tangentbot » book review

cyberpunk books and slice of life manga acquired

tangentbot — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:00:04 +0000

Today I purchased five books in paper format. The books had been used previously by other people and discarded in a discount used book store. If a book has been read, it is considered used. If a photograph has been seen, is it considered used as well? Anyway, contrary to my belief that used media resellers are doing the artist more a disservice than media pirates, I bought them at Half Price Books because my current e-reader is my phone. As soon as I remedy this, I will remedy that, but I digress. Here’s what I got:

Three “Slice Of Life” manga; Marmalade Boy #7, Marmalade Boy #8 and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days…

… and two “cyberpunk”(I think) novels: Heavy Weather, by Bruce Sterling, and Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

As many times as I have seen the film Blade Runner , this is my first time reading Do Androids Dream…, the classic it was built on. I am about a chapter into it and I’m surprised at the startling differences between the two stories already. I am also trying to read more of Bruce Sterling’s stuff because the man can seriously write some cyberpunk. (He is @bruces on twitter if you wish to follow him).

I will prolly be reviewing these as I finish reading them :3.

Yotsuba&! – my favorite manga series :3

tangentbot — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:03:21 +0000

I realize I’m a bit late on this, but my favorite manga series, Yotsuba&!, who was picked up back in January by Yen Press, is back! They just released volume 7, and I just picked it up at Kinokuniya. I have the first run of Yotsuba as well, released by ADV Manga, and re-release so far is excellent.

Yotsuba&! focuses on the day-to-day life of a five-year-old adopted foreign girl named Yotsuba Koiwai. She has all sorts of seemingly normal, everyday encounters and adventures that constantly blow her mind. She discovers swings, learns about global warming, becomes a milkman, and obsessively absorbs every little thing that comes her way, forcing her excitement on her dad, her dad’s friend , Jumbo, the neighbors, and anyone else she happens to come across. Her enthusiasm is contagious!

Yen Press has also re-released the manga for Azumanga Daioh, my favorite anime. I haven’t read the manga yet because I’m not a fan of the “comic strip” style layout.

If you like cute, slice-of-life manga, check out Yotsuba&!.

Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter – a review

tangentbot — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:58:41 +0000

I just finished reading the book Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter, the autobiography of Shoko Tendo, a woman who grew up around, and got involved in, the yakuza. The book moves at a jostling pace, most likely due to translation, but presents a horrific glimpse into a Japan that not many Westerners are familiar with. Tendo is subjected to constant abusive relationships as a “kept woman”, girlfriend and wife. She suffers through drug addiction, rape, poverty, an eating disorder, humiliation and death in a very matter-of-fact way. The celebrated tiny sucesses throughout and her unflinching duty to family are strikingly Japanese, and her eventual rehabilitation is bittersweet at best. I wondered, at several points throughout; how much of Japan is actually like this?

It’s kind of tough to form an opinion about this book, since it is a translation, and I imagine the Japanese version is much more poetic, but the story is so harshly honest and unpretentious that I can’t help but admire Tendo’s courage. The writing is sophomoric, true, but fitting, as this is authors first book. It is almost too easy to read, making for a more brutal and sincere story. I’m glad it was written like this.

I’d like to have recommended this book as a glimpse into life as a yakuza, but it isn’t. Nor does it ever really focus on traditional Japanese culture. Yakuza Moon is simply about Shoko Tendo’s search for love, honesty, self-worth and independence.

I learned a new word from it too: Yanki, which is basically a punk or juvenile delinquent in Japan. Now you learned a new word, too!