Not For Every Tenchi Fan
581223
For those who can't stand listening to the Japanese songs, this CD is for you. The entire CD is translated and sung in English; easy to follow and to sing along with the included lyrics. However, all of the songs were of mediocre performance. You could even hear the performers take their breaths just before they launch into the next verse. An excellent example is "Washu's Lullaby" and "Sleeping Beauty on the Balcony". And having someone sing in the "squeaky" Sasami voice for "Pretty Sammy the Magical Girl" just doesn't mix. The chemistry is off. For those who love the original Japanese songs; you can pass on this CD.
678989
This volume goes into Setsu's past, giving us an idea of how Yamane's ancestors got the curse as well as how Setsu became entwined with the family's fate.  There is even a side story at the end that further explores his history of how he met the first Yamane.  Interestingly for me, I liked the past version of Setsu much better than the present day incarnation.  Also interestingly, the past Setsu wasn't all about intercourse, either.

Story:  As Setsu heals Yamane, he reminisces about the person he was in the past and how he made a bargain with Basho in order to save the Yamane family. Shrina (as Setsu is known then) is friend/protector to Hokuto, a naive father of two near-adult children.  Shinra is constantly having to save the father from himself and those who would exploit him.  But when the daughter seeks a love spell to capture Shinra's affection, she instead ends up with a terrible curse on her whole family.  The adopted son makes a bargain with Basho/Shinra and a new half human/half demon Setsu is created to protect/save the family.

It's telling that there is more of a story in the past than currently in the present.  The characters were more interesting, certainly better than the current Yamane, who feels very weak.  And the Shinra in the past felt a lot less flippant and more considerate of those around him.

The illustration work continues to be good.  There are some contemporary scenes near the end, mostly having to do with Yamane's friends commenting on him looking much better and teasing him about Setsu.  But this volume did feel fairly inert - not much happens in the present and the rest of the story stuck in the past.  Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
4552393
Not that I hate Funimation ,but this anime is pretty dumb. I mean the doesn't make much sense how it went. The series looks weird/dumb,Mugen is an disrace to samurai every where,I didn't get the ending,and Fuu is annoying. Overall try other great titles not the corny ones
800692
Worth reading but maybe not worth buying...I very much looked forward to owning this book but unrequited love, evil plots for possessing another and poor, unsuspecting ukes is best left up to fan fiction sites, Eiki Eiki... As for the art-okay I'll give you that point, not bad: I like em thin. I think I was displaced by the promise of hard yaoi only to find it was a dash of shota lust and lots (LOTS)of masturbation-overall kind of a disappointing BUY-I recommend to you yaoi lovers that you just borrow this one from a friend.
3638158
2/5 star = disliked, for the following reasons:

1. kanji+furigana would have been better for the dialogue; instead it's completely hiragana with only the one kanji per page. this is poor for vocabulary learning. thus the reader must read the English at the bottom before attempting the strings of hiragana in the conversation, and try to guess where the words are divided amongst the hiragana.
2. there were some English mistakes, suggesting a rushed job / carelessness
3. the manga became rather sexist (about halfway through the series, i suppose), with male characters often being the source of ridicule, and female characters dominating the entire series.
4. the Kindle resolution was poor. It was sometimes hard to read the furigana when the one kanji was used, e.g. whether it was 'bi' or 'pi' (), and zooming in only resulted in pixellation from the low resolution.
5. These manga are not a good way to memorize kanji: a) I learn kanji through use in sentences, not through isolated word examples. b) There were not enough sentences demonstrating the kanji. c) The sentences being entirely hiragana except for the one kanji (rather than being kanji+furigana) resulted in the reader's attention being spent trying to decipher the sentences' meaning, rather than focusing on the kanji being practiced. Thus the reader winds up learning the dialogue of the comic rather than the kanji itself. "Oh, this is the comic where the two girls laugh at boy for hurting himself. What was the kanji's pronunciation, though?"
6. The beginning point of the stroke order is not indicated in the diagrams, i.e. whether the stroke goes from bottom-left to top-right or from top-right to bottom-left. This is inexcusable from a "professional company", since I've gotten a *free* iPhone 4 application that does indicate this (kotoba! later renamed 'imiwa?' I think), and have seen other kanji books with arrows showing the stroke direction.

I purchased these because they were recommended by the Consulate-General of my state, but do not recommend them. They're reasonable to borrow for free from a library, but you're better off spending your money on other resources.
4952954
Painting is off on natsu. It makes his face looks awkward. I seen other peoples pics with stands but not sure where mine are if they're included.
336194
I am fascinated by ancient Japan and loved the Tales of the Otori series so was very excited when these books came out. However, this was a disappointment and I won't continue with the series.  Not because of the reasons pointed out by other reviewers. I thought it was well written, moved fluidly through the story and was engaging throughout. One interesting aspect is that my allegiance to characters kept shifting, I was never sure who I should root for; characters are heroic and then not, villains are evil and then not. Some may find this frustrating but people are not one dimensional and the only part of the story that draws me to the other books is to see how the characters evolve.

What I did have a problem with is the content, the type of book and story this is. Tales of the Otori is about warlords and stories in ancient Japan with a touch of the magical and fantasy that imbues Japanese culture. In Tales, legends about the almost super human skills of Ninja-like characters are a reality but mostly the story is grounded in the real world - an imagined reality based on history but still believable. In this new series, Hearn has almost completely abandoned the historical and anything that could be considered real. From the start we have magic, sorcerer's, fantasy and most of it not particularly pleasant, rather quite violent and definitely of the dark side.

If you like this type of story then there is nothing negative I can say about it, except that it is short and without resolution as it is clearly intended to be quickly followed by book 2 in the series (I imagine they are all like this or else why put them out so close to each other?). If pure fantasy fiction is not your thing but do like reading about ancient Japan, then try Cloud of Sparrow and the Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka. Or the wonderful series of detective novels by Laura Joh Rowland.
2362940
This book was difficult because the Japanese of the Heian Period didn't use personal names much; instead they referred to people by their titles.  Well, every few years the characters get a promotion and a new set of titles, so there is a constant cycling of titles as the book goes on.  In places personal names are used, and if you were confused you can pick up on the action from here and move forward again.  So in that respect I found the book a hard read.

The story follows a son of the emperor (his name is Genji) as he grows up from a small boy to a middle aged man and constantly advances in the royal hierarchy and has many erotic adventures on the side.  Have no doubt: Genji is hard on his lovers.  He changes his mind, he demands too much, he chases one woman only to find one who is better placed and so he chases her instead.  About two thirds of the way through the book Genji dies, and the story passes on to his descendants.  This last part of the book is really interesting, and though I had been afraid I would be bored I was hooked for the last few hundred pages of the story.  The tale simply comes to an abrupt hald, and it is clear than there is either more of the story to be discovered in a dusty attic somewhere, or Lady Murasaki died before completing the book.

Overall I am glad I read this book.  Scattered throughout the book are over 700 little love poems, called "tanka" in Japanese.  These are a delight to read, and I go back and read some of them from time to time.  I didn't really like Genji, but I did like his story and especially the poems.  I have written my own "tanka" for stories I've been working on, and I write love poems to women I'm interested in, too.  May you find "The Tale of Genji" to be inspiration and fun!
3237251
'Stones of Power' is part of the Gen Manga series.  It's a weird story, but I've seen Miyazaki movies, so I can handle bizarre stories from Japan.  Or so I thought.

So, there's a guy who likes exotic fish.  He sees a cute girl in the fish store and decides to find out more.  She works in a store called a cafe, but it's a cafe that doesn't actually serve any food.  It specializes in strange jewelry made of rocks.  And the store has a fish tank, so before long he is working at the store and helping with the fish.  Then he starts having weird dreams that seem to have something to do with the weird rocks.  It all culminates in a dreamlike climax and left me kind of scratching my head.

It's not hard to follow, it's just kind of strange.  When it was all over, I didn't dislike it, I'm just not sure who I would recommend it to.  I've liked most of the Gen Manga series, but I didn't really care for this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Gen Manga Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
1805059
It is my belief that the word 'subtle' is not in Rumiko Takahashi's dictionary. 90% of the characters in Ranma 1/2 lack the trait, and several of the people in Maison Ikkoku need a lesson. We won't even get into Ataru and his crowd from Urusei Yatsura. Inu Yasha has provided us with some new examples of those who speak their mind and constantly make you hang your head and sigh.
While not as boisterous and arrogant as Inu Yasha, the Buddhist monk Miroku shares some traits with the dog-demon. Both tend to say what they think, regardless of the consequences. Both are stubborn as mules and as dense as rocks. But that's what we love about them.
Miroku has a tendency to ask something quite...personal from the women that he meets. As for what this is--you'll just have to read the books won't you?
645182
Shinobi Life is a manga series about an adolescent boy who falls through a time tear and travels from historical Japan to the present. Upon his arrival he meets a girl who is the descendant of the princess that he was charged with protecting from his original era. This girl just so happens to look a lot like the princess. Lots of story elements unfold and the two end up falling in love.

Time travel is a HUGE aspect of this series, occurring way more than necessary. I feel like the characters are always going backwards and forwards and backwards again; its a gimmick that gets old quickly. At varying points in the story I felt that the author could have taken a route separate to time traveling that would have led to the same overall finale. Maybe Im just upset that she didn't get more creative with the whole concept. The tedious nature of these time jumps began to bore me far sooner than I had anticipated.

The characters themselves are nothing truly special. They follow your standard shjo tropes making them invariably lackluster. The female protagonist is a spoiled girl who has two guys that fall for her, the good boy and the bad boy. The bad boy has mommy and daddy issues that contribute to his douche-bag nature. But the woman that he cares for so fondly for helps him realize the error of his ways so he vows to become a better person. Meanwhile, the good boy follows said female around like a lost puppy until they reach their inevitable happily ever after. You also have your badash villain boy who is more handsome than the other two, but also has issues stemming from a horrid childhood that makes him the monster. Does he mend his ways? Why of course he does! Isnt that the standard shjo way of life?

I didn't absolutely hate everything about the series. The ninja backdrop that makes up the past for two of the male characters is actually pretty interesting. I don't think Ive come across a manga series with such a motif before; at least not in a shjo romance type series set in modern times. These facets provide two of the male characters, Hitaki and Kagetora, with much more depth than any of the other people in the series. It explains the conflict characteristic of the storys development and is probably the best written portions out of the whole darn thing.

The art was immensely disappointing when I first started reading Shinobi Life. It felt very sloppy and rushed. The expressions on each of the characters faces were uninspired. I really didn't care for the way that the mangaka drew their eyes whenever they were feeling sad or sorrowful. Im not sure if she just didn't know how to express it, or if she believed that a pile of lines would amount for something called countenance. But whatever it was, it wasn't good, however. I did see improvement as the series went on. The lines and images began to have a crisper feeling to them and the characters moods were discernible in a more fluid way. Its still not the best thing out there, but it was far better than the first chapter of the first volume.

I will give the series as a whole three stars, which is an entire star more than it deserves. Art improvement and an interesting premise are worth more than nothing, I believe. Also, I would be lying if I said that I didn't get invested in what would happen next. It was compelling to an extent.
1917604
what can i say? i went through a very shojo time in my life. it's girly, it's fun and often romantic. this is a definitive shojo that totally is for boy crazy people. i really enjoyed this series but it went on WAY past 26... that's too much for me, investment cash-wise and the story started to get pretty poor and convoluted. ever seen weeds? like how it's so good and then all this stuff happens needlessly to keep the show going? yeah, that's this manga.

but the first 10 or so are gold. worth a read.
344033
Really really short game. The story was over before any game play actually started, I mean all I wanted was my figures.

EDIT: So the game doesn't really end in 5 mins if you do the right things. It's actually a very otaku game, if you don't know what that is or don't like otakus then this might not be the game for you. Its a roaming fighter game, thats actually very funny. If your're into ecchi anime then this might be the a enjoyable game for you
4741610
The movie felt pretty different from the series. I guess I had great expectations going in because a friend of mine compared it to such terrifically emotional animes such as Clannad, Kanon, and Rumbling Hearts. There was plenty of drama in this film, but for some reason I just felt like some of it was forced. I did get through it and it did offer some memorable moments. Just not nearly as many as some of the other names animes.
3120864
TETSUJIN 28 is a Japanese live-action film based on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga series best known in the west for its 1963 black-and-white animated adaptation that played on U.S. television in 1966 under the title, "Gigantor." There are some pretty spectacular scenes here of two giant robots, Tetsujin 28 and Black Ox, trudging around the streets of Tokyo and making a dent in its skyline, including one harrowing move where Black Ox bends back the top of the Tokyo Tower. There's even a great bit where Black Ox hurls the disabled Tetsujin into the Diet (Parliament) Building. These sequences are quite exciting and well-done, as if cameras were on the scene and caught the action as it was unfolding. Unfortunately, the two subsequent robot battles don't deliver the goods. The punches thrown are pretty weak and there's not a lot of movement in the fights. The robots never fly up and fight each other in the air, even though, by the final encounter, they both indeed have that power. The original animated series had far more satisfying giant robot action than we get here.

Even worse, the young boy, Shotaro, who's been designated to operate the remote device that controls Tetsujin, never really seems to want to do it. He's weak and scared for most of the film. When he finally steps up to the plate and accepts his role at the 90-minute mark--way too long for us to have to wait--he's not particularly effective. While the boy playing Shotaro may be offering a realistic portrayal of how an actual ten-year-old would react under the circumstances, I must confess I wasn't exactly looking for realism. I wanted the boy to be gung ho all the way and eager to control that powerful robot and send it into furious combat to put an end to Black Ox's depredations. Exactly how Shotaro (or "Jimmy Sparks" as he was known in "Gigantor") behaved in the original manga and anime. Or the boy heroes in "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" and the 1960s Gamera movies. These new Japanese boy heroes are really wimpy when put to the test (see also Toru in GAMERA THE BRAVE and Tadashi in THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, two films also made in 2005, and both also reviewed on this site). What does this say about the next generation of Japanese heroes? At least Ash from "Pokmon" still knows what to do in the face of a threat.

I did like one aspect of the movie, though. I enjoyed seeing two Japanese pop music idols in the cast. The older one is Hiroko Yakushimaru who was popular in the 1980s and starred in a film I remember called SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN (1981). She plays Shotaro's mother and she's quite a beauty. The other is one of my all-time favorite J-pop singers, Yuko Nakazawa, one of the founding members of Morning Musume, here playing a young police detective assigned to the case. They give her short dark hair and a rather plain navy blue suit, clearly an attempt to play down her usual glamour, but she has plenty to do and it's always a thrill to see her in action. Another key female character is Mami Tachibana (played by Yu Aoi), a robotics expert from MIT recruited to help refurbish Tetsujin 28 after a disastrous battle early on. She's young and spunky and looks sharp in a uniform and beret as she befriends young Shotaro.

The music score by Akira Senju is nice and melodic and keeps things upbeat when the film slows down (which it frequently does). I actually have the soundtrack CD as well. The end music segues into a replay of the male chorus singing the "Tetsujin 28" theme song from 1963, accompanied by shots from the original manga, which looks a lot more action-packed than anything in this movie. The Pioneer/Geneon DVD offers no English credits anywhere, except what's on the DVD case.
41446
I think the problem many other reviewers are having with this movie is that it is very much in keeping with a particular genre of Japanese anime...  I'm not an expert on anime but the style and tempo of the script seemed very much like the Ergo Proxy, Last Exile, or Count of Monet Cristo anime series or the Ghost in the Shell anime movie.  A lot of silence, metaphors about nature, and an underlying theme related to an Eastern perspectives on Western culture.  For instance, the story antagonist's female companion reads Nietzsche to him as he ponders floating white balls while an old-style gramophone plays.  The first 45 seconds of the movie is completely silent and features the struggle between ants and bigger bugs.  That kind of thing.  So, not really your average Saturday Morning fare.

So folks looking for a kick ass American-style Iron Man movie are just going to end up bewildered and disappointed.  However,  if you are interested in a cultural twist on the Marvel characters, and have a passing interest in cinematic styles relating to Japanese animation, you might enjoy this.  I found it very diverting.

Also, Iron Man's antagonist is a teenaged kid, and as the parent of a teenager, I could totally relate to Tony Stark's frustration.  Ha!
282466
I can see why folk see this as a spiritual successor to Fruits Basket! While Komugi is nowhere near the same archetype as Tohru (sweet, nurturing, kind, somewhat passive much of the time) it does have some of those hallmarks.

School "Princes" who are beloved and hold themselves aloof, one is super friendly, one is (I'm sorry Fushimi) tsundere, one who is a bit reckless, one who is outwardly indifferent.

The art is pretty and I generally liked the pacing. It comes off a bit like Twilight tho in some dynamics (Komugi & her father, the constant push for Komugi to leave them alone for her own good, their inability to obliviate her like all other girls) but I loved how...pragmatic Komugi was.

"My classmates are animal spirits in human form but they won't hurt me so why make a big deal?" Really I think she finds them as tiresome as a couple find her, but they all need a connection.