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Rosario + Vampire, CAPU2
And Heaven's Lost Property
I admit that I don't understand everything that there is to know about
anime. There's a lot symbolism,
innuendo and emotional content for sure.
What I really focus in on with any well-done anime, and Funimation has plenty, is that quality
comes first. Let me clarify.
I look for a well-crafted story, clean, crisp, well-rendered backgrounds
and characters, full-developed characters and, most important of all, a sense
of uniqueness with the occasional surprise.
Funimation's newest releases have all those qualities including cleverly
integrated traditional and computer animation, sexuality without overdoing
sensuality and physical and subtle humor.
Rosario + Vampire begins innocently enough when student Tsukune's grades land
him in a very unusual school-one made exclusively for monsters, called Yokai
Academy. Problem is none of his
fellow students realize he's human. If
they did he would be so much meat.
Fortunately for him his scent attracts the attention of the stunning
vampire Moka. Unfortunately she
doesn't like sharing her boy toy and when anyone, or anything, gets a little
too close, her true nature emerges.
Talk about being two-faced!
If Tsukune wasn't such a push-over for a supernatural chick he wouldn't
get in so much trouble.
In Rosario + Vampire CAPU2, Tsukune, Moka and the rest of the students
return to Yokai Academy the following year.
Tsukune has become extremely popular with the monster crowd, so popular in
fact that Moka's sassy and sadistic little sister takes a shine to him. Only big sister wants no part of it.
Little Sis and Tsukune better watch out.
Moka has a dark side that is best left alone as they and the students
of Yokai Academy find out-the hard way!
Heaven's Lost Property brings a new meaning to 'girl crazy.' Tomoki has a
thing for girls. So much so that he embarasses his sister continually.
When a gorgeous, winged, Angeloid: Ikaros, falls to Earth and considers
him her master Tomoki suddenly realizes she can give him whatever he
wants-and I do mean whatever!
One big problem though-Tomoki has no idea where she comes from or why
she's on Earth. Sometimes it's best
not to search for answers. In this
case the answers might just get Tomoki injured or worse!
All three of the new anime series from Funimation are visual treats, with
plenty of off-the-wall humor, more than their fair share of innuendo and some
outstanding animation.
 Chaos:
Head
Funimation recently released the
anime adaptation of the popular video game Chaos: Head.
The anime centers around high school Takumi Nishijo who feels more at home
in the 2D world of computers than he does in the real world. His social intervention consists almost entirely
of on-line chat rooms, games and other social media outlets available on the
internet.
But, things are about to change when he is joined by first Grim and then
Shogun, who shows him images of a brutal murder.
As it so happens a serious of grim and bloody murders have occurred around
the neighborhood Takumi live in.
The next day Takumi witnesses a murder identical to the images sent to him
by Shogun the day before- a murder committed by a pink-haired girl.
As event progress Takumi becomes more and more entangled in strange
occurrences. Unsure if they are real
or imagined Takumi's actions attract the attention of the police.
Takumi is left with no one to trust and is forced to face the possibility
that he is targeted for murder and that a much larger conspiracy is at work.
Chaos: Head is an unsettling anime.
The story jumps from illusion to reality suddenly and one is never
quite sure what is real or imagined.
The paranoia of Takumi builds and builds with each episode revealing
truths and half-truths and disturbing and sometimes cryptic images that are
vital to story but not always immediately so.
Once you start watching Chaos: Head it's difficult to stop watching
it. It draws you in and provides just
enough clues and bits of images to lock you in and keep you interested.
 Princess
Knight
It’s no secret that early Japanese Manga and Anime were inspired by and
emulated American comic books and animation.
The Japanese would go on to make each their own unique art forms and
eventually each would become highly popular in the United States.
Manga master Osamu Tezuka was one of the early pioneers of what would
evolve into the modern day Manga. His
early works (influenced heavily by Disney with its cute characters, tone and
design) nonetheless introduced several important and ground-breaking
concepts.
In Vertical’s first volume of
Tezuka’s Princess Knight several elements are introduced. In the story a child is given two hearts
(one male, one female). by a
mischievous angel Since the young princess Sapphire has the tendencies of
both male and female she grows up in the royal court a beautiful young woman
with swashbuckling tendencies. She is
an excellent warrior, swordsman and is completely fearless.
Her male tendencies are encouraged as only a male can inherit the throne
thus the title Princess Knight.
Although proficient in ‘manly’ pursuits, the young girl is still
completely feminine and soon she has a suitor: Prince Charming.
Raised as a prince, Sapphire at first shuns her female tendencies but
after a series of outrageous adventures filled with danger, incredible
escapes, fights and magic the gender-bending princess comes to accept her
unusual situation and becomes the prototype for the strong-willed and capable
female characters seen in Shojo Manga designed specifically for girls.
Princess Knight is a great vehicle to transport you back in time to the
early days of Manga and the genesis of an art form which influence is felt
all around the world.
 Laddertop
From the best-selling author of Ender's Game: Orson Scott Card (and Emily
Scott Card) and illustrated by Honoel A. Ibardolaza comes Laddertop from Tor Books.
Laddertop tells the story of a bunch of children who compete to be one of
the chosen students enrolled in the Laddertop Academy. If chosen to attend and if they graduate
they will become part of a select few who will maintain the Laddertop
Stations.
The Stations were given to the human race by an advanced race of aliens
known as the Givers. The aliens gave
humanity four giant towers, known as Ladders, that extend 36,000 miles into
space. From there they draw energy
and power the entire Earth.
Suddenly 25 years ago the Givers vanished and no one knows why.
Twenty-five years later two Laddertop Academy students: Robbi and Azure
become embroiled in a mystery that unless solved threatens all life on Earth
as well as the planet itself.
Drawn in the Manga style, Laddertop is an epic science fiction thriller
that will keep reader glued to their seats until the unexpected conclusion of
the first book in the series.
 I Love Kawaii
What exactly is Kawaii you may ask?
I’m glad you asked. Kawaii is a word originated in Japan to describe
anything cute. And by anything, I
mean anything! Monsters, animals,
people, things, places-everything!
In I Love Kawaii, edited by Kawaii artist Charuca, Harper Design presents
the ultimate compilation of images of all things Kawaii-specifically those
things pertaining to commercial art and contemporary art.
Inside you’ll discover a world of cuteness ranging from art, stickers,
toys, plush, cards, clothes, jewelry and on and on and on. It’s a veritable cuteness cornucopia. So make sure you have your insulin shot
because you’re about to enter a world so sweet you may get sugar shock.
 Shojo Wonder Manga Art School
Just in time for back to school comes Impact!'s Shojo Wonder Manga Art
School book by Supittha "Annie" Bunyapen that helps you create your
own cool characters and costumes with markers.
Step-by-step instructions lead readers and artists through lessons on how
to draw anatomy, clothing, environments, perspective and all the other
important skills needed to create beautiful full-color illustrations and
paintings depicting numerous weather, atmospheric and mood settings-all with
markers! It has to be seen to be
believed!
How various textures, effects and lighting conditions are all created
using just markers is amazing!
 Japanese Fantasy Manga
Ricorico and Harper
Design present 'Japanese Fantasy Manga': a new oversize softbound book
filled with full color illustrations Manga fans are sure to enjoy.
Pages are packed with how-to instructions and tips on how to draw various
Manga fantasy figures ranging from heroes, monsters, demons, sorcerers and
the like.
Full text details outline and explain the history behind each person or
creature and special Story Of Manga: A Tale Of Tsuyu is also included.
This is a book about Manga like no other with lots of detail, beautiful
illustrations and tons of information.
 Shojo Manga
Pop & Romance
Shojo is all the rage in the world of Manga and no one does it better than
the artists at Kamikaze Factory Studio.
Collins Design’s
new Shojo Manga Pop & Romance examines the Shojo phenomenon in a huge
paperback edition that not only brings readers up to speed on the history of
Shojo but offers dozens of art samples and shows how each was created.
Look for step-by-step instructions in how to design, draw, ink and color
Shojo from many different genres such as Vintage Romance, Pop & Love,
Gothic Zone, Magic Lovers and Legends.
You’ll learn about designing costumes, placing you figures in backgrounds
and how to ‘tweak’ your artwork to make it the very best possible
interpretations and presentations of whatever genre you choose. Extras include a gallery and a short bio
of each artist represented.
 500 Manga Villains And Heroes
Yishan Li, renowned Manga artist and studio head, presents 500 Manga
Villains And Heroes, published by Collins Design.
Filled with an enormous collection of Manga characters of all type
designed by Yishan herself, the book is a collection of Manga clipart that
lets readers chooses their figures from the accompanying CD. Manga students can then create their own
scenes using the characters without having to draw them.
Besides a handy clipart library the book is an excellent visual resource
for young Manga artists to learn from.
The CD also includes detailed information on poses, settings, moods,
expressions, characteristics and costumes.
All the characters are printed in black outline. This allows a Manga artist hopeful to practice coloring the
figures. However you decide to use
the information and figures in the book, 4500 Manga Villains And Heroes is an
excellent resource for any Manga artist.
 
Manga X 2
Watson-Guptill serves up two
new how-to books, this time about drawing manga.
Christopher Hart’s The Manga Artist’s Workbook provides would-be manga
artists the essentials they will need to create their own characters.
The book provides step-by-step instructions and illustrations on how to
draw manga characters.
This is how it’s done. Each
drawing in the book is covered by a translucent sheet of paper. This allows artists to trace over the
drawings underneath-most of which consist of basic shape breakdowns. Additional gridded pages then let artist
create their own characters using the previously traced figure as
reference. It’s a cool idea that
really works.
The book is small and compact enough so it’s easily transportable and
provides and excellent stepping-on point for new manga artists.
Drawing Manga by J.C. Amberlyn takes drawing manga one step further by
provided colorful illustrations and lessons on how to draw animals, Chibis,
and other adorable creatures so commonly seen in manga.
You’ll learn how to draw faces, figures, animals, dragons, fantasy critters
and much more and you even learn how to apply tones and color. Look for lessons on page layout,
compositions and what I found especially interesting: the book also contains
informative text on the Japanese significance of each type of creature. It’s like having a drawing and history
lesson all rolled up I one book! Now
that’s a drawing book!
 Satoshi Kon:
The Illusionist
Exactly what is illusion? How does
one go about creating illusions?
Illusion and the art of perfecting the use of illusion is Japanese
director Satoshi Kon’s expertise.
Considered one of the most innovative and daring animation directors in
the world, Kon’s influence can be seen in not only Japan’s movie industry but
in movie making all around the world.
Beginning his career as a manga artist, Kon developed an eye for pushing
the envelope of visual story-telling and soon made the transition to animated
film or Anime. Teaming with visionary
animator Katshiro Otomo, the creative team produced such notable and
ground-breaking anime as Perfect Blue, Paranoia and others.
Each film examined individual characters, their aspirations, motivations
and most of all their tenuous hold on reality and illusion. Writer Andrew Osmond and Stone Bridge Press examine the long
and illustrious career of Satoshi Kon from his humble beginning as a young
manga artist to his phenomenal success as a director.
Part of Stone Bridge’s Visual Media Masters series, Satoshi Kon: The
Illusionist is an in-depth look at Kon, illusions, anime and the human
condition.
 The Art Of Osamu Tezuka
He is known as the Walt Disney of Japan, the founder of Anime and the god
of Manga. He is Osamu Tezuka, a
small, diminutive man with a fierce creative spirit and talent.
Until he passed away last year he was reclusive, deciding to create in an
unknown location small apartment wit no number and few guests-none of which
were allowed to go into his inner sanctum studio. He believed guests would only squelch his creativity.
In the new hardcover book, The Art Of Osamu Tezuka: God Of Manga, author
Helen McCarthy and Abrams Books
examine the long and illustrious career that many consider the father of the
modern Anime and Manga industries.
Hundreds of Anime and Manga artists and writers look to Osamu Tezuka as
their inspiration and strive to emulate his drive and compassion for his
craft.
The new book looks at the young years of Tezuka with examples of his early
work and continues through the war years and the terrific impact the bombing
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the young man.
After the war his style and vision began to coalesce that resulted in two
of his most famous creations: Astro Boy and Kimba The White Lion.
As the years passed his genius became appreciated not only in Japan but in
the Western world also, especially in the United States. American artists soon identified his
genius and much of his influence is seen in America animation, comic books
and comic strips...
The book is packed with his illustrations, some never seen outside of
Japan before. Sections are dedicated
to each and every one of his creations.
Witness his style evolve and mature and his sphere of influence
grow. Included with the handsome
hardback book is a bound-in DVD, taped in Japan with English subtitles.
The documentary follows Tezuka as he creates and thinks out his
ideas. For the first time a news crew
is given permission to enter his studio and record his as he ponders and
creates Manga, meets with his staff and goes about his day-to-day duties.
 Kodomo Manga
They’re super cute, lovable and hugely popular. They’re Kodomo Manga (and
Anime) and Collins Design
and Kamikaze Factory give artists a brand new book that demonstrates how to
draw them.
Look for lessons on penciling, inking and coloring the lovable little
critters. From schoolroom to under
the sea, Kodomo are everywhere!
The book’s pages are filled with full-page illustrations with step-by-step
instructions on construction, themes, backgrounds, lighting, tips and tricks
and finishing touches. Get cute: get
Super Cute with Kodomo Manga.
 Manga Kamishibai
Before Japanese Manga (comic books) existed an earlier Japanese art form
paved the way for their popularity.
Artists would travel village to village and set up their Manga Kamishhibai
or Paper Theater.
The storytellers would set up their illustrated boards that told visually
all types of stories, from Westerns to war stories. A good storyteller could mimic many different types of voices
with varying facial expressions and provide an interesting story narrative as
they performed and shown their art.
Nearly vanished, Manga Kamishhibai, played an important part in today's
Manga and Anime. Writer Eric P. Nash,
with an introduction by Frederick L. Schodt, presents Manga Kamishibai: The
Art Of Japanese Paper Theater published by Abrams Books.
The large hardback book collects rare Manga Kamishhibai art, insightful
observations and writing and provides and essential guide to the art style.
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