Mangaka of the Month – Takaya Natsuki (高屋 奈月)

Takaya Natsuki

(高屋 奈月)

-July–

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Pen name: Takaya Natsuki

Real name: Hatake Naka

Date of Birth: July 07, 1973

Home-town: Shizuoka, Japan

Horoscope: Cancer

One-Shot for the Weekend: The Miyama-Uguisu Mansion Incident

Alternative titles: 深山鶯邸事件 | Miyama Uguisu Yashika Jiken | Miyama Uguisu Tei Jiken | The Miyama-Uguisu Mansion Incident

Manga-ka: Katou Kazue

Genre: Action, Fantasy, One Shot, Shounen, Supernatural

The one-shot pilot of Ao no Exorcist. Monaka, the heiress to a prestigious family, is staying with her sadistic and controlling uncle after the death of her parents. Her life is given a twist upon the arrival of an unsual exorcist claiming the mansion is being haunted be a demon.

Published as a one-shot in Jump SQ  in 2008.

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We destroyed a record last week by not publishing a one-shot but ‘real’ life called. I read this without prior knowledge of Ao no Exorcist, I haven’t read the serialisation or watched the anime so I sort of fail in being all trendy in the anime world. So anyway, I don’t think that many people out there know of Ao no Exorcist’s origins since it is of a different name so I shall remedy that.

The story’s setting is really your average Shounen manga. You got the bad dude with a hostage and then your hero. What really stood out for me was the story/flashback of ‘the nameless demon.‘ It gave the story a deeper aspect which I thought made it great as a prologue. It was simple but touching with it’s themes of care and kindness, maybe you would shed a tear. It was also kind of refreshing to have a more western interpretation of demons in the story.

I have no idea what happens in Ao no Exorcist but if you’re a fan, I recommend visiting Ao no Exorcist’s roots as it may be thought-provoking or even allow you to look at the serialisation in a new light. I always welcome the idea of knowing how a story developed from it’s original stimulus. Oh, why do shounen manga heroes always begin as a loser?

Rating: 3.7/5

Mushroom Manhwa(Webcomic) – Orange Marmalade

Orange Marmalade | 오렌지 마말레이드

Title: Orange Marmalade

Author & artist: Seok Woo

Genre: School life, Supernatural, Romance,

Status: Ongoing

The story of a female vampire trying to live a normal school life, but what happens when she bites the school’s most popular boy?

Published online by Naver.

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Good heavens! When did I last write up a post? Minus the magazine coverage and one-shots of course. And anything anime related. Just came back from a short trip, hence the empty days on the blog. I’m so happy to have internet again and air-conditioning!

I have no idea why this story is called Orange Marmalade, I probably just don’t get it or I missed the part where they actually explained but I’m sure it has some reason/meaning behind it. In any case, this webcomic is great and it has a vampire as it’s protagonist! Bleh to vampires? Have no fear!

Monthly Lala 08/2011~

Heya folks! This post is totally late due since Lala 9 has already been released! I have yet to make my order on amazon but I might wait until Lala DX 9 is available so I can ship them all at once. I hope I can be that patient since Amano Shinobu has her new work in Lala 9, very excited!

More Summer Rants!

So this rant is a little bit late then I intended, but it’s the third and final instalment for my summer rants! If I had the time or motivation, I might have done something more detailed like I did in spring but… a lot of it is very underwhelming, I’ll probably go off on a tangent with Mawaru Penguindrum again and I really, really have no time right now @_@

As usual, I list the anime according to my preferences. While the previous summer rants showed some promise, the second half of this post is congested with all the not-that-great anime that everyone had been expecting from the summer.

But whatever. My favourite for this season is probably going to end up as one of my all-time favourites, so I’m just going to mention it once more since I can’t get enough of it.

Mawaru Penguindrum 

Family drama where little sis dies, but then she gets resurrected after being possessed by a penguin hat.

I’ve got my special rant for it right here, but long story short – it’s my favourite for this season. The questioning of fate, the light hearted humour, the ridiculous situations with the round round penguins and that tang of family angst is just perfect. Definite recommendation! I’ve watched the first episode about 6 times and the second one about 3 or 4. I am not obsessed.

Thank God it’s lined up for 24 episodes!

2NE1TV Live Worldwide Sneak Preview: “I Welcome You to My World, 2-N-E-1!”

Last friday (15/07/12), Manga Weekend had the opportunity to attend an sneak preview of 2NE1TV Live Worldwide which was held in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. You might understand that Arawr and I aren’t in the U.S.A so we engaged our friend and ally, Amelie, who stays in L.A to enjoy the exclusive preview and guest blog for us!

Here we go!

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 The 2NE1TV Live Worldwide sneak preview was held in the CGV Cinema in Korea town and began at around 7:45 p.m. pacific time. My partner on this mission and I began our quest to the sneak preview as soon as we could in the crowded city of Los Angeles. Fans of 2NE1 were lined up patiently outside the venue, while workers frantically ran around making sure everything was well prepared. During the wait, people were cheering, waving their arms in the air, and singing along to the music; a camera man continued to escalate up and down the stairs to get shots of the fans as they waved to the camera and shouted their love to 2NE1. 

One-Shot for the Weekend: Obake Life

Obake Life | オバケライフ

Manga-ka: Takahashi Ichirou

Genre: Comedy,  Horror,  School Life,  Shounen,  Supernatural, Romance

A girl who can see spirits opened up a manga and read “Those who read to this point in my manga will die without fail on the same day”. Terrified, she tries to break her curse, with a jumpy spirit who wants to marry her…? 

Published as a one-shot in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2008.

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It is very unlikely we would ever come across a one-shot placed in the genres of horror, comedy and romance. Being shounen manga, I guess that makes it slightly more likely since they can be quite bizarre. Shounen manga with romance? I’ll definitely give any one of those a try.

Okabe Life didn’t disappoint. In fact, it tied all the themes together but they were ‘mild,’ but not weak if you know what I mean(you probably don’t). It saw a reasonably good balance. The whole story was play-ful in a comedy way but it wasn’t to the extent where it was a parody of horror manga. Oh, and the male protagonist is quite the ball of awesome, I love how much energy he has, I might consider an engagement.

It’s not mind-blowingly epic, but it’s so absolutely likable! This is the first time where I REALLY wanted a shounen one-shot to continue into a series. It just has so much potential to do so. I’m probably saying this since I loved how the romance theme finished the story!

Have a good weekend!

Rating: 3.9/5

 

Win Tickets to the World Premiere of 2NE1tv LIVE : WORLDWIDE!

To all Blackjacks out there!

We have some very exciting news!  Mnet US is going to have an exclusive invitation only sneak preview of the 2NE1tv LIVE : WORLDWIDE season premiere this Friday, July 15th at 7:45pm at CGV Cinemas in Koreatown in Los Angeles, CA.  This is your chance to see the show before the entire world does!  All you have to do to win a pair of free tickets is to register for the 2NE1 digital street team here by no later than 10am Pacific Time on Thursday, July 14th and your name will be left at will call.  We would also love you to tweet about the screening while you are there and blog about it later if you are blogger.  Feel free to post pictures from the screening onto the internet as well.  Tickets are first come first serve.  Act now!

Special Summer Rant – Mawaru Penguindrum

Mawaru Penguindrum (輪るピングドラム) / Revolving Penguin Drum

Three siblings, twins Kanba and Shouma, and the in-and-out-of-the-hospital Himari who’s in poor health, live together at the Takakura home. One day, when the siblings are out on a trip to the aquarium, Himari collapses. The doctors state that nothing can be done for her anymore, but then, a miracle occurs…

Genre: Slice of life, Comedy, Fantasy

Status: Currently airing, planned for 24 episodes

Directed by Ikuhara Kuniko (Sailormoon and Revolutionary Girl Utena), who also did the script, screenplay and series composition. Produced by Brain’s Base and Mainichi Broadcasting.

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It’s official. This is my favourite for the season. This summer where there’s a significant cesspool of not-so-great anime, this is like the Madonna among the Jenna Roses. I really, really liked the way the narration started and ended that first episode about fate – yes, there have been stories that went all ‘UP YOURS, FATE AND DESTINY!’, but this monologue went into a whole cycle and chain of why fate is Hitler. It’s probably what ensnared me from the beginning.

The fact that the OP (Nornir by Ruetsuko Yakushima Metropolitan Orchestra) that followed just next to tugged my heartstrings and pulled out my heart probably has a lot to do with how I’m obsessing over this after the first friggin episode.

2NE1TV LIVE: WORLDWIDE Premieres on MNET July 17th!

Hello everyone! MARK YOUR DATES.

We have something special to share with you today about an upcoming reality TV show –  ‘2NE1TV LIVE: WORLDWIDE’  about the hawt Korean Pop-Group 2NE1 which will premiere on Mnet, the ultimate TV network on for Asian Culture.