A Drifting Life (Gekiga Hyouryuu)

The cover.

Hi twitties. Until now, I’ve mostly been writing posts about recently bought and consumed books. And that would exclude all the goodies I purchased before 2016, when I started this blog. So, this blogpost will be about a certain old treasure. Maybe I should be combing through my old stuff in this coming year 2022? Don’t treat it as a sign that this blog will get much more lively, though. I promise nothing.

So, somewhere around 2012, I purchased this fun tome: A Drifting Life by Tatsumi Yoshihiro (originally Gekiga Hyouryuu), published by Drawn & Quarterly – an autobiographic work by an artist who proved crucial to the history of underground Japanese comics, and to the turn of the medium towards more mature audiences. The book is not only about the author’s life, but also a story running parallel to it – the history of Japanese manga. And of Japan in general. Nowadays, A Drifting Life is pretty-much unobtainable. I think I learned of it from a review on ANN (when I still was reading it everyday) and decided to buy the thing, since I’m a comix kind of guy. I remember trying to write a review of it back in the day, unsuccessfully. So, ten years later, it’s rematch time.

Tsukino-san no Note

The cover.

In February 2018, when the new phenomenon called “v-tubers” exploded in popularity, an agency assembling those virtual personalities called Nijisanji started its activities. Among the first batch of performers revealed by the agency was HER. A relatively realistic, no-frills design. Black long hair and a navy school uniform with pink details. And inside of that attractive 2D package – a pretty voice, an autoironic personality and plenty of nerdy interests. News of her reached me from a trusted source – there’s an exceptional entertainer, different from the horde of other youtubers hiding behind pretty, drawn avatars who deserves my attention. And so, shortly after her career’s start, I gave Tsukino Mito a chance and watched some of her vids. I became a fan and… here I am – it’s late 2021 and I’m still watching her streams and wishing her even greater success. May you live long, Mito-sama!

My Adventure with Mahjong

me when playing mahjong soul

Ever heard of mahjong? You’re, most likely, a weeb – so of course you know. If to this question you answer “yes, it’s the oriental game with the pyramid made from rectangular blocks that you have to dismantle”, then… No. That’s one-person mahjong, which is kids’ stuff. I’m talking about the real mahjong – the game where four players gather around a square table, lay tiles on its surface and look as gangstery as possible. This post is going to be about this noble, impressive pastime that deserves to be called “the royal game” more than chess.

On HakoMari v4

The cover.

Hi there twitties. It’s unfinished business time: since I recently gave the third volume of HakoMari a spin, it makes sense to also read the fourth one, as they form a two-parter. So, here we go. It won’t be a long post, though.

On HakoMari v3

The cover.

Hi twitties. It’s time to come back to everybody’s favorite light novel series, One Trendy Storytelling Trick a Volume. And by that I mean HakoMari – Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria. So I hear this one (and the fourth volume, with which it forms a whole) is a battle royale story. Nice. And, judging by the illustrations, it looks like Oomine Daiya will be playing a bigger role in it. About time this mysterious white-haired badass was rolled out onto the stage. He’s been emitting vaguely sociopathic vibes in vain since the first volume. I must say though, I approached this 190 page-long booklet with plenty of scepticism. If it’s another Battle Royale clone, it had better done something to differentiate itself from a numerous crowd of examples of this genre. Volume One was a thrilling read, but was it that different from any other loop-mono? I dunno about that.