Hell Girl, vol. 1
By Miyuki Eto
Rated OT, for Older Teens (16+)
Del Rey, $10.99

Nightmares for Sale, vol. 1
by Kaoru Ohashi
Rated OT, for Older Teens (16+)
Aurora, $10.99*

Presents, vol. 1
By Kanako Inuki
Rated M, for Mature readers (18+)
CMX, $12.99

One of the most interesting mini-genres of manga what John Jakala brilliantly named “comeuppance theater,” in which we get to watch someone behave badly and then pay a creative and usually bloody price for their sins.

There is something viscerally satisfying about watching a bad person being punished for their evil deeds. “The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small,” Longfellow wrote. The “slowly” part is the catch; we often see people get away with reprehensible things in real life, from the driver who dents a car in the parking lot and drives off to the CEO who runs a company into the ground and picks up a huge bonus check on his way out the door. They may get their just desserts, in this world or the next, but we don’t get to see it.

That’s why it’s fun to read books like these. They compress time and strip away all ambiguity, leaving a single story arc: Person does bad thing, person gets punished. In real life there are gray areas, and victims (especially of con games) are often complicit in their suffering. In fiction, such messy considerations would ruin the fun. What it boils down to is an innocent victim, an evil tormentor—and, hopefully, a creative storyteller.

Hell Girl is a particularly pure example of the genre. Each of the five stories in volume 1 features a truly awful villain—a girl who frames a classmate and then bullies her, a baker who steals recipes from his student and spreads rumors about her shop, a vet who neglects the animals in his care (except for those that belong to celebrities). It’s formulaic evil that never gets realistic enough to be disturbing. In each case the victim is driven to despair, unable to solve the problem, and—this is key—no one else believes her, so no one will help.

Then she hears about a mysterious website that can be accessed only at midnight. The website calls up Hell Girl, a huge-eyed, kimono-clad dispenser of justice. She strikes a hard bargain—the price of vengeance is that the victim will be sent to hell when she dies. Oddly, no one seems to be bothered by this. Once Hell Girl is hired, she really delivers the goods, interrupting the evildoer’s enjoyment of their ill-gotten gains to inflict a custom-tailored version of hell.

The book is very formulaic, down to the very words that Hell Girl says and the blurry chrysanthemums that she calls up every time she shows up to deliver justice. On the other hand, the torments are nicely designed and fit the villains quite well. The book isn’t really that scary, but it’s troubling that no one seems to be in the least bit bothered by the prospect of eternal damnation. Most simply enjoy getting the status quo back and resolve to enjoy the here and now.

Nightmares for Sale throws some really different twists into the revenge scenario. Creator Kaoru Ohashi squeezes six stories, one a two-parter, into volume 1, and each story follows a different path. In this series, the intervention is supplied by a supernatural pawnshop staffed by a loli girl (who is apparently much older than she looks) and a lovely boy, but their role is less straightforward than Hell Girl’s. Some of the stories involve a transaction with them, but in others, they simply stand around and the characters come in and tell them things.

The first two chapters are pretty straightforward tales, one of a bullied girl getting revenge, the other of a vain fashion model getting what she wishes for (which is never good in these books). After that, the stories get more interesting and twisted. People still get punished, but things are seldom what they appear to be on the first page, and most of the stories end ambiguously, with a hint that the dark forces are only temporarily banished. The writing is really quite clever, especially considering how short the chapters are. The art is uneven, however; some chapters are drawn in a very spare, linear style with toning substituting for shading and backgrounds, while other chapters are more fully developed. Often the art has a pale look because of the dependence on toning. Ohashi does some interesting things with the panels, often letting the story unfold in a series of thin vertical slices and using strong diagonals to keep the action moving. The production quality is almost too good—the high-quality, very white paper makes the thin lines and light toning look even paler, and the binding is rather stiff. Still, it’s a nice book and a decent read.

Presents is a series of cautionary tales, most beginning with a gift and ending with horrific death. Most of the characters are schoolchildren, and greed is the chief sin in the book: One greedy girl snatches presents away from the other kids, only to find that each box contains a different way to die; another pays little attention to the gifts she is given, until they gang up on her; and a woman who is only dating a guy for the bling he brings her gets a final delivery from beyond the grave. The chief actor in these stories is a little girl who didn’t get any birthday presents, thanks to a mean classmate’s trick, and therefore stays young forever. She pops up in different ways in each story, sometimes to help the victim, sometimes to deliver a gruesome judgment.

The style of Presents seems old-fashioned; the figures are rounded, with bug eyes and simple hair and clothes. This makes for some jarring contrasts—the stories all start out like children’s stories and end in madness, with melting faces or spilled guts. It’s all very imaginative, though, and it’s amazing how many different kinds of evil manga-ka Kanako Inuki can come up with, and how many different retributions she can confect, all based on the same theme.

Presents also has a greater degree of interior-ness than the other books; Hell Girl doesn’t care about the souls of the people she punishes, she’s just out for revenge. The little girl in Presents, on the other hand, is punishing people as much for their flaws—their greed or callousness—as for what they have actually done.

Of the three, Presents is definitely the most interesting read, with the most imaginative stories, although the art will probably not appeal to everyone. Nightmares for Sale has interesting stories but some weak points in the art, while Hell Girl is the most simplistic and formulaic, although the art is slick and professional. But all three deliver the solid satisfaction of watching bad things happen to bad people.

*Aurora has all their older titles, including this one, on sale for $5.00 if you buy through them.

These reviews are based on complimentary copies supplied by the publishers. But obviously, I’m not easily bought!

Go to Source

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

As a sailor I cannot help but listen to sea stories, and given that this sea story is by a big shot director I will give it a chance even if the habits of Marin and Urin are strange. So yeah they are woefully under dressed and certainly being in the frigid ocean they might want to dress a bit more warmly, though I suppose that this was unavoidable given that the origins were pachinko machines. At least the rest of the sky dwellers took notice about the strange water people. Though as it was a beach is suppose that it wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility, certainly Marin looks enough like a gaijin so that the locals wouldn’t give her crap to her face at least as they prefer to snivel behind people’s backs, Given the OP I doubt that Marin and Urin will start dressing in a more modest fashion, though certainly if they were to do a better infiltration they will have to alter their dress code. Still I can overlook such quirks of their water people society as after all every culture has their disagreeable aspects and at least under dressing is as mild as you can get.

She speaks the truth.

So Marin is a local hero who wants to help people, and is easily distracted by shiny objects. She also has the habit of bending over instead of going prone, but at least her heart is in the right place. It seems that for Marin and Urin there is great attachment to beautiful things and how they are a reflection of righteousness instead of vanity. Still I was amused that all this fuss was over ONE RING that could not be destroyed by any means that Kanon possessed, I hope that they will either resort to dragonfire or the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. I suppose that Marin’s seeming lack of intelligence can be attributed solely to her utter ignorance of the malicious ways of the sky-dwellers, so it can be excused for now…at least until Kanon figures out that Marin must be educated. I suppose happy go lucky Marin will complement the down and out Kanon. Speaking of Kanon while Marin is getting all the glances (to be fair Marin certainly is ugly) Kanon is certainly my favorite. The poor girl gets dumped at noon and scant hours later her dipshit former boyfriend is out with another girl enjoying the sights. I hope eventually Kanon levels up to Mogami Kyoko-class so that she can send forth her hate to strangle her tormentor. Still she does have that dark mode going for her and on occasion she does have some G Gundam mannerisms.

This hand of mine glows with an awesome power…IT”S LOUD ROAR TELLS ME TO GRASP VICTORY!

I did like the judicious use of SD where appropriate so it kept the magical girl feel and provided respite from Marin and Urin’s choice of dress. As much as I think Urin has her moments just looking at her makes me feel kind of dirty. I guess that even if every one is sporting expose midsection that a couple inches of cloth kind of make a difference. I did like Kanon’s mom though I have my doubts that she should be looking twenty and fitting into her daughter’s high school uniform, not that it is a bad thing of course… The last thing worth mentioning is the darkness which I have no clue what it is though I suppose that in good time we will see more of the story. So far for a first ep it wasn’t too bad as we met the principal characters of importance, Kanon, Marin, Urin, and Kanon’s mom. Kanon’s-ex and his new bimbo can rot in hell for all I care, undoubtedly that rather short period between break-up and new bitch probably indicates that he was a cheating son of a bitch. I am very quick to anger and even quicker to judge so I will be bashing the louse with vigor. But really fuck him.

The ED was adorable and certainly letting Urin watch the unedited version of the Little Mermaid was going to cause trouble. Still the parallel is clear beware of the land of the sky-dwellers, also the Little Mermaid was a dumb bimbo and it’s best to not do what she did, namely she should have stabbed that faithless dog that passed for a prince.

Impz’s little corner of annoyance

It is only a sign of their vanity and ill-gotten wealth, not virtue.

… And it’s good to be back. I wonder if I am a forgotten man already.

After watching Umi no Monogatari, I have a sense of ambivalence about the show. It’s not that there is something fundamentally wrong or unwatchable from the show. I mean, the girls are pretty, the animation is good and there is enough fanservice to fulfil those fans who enjoy cute little things in cute little swimsuits. The show had good production values and some major cash pumped in albeit the current economic downturn. It ended on a decent climax, and we still do not have any idea where it is going. Also, the director as repeated by Crusader a few times in private, is a big shot director that has done the likes of Kanon and Aria. Surely, nothing wrong can come out of this, right?

The story goes about with a typical ditsy sea maiden. She decided to bring a beautiful ring to the “Air land” because she wanted to return it to the beautiful person who threw it off to the sea. The story in the first episode evolves around her search for the girl and an introduction of the other cast, such as her younger grumbling loli sister. The episode ended with her loli sister unsealing a malicious soul from the tomb.

After watching the show, there is something wrong. More accurately, something is missing. Now, I am sitting down thinking: Why does the show bore me, even when the evil spirit came out? Why am I not feeling anything for these characters, like I felt for the characters in Kure-nai since the very first episode? The question goes down to the unmemorable characters. None of them interests me. Their character dynamics seems commonplace and mundane. Don’t get me wrong. Mundane can be a good tool to use in a slice of life series, or when the characters are the centrepiece of the series. This just does not strike me as a character-centric show.
Perhaps the character and series will develop fast enough and become an excellent show, but I always feel that a show on its debut should have memorable and interesting characters that will pull you in. If it is not the plot that intrigues, the characters must do that before you lose interest. Both the sea maiden leads, namely Marin and Urin, just do not ooze any unique traits or qualities that are apparent immediately.

In anime, anything is possible. Hence, demanding superficial viewers like me wants something special. It’s either you make such an extraordinary ordinary character or a really weird main lead that captures your attention (for good or for bad). When it is a half-baked character like Marin, you just find it hard to find any interest. Compared to Umi No Monogatari, Aria’s characters are refreshingly quirky, especially with Athena and Alice in the mix. It’s probably a premature prediction, but I believe that the characters are going to be dividing interest. Some will consider them to be the best ever (cute innocent girls in swimsuits, count me in!) while others might bemoan their wafer-thin depth. Prove me wrong, Umi no Monogatari.

In all, Umi no Monogatari had all the right ingredients to do well in the future. Considering how the director is amazing in his many works, it can be good. However, nothing has been striking “Must watch about the show, and I have no reason to keep watching it. Maybe, if I get to see a green haired loli swimming around in that cute swimsuit… Or not.

(Crusader: Dude it’s not like Aria grabbed people by the horns right away either… Also my sailor sensibilities place you doing something unseemly in that “corner.”)

Image Dump

Urin is also aware of how much crap the sky-dwellers have dumped into the ocean as well, Aquaman told her…

I hear the A-10s are on the prowl…

I just thought that this was kind of cute.

Ditto here.

Not all of it is mind you…

It’s funny when there is no context.

With any luck she will be the hero who slays that ingrate of an ex.

It’s amazing she passed herself off as a classmate for this long…

The fake high school student is fine too.

An advocate of technical school I take it?

I concur all you need is the ability to intimidate to be successful…

Context is important…

Damn right you are mom.

Next time bring a gauntlet so you can hit him extra hard and really rearrange his face.

Cast it into the FIRE!

Oh my god, Becky, look at her butt.

In the land of Mordor…

Yes meet your new partner…

ERUPTING BURNING FINGER!

It cannot be destroyed by a weapon we here possess.

You know not even the fire of Ancalagon could destroy it…

Maybe Marin’s habits are similar to Tom’s.

But really it was an excuse to hold your hand.

Were not at the Sammath Naur yet…

Either way it’s true.

Well her ex is certainly a bottom feeder.

What is heartbreak?

Yeah because he bought it at a 99 cent store.

Let’s not forget cheap, it’s made of scrap and plastic for crying out loud…

Shit it won’t fetch much if you pawn it…

We are more terrible than that kid…

Get a metal detector.

Then turn around
Stick it out

Even white boys got to shout
Baby got back

Well you ain’t it Miss thing…

Enemy sighted…

I expect great things from her…

Terrible but great…

Yeah I don’t know why he left you for that either…

Welcome to the best years of your life.

With a wife like that I sort of understand even if I don’t approve.

Man even Kanon is checking her out.

No she’s just a tourist…

Indeed it might have chipped and shattered.

Brilliant idea old bean, children should never go about unaccompanied.

Grab your Garmin…

ARTILLERY!

If you hear it you’re fine, if not you won’t live long enough to care…

My precious…

The Ring has a will of its own…

If all else fails duck, as a defensive strategem it is unreliable, but very reassuring.

The lesson no good deed goes unpunished…

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you’re not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I’m the love that you’ve looked for, write to me, and escape.

Turns out he hates Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
He’s into yoga, he doesn’t have half-a-brain.
He dislikes making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
He’s not the love that you’ve looked for, do not write to him, and escape.

A knife in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn…

Death is only the beginning…

What can I say the real deal ain’t so happy is it?

After the Little Mermaid turned to bubbles she created a tidal wave which destroyed the Prince’s Kingdom, killed the prince and the princess while she was three months pregnant…THE END

I thought that this was cute.

Go to Source

It seems that Ritsu got the best plot thread this time around.

So it’s finally over and it seems this time the atmosphere was suitably muted, though not much music was made, but instead I suppose that they did gel a bit more as friends. Yui being Yui was pretty standard with her antics and wanting weird food for a hot pot. Mugi-chan got a job, Azu-nyan baby sat a kitten, and Mio went off to write another song, but it seems that Ritsu was the special one this time around who thought that she had a love letter on her hands…though it turns out that they were “lyrics” sent to Ritsu by Mio. As Ritsu is not he sharpest knife in the drawer I suppose she did not pick up on how she was the one Mio was writing about. It was odd seeing another side of Ristu that haddn’t really come out before, this time she was actually concious of how she looked and we meet one member of her family, the only thing is I am not sure why this was the time to do all that. Mugi-chan might not be the best cashier in the world I respect that she is willing to work a day in her life, if not longer. Azu-nayn was woefully unprepared to take care of a kitten, and should have at least asked for food, and the number for the veterinarian. Still having seen college girls buy a puppy as a single unit I suppose the logistics involved with a pet was not much of a consideration. I did feel that Sawa-chan was sorely missing from this episode as she should have been dateless and still looking to harass her charges…

Seriously a dog is better.

Overall it wasn’t the best series EVAR, but it was enjoyable even if the music did not feature as prominently as I had initially hoped. I suppose as a slice of life thing it works as a tale of a club of four and later five girls and their very talented Teacher Advisor. To be sure there was lots of moe fodder to be had, but in the end it was kind of the point even if it got excessive at times. In the end I can only really recommend it for yuri subtext, moe, and some moments of comedy. On that level it does succeed, but it is hardly ground breaking.

Giving you mouth to mouth…

I see Mugi-chan’s habbits are starting to rub off on the rest as well…

I guess Ritsu also gets maidenly feelings too.

Some nothing…

Mugi-chan could sense that Ritsu might fall…

Mio should have confessed at this point.

Oh look a job!

Like I said cats suck.

She works hard for the money…

Kind of scary but I do like those twin tails…

Wow so there is someone who can do worse than British cuisine…

I can see why Ritsu would rather have Ui…

If only she changed up her hair every now and then…

For once I agree with Yui.

It’s so fun to watch.

It’s good to be the center of attention, yes?

If only the adoring public could verify that…

If only I could reach into the screen.

I bet she is…

That sounds pretty damn intimate.

I can see where she drew her insipiration from…

Mio must be curious then…

I think Mio meant from a different aspect probably from the vertical…

“Lyrics” must be code for yuri confession, duly noted.

Well what say you?

It was even hand written…as they say, it is written.

Go to Source

I can’t ask for a more perfect adaptation. J.C. Staff is doing good work in this season of Hayate no Gotoku.

In fact, they even animated one of the manga’s tankouban omake about Kotetsu-kun! Impressive, really. Makes for a real nice change in the trend of anime studios screwing up the adaptations.

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

.
Go to Source

Eyecandy:

Eyecancer:

Oh god what?! Is every chapter of Medaka from now on going to be like this? It’s gonna get a bit unbearable you know. Plus I want more overbearing Medaka slave-driving Hitoyoshi.

This somewhat reminds me of Bakuman. The current arc in there is talking about how the Ashirogi pair is worried about their ratings dropping radically after the first few chapters and they try to do some crazy things to improve it. Is this what they were talking about?

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

.
Go to Source

The numbering convention for this new season irritates the hell out of me. That being said I was happy we finally got into a bit of story here and more Nagato. This likely means new episodes for at least another 2 weeks to resolve this storyline if they plan on animating most of it. Good times.

BEEFCAKE

Different swimsuits this time…at least they showed some varying dialogue and scenes as to make it not look like they just re-used last week’s footage to save money. I also have noticed that these past two episodes have been a bit more overt with the fanservice then in season 1. Not that I’m complaining or anything, just an observation.

Those eyes…and I’d be bored to after doing the same stupid crap 15,000 times.

Hello there.

That’s a hell of a Groundhog Day. Or for those younger readers who watch more anime then older American movies, where are you K1?! On second thought, you people should all go watch the movie Groundhog Day if you haven’t. It’s classic cinema dammit. Damn kids these days.

Too close! Don’t think I’ve seen such high yaoi bait content in a Haruhi episode before. Beefcake Kyon, multiple instances of flamboyancy and fabulousness from Itsuki, and then this scene…it was pretty steamy. Maybe they felt a need to balance out the service a bit?

Crusader’s Observations

The man of the hour, and perhaps at this point the only man…

So it was pretty much the same as last time sans the Itano Circus, but what new stuff there was I did enjoy. Mikuru laid on the helpless moe girl on a bit thick, but by now I suppose that is about as much as can be expected of her at this stage. I confess I could have gazed into Yuki’s eyes 15,498 times, but I suppose that the only good thing repetition is for is developing muscle memory. I live in freaking San Francisco so the flamboyancy is hardly an issue though I do like how Itsuki is at least acting boldly and decisively, in contrast Kyon is turning out to a bit of a pussy in not confronting issue and trying to weasel his way out of having to do anything, failing to realize Yuki’s plight was simply the most egregious of his crimes. Even when the moment of truth came he hesitated, just goes to show that just because you are a heterosexual doesn’t disallow cowardice. My respect for Itsuki actually grew for once as he seemed to piece everything together and did request Kyon act as he was the only one who could. I fail to recall his eyes being fully open on this many occasions. While Kyon mired himself in his own ignorance Itsuki was the first to realize that poor Yuki had been aware of the temporal loop, Mikuru calling him first indicates that even Mikuru realizes just how reliable Itsuki is. In my line of work that is something highly valued and certainly it seems that if given half the chance that Itsuki could easily gain a reputation for getting the job done.

Then you sir would be incredibly brave.

Go to Source