Manga from Suvudu

There's something about getting a package in the mail that just makes me feel ... giddy. Books, movies, music, catalogs, doesn't matter. If it's for me, if it's even remotely associated with happiness or Pezz, I love it (bills excluded of course). So imagine my surprise when the mailman tromps across my lawn to deposit a fairly large package in my tiny mail box. I admit, first it was annoyance, then it was anger, but ultimately it was a feeling of ecstatic giddiness. Why? Manga! Turns out I was one of the winners of Jason Thompson's 365 DAYS OF MANGA contest being held over at Suvudu.com.

One of the stipulations? A picture of the winner holding their manga.

Now before you make any cracks about my picture: yes, that's really me. Yes, I am quite aware that the manga in my hands, the birdie bedsheets, and the stack of crap everywhere makes me seem like a teenager. Yes, I know I'm almost 30. And yes, I'm quite aware that this is a very unflattering photo of myself. Deal with it. I tried several times to take a decent picture; each time was as equally unflattering as this one. I am not a photogenic person. Never have been, never will be. My "Blossom reject" picture from junior high can attest to that (and before you ask, no, you can not see it). Don't believe me? Behold, other "candidates" for this post:

Horrid. Just horrid. Look, I'm not evening smiling in that last one! *sigh* In my [pathetic] defense: taking pictures with out the use of a tripod and single-handedly isn't that easy.

In case you're wondering I'm holding volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4, of E'S by Satol Yuiga. I love the art style. It's dramatic, crisp, and reminds me of the work of Yuu Watase. The books themselves are massive in weight! and heavy to hold. That was always something I loved about Broccoli Books USA; they produced substantial manga with crisp, bright-white pages that packed a punch! I still hold the tiniest bit of hope that once the industry stabilizes they'll return. The Broccoli Books USA website is still registered until 2014, after all.

The fifth book is No Need for Tenchi! Tenchi in Love vol 7 by Hitoshi Okuda. This one's a shounen from VIZ that I hadn't heard of before. It also sports bright-white pages and has a more substantial feel than standard manga. The art is cute if more "classic" in style and more simplistic and easy to follow. Sadly, it's printed in the US format which, for those of you who don't know, results in the reader starting at the end of the story and not the beginning if they are used to reading in the Japanese style. If you are new to manga, I think this series would be a good introduction. It's also safe enough to pass down to your younger brothers or sons if it's not to your taste.

I'd like to give an extra "thank you" to Jason Thompson over at Suvudu.com for hosting this contest. If you're interested, there is still time for you to enter. Also, go check out his newest work KING OF RPG'S or just go buy a copy.

Drop Everything!

So it's very late Thursday night (oh, wait... 4am makes it Friday, right?!) and I'm sitting here channel surfing Japanese TV (waiting for the darn Zune to sync) when I stumble across a commercial for DROP. "What is DROP?" you may ask. Well, I didn't know. But it looked good, and being the inquisitive person that I am *cough-drama addict-cough* I did some searching.

Turns out DROP isn't a drama but a movie based on the manga of the same name. The movie is directed by Hiroshi Shinagawa who just so happens to be the writer of the manga/novel. Oh, here's what Anime News Network had to say about it:

Drop's story follows Shinagawa's early life as he grew up in the streets of 1980s' Tokyo. Young Shinagawa decides to become a delinquent after reading the manga classic Be-Bop-Highschool and transfers from a private middle school to a public one. Shingawa's new life of cigarettes, bats, and iron pipes begins when he meets the leader of the delinquents at his new school.

Shinagawa first wrote the story in 2006 as a novel with illustrations by manga artist Hiroshi Takahashi (Crows, Worst). Another manga artist, Dai Suzuki, adapted the novel for Monthly Shonen Champion in 2007, and three volumes have since been compiled. The producers plan to open the film in the early months of 2009. - ANN

Interested? I know I am. Sure, it's a guy's fighting flick but you know what? Mizushima Hiro is in it! Oh, yah. And with a very full head of BLOND hair. Narimiya Hiroki is also in it sporing a very nice read top (er, the hair, not his shirt).

Check out the movie for yourself. Visit the official website here. Be sure to check out the trailers (which are of a much better quality than the ones on youtube) and judge for yourself.

Just in case you wanted to watch it here anyways, you can ^^ Enjoy!

Manga and Sunday Salon...

... a good combination? I think so (of course, manga and anything is a good combination. Especially manga and iced mochas!). If you haven't read a manga yet, do so! They are so very addicting it's scary. As of right now I'm reading Absolute Boyfriend ( 絶対彼氏 Zettai Kareshi) by Yuu Watase and it's a keeper! The art isn't the very greatest (it's like everything else out there, I would say) but I like it, and sometimes it's hard to tell one male character apart from another, but the story line, characters, and hilarity are just too intriguing and fun!

Absolute Boyfriend is the story of an average high school girl who, for the life of her, can not get a boyfriend. Honestly, the poor girl is like an anti-boyfriend magnet! It is hinted (ok, bashed upon us) that the reason she can't attract a boy is because of her rather small chest size (let me warn you now, this manga does... insinuate quite a lot and is rated 16+). So what does she do? She orders one on a trial basis. If she fails to return him in 3 days she'll have to pay 100 million yen (roughly 1 million bucks!). Ouch. You know what happens, right? You guessed it; she keeps him. So how does that work? She has a robotic boyfriend living in her apartment, still has to attend school, oh, and did I mention an old school friend who has had a crush on her forever is living next door! What happens? You'll just have to read it and find out.

So far I've enjoyed vol 1 and 2, vol 3 was a bit repetitive for my tastes ("Have sex! Have sex! Let's have sex!!") but the story was saved in vol 4 by a new twist. Vol 6 is a kicker, folks, so brink a hankie (and if you're like me, buy it last!!).

Now, I'm off! If you have any questions about it, just ask. Happy reading all.

Yes, yes, yes! The covers link to the amazon store so you can check out each volume and perhaps buy it ^_^ Come on, I know you want too!! Besides, if you don't you wont read a great story and I wont get payed!

The good, the bad, and the shorter

Got an ubber-exciting package from Tokyopop in the mail the other day. 5 books to review: Scrapped Princess #1-3, Kino No Tabi #1, and Alex Unlimited, The Vosarak Code. Squee! I love being a reviewer. Getting a package like this just makes all those bad ones bearable. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good books out there and just because I don’t like a couple of them doesn’t mean they are bad. But after reading a book that I gave a 2.5 (out of 5), these just make me feel so much better. The last Tokyopop books I received (The Twelve Kingdoms #1, Life #1, and 12 Days) all received great scores (er... save for THE ONE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED!).

I’m having a little trouble with the web design, too. I don’t know what I want it to look like! I came up with 3 designs so far. I’ve become sick at looking at the first, the second one looks too much like a blog (but I love it) and the third one seams a little... clustered. Of course, some nifty finger work and the last could work. I’ll probably use it, as it’ll fit everything better than the other ones. Now I just need to figure out a way to incorporate advertising.

Er... how’s my writing going?

...

No comment. Nope, none. Please don’t force it out of me... OK! OK! I’ve done nothing! -cries- Nope, not a thing (ok, 1 thing. I put the layout I came up with on my PDA. Does that even count?) I’m hoping once TGP gets all settled down I can do some more work. Boy, do I hope.

Lastly, I cut my hair! Yep, a good 13 inches. The last time I cut it was... hum.. right before the 9th grade. My grandmother brought me to the salon to get it cut for high school. That was the last time I professionally got it done. I’ve had it trimmed about once a year, but only 2 inches or so. Boy, to think I’ve waited 10 years and only cut 13 inches! It’s still below my shoulder blades, so I might just cut it again at the end of summer. I also died it, a nice temporary burgundy. I like the color, though everybody says it’s too purple. Ha, what do they know? I like it. I might do it purple next time ^_^ we’ll see.

Happy writing, happy reading, happy life!
Amber

Family Trees and Iced Tea

Family Trees

I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it (well, I do believe it, but If I keep repeating this phrase to my self I may be able to absolve of all liability). What is it I have done, you ask? Why, the most horrid thing imaginable! I have written the family trees for characters from 4 of my stories, and came up with 7 more stories all of which are connected quite complicatedly) that are just dieing to be told.

Oh, this doesn’t sound so bad does it? Well, think again. With only 3 more months in my self deadline, more ideas is not what I need. I have been attempting to work them out like I usually do, by writing out their ‘blurbs’ and putting them in my idea book, but the more I think on them the more ideas I get. While ideas are great, they won’t get my current piece written and I need to get it written so I can write the other stories.

So now, to get back in the mood of writing my original story, I’m going through about 17 classical CDs pulling off the stuff I like (the darker, more mellow and slow pieces) to put together a writing album. Normally I listen to hard rock or stuff I pull off Anime movies, but since I’m writing a Victorian, I might as well listen to music from the period.

If the Family Trees weren't my only problem, we’ve been experiencing wonderful 60+F weather. When it gets above 60, I pull out the iced tea and crack open the window. When the window is open, the cat’s want to smell the fresh air. Why isn’t I never remember these things? I’d blame the weather for the hibernation of my brain if it wasn’t hibernating all year long. My mistake this time was leaving a full tumbler-type glass full of iced tea on my desk right next to my keyboard while I left the room. Sure enough, P-Bear, my cat, decided “hey, I want some fresh air” and knocked the tea all over the place. Nothing save my keyboard and sanity where harmed. The keyboard I can still use even though it’s causing my sanity to stretch just a little more as I type ! and get bumped down to the next line or use the up arrow and get the help menu. And if that weren’t enough, I have another cup of tea in the exact same spot today... Man, I never learn.

In movie news I came across some thing I find... really cool. Tales from Earthsea - The anime version!! For those of you who don’t know yet, I love anime. I’m in no way a fanatic, just a very big fan. It turns out that Ghibli Studios (which is currently associated with the Disney corporation -who isn‘t?) has or will be coming out with an animated version of Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic Earthsea (if you haven’t read it, you must! It is one of her best). I can not wait to watch this one even though it looks like I‘ll have to wait until 2009! I loved Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away. I’m sure this will be no exception. Man, this only makes me want to get back to my Japanese language studies.

Read the synopsis here: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiSynopsis.html
View the trailer here (in Japanese): http://www.ghibli.jp/25trailer/

Lastly, but never least, my mother send me a link to a web site with wonderful art: . He has such wonderful and unique backgrounds. If I had more time I’d download everything, but have settled with only downloading a couple. I’m afraid that if I did more than 2, or 3, or 5... I’d keep going until I had everything save sleep and more works on my MS. This little pick below is of his newest background. See? Nice, hu? -link-

As always, happy reading, happy writing, happy life!
Amber

PS. The Gilded Pen’s Grand Opening has been pushed to April
1st due to technical problems. The darn DNS refused to be pushed to it’s new location which means the site will not work until it does.