Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 1 Feb 10

1) Tenjo Tenge Vol 21 (192,717)

2) Kimi ni Todoke Vol 10 (146,758)

3) Vagabond Vol 32 (134,435)

4) FAIRY TAIL Vol 19 (129,346)

5) Hayate no Gotoku! Vol 22 (97,603)

6) Daiya no A Vol 19 (88,170)

7) Yami no Matsuei Vol 12 (79,145)

8) Kido Senshi Gundam THE ORIGIN Vol 20 Solomon-hen (72,349)

9) GIANT KILLING Vol 13 (70,674)

10) Hoshi wa Utau Vol 7 (61,261)

Top 10 anime ratings ranking (24 Jan 10)

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) 20.6%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 12.5%

3) Crayon Shin-chan (TV Asahi) / Crayon Shin-chan One Piece (FujiTV) 10.6%

5) One Piece Dragonball Kai (FujiTV) 9.6%

6) Dragonball Kai Doraemon (TV Asahi) 9.5%

7) Meitantei Conan (NTV) 8.7%

8) Fresh Puri Kyua! (TV Asahi) 7.2%

9) Pocket Monster DP (TV Tokyo) 5.7%

10) Stitch! Itazura Alien no Daibouken (TV Asahi) 5.6%

Aoi Bungaku Series - Kokoro (Eps 7 & 8)

This is yet another famous classic in Japanese literature and I'm sure most people who had gone through Japanese classes would have heard of the author Natsume Souseki. In my class, what our sensei introduced us to was a light-hearted novel titled "Wagahai wa Neko de Aru". This novel, Kokoro (Heart) is also considered as one of Natsume's signature works and was said to be in a constant bestseller race with Dazai Osamu's Ningen Shikkaku which I had reviewed earlier. Although I have not read the novel yet, I did hear about the storyline previously. If you had read Wagahai and contrast it with Kokoro, you will see a vast difference between the two. Wagahai is a sarcastic look at society from the eyes of a cat but with lots of humour. However, the atmosphere in Kokoro is gloomy and grim. It is not surprising, considering that we are talking about the dark side of humans.

The novel itself is divided into three portions but the first two portions are not covered in the anime. What happened was that Natsume actually started writing the final part and it became longer than he expected. As such, Kokoro was then expanded into three parts with the order jumbled up. Actually, the crux of the story is in Part 3 so it is not surprising that the anime chose to focus on it.

What surprised me was that they finished the whole story within 1 episode and used the other episode for a fictional view of the events from another viewpoint. To put it simply, the first episode was Kokoro in its original form but the second episode was fiction. For people who have read the novel, I wonder how they would feel about this decision.

In this story, we have four main characters i.e. Sensei, K, Ojou-san and Okusan. Sensei is staying at Okusan and Ojou-san's place as he studies in an university. He has a friend K who keeps a distance from people and concentrates on studying only. K seems intent on leading a lifestyle like a Buddhist monk with no desires. Sensei invites K to stay with him in an attempt to get him to warm up to people and because he knows that K's financial situation isn't that good. However, the unexpected happens as Sensei finds out that something is going on between K and Ojou-san. In an attempt to prevent K from getting Ojou-san, Sensei leaps at the chance offered by Okusan and manages to get Ojou-san's hand in marriage. Unable to withstand Sensei's betrayal, K commits suicide. Even though Sensei manages to marry Ojou-san, he feels as if a part of him has died together with K and his marriage is destined to end in tragedy.

Despite the story being dark if not as dark as Ningen Shikkaku, I like it because it offers a very realistic look at humanity. Be it in the old days or in the modern era, something like this could happen to any one of us. It is natural for people to think of themselves. In this case, Sensei felt threatened because of K's appearance. Then again, he was the one who brought it upon himself because things might not have come to such a state if he didn't bring K back home. That is why that although he felt justified in marrying Ojou-san (he thinks that K doesn't deserve her even though it wasn't mentioned explicitly in the story), he also felt bad for betraying K and causing him to commit suicide. Although K may appear very strong and unfeeling, he's actually quite fragile emotionally. Maybe that was why he had to commit suicide after losing Ojou-san. It was probably more unbearable for him to see Sensei and Ojou-san get married as compared to death.

In the first episode, it gives the impression that K was the one who took the initiative to get close to Ojou-san and she was not keen on him initially. The scene when K stood in front of Ojou-san in his underwear gives the impression that he was trying to test if Ojou-san was still going to be friendly to him when he tried to show himself as a scary person. However, the second episode takes on a different view of the situation and depicts Ojou-san as a manipulating and pretentious woman who was leading K on all the time. That scene where Ojou-san literally crept into K's futon was probably the most extreme behaviour you would expect from her. Although the second episode offers a fresh perspective to the situation, I thought it was better if this episode could be used to explain more on Sensei's anguish after K's suicide and how his life and marriage suffered as a result. Nonetheless, K's perspective was enjoyable to watch on its own although I thought it wasn't too relevant to the main storyline because of its make-believe nature. It only complicates things as we are not exactly sure what is going on.

Sakai Masato's voice is more suited for characters with a quiet and brooding charm. The last story was a great disappointment so I'm quite happy to hear him do what he's good at. The biggest difference between Youzou and Sensei would be the development and contrast in their feelings shown through Sakai's voice. Youzou appeared dejected and depressed for most of the story. Even when he was supposedly happy, it felt so unnatural and forced as if he was just trying to show everyone how good his life had become. Youzou seemed very intent on showing his happiness. However, Sensei's feelings are shown like a slow streaming river. At first, he appears like an earnest young man who's truly concerned about his friend (although some people may also feel that he's just trying to make himself feel good and superior because he can extend aid to someone) but if you compare how his voice sounds when he feels threatened by K's presence and when K killed himself, the progression is displayed so gradually that you hardly feel the difference.

With regards to the character design, this is where I'm not too happy about. Seeing Sensei is as if I'm looking at Youzou and Yagami Light at the same time. I know that these manga artists would probably have a distinct drawing style but it tends to get repetitive over time. As for K, I was wondering if Natsume did describe him as someone like that. He looks too huge as compared to the rest of the characters and it's as if the artists are making him out to be a big boor in order to show the contrast between K and Sensei.

On the whole, I like this story pretty much but when it comes to completeness and quality of production, Ningen Shikkaku had an edge over Kokoro. I wouldn't consider Ep 8 as redundant but there is a possibility of a higher level of presentation if both episodes had been dedicated to Part 3 of the novel. Of course, considering that Ningen Shikkaku had four episodes to develop its story, it had an advantage over Kokoro which only had two. If I consider Ep 7 on its own, it is a pretty succint account of events but the ending could have been expanded to increase the viewer's satisfaction.

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 25 Jan 10

1) Kimi ni Todoke Vol 10 (517,358)

2) Vagabond Vol 32 (239,955)

3) FAIRY TAIL Vol 19 (163,453)

4) NARUTO Vol 49 (128,438)

5) Sukitte Iinayo Vol 4 (102,890)

6) Daiya no A Vol 19 (95,634)

7) flat Vol 3 (63,157)

8) Gintama Vol 32 (60,460)

9) Hayate no Gotoku! Vol 22 (56,226)

10) Hayate no Gotoku! Vol 22 First press version (53,515)

Top 10 anime ratings ranking (10 Jan 10)

1) Sazae-san Shinshun Fukubukuro SP (FujiTV) 17.1%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 12.7%

3) Doraemon (TV Asahi) / Crayon Shin-chan (TV Asahi) 10.7%

5) One Piece (FujiTV) 10.2%

6) Dragonball Kai (FujiTV) 8.0%

7) Meitantei Conan (NTV) 7.8%

8) Fresh Puri Kyua! (TV Asahi) 5.8%

9) Inazuma Eleven (TV Tokyo) 5.0%

10) Mainichi Kaasan (TV Tokyo) 4.3%

Top 10 anime ratings ranking (3 Jan 10)

1)New Year's Eve Doraemon Eiga mo Terebi mo 30 shuunen! Zenbu misemasu Gentei SP (TV Asahi) 7.0%

2) Fresh Puri Kyua! (TV Asahi) 3.3%

3) Gyakukyo Burai Kaiji (NTV) 2.6%

4) Emmy Awards Kinen Shin Short Tokushu (NHK General) 2.2%

5) Meitantei Conan Shinshun SP (NHK General) 1.9%

6) Uchi no Sanshimai (TV Tokyo) / Jewel Bed (TV Tokyo) 1.7%

8) Anime Erin Tokusen Kemono no Souja Erin (NHK Education) 1.5%

9) Yugioh Duel Monsters GX (TV Tokyo) / Kemono no Souja Erin (NHK Education) / Ashita no Joe (NTV) / Kemono no Souja Erin (NHK Education) 1.4%

Aoi Bungaku Series ~ Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita (Eps 5 & 6)

As I had never heard of this story nor the author Sakaguchi Ango prior to the production of the Aoi Bungaku series, I had no prior expectations about it. This could be good in a sense because I won't be prejudiced against the presentation of the story. However, right from the first three minutes or so, I already felt that this story didn't interest me. Or should I say handled really badly. Although it got better at several points, I still felt that the story left a bad aftertaste.

Compared to Ningen Shikaku, I find myself getting really irritated with this story at many junctures even though it spanned two episodes only. First of all, the character design got me riled up. From the very refined and detailed drawings in Ningen Shikaku, the drawings of the scene and characters are so coarse as if this anime was produced many years ago when technology wasn't that advanced yet. I do not know whether this is supposed to be the drawing style of Kubo Tite (the author of BLEACH) but this style certainly doesn't go down well with me. At the very beginning, it felt as if I was watching the chibi version of an anime. The first few scenes were terribly done and simply set things off on the wrong foot. It's kinda stupid to see Shigemaru fighting in such a manner with the man whom he robbed.

In addition, humour was also added in at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The story is supposed to be set in the 12th century but what's with the IPod and mobile phone camera jokes? If the producers wanted to make the viewers laugh, I'm afraid those jokes were pretty lame. In fact, it spoilt the mood which was building up especially for that part when Shigemaru was lamenting his inability to cope with living in the city. Another eyesore was the sudden fighting scene where Shigemaru's wife, Shoko charged towards him as if she really wanted to kill him. That was really dumb because it failed to add anything substantial to the story.

A lot of detail and effort was put into those scenes when Shoko was singing. I'm sure those background visuals took a long time to produce. However, I didn't really like those scenes and wished that they could end earlier. I didn't know that Mizuki Nana was the VA behind this character though as I couldn't recognise her voice. Nonetheless, I thought her potrayal of the role was pretty good although I thought singing was seriously not warranted for the story to progress. It's not so much to do with whether her singing was good. To think that there were so many songs in just two episodes! The time could have been spent in a better manner.

This time round, I thought Sakai Masato didn't do well. Frankly speaking, a lot of Shigemaru's emotions were not depicted in such a way that it will leave an impact on the viewer. The limited scope of the character development coupled with the fact that he had to do some of those jokes which I mentioned earlier made it difficult for me to like his potrayal of the role this time. He is just not suited for showing the violent, crude or corny sides of Shigemaru. As such, I think it's better for him to steer clear of such "twisted" roles which require him to balance gyagu with the serious stuff.

As this story isn't straightforward (in terms of relaying its message), I would have preferred spending more time trying to understand what the author was trying to convey rather than seeing senseless pranks. Actually, right till the end, I was kind of puzzled as to what the story was driving at but after thinking through for a while, here are my conclusions and views about the various parts of the story:

1) Why Shigemaru was scared of the sakura tree and why he moved to the city
Unlike the modern era when people marvel at the marvellous sights of sakura in full bloom, the sakura tree was viewed with awe and fear at the same time. People loved the beauty of the sakura tree but they were also scared since there was a common belief that the sakura tree was masked in some mysterious veil unknown to them. This could be why Shigemaru was so scared of the tree. Then again, why did he keep going to see the tree despite his fear? This seems to reflect human nature. Sometimes, we know that someting is wrong and yet we still go ahead to do it. Likewise, Shigemaru knew he wasn't suited for city life yet he was tempted by Shoko's description of that unknown place. People are all curious and greedy but sometimes, when something is not suitable for us, we still hang on to it. I get the feeling that this could be the main message in the entire story.

Although I am not convinced that there is anything in the city which is so important to Shoko that she wanted so much to return there, I think it could be partly due to her desire for control. In the mountains, she was totally reliant on Shigemaru for her survival. However, in the city, she took on the role of a master. Shigemaru's inability to adapt to a change in environment switched the tables this time. And since Shoko isn't the typical traditional type of Japanese woman depicted in that era, it is of no surprise that she wants to do something unlike the norm i.e. controlling her man instead of letting him call the shots.

2) Why Shoko told Shigemaru to kill his wives
Actually, I didn't know the woman's name until I checked the official website. Either they did not mention her name at all or I was not paying attention. Anyway, on the surface, it may seem like jealousy. However, I think Shoko's motive for doing this wasn't so much of wanting sole attention from Shigemaru. She knew that he was already eating out of her hand when she wanted him to find that hairpin and carry her back home. No matter what she said, he would listen. Or I should put it this way, he would fall for her bait whenever she taunted him. I feel that Shoko's reaction of disdain when she saw the wives was because she felt that the wives were in a lower class than her. She didn't think that they deserved to be living in the same place with her especially when she saw people who were dressed shabbily, looking unhygenic and behaved rudely. Her princess complex was probably what drove Shoko to instigate Shigemaru to kill.

3) Whether Shoko was a ghost
I'm inclined towards the view that she wasn't a ghost. Shigemaru might have been hallucinating when he was standing below the sakura tree thus he killed Shoko. In any case, Shigemaru's obsession with the sakura tree was the primary driving factor for his life which had gone awry. Coupled with the fact that he had been suppressing himself so much when he was in the city, the sakura tree or rather his imagination took over and caused him to kill Shoko. Maybe deep down in his mind, he feels that Shoko is the biggest cause for his unhappiness. And the sakura tree was merely the trigger for the explosion of his emotions.

4) Why Shoko left a note saying that she would be back soon
Shoko was very confident that Shigemaru would listen to her. She had absolutely no intention to return to the mountains because that wasn't what she wanted. She pretended to be understanding towards Shigemaru and expected that he would be persuaded to return to the city with her. However, her biggest problem was that she underestimated Shigemaru. She expected that Shigemaru would not be able to live without her but in fact, I feel that she's the one who cannot live without him. She needed Shigemaru to bring back the heads for her pleasure. That was why she bothered to pacify him. If Shigemaru was totally useless to her, Shoko would have let him go when he wanted to go back to the mountains. And this in turn resulted in her murder.

I'm very disappointed with the presentation of this story especially when I contrast it with what Ningen Shikkaku had to offer. I can only hope that the remaining stories will turn out well and not fall short of expectations given their reputation as literature classics.

Top 10 anime ratings ranking (27 Dec 09)

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) 20.5%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 14.8%

3) One Piece (FujiTV) 10.5%

4) Dragonball Kai (FujiTV) 10.0%

5) Meitantei Conan (NTV) 6.3%

6) Pocket Monster DP (TV Tokyo) 5.8%

7) Tamagocchi! (TV Tokyo) 4.9%

8) Inazuma Eleven (TV Tokyo) 4.4%

9) NARUTO (TV Tokyo) 4.2%

10) Metal Fight Beyblade (TV Tokyo) 4.0%

Top 10 bestselling manga for the week ended 4 Jan 10

1) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi Vol 24 (886,135)

2) HUNTERxHUNTER Vol 27 (488,446)

3) Ookiku Furikabutte Vol 13 (301,130)

4) XXXHOLiC Vol 16 (281,589)

5) Kekkaishi Vol 27 (98,347)

6) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Minagoroshi Hen 4 (87,398)

7) Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 1: Legend of the golden witch 4 (85,847)

8) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Matsuri Bayashi Hen 3 (85,259)

9) Kei-on! Vol 3 (81,252)

10) Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu Vol 4 (79,549)

Higashi no Eden Gekijouban 1 The King of Eden breaks JPY 100m mark!

Higashi no Eden's movie version Part 1, The King of Eden started screening on 28 November 2009 and has broken the JPY 100m mark in box office takings within 38 days. The movie is screening in 10 cinema complexes nationwide and has attracted 75,647 movie-goers as of 4 January 2010. Despite opening in just 7 cinemas initially, this was an extremely good result given the scale of the screening.

The movie will be shown in other cities such as Niigata from 16 January, Yamagata from 23 January, Ibaraki, Mito, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Ogura from 30 January. Nagasaki will start screening the movie from 13 Feburary while Hiroshima will start in spring. As such, box office takings look set to rise further.

Part 2 of the movie "Paradise Lost" will be shown in March.

Review of Aoi Bungaku Series ~ Ningen Shikaku (Eps 1 to 4)

It's been ages since I last posted a review and this marks the first in 2010. I've been neglecting this blog for so long and it's time to get things going again. For the past 1 or 2 years, I've not had the urge or interest to check out the newer animes because the genres tend not to be my cup of tea. I think the last series which I followed faithfully was Higashi no Eden but that was kinda disappointing at the end.

As such, getting started on the Aoi Bungaku series was a step back into the anime world for me. Based on the fact the anime is based on the signature works from some of the best Japanese authors, I was assured that the story wouldn't be too bad. Coupled with the fact that Sakai Masato was chosen as the navigator and main voice actor for the series, it gave me a boost of confidence about the quality of the series. People who have seen his dramas and movies would probably agree that this guy can act. Of course, voice-acting is different and more challenging because we can't see the voice actor's facial expressions. However, this also shows us the depth of acting one can achieve just by relying on the voice. In addition, looking at the cast list which consists of many notable names in the seiyuu world like Park Romi and Noto Mamiko so this series did looked like a sure-win on paper.

After finishing the first story Ningen Shikaku which spans four episodes, I'm impressed.

Ningen Shikaku was written in 1948 by Dazai Osamu and is one of his signature works. The novel was actually released in three parts and just before the final installment was published, Dazai committed suicide with his lover. As such, this novel was seen as a suicide note by him. In addition, as there were some parts of the story which seemed to reflect Dazai's real life e.g. the names of the women whom he was involved in appeared as women in the lead character Youzou's life, there was talk that Dazai was potraying his own life through Youzou.

As the general atmosphere in the story was rather gloomy and pessimistic, the colour scheme in this anime wouldn't be considered vivid or impressive given today's standards. I can accept that since this is consistent with the storyline. If you are looking for light entertainment, you might want to give this a miss. Another point to note is that whenever I look at Youzou, I'm reminded of Yagami Light in Death Note. I guess this is largely due to the fact that the revised version of the novel has a brand new cover drawn by Obata Takeshi thus the resemblance is striking.

The story weighs heavily on the viewer because Youzou's life is simply like a tragedy played out before your eyes. Although he was born into a rich family, being sexually abused by his caregivers made his personality twisted. Coupled with his father's expectations, he was forced to retreat behind a socially-acceptable but unreal facade which he had to create in order for him to live on. He started to put on a pretence before people and gradually found it difficult to show his true self. He was constantly haunted by his past and he could never find a way to break free other than drift along in life. Coupled with the fact that he didn't have anyone to accept him for who he was, Youzou suffered. Time after time, just when he thought he had got over a hurdle, another challenge came his way. It was as if he was trapped in a maze and could never find a way out. However, when you come to think of it, Youzou didn't really try to do anything to get out. He was merely riding on the kindness that people showered on him and when things went awry, he started to blame everyone except himself.

I like Sakai Masato's potrayal of Youzou especially in the first two episodes. Without even looking at his facial expressions or what Youzou was doing on screen, the despondent and resigned attitude showed through Sakai's voice. It does bring out the sadness in Youzou's life. This has made me more excited to see how he will potray the other roles for the remaining stories. On the other hand, I thought the BGM and ending theme were quite lacking so I was a bit disappointed about that.

On the whole, this anime shows a lot of promise and I hope the other stories will be handled as well, if not better than what Ningen Shikaku had displayed. At the very least, the anime has sparked my interest in trying to find the novel so it is considered successful in this sense.