Last Friday's A/M Club at Arlington, New Manga at the BPL, and yet another Train Man manga....

I didn’t quite get the attendance that I was looking for at Arlington’s Anime/Manga Club last Friday, but I was fortunate to get a few hardcore otaku dropping buy to take a look at Law of Ueki and review some of the new Manga titles that the BPL has recently bought – Kekaishi, Case Closed, Skip*Beat, and my two new favorites, Love Roma and Yakitate Japan!.Some folks have suggested that we try having Arlington’s Anime/Manga Club at a later time (4:30pm, for example), multiple times a month, or on a Saturday – all good ideas worth considering.

What else is new? Aside from furiously reading Yakitate Japan! and Love Roma, I just took a look at Michiko Ocha’s Train Man: A Shojo Manga. The title is fitting, because this is a very “shojo” version of the Train Man story we’ve all come to know and love. Far less slapsticky than Wantanabe’s/Nakano’s version but not as realistic as Hoti’s version (see 12/13/07’s review of these 2 titles), it focuses more on the romantic interaction between “Train Man” and “Hermes-san". It’s a good bet for shojo fan or folks that just can’t get enough of the “Train Man” story.

I’ve been busy so time to sit down and write reviews is in short supply, but I’m hoping to get reviews of Yakitate Japan!, Love Roma, and the anime series Dears out before too long.

Arlington Anime/Manga Club this Friday! 1/25 @ 4pm

Hi everyone. Sorry for the last minute notice but.....Arlington is having it’s monthly Anime/Manga Club Meeting this Friday, January 25th, at 4pm. I’ll be talking about two new manga (action-packed Hoshin Engi and horror manga Zombie Loan) as well as showing the very cool new anime, Law of Ueki. Hope to see y’all there!

Dave

Sorry....no updates til after Xmas

I know that I promised reviews of Gundam: The Origin (manga) and Welcome to the NHK: Conspiracy (anime)....but I'm too tired to write 'em! I'll just give you a teaser and say that Welcome to the NHK is one of the best programs I've seen this year - a funny and likeable series about the life and loves of a paranoid shut-in (it's better than it sounds, honest). I'll be out of town for the next week or so for the holidays, so don't expect any new updates until after Christmas.

Anyway, for all you Arlington Anime/Manga Club folks out there, I'm still in the process of choosing the 2 anime episodes for December 28th's meeting; I've been reading a lot online about Samurai Champloo and will probably at least be showing that. In terms of booktalks, I'll be covering Gundam Seed, Kindaichi Case Files, and Maison Ikkoku.

Have a pleasant holiday, y'all.....

What to show on the 28th?

Arrgh....I just realized that I really need to decide on what I'm showing at Arlington's Anime/Manga Club meeting on December 28th. I've narrowed it down to:

Cowboy BeBop Remix (hard-boiled Sci Fi)
Samurai Champloo (funky samurai adventure)
Black Cat (bounty hunter on a mission of revenge)
or
Eureka Seven (boy finds himself in a web of intrigue and Mechas)

any preferences?