Rock Paper Scissors Manga Review

Yet another Adventure/Romance/SchoolLife/Supernatural manga presenting battles between the students for obtaining the glory of the student council.

In a world of floating cities, somewhere in the future – students enrolled at the Masumasu Academy present a certain type of power – which is called Fiction – which allows them – by invoking names of famous scientists/musicians/writers and other historical figures – to gain certain abilities – like mastering the elements, build paradoxes as stopping time and so on.

The rules are simple – you can use these powers only in a race between two members of opposite councils. Fiction allows you to transform, to change appearance and this can be used as a weapon against the opponent.

There are 6 chapters released – easy to read – the artwork can be defined as fine. The plot however is not that intriguing – still it is a fun read. The author is Kimura Shinichi known for Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? and the artwork was done by Makutsu.

 

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Happy New Year!

Artwork by Arctic Char.

Pokemon TCG [Useful Links]

So this morning I woke up thinking about the good old Pokemon Trading Cards I used to collect when I was younger. There was Pokemon on TV, it was summer and me and all my friends were collecting these cards and these coins and even figurines.

There were croissants with Pokemon stickers, chewing gum, sodas, envelopes with cards and Pikachu-shaped erasers – all these having something Pokemon-themed attached. But what I enjoyed most were the Trading Cards. Too bad I don’t have any of them anymore – only the base set which I printed myself at my job. Aaaaand – because I kinda obsessed with Pokemon – and I am not the only one out there [despite my age] I wanted to give you some useful links which can help you find info and images of the Pokemon Trading Card Packs.

And I am writing this post while listening to a Pokemon Podcast from The National Dex.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (Japanese: ポケモンカードゲーム, Pokémon Card Game), often abbreviated as Pokémon TCG or just TCG, is a tabletop game that involves collecting, trading and playing with Pokémon themed playing cards. It has its own set of rules but uses many motifs and ideas derived from the video games. There are Pokémon cards for every species of Pokémon, as well as Trainer cards featuring characters, items and other themes of the franchise (each with a different use) and Energy cards to power various actions. The artwork for the cards is provided by numerous artists.

The Pokémon TCG is a popular and steady aspect of the Pokémon franchise and is played and enjoyed by many fans. 23.6 billion Pokémon Trading Card Game cards have been produced worldwide in 12 languages, and being sold in 74 countries and regions.^[1] The game is part of the Play! Pokémon organized play along with the video game series and is also used in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online.

PokePlayer is maybe the best looking database on Pokemon TC

Pokemon Cards

Bulbapedia has some very well organized pages on the trading card decks

Pokemon Trading Cards – Bulbapedia

PokeGym is a forum filled with information and images and also scans of the TC

Trading Card Sets

pkmn cards [dot] com

TCG Set Listing

Other Links:

TCG Player

Pokellector

Pokebeach

Serebii

Pokemon Archive

Infinity Illumini

Ascension. Hybrid. Natural life forms.

Portals of solitude. Gates of creation.

Geometrically formed spaces. Lines of creativity.

Lightnings. Clouds of autumnal leaves. Perfection.

Nekojiru-sou [Conceptual Review]

As an anime fan, I dwell into shows that are purely amazing. Genres like psychological, horror, thriller, dementia and drama are my favorites [as stated many, many times before]. And here I am watching Nekojiru-sou, on a Monday at job :)) [because why not].

Type: OVA

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Feb 21, 2001

Producers: Starchild Records, King Records

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: J.C.Staff

Source: Manga

Genres: Comedy, Dementia, Psychological

Duration: 32 min.

Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)

 

This title embarks you into a world of surreal tenderness, depictions of imagination and strange facts.

 

[SPOILERS AHEAD!]

 

We assist to a death scene from almost the very beginning. It is told ritualistically, using a process of three steps. The soul of the poor cat leaves her body after three blinkings, and the forth times she sees death coming for her.

 

Her brother, after seeing his sister leaving with death, he tries to save her soul from death, and rips apart that aura of her substantiality, making his sister – a shell of her former self. He gains one part of her soul. Death leaves with the other part.

 

The story-telling process is a complex one.

 

There are humans depicted as elements in an absurd existence, strange characters, like the cloud-bird in the circus, which is used as a metaphor for cruelty towards animals in a circus. We have God who cuts a female into pieces and puts her together using a spell – which is an epithet for religious expression. Then comes the Noe’s Ark scene, in which humanity brought doom upon themselves – as the official story tells – and not that the nature’s wrath was beyond control in a moment of this planet’s history.

 

Elements like this are detailing the course of the story written here.

 

 

Strange things begin to happen after the waters evaporate. We have elements of voodoo – in which one characters is sewing up parts of corpses to create a sort of community from dead “things”, excessive violence, graphic depictions of gross and unussual behavior.

 

The tones used are pale, almost rotting, creating a perfect ambiance and an atmosphere for this ilogical and irrational tale of unreason.

 

One scene in particular was a favorite of mine. I would call it terror-punk subgenre [if that even exists], in which a man with bdsm inclinations is trying to kill our protagonists, but ends up chopped-up by our beloved cute friends. The OVA is produced in such a manner in which the cuteness is very well fusioned with the acts of brutality and tragedies of the story.

 

Another thing that is very pleasant and demads gratitude is the imagination of the author, used professionally in creating situations and characters out-of-this world. Like the water-elephant or the abstract art used in the backgrouds with a note of H. P. Lovecraft phenomena.

 

The paradox of time, stopping it, fastforwarding it, elements of the Darwinist theory, mechanisms of life, the evolution of life, historical moments, and the traditional japanese lifestyle – all in one creation.

 

 I recommend the title for its originality. Score 5/5.

Sakura -Japan in the Box-

The Meijiza Theater from Tokyo has a history of 140 years of art performing.

People had enjoyed different forms of acting throughout the Meiji, Taisho, Showa and the Heisei Eras. Kabuki shows but also newer forms of theater are shown to the public. And recently a new idea and an innovative form of acting can be enjoyed here at nighttime.

I am talking about the show called Sakura – Japan in the Box. This performance blends Japanese traditional arts like acting, dancing and playing various instruments with modern pop culture, anime and games. The performance is also being synchronized with projections of different animated pieces. It is meant for local and foreign public, and therefore, little dialogue is used.

The show is a spectacular game of colors, motions, traditional japanese instruments – that culminate with feelings, absorbtion into the story. The performing act has to be synchronized with the animation shown in the background – therefore a lot of effort was put into the work of the actors and the producers.

This is a story about Sakura – a girl who is living her daily routine without something special attached to it. But one day – an encounter with a mysterious fox changes everything. She is taken on a journey across time and space – she meets the spirits of the four seasons:

– The Spirit of the Spring, Miyabi

– The Spirit of Summer, Choco

– The Spirit of Autumn, Rin

– The Spirit of Winter, Setsuna

The show is a compilation of kabuki, taiko players, shamisen players, sword fights and some beautiful animations that make the story powerful.

Useful links:

Facebook Page

Official Website

Another: Episode 1 -Beginning of the End

So… This is a part of an older project of mine that I had in mind. Besides writing reviews to an entire anime series – I wanted to watch each episode and talk about it.

I have a list of 60-something watched anime and I need to re-watch them all, and also new series and start writing about them. Details, spoilers will be presented ahead – so a friendly suggestion – do not read articles of episodes you plan to watch.

Another – an anime adaptation after a Japanese mystery horror novel by Yukito Ayatsuji, published on October 29, 2009 by Kadokawa Shoten.

The story focuses on a boy named Kōichi Sakakibara who, upon transferring into Yomiyama Middle School and meeting the curious Mei Misaki, finds himself in a mystery revolving around students and people related to his class falling victim to gruesome, senseless deaths.

A manga adaptation by Hiro Kiyohara was serialized between May 2010 and January 2012 in the issues of Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace. Both the novel and the manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. A 12-episode anime TV series produced by P.A.Works aired in Japan between January 10 and March 27, 2012, with an original video animation episode released on May 26, 2012, and a live-action film was released in Japanese theatres on August 4, 2012.

A dark, sad story, with great characters and a great soundtrack.

The first episode “Rough sketch” – “Sobyō” (素描) was released on January 10, 2012.

Following the cliches of other horror works – like Higurashi no naku koro ni – there is a disturbing story that took place in the past. Another tells the cruel fate of a girl named Misaki who was a student 26 years ago. Shorty after entering the 9th grade she died in an accident. Shocking as it may seem – the other students behaved like she was still alive – and so it was born the so called “curse” of class 3-3.

The protagonist – Kōichi Sakakibara moves to a town called Yomiyama to live with his grandparents and his aunt Reiko Mikami. Unfortunately – he gets sick and a few weeks he spends in a hospital reading horror novels and hoping to regain his health.

One of the days – some students from his school – Yomiyama North Junior High – Izumi Akazawa, Tomohiko Kazami and Yukari Sakuragi, visit him. Their first discussion brings a note of tension – which is completed by the environements depicted in the first part of the episode, cruel, dark tones, vivid colors, the state of Sakakibara and the mystery surrounding their “interview”. From the beginning you can realize that something very wrong is happening here.

Another scene that makes everything undoubtebly  strange is Sakakibara meeting Misaki Mei for the first time. She seems lost, she is very quiet and talks weird. And she loses herself like a shadow in the hospital’s basement where the morgue is.

The first day at school brings some aspects that seem odd. Class 3 is the only class that is ignored by the rest of the school. And after asking out about Misaki Mei – he finds out that others claim that they do not know what he is talking about. This aura of mystery surrounding this girl – makes Sakakibara seek her presence.

The ending of the episode gets again tensionate as Misaki tells Sakakibara that his class – their class is very different from the rest of the school – it is very closed to death.

[to be continued…]