NaNoWriMo: Day 7

Well, finally got some writing done. Nowhere near enough. But at this point I'll be satisfied with getting any writing done. It's a start, I know I had a lot of time today, but since being sick I haven't exactly had much motivation to do anything. But I feel a bit better now, and can face this week with more enthusiasm and focus. Expect more blog posts from me soon, to catch up to my late work.

I wrote 541 words. I know it sucks, but it's better than nothing. I'll be back up to my usual word count tomorrow. Need to spend some more time planning as well. I've got the plot more or less figured out, but don't have an entirely concrete plan yet. I kind of work my way through that as I go. So sort of discovery writing, but not entirely. I've decided to let the characters do what they want in the scene, while I focus my real planning on plot events, and some character reactions.

And now, for an excerpt.

“Only if some of the Jarv survived the impact,” I said. It was true. While the Jarv didn’t believe in wasting resources, they weren’t about to risk equipment going into what was most likely a dangerous zone now with large amounts of debris floating around. Unless of course there were Jarv survivors. Say what you want about them, and I for one had little good to say about them, but they take care of their own. In my eight years of working in the asteroid fields I had on several occasions seriously considered turning into an alien cockroach. While they didn’t actually look like cockroaches, the Jarv could still survive almost anything, including being sucked into the void of space. So you could say that besides being treated with dignity there would be some other fringe benefits to that kind of transformation. Probably not what Kafka had in mind, but I guess you could say I wouldn’t have minded being one of his protagonists.

Anime Reviews: Bakuman Episode 5 - Summer and Name

Mashiro tells Takagi about the first time he met Azuki, way back when they were in elementary school. Then the two of them work on their manga, Two Earths, a story about how our world isn't the real world, but an artificial world created by the real world and populated by clones they use as guinea pigs. Thanks to the research done on the second world, the real world lives in a golden age of peace.


Later at school, Miyoshi confronts Takagi about him telling Azuki he knew about her dream. When Miyoshi asks why Takagi asked her about Azuki's dream, if he wasn't asking Azuki out, Takagi tells her that he wanted to talk to her, Miyoshi. Miyoshi thinks that Takagi is asking her out, and tells him she needs to think about it first.


Miyoshi goes and talks to Azuki, her best friend, about what she thinks Takagi just told her. I may not have much knowledge of how teenage girls, but something tells me neither do Ohba and Obata.

I approve of this screen shot.

Takagi and Mashiro both decide to spend the summer in the studio, working on their manga. They start working on their manga, and Mashiro finally decides to try inking his art. The scene is actually effectively tense, thanks to the first scene in the last episode, where he tried inking his artwork, and dripped ink onto it. This scene really works well because it was set up properly, and speaks well for the anime team.


They continue working on their manga, and Takagi brings a copy of Jack back from the convenience store. Nizuma is in it again, and seeing their self proclaimed rival in the magazine again prompts Mashiro to throw away what he'd done so far and start over again.


Mashiro works long hours, but they finally finish the manuscript and call Jack.


A bit slow, but things happen, and we got some pay off from last episode that I didn't think would mean anything later on. So I'm going to give this episode a:

B-

Granted, I'm not sure I'm that great at assigning grades. But I'm grading it that high because I really liked the simple payoff in the scene where Mashiro starts inking, and how well it ties in to the previous episode. The anime team is definitely putting some thought into the adaptation of Bakuman from a manga into an anime. They're taking their time and improving on the manga the way a good adaptation should. Besides the slow pacing, which I knew I was getting into, I'm really starting to like this anime. It's a worthy successor to the manga.

NaNoWriMo: Day 6

Long day at work, and after that I slept. But now that the hectic week is done, and I have no urgent assignments due this week, I'll be able to pick up where I left off. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get back into the writing mood. I think I'll write one of my late blog posts.

Anime Reviews: Bakuman Episode 4 - Time and Key

The opening scene is Mashiro practicing inking his art work. He drips ink on his work.


Back at school he's falling asleep during the tests, showing that he's been working hard and long on his art. After school his two friends from the first episode invite him to go see a movie. I kind of like this because it shows that they're still around, as opposed to the manga where they kind of disappear.


Back at the office Mashiro and Takagi go over Mashiro's art work. Takagi expresses admiration for Mashiro's skill, but Mashiro says that his artwork is too stiff, and not suitable for manga illustrations. They talk about the various effects, backgrounds and the process for creating manga. Essentially it's one big info dump, but since most of the people watching this are probably at least marginally interested in manga, then this works just fine. I do think it might damage the rewatchability of the show though.


While Mashiro continues to practice his art, while Takagi reads through the manga in the studio to get inspiration for story ideas. There's another case of self reference, but I'll let it pass because of the One Piece reference.


They go to a nearby convenience store, where they buy a copy of Jack. In there they see a manga contest, where one of the finalists is a fifteen year old, Nizuma Eiji. In other words, their future rival.


During this scene, and some other parts of this episode, I did notice that the music was being over used in scenes that were meant to be dramatic. Instead the music becomes far too distracting to have a proper effect.


The next scene is a guy drawing manga, when Miyoshi asks him why he's just drawing cute girl faces, and why they are all facing in the same direction. In the manga this scene is excluded, and instead Takagi basically explains about him, and how he only draws the same thing over and over, to get attention. I like it much better here, because the anime shows instead of explaining. Added on to the point of view fixes from the first two episodes, the anime is really going and fixing several of the errors from the manga.


It also goes ahead and introduces Miyoshi before her actual introduction in the manga.


Takagi decides to go to the same school as Mashiro, a lower level high school, and the two of them talk about Editors. They decide to spend their summer working on a one shot manga, and take it to an editor at Jump...I mean Jack.


There's a lot of talking that goes on in this series, and rather than summarize everything that goes on in the episode, since that's not really the point of a review, these reviews are going to be much shorter than my Fairy Tail reviews. This episode is another case of a lot of talking, with a bit of payoff in the end. But, because of the scene with Miyoshi, where the anime shows rather than tells, I'm going to give it a:

B-

NaNoWriMo: Day 5

Well, I finally managed to finish up all my urgent papers and such, hopefully didn't do too poorly on my midterms. I still had to work tonight, so didn't get anything done. I work tomorrow morning and afternoon to early evening, but after that I'm free and I plan to use it to get some more planning and writing done for The Incredible Life of Billy Brown (not going to let this one fall apart). I usually find that I get my best writing done immediately after planning, even if what I write isn't what I planned. So we'll see how that goes. Not having written it in a while makes it hard to get back into it, and I need to organize my plot notes a lot more, make me more likely to read them. I think it would help if I made the paragraphs shorter. Either way, I'll get into it again tomorrow, and start myself back on my writing every day...not that I wrote every day this week. I'm horribly behind, but what are you going to do when this event is scheduled right when I have a ton of homework. I just need to readjust my values and put writing before leisure all the time, but right after school work unfortunately.

But, I get back on the bandwagon tomorrow. I'm going to dedicate at least a few hours to this. I also need to catch up on all my late reviews, that I really don't want to reschedule. I need to get these out of the way so that they're off my to do list.

Anime Reviews: Bakuman Episode 3 - Parent and Child

Mashiro and Takagi go to Mashiro's uncle's old studio, and I for one fell in love with the place. I'd love to have an entire apartment filled with manga, and books and everything I need while writing. But I guess I'll have to settle for getting a study one of these days. Eventually.


The reason for the large number of manga in the studio is that manga makes the best reference for manga. I really like this, since it applies to not just manga. One of the best ways to learn how to write a book is to read a lot of books. This is what I've been doing the past few weeks, increasing how much time I spend reading books. Which is why you're getting Dresden Files reviews every Tuesday. Eventually.


Though it seemed odd that the anime decided to change the name of "Jump" to "Jack." The manga uses "Jump", and I can't see any conceivable reason why they would change it in the anime. Unless it has to do with copyright issues, which makes no sense whatsoever.


The two of them go over the old names, storyboards, and talk about the process of getting a document submitted to an editor and working with one to get published. They talk about their favorite manga for a while, both deciding that they love manly manga.


They both decide that in order for Mashiro and Azuki to get married as quickly as possible they will have an anime by the time they are eighteen.


Really, if I was forced to describe this series in two words, I'd have to say that it's a Man's Romance. It's all about doing your best to achieve your dreams, even at the cost of your own life. Not a very realistic, nor even adult attitude, but it resonates inside us, and I for one can't help but enjoy the romance of it.


The rest of the episode is them finding out about his Uncle's past with the girl he was in love with. I really don't care for this back story. It's not bad, but it depresses me, not as much as it did the first time I read it, as by now I've grown somewhat jaded to it. Either way, they find out about the girl, and even find out that she's Azuki's mother. So if Nobuhiro, Mashiro's Uncle, had married her, then Azuki and Mashiro would have been cousins. A bit squicky for western readers, but from what I've gathered the Japanese don't have the same stigma about cousins marrying that westerners do. So even if they had been cousins chances are the romance between Azuki and Mashiro would have been unchanged had his Uncle and her Mother gotten married.


Which just makes their failed romance all the more depressing, since thinking of only one or the other of the two romances being possible dulls a bit of the sadness. But if both had of been possible then there's nothing saying, "It's good this romance failed so this one could live." Since both could have worked.


I'll be honest, this episode scores low for me just because I had to go over the back story again. It's not a bad episode, but a good half portion of it grates on my nerves, so I can't give it more than a...

C

Not a terrible episode, but by my regular standards not a great episode. I'll have to say, that I think so far it's the weakest of the series. It scores fairly low, but not low enough to make me stop watching. For those interested, I'll post an explanation of my grading scale shortly.

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

Stupid homework and its stupid stupidness! NaNoWriMo possibly to continue tomorrow!

Maybe.

Anime Reviews: Bakuman Episode 2 - Dumb and Smart

Again, I apologize for the title pages. They're kind of really boring, and not translated very well. Hopefully we'll get a redesign or something eventually.

Now I know I didn't mention it in my manga review, but it's a lot more obvious in the anime and bears mentioning. What's up with the characters randomly opening or closing just one eye? And they have their eyes closed at the oddest times, times when no human being would close their eyes. Look!



The episode itself covers very little ground, a trend I'm certain will continue through this series. If you read my review of episode one you'll notice that most of the screen shots were of the exact same shot of the classroom. That's because most of the episode took place in the classroom.

Takagi comes to pick up Mashiro to go to school.


While they walk to school they argue about nicknames and Mashiro acts like a bit of a jerk to Takagi, making it very hard to sympathize with him. Personally I tend to give unsympathetic main characters a chance to improve before too long. I'll give Mashiro two more episodes.


When they get to school, Iwase, a girl in their class, comes and talks to Takagi. Iwase isn't introduced until later in the manga, but I like how they establish her competitive relationship with Takagi before it needs to pay off. It will also tie in to what Takagi and Mashiro discuss later on in the episode.


While they are taking midterms, Mashiro can only think about how he proposed to Azuki the night before, and is unable to finish the test. He asks to be excused, and the teacher lets him go to the nurse's office, since he looks pale. Takagi asks to be excused too, having already finished the test.


Like in the last episode, there is a scene here that is omitted in the anime. In the manga it switches viewpoint to Azuki a few times, letting the reader see inside her head. So far the anime has been avoiding that, and instead has a much more focused point of view. Since I'm more a fan of third person limited I can appreciate this in the anime. It also helps keep things streamlined.

While Mashiro and Takagi talk about Mashiro's feelings for Azuki, and the intelligence of their classmates, I can't help but notice how much slower paced this series is than my usual fare. Well, it allows me to diversify, and helps a lot with motivating me to write more.


The scene where they talk about intelligence, and understanding one's place in society may come across as strange to western viewers. Personally I can understand where they're coming from, even if it goes against my opinions as an American. But it's still an interesting way to look at Japanese society. Takagi essentially explains how Azuki is a lot smarter than she acts, because she doesn't act smart, since she knows that people will like her more if she isn't too smart. While on the other hand Iwase is the smartest girl in their school, but isn't popular because she acts too smart, and is a little bit arrogant. Personally I thought she seemed perfectly fine when she was introduced earlier on in the episode, but that's just me.


In the end Mashiro decides to team up with Takagi, convinced that Takagi isn't just some idiot dreamer, but might actually turn out some pretty interesting stories.


Mashiro realizes that the chances of his parents letting him become a mangaka after what happened to his uncle are slim. He tries to talk to his mom, but she refuses instantly. Though she agrees to talk to his father once he comes home.


While Mashiro waits for his dad to get home, he gets out the box he packed his Uncle's manga away in. I really like this scene, for those that weren't finding Mashiro sympathetic enough, I think this should change that for you. The music that accompanies the scene is quite nice, and fits the mood. Mashiro remembers how much he loved manga and begins to change a bit as a person. He shifts from being a depressive person, and becomes more cheerful.

The scene is very effective as it deepens Mashiro's motivation for becoming a mangaka. His initial motivation is of course to become a successful mangaka so he can marry Azuki, but seeing him remember that he loves manga deepens the motivation, and gives him a much more firm basis for his motivation to become a mangaka.


I like this scene because it speaks true to me. Manga, like any fiction, has a strong power to inspire emotion. From the rage at poorly written series, or frustration at "mature" series that confuse the definition of adult taste with dreck, to the very real joy you feel while reading a touching story, or an exciting adventure, or a hilarious comedy. Stories are great catalysts, and it's nice to see a work of fiction that understands its own power.

When Mashiro's dad gets home he almost instantly agrees to let Mashiro become a mangaka. Mashiro's mom takes him to visit his grandfather, who gives him the key to his Uncle's old studio. Sure this may come across as overly convenient that they have a fully stocked manga studio available for him, but I'd rather watch a series about them creating manga, and discussing the theory of manga and the creative process, rather than run around trying to afford supplies. I'm not watching this show for the money.

Besides, while it may be unbelievable that they would keep the place in perfect condition, the fact that both Mashiro's father and Grandfather almost instantly agreed to let him become a mangaka suggests that they knew from the start that eventually Mashiro would choose this path in life.


Mashiro runs off to visit the studio, clearly a more cheerful character now, and calls Takagi, inviting him to come along and visit the studio with him.

The first episode may have been a bit rough for some people, and while the first half of this episode was slow, I think that this is the episode where viewers should realize whether they want to watch this show or not. Mashiro is already starting his development as a more sympathetic character, and overall the potential of the series is shaping itself into something good. I will of course keep watching, and reviewing, though my interest would in no way have been piqued by this series if I hadn't already read the manga. But after the boost of creative desire this episode left me with, I can't help but want to keep watching. Despite the overly emo tone of the first episode, the series is starting to shift into something more much more watchable.

And since every reviewer seems to give a letter grade these days, I might as well start it myself. For the latter half of this episode, I'll give it a:

B

NaNoWriMo: Day 3

The hardest part of this all is forcing myself to write. I may not write as much as I intend to, but as long as I get something done I'm on the right path to slowly force myself into good writing habits.

I only wrote 271 words today. Pretty pathetic, but then again, it's been a hectic week. And the fact that I've written something today is a victory for me. Now I just need to get to finishing some homework before I go to bed.

And here, an extra short excerpt.

Keep in mind that this wasn’t just a mindless game for me. It’s a lot trickier to translate the game into both languages. There’s a lot to consider. For example, did you know that tentapods have over thirty words for black alone? It’s because of their eyes, they can see much more on the spectrum of color than human eyes. So different shades of black get different names, even if the black of an inactive screen looks the same as the blackness of space to humans. And then there’s the fact that I had to translate the concept of a letter into two completely different languages that did not have the concept of letters. At the same time.

Well, have fun, and keep writing. I'll try to get a more respectable word count by the end of this week. After I get through the hectic part and get my work organized. And I'll try to catch up on my late reviews as quickly as possible

Book Reviews: Summer Knight

The war between the White Council and the Red Court Vampires has been going on for several months. The White Council comes to Chicago for a war meeting. Harry, being the cause of the war, is in danger of being given to the Red Court as a peace offering. Unless he can secure safe passage through the Winter Sidhe lands for Wizard attack forces. Fortunately for Harry, Queen Mab has already contacted him with a job, to find a murderer and recover a stolen item. If he does this for Mab then she will allow the White Council passage through her lands. Otherwise his own kind will turn him over to the blood-sucking monsters.

The funny thing about this series is that while reading it I never acknowledge the fact that it's a mystery series. Sure I know that there's a whole "whodunnit" plot going on, but it's so different from the regular mystery series that I don't really like reading. The Dresden Files effectively combines two different genres, and comes out on top. While reading Summer Knight I didn't actively analyze what its genre was, I was too busy enjoying the book. It wasn't until I sat down to write this review that I thought, "Oh yeah, I guess this was a mystery, wasn't it?" This is a mark of a good writer, that he's able to make us forget all about the superficial considerations like genre, and envelope us in the narrative.

Normally I don't like first person narratives, I see it in YA a lot, and while it works I always considered Third Person Limited as the true viewpoint of adult fiction. In the case of the Dresden Files first person works only because of Harry Dresden. As such a strong, entertaining narrator he provides an extra layer of entertainment to the reading. Jim Butcher realizes how to use the viewpoint properly, focusing entirely on Harry, instead of switching viewpoints, and thereby making a jarring switch from first person to third person limited.

I'm looking at you James Patterson!

Jonathan Stroud you are forgiven.

The prose aside, Summer Knight has a strong cast, of either new characters, or characters who have been introduced before, and are making a comeback. After my rant about Susan in the last review, I find it only fitting that now I get to talk about another significant lady in Harry's life.

**Spoilers**

Elayne is a big improvement from Susan. She's portrayed as a coward, hiding from the world under the protection of the Summer Court. She's essentially the exact opposite of Harry, who is very self sacrificing, while Elayne on the other hand looks out for number one.

The reason she works is because while she looks out for her own interests, she isn't a traitor, and remembers how important Harry is to her, and even goes against her mistress in order to help Harry. Elayne's involvement, along with the look into Harry's life that she brings, is a major driving force for the novel.

I know this is shorter than my bit on Susan, but really that's because I'm not complaining. I like Elayne, and can only hope that she shows up in later books.

**End Spoilers**

The changelings are an interesting bunch, with some interesting backgrounds that were developed just enough. I know there isn't much to say really, they were a good addition to the cast, and used effectively in the book, as either an extra mystery, or a pair of interesting side characters. Except for Ace. He was kind of pointless.

Not this Ace.

I really liked seeing Billy and the Werewolves again. They're easily my favorite bunch, even if they don't feature that much in the story. They're basically a bunch of geeks, and Harry hanging around them brings out his own inner geek. Easily a great group to have in a series aimed at a specific audience. After all, fanservice doesn't always have to be sexual. Sometimes all you need is a bit of admitted geekery.

Now I'm afraid I need to talk about something I didn't like quite as much. When describing women Butcher goes overboard, coming across as more of an amateur than he merits. You can only read so much about smooth legs and well shaped breasts before you start wondering how many cold showers it took Butcher to finish this book.

Keep in mind, there is a reason for this. Sexualization of women in pulp fiction, especially the crime noir stories Butcher is emulating, was a common feature. And by emulating this he sets the right kind of tone he's going for.

Besides, the book is filled with supernatural and regular beauties. Can you blame him?

Beauty like this would reduce even Wilde to the level of a fan-fiction writer.

"No it wouldn't."

I absolutely loved this book, and recommend the series all the more to new readers. The last two books were good, this one is even better. After seeing for myself how good these books are, I'm taking my friends' word that it gets better all the more seriously.

So I dare you to go out and read the books, then come back and tell me in all honesty that I lied to you when I said this series is worth at least one read through.

Oscar Wilde Commands it, Bitches!

If you liked my review, Buy the Book Here:
Summer Knight (Paperback)
Summer Knight (Hardcover)
Summer Knight (Kindle Edition)
Summer Knight (Audio CD)