Sota’s Knife

I’m currently reading Sota’s Knife (Souta no Houchou).  I discovered this manga by accident.  Last year Uniqlo released a special UT Collection of Shonen magazine featuring Shota no Sushi (Shōta no Sushi).  I’ll admit it I didn’t know what Shota no Sushi was, but I was intrigued because the shirts featured illustrated sushi on the front and back.  I bought a couple of shirts and when I went home I tried researching Shota no Sushi, so I could read it myself.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find an English version of Shota no Sushi, however I did find Sota’s Knife.  Initially I assumed they were the same manga (they had similar names, and were about sushi), but as I researched more I realized they weren’t the same.  Regardless of that, I decided to read Sota’s Knife anyway.

Sota’s Knife was created by Yuichiro Sueda, and illustrated by Kei Honjo.  It’s based on Sota Kitaoka, a young kitchen hand or dishwasher who works in a sushi restaurant. The story focuses on the day to day routines of working in a sushi restaurant.  There’s no mystery to solve, no super powers to obtain and no city to save; it’s literally a story about working in a sushi restaurant.  While that might seem boring to most, I found it fascinating because it’s such a relaxing story to read.  Sota is a noble character and put’s his entire heart and energy into everything he does, and that for me is inspiring.  His tenacity is constantly put to the test because the sushi restaurant demands that he be flawless, knowledgeable and always learning (suddenly his life isn’t so boring and monotonous).

Besides Sota, what I loved the most of this manga are the illustrations.  Kei Honjo is a master.  He adds so much detail to the drawings, especially of food that it makes you hungry (if you love Japanese food than this is the manga for you).  I have literally spent time starring at some pages in awe and wondering why he went into so much detail; he spoils us.  I honestly have even printed out some pages and framed them because they’re so beautiful; I would buy original copies if I knew where he sold them.  I can’t recommend this manga enough.  If you’re interested in reading it you can find copies on Amazon; they’re translated into English and are easy to follow.

Sota’s Knife: https://www.comixology.com/SOTAS-KNIFE/comics-series/108485?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2JyZWFkY3J1bWJz

Disappearance Diary

Title: Disappearance Diary

Writer: Hideo Azuma

Art Work: Hideo Azuma

Publisher: Ponent Mon

I wasn’t too excited about reading this manga when I first picked it up.  The drawings were very basic, and almost childish.  But then I started reading it and I soon developed a different opinion of the book.  It wasn’t a book for children, but a book about dealing with depression.  As the back cover says’ it is a book that takes a positive outlook on life.  This is why the artist, Hideo Azuma decided to draw in this cartoonish style.  He wanted to tell his story (the years he spent dealing with depression), in a way that wouldn’t scare away potential readers.

I find that when we focus on the bad things in life, we can potentially ruin our future.  Thinking about those bad experiences can prevent us from going out into the world and trying to grow as persons.  For Azuma, Disappearance Diary must have been a liberating experience.  To let go of the past, and also tell it in a way that isn’t as harmful.  Once you are fully entrenched in the book, you will soon love his artwork as well.  It just seems to express his emotions and experiences clearly.  The book is divided into three parts, each representing different years in his life, from living on the streets to being locked up in an alcoholic ward.  My favourite part though, would have to be the first part called ‘walking at night’.  Just based on this first part, I highly recommend this book.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Diary-Hideo-Azuma/dp/8496427420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331652203&sr=8-1

Portus

Title: Portus

Writer: Jun Abe

Art Work: Jun Abe

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC

Portus is a horror graphic novel that involves a mysterious video game that kills people.  The reason I first picked it up was because of the front cover, it had all the elements of a scary movie with a floating eye, torn paper, and blood.  I was very interested in reading it because I had never read horror manga, and was curious to see how it would be.  I’ll be the first to admit it I love graphic violent scenes that the Japanese love to create.  Another thing I like to do when picking up a manga novel is to look at the back (or in this case the front), and checking to see if the story ends in this book.  Luckily this story did end in this book.

The story revolves around Asami Kawakami (an art student), Keigo Sawa (her teacher), and Mayumi Yamashita (another teacher).  In the beginning Asamai is worried about her friend Chiharu, who’s been ditching school for a few days because she’s been playing a video game called Portus.  Later on, Chiharu commits suicide and Asamai starts to question the motives for her suicide.  She then decides to play the game Portus to see what could have caused her friend’s death.  Along the way Keigo and Mayumi also try to figure out why this game is so deadly.  What they discover is a danger that must be stopped in order to save the life of Asamai.

This graphic novel is rated mature, and is justified in doing so because it contains many violent scenes in it.  The characters are very much a cookie-cutter pattern of what is popular in manga; high school students, and trendy teachers (Keigo smokes in class).  Regardless of this, it’s used because it’s a working formula that can get into a storyline without having to explain each and every character’s individuality.  As for the story, I found it to be exciting at first and then it just moved over to a more horror story that became less realistic for me.  I guess I should have expected this from a horror genre because it asks you to suspend your disbelief, and I suck at that.  Either way anyone that loves horror and especially appreciates it’s unrealistic ideas will like this novel.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Portus-Jun-Abe/dp/1421513838/ref=pd_sim_b_20

Dragon Ball begins for me

What a glorious day, for today I start my journey on an epic quest to view all the Dragon Ball series. I like to consider myself a fan of the series; however I never had the chance to watch every episode before. Unlike other animated TV shows, Dragon Ball is a series that follows a continuity storyline from one episode to the next. What made it difficult for me to watch it many years ago was that it was only shown on TV and you had to watch it every day to follow along.

Even when you did watch it every day, the channel that they would air it (YTV in Canada) would not show every episode all at once, and would constantly show repeats. Thankfully the internet has solved this problem by having websites that show every episode. This is convenient because you can follow along from story to story, watch it whenever you want, and can repeat any scene that you would like to watch again. While there are many links to the episodes online, the one that I am going to use is dbzremastered.com. I like it because the episodes are organized neatly, and when you view them they are nice and clear and don’t take much to load. So once again.. I am super psyched about starting this journey and I can’t wait to see them all.

Links to every episode:

http://www.dbzremastered.com

Another link:

http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/dragon-ball-videos-episodes-online-free

3rd link:

http://www.watch-dragonball.com