Manga Recon Show #003 Direct Download: 
This entry is cross-posted on the mangacast.
These reviews are also posted (in text form) on my “Manga Recon” column on Buzzscope.com You can direct complaints and discussion to this forum thread.
These reviews are made possible by Buzzscope, which is loosely associated with Midtown Comics.
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I wrote reviews of the following books, and the reviews were read by ali_wildgoose:
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Dramacon volume 1
Svetlana Chmakova (svetlania) Tokyopop |
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Comic Party volume 4
Sekihiko Ino Tokyopop |
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Brother volume 1
Yuzuha Ougi One Drama Queen |
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The Young Magician volume 1
Narushima Yuri CMX |
re: Dramacon volume 1
it’s something I want everyone to read so we can complain about it.
You stole the words right out of my mouth ^^;
Re: Dramacon volume 1
A new friend of mine read Dramacon and had been to cons back when she was in high school (I started post-college, so I haven’t had the high school con experience) – and she pointed out that Dramacon is pure fantasy (she liked the book). I suppose she’s right.
In any case, for the next set of reviews I read Unearthly, which made Dramacon seem like Masterpiece Theater.
Re: Dramacon volume 1
Tokyopop had a preview chapter of dramacon in Takuhai/Manga, I just remember thinking it was really-really well drawn for a Manga blatantly not Japanese made. Visually it’s very nostalgic of con-going but not in any other actual way. Plus, if I’d met a whiny chick like that I’d have drop-kicked her on sight.
I don’t think I would ever be inclined to pick up a title like Unearthly without someone twisting my arm to and that’s just from looking at the cover, but I think it’s friggen hilarious that they’re finally pimping out Earthian all revamped, twenty years late, it’s like the grandfather of all yaoi Manga. Seriously, my mom got me into that when I was like 10 ^^;
VIZ has had the license for forever but did all of nothing with it which somehow she always blamed me for, spiteful old woman. It’s just sooo old-school it make me giggle just to look at it.
Re: Dramacon volume 1
That’s funny, because when I was reading Earthian I kept thinking, “This isn’t much, but guessing from the presentation I bet it’s like, the grandfather of all yaoi or something.”
I rented the anime (a 4 episode OVA), but it’s really, really boring.
Re: Dramacon volume 1
not just really but ‘really, really’, plus, it’s inconclusive!
Oh, how could one not like the Subaru arc in volume 2&3 of ComiPa?
The way I look at it, Inui is showing how much of a fighting game otaku he is. There is a sequence where he panel for panel copies the moves of a counter combo from the King of Fighters. That scene had the fan in me drooling as it was an homage to the concept of doujin’s. Doujins are not always sex and bishies. They are about fanservice whether that is romance, beautiful characters, strength or unique talents. I read an ARIA doujin that had hardly any character art at all. Almost the entire 32 page doujin was made up of images of this artists idea of ManHome (the planet this manga is set in). ARIA and AQUA is much about mood and leisurely storytelling (almost like a soundscene) while in a gondola. And the idea went to an extreme in that doujin. Same can be said to why Inui went off with this martial arts theme. It was subtle and might not click with many readers but it can show Iuni’s unique take on this property.
At the same time, I will admit that whole arc seemed out of place in the world of Comikets and ComicCities (ComikuRangers was going way too far into otaku-land with the obscure sentai references).
I played King of Fighters once, only this year, in an arcade where the joysticks were largely broken and only Player 2 could really move – and then only to the left. Although I understand KoF is a giant classic and so forth.
I bought an FMA doujin that turned out to be mostly text.
Although really, I know the truth of Comiket must be somewhere in between Genshiken and Comic Party, but the only way I’m going to find out is if I actually go to it myself – which I fully intend to do someday.