So there's a couple of different media I've been absorbing as of late. As you know, I've finished Les Miserables, found out it was an adapted version (drat)...which explains a lot. But I've also been watching new anime. Yes, non yaoi anime, but I digress.

First up, The Familiar of Zero

The fairytale of a mage school student (Louise), who summons a boy from Japan (Saito), who becomes her manservant, and eventually falls in love with her. Actually this anime has a lot more qualities than I give it credit for: good characterization, believable harem plot (first time I see this happen in anime!), believable world (at least logically consistent), among other things... But somewhere around the second season this anime begins to drag. A lot of formerly introduced major characters suddenly become irrelevant (e.g. Kirche), the jokes fall off, and the result is rather childish...

I don't like the English voice actor for Saito...he sounds like a kid

Anyway, I'm still glad youtuber ShadowACS ( [link] ) got me watching it. And I'd definitely advise to check out his Anime Analysis videos -- albeit personal, they're still insightful and argumentative. Perhaps you might find something new.


Mirai Nikki (or Future Diary -- the English name)

Another anime I've watched recently, though for the first time I've found I liked the manga better. Usually manga ends up leaving me all surprised and stuff. In the Naruto manga the fight scenes were unclear (at least to me). But Mirai Nikki, also being a quite violent, action filled manga, was much more detailed. I think it's because Naruto has so many fight scenes, they don't take the time to describe every fight -- it would take too much paper...or work to draw. But Mirai Nikki does this very well.

Then, the Haruhi Suzumiya manga wasn't very satisfactory (to me) because it had too many panels on one page. Mirai Nikki doesn't have that problem. I think they found the perfect balance between too many or too little panels per page. Admittedly, I haven't seen it in print yet (manga books tend to be unreasonably small....and when they cram a huge amount of panels onto one page this feels like a ripoff).

Anyway, Mirai Nikki combines suspenseful conflict of the Hunger Games with a flavor of Japanese high school, that just automatically clicked for me. Seems ShadowACS also liked it, for this is what he had to say about the anime:



What I loved most about Mirai Nikki, was that it was so unpredictable. Just when you think you know how it's going to end, the manga throws a plot twist at you, and nothing is the same.

My only gripe with it was that yes, it is disturbing...and so is the ending. I won't spoil it for any of you, but I will say that I didn't like the final pairing. Although the way it went, it seems there was no other way the story could have ended.


The Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison)

No, this is not Wells' classic sci-fi novella. This book is a lot more gritty, realistic, and yes, disturbing. I'm at the third chapter, and have already encountered two sexually explicit scenes, three violent scenes (one of them I find myself in the middle of now), and general monstrosities. So what keeps me reading it? Do I love real dark snarky stories?

No.

As a matter of fact I don't. But this book got me hooked from the first page. Mind you, it didn't start with violence. The prologue was completely devoid of disturbing scenes. The book started off with establishing a relation between the reader and the main protagonist (who has yet to be named). I think this is a very effective use of first person. The main character can do the most atrocious things, as long as the audience believes in him, trusts that these actions are justified.

Ellison also made remarkably good use of the "all concealing I", up until the middle of the prologue I had no idea the main character was black. Or that the issue at hand pertained to discrimination in the 1950s America. The way he writes I find also very interesting, no matter how you look at it the style rings true. This character speaks in a very peculiar voice, one which I haven't heard anyone use before. Together with the mannerisms and specific detailed backstory, it makes him sound like a real person, "come off the page".

That's why I keep reading. Because I feel that this book has something to tell me. That it's not just an imagination (The Thorn Birds) or deluded wish fulfillment (The Familiar of Zero).

Sincerely, -- KK