How can it be correct if it isn’t even consistent.–Warren Siegel
That title may feel a bit odd at first but by the end of this post, it will still feel so. Anyway, I’ll be talking about beginnings of a few shows/series in this post:
First of all, I started to read a new ‘Slice of Life’ manga (like Sketchbook) titled “Lucu Lucu”. It has a weird theme but if you ignore that, it is quite enjoyable. Well, even if you don’t ignore the theme (where demons are the ‘good guys’ & angels are the ‘bad’ ones), it is still relaxing & calming very much like another SoL manga titled “Yotsuba&!”.
Second of all, new episodes of two British panel shows have started airing again: “QI” Series I (‘I’ as in 9) featuring Stephen Fry & Alan Davies and “Would I Lie to You?” Series 5 featuring David Mitchell, Lee Mack & Rob Brydon. These series basically point to the beginning of the end of this year (if you are too picky in wanting to connect the body of this post to the title!).
Third of all and the most important one that gave me the idea for this post is the beginning of the scanlation of a ‘Samurai-based action comedy’ manga (the genre which includes gems like Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Samurai Champloo) titled “Samurai Usagi”. The scanlation stopped in 2008 and a new group picked it up nearly a month ago after more or less 3 years as seen on this page, which makes me happy that there are some ‘kind’ souls existing even today. [But, where are they when it concerns “Embalming”? Though, I think the absence of new chapters may be due to some other factors too!]
So, there you have it: a list of things that can keep you occupied till the end of (and beyond) this year. You may as well start with
From what you linked to, I think Lucu Lucu sounds like it could almost be considered a "Slice of Death" comic rather than a "Slice Of Life" one. Maybe "Slice of After-life" would fit better though.
ReplyDeleteThis might just be me, but I feel like reading/watching relaxing and calming series can sometimes be even more enjoyable when you pair them with a more exciting or random series. I guess Nichijou (My Ordinary Life) comes to mind for me as one show that somehow mixes both atmospheres.
While I am unfortunately not very familiar with Samurai Usagi, the fact that it includes a character who believes rabbits will someday reach the moon reminds me of Kate imagining bunnies wearing spacesuits on the moon.
Well, If Lucu²'s main character was the cat, it could definitely be a "Slice of After-Life" but I'd rather go with it being a "Slice of Life of a Demon"! Ignoring such semantics, I guess you've found it to be quite enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view of Nichijou and I also like pairing random series with more well-defined series in balancing my intake of fiction. For example, the only two anime series I'm watching right now are Nichijou & Sket Dance.
Your last paragraph reaches the golden height of comparison... Yes, Kate imagining those spacesuit-wearing-rabbits making mochi (or whatever it was) on the moon was hilarious. I never guessed Daichi would do that (even unknowingly) to her. SuzuKaze combo exists for that! :)
Well, to be completely honest, I probably will not be reading Lucu Lucu, (at least not for now) since I want to avoid getting sucked in right now (I hope it does not seem like I was deceiving you or anything). Still, I definitely think the premise sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs for the balancing, I think pairing really idealistic/optimistic series with pessimistic ones can be pretty interesting too. Then again, I guess that can be pretty tough, especially if you want to avoid watching something really angsty.
On the topic of Sket Dance, do you think it is a worthwhile series to watch? I would like to hear more about it, since I am pretty ignorant.
I feel like Daichi has some hidden depths and I think you see hints of that in the TV series with his reactions to Minamo (or Minamon as Sora calls her). I might be wrong though.
You should keep Lucu² in your "Manga To Read" list for some rainy day. (From your earlier comment, it did seem to me that you've not gone past its first few pages!)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've read/watched primarily pessimistic manga/anime. I'd definitely avoid such things. (I hope Elfen Lied, Death Note, etc don't fall into that category.)
Sket Dance is like Sketchbook but with 3 people in a "helping people out" club instead of 13 in "arts" club. The similarity ends there! Because 'over the top' things happen in SD with a healthy mix of comedy, drama, action, mystery, sci-fi, parody & even dark humor and the fourth wall is broken more often than not. I like all of that and think of it as Sketchbook on steroids (forgive me for using a cliché). Given this description of SD, it's now up to you to decide whether it's worthwhile or not! :D
Now that you mentioned it, I'd like to know how/why Sora settled on "Minamon". Could it be a reference to "Negishigon"?