Kemeko Deluxe 12 (end)

By episode 11, I was left wondering: how are they going to tie up all the lose ends? What kind of epic crazy finale will we get? Will the series finally be elevated to the status of its OP and ED and Sanpeita’s mama’s flashbacks?

By the end of the episode, I felt like I’d been trampled on by Izumi too.

Not that there weren’t nice fight scenes, and not that it didn’t have its share of Kemeko-in-a-crazy-outfit.

We even had Kiriko remove the Rei-patch only to reveal that it’s more like a Kenpachi power-up patch, even though we don’t get to see much of the powered up version. And we had a touching moment when Kemeko realised that Sanpeita never really saw her as his betrothed because… because… she’s just too sexy for him. But said in a touching moment way, of course.

But none of that makes up for the fact that this a last episode that can’t function without a season 2, or at least OVAs. We don’t get a resolution at all. We don’t even get the answer to:

1. Who killed the Chairman the the Mishima Group and why?

2. Who is the girl (saying she wanted to meet Sanpeita) who appears in the last few minutes of the episode?

3. Is Kyte (remember him?) the Renji to M.M.’s Rukia?

4. Is the above an insult to Ichigo, because that would equate him to someone who sprouts from his skull?

5. Why would something that breaks the first law of thermodynamics (the Nanoball) manifest itself as a plant? And how did it plant itself in Sanpeita’s head?

But most important of all, now that it’s time to say goodbye to the crazy OP and the oh so innocent-looking ED, the question I have to ask is: can I be bothered with the manga? Will it just leave me with even more questions after even more wasted hours?

Well, I just flicked through the first volume, and can say that at least it provides this answer on page one: the girl from 10 years ago gave Sanpeita the Nanoball and asked him to eat it, and said, ‘When this seed sprouts… When that happens… I’m going to marry Saipeita. It’s a promise.’ Dare I hope for more answers?

Detective Conan 520: Indictment by Red Wine

Maybe it’s a case of not being able to resist any anime with ‘detective’ in the title (oh how you made me suffer, Matantei Loki Ragnarok, aka Detective Loki), but after many attempts to give up on this series due to anime fillers and the non-progressive storyline, I always end up watching and reading up to the latest release. Conan is like rice: not particularly special (if I want a good mystery, I’d turn to Kindaichi), but easy to digest and can’t do without it for long.

So it was that I caught up with the latest episode of the show. Sadly, episode 520, the last one this year, is Not Good in more ways than one. I can’t remember this episode’s manga equivalent, so am going to blame it on its filler status.

1. The wine tasting and wine cellar setting has been done before, so it was hardly exciting. I think it was in the Detective Conan: 16 Suspects OAV.

2. It was one of those ‘audience knows who did it’ episodes, though that usually comes with a ‘how did s/he create an alibi?’ or at least ‘where’s the body?’ But here, all we have is ‘yeah, we know what happened, but how is Conan going to expose him? Don’t tell me he’s going to turn Kogoro into Sleeping Kogoro and persuade everyone to go to Where The Body Is… In other words, really boring.

3. Since when does Ran see the scene in the top panel and just decide to leave it? And since when does Conan think it’s OK to leave it too, when his mur-dar is beeping on full volume? And since when does Ran say nothing when people ask if anyone’s seen the grey haired man? I mean, it wasn’t just Conan who saw him. Is Ran secretly evil? Or is she only secretly evil when she wears pink? Give me my Angel back!

Anyway. It will be manga only for the next few weeks, as the next episode won’t be aired until 19th January (a special!). Well, at least in the manga, Stuff seems to be Happening, by which I mean good on you, Takagi. Who cares about the Black Org when you have your moments with Sato?

Actually, more Black Org please.

Anime is all about bears: Library War

I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that anime is really about bears. Re-watching Library War confirmed that.

Library War: A story of love and friendship between armed librarians fighting against censorship? A story about a girl who would rather go to prison than hand over her favourite fairytale growing into a young woman who dodges bullets to protect books and artworks, chasing the shadow of the ‘prince’ who once saved her favourite book?

No. It’s all about bears: a love story between a young woman who punches a bear and a man who once punched a bear.

Extra notes: For those who can’t get enough of Kyouko-sama’s voice in this season’s Skip Beat!, by all means check out Library War. The main chara, Kasahara, is also voiced by Inoue Marina. Don’t skip the OP if you do, because it’s something special!

Ferno the Fire Dragon (Beast Quest Book 1)

I’ve been meaning to take a look at the Beast Quest series by Adam Blade for a while, but have also been praying that it won’t make me weep like the Ugenia Lavendar books (I know there’s an Amazon link, but please don’t buy this for your child).

Luckily, it’s not bad (fast-paced and lots of adventure) and is very smoothly written, so the pages go by very easily. The plot is very, very generic: a boy who lives with his uncle, a blacksmith, appeals for the King’s help to fight the fire and drought, only to find that it is his destiny to free six beasts from the curse of an evil wizard, and along the way, befriends a girl with a bow and a wolf to help him.

It’s very appealing as someone’s first fantasy series, but is probably not for someone who reads a lot and understands what those italics are for. What makes it stand out is probably the cover art and the equally nice collector’s card inside (though they make me think of Pokemon more than a little).

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III… I’m addicted

I started reading How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm: Book 6 of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Cressida Cowell), which I bought yesterday… And carried on… And on… And on…

Am now already done with it and passed it onto a friend. Quite a few people saw me carrying it around and asked, ‘What’s that?’ Well, it does have an exciting cover! (Word of mouth in action.)

Guess what happened to my poor lunch budget? Spent it on How to Train Your Dragon (Book 1 in the series). And my lunch hour? Spent it trekking to the library to borrow Book 2 and Book 3.

It’s been a while since I’ve got this excited about a series. You’re a Bad Man, Mr. Gum (Andy Stanton), also with a fair share of wit and madness, comes close, but I’d still go for a Hiccup when the middle grade mood strikes me.

I agree with the Amazon reviews. This is one special series.

New books for the pile by the shelf

I had a bit of spare time between end of working day and having to be somewhere else, so ended up in a Waterstones. This is always a bad sign for my bank account and a slightly good one for the economy.

It took me 20 minutes to walk away with Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire (Derek Landy), Reavers’ Ransom (Emily Diamond) and How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm: Book 6 of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Cressida Cowell). 

The first pick was easy: I’d read Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy a while ago, first attracted by the bright orange page edges and the skull guy on the front, then intrigued by the skeleton being a detective (anything to do with mysteries and detectives switches on a light bulb in my head). I didn’t get hooked enough by Book 1 to hunt down the sequel as soon as it was out. Yes, it was a fun read, and extremely fast paced, but I’d only fallen for Skulduggery, and it’s hard work for a single character to keep a book like this engaging when I knew where the plot was going before it got there. Yet Book 1 was enjoyable enough to investigate Book 2 at some point.

I spotted Playing with Fire way before getting to the display area where it was stocked: is just as bright as the first one, but green! I absolutely love Tom Percival‘s illustrations on the cover. This is probably why I’m buying the books instead of borrowing it from the library.

Reevers’ Ransom, too, had an interesting cover: the outer cover has a bit hollowed out, letting a ship show through from the inner cover. Seems like it’s a good way to make a paperback a bit more interesting. Works on me, at least… I think (can’t find it now to check) Charlie’s Monsters by Dean Lorey had the same kind of cover design, and that’s one of the reasons I picked it up.

Next, I’d read the back cover: potentially strong heroine with a talking jewel out to rescue a kidnapped girl? File under possible buy. A blurb from Malorie Blackman? Winner of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2008? (And a really friendly photo of the author on the inside of the back cover?) File under definite buy.

Thinking back, the font, the general colour scheme and the author’s surname probably triggered The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding in my subconscious, and made buying it seem like a really good idea.

Now, I was happy to go to the checkout, except both books were on 3 for 2.

I was going to get The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd, but read the first few pages and the last few pages, and didn’t take to the voice. May still try the book later though, as the setting sounds interesting (a fun, growing-up diary written when cardon dioxide is rationed).

I’ve been wanting to read the Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III books for ages. The illustrations remind me of the ones in my diary when I was 7.

Flipped through the pages as before. Really fun writing: Vikings at a swimming competition carrying swords that made you, well, less floaty, where the one who comes back last from sea wins… Which then turns into kidnap and sailing on the villain’s ship in search of America when all Hiccup (and his friends) want to do is get back and win the competition…

Somehow my third choice became the first book I’ve started reading.

About this blog

As I want to write about what makes me pick up a book as much as the joy (and sometimes excruciating pain) of reading it, this blog won’t follow the standard book review format. Sometimes I buy a book and leave it sitting on my shelf for months or years, and when I finally get around to reading it, I’m sat there thinking, ‘Why did I spend £X.XX on this? Was it the cover? No, it can’t have been the cover. It’s just a picture of a blue blob. Was it those paragraphs on the back cover? Let’s see… Uh. No. That can’t be it either. It must have been on 3 for 2. Please tell me it was on 3 for 2. Or did I have really poor taste back in, er, when was it again?’

As for anime, I will just mumble a bit if there’s anything to mumble about any recent episodes I’ve watched. Or mumble about a whole series once I’ve finished watching it, provided what happened in Episode 1 is still fresh in my mind. Actually, cross out the ‘fresh’.

In other words, this will be disorganised because I have a terrible memory.