phosfate

Classic manga Mai the Psychic Girl was released in two editions by Viz, the first in four volumes and the second in three. If you want to go completly mental, try buying separate volumes from separate dealers who don't know the difference and don't care which cover(s) they use in their listings.

Anyway, you know the bit where Mai (accidentally) causes an ultraviolent 70-car pileup with her mind?* I'm doing that inside my head right now because today's mail brought vol 1 of the four-book version and vol 2 of the three-book version.


*She did it to save a puppy. She and John Wick would totally get along. The puppy's name is Ron.

TITLE: Shonen Jump presents "Fiery New Bear Ronin Squad!"
FANDOM: Hot Fuzz
AUTHOR: annlarimer
WORD COUNT: 6,200
RATING: PG for violence and language and violence and some violence
SUMMARY: You've seen the movie. Now read the anime.
WARNINGS: American spelling; spoilers; batshittery; Godless killing machines
NOTES: This had a working title of "Rumiko Takahashi's Hot Fuzz," which should tell you all you need to know about it.
DISCLAIMER: Obviously not mine.
ARCHIVE: Please ask first.

Shonen Jump presents "Fiery New Bear Ronin Squad!"


Many years ago, in Kyoto, there lived a young boy named Nikorasu. He was raised by his uncle, a wealthy member of the Emperor's court. Nikorasu idolized his uncle, as children do. ( more )

Still working on the Black Dolls, and photographing them as I go along in hopes of making some sort of tutorial or, more likely, chronicle of Nixonian failure. For example, I laid the patterns out on the fabric exactly 90 degrees in the wrong direction, so that the stretchousness (technical term) is sideways rather than uppy-downy (stop me if my terminology gets too arcane here), and Fran and Manny are currently bald little soft-sculpture hammers with eyes. Easy enough to adjust on Fran by padding her hair. But Manny...I really wish he wore more hats. Then he could be Manny from That Episode Where He Wore the Hat.

Bernard looks like a very angry starfish, so he's coming along fine.

Meanwhile, the new issue of Newtype has a DVD with the first episodes of Peach Girl and Le Chevalier d'Eon. Peach Girl is a faithful (so far) adaptation of the manga, so if you like one you'll probably like the other. Le Chevalier d'Eon seems to start with the second or third episode, but both disc label and episode credits swear it's episode 1. But if you don't mind the choppy storytelling and aren't a historical purist (d'Eon was a real guy, but his genderfuckery was, as near as anyone can tell, due to personal preference rather than supernatural hi-jinks), the animation is gorgeous and the story compelling. If you dig that whole BeruBara/Utena scene, this may be your bag, man.

Read the first volume of the manga Emma. I don't know whether it's the fault of the mangaka or the translators, but...Piccadilly Circus? Not, with rare exceptions, the kind with elephants.

Been watching Angelic Layer. Much hilarity, since it starts out as a sell-you-stuff anime (like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokemon), but since it's entirely fictional, you can't buy any of it.

Angelic Layer a fighting game, played by elaborate, customizable (and, one assumes, hideously expensive) cybernetic dolls. Sort of like Asian BJD fandom, but with (more) hitting. One imagines that there are Angelic Layer early adopters who spend a lot of time on the Internet bitching about how it isn't as cool as it was, since all these damn n00bs have shown up. And arguments over unsanctioned parts -- one character outfits her doll with illegal electrified whips, and picks on newbies who don't know enough to call her on it in order to rack up wins. Surely there must be AL porn sites and naughty doujinshi as well.

My point being, I want a customized robot doll that hits stuff.