Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana

Do I know where to start? I don't know where to start. This series OMG. Ok, let me start with a short synopsis because this is usually how one starts a review, right? Ok, ok, calm down Sheila. So, Dawn of the Arcana or Reimei no Arcana which is its original Japanese title, follows the story of Nakaba, a princess of the Senan kingdom, Caesar, the second-born son of the Belquat kingdom and Nakaba's loyal assistant, Loki. Senan and Belquat are located on the same island, Senan constituting the northern half while Belquat is located in the southern half. Throughout history, these two nations have been at war constantly with momentary periods of peace after a prince or princess of one kingdom marries into the royal family of the other. 

Reimei no Arcana begins at the start of another such cease-fire, when Princess Nakaba of Senan is married to Prince Caesar of Belquat. In these two kingdoms, members of the royal family almost always have black hair; commoners have brown, red, and blonde hair. As a red-haired princess, Nakaba is considered the shame of the Senan royal family and is also treated as such when she joins the royal family of Belquat. Having been raised in near loneliness, Nakaba's closest companion is her attendant, Loki. Loki is an ajin, which means that he is a form of Demi-Human with the characteristics of an animal - in Loki's case, it is a wolf. Loki is Nakaba's protector, confidant, and best friend. Despite his loyalty though, Loki holds many secrets that he will fight fiercely to keep quiet. 

Music Mix: Morning Musume '15 Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi/Endless Sky/One and Only

Just two months ago, I wrote an entire blog post dedicated to one of my favorite idols of recent years, Sayashi Riho, who had just announced her graduation from the group, Morning Musume. Being that she graduates in two days time (one if you're in Japan's time zone), Morning Musume dropped one final single with Riho as a member. A tripe A-side single, this single hits a perfect balance between featuring Riho and providing a final farewell from her and looking to the future of the group. In this post, I will tell you of ALLLLL my feels and general feelings about each song.

The single's first song and main A-side is "Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi", whose official translation is "The Cold Wind and Lonely Love". The song was originally intended to be Riho's graduation solo song, however, the song was rearranged to include all members so that it can be promoted into 2016, after Riho's graduation. The song is a melancholy ballad that has sprinkled EDM dance breaks which sounds bad in written form but actually works very nicely in the song itself. The dance breaks are specifically for Riho to perform her solo dance(s) as she is known for being an AMAZING dancer.

I'll be honest, I'm kind of upset Riho herself didn't choreograph these solo's since I think she would do a much better job, but eh, she pulls it off. Some of the dance steps seem a bit off in certain parts but overall, she does a great job and this song stands as a great homage to Riho's skill and status as ace of the group during her tenure. The music video does a good job of showing us how much Riho has grown and her solo dance breaks are especially good because they really reflect Riho as a person: a solitary girl with great talent and a passion for performing. This music video is definitely my favorite of the three.

On: Sayashi Riho: Confessions of a Fan

Sayashi Riho, ace and center of Morning Musume

When I do Jpop reviews, I largely tend to pick some of my favorite groups. I've posted two different reviews about the jpop group Morning Musume. This group has a rotational system whereby girls join in "generations" and leave when they see fit to move on. Being in the group helps them grow as entertainers and helps them determine in which sector of the entertainment world they want to work in or if they even want to stay in entertainment at all. To date, Morning Musume has had 12 generations. Today, the members of Morning Musume feature the entire 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th generation(s). All members from earlier generations have graduated from the group.

Riho, at the concert that
announced her addition to
Morning Musume.

I've been a fan of Morning Musume since about 2009. I didn't seriously start following them until 2011, which is the year that Sayashi Riho auditioned for and was added to the 9th generation. I've been a fan of Riho since watching the audition footage. She was an amazing dancer and she just exuded confidence and shone throughout the audition. Her singing was not the best, but I was confident that the agency would help her polish her voice. In addition, it was well known that she had studied dance at the Hiroshima Actor's School, and videos began to appear online of her dancing when she was younger, here, here and here. It was obvious from the auditions that despite her young age, she was a professional who was used to receiving harsh criticism and using it to fuel improvement. When she was officially announced a new member, I was ecstatic and knew she would become my favorite from the group instantly.

Sayashi in the Maji Desu
Ka Ska! outfit

Sayashi's debut in the group, along with the rest of the 9th generation was in Maji Desu Ka Ska! While her feature was equal to the other members, in the second release featuring the 9th generation, Only You, Riho was notably featured and it became clear from that moment on that she was the ace and face of the new generation of the group. From there, Riho's skills continued to develop, in particular her singing. When 10th generation was added to the group, Ayumi Ishida grew as a competitor to Riho, largely due to her focus on dancing. The two would grow to be the definitive dancers in the group, often partaking in dance battles during concerts or tv shows (here they had like a minute to come up with a routine!) and bringing the dance level of the group as a whole up another level. With the release of the song, One Two Three, Morning Musume became known as the group that used formation dances in their songs.

Novel Bits: Japanese Theater Soundtracks and their Effects on World Building and Character Development

Cover of "SPECTER"

I've said before in like a post waaaayyyy back when that I didn't really want to divulge too much information about the novel I have (still forming) in my head. I mentioned that I have tons of world building completed but there's still so much more that continues to form in my head. I love what I already have fully developed and it definitely helps fuel me toward wanting to develop the other aspects of this world just as much. I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned working with different soundtracks when developing a character or when world building. One of the first soundtracks I ever spoke about was the soundtrack for the Japanese play, Lilium. It's a spectacular play and I would love to say, "oh, here's a link to buy the soundtrack" but I can't. The only way to get the soundtrack is to buy the DVD. Although I would totally recommend buying the DVD because again, it's an amazing play, but 1. it's entirely in Japanese without subtitles and 2. It's quite pricey. But regardless, I do own the DVD and therefore, also own the soundtrack. This is a good thing, a very good thing because it has provided me with countless inspiration.

Ok, so why are we talking about Japanese theater and my novel? Well because some of the best and most elaborate world building I have done has come about from my listening to soundtracks from plays made by Suemitsu, the man who wrote and directed Lilium. By itself, Lilium is amazing - sad,  scary and mind twisting all at once. But, paired with its predecessor TRUMP, Lilium becomes the second installment in a world where the truth is muddied by the perceptions of each individual character. TRUMP makes it clear that Lilium is not only sad - it's tragic; it's not only scary - it's terrifying. I have not watched TRUMP in its entirety because I plan to watch it all once I buy the DVD. I will admit to watching the first 15 minutes (which are up on Youtube) a good 30 or so times. I understand basically everything going on and I can't wait to watch the rest of it for sure. But just the music played in those first 15 minutes has helped me detail a setting and visualize a character and his/her character traits. It was just recently that I learned a third installment had been released and that all together, about 6 or so plays are meant to be released in the series. The third installment is SPECTER and it's just my luck that I happened upon a preview of the soundtrack on Youtube. And basically: IT'S AMAZING. Go ahead, click on the soundtrack and give it a listen, I'll wait :)

Graphic Novel Review: Pride of Baghdad

 

Pride of Baghdad is one of those graphic novels that I just "stumbled across" for lack of a better combination of words. Pride of Baghdad is based on the true events of a pride of lions that were released into the city from the Baghdad Zoo during the attack and subsequent invasion of U.S. forces. The graphic novel explains how the pride lived, how they escaped during the bombings and how they tried to survive on the streets of the city. 

While the graphic novel is a fictionalized account of the events that occurred, the dynamic between the members of the pride is not only very real but very interesting. Zill is the lion of the pride that has grown comfortable living a life in which everything is provided to him. For this reason, the old lioness, Safa, taunts him for being an incompetent protector. Safa has an ear that's missing a chunk and an eye that is scratched out, both of which occurred, because the male of her pride when she lived in the wild, was unable to protect her. Therefore, Safa likes the safety of the zoo and would never dream of leaving it. The third adult member of the pride is Noor, Zill's current mate and the mother of their cub, Ali. Noor is always trying to find ways to escape from the zoo, believing that the wild is where they belong. Due to her constant schemings, Safa strongly dislikes Noor and argues that Noor would never know how to survive in the wild after such a long time in a cage.

Anime Talk: Wolf Children

Recently, I decided that I should really watch some of the movies I've been planning to watch for a while now. So, I went ahead and rented a few of them. Most of them are Hollywood movies but there are a few that are animated movies. One of the first ones I grabbed was Wolf Children or, if we go by its Japanese name, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. 

I have been wanting to watch Wolf Children for a while now as many of my friends and former classmates have raved endlessly about the movie. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest. But after settling down snugly in my living room to watch it from beginning to end I TOTALLY GET IT. 

The movie is told from the perspective of an adult Yuki who is reminiscing and relaying the story of her mother Hana. Hana was a young college student when she met Yuki's father, a young man who is very reserved and is attending her college lectures without actually being a student himself. Hana notices that he doesn't have a textbook and offers to lend him hers. This eventually buds into a romance between the two, with Hana slowly but surely, getting past the young man's tough exterior and getting to know him little by little. One day however (it's Christmas if I remember correctly) he arrives VERY late to their scheduled date. He apologizes to Hana and finally reveals his secret - he is a werewolf! The last of his kind, he was raised in the country by relatives who knew nothing about his origins following the death of his parents. He decided to come to the city for work and lives a lonely life, keeping to himself due to his secret. While surprised, Hana accepts him for who he is and they soon begin a family. Yuki is born first and then one year later, Ame is born. 

Anime Talk: Conqueror of Shamballa

So, it has happened. I have watched Conqueror of Shamballa (to be honest, I watched it yesterday but I didn't want to blog about it right after as it probably would have been an incoherent post). For those that haven't watched it, there are major spoilers in here, so be warned! Back to the movie - I was honestly confused during the first 5 or so minutes, because I seriously thought the first half of the movie was going to be a summary of everything that had happened in the anime series. However, it quickly switched to Ed and Al?? Well, yes, Ed is speaking with Alphonse, but not the Al we all know and love but the Al that exists on the other side of the gate. From there, the movie begins to unfold pretty quickly. While Ed is on one side of the wall, trying to find a way to get back to his world and helping a gypsy fortuneteller on the way, Al is on the other side, studying alchemy and developing an uncanny resemblance to his elder brother. Seriously, you can mistake Al easily for Ed if it weren't for the different bangs. I thought this was a neat quirk as throughout the series, it's Ed that is constantly mistaken for Al due to his stature. And speaking of stature...Ed has grown taller! The topic of Ed's height makes for some great comical moments in the movie as Ed seems to take just as much offense when people mention that he's taller as when he was being teased for being short.