Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Manga Volume 1 Review

風の谷のナウシカ
Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Volume 1

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

A young teen girl named Nausicaä enters the toxic Sea of Decay jungle at the edge of the desert and finds the molted shell of a giant insectoid known as an Ohmu.  After taking one of they eye covers, she is resting when she telepathically hears angry cries for death. Racing to the top of the remains of a giant God Warrior from an age long past, Nausicaä can tell someone is under attack from an Ohmu and other insectoids and fires a signal shot to show them the way out.  Taking her mehve glider, she meets the fleeing man, who's riding a large, flightless bird and leading a second filled with supplies, as a giant, enraged Ohmu emerges from the jungle.  Nausicaä is able to calm the beast with flash bombs and an insect whistle and get it back into the Sea of Decay.

Dismounting from her mehve, Nausicaä races to greet the man, "Master Yupa," an explorer from her Valley of the Wind kingdom.  After introducing her to a wild, fox-squirrel, the critter does the unthinkable and accepts Nausicaä.  Yupa allows her to keep the critter, whom she names Teto.  Nausicaä is happy that Yupa has come back since she might be heading to the war front soon. That night, the Valley people throw a celebration for Yupa, after which Yupa and Nausicaä's father (the king) chat.

Sometime later, Nausicaä is helping work on the Valley's gunship, installing the Ohmu eyepiece, and then she takes the fighter up with one of the old Valley warriors, Mito, as co-pilot.  During the flight, Nausicaä senses telepathic hatred and changes course to find it. Soon, a Pejitei Brig Freighter is found, covered with land grubs from the Sea of Decay and filled with women and children.  Nausicaä and Mito attempt to guide the craft to safety but it is too damaged and crashes.  Nausicaä races to the wreckage and only finds one survivor, Princess Rastel.  She hands a small stone-object to Nausicaä, asking her to give it to her brother. She explains that their city was attacked by the Imperial Guard of the Vai Emperor of Torumekia. Rastel begs that her brother be given the stone-object and that the Emperor never get his hands on it. Nausicaä promises and Rastel dies.

Mito is surprised by news of this attack since Torumekia and Pejitei have been ancient allies. With spores from the Sea of Decay now in the wind, the wreckage will soon be consumed with new growth and so it is time to leave. Before doing so, a giant Ohmu shows up, lamenting the loss of life.

Sometime later, a Torumekian craft comes over the crash site, which already has growth of toxic plants, and dispatches "worm handlers" who quickly discover the grave of Rastel.  Unearthing her corpse and taking her crown, the worm handlers confirm that the item they seek was here but has been taken away.  They find evidence of Nausicaä's gunship and the expedition's leader orders they set course for the Valley of the Wind.

Meanwhile, Nausicaä and Mito have returned and undergo decontamination. Nausicaä reports the news of the Torumekian attack on Pejitei City and shows the stone-device given to her by Rastel. Yupa figures this came from the giant shaft that the Pejitei people have dug deep underground from which they harvested engines from the ancient city buried beneath.  As they talk, the Torumekian craft arrives and Nausicaä goes out to meet it, annoyed that it ignored protocol and landed in a field that will now have to be burned to remove contamination.

Nausicaä, on her mehve, takes aim at the approaching worm handlers, shooting a worm basket and scattering the worm handlers. They take up a defensive formation but their leader forbids them from attacking her or the Valley gunship. Nausicaä makes a spectacular dismount and tells the worm handlers to depart. Their leader says they are there under orders of the Emperor and the worm handlers dispatch their worms, which immediately go for Nausicaä. The large worms begin crawling up her body but using supernatural abilities, Nausicaä angrily causes the slug worms to fly off her and flee.

Nausicaä  then turns her anger to the soldiers and is met by one, who engages her in combat. She slays him but is stopped from doing more when Yupa arrives and gets between her and her prey, getting stabbed in the arm in the process.  Upon hearing his words about stopping this duel, the leader of the Imperial Guard says they will back down and leave. Before the female leader leaves, she asks to see Nausicaä's sword, impressed by Nausicaä's ability.  To show Nausicaä who's boss, the troop leader lets go of the sword and before it can fall to the ground, the leader slices it in half.  Upon leaving, the troop's leader vows to have that gunship, and Nausicaä implied, under her command at the front.

Yupa talks with this king about the incident with the Torumekian troops while Nausicaä leads the effort to burn the field where the Torumekian craft landed, which also includes a 500-year old tree that has become infected.  Nausicaä work through the night and are too exhausted at dawn to bother returning to the village, getting some sleep in the woods instead.

Torumekia declares war on Dorok and the troop leader, Princess Kushana, musters her troops outside the captured Pejitei City. She is assigned a new aide, Kurotowa, and she gets him to report on the war effort. After his report, Kushana dismisses him and her advisers tell her that they believe her brothers are plotting against her.  Meanwhile, Kurotowa goes to visit the excavation of the Pejetie and is escorted by Gowa and a troop of worm handlers. Gowa takes Kurotowa down to the bottom of the shaft where he discovers what the Pejitei uncovered -- a still living God Warrior that had its control stone removed, which Rastel had given to Nausicaä.

Gowa attempts to push Kurotowa off a ledge but Kurotowa dodges and Gowa falls to his death. Kurotowa now understands why all of Kushana's aides keep dying. Kushana hears that Kurotowa survived and has some respect for him. With her brothers plotting against her, she's glad to have left the God Warrior's control stone in the Valley.

Meanwhile, Nausicaä is given a haircut and spell-infused armor as she gets ready to go to the front and join Princess Kushana's forces along with a glider-skiff with supplies and some old warriors chosen by her.  Before leaving for the front, she goes down below the castle and is found by Yupa, who's amazed to see her lab and all of the poisonous plants from the Sea of Decay which are now no longer toxic. After talking with Nausicaä, Yupa realizes she is what he has been searching for all his life.

Nausicaä departs in the gunship with skiff in tow and they spot an unidentified gunship shadowing them. Nausicaä joins other gunships and towed skiffs from neighboring small kingdoms, all answering to Torumekia's call to war. The craft join Kushana's fleet when the shadowing gunship, a Pejitei  gunship that Nausicaä realizes is piloted by Rastel's brother. During the aerial combat, the Valley barge has its tow line severed and Nausicaä has to keep her men calm as they go down into the Sea of Decay.

The Pejitei gunship does serious damage to Kushana's air fleet and Kurotowa proves his worth by saving Kushana's plane while her personal guard use their bodies to shield her from bullets. Nausicaä sends a telepathic plea to Rastel's brother to stop the killing.  This causes him to become distracted and get shot down.  Kushana silently mourns for those who died for her and orders Kurotowa to have the formation continue on course.

At the Sea of Decay, Nausicaä's gunship and the Valley barge land safely on a lake in the jungle. Several Ohmu emerge from the water and commune with Nausicaä .  They take off and hoards of insectoids and Ohmu emerge to engage something that is killing their kind. Nausicaä has her mehve unloaded and goes to investigate, finding Rastel's brother being pursued by angry creatures of the Sea of Decay. She manages to rescue him and he's angry that she disarmed him until she points out they are seriously outnumbered.

Trying to flee, a winged worm gets her but the Ohmu tell it to release her. The boy is surprised that the air here is breathable and hears the Ohmu telepathically tell him that despite his killing of several of their kind, they are allowing him to live because of Nausicaä's plea. The Ohmu leaves them in peace and Nausicaä dreams of when she was a little girl and had a baby Ohmu taken from her. When she awakens, she is surprised at where they are and finds the Pejitei boy, Asbel, has retrieved her mehve. She hands over the control stone to him, keeping her promise to Rastel, and he repairs her mehve.  After he completes repairs and after they spend the night under the Sea of Decay, Nausicaä ditches her armor since the mehve is not at full power.  Once they've removed all unnecessary weight, Nausicaä and Asbel take off.

Thoughts/Review:

I apologize for the lengthy summary but considering how hard the manga is to buy these days (three of the volumes are very difficult to purchase), I've decided to just go nuts.  ^_^;

As I've stated previously, there are a couple of reasons I really wanted to read Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.  First, having been a fan of the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind anime movie, I wanted to read the source manga of that movie.  After all, as happened for series like Ah! My Goddess, Love Hina, Chobits, and more, the source manga is not only more complete, but often is superior on a story and character level to the anime adaptation.  My second reason is rather unusual in that manga-ka MIYAZAKI Hayao-sensei adapted his own manga for the movie and directed said movie.  So, I was keen to see how Miyazaki-sensei did things.

For starters, I'm surprised at how different the anime and the manga really are.  When I first scored volume 1 of the manga, I quickly thumbed through it and saw imagery that looked similar to the anime with what appeared to be some differences. Reading the manga, the only thing the anime took verbatim from the source manga is Nausicaä's rescue of Yupa.  Even then, there is a variance -- Nausicaä.

In the anime, Nausicaä is a princess and leader of her people.  At the same time, she's also an explorer, scientist, pilot and a well trained fighter.  In the manga, she is all of these things and more -- she's a soldier, a skilled fighter pilot, a telepath, and possibly a telekinetic.  As such, Nausicaä becomes an even more interesting character. Nausicaä's slaughtering a bunch of Torumekian soldiers after becoming enraged at the murder of her father was quite impressive in the anime.  In the manga, she only duels one Torumekian soldier but it is no less impressive.  Her anger at being defiled by the slug worms is taken out on them but when she battles the soldier, she truly seems to revel in combat. This was unexpected and most interesting.

Nausicaä being a telepath explains some things in the anime.  She can commune with the Ohmu and hear their cries of anger from even some distance away.  Her telepathically calling to Asbel is a much superior way of distracting him than the anime having her standing up in the cockpit and holding her arms out. Don't get me wrong, it works in the anime but considering combat speeds when flying, the distraction Nausicaä causes in the anime are minor compared to Nausicaä's telepathic contact with Asbel, allowing him to see an astral projection of her in his mind (for lack of a better way of describing it).

Next up is Princess Kushana. In the anime, she's the ruthless leader of the Torumekian invasion force of the Valley.  She's got a grand scheme to beat back the Sea of Decay and for her, any method she uses is justified to achieve this goal.  In the manga, she's not so ruthless. She's the youngest (this is a guess here since the removal of Japanese brother and sister terms removes any references to if she's older or younger) child of the Emperor and in the game of politics, she is subject to constant schemes by her brothers to keep her in her place. She's an obedient soldier despite the plots of her family and she's also very smart.  She wisely backs down when Nausicaä confronts them and Yupa makes his speech.  She respects Nausicaä greatly which is why Nausicaä gets assigned to her military task force.

Her men are fiercely loyal to her, willingly sacrificing their lives for her.  In return, she greatly values her people and when some die in her service, she actually mourns for them in her own way, which surprises her aide, Kurotowa.  This alone makes Kushana so much more interesting as a character and I look forward to seeing more of her now that the cliched stuff she did in the anime won't be here.

Kurotowa is pretty much the same as he is in the anime.  He's a soldier doing his job and without great ambition. His being a target of assassination was interesting.  Also interesting was his salvaging the Torumekian aircraft when Asbel's gunship attacked it, killing many inside. Yeah, he saved his own life in doing this but he also saved Kushana. At present, he doesn't display any extra loyalty to Kushana but I get the feeling that before the manga is over, he will be as loyal to her as the men who sacrificed their lives for her.

There's not a lot to say about Asbel at this point. He seems pretty much the same as he did in the anime, though I was surprised that the Ohmu "spoke" to him telepathically and spared his life thanks to Nausicaä.  Nausicaä returning the God Warrior's control stone to him, since his people were the one's to unearth the bio-weapon and thus it belonged to them, was one change between himself and Nausicaä as they stayed beneath the Sea of Decay.  Their escape on her mehve is different and I wonder how much things change after that.  After all, in the anime, they go to Pejitei City and find the Torumekians have used the Ohmu to destroy the city.  In the manga, the Torumekians have already occupied the city so I guess they will go to a Torumekian military camp instead.

The environmental elements are present here, much as they were in the anime. However, Asbel's observations on the Sea of Decay turning the world into a barren, if clean, world had Nausicaä thinking on whether humanity is the true pollution.  I'm not going to care for that aspect if Miyazaki-sensei pushes it hard.  We'll see though.

So, who are the Dorok and why is Torumekia going to war with them?  I'm guessing those answers will be forthcoming. I'm looking forward to reading more. ^_^

Ah! My Goddess Ch. 270 Manga Review

Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっ Chapter 270

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The little mazoku girl attempts to hand over the key to Keiichi, who is surprised that she'd let them go so easily.  She says it is because she has come to love Keiichi.  Belldandy accepts the key and thanks the girl, telling Keiichi that even if the girl is telling the truth, no one loves Keiichi more than Belldandy.  This pleases Keiichi and as he grins inanely, the little girl asks if it is OK to leave Skuld and Urd behind.  Belldandy isn't worried since she's sure that they will find a way out on their own.

Meanwhile, Urd and Skuld are annoyed to see each other but realize they don't have time to bicker and need to find a way out. since they can use magic, they decide it is time to make a breakout.

Keiichi is about to unlock the exit door when the mazoku girl tells them to wait. Keiichi wonders if the door will explode, but the girl assures him that's not the case and the door is the proper exit. However, she has a curse upon herself so that if they leave, she will die.  Keiichi doesn't believe someone would place such a curse on themselves and goes to open the door but is stopped by Belldandy.  The girl smirks because whomever opens the door becomes her killer and Belldandy would never allow it. At the same time, when the girl dies, her doublet on the kami side will die as well.  As such, Belldandy and Keiichi cannot leave.

Keiichi wonders what the purpose is in holding them there. The girl answers this by having a device descend from the ceiling which she activates. It immediately begins taking Belldandy's power.  The girl calls it a Divine Power Extraction Device and says it is powered by Skuld's and Urd's activities.  So, every time Urd casts a spell or Skuld uses an explosive, power is given to the machine which extracts power from Belldandy.  The girl smirks at the notion of Urd and Skuld trying harder and harder to get out and thus draining more and more of Belldandy's power.

Thoughts/Review:

Last chapter, I was thinking of the little girl mazoku's threat to kill Belldandy but she then backed down because of the mission.  I wrote,

Even if Belldandy wasn't being genuine in her praise of the little girl's singing, it does seem odd that she'd want to kill Belldandy.  Unless she knows whom Belldandy is attached to on the mazoku side (possible since Hild did curse him and the knowledge might have been told to others), then her killing Belldandy risks her killing on of her own.  Of course, Fujishima-sensei has never been one to hold tight to continuity and so the whole Doublet System may be forgotten or swept aside for the sake of the current story.  In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter since nothing happened.

 I was asked if I had read ahead since the Doublet System was indeed the focus of this sub-arc.  I had not and I found it highly amusing that Fujishima-sensei was bringing the concept back up. One thing I've noticed of the last few years, Fujishima-sensei has been more attentive to story elements that have been introduced previously and addressing them again.  My impression has been that Fujishima-sensei is on a wind-down tour and I still think that's the case.  What do you want to bet this ends with chapter 300?  We'll see.

Back on topic, my thoughts about the Doublet System were just focused on the mazoku girl's threat to Belldandy. I didn't even consider the Doublet System being the basis for keeping Belldandy trapped in the room.  Indeed, I didn't think it would even be brought up but it has and that's cool.

Now, what is the purpose of extracting Belldandy's power?  I'm guessing they could make her powerless without killing her but if the purpose of mazoku was to get Belldandy's power, then why the elaborate system of contests which does not accomplish this? 

As to the girl's curse, the only solution here would seem to be Urd and Skuld somehow figuring out that since their spells and attacks are being absorbed, then there must be some bad purpose and thus they stop and attempt to find another way out (how, I've no clue).  I can't imagine her having sympathy for Belldandy, especially if the mazoku purpose is to store up Belldandy's power. I can't help but wonder if she might offer a choice of having Keiichi kiss her or something else in order to free Skuld and Urd and allow them to pass on.  I say this because of Belldandy's remark after the girl says she's come to love Keiichi.  I don't believe for a minute that the girl is in love with Keiichi but I can see it being used against Belldandy and the others.

The ultimate problem here, as I've hinted at earlier, is that we still don't know what Hagall's plan is. OK, so she overthrows Hild and she knows Hild is attempting to regain power by using Keiichi, Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld (and I assume she's still with Peorth and Lind on Earth doing whatever).  However, the purpose of these elaborate encounters whereby Keiichi and company have to figure a way out doesn't make sense to me.  The more complicated the plan, the more likely it is to fail.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy this arc a great deal and look forward to seeing how the group escapes the girl's trap.

Happy Memorial Day!

To those who are serving and who have served in the U.S. military, thank you for your service!  A special thanks to those in various war zones around the world.

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki in Unexpected Places

A year ago (or more), someone shared some photoshopped images placing Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki characters in real life areas that one might not expect to see them.  Unfortunately, I didn't save the person's name but since the photoshop work is pretty clever, I thought I'd share them here.

I always get a smile looking at these, especially the one image with Mihoshi's portrait at the Russian government meeting.

Again, my apologies to the creator of these images.  You did good work and should be recognized for it.

Genshiken Nidaime Manga Chapter 61 Review

げんしけん: 二代目

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

At the school's cafeteria, Ogiue and Sue sit with Yabusaki and her friend from the manga club and discuss Ogiue's manga and doujinshi. Ogiue reveals that she's paying the 1st year students as proper assistants just like any real manga-ka would. Yabusaki frustrated that Ogiue may be taking on too much though Ogiue assures her that with the summer vacation coming up, she'll have plenty of time to draw both her doujinshi and her manga.

Meanwhile, Hato-kun comes to Madarame's apartment and ponders possibly leaving his giant bag of makeup and such there just so he won't have to lug it around. As he enters, a nude, fully female "Hato-chan" floats above him and is amused by the situation in a shounen-ai way.  Hato-kun turns on the A/C as "Hato-chan" continues to observe and reflect on the situation through shounen-ai eyes.  She gets especially excited when Hato-kun decides to take a shower because of the heat.  Her excitement over the "Hato x Mada" scenario grows as Hato-kun uses Madarame's bed and falls asleep.

When Hato-kun wakes up, he's embarrassed to see Madarame is waking him up.  He tries to flee but Madarame stops him and invites him to have dinner and cooks for him.  This take on Madarame had not entered Hato-kun's head and so he's not sure what to do or what Madarame is thinking.  He allows his imagination go wild at the thought of Madarame "attacking" him sexually.

Madarame asks if he can address Hato as "Hato-kun" since this is the first time he's seen Hato as a guy.  Madarame says he wishes he could have gotten to know Hato better since he's one of the few guys there.  Hato understands and reminds Madarame that he's a "girl" in the club room too, even showing off his female voice and the amount of practice it took to accomplish this voice. As they continue to talk, Hato realizes that Madarame is treating him like a regular guy.

The conversation goes to Yajima's strong desire to have Hato dress as a male.  With that, he strongly assures Madarame that he's not gay. Hato is surprised by Madarame's non-reaction and when asked, Madarame says that he just assumed that Hato's cross-dressing and reading shounen-ai porn were just hobbies and not a reflection of his sexual orientation. Hato demands to know if Madarame is planning on doing terrible things to him, which has Madarame confused. On further discussion, Madarame assures Hato that he wasn't thinking anything weird.

Afterward, Hato cleans the dishes as Madarame has fallen asleep on his bed.  "Hato-chan" re-appears and encouraged Hato-kun to take advantage of the situation and kiss Madarame. Hato-kun isn't interested since he's not gay despite his love of shounen-ai materials. As Hato-kun starts to leave, he accidentally hits Madarame's shelf and discovers Madarame's treasure -- the large stash of photos of Saki in cosplay.  "Hato-chan" finds this to be pitiful and moe but Hato-kun isn't interested and leaves, telling his alter-ego that she doesn't understand the mysteries of a man's heart.

Meanwhile, Ogiue goes nuts on her Haregan doujinshi.

Thoughts/Review:

I got a good laugh at how Hato caused some problems based on the incorrect honorific usage by Ogiue when she was yacking with Yabusaki.  I can understand why no one from Genshiken has told her about the cross-dressing Hato.  Since Hato is a guy, he would normally be addressed as "Hato-kun."  Since everyone has seen Hato as a girl, he's thought of as "Hato-chan."  I guess Ogiue is going to have to remember to address Hato as "Hato-san" from here on out.

Yajima noted last chapter that Sue spends a lot of time with Ogiue.  I hadn't really thought about it since Sue is not being shown to be clinging to Ogiue as she was during her first trip to Japan when she spent the night with Ogiue before they went to the shrine for New Year's.  Sue is shown in chapter 61 to be with Ogiue in the cafeteria and I couldn't help but think of Yajima's words.  I'm not finding this odd because I think that Ogiue and Sue are actually pretty good friends. After all, Sue is a huge fan of Ogiue's doujinshi work and when Ogiue thought Sue could not understand Japanese, she opened up to Sue as she brushed Sue's hair.  So it makes sense that they'd have a certain closeness and I look forward to their friendship growing.

The chapter was heavily dedicated to Hato and as a result, Madarame.  Kio-sensei is giving us a glimpse into Hato's mind by having this "Hato-chan" persona outside Hato-kun's body, nude, and all female.  Having the "Hato-chan" persona like this (which I gather Kio-sensei borrows as a concept from Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei and Tonari no 801-chan) works quite well.  Having "Hato-chan" clearly female makes it easier for the straight males to look and fantasize I guess, but for me, it shows that Hato is looking at things like a fujoshi.  This was mentioned last chapter and now more completely explored.

The other thing revealed here is that Hato is not homosexual despite his "Hato x Madarame" fantasies and thoughts.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how Kio-sensei would go.  I did think that there was an above-average chance that Hato would be gay and if they had a Hato x Madarame romance, I would not have been happy.  There too, Kio-sensei reassures his audience by having Hato find Madarame's pictures as a cosplaying Saki and so now he knows whom Madarame loves.

Speaking of those photos, I guess I need to go back and look at the old manga because I was thinking Madarame only had a few pictures, not a ton.  Its possible that Ohno eventually did get him those pictures since she had previously attempted to show him (possibly with the intent of having him buy them).  Still, it is nice how Kio-sensei is making sure everyone knows he's not going to upset the apple cart.  ^_^

So, this was a fun and interesting chapter with some minor advancement in the storyline regarding Ogiue's manga and doujinshi and some character work on Hato with Madarame in support. 

Negima! Manga Vol 36 Ch 326 Review

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 36 Chapter 326 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 326

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Fate, aka Tertium, is activated by Zecht to join with Fate's predecessor Secundum and two other companions -- Nii, the second Atur of Fire, and Septendecim, the seventeenth Adad of Water.  The foursome (initially joined by Dunamis) go "soul hunting," whereby they find non-human magic world inhabitants and "kill" them, sending them to Kosmo Entelekheia.  Indeed, they enter a war-torn region where a frightened, young, cat girl is near the body of an injured or dead adult and while attempting to defend herself, Secundum causes both to disappear in a flurry of petals even though he took a hit from the girl's spell. Secundum finds these actions enjoyable though Fate likens their actions to being grim reapers. Secundum disagrees, saying that they are sending these illusions to a better place.

At some other point in time, the foursome are discussing the wanted Nagi, who's crime was protecting the living sacrifice Arika. Secundum states that he will deal with the Ala Rubra outcasts, though Nii wants to deal with Rakan. Secundum, who has yet to face Nagi, ponders Primum's loss to Nagi and his own thoughts that it would be impossible for Nagi to defeat him.

Sometime later, Secundum is in a fight with Nagi and is surprised to find himself losing.  Nagi mocks this "second" creation which causes Secundum to summon Fate.  Fate's spell has Nagi trapped and Nii enters the fight to help overcome Nagi.  Nii demands that Rakan be brought out but Nagi reminds her (?) that Rakan cannot come out on Earth.  Septendecim enters the fight to try to overpower the trapped Nagi and though Secundum initially believes they've finally overcome him, Septendecim sees that in fact Nagi still lives.

Arika has Nagi by his hood, having pulled him from the trap.  Nagi speaks to the book at Arika's side, telling Al to help them and despite the difficulties Al has on Earth, he emerges and he and Arika fight while Nagi begins beating Secundum.  Fate steps in to protect Secundum and asks Nagi if he truly thinks his fists can change anything. Fate tells Nagi that he is a powerless being.  Nagi says that might be true but giving up isn't the answer. Secundum is annoyed by this talk and steps in to attack, taking heavy punishment instead.

Sometime after the battle, the defeated foursome is off recovering with Secundum very angry at their defeat. Fate and Secundum discuss Secundum's zeal and Secundum wonders if Fate needs to be recalibrated.  Secundum wants a boost in their settings.

Some other time, Fate is flying solo on a soul hunt when he has core problems and plummets to the ground.  When he wakes up, he finds himself in a bed when the door opens and a woman with a young Shiori (Luna) enters.  The woman asks if he is OK.

Thoughts/Review:

Woo!hoo! Another AstroNerdBoy theory has been proven correct. I'd been saying for some time that beings from the Magic World shouldn't really be able to exist on Earth because their form and substance is being generated from the Magic World.  I based this on the fact that (1) Jack Rakan was never shown on Earth and (2) Al seemed to be completely unable to move outside of when the World Tree was active and then, it was merely a projection.  My theory became stronger when Cocone, a known resident of the Magic World, was revealed to be a test subject for Earth migration.  That suggested to me that for the last however many years, the mages of Earth, no doubt started by Nagi, came up with a plan to save the residence of the Magic World but needed to make sure that the system installed on Earth to allow Magic World beings to exist was stable.

It was pointed out to me that Al had been on Earth, in Turkey, prior to being forced to live under the library at Mahora.  I could not overcome that aspect but felt that there was some sort of special circumstance to allow Al to exist on Earth.  What it was, I could not say and without further evidence, I basically had nothing else to say on the matter.

This chapter changed all that.  Nagi clearly says that Jack cannot cross over to Earth, thus explaining why he's never been seen on Earth.  Al can appear on Earth, but apparently it takes a great deal of strength (and I'd guess ultimately, a great deal of power) for him to move. So, Arika had Al as a book (an artifact?) and he comes out to help fight.  Since the focus was on Nagi, both Al and Arika are quickly lost in the fight after Al appears but I'm hoping to get a bit more information on this aspect later.  That said, it is nice to know that Al had been able to have form on Earth for short periods of time and could fight but needed to be carried around.

Time-wise, I believe Arika's appearance is after Nagi and Ala Rubra saved her from death.  Naturally, going to Earth would be a safer option since Arika is supposed to be dead and Nagi has a bounty on his head.  So, only real humans from the Magic World, as well as the constructs of the Lifemaker (which I'm now more convinced than ever are based on technology very similar to what was introduced in AI Love You, even if not quite the same) are a threat.  I love how Arika saves Nagi in such a casual manner and his sheepish look.  ^_^  Nagi is so powerful but he clearly got a little cocky here and needed bailing out. 

Secundum is quite the bastard.  Even though that little cat girl might be living in some version of "heaven," what Secundum did was murder, pure and simple.  Egad!  I imagine the poor girl was with the body of her dead or injured mother and though afraid, she bravely faced her attackers, got off a spell, but naturally all for naught.  That's why seeing Nagi beat the crap out of Secundum is so nice and knowing Nagi kills that bastard is even better.  *_*  Even now, the scene is horrific to me and its impact on me has been most unexpected.  As such, I share the two pages the scene plays out in.

That aside, clearly, Akamatsu-sensei is working on making Fate's character more sympathetic.  Actually, this has been going on for some time, starting with the revelation that Fate was saving orphaned children.  Now we have some idea as to why Fate started doing this as he didn't care for Secundum's "reaper" methodology although he participated in it.  I'm guessing this will be further expounded upon when something bad happens to Shiori's mother and Fate ends up taking care of her and thus starts his quest to save the "Fate Girls."

So, a really good chapter here with some nice flashback stuff and a confirmation of a theory with a side of brutal murder. ^_^;

Negima! Manga Volume 29 Review

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 29 --> BUY FROM RIGHTSTUF! ^_^

For detailed chapter summaries of Negima! Volume 29 with chapter reviews, look below.

• Chapter 259
• Chapter 260
• Chapter 261
• Chapter 262
• Chapter 263
• Chapter 264
• Chapter 265
• Chapter 266
• Chapter 267

Man, because of the delay in publishing Negima! volumes in the U.S., thanks to Kodansha Comics taking over from Del Rey, the events depicted in this volume seem like a lifetime ago (though this will improve somewhat as Kodansha Comics continues releasing volumes to get us a bit closer to the Japanese volumes).  At the same time, when seen in conjunction with the events of the current manga chapters, one can see just how little time has passed on the Magic World even though the chapters of this manga were started nearly two years ago.

Some highlights of this volume are,

• Jack's battle with Fate's Girls.
• The brief flashback showing how Fate first met Homura.
• The start of Jack's battle with Fate.
• Kotaro's pactio with Natsumi and her confession to him.
• Negi's pactio with Ku Fei.
• Negi's pactio with Chachamaru, meaning she has a soul.
• Al's tea party with Eva, Chachazero, Chachamaru-Prime, and Eishun.
• Negi, Asakura, Nodoka, Sayo, and Chisame's meeting with Kurt and the additional information learned about Nagi and Arika. 

I still am not a fan of Kotaro suddenly being a Magister to give pactios.  That said, since a pactio is the best vehicle for Akamatsu-sensei to use in order to advance on a Natsumi-Kotaro romance (I can see them hooking up once Kotaro gets a bit older), I tend to give it a pass even if I'm still not a fan of Kotaro giving pactios.

That Chachamaru was given a pactio was a sweet moment.  Sayo-chan nearly steals the scene when Negi pats her on the head.  I loved that and hope that she too can get her pactio.  She and Chachazero are such awesome characters to me for very different reasons, boiling down to them both being potential scene stealers.  ^_^

Because my chapter reviews have already reviewed the story, I'm going to shift to the actual volume.  Fortunately, except for some minor, cosmetic spine changes, Kodansha Comics' first volume of Negima! feels very much like Del Rey's work.  Granted, I know that Random House is doing the printing here so it makes sense that the books would look and feel the same, but I wasn't sure how much of a mark Kodansha Comics would want to stamp on their property.

Kodansha Comics is also retaining the honorifics policies from Del Rey which is VERY welcome news as far as I'm concerned.  The translator notes are still here, which is another VERY welcome item.

The "What and Why of Negima! Classmate Edition" is a nice extra here.  Akamatsu-sensei asked for questions to be submitted to him and he answered one for each of the girls in the class.  It isn't mentioned if any of these were in English and I'm thinking that the English questions come in the next volume.  Hopefully, there will be some note pointing that out.

So, while it took a while between Del Rey's release of volume 28 and Kodansha Comics' release of volume 29, I'm glad to finally have this book in hand. Further, I'm glad to see that quality-wise, there doesn't appear to be any difference between Del Rey's releases and Kodansha Comics' release.  I hope this continues as I look forward to continuing to support this manga. 

"Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" Story Review

風の谷のナウシカ 
Kaze no Tani no Naushika
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

A thousand years after the event known as the Seven Days of Fire, in which Giant God Warriors destroyed the world, a teenage princess named Nausicaä travels on a glider into the Sea of Corruption, a massive "toxic jungle" of sorts, to gather specimens. She encounters the molted shell of a giant Ohmu, a massive insectoid, and takes one of its eye cases to be used for a variety of purposes when it begins snowing spores and so she takes a break under the "glass" to wait it out.  After some time, she senses something amiss and hearing gunshots, she takes the eyepiece and races up the insides of the petrified remains of one of the Giant God Warriors, who's head towers above the jungle, and takes a look.

An explosion and the revelation of an Ohmu cause Nausicaä to fire a signal flare to show whomever is fleeing the insectoids how to get out of the jungle. She races out and to the desert sands to mount her mehve, a jet-powered glider, and meets the fleeing human who's riding a large, flightless bird and leading a second bird. She recognizes him as Yupa-sama, a man from her village, as the enraged ohmu comes out.  Using a bunch of flash bombs and an insect whistle, she's able to calm the giant insectoid down and it returns to the Sea of Decay jungle.

Greeting Yupa-sama, she learns the he'd rescued a little fox-squirrel which she names Teto and the critter stays with her like a pet. She returns to the Valley of the Wind ahead of Yupa and Yupa receives a heroes welcome when he arrives. In the palace, Yupa tells the ailing king of his travels and the spread of the Sea of Decay. That night during a storm, a Torumekian airship crashes in the valley. It is covered with insectoids and spores from the Sea of Decay. Nausicaä finds a girl her age in the wreckage but the girl is a prisoner and is too injured to live much longer. She is Rastel, a princess of Pejite, and she begs Nausicaä to destroy the ship's cargo. Nausicaä promises and the girl dies in peace.

The people of the Valley race to burn the spores lest they consume the land and encounter a large injured, winged insectoid.  Nausicaä lures it out with her insect whistle and gets it to follow her on her mehve.  After seeing it safely away from the village, she sees a giant Ohmu in the distance, which turns back after the winged insectoid flies past. Work continues the following day on removing spores and contaminates and attempting to figure out what to do with the cargo, which was apparently was unharmed in the crash or the fire.

A fleet of Torumekian airships invade the Valley and land troops and armored units which secure the entire region. Seeing Torumekian troops enter the castle, Nausicaä races there and hears a gunshot. She arrives at her father's room to find the troops standing over the dead body of her father. She becomes enraged and uses her staff weapon to beat the soldiers in the room, including their leader. Elite troops arrive and her weapon has no effect on their armor. Grabbing a sword, she races forward to attack when Yupa leaps into the fray, dagger wielded. Nausicaä ends up stabbing him in the arm as he holds the dagger in a weak spot of the elite troop's armor.

Yupa is recognized and he demands to know why they are being attacked when they had treated with respect the dead Torumekian from the crash the night before. Princess Kushana, the leader of the invasion, orders her top commander Kurotowa to stand down despite the fact that Nausicaä had killed all of the regular troops in her father's room. Nausicaä and Yupa surrender and the people are rounded up and disarmed. Princess Kushana tells the people that since the Valley stands on the edge of extinction, she will help them by burning back the Sea of Decay in exchange for Torumeki ruling this land.

The village seer, "Obaba," warns Kushana about this course of action but is ignored. The cargo the crashed Torumekian ship carried is a Giant God Warrior which is still not fully developed. Kushana places Kurotowa in charge of the Valley and reviving the ancient weapons and takes Nausicaä with her as a hostage along with a skiff filled with some old warriors dedicated to her. She also confiscates the Valley's lone gunship, a 2-man fighter plane, and the mehve. Before they leave, Nausicaä goes to her lab where Yupa finds her and is amazed to see poisonous plants from the Sea of Decay no longer poisonous. It seems that Nausicaä discovered that the plants lose their toxic nature when planted in proper soil with clean water.

The Torumekian fleet leaves the Valley but are soon attacked by a lone Pejite gunship, which manages to take out several planes. The Valley skiff is cut loose and Nausicaä and one her the old warriors get to the gunship. Kushana arrives as well and Nausicaä brings her too as they escape. The Pejite pilot, the brother of Rastel, sees Nausicaä and hesitates, allowing a Torumekian escort ship to shoot him down into the Sea of Decay jungle. Nausicaä goes after the skiff, which also enters the Sea of Decay.  Getting them to jettison cargo, the skiff and gunship safely land in the waters at the base of the Sea of Decay.

Kushana attempts to take charge by brandishing a pistol but a group of Ohmu coming to the surface changes that. They are able to commune with Nausicaä via tentacles however, they become enraged along with other giant insectoids and leave. Nausicaä gets her mehve to find out the problem and discovers the Pejite pilot Asbel fleeing insectoids and shooting at them. He is sent off the edge of where he is standing but is caught in mid-air by Nausicaä. A massively long insectoid gives chase and manages to clip the mehve, knocking them off and sending them down to the sandy floor of this part of the Sea of Decay.

When Nausicaä awakens, she finds she can breathe without the aid of a breather mask and that Asbel saved her. Further, she discovers that this region below the Sea of Decay is actually unpolluted, meaning the Sea of Decay actually cleans the soil before dying. They spend the night in this safe, clean area while back in the Valley, Yupa witnesses the Giant God Warrior being revived and growing and overhears the report of the attack on Kushana's aerial squadron. Yupa learns from a couple of Valley children that Nausicaä's elderly escorts are at Acid Lake and they have Kushana.

Heading down to the lake, Yupa confronts Kushana who confirms the Giant God Warrior revival plans and that it is far too late to stop it.  She suggests that the Valley people take it for themselves and then learn to live with it. Yupa takes off in the gunship to find Nausicaä while in the Valley, a spore infestation forces Kurotowa to allow the return of equipment to the villagers to fight the spores even though they can be used as weapons.Eventually, the villagers do revolt.  Meanwhile, Nausicaä and Asbel take the mehve to the Pejite capital, only to find it mostly destroyed by an insectoid attack, the result of a Torumekian plan. The Pejite plan to do the same to the Torumekian forces in the Valley of the Wind and knock Nausicaä out.

Now a prisoner on a Pejite transport plane, Nausicaä is set free by the Queen of Pejite with another girl taking Nausicaä's place in the cell.  As this happens, a Torumekian craft attacks and boards the Pejite craft. In the chaos, Nausicaä escapes on the mehve where she is met by Yupa and Mito in the Valley's gunship. She gets to the gunship where they soon intercept the Pejite Flying Jar, which is carrying the wounded baby Ohmu to lead the enraged insectoids to the Valley.  Despite taking a couple of gunshots, Nausicaä leaps to the Jar and forces it to crash on an island in the middle of Acid Lake.

The wounded Ohmu makes an attempt to get to the waters, which would kill it, and its blood turns Nausicaä's clothing blue. Nausicaä's attempt to stop the Ohmu from reaching the acid causes her to touch the water and feel pain. This stops the Ohmu, who heals her. Nausicaä forces the two Pejite soldiers to take the Jar back up and take the baby Ohmu to where the "herd" is charging. Meanwhile back in the Valley, Kushana returns and takes command to defend the area against the charging Ohmu while she goes to get the God Warrior to end the insectoid menace. As the Ohmu get closer, the Torumekian soldier start to panic until Kushana comes back on a tank with the God Warrior coming behind.

The God Warrior is not fully formed but is functional and fires a massive energy beam at the charging Ohmu in the distance, killing many of them.  Again it fires and kills many more.  However, its flesh is liquidizing and it cannot maintain its form to fire again, leaving a hoard of Ohmu still alive and charging. They reach Nausicaä and the baby and don't stop, causing Nausicaä to be thrown into the air. This act causes the Ohmu to immediately stop and end their rage. Putting out their golden tentacles, Nausicaä is revived, fulfilling Valley prophesy of forming a connection between humans and Ohmu. With that, the Torumekians leave, Asbel goes with Yupa to explore, and Nausicaä trains a new generation of fliers.

Thoughts/Review: 

As I said in my DVD review, my first viewing of this movie came from watching the abridged, rewritten movie from New World Pictures, which they titled Warriors of the Wind. It was after viewing Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro in Japanese with no translations that I complained to Robert about viewing anime in its "raw" form. He knew that Warriors of the Wind was out on video and we set out to find a copy and watch it.  I enjoyed what I watched but I could tell that something seemed to be missing. Robert did confirm that some stuff had been cut and edited and so I never watched the video again.  However, it was many years before I was able to watch the movie unedited and of course it is so much better than that horrible, edited and rewritten version.

Story-wise, the world of Nausicaä is rather rich and interesting and within the scope of the movie, there feels like there is so much more here to explore.  For starters, there are the God Warriors that caused the Seven Days of Fire that nearly destroyed the world. While it doesn't harm the movie, I still find myself wanting to know more about the events that caused humanity to create these giant, bio-mechanoid weapons.  This is not only fueled by the Torumekians finding one and bringing it to life, but the fact that there are petrified remains of these giant entities all over the world. There was just something so fascinating about this weapon system and I think that's part of the reason I wanted to read the source manga and learn more.

Moving to the Valley,  Nausicaä is a fascinating character.  As part scientist, part explorer, part princess, part leader, and part fighter (based on how she fought the Torumekian troops), there's a lot to like about her.  The anime story sets her up to be the person to complete prophecy and implies that she has some special abilities to commune with the Ohmu and other insectoids as well as animals but never goes into that aspect beyond the surface touching.  This also does not harm the anime but it was another element that always has left me wondering.  I'm hoping the manga story explores this more because I think it would make things more interesting.

When the Torumekian troops invade the Valley, one thing I couldn't understand is the murder of Nausicaä's father, the dying king.  I understand invading troops needing to take control of a country but what threat was a dying king?  Indeed, murdering the king would polarize the citizens and had Nausicaä not been there, things might have gotten out of control. However, if you are going to murder the king, then why leave his daughter alive?  The story does kinda address this by having Kushana and some village elders become her hostages to keep the Valley people in line but it just never fully gelled with me.  However, it is done well enough that I give it a pass when I watch, even if I note it now.

I do like how Miyazaki-sensei has Kushana be a cliched villain at times but also a character who's motives are easily understood.  Kushana has an "ends justify the means" attitude and so for the greater good of humanity, the people of the Valley must sacrifice their freedom so that her quest to push back on the Sea of Decay will succeed.  Further to that end, she and her people were justified in stealing the God Warrior from the Pejite, taking the Pejite princess captive, and bringing the God Warrior to life in the Valley.  Seeing the horrible injury she suffered from the Sea of Decay takes her out of the cliched realm but then her classic "I'm in charge here" attitude after being rescued by Nausicaä takes her back to the cliched realm.

Kushana's second in command, Kurotowa, also at times comes off as a cliched villain but also comes off as an OK guy despite being in charge of the team that murdered Nausicaä's father.  His cliched moments came when Kushana was gone and he was in command of the Valley occupation forces as he pondered his own rise in power.  However, he too is moved from the cliched realms when he made the decision to allow the Valley people to have tools to fight the toxic spores that would consume the Valley, even if said tools allowed the people to rebel (which they did).  When Kushana returns, Kurotowa simply "bows to fate" if you will and accepts his role as her subordinate.

Yupa seems underutilized in this anime.  Granted, he is the one who gets things started and the one who calms down Nausicaä after her rage caused her to slaughter several Torumekian soldiers. However, he pretty much gets swallowed up in favor of other, elderly warriors of the Valley and really doesn't have much of a role once Nausicaä leaves the village.  I found this to be rather unfortunate as I like the character a lot but as happens with all of the little flaws I find, Miyazaki-sensei manages to have the story go in such a way that even if I missed Yupa's presence, everything was still good.

The hints of romance between Asbel and  Nausicaä is sweet, made more so by the fact that Nausicaä had been there for his dying sister.  Since both are nobility, one can imagine that in the future, they could marry and help forge stronger ties between their two nations.  It would be neat if the manga explored this aspect further.

While my remarks above may seem critical, believe me when I say that these are very minor things in the end. Miyazaki-sensei's visual presentation combined with his well-paced plot and interesting characters makes Nausicaä a very good anime movie and one I like to watch again and again.  Miyazaki-sensei does get a bit preachy on environmental issues (which the English dub takes to a higher level than the Japanese script) but it isn't so in your face as to be annoying.  As such, I highly recommend this movie to fans of anime AND non-anime fans alike.

Manga Guide to Relativity

The various "Manga Guide to..." books published by No Starch Press have reviewed by me and I've found them all to be an interesting an novel way of using manga to give basic knowledge about subjects that might be considered tough and intimidating.  So, when the folks from No Starch Press asked me to review their latest offering in the series, I was happy to do so.

As is customary, a very light story framework is established to provide the vehicle to teach about relativity.  Here, the story has the nutty headmaster of the Takai Academy demand the junior class take a summer course on relativity. Class representative, Minagi, decides to take one for the class to allow them to enjoy summer.  As such, he is sent to learn from Uraga, who's very passionate about relativity. The school's superintendent takes on various disguises, including as the dog vice principle of the school, to investigate things that were going on.

The book has four chapters with a manga section giving the basics and then a more traditional textbook style section at the end of the chapter to further expound upon the topics discussed in the manga.  The first chapter covers the basics of what relativity is and the history that lead to Einstein's famous equation E=mc2.  It focuses on the simplified "special relativity." The second chapter discusses time slowing down and the Urashima Effect. The third chapter covers how objects that approach the speed of light become heavier and smaller.  The fourth chapter covers the more complex "general relativity," which incorporates the effects of acceleration and gravity on relativity.

I found the book to be interesting and provide a nice, basic level of understanding of relativity.  I was amused that the book's creative team felt a need to get some fanservice in by having Uraga in a swimsuit for chapter three.  To me, if one is trying to provide some level of teaching of relativity, the fanservice would be more of a distraction.  I'm guessing that the team thought that this would keep readers engaged and considering the popularity of the series, I guess they were right. 

Still, I think that while this book certainly won't qualify you to teach the subject of relativity, those who are interesting in learning and want a foundation from which to launch further studies will be well served by this book.

X-Men - 07

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

At Sasaki-sensei's cabin, the X-Men and she discuss her starting the Sasaki Institute and its closure as well as whether or not Xavier would be coming to Japan. Hisako asks if Sasaki remembers a mutant boy who was younger than her but whom she can no longer recall. Sasaki says there were too many children to remember based on Hisako's vague description which disappoints Hisako. Three of Sasaki-sensei's mutant medical research staff emerge to remind her of a meeting. After she departs to attend the meeting, Wolverine, Beast, and Storm return to the Blackbird as the blizzard has past. Cyclops, Emma, and Hisako discuss Sasaki-sensei where Hisako states that Sasaki has changed. Emma says that Sasaki is lying about having met Xavier once but is using her female intuition rather than telepathy to reach this conclusion.

Beast, Storm, and Wolverine discover that the Blackbird isn't trapped by snow and ice but some sort of mineral that mimics it. Beast contacts Xavier to have the spare Blackbird sent to them.  A giant snowball appears and tumbles down the mountain, steering itself to them. Wolverine goes to meet it with his clawed fist and gets punched by a yellow-skinned mutant inside. A second, tall, long-haired, gray-skinned mutant appears near Storm and Beast and greets them. After they make their intentions to kill the X-Men clear, Storm attacks the gray mutant but misses and he counter attacks. The yellow mutant attacks Wolverine. After the short fight, the gray mutant has caused a massive avalanche, forcing the three X-Men into the Blackbird as the two mutants escape.

Meanwhile, Sasaki contacts Xavier and says she'll cooperate with the X-Men but wants them gone as soon as possible. When Xavier reveals that his mental probes of the Tohoku region have revealed her and some boy who's face he's yet to see, she reveals that this is probably Takeo, her and Xavier's son.  He's surprised to learn of this son and wonders if the son is invading his mind. Sasaki says this cannot be because he's dead. Returning to her lab, she gives her three assistants vials to inject into themselves, telling them not to reveal this to the X-Men.  Back upstairs, Emma notices that Hisako has been rubbing her hand.  Hisako says that a mark she'd always assumed was a birthmark started hurting when they arrived at Sasaki-sensei's place and the mark is growing. She leaves to find some ointment, giving Emma a chance to talk with Scott.

Xavier decides to take the SR-71 to Japan while Emma discusses Scott's hesitation in the recent battle, citing Hisako's concern as well as her own. He agrees to open his mind to her where she now understands his relationship with Jean and why he thought she was controlling Jean. Scott comes to better understand things as well and even forgive himself. Meanwhile, Beast, Storm, and Wolverine start to return to Sasaki's place and chat. Wolverine says he's sure that there's another person at the institute. Beast finds it interesting that Sasaki-sensei's school and the U-Men would be at the center of the area where strange things happening with mutants, including Cerebro's inability to detect them. Storm says they need to keep an eye on her.  Meanwhile, Sasaki-sensei is walking down the hall in her research facility when she is attacked by something.

Thoughts/Review:

One of the nice things about the X-Men series has been some thought into character work.  My problem with the Wolverine anime was that it degenerated into an almost non-stop action series with there being opponent after opponent for Wolverine to fight.  For the X-Men, the writers have at least taken the time to give Scott's character some work, both as X-Men leader Cyclops and as the person who lost is lover and best friend in combat.  The characters of Emma and Hisako are also getting some decent character work. I sense that the writers may be trying to establish an Emma-Scott romance.  That may be due to the fact that some of you guys let me know that in the modern comic books, they are (or have been) in such a relationship.  We'll see if that continues.

On the downside, the characters of Beast, Storm, and Wolverine aren't getting any character development.  What is really frustrating to me is that this episode provided an opportunity to at least give Wolverine some work.  For example, when the yellow mutant had a sword that came out from his arm, I would have liked Wolverine to have made some remark about Kyoko, who had a similar ability in the Wolverine anime.  OK, so that isn't exactly character development but it would have been a nice touch.  That aside, it would have at least helped establish Wolverine's Japanese connections and that could have been further expanded when he spouted off about kabuki.  I would have liked some remark about him having been to Japan previously but that didn't happen.

Story-wise, we have more questions and no answers (to be expected since it is only episode 7).  For starters, what kind of research is Sasaki doing in reality that she doesn't want the X-Men to know? I figure she's turning her assistants into mutants.  Next question is why Hisako's mark on her hand is now hurting and growing.  I figure Hisako was research material when she attended Sasaki Institute.  Next up is who were the yellow and gray mutants? Are they connected to the U-Men?  Are they working for Mastermind?  Why did Sasaki keep her pregnancy hidden from Xavier?  What killed Takeo or is he really dead?  What attacked Sasaki-sensei at the end?  Who is the extra person at Sasaki-sensei's place? Takeo? Mastermind? Someone else?

So, an interesting episode is to be found here with Scott apparently putting some of his personal demons to rest as the story moves forward. I'm looking forward to more. ^_^

Why the Harem Genre?

Kannagi

Considering my nutty schedule this month, which makes watching anime nearly impossible, I was trying to think of some anime or manga-related topic I could discuss.  As I looked at my tastes in anime and manga titles, I find that I have a strong preference for the so-called harem titles.  So I thought I would explore this a bit.

For those who might be new to anime and might not know, the harem genre in anime and manga series where there is a single male character, usually some really nice guy, who suddenly finds himself surrounded by a bunch of babes, most if not all of whom are enamored with him.  Some or all of the girls may even live with the lead male which adds an extra element to the aspect of a harem.  As such, I see the harem genre as more of a sub-genre of the romantic-comedy genre.

Hand Maid May

Harem titles have their roots in TAKAHASHI Rumiko-sensei's Urusei Yatsura.  When that manga (and subsequent anime adaptation) started, lead male character Ataru is working on female character Shinobu as a girlfriend but is certainly interested in other girls as well.  When the alien Oni come to Earth, Ataru is drafted as Earth's champion and he eventually defeats female Oni, Lum, and as a result is betrothed to her.  However, he is not interested in marrying Lum and wants to play the field, whether with Shinobu, some other girl in school, some other girl in town, or any of Lum's humanoid, female, alien, friends.  Out of all of these girls, only Lum is in love with Ataru.

The harem concept took a more familiar form with Takahashi-sensei's Ranma 1/2.  There, lead character Ranma has been betrothed to a dizzying number of girls thanks to his idiot father.  The difference between Ranma 1/2 and modern harem titles is that Ranma (and his father) live with the family of one of his fiancees.  The other girls only show up over the life of the story and then, only lead fiancee Akane is regularly shown.  Further to that, Akane has her own pursuers because of Takahashi-sensei's love of complicated, overlapping romantic triangles.

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki

The father of the modern harem genre is widely considered to be the canon OVA series, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki. Indeed, before the term "harem" came into wide usage among fans, the term "Tenchi clone" was often used to describe a harem title.  There, lead character Tenchi suddenly finds himself living with a house full of alien babes, all of whom are in love with him.  As is common in a harem title, the lead male cannot make a choice and the audience makes their choices, based on their personal preferences (though in the case of TM!R, the story has a good reason for Tenchi to marry all the girls).

When I decided to check into anime in 2002, I had opted to go for a couple of small series that wouldn't require much time invested on my part.  After all, if the series sucked, then I wouldn't have lost much.  As such, the first two titles I rented were the 5-episode Oh My Goddess OVA series and the 11-episode Hand Maid May series.   For Oh My Goddess (aka Ah! My Goddess), we have a borderline harem title where the lead male Keiichi does live with three goddesses, but only one is in love with him.  For Hand Maid May, the lead male Kazuya finds himself living with a Cyberdoll maid, but then other Cyberdolls fall for him, some living with him, some living with the landlord's daughter (who's in love with him), and one living with his rival. 

Love Hina (manga)

I liked both titles and started investigating watching more of these "Tenchi clone" anime titles.  Now, you'd think I would have gone to Tenchi first, right?  HA! I didn't because at the time, there was conflicting information on which Tenchi title was first and how all of the Tenchi titles related to each other.  So, I decided to pass on that and go for Love Hina, to see if I would continue to like these harem anime titles.  To my surprise, I did like it, so much so that I took people's advice and started buying the manga in order to get the "real" story.  At about the same time, I finally knew which Tenchi title was the first one and rented that.

So, what is it about the harem genre that I find so enjoyable?

I suppose on some level, I'm like most guys in that the idea of a whole flock of hot babes all wanting what you've got has a certain appeal (though in reality, that would drive me nuts).  It can be quite amusing seeing the cat fights that emerge as a result of conflicting personalities all going for the same guy.  At the same time, history is replete with men of power (and even of common folk) having multiple wives, though obviously not in the same exaggerated and humorous way that are common in anime and manga.  So there's probably something genetic in the idea of a guy with a bunch of women.

Ai Yori Aoshi (manga)

Ultimately, it isn't the harem concept itself, with its multiple female fetish types, that is the attraction.  For a title like Love Hina, it was Keitaro's navigating through the minefield of women to get to whom he truly wanted.  For Ai Yori Aoshi, it was Kaoru's and Aoi's relationship as they had to hide it from all of the female housemates, thus allowing those girls to think they had a chance.  For Hand Maid May, it was the general sweetness of the story as a whole as well as the comedy.  For Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki, the harem and romantic-comedy stuff was just frosting as the appeal was the core story of who Tenchi really is.  For the Negima! manga, the harem stuff is also pure frosting as the interest to me from volume 3 onward has been the story. So, as I look through the various harem titles I've liked over the years, each one has had a different appeal with the harem aspects only being a small part of the appeal.

Some of my favorite harem titles are (in no special order):

• Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki (all of the canon anime series)
• Tenchi Universe
• Tenchi Forever -- A very good movie and my favorite non-canon Tenchi title.
• Tenchi Muyo! GXP (the canon spinoff-sequel to TM!R)
• Ai Yori Aoshi (both anime series and the manga)
• Love Hina (all anime series and the manga)
• Kanon (anime)
• Clannad (anime)
• Vandread (both anime series)
• Fruits Basket (a reverse harem of sorts)
• Negima! (the manga only)
• Saber Marionette J
• Hayate the Combat Butler (manga) -- Some outrageously funny stuff at times from this manga.
• Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari -- The ultimate Kajishima-sensei harem series and canon spinoff of TM!R.
• Kannagi (anime) -- Very funny at times.
• Toradora (anime)

Notable mentions are (in no special order):

• Maburaho -- Could have had a stronger story.
• Boku no Marie (anime) -- Could have been longer.  Also, had no chance to read the manga.
• Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure -- No problems, just not a favorite of mine.
• El Hazard (first anime only) -- Pretty good title but the sequels weren't as good.
• Happy Lesson (all anime) -- I really liked the franchise but not enough to watch it again. ^_^;
• Hayate the Combat Butler (anime) -- The first series had a lot of crap in it and while the 2nd series is good, the manga is better.
• Mahoromatic (manga and anime) -- Funny, fun, and a lot ecchi at times.
• KageTora (manga) -- Fun but not good enough to warrant "favorite" status. 

Funny thing is, there many other harem titles I've watched which aren't even mentioned here.  I suspect that I will always gravitate to harem titles as long as I'm a fan of anime and manga. ^_^