of shoujo manga, GTO is the granddaddy of shounen manga. Another wildly popular and long running title, it’s also no mystery why this one is so well-loved. It’s instantly engaging, with real, vivid characters whose sometimes over-the-top travails are never unbelievable. Good-hearted and funny, funny, funny, this one should be another immediate addition to your queue. 5 stars.
The art here has a quirky, earthy style that suits the story perfectly. It’s a bit strange for me, going to this from the shoujo manga I usually read, where the focus is usually on pretty pictures. An aside here: it’s funny how in shoujo titles all the boys are gorgeous and mysterious and the girls normal, and how in shounen titles all the girls are big-breasted and mysterious, and the guys average. Heh.
I’ve currently read 22 of 25 volumes, and am waiting on reading the 23rd until I get 24 and 25 in the mail, which Amazon assures me is any day now. I am slowly losing my mind waiting. Sigh.
Update 03/03/2007 11:43: I finished this one last weekend, as I found the last two volumes in stock at the Japantown Kinokuniya (they have, btw, a wonderful English-language manga section; all the series have all the volumes in stock, all the time). The ending was as good as I expected. Highly recommended.
manga is one that has reached epic proportions in almost no time at all. At any given time, I’ve got 10 or so upcoming volumes on pre-order at Amazon, and I’m always looking for new ones to read. This post marks the first in my Enjoying series, wherein I will talk about manga/manhwa/comics I am currently enjoying.
Hana Yori Dango: 5 stars
This is the grandmommy of shoujo manga, one of the longest-running and bestselling titles ever in Japan. And it’s not hard to see why. It’s a straight-up shoujo as far as plot goes: young lovers have to overcome obstacles to be together. What sets it apart from the rest of the field is its superbly drawn, engaging characters and the sensitive and nuanced treatment given to their problems.
22 of a total 36 volumes have been released in the US, and I am currently anxiously awaiting the next one. If you’re only ever going to read one shoujo title, this one should be it.
A brief word here about the art. This is an older series, and the art in the earlier volumes really reflects that. As the series progresses, however, the art gets progressively cleaner and more skillful.
has a story on MySpace going to Japan, and its inevitable competition with the already established Japanese social-networking service called Mixi. It goes on to talk about the difference in our two countries’ cultures, and how the unashamed self-promotion of MySpace might not be a good fit for the more reserved and group-oriented Japanese. A valid point, to be sure, but I didn’t see them mentioning what is sure to be at least as important: usability. MySpace has, as is CW among most web professionals I know, the worst interface and site design (almost) evar. Mixi, by contrast, is much more low key, readable, and most importantly, less annoying. Even their banner ads are discreet. In that sense, Mixi has already won the contest hands down, at least IMO.
Maybe it’s just the 日本-phile in me, but I’ve always been a big fan of Japan’s minimalist aesthetic, and tend to like their more subdued designed goods (e.g. stationery, clothing, art) in favor of the more vibrant products America produces. And for that reason, I think MySpace will have trouble in Japan.
updating recently. And will be for the immediately foreseeable future. Be sure to check out Authors and Reading Room often.
She’s another one of my favorites. Also highly literate, also accessible. I started with her Sun Sword sextet, which is IMO one of the best fantasy series ever written. Really. Up there with Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Fionavar Tapestry and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Though it has all the hallmarks of great epic fantasy—a big story, great character development, intricate plotting—far and away the best thing about it is the rich detail of its setting. West takes us deeply into the lands and cultures her story takes place in, giving it a nuance and subtlety not often found elsewhere. The fully realized context is almost as important as the story itself, granting it a lovely complexity and another dimension of meaning; I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of authors that do this as well, or even come close. If you’re a fantasy fan and you’ve never read her work, you’re really missing out. It should be an immediate addition to your queue.
Some Michelle West links:
- Her official website, which, frankly, sucks. Why is it that so many authors’ websites are so bad? Yeesh.
- Her LiveJournal page. Kind of like a blog, which thankfully seems to be somewhat regularly updated.
I said this before, and I don’t think I could say it again better, so:
Not so many years ago, this guy was it for me. My very favorite author, who combined everything I loved about books and writing and fantasy—his chosen genre, and my favorite one. His writing was technically unparalleled: his plots beautifully complex, his characterizations deep but never simple, his stories fiercely engaging, alternately heartbreaking and joyful. Hyperbole, I know, but as I said, he was it. The one. As close to perfect as you can get in my eyes.
To that I can add that his writing is highly literate but never inaccessible. Fantasy for everyone, accessible in ways that Tolkien’s writing simply wasn’t. It’s so sad that genre fiction is often marginalized by the literary elite (ironic, I know, coming from a shameless elitist like me), because I really think Kay is one of the best writers of our time.
I’ve read all his novels except his latest, which I’ve just bought, but I have every expectation that it will be as wonderful as his others. I can’t say enough about his work, but you won’t believe me until you read it for yourself. Which you should do at the earliest opportunity. You can thank me later. 
Here’s his official website, which interestingly was created by a fan who solicited his cooperation and approval.
of first novels. Well, leery when the first novel in question is by an author whose later works I’ve already read, and especially so when the author in question has a lot of books under his/her belt. Veteran writers’ later works tend to be very accomplished, and going back afterwards and reading their work in its more unpolished form is…difficult.
The same was true in reading the book I just finished: Michelle West’s Into the Dark Lands (3 stars). I could definitely see the promise of what West would become in this book (the first of a quartet), but technically, it just wasn’t on par with her later works. Her prose was beautiful, but often clumsy: the dialogue was a bit stilted, the plot poorly structured, the pacing syncopated. The premise was interesting, but the plot lacked a certain sophistication I had become accustomed to from West’s Sun Sword series, the characters likewise lacking complexity. The thing I missed most, though, was the rich cultural and anthropological detail of her later work; part of what made the Sun Sword series so great was its lovingly realized, nuanced and immersive setting.
Don’t mistake me, though. Mediocrity from Michelle West is still better than many others’ best. Most authors should be so lucky as to have a first work as good as this one. The ending of the book, especially, was very good, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
the folks at WordPress are taking requests for features in the next version, and I just suggested one—allowing automatic selection of parent categories when child categories are selected. Requests will only be added if enough votes are gathered, so please vote for my idea if you agree!
The Canada National Post has an article today talking about the phenomenon of stealth marketing—where, e.g., companies or advertising firms will set up fake blogs (flogs, for short) or upload “amateur” videos to YouTube for the purposes of marketing a product—and how it’s breeding cynism among the general public.
With typical big-media alarmism—especially, in recent years, toward anything relating to blogs—this article sensationalizes something that’s, really, no big deal:
But in the short term, he says, online deceptions of the “wig-out” video variety have the potential to erode trust in events or moments that seem to be free of artifice or marketing interests.
“If one is always skeptical, then goes to cynicism, you end up feeling pretty negative about the world,” Mr. Federman [a researcher at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education whose work examines the effects of media on society] says. “You end up with a very sour disposition. You tend to look at people and interactions as everyone trying to manipulate you, and tend to have a miserable existence, quite frankly.
“It’s not pleasant. You can’t enjoy yourself. You always have to be on your guard.”
Oh, please. As long as there have been ways to communicate with many people at once, whether they’re newspapers, TV or the internet, there have been people looking to use those ways to make a buck. You can’t make me believe that having knowledge of that fact is going to make me untrusting and miserable. And you can’t make me believe that viral marketing is so new a practice as all that.
Call me cynical, but this whole “longing for a more innocent time” idea is bunk. There was never a more innocent time. If anything, this time, now, is the most innocent time in human history. But that’s another blog post. (Via Slashdot)
Inside Man: 5 stars
This is the best American-made movie I’ve seen in…I don’t know how long. Remember how I talked about movies that try too hard to be smart? This wasn’t one of them. It was smart without being obvious, suspenseful without being gimmicky, as all too many thrillers are these days. It kept me guessing until very close to the end. Brilliantly written, acted with passion but understatement—no obvious award-trolling here—and skillfully directed*, this is what thrillers should be. Highly recommended.
* And, I would say, the best Spike Lee movie I’ve ever seen. Though it must be said that I’ve only seen this, He Got Game and 25th Hour.