Special A 13 - Filler that's not a Filler

This story arc felt like a filler, even when it was in the manga. Thankfully, there were a few funny moments that actually kept me going. It touches on Akira's angsty emo past, but it's hardly interesting, provides almost zero character development, and everything feels thrown out of proportion (then again, what in S.A. isn't thrown out of proportion?) As some sort of punishment or something, the S.A. class has to go to some other school for awhile. Everyone gets split up in some fashion or other, and Akira freaks out because a girl in her class reminds her of a childhood friend. Back in the day, Akira didn't have many friends thanks to Yahiro's bullying. She finally managed to make a friend named Saya, but the friendship fell apart with Saya suddenly decided she hated Akira. Ever since then, Akira's been pretty burned, and she's certain Yahiro had something to do with what happened. Akira finally overcomes her fear of being hurt by this strange new girl who looks like Saya (but isn't, her name is Yui or something) and calls like a bazillion limos to take everyone in the school to her house for a garden teaparty. Meanwhile, Yahiro finds that the S.A. is attending a different school, and he's surprised to find that one of the girls in Akira's class looks just like Saya.

The most entertaining part of the episode was the introductions. Of course, all of members of S.A. are just so good looking that all the students fall for them. Class 3's reaction to Megumi's writing was pretty funny, and her "?" in response was adorable. I pity any boy situated in class 2. With three popular bishonen types, those normal dudes don't stand a chance. Good thing it's temporary. Kei's cold/hot/cold with the girls and Hikari was hilarious, and Hikari's leap through the window was actually animated pretty nicely. Oh yeah, and the fun with tea and chemistry at the end was pretty cool, if not a little bit suspicious.

She might be denser than Tenma when it comes to love.

The girl opening the window kinda looks like Hikari.
Perhaps she's the real Hikari and the one leaping through the window is her ninja maid.
Yes. I went there.

Teapot or fisbowl? Supposedly it's special blue tea. I'm not buying it.

When you add lemon, it turns pink. And sparkles. Yay for chemistry.

"I made a schedule for you to date every girl in the school."

"No."

I still can't make it out of an S.A. post without a Geass joke. : /

--Ou-bento

P.S.
New OP and ED are nice.

Shugo Chara 38 - Humpty Lock Shenanigans

At another "very important" guardian meeting, Yaya astutely notices that Kairi is always looking at Amu. He denies it, but Rima chimes in, saying it's obvious. Everyone seems to agree except Amu who doesn't think something like that is possible, much to Kairi's disappointment.

That night as Kairi angsts over his relationship with Amu, Yukari calls and asks if he's gotten the Humpty Lock yet. He says he hasn't, and she tells him to keep trying. Musashi notices that he's not feeling very good about it, but doesn't say anything.

In the meantime, Utau is hard at work recording a mysterious new song. She's also wearing a hat and glasses for some unknown reason. It must be her CLEVER disguise.

Some dude whose name I didn't bother to remember keeps harassing Yukari and trying to win her affections. She's only interested in the Embryo and getting the Humpty Lock, and he offers absolutely nothing towards gaining either.

That night, Kairi calls Amu's home and instead gets Ami, who mistakes him for Amu's boyfriend (sending their father into a predictable frenzy, especially after learning that Amu's "boyfriend" is the class rep). Kairi asks Amu out, and when they meet he says he wants to use the Humpty Lock to train. She confesses that she didn't bring it. It's with her charas at the Guardian's greenhouse.

A fight at the greenhouse breaks out when Iru and Yoru both show up and try to get the Humpty Lock.

Kairi and Amu appear, and the Humpty Lock eventually winds up in Kairi's hands. But before he can decide what to do with it, that one dude who's infatuated with Yukari takes it from him. Ikuto mocks Kairi, saying he did a "good job."

In a surprise move, Ikuto retrieves the Humpty Lock and returns it to Amu, then revealing that he has the Humpty Key. He tries to insert the key into the lock, and as they grow close, the two are transported to a magical world of sparkles.

However, Amu freaks out at the last moment, and the key is rejected from the lock, causing the sparkly world to disappear.

Kairi and the one dude both apologize to Yukari for not being able to retreive the Humpty Lock, but she doesn't seem very concerned. Instead, she has Utau's next song Black Diamond, which is probably going to do something sinister. Cut to a scene of Utau in some random warehouse about to sing. Dun dun duuun.

--Ou-bento

Ludwig Kakumei Manga Review - Fractured Fairy Tales

I've always been a sucker for fairy tales. As a kid, I would read all the fairy tales books I could get my hands on, study the different versions, follow how countries told it differently, and even nitpicked at Disney for "getting it wrong." It's obvious that mangaka Kaori Yuki shares my love, because Ludwig Kakumei is overflowing with fairy tales from the well-known Cinderella to lesser-known tales like the Goose Girl. Ludwig Kakumei tells all those stories over again with a gothic twist. Gone are the sparkles and delightful happily ever afters, but instead the tales are told with the dark cruelty that many of the original stories exhibit. That's not to say that they've been gothed up or made twisted, but rather they're told from a darker angle that in some ways seems much more appropriate considering some of the content of the original tales (poisoning young girls, cutting off body parts, eating children, etc.)

The common thread in this story is the prince Ludwig who is on a quest to find the perfect woman to be his queen. Ludwig is self-centered and exceedingly shallow, judging women almost completely on their looks, treating most others in a cold manner, and being quite manipulative of his aide Wilhelm. Despite his shortcomings, Prince Ludwig is also extremely beautiful, and has very little trouble winning over the hearts of women. He's also surprisingly insightful, and can often see through the truth behind curses. Ludwig wanders from one princess to the next, but each one proves to be a poor match for him, either pining after another man, or sometimes dying. And so on he goes. But as the story progresses, things being to boil back home as his half-brother is anxious for the throne. And so Ludwig must also escape from assassins (including Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel) while he searches for his princess. The world is mostly Victorian gothic with beautiful clothing and dark eyeshadow, but it's also infused with a bit of modernity. Some assassins wield guns, while one otaku prince has a harem of girls with seifuku.

The artwork has an undoubtetly gothic flair with detailed clothing and beautiful backgrounds when necessary. Surprisingly, characters are actually distinguishable from each other, which is a lovely change of pace when it comes to reading shoujo manga. A few moments of comedy are well-placed, but the overall tone remains somber. This is a great series for anyone who loves fairy tales, but not for their happy endings.

Ludwig Kakumei is being scanned by Aerandria.

--Ou-bento

Chocolate Underground 03 - Nothing Happens

Why is each episode shorter than the previous? Not much happened in this episode. The chocolate ban seems to be hitting everyone's family. Smudger comes home to his father who's a baker. His dad remembers the good old days when his bread tasted good and actually sold. After their father leaves, Smudger asks his sister if she wants to have chocolate again. She's excited about the idea, but he tells her she needs to keep it secret. Meanwhile, Huntley's mother is trying her very best to make "Health Food" taste good by adding things such as honey and caramel. However, it's a failure, and Health Food still tastes as bad as ever. The next day, Huntley and Smudger look up cacao at the library and are interrupted by the class president and vice who seem to be sticklers for the rules. The two boys quickly scurry off, but not before garnering some suspicion. Also, it appears that chocolate is the only way you could ever get two boys of that age to venture into the Politics/History section of a library. The episode preview looks like we'll be jumping back in time to the two boys finally discovering that stash of cacao and sugar.

--Ou-bento

Akiba-chan Promo

A new trailer for Akiba-chan (the figu-mation series coming in July) is up. I stopped by to have a look, and it's actually not as bad as it could be. The animation is fluid, and the expressions change pretty nicely. Unfortunately, the plastic look really isn't cutting it for me. It's hard enough for me to watch CGed anime because that sort of movement isn't appealling to me. The one moe point that really gets me happy is hair: especially flowy hair in the wind. Unfortunately...plastic hair just isn't there. I'll probably watch an episode or so of this anyway, just because I'm curious. Also...why is the streaming video hosted on PhotoBucket? No one knew how to convert to .FLV and host it locally?

--Ou-bento

American Reality TV goes to Japan

When American reality TV runs out of wildernesses, small houses, and unmarried men to humiliate their contestants, they turn to the masters of public humiliation: Japan. The concept is simple. Take ten Americans with only slightly less knowledge of Japan than Kelly Osbourne, cart them off to Tokyo, toss them in a popular Japanese game show, and let the fun begin. The ABC series I Survived a Japanese Game Show just started airing last night, and I managed to stumble upon it just as it started. I've always known that contestants get screened for maximum DRAMAS, but it's clear this group was also screened for any knowledge of Japan at all. Upon arriving at their apartment, they were surprised to find...(dun dun) beds on the floor. One contestant even mentioned that she refused to sleep on the floor and considered it gross. Yay. -_- The contestants were carted around by a kindly plump and very loud housekeeper creatively titled "Mama-san." She gave them a "friendly" pointer: take your shoes off before entering the house, gaikokujin...

The name of the show is "Maji de!" As in..."Orly?" The logo says "Honkide!" As in, "Yarly!"

The game show is called "Maji de!?" and it features the usual Japanese antics of dressing up in weird outfits, eating things in awkward positions, and generally getting very messy in the process. Contestants are separated into two teams: the green monkeys, and the silver snakes yellow penguins. The first game, "Conveyor Restaurant," involved running along a conveyor belt while a team member ate mochi balls off a tray on top of your head before you slid off into a pit of flour. What surprised me the most was that none of the contestants had any idea what a mochi ball was. The guys who ate them described them as really sticky and like eating putty. The second game, "Big Bug Splat on a Windshield" (translated from the Japanese: Mushi Hito Kontesuto), predictably involved dressing as a bug and throwing one's self at a windshield. Good times, good times. The loser was carted off by about twenty men dressed as yakuza while the crowd went wild.

Winners get 2,000 yen (this is a lie). Losers get...these guys carrying you away (this is not a lie).

As of yet, this show has yet to distinguish itself from any other reality TV show. But I get to watch a Japanese game show in the process, so I might as well. (It's like watching MXC on mute, but better.)

You can watch the episode online, but ABC requires you to install a plugin to see it.

--Ou-bento

It's Illegal to be Fat in Japan

According to a recent CNN report (video link), the Japanese government is starting to fine companies that have obese employees. But not only that, the fines also apply if family members of the employees are obese. What's next, banning chocolate? Obesity is determined by measuring the waists of employees. What I wonder about is how far this law applies. From what the report implies, it's only applicable to companies. Does it count for body builders who might have an excellent BMI, but a very wide waist? What about sumo wrestlers? And how big should the company be? A family owned shop doesn't count, does it? I wonder if a new wave of anorexic salarymen might be the new trend in Japan.

--Ou-bento

Keen Observation of the Day: Kendo Makes You Tired

Well, I went back to the dojo today after slacking off from kendo practice this last semester. And boooy, have I paid for it. Besides losing all my calluses, I've also lost a good deal of endurance, which made today a lesson in trying not to die. Unfortunately, when it comes to kendo skill I'm a lot closer to MiyaMiya than Tamaki/Braver, even though I am instilled with a sense of burning justice and a healthy does of otaku-ness. Practicing kendo these past years has been well worth my time, and not for the sense of utter coolness of knowing how to use a sword. Rather, it's an excellent workout, plus it's a nice way to clear my mind when I've got a couple thousand projects I should be worrying about.

Of course, I also realize how much I really appreciate Bamboo Blade. While the series in no way accurately depicts all the hard work that goes into kendo (but what sports series does, really?), it's still pretty accurate and the animation of the strikes and footing is nicely done (usually). Everyone's reason for doing kendo is different, but in the end it's the love for the sport itself that makes you want to carry on. Even Tamaki's single-minded obsession with justice wouldn't cause her to stay in kendo after her loss to Rin if it weren't for her love of kendo itself. And really, something so painfully draining really isn't a hobby for someone who can't love it. If you want a workout and a way to show off your otaku skills, but you'd rather avoid large amounts of pain, try DDR instead.

--Ou-bento

Mirai Nikki Ch 28 - Trickery, the 8th, and the 7th

Three of the 8th's followers show up to finish off Yuki, but Akise has a plan to destroy the radio tower, thus cutting off communication with the 8th. However, a small glitch in the plan appears in the form of Yuno, who has shown up to protect Yuki.

Two of the followers show up to kill Yuki with the third follower hiding in the trees and reporting back to The 8th. Despite best efforts, the two have no problem getting rid of the guards.
Meanwhile, the 8th (who reminds me of Mother Mae-Eye from Teen Titans) is being kept up to date. Yuno and Yuki manage to escape, but Mao and Hinata are wounded. Mao gets four knives, one in each limb, and Hinata falls off a ladder with a knife in her back, courtesy of the female follower. Her diary gives her details of who she'll flirt with in the future, so she has no trouble following Yuki.

Akise manages to shut down the tower, and both the diaries lose their connections. However, the followers don't seem too disturbed by this turn of events, and they discard their cellphones easily. At this point, they reveal two more cellphones - their own person phones. These two are not only followers of the 8th, but they are collectively the 7th as well.


Mirai Nikki's twisty plot is always a fun ride. The 8th's ability to field multiple diary users is a powerful one indeed, and teamed with the 7th, they managed to pretty neatly wrap up Yuki in a trap. However, Yuno is Yuki's ace in the hole, and she hasn't failed us yet. I'm looking forward to delightful yandere goodness in the next chapter. I hope Akise manages to reveal more of Yuno's past as well.

--Ou-bento

Chocolate Underground 02 - You can't give Health Food for V-Day...

What is the point of these ridiculously short episodes? This one was even shorter than the last, and it picks up exactly where episode 01 left off, on the same frame. Also, because it's only four minutes long, hardly anything happens. As we already established, Health Food tastes terrible. But the old woman explains that it's because of the rules of the "Good For You" party that now controls the government. Louise laments that now she can't give chocolates for Valentine's Day. Huntley and Smudger freak out and ask who she intended to give chocolates to in the first place. She sidesteps the true question by saying she'd make chocolate for both of them and then commenting that chocolate now would have to be sold in secret in the dark of night. The boys are skeptical, but they head to a shady out of the way place and discover...FOIL WRAPPERS. The end.

Why are these episodes so short? Why is there no catchy OP? This episode ended as abruptly as the previous. It feels as if it really should be a complete episode but they cut it up in random places and called it multiple episodes. O_o Each episode makes me feel terribly unfulfilled because nothing really happens. I'll have to watch these in chunks, I think. But at least they're easy to blog. XD

--Ou-bento

Chocolate Underground 01 - In the Future, Chocolate is Illegal

A kindly old couple sits down to dinner only to have their house broken down by a large CG robot and a SWAT team. A dark and angry man is lowered from a helicopter and takes the couple's chocolate, claiming that it's the devil's food.

Elsewhere, two boys are walking along only to be bombarded by a media truck featuring a bobble-headed man claiming that chocolate is now banned. He declares that all sorts of healthy foods are better, and that a new chocolate alternative is being introduced. This new "health food" isn't well accepted by a young girl who works at a sweets shop. She's currently being indoctrinated by the TV, but now matter how many times she changes the channel, the cheery man is on every channel. The two boys show up to find her beating up the TV. She offers them a taste of the new "health food." It's predictably bad.

Okay...so that was a really abrupt ending. I didn't realize that episodes would be a few minutes long apiece. It's a little bit annoying that they wasted a minute or so showing off their CG machines that weren't even that impressive. I like the very light color palette and the voices sound good. Not much else to say. It's pretty um...short.

--Ou-bento

Skip Beat! Anime in the Works

I am crying tears of joy.

As I mentioned not too long ago, Skip Beat! is one of the few shoujo manga that has really managed to capture my attention and keep me coming back for more. It's not even Fall yet, and I already have something on my watch list.

As for the cast, I haven't found an announcement anywhere. So I will dream about it like an idiot instead and someone can point out that it's right there in front of my face and that I'm a dingbat.

Kyouko - Ryou Hirohasi: Kyoko has a rather boyish nature at times, but she can also be very girly when she goes into her princess fantasies. Ryou has an excellent youthful voice, plus her lung power when it comes to screaming is amazing. And Kyoko screams a lot.

Moko - Rie Tanaka: She can bring the calm and beautiful maturity that Moko embodies as well as the sometimes dark and angry nature. Rie's voice is so calm and beautiful, I think she'd do wonderfully as the elegant Moko.

Ren - Yuuichi Nakamura: He has that smooth deep voice that girls seem to dig these days. My first thought was actually Jun Fukuyama, but Ren is a more mature fellow and he deserves a deeper voice.

Shou - T.M. Revolution: Who better to play the pretty boy idol singer than an actual pretty boy idol singer?


--Ou-bento

Code Geass R2 10 - Cheese Gallery

This post contains pictures of Cheese-kun.

--Ou-bento

Lost+Brain Chapter 02 - Like Lelouch but Dumber

Okay, so last time I argued that Lost+Brain seemed like a terrible version of Death Note. It's a lot more like Geass now. But uh...still not as good. It does, however take an interesting twist. So the number two smart kid in the school (always second in grades under Hiyama) is just as snotty and self-absorbed as Hiyama. And then Hiyama says he wants this dude to be his helper in taking over the world. To prove that his hypnotism works, Hiyama demonstrates the product of his work over the past year.

And then everything sorta starts failing. It's like Lulu had a big Geass-ing party with unlimited Geass-ing and the best he could do was make people dance around and act like zombies. And why on earth does Hiyama need an assistant anyway? Sure Light had Misa Misa, but that was different. She was completely devoted to him. And Lulu has Karen, also devoted to him. Hiyama has...some dude who hates him? Cool. And he gave away his identity immediately? You are so far behind, man.

It at least ends with an explosion that might actually shake things up. Hiyama's busy being evil now and I wonder if the guy will actually join him or try to undermine his efforts. I also hope that this becomes interesting sometime.

--Ou-bento

Astro Boy Movie

ANN's latest press release on Astro Boy has my curiosity piqued now. There seem to be a lot of big names involved in this as well as some actors who I really like. Of course, not all big name actors translate over into voice acting very well, but I'm willing to give them a chance. What really caught my attention was the final blurb, however.

"Space Jam's Timothy Harris is writing the film, and Flushed Away's David Bowers is directing."

So um. I'm really not thrilled by the writer or the director. I wasn't terribly fond of Space Jam or Flushed Away, so this has me a little bit worried. Even if the cast is stellar, that can't make up for bad writing or direction. Of course, I'm no expert in either, so I'll save my final judgment until after I actually see the movie. But I'm a little worried.

--Ou-bento

Skip Beat - Manga Review

When it comes to shoujo, there are very few series that stand out to me - especially when they're about making it big in showbiz. But Skip Beat! is one of the most addictively good and entertaining series I've read in a long time. Kyouko Mogami is a young girl from a small city who followed her childhood crush Shou to the big city to help him live his dream of becoming a famous musician. However, she soon discovers that he's only been using her and he has no feelings for her whatsoever. In a fit of rage, Kyouko swears revenge on Shou by becoming so famous in the showbiz world that people will forget that Shou even existed. The only problem is...she's has no acting talent and no money.

Kyouko is one of my favorite shoujo heroines, because she's not a typical shoujo heroine. She's hellbent on revenge, and has lost the ability to love. Her evil angry demons are amazing little characters all in their own right, too. The lead males are also interesting in that neither are the prince type, which is a refreshing change. This story deals quite a bit with the trials of actual acting like trying to develop a character, improv, and even the strain of redoing scenes over and over. The introduction of more guys in the future seems to clog up the story a bit, and I feel as if it makes the story drag on a little bit more in a direction that I find somewhat uninteresting. While it does include some of the expected twists (like a childhood meeting, or winning over someone by sheer willpower), it's a fresh take. Skip Beat! is undoubtedly one of my favorite shoujo series, and I would happily recommend it to anyone in search of a good shoujo story.

Skip Beat! is licensed by Viz.

--Ou-bento

CLANNAD English Dub

Kotomi's little spin is cute.

--Ou-bento

Open Wide

Would you like a homemade bento from senpai?

Oishii desu ka?

--Ou-bento

Star Ocean 4 (The Last Hope) Screenshots and Thoughts

I'm quite the Star Ocean fan, so the latest trailer and all the beautiful SO4 screencaps make me a very happy bento. We finally have images of our heroes Edge Maverick and Reimi Saionji. Edge doesn't seem like a very Japanese name, and his hair color doesn't seem to indicate he's a very Japanese dude. Maybe Reimi is, though. So according to the trailer, Earth is near destroyed and everyone's floating off into space now. Also, according to reports, SO4 would be better represented as Star Ocean 0, since it takes place before the first Star Ocean installment. Of course, what confuses me is the fact that I'm pretty sure Fayt from SO3 lived on Earth. I guess somehow Earth got fixed up during all those years.

Magazine scan with character art from SO4. On the right page is Edge and Reimi. On the left I can make out Edge and Rena (SO2). I think the guy next to Rena is Claude and I don't recognize the woman in pink. Supposedly some characters from SO1 will be showing up in this, so I'm curious why Rena is there. And I have no idea who those other characters are.



Getting to actually see their faces and weapons is great. Reimi is an archer. *_* She looks like a much stronger and more battle-oriented heroine than previous SO girls. I wonder who the spell caster will be.

More SO4 info here.

--Ou-bento

Summer Preview - Stuff I'll Probably Watch

I always make these lists of what I want to watch and don't want to watch and they never turn out the way I imagine they're going to turn out. But oh well. Here I am making a list again.

Blade of the Immortal
More cool samurai action based on a great manga. I am so in. Unfortunately, it's being animated by BeeTrain. My BeeTrain opinion has been hit and miss in the past.

Natsume
It's an endearing tale about a boy and his cat, except it's really not like that at all. I like Japanese supernatural stuff, and the animation looks pretty nice. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

Yakushiji Ryoko
The combat maids sold me already, but this actually looks like it'll be pretty good.

Chocolate Underground
The designs and the vaguely uninteresting screencaps wouldn't have caught my attention. But since the story is about bootlegging chocolate, I have to watch. Maybe I'll learn how to make my own in the same fashion that Moyashimon taught me how to brew sake.

Slayers Revolution
It's Slayers. I like Slayers. Not with a sort of enduring passion like some, but it was one of the first anime series I ever saw. I liked it then. I'll probably like it now.

Sora Mahou
Okay, so I'm only watching this because it has the sky in it, and I have a sky obsession that rivals Yorito Morimiya's.

--Ou-bento

Xingke and Tianzi in English

50 seconds from Code Geass R2 episode 9 in English.

--Ou-bento

Code Geass R2 09 - I still say it's a trap

Sorry to all the Tienzi supporters, but I can't help thinking that it's a trap. It looks a lot more boyish to me, and sounds very boyish for a young girl. Even the name means "emperor" (literally "son of heaven"). This is probably more wishful thinking on my part, as Code Geass is lacking in a good trap character (unless you sound Suzaku), and I was really hoping to round out my harem. I guess that makes Xingke a shotacon, eh? (He's still pretty GAR in my book.)

"Li! Um...this isn't what it looks like."

Once it's revealed that this is indeed a trap, this image will be priceless.

The Karen fan inside of me is doing a jig. It's obvious that Lulu calculated this scenario from the beginning. He placed the wobbly box, asked Karen to fix whatever, and waiting to say something that would cause her to fall. See how cool he is about the whole thing, even asking if she wants to return to Ashford with him? Oh Lulu, you devious man. At least you made the right choice.

--Ou-bento

Yandere-licious

This page has cards for the karuta card game made with some very nice yandere characters. Who's your favorite? I have a soft spot for Yuno from Mirai Nikki, but Rena (Higurashi) was my first love. Hmm...I wonder if SaiYAN is at all a good idea. Probably not.

--Ou-bento

Billion Princess - Manga Firstlook

I've been on a shoujo manga spree lately (it's terribly addictive once you get started), so the next few days will be shoujo manga reviews and first looks. Billion Princess is about the daughter of a wealthy media company owner. Her mother is trying to set her up with the son of another company, but she's far from interested because she's already involved with a popular singer from her father's own company. In the meantime, a young boy who works for the company is struggling to just get his music noticed. Everything changes when her father falls to his death, presumably by suicide.

Stories about making it in showbiz are nothing new, but in this case the main character isn't the one trying to make it. She's not a singer or an actor or anything, but rather someone connected to singers. Then her power in the showbiz world suddenly disappears in the second chapter. There are some interesting twists, like the fact that she's already with the guy of her dreams. Also, he appears to be playing her, which is going to make things very interesting in future chapters. My money on the final guy is the kid trying to get his music noticed, but that's because I know almost zip about the son of the other company. Either way, the plot setup isn't groundbreaking, but it's enough to keep me interested.

Art is pretty, as shoujo art should be. As usual, it falls prey to the "everyone looks alike" syndrome, and I have to fall back on my usual way of telling the main guys apart by checking the color of their hair. The only character who stands out at all is the female manager of the idol dude who sports an somewhat uncommon hairdo. Besides that, nothing terribly special. Backgrounds are sparse, but they do their job. Older people are drawn a little more poorly, and the chibified versions feel a bit weak as well. At least the story hasn't managed to confuse me with poor panels or extraneous flowers yet.

Billion Princess looks like another good shoujo story. I can't really say whether it's worth reading or not, but if you like shoujo it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

--Ou-bento

Sunohara no Naku Koro Ni

Speaks for itself, really.

--Ou-bento

The World God Only Knows - Tsundere Oujo Chapter

Tsundere Oujo Chapter
While this series doesn't really stand out with a brilliant plot or outstanding artwork, it delivers exactly what it promises: otaku's favorite moe types and the otaku boy who has to win their hearts. And this week, we have one of my personal favorites: the tsundere. And she's oujo to boot. Even better.

Unsurprisingly, Keima quickly categorizes the new target and sets to work using his dating sim knowledge to capture her. And it's a pretty routine task. Unfortunately, Keima discovers that actually being beaten up hurts a lot more in the real world than the virtual. Thankfully for us, we can sit back and laugh. Keima is also unknowingly winning the affection of his fake younger sister, the demon girl. Unfortunately, I doubt he'll ever return her feelings as it's clear that he prefers 2D.
The story ends predictably with Keima winning the girl, the demon being captured, and the girl forgetting all the events (although left with a lingering crush on Keima). I think for at least the first few types, we'll have no problems as Keima navigates through each route. I am hoping for more of an overarching plot as this continues, because otherwise the premise is going to go stale. For now, it's still a fun self-effacing look at otaku and the "real" world. Except the real world plays just like a dating sim and characters fit into their types perfectly. And that's exactly how this series should be taken. A playful poke at dating sims. Under most circumstances, I'd probably be bothered by the objectification of females in this. But when it's just good satirical fun, I just wanna sit back and enjoy.

I hope Keima will eventually go up against a yandere, but that might be hoping for too much.

This series is being scanned by Noizy.
You can read it online here.

--Ou-bento

How to Quit Smoking

I feel a little weird posting a clip from The Daily Show, but it's related to Japanese culture this time around. Enjoy.

--Ou-bento

TokyoPop Restructuring

So TokyoPop has announced that it will be splitting into two companies and laying off some 39 people.

The first half, TokyoPop Inc. will keep doing what it does. The "newly formed Tokyopop Media LLC will take over the "new media" or digital aspects of the business, as well as the comics-to-film aspect." What does that mean? Are they going to continue things like TokyoPopTV? I could never really get into that...and comics to film? I wonder if they'll make a DramaCon movie or something. That would be interesting, but not exactly profitable, I think.

--Ou-bento