Monday, March 27, 2006

   Long post, but it's about something interesting....
Hey everybody. How's it going?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.
It's just that there was like NO ONE here all weekend, and I didn't want stuff I post to just go into dead air. ^_^

So, anyway, I went on a solo manga-run on Saturday.
I tried to get in touch with Josh, but he was busy as far as I can tell. -_-'
It sucks, because my Spring Break and his Spring Break aren't in the same week. If they were, we'd have all week to go and manga-late. -_-' Meh, sucks, neh? It would have been nice to see him, since we haven't been on a manga-run together in so long.

On a quick side-note, I was doing a good amount of artistic work last night. ^_^
It makes me happy, because I've been in a bit of an artistic dry-spell since Friday. But now I've got my creative juices flowing for the rest of Spring Break. ^o^

In case you're wondering what exactly I was drawing last night, I was actually coloring those 2 zombie pics I drew on the 19th of February (I've been meaning to color them for a while).
One of them came out a lot worse when I colored it then it was in it's line-art version. But, luckily, I had scanned it before-hand, so it's all good. >=)
I'll have those pics up in the near future.

OK, now that the art-update's over, time to get back to the manga!
You remember that manga-run I mentioned going on on Saturday? Well, I have a new manga to plug!:

I went to B&N's rather then Boarders this weekend, and as you know (from my constant complaints) that they've done a sucky job of updating their manga. So, I was pretty desperate for something to read.
After mulling over the manga section about 15 times making sure I hadn't overlooked a manga I was looking for, I decided to try out a manga I heard about on the web....
Has anyone here ever read "Alice 19th"?
I was really, REALLY skeptical on weather I'd actually enjoy that manga or not since it's pretty far from my preferred style.
But, I tried it, and after about 20 pages I was enthralled.
I will be honest: It's a damn good manga.

I was doubting that I'd actually like the series or not because it seemed like one of those fantasy-fangirl oriented things by CLAMP or something.
No offense to CLAMP, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan of theirs. Their art-style and story-telling creeps me out beyond belief. I swear, those women think up stuff far scarier then any of my ghost-stories. O_o"
My buddy Josh really liked Chobits, but I think it traumatized me.

But, Alice 19th really surprised me.
Yuu Watase, the woman who draws Alice 19th, didn't have the CLAMP-esque ultra thin & wispy lining. Her art isn't my preferred style, but I still really enjoy it!
Yuu Watase isn't an Akamatsu, Watsuki, Moriyama or an Ozaki in my opinion (hugs and cookies if you can match all 3 of those authors with their mangas! ^o^ ), but she's got talent to spare in the art department.

I was even more surprised with the story.
What I heard on the Net that got me interested in Alice 19th was that it was a deep psychological story that played off of the themes in "Alice In Wonderland".
"The Matrix" and the "Resident Evil" movies do the same (though in a slightly different way), so needless to say that quality of the story kept me interested.
Though a lot of the original "Alice in Wonderland" story was fueled by Lewis Carroll’s Opium and mushroom habits (which I'll elaborate on some other time), it had some genuine themes of logic, Freudian psychology, mathematics and philosophy. But along with Mr. Carroll’s "inspiration", I'll explain that another time.

Anywho, the characters in Alice 19th are spectacular.
I was impressed by how deep each of the characters were, especially the leading male role. Usually that part is played by an overly stoic, unresponsive pretty-boy that the lead girl absolutely dotes on, going into cardiac-arrest every time he comes within a 3 foot radius of her. They're usually just iconic, flat characters that somehow eventually fall in love with the main girl (as opposed to one of the many other girls identical to the main one that are competing for his love). Bleh, those characters are boring. >_<

But not this guy. No, he's on the level.
His name is Kyo(u), by the way, and he's an actual character.
He has flaws, dilemmas, strengths and characteristics, as do all the other characters.
All the characters are complex, feeling, reactive (though sometimes a little too reactive, a la Fullmetal Panic) and generally true to life.
They're caught in dangerous emotional dilemmas, each of which is something that happens in real life (or maybe even something you yourself has already experienced) and needs to be solved.
Love-triangles, hatred, self-hatred, painful memories, disownment, disillusionment, all of which are things the characters are experiencing and trying to overcome.

On top of that, there's a psychologically influenced "world-jumping" element to the story.
But, you'll have to read it to find out what I mean. ;)

The next time you're at your local book-store, I highly suggest picking up the first volume of Alice 19th and exploring the rabbit-hole for yourself (I'm just so clever with these puns).

On a smaller manga-related note, I finished reading the 3rd volume of Chrono Crusade the other week.
I'll save the majority of what I have to say for next time, but damn does that volume ever have a climactic battle!!! It's just so darn cool and well-choreographed!

Chrono Crusade has some of my all-time favorite artwork, which is REALLY helping me out to have a reference (the facial-expressions and firearms are incredible).
Even better, one of the characters introduced in the second volume wears the exact same kind of clothes that one of my original characters wears, meaning he's a perfect reference on how to draw them! ^o^
Dont'cha just love when the manga-ka has exactly what you need help drawing in their manga? ^_^

Whew! Long post!
I'll stop in tomorrow with a bit less to read, OK?

I'll see you all tomorrow!
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