Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol 2 / Doom : 3 of 5

I enjoyed the first volume of this series enough to put a few more on my PaperBack Swap list, and somehow I was lucky enough to get this second collection pretty quickly. These issues mostly focus on Doctor Doom (who was also a genius student at the Baxter Building in this re-imagined story) and how he actually caused the accident that created the Fantastic Four, and I liked the look into Doom's childhood and his obsession with pleasing his oppressive father. But the best scenes involve Sue's medical assessments of everyone's bodies, discovering things like Reed's lack of internal organs (explaining how he can stretch them) or Ben's ability to overcome his huge mass to fill his lungs with air (there's even a scene where he's asked about using the bathroom!). The relationships among the Fantastic Four seem really genuine and have lots of funny moments, especially when everyone teases Reed about the name of the Fantasticar (a clever way to add a modern take on something that wasn't so silly in the original comic). I thought it was cool how Doom was able to create an army of small insect robots out of tiny discarded parts (like cell phone cameras and MP3 players), but the actual battle with Doom was a little quick (but I'm sure this is just a warm-up for something much bigger). With excellent artwork and great characterization, I'm certainly glad I decided to take a look at this series, and if I can't get any other volumes from PaperBack Swap, I'm definitely tempted to buy a few!

Mood music

Although I have a humungous number of songs in my iTunes library, I also love listening to streaming music from a variety of sources, usually to fit a certain mood or activity. There's almost nothing as bad as hearing a song that doesn't fit how I'm feeling, so I've learned where to go to for the right mood music if I'm at home or at work. When I first wake up I usually want to do some reading, and I like listening to classical music while I read. I use the internet radio stations built into my Apple TV, which are conveniently categorized so I can narrow it down to opera, Baroque, or whatever fits the particular book (my tastes are really specific!). I also use my Apple TV to listen to jazz or ambient (Groove Salad is one of my favorite sources, although I wouldn't really call it ambient myself) when I'm enjoying manga or doing chores. At work, if my brain is kind of overwhelmed, I love listening to the predefined ambient station on Pandora (they also have great classical music stations, including a nice one of only piano works). If I'm kind of pissed off or cranky, I can get a great stream of shoegazer tunes out of Pandora (just using My Bloody Valentine as the seed group), and if I'm on a coding roll I discovered that my BoA station also plays tones of Ghost in the Shell soundtrack tunes, which somehow gives me intellectual energy! Finally, if I'm totally having a blah day, the ultimate weapon is Stereomood, which has an all-melancholy playlist (with a huge variety of songs that I don't know) that will definitely fit how I feel. I guess I've discovered that often the only way out of a mood is to go deeper in, and music certainly helps me do that. Usually when I listen to mood music at some point it won't appeal to me anymore, and then I know the mood's over!

Apollo's Song / Osamu Tezuka : 5 of 5

I'm absolutely stunned by the number of masterpieces I have yet to discover written by Osamu Tezuka, the greatest mangaka of all time! Many of these books are huge, such as the 540 page Apollo's Song, which I recently read and completely enjoyed. I have no idea how Tezuka produced so much art in his lifetime, especially when I think about the massive Phoenix saga, the Buddha series, and many others, yet he was still able to create deep and fascinating stand-alone stories like this one. Apollo's Song is about a boy named Shogo who has developed a hatred for love (due to his terrible childhood as the unwanted son of a prostitute) and suddenly meets a goddess who condemns him to an endless cycle in which he will fall in love, only to lose it again and again. Each chapter puts Shogo in different situations (often dreams or visions) ranging from Nazi Germany (where he is a soldier who falls in love with a Jewish girl) to an extreme future (where artificial beings have oppressed the human race, yet Shogo and the artificial queen fall into forbidden love). In the longest story (which is part of reality, rather than a dream) he falls in love with Hiromi, a doctor who attempts to treat his mental condition by training him to be a marathon runner, but of course this plot ends tragically as well. This manga has less humor than Tezuka's other works, but while the stories are overflowing with philosophical concepts and intense situations, they are never heavy-handed. The artwork contains many full-page spreads that are breathtaking with incredible details and beauty, and of course the characters are expressive in a way that only Tezuka can accomplish. I'm so excited that Tezuka's genius is recognized so these more obscure works are getting translated and published, and I only hope that I can experience them all someday (since there are so many more out there)!

Netflix One-Liners 8.31

Memories: This batch of Netflix streaming is half anime, starting with this really cool triple story film filled with incredible detail and awesome machinery and plots ranging from a garbage spaceship’s encounter with an opera singer’s final resting place to a society completely based around firing huge cannons at an unseen enemy.
The Place Promised in Our Early Days: I’ve wanted to see this movie for years, and I’m glad I finally took the time to enjoy this fascinating sentimental story set in a post-war divided Japan and told via beautiful artwork and character design.
Ghost in the Shell / Individual Eleven: I still have a Ghost in the Shell itch that needs scratching, so I enjoyed watching this movie that compresses the entire main storyline of the second season of the anime series with some creative editing (and of course I geeked out all over again!).
Le Portrait de Petite Cossette: I had never heard of this short three episode series, but this horror story about a girl’s spirit trapped in an antique glass seemed interesting as a Netflix suggestion, which unfortunately turned out to be a little too bizarre and bloody for my taste.
Robotech / The Macross Saga: I’ve always wanted to watch this 85-episode monster series (which was instrumental in starting the Anime boom in the US), so I’m glad Netflix has it available for streaming, since I love the old animation style, cheesy 80s dubbing, and of course the space battles!
In Search of Beethoven: I also checked out a few documentaries, such as this really long (but never boring) look at the life of Beethoven and his fascinating career that changed classic music forever, sprinkled with lots of interesting enthusiasm filled comments from musicians and historians.
The Buddha: This PBS documentary looks at the major events in the life of the Buddha (with a few basic teachings of Buddhism thrown in), told via interviews with modern poets and philosophers and sometimes beautiful animated scenes.
Surrogates: Though I'm technically not a Bruce Willis fan, I actually heard about this science fiction thriller in church, and I enjoyed this surprisingly good story (with plenty of social commentary) about a world where nearly everyone stays at home while their brains are plugged into artificial bodies that they control in the real world.
Swamp Thing: I watched this old light horror flick with the guys (since we all remembered enjoying Adrienne Barbeau's figure as kids), but this DC Comics monster was definitely given the 80s low budget TV treatment (although it's pretty fun to watch anyway!).
Zach Galifianakis / Live at the Purple Onion: I don't watch many comedy shows in general, but since Zach is funny on the Tim & Eric Awesome Show, I thought I would check out this older performance, which had a few great moments but overall needed a lot more refinement.

Godzilla Returns / Marc Cerasini : 3 of 5

Since I've seen all the Godzilla movies multiple times and even enjoyed the old Marvel Comics series recently, I'm always on the lookout for new Godzilla material. I had heard about a series of novels (actually for young readers) that seemed kind of interesting, and luckily I was able to get one from PaperBack Swap even though they are completely out of print! I wasn't sure what it would be like to read a narrative kaiju "movie", but Godzilla Returns was surprisingly good and seemed to unfold and slowly build just like a great film. The plot chooses to reset the timeline (much like the Heisei era films) so only the first appearance by Godzilla in 1954 has happened. In fact, the original movie is referenced as a "documentary", and Stephen Martin (Raymond Burr's character) has even written a book about his dramatic experience! The story focuses on a few youthful characters (both Japanese and American) with the often seen mix of ambitious news reporters and disciplined military folk. When Godzilla appears in the 1990s to feed on a Russian nuclear sub, the political battles begin between the scientific community and the military as Godzilla slowly makes his way to Tokyo. The descriptions of action and destruction are really well written, and it was especially exciting to read about the young heroes driving through the streets of Tokyo as rubble (and Godzilla's feet) tumble down around them! The author obviously knows enough about Japan and Godzilla lore to tell a plausible kaiju story (I loved the reference to Cadmium missiles, which are sometimes used in the films as a deterrent to Godzilla's nuclear nature), although there are a few silly stereotyped moments (but of course, this happens all the time in the movies). Overall I enjoyed this Godzilla experience enough to order a few more books in the series, and I'm looking forward to new stories of the King of the Monsters!

It's easy

After a vacation it's usually difficult to get myself fully back in gear, so this week I've done a little more relaxing than I'm used to. I've actually really enjoyed taking time to escape in my favorite worlds of anime and manga, but I often have trouble with feeling guilty about too much luxury, which sometimes leads to eating ice cream or other things I try to avoid! But over the past year I've adopted an overly simplistic attitude that really helps, which is just to step back, look at what I'm trying to do, and tell myself "It's easy". Obviously this isn't the key to life, but this small adjustment really works for me if I remember to do it! When I'm tempted to order a pizza and the fight feels like I'm going to give in, if I stop and think "Wait a minute! It's easy to win this battle. It's easy to just not order a pizza!", then my new perspective reveals the ridiculousness of my little struggle so I can make the right decision. Sometimes perfectionism keeps me from writing this blog, since I have trouble getting started if I feel like I won't be able to produce something that meets my own standards. But then I think "Writing a blog post is easy. Just write and don't worry about it!" and I'm able to finally get into the habit of posting (which always gets easier day by day). I can even beat some procrastination challenges with this attitude, since usually the things I put off will be over with before I know it if I just actually do them. Telling myself "It's easy" helps me minimize my internal drama, which has a tendency to complain and make things much worse than they actually are. If I can just remember to adopt this attitude at the moment I need it, then I'm able to do things like write this blog post, which was easy!

Manga Mentions 8.25

Honey & Clover Vol 4: This volume focuses mostly on Yamada and Mayama, who keeps trying to protect her from romantic advances even though he won't return her love himself. Their relationship is so beautifully tragic, and Yamada's personal narrative about the bent shiso plant (which needs to be broken off at the stem so new leaves can grow) is a really moving metaphor. I love all the emotional drama in this manga!

Nana Vol 9: The two Nanas sadly grow apart due to Hachi's pregnancy and marriage proposal from Takumi, exemplified by the touching scene where their beloved matching strawberry drinking glasses accidentally break! This volume is definitely thicker than normal with lots of insight into Reira's background, as well as a bonus story on how Trapnest was formed. It's so sad to see the Nanas living apart in separate places, though!

Black Jack Vol 7: As always, this volume is filled with more fantastic stories of my current Osamu Tezuka character obsession, including a fascinating look at Black Jack's dark past as he tries to get revenge for the death of his mother! There's also a touching appearance of the girl who was the "model" for Pinoko, which shows Tezuka's skill in conveying moving emotion with simple manga technique.

Nextworld Vol 2: On the other hand, some of Osamu Tezuka's early work from the 1940s can be incredibly boring, and Nextworld is a perfect example. I read the first volume of this manga back in 2005, and I never would have bought the second, but I couldn't pass it up for free on PaperBack Swap. The alien Noah's Ark story is kind of cool, but overall I was just glad to get through the book. I'm really glad that Tezuka moved past this style!

Sailor Scout Guide / Sailor Venus: Incredibly, I was able to get all five volumes of this out of print series from PaperBack Swap, and it was fun to read the last one about Sailor Venus! The content is just like the other books (tons of frame captures, episode summaries and crazy tidbits of information), and once again I enjoyed the sappy poetry selections at the end. I really want to watch Sailor Moon again now!