Kekkai Sensen guide book, which would include all of Back 2 Back. Really, it is overdue.
The only other work from Studio Orange that I have watched some of is Beastars. I was intrigued since the manga got an award and was buzz worthy, but I ended up dropping it after about 5 episodes. I usually give most shows a 3 episode test but seemed to see if I'd give it an extra college try. However, my reason for dropping it had nothing to do with the production itself, the series itself didn't keep my attention. No fault of the production, just not something I wanted to keep watching. My guilty pleasure anime is to watch the D4DJ anime which are vastly poorer quality CGI, but than isn't why I watch them.
I am aware that their production of Land of the Lustrous was highly rated for its production quality and stellar visuals. However, I have not actively sought it out and to give it the same comparison as Trigun Stampede, I would have to read the manga and then watch the anime.
I really want to be clear that I think that Studio Orange has stunning visuals and high production values. The facial expressions in Stampede, especially Meryl's were exceptionally well done. My major beef with their version was how they decided to retell the story. It does appear that the art style for the Land of the Lustrous manga and anime are more similar and the animation took full advantage of the 3D for the gem like hair.
I think for a lot of Trigun fans, the addition of extra characters from the manga excited people and what happened to them in this production was a disappointment. Especially in regards to Elendira.
I get that when you go from manga to anime, a lot of the time the character designs get changed/simplified for the animation process but the changes for Stampede were extreme for a lot of the characters and it really took away from Nightow's art style. But the changes were much more than I think a lot of us were expecting and they seem to fit what I'd call a more generic/isekai look. Or perhaps, since Trigun wasn't a super popular manga in Japan and waaaaay more popular outside of Japan, they figured it could use more of a tweak because the art style of the original has always stood out even in the 90s?
Keep in mind these are just my personal opinions, but Stampede was a huge disappointment for a lot of people. I think Studio Orange has the technical chops to really put together a visually stunning production - but they clearly didn't pull from the source material in a clever way.
Asks that I will never really answer. My apologies; life gets busy and I get distracted.
I'm dropping these here today, so I can clear out some of the asks from my inbox. Apologies for some of these going back to when Trigun Stampede was still airing. >_< If I don't have a clear and concise answer, I'll let things sit in the inbox but they occasionally do fall off my radar.
Uuummm sorry Anon, I meant to give this more of a response but as I got angrier at Stampede, I just couldn't bring myself to give you a well thought out reply. My overall vibes for the Christian themes that were missing in Stampede had to do how they kept a lot of the surface content, images/style/design from the original but with the sci-fi emphasis removed the weird esoteric Christian stuff and made it look that way. Vash was more willing to engage with others in the original manga/'98 anime based on what Rem taught him. Yet, we never get why he does what he does in Stampede. By changing Wolfwood from being a traveling preacher where Vash lambasts him with 'thou shall not kill' the nuance of his character's moral conflict is lost. He's a trained killer for a quasi-religious organization that might be using a Zia in a really not cool way. We also do not see him act in a self-sacrificing way, which he does from the get go in the original.
The angelic body horror was gone, replaced by a sci-fi reading of plants and the concept of plant worship was missing in there as well. There is a lot of internal dialogue that many of the characters pose through the anime and manga and its just gone from Stampede and it revolves around forgiveness, violence, and justice.
For me, the complete re-interpretation of the world and loss of the moral conflict that all characters show hurt the Christian (and Buddhist) themes that underpinned the original. It really came down to how the characters acted and talked. There is no point to a gunslinger who is almost completely passive when one who is active but uses a non-lethal method based on principle. There is a chapter where Vash gets taunted by some enemy for how bad his target practice is until they determine he was that accurate at shooting someone but not killing them. The best way to summarize is that they took some of the aesthetics of the original and didn't follow through on how the characters acted. There is so much contemplation in the original and that is missing in the remake.
Let's just make this a list:
1.) Leo would actually have a real girlfriend. I already have issues with White, I think adding her in as a quasi-girlfriend was a disservice to Leo's character.
2.) Zapp would be white. Less of a manwhore perhaps?
3.) Chain would be cute as opposed to cold and distant. No drinking assholes under the table and vomiting in her bathroom later. See Meryl Stryfe.
4.) K.K. would have boobs, and somehow be more sexy than an awkward and doting mother. See Rem and Luida.
5.) Steven's scar would be smaller or missing to make him a real lady killer. Either they'd lean way too far into Steven's shady side or they'd clean it up completely. Like he'd wink at women as opposed to sleeping with them to get intel. Be Klaus #1 fan! But like all the time, making himself to work too much. His hangry side would either be missing or played up for laughs.
6.) Zed would be dropped because he's the non-human team member. What's the point of having him?
7.) Luciana Estevez would only appear in her super sexy doctor form not her silly clone or normal form.
8.) They would try to create lore and filler to explain things that you have to assume are just how things work. Or they would info dump as opposed to leaving it up to you to worry about things and figure it out from the context.
9.) The entire cast gets aged down, because having a bunch of 30+ cast members who don't have all their shit together is too embarrassing aka very realistic. e.g. K.K. has a house husband (not a good mother like Rem and Luida in Stampede), Steven will die single and alone, Daniel will die single and alone, Patrick carries a torch for Guinness but is single, Abrams is a walking disaster.
10.) Character designs which are super unique and fun, especially in the manga all get 'isekai treatment' were they look homogeneous. The whole point of the diversity of the cast is lost. Women are short and cute, men are tall and slender or tall and buff. No other options.
11.) They attempt to rationalize the 13 Kings and give deep meaning behind their behaviors. Which maybe we will get that someday, but part of the fun is how fucking chaotic they are.
12.) Hellsalem's Lot is an empty city. Somehow, the city lacks people on the streets and we don't get the rooftop betting scene between the giant stomping creature and super-sized Riel. Sex, drugs, gambling are minimized in their version.
13.) The entire Prosfair story line is cut because it is so fucking bizarre and awesome; they wouldn't understand the point of the entire game.
With the most recent chapter of Beat 3 Peat and the chapter Saving Steven Starphase, we have the return of his playboy habits front and center. But this was not the first nor second case of a time when it was clear that Steven had slept with a woman either as a fling or specifically for Libra.
Based on how flexible he is, not only does Steven have the typical tall, dark, and handsome going for him but this man is super flexible. Def good in bed with his noodle like positions.
K.K. is the first character to call him black-hearted, annoyed to be teamed up with him. Though they always make great teammates. I've already covered this at length.
The first glimpse into his personal life is shown in Day In Day Out when he hosts the dinner party at his swanky loft condo. While he's drinking coffee while Veded cleans up the living room, the phone rings and he answers it.
Ellen - ex turned enemy
A woman named Ellen called about what to bring and he teases her about her Empress/Princess lifestyle (depending on the version/translation).
Ellen is one of the first guests to appear at his door as shown here. She's super friendly and he gives her what must be a generic smile as we only see his eyes.
The two of them greet each other with a hug, while Ellen's date holds a bag with wine. Ellen states the food smells good and then she greets Veded, who waves back and then there is the line that her "tentacles look great today". Okay, if Ellen has met Veded previously, she had to have been at Steven's place frequently enough to have bumped into her, likely meaning she's spent the night. I find it hilarious how Ellen introduces Christopher as an afterthought - like, whoops, here's my current squeeze.
This already seems to indicate that Steven dated or was involved with Ellen previously. The final moment is when she's caught by Steven along with the rest of the group when they threaten to kidnap or kill him. He flat out calls her error in wearing more perfume than usual.
If you know another person's habits around perfume and then notice that she didn't apologize if it was "too much" implying previously she was concerned it might have bothered Steven prior. Well, they've gotten up close and personal.
However, even though Ellen turned out to be an enemy of Steven and Libra, it does not look like he got involved with her for that reason. Instead, the story line is how Steven lambasts himself for making the mistakes of getting to know these interesting people and having a life outside of work. Since they all know that whatever his job was - before knowing he was in Libra - it was a demanding one that kept him busy. What she does establish is that Steven is very charming.
Which leads us to the next character whom Steven used his charm on.
Anne - HLPD officer (potentially nameless in original Japanese?)
In the chapter Outlaw of Green, the beginning of the chapter starts out with Steven getting hot an heavy with a woman. We see him holding her chin as he leans in for a kiss while the next panel shows a USB drive in his hands. He kisses her against the wall as his right hand really seems to want to grab that USB while he pushes his right knee between her legs.
The next panel shows her hot and bothered as he kisses her as she is flushed. Suddenly, he pulls away thanking her for things coat already in his arm as she's surprised. He's already putting his jacket back on as he's almost out the hotel door. The next page is the transition where she's left looking hot and bothered as Steven strolls along the sidewalk. Based on how she's holding her blouse, I'd say someone needs to button it up . . .
Steven walks through the crowd with a cold yet neutral expression until walking right by Klaus in a car pulling out the USB and telling him that he 'got it.'
Do we know how long it took for him to get this close to her? No, but they'd clearly messed around if he was able to convince her to hand over classified information.
For the rest of Kekkai Sensen and then Back 2 Back we don't see a lot of "Seduction" Steven. Instead, he gets a lot more moral conflict grey area with the return of his squad to take care of Garrett and trying to figure out how to deal with the human-non-human pot being. The entire Calamity Auction arc doesn't give him a whole lot of time to chat up the ladies, instead adorably loaning an extra shirt and pants to K.K.
Woman who drugged his coffee
With Beat 3 Peat, it appears he's back to his previous habits of going after women who might have information as the first chapter starts out with him being drugged by a woman in either her office or apartment. Hard to tell with the decor really.
The fact that there are only two coffees implies that they are alone and he's collapsed on the floor. She informs him she'll be taking either a USB or some sort of information/monitoring device. Maybe what he was trying to get in the first place. It seems that she's up to no good and tells him (I guess as long as he doesn't die on the floor) he'll find out what happens and it is implied to be some sort of terrorist attack.
Interestingly, she mocks him saying it is a shame she can't hear his whining and swearing implying that she knew him well enough to figure she'd know how he'd react. However, he uses the Needles of Absolute Zero on her and then proceeds to lay on the floor for waaaaay to long before meeting up with the rest of the team. I had wondered after so many chapters of Steven not using his good looks this suddenly happened in the first chapter of Beat 3 Peat. But now, it makes sense as I think Nightow wanted to remind us of Steven's habit of using his body to get what he wants. He has made it clear, he will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals and he doesn't care if he plays dirty. Even though he hesitated in that sunrise conversation with Taihong Huang in Midnight Blue, he's still at the point where he sees his own feelings and morals as less important.
Which then makes sense when we get to the most recent chapter aptly named Saving Steven Starphase (from himself, really).
Birgit the Beyondian eco terrorist
The chapter starts off with Klaus along with Zapp and Zed taking major damage preventing a terrorist attack on the city. Steven drives K.K., Leo and Chain back from the hospital the team down three main members.
K.K. gives him shit about how he got the information to save the city and how he refuses to let others know about his questionable and dangerous methods. Likely also the fact he's sleeping his way to that answer . . . which wouldn't quite agree with the married sniper.
After the car is attacked an totaled, his phone is kicked out of his hands by Birgit, the leader of the eco-terrorists.
She starts off by calling him Carlos (again, what's with the lame fake names Steven!) and she captures him at least leaving the rest behind when he surrenders without a fight. On her helicopter where his feet are sealed in some sort of block, she spends four pages talking about how he used her and that she still has feelings for him, even though she knew he was the one who betrayed her! She's at one point on the verge of tears and blushing as she controls her emotions and he admits he's the type of person to do whatever it takes.
Yet, his smooth talking ways annoy her as he keeps up his sweet talking even when he's in a shoe block and his hands are tied. She decides since her plan failed, they should die together tossed in the the Eternal Hollow in the center of the city, cursed to keep falling until they die and she does it dramatically by kissing him while Chain gets quite upset. This is interesting since it is the reverse of our previous scene with Steven and Anne all the way back in Outlaw of Green.
I love this. She's holding his face with her hand as she gets to call the shots. Honestly, it would appear that this is not how Steven expected things to go. Which means that this might be the first time that he was out smarted by one of the women he used.
I find his internal monologue to be interesting as you can see that his emotions are torn stating that he was starting to feel pity for her but at the same time comes back to the fact that he protected the city and thousands of innocent lives. Steven A. Starphase, man of internal conflict.
What I found most hilarious is that when he thinks he's done for all he can do is see Klaus and the rest of the team apologizing to Klaus. I think it is safe to say that for the entire manga the person that Steven really really really cares about is Klaus. Yes, he cares for the rest of the Libra team and he respects them, but his relationship with Klaus is far deeper. Nightow, you can give us their backstory anytime. I mean, Steven is willing to sleep with women for Klaus among many other things.
Chain comes to his rescue both to save him as a Libra member but also due to her crush on him. Without missing a beat, he's over the moon that she's there to save him and lays on the praise pretty thick. Does he care that much about Chain? Eeeeeh hard to say, Steven is very good at telling people what they want to hear to do things. She's not only able to save him but also Chain saves Birgit as well.
When it is all said and done, Birgit approaches Chain to thank her for saving her life but also to remind her that the dinner with Steven is likely a thank you for saving his life. She already knows his moves which [sighs] means Chain should be a little careful.
As cute as Chain going on a dinner date with Steven is, it is one of those plot points where I hope he continues to be oblivious to her unrequited feelings. Steven is likely not going to turn over a new leaf and stop messing around with other women to get valuable intel.
I love Chain and I love Steven but I'm not a fan of them dating. My biggest issue it around the idea of dating your boss. I mean she's in the Werewolf Bureau; and she's got more than one boss, but behind Klaus, Steven can and does give her direct orders. I don't like the concept of dating your boss and the power imbalance; though Japanese media seems much less concerned about an early 20s woman ending up with a 30-something boss. I just don't get it.
Anyhoo, aside from my rant on why I don't like characters dating their bosses it is clear that Steven is truly Mr. tall, dark, and handsome and will not hesitate to use his body to get what he wants. Does it come at great risk? Yes, it does and this is our first case of it backfiring dramatically. Does he appear to have a thing for blondes? Perhaps. Though I am dying to know what color Birgit is and her hair color as well. We welcome a chaotic bisexual character and as I've already stated, I think we will see more of her as the story moves into the next direction.
I think back to the extra chapters when the DVDs for season one were released and Steven and K.K. have to discuss love and relationships. K.K.'s responses are adorable, very well thought out and honest about her own relationship. Steven - he pretty much says he's terrible for whomever he dates because his purpose is to find the best way to serve Libra and Klaus. A personal life isn't something that fits into his vision. K.K. drags him off to a bar saying that is terrible but really? We'll see if he actually changes his ways. Right now, since KKSS is not a romance and Nightow states he doesn't write romance, I'm gonna say Steven will continue to do Steven things.
