I Reads You

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Progression Christian on Regressive Christians

I'm diggin on this article at the Religious Dispatches website, written by Peter Laarman, on the "religion of whiteness." HA!

A highlight on nostalgia: A time when white men [could] take certain things for granted, like the right to be ill-informed and obtuse but still receive deference and some degree of social privilege.

Go. Read.

Hey, Kids! New Yu-Gi-Oh!

I just finished Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Volume 1 (Yu-Gi-Oh! (Graphic Novels))

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin. I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about getting this in a box of review copies from VIZ Media's PR guy. When I first looked at the book, all I really noticed was the big "R." It took me a while to realize that it was a Yu-Gi-Oh! book; then, I was really in a bind. Ugh! Yu-Gi-Oh!

But I gave it a chance. I have to say that I wouldn't mind reading more...as long as I got them free. Ha!

I Reads You Review: LOVE SHARE (YAOI)

Creator: Aoi Kujyou

Publishing Information: June Manga, paperback, 198 pages, $12.95 (US)

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-56970-759-3 (ISBN-13); 1-56970-759-6 (ISBN-10)

Boys’ love (or “BL”) is a genre of manga for women, although some stories are appropriate for teen readers. BL depicts love between two male characters. Boys’ love has two subsets: shounen-ai stories depict romantic love; yaoi also portrays romantic love between males, but is generally graphic in its depiction of sexuality.

Love Share is a yaoi manga from creator Aoi Kujyou. This story of ex-lovers does feature depictions of both romance and sexuality, but I’d call those depictions more rowdy than graphic. The two leads seem caught in a storm of passions, and like a passing storm, Love Share ebbs and flows in its powers to be engaging and gripping.

Love Share is the story of Matsuyama Kazushi and his on-again, off-again love Izumi Ogiwara. Kazushi has always been level-headed and hard-working. Izumi came into Kazushi’s life when he was still in high school, and while Kazushi may never have wanted his life to be taken over by the carefree rogue, he couldn’t resist Izumi. However, Izumi likes to run away when things get serious.

As the first chapter begins, one of Izumi’s lovers has confronted him, which Kazushi, now Izumi’s ex, witnesses. Suddenly, Izumi seizes the opportunity to be back in Kazushi’s life, and Kazushi reluctantly, at first, allows the fires of their passion to burn again. After a strange phone call, Izumi disappears again, but this time there seems to be more to it than just Izumi’s need to leave before a relationship turns serious. Kazushi is determined to solve the mystery, because if he doesn’t, he believes that whatever is troubling Izumi might make him leave for good.

It’s nice that Aoi Kujyou is willing to take a basic plot – a young man restarts a relationship with his ex-lover – and turn it into something more – the reason for the lover’s failure to commit are not shallow. The problem is that Kujyou isn’t willing to engage the potential in her story. She might establish motivation, but she executes the story in a way that conveys impressions rather than character and drama.

It’s even in the graphix (sequential art as storytelling). Kujyou draws vistas in which figures morph into cityscapes into sketchy close-ups of the characters. There are pages in which the individual panels look like stills from a flashy music video, depicting a torrid love scene. Love Share features elegant graphic design and the compositions emphasize style over drama. Love Story is as pretty as it could be, but it is not all it can be.

B- is the grade for Love Share (Yaoi)

Monday, September 21, 2009

Del Rey Manga Info on "The Secret Saturdays" Film-Comics

Press release from Del Rey Manga:

THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE – PART 1

After the successful debut of the Ben 10 Alien Force and Bakugan Battle Brawlers film-comics in Fall 2008, Cartoon Network Enterprises and Del Rey Manga are bringing the hit property, The Secret Saturdays, to comics form with THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE PART 1.

Christina Miller, vice president, Cartoon Network Enterprises says, “The Secret Saturdays features great animation and action, two qualities that lend themselves to a rich publishing program. As a key part of the brand’s consumer products launch this fall, we look forward to building on the success we have had to date with Del Rey Manga to create a strong The Secret Saturdays publishing program.”

The Secret Saturdays series, which debuted in October 2008, found its home on Cartoon Network’s “Action Fridays” animation block, and its combination of family life, fantastical creatures, and action-packed adventures appealed to a large audience. The Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists, dedicate themselves to protecting secret artifacts and mysterious, hidden monsters, cryptids, across the world. Their adventures – which take them from ancient ruins to bottomless caves – have led to encounters with some of the weirdest and wildest creatures on the planet. In THE SECRET SATURDAYS: THE KUR STONE PART 1, Zak Saturday and his parents, Doc and Drew, must rely on their powers and their knowledge of cryptids to stop the nefarious V.V. Argost from recovering the dreadful Kur Stone, and stop him from unleashing an ancient evil on the world.

“With its rich characters and intriguing stories, The Secret Saturdays is the latest Cartoon Network series to achieve widespread international popularity,” says Mutsumi Miyazaki, director of licensing and acquisitions for Del Rey Manga. “We believe that this new film-comic will bring new fans to The Secret Saturdays, and we look forward to building further success for the franchise while expanding our strong partnership with Cartoon Network.”

The Secret Saturdays 1: The Kur Stone

Del Rey Manga

August 25, 2009

ISBN 978-0-345-51694-7; $7.99 [END]

Where the wild things are - Animal Academy Volume 2

I finished reading Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho Volume 2

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin. TOKYOPOP has created quite a nice backlist of manga for preteen and juvenile readers, and right now, I'd say that Animal Academy is at the top of the list.

Thank you, Dave Matthews

In an interview with CNN, Dave Matthews has something to say about racism and American politics. Here is the main highlight:

CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.

Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.

Maybe I'm paranoid about it, but I don't think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama -- if it was Clinton -- would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don't think so.

CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.

Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn't have the podium. The message that's delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we're going to put on because that's what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That's just where the culture's gotten.

There's no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.

CNN: Because they're too low-key? Because they're not bombastic?

Matthews: Because they're thoughtful, and they're patient, and they're tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They're trying to impart information. I don't think that's the goal [now] because it's not a good business plan.

Everyone's outraged all the time. Why are you outraged? There's war -- there's always been war, as long as most of us have been alive. There have always been people being abused, there's always been horrible things in the world. Why are we outraged? We should just be quiet and figure it out, and work it out together. ... There's no solution in Washington as long as people are shouting like that. [END]

The Dave Matthews Band is probably touring in support of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.