It’s been a while since we last talked about manga! ☘️
Hey guys, today we are go over all the great reads I was able to enjoy during spring break! I was fortunate to be able to start a few new series, each of which I’ll now be picking up until they finish!
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Thanks for watching~!
– Takuto
SAVED FROM THE SCRAPS 💥🦾
Hey guys, I’ve been wanting to try out this new style of manga video for quite some time now. So, today we are diving headfirst into the chaotic world of The Scrapyard in volume one of Yukito Kishiro’s classic manga, Battle Angel Alita.
I decided to try this new video with the Alita post that just went up yesterday! Basically, the blog post here serves as the script for the video. If you like this format, let me know! 🙂
Be sure to let me know your thoughts on the manga or this video down in the comments! I’m excited to pick up more and see where Alita’s journey of rediscovery takes her! 💥
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Thanks for watching~!
– Takuto
First impressions for volumes 1-2 (Deluxe Edition Volume 1) of Yukito Kishiro’s manga series “Gunnm” or “Battle Angel Alita,” published in 2017 by Kodansha Comics.
Only the few and the fortunate are permitted to live in the shining space city of Zalem, a utopian metropolis which floats high above a desert wasteland. What trash and unnecessary dealings the people of Zalem find expendable are tossed into The Scrapyard, an enormous stockpile of waste below the city which is surrounded by a clustering of ghettos and shacks. This is where the rest of humanity–flesh and cyborg alike–eke out a living, surviving by grit and brute strength alone.
While scavenging a pile of discarded android parts, Daisuke Ido, a cyborg repairs doctor, finds the head of a young female cyborg amid the scraps. Dr. Ido builds a new body for the head and names her Alita. Although Alita’s memory upon activation is foggy and lost to her, she still wishes to stay by the good doctor’s side.
The caring relationship between the two is challenged when Alita discovers Ido’s night job as a hunter-warrior, a bounty hunter working for The Scrapyard’s government, and she decides to become one herself against Ido’s warning. While pinning down wanted criminals in the shadows of the slums, Alita awakens to her forgotten knowledge of fighting techniques. As it turns out, Alita is a warrior, though her origins are still unknown. With her newfound strength, Alita determinately fights for justice, recovering bits of her fragmented past to rediscover her original identity.
I love cyberpunk. Whether the clean-cut, glowing neon feel or the technologically clustered vision (as with Alita here), I enjoying seeing how different artists approach their worldbuilding. Whereas Ghost in the Shell is more cerebral-focused–showing how cyber enhancements in the brain transform humanity’s relationship with the Internet–Alita sticks to altering the physical body. The toughest of cyborgs that enjoy fighting in the arena are equipped with metal arms capable of lifting megatons. Might makes right in The Scrapyard.
When not admiring the glorious physiques of the various strongarm hunter warriors, we can look to the background art for cyberpunk influence. Often, pages of the comic will pass with little to no dialogue, leaving the reader to simply awe at the setting artwork and detailed landscape imagery. Yukito Kishiro structures the worldbuilding aspects of the series with elements of action or moments of self-discovery, imbedding the story of The Scrapyard within key character backstories or set pieces.
I’m especially referencing the ghastly yet vast and mazelike conditions of The Scrapyard’s sewer system–a seemingly bottomless world of gross infestation and hellish living for any creature. The bubbling bog’s curious plumes of stench contrast fantastically against the arid and metallic cityscape of the surface world. What binds them, however, is a prevailing sense of lawlessness and chaos.
Despite having come to the manga from watching the 2019 live action film, I found Alita to read incredibly easy on its own. Each story element flows to the next well enough to warrant having the series on your shelf along with the film’s Blu-ray. Both the film and the manga have their own subtle differences (mainly concerning changes to the appearances of certain characters, or their omission entirely), but again, they both hold well on their own.
Perhaps the only major crime (as a film watcher) is the sad discovery that motorball isn’t in the manga at all! Or, at least not in the first couple volumes (*cries anyway*). Kodansha’s first Deluxe Edition volume ends on the film’s climax, so I’ll have to see how that cliffhanger is resolved in the manga. I wonder if it’s anything like the cool ending of the film . . .
Alita is, by and large, one of the most important titles in the cyberpunk genre. Its influence extends far beyond the main genre it belongs to, including the realms of action, adventure, science fiction, and even dystopia. What I discovered from my read of the first 10 or so chapters of the manga, however, was that all of the praise for Alita is well-deserved. Whether you liked the film as much as I did or not, you’re bound to love the empowering female narrative of the Battle Angel Alita manga even more.
I’m sure you’ll hear more about my Alita journey as I pick up more volumes, but we’re off to a fantastic start so far! Now the question is whether I should continue the series in the Kodansha Deluxe hardcovers or move to digital since, you know, it’s cost-effective (and saves a ton of shelf space)! I’ve got lots to think about.
One last thing! With all the cyborg skull-crushing and limb-smashing violence, Alita does lean more on the graphic side. Just wanted to let you know in case you are entirely new to the franchise. 🙂
Have you ever tried out this classic cyberpunk manga? Let me know in the comments! So far, I love the world and the characters in it, and that’s enough to keep me throwing money at this franchise. Thanks for reading these first impressions, and ’til next time!
– Takuto
The end is nigh—care to share any thoughts before the curtain closes on Evangelion?
Hey guys!
In the wake of Evangelion 3.0+1.0’s big screen debut which is set for tomorrow, March 8th, Studio Khara streamed the first 12 minutes, 10 seconds, and 10 frames of the highly anticipated final Rebuild film on their official YouTube channel. At its high, nearly 150,000 viewers were live watching the YouTube premiere (the Amazon Japan live also had a huge turnout), and I was one of them.
As a fan whose life has been irreversibly impacted by the legendary anime giant that is Eva, I felt compelled to discuss some of my thoughts on what the final film will be about, as well as express my hopes for the finale of this historic franchise.
Naturally, some spoilers for the previous films may be brought up. You have been warned!
While the action-packed opening of 3.0+1.0 displays the talents of Khara’s remarkable animators and sound design staff, it does little else to cue us about the plot. Except for showing us a glimpse of outside world that is now stained red as a direct result of 3.0’s Fourth Impact, we still don’t have much in the way of an established story.
Maybe it’s just self-assumed to many fans (including myself) that this opening scene is set up to invite us back to the world of Eva with exciting action first, plot later. And that is completely fine. I shouldn’t be judging this massive 155-minute long film on these first 12ish minutes alone.
Oh that’s right, in case you didn’t know, 3.0+1.0 is set at 2 hours 35 minutes. This is amazing news, given the relatively short runtime of the third film, which was just 96 minutes. The recently announced runtime also brings me to my next theory.
As the name 3.0+1.0 might indicate, I believe that this film will be divided into two parts: the climactic resolution to 3.0, and the return back to the world of 1.0, where the story will finally conclude. Many theorists speculate (based on recent PV content) that we will either be traveling back in time, or somehow revisiting and “redoing” the initial events of the Rebuild.
It’s crazy to think that Eva could have this element of time travel, but it’s not implausible. If anything, this will only cement the original message of the Rebuilds: That Evangelion is a story of repetition, one in which the characters fight over and over again until the can make things right. It’s a romantic sentiment, and I hope the final film commits to this noble purpose pitted by the equally optimistic (if slightly dreary) End of Evangelion.
If the 1.0 segment of the film does in fact shoot for this round table conclusion, then the first 3.0 half will feature high-octane action sequences and earth-shattering reveals about the events which took place between 2.0 and 3.0. Why does Wille and Misato hate Shinji if they are the ones who initially cheered him on to cause Second Impact? What happened to Kaji? And who the heck is Mari??
With the latest 12-minute premiere, we can now confirm that the Until You Come To Me short film is 100% canon—this is a huge step toward some answers. The third film raised a lot of questions about where the story is going, while the first film made fans curious as to why their beloved world of Tokyo-3 was different from the start of the Rebuild. Resolutely, 3.0+1.0 will aim to answer all of our burning questions. Or so, we hope.
Lastly, and if this wasn’t obvious from the start, but I believe Shinji will finally find happiness in himself—not just satisfaction with the idea of eventually being happy, but truly, confidently experiencing this joy for the first time. And that’s how the film will end—with the efforts to revisit the past (or the start another iteration), and the heroics of Shinji as he decides to pilot the robot from the start. The hero defeats all of the Angels, including the final Angel, Tabris (or Kaworu-kun), and the curtain closes on his smiling face.
From the start, this Rebuild story was never really about the other characters, just Shinji. As much as this saddens me, we’ve known this. Anno has told us this in several interviews. It’s Shinji Ikari’s story.
And tomorrow, it ends!
Congratulations Shinji—You are going to be fine! Keep fighting, and win happiness for yourself! We are all rooting for you!
I do hope very sincerely that we somehow get a legal streaming of the film before everyone in Japan spoils the film’s story for us! Some speculate that Amazon may be streaming it, at least Amazon Japan, but we’ll see what happens. And hopefully a physical release will come sooner rather than later—if Funimation doesn’t get to release it for us, my heart might just break!
What are your thoughts on 3.0+1.0? This will be the third time that Hideaki Anno paints an ending for Evangelion, and despite the controversies, I’ve enjoyed every single interpretation. The franchise has give me so much personal hope and fascination over its world, characters, and story. The fact that it’s finally coming to an end is scary and satisfying at the same time. Anyway, share your thoughts below, and let’s enjoy a conversation over some coffee. Thanks for reading, and ‘til next time!
Bye bye, all of Evangelion!
– Takuto
TXT KINGS FOREVER!!!!! ✨
Hey guys! This is my reflection over TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Fanlive concert in Weverse, “SHINE X TOGETHER,” which just concluded earlier this morning (for me at least)! YES, at last I get to watch a TXT concert, and it was so worth it. The boys had me laughing in the first half and tearing up in the second, such wonderful memories I’ll treasure forever! 💙💛💚
Did you enjoy watching the fanlive event? What was your favorite part of the concert? Let me know in the comments! 🌌
✨➕✖️➕✨
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Thanks for watching, ‘til next time~!
– Takuto
Hey guys, this is an unboxing of those SuperM albums I picked up a while ago! I was thinking to do something cool with them, but I decided to just do a regular unboxing. Even though it was filmed a while back, I hope you enjoy it!
Be sure to let me know your fave SuperM song or who your bias is in the comments. My favorite track is “Wish You Were Here” and my bias is Baekhyun, obviously! 😉🧡
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Thanks for watching~!
Hey guys,
With school ramping up for midterms, I haven’t had much time or energy to blog. Even my anime watching has diminished, and I can’t remember when I last picked up a volume of manga that wasn’t for the Manga Love Readathon on Valentine’s Day weekend. (You don’t know how badly I just want to drop all my school work and crack into some Yona of the Dawn >.<)
So, this monthly update will be pretty sparse, but I hope you enjoy reading about what I’ve been up to. First, let’s discuss goals.
Write Five Posts Each Month | I fell two posts short of this goal. School is tough!!
Review More Anime | I published two anime reviews this month, one for Gunbuster: The Movie and another for its sequel, Gunbuster 2 or Diebuster. We’ll see if I write another post about Diebuster: The Movie. An “Anime Revisted” post for Emma: A Victorian Romance is in the works!
Continue Writing Manga Reflections | As previously mentioned, I was able to book off the entire Valentine’s weekend to read for the Manga Love Readathon. During the readathon, I read from five different titles, yet I never got around to writing about them! I’ll see if I can give some of them proper reviews, but until then, I hope my recap vlog will suffice. ^ . ^
Write Posts for Video Content | All four of my February videos were uploaded here as blog posts. I’m one short of my YouTube goal there of five videos a month, but please check those out if you’re interested!
Achieve 750 Followers | Current count is 714. Thank you so much for reading and following along~!
Gunbuster: The Movie — A mere 1200-word post cannot describe the magical experience that is the classic Gunbuster. This year’s V-Day Special was dedicated to the popular GAINAX franchise, and I couldn’t be more pleased with what I watched. In case you missed it, I wrote an entire review that you can read here!
Gunbuster 2 — Most of the same glowing compliments could be said about Gunbuster‘s sequel, Diebuster. While I enjoyed Gunbuster more, I found the zany nature of Gunbuster 2 (review here!) to scratch that itch that the Evangelion Rebuild films left for me. (Who’s excited for the final Evangelion film to come out March 8!?! DEFINITELY ME!!!)
Diebuster: The Movie — I just finished my journey through this franchise with the Diebuster recap film last night. It takes on the daunting task of cramming six 30-minute episodes into a single hour-and-a-half-long film (like its predecessor). Despite the cuts, I really enjoyed it! I’ll try to write a post over this film, but should this be the end for now, check out my two reviews. 🙂
Attack on Titan Final Season — SASHA NOOOO. I’m about ready to YEET a dumb little kid off the face of the planet if we continue this frustrating BS. My anger aside, however, I LOVE where this series is going. The War Hammer Titan rises to the top as my favorite of the Nine Titans (so cool!), and I continue to soak in the wondrous sounds of Hiroyuki Sawano’s OST. Still a little scared about how this is all going to wrap up in the coming months!
The Promised Neverland Season 2 — I’m a little disappointed, not gonna lie. If y’all are following this one, you’ll know that the latest episodes deviate from the manga significantly (or rather, jump ahead seeeveral chapters). A certain character makes a comeback, and I couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t milked for all its worth. Like, we knew, we knew, but it’s still weird to know that hey, this is it. We’ll see if things get better.
Wonder Egg Priority — I’m behind the latest couple episodes, but where I last left off, the four girls have gathered together! Looking forward to catching up on egg time ~~
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation — Rudy leaves home and we meet Eris. She’s a brat, but I’m sure Rudy can handle her. I’m also behind on this one, but I’ll catch up!
Skate-Leading Stars — While I don’t “love” this series, I do find it entertaining enough to be worth finishing. That said, I’m behind on the latest couple episodes, but I hope to finish it soon.
Horimiya — Annnd I’m also terribly behind on the season’s most popular romantic drama! (See a reoccuring theme here? Yeah, school bites.) I’m loving the screencaps that I see of this series on Twitter, though. 😛
5 Centimeters Per Second: One More Side — This is the only novel I’ve been able to follow since February started. It was a spontaneous decision to pick up, but then I remember telling myself I would reward my reading efforts by picking up Shinkai’s hardcover published novels from Yen Press–IF and only if I read what I already had. So here we are reading this alternate perspective story of Shinkai’s popular 5 Centimeters film, and I’m surprisingly enjoying it a lot. If the film is a favorite of yours, consider picking up this novel which explores the other side of the story!
This begins the titles I read for the Manga Love Readathon, so check out the vlog for more information!
Love in Focus — This is my first Yoko Nigiri manga and OMG, I love her style so much! Love in Focus is a quaint little three-volume series which follows a high school love triangle between two members of the photography club and an ex-child model (who is now an introverted high school boy living at their dorm). It’s cute, quick, and I like the childhood friend (AKA the other boy, Kei). Love in Focus is the perfect Valentine’s read!
A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow — I read the first three volumes of this sweet yuri series and I love the main couple so much! Anything aquatic will generally catch my eye, so the days spent doing activities with the aquarium club are pleasant. This is kind of one of those healing manga, but it does have a romance plot. Looking forward to picking up the rest of the series!
Let’s Dance a Waltz — After YEARS of sitting on my shelf, I finally gave this short three-volume shoujo drama manga a read. The good news—it’s earned the spot on my shelf for a long time to come! The series follows a girl who picks up ballroom dancing because she fell in love with a boy. At the boy’s family studio, she meets two other professional youth dancers, and the four grow to enjoy each other’s company (some wishing to push the boundary of friends). The characters are so kind to one another, and if you’re wanting a fast-paced manga that showcases the beauty of ballroom dance, definitely give it a shot.
The Young Master’s Revenge — I finally got around to reading volume one of this series and omg, no regrets! Rich boy Leo wants to get revenge on rich girl Tenma for making him look like a fool during their childhood. However, upon reuniting as teenagers, Leo finds out that the Tenma’s family business has gone under, leaving her out to dry. She wishes to serve Leo as a personal maid to make some money, but Leo’s not sure how this change of events will affect his plans for revenge! Such a fun premise. I’ll pick up the other three volumes sometime.
Komi Can’t Communicate — Last but not least, I started Komi! This is the highly beloved shounen comedy manga about an antisocial girl who just wants to make 100 friends. Komi leans far more on the gag comedy side, so I’m not sure if I’ll keep up with this digitally or find copies at my library. It’s a fun series, but IDK how long I’ll keep up with it. Glad I read this first volume, though!
If you couldn’t tell, the whole of my February was occupied by two projects: the Manga Love Readathon and my Gunbuster marathon. Not much else got done, but I still enjoyed myself immensely. February is one of my favorite months, perhaps because I always use the Valentine’s holiday as a time for self-love. We also slowly emerge from the slow cold of winter (hope all my midwestern pals withstood the sudden freeze!), and the onset of spring begins. I hope the warmer weather will boost my productivity, and I also hope to work harder on the blog and my channel in March.
School continues to be tough, but we never asked for the easy way out, did we? Hahaha, oh how I can taste the end! Only three months of my undergraduate career remain, and as I gear up for graduation, I hope you’ll continue to come back and read my posts. But what am I saying, we still have all of March and April—and this update has gone on too long! Please let me know what you all enjoyed this past month, and remember to take care of yourselves! Thanks for reading, and ’til next time!
– Takuto
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