Crunchyroll Manga -- How to Make It Better!

I recently wrote about my experiences with the new, Crunchyroll manga section.  I find Crunchyroll's foray into manga to be a good first step. The question then becomes, what else can Crunchyroll do to get better?  I have some thoughts there.

License for more countries!

While having license rights in 170 countries is good, I know I saw a lot of complaints online from folks in certain countries who have been blocked.  These are folks who check out English scanlations just as much as English-speaking folks do, so if they are denied a legal means of reading the manga in English, they'll continue to turn to the scanlators, many of whom originate outside the U.S.  So getting licenses to more countries to allow them English access would be a good move.

This may end up being nearly impossible since I can see Crunchyroll being blocked in some countries by those who want to retain the option to license online versions there themselves, but who've got no real plans to do so. However, the mindset is, "Even if we don't do this, we stop Crunchyroll from making money here, and we'll call that a win."

License more Kodansha manga titles for simulpub.

Interestingly enough, there are two manga titles that Kodansha Comics has licensed which REALLY should be on Crunchyroll's simulpub list -- xxxHOLiC Rei (CLAMP) and Genshiken Nidaime (KIO Shimoku).  I'm sure there are plenty more, but those two were at the top of my list.

License more manga titles other than Kodansha!

Don't just go for Kodansha titles. Branch out. Grab manga titles from all over, Crunchyroll, as you do for anime. Granted, Kodansha titles will be easier since Kodansha Comics is doing strictly e-books, while someone like Viz is doing their own thing, both in terms of e-book and online. (One can get Viz's most popular titles like One Piece when they come out in Japan, but only if one purchases the digital copy of the manga magazine the manga is published in for Japan.)  However, I think there could be a chance (a long shot to be sure) for Crunchyroll to try to get something like Hayate the Combat Butler (if they got the same translator Viz currently uses and followed the same adaptation scheme) since Viz still isn't doing anything digitally with it, including putting the current chapter out when it is published in Japan.

Frankly, I'd love to to see the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA manga licensed and put in the simulpub list, and that's just for a start.  Kannagi needs to get in the simulpub group since Takenashi-sensei has returned to drawing the manga again. After Bandai pulled out of the U.S. market, this gives it an even higher priority as a license rescue title.

License rescue out of print manga titles!

Remember TokyoPop? Remember all of those manga titles they had which remain floundering after TP closed shop, unlikely to EVER be touched by anyone? How nice would it be to get to read Sgt. Frog again, which is still being published monthly in Japan, making it another nice simulpub title (and we'd get the four back volumes from where TP left off). Gakuen Alice only recently ended its run in Japan (June 2013). TokyoPop only got through volume 16, meaning we'd have 15 more volumes of new reading. That's just for a start.

Remember Del Rey?  I'm sure many folks would love to read the final volumes Del Rey didn't get to publish of School Rumble, or the single volume of School Rumble Z.

As I see it, putting up all of TokyoPop's, Del Rey's, Bandai's, or even CPM's abandoned titles would be a good thing, especially if they finish out said series or carried on with where the series left off. I wouldn't mind seeing Record of Lodoss War manga titles back where folks could read them.

Make proper two page spreads!

One thing scanlators usually work hard at are two-page spreads. As such, a manga panel that extends over the two pages has an image that looks seamless.  Unfortunately, Crunchyroll just slaps the two pages in the two page mode, which is highly noticeable. I'd like to see Crunchyroll change how they do the two page mode so that instead of the manga viewer grabbing two pages and putting them together for a single display, it instead goes to a new image file which has to the pages put together properly for two page panel spreads.

In conclusion...

What Crunchyroll has done here is a good start. I did pay for a year's subscription to support Crunchyroll's efforts. I do hope that the Crunchyroll manga section continues to grow.  If they can expand their library with more simulpubs as well as out of print manga titles, while picking up titles from other publishers than Kodansha, I think that Crunchyroll will have a winner here.

UQ Holder Chapter 14 SPOILER Images (Update #3)

Here is the first SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 14, courtesy of the VERY gracious Southrop.

**********UQ HOLDER CHAPTER 14 SPOILERS**********

I guess we haven't seen the last of Wrecking Ball after all.

Being that this is an Akamatsu title, we "gots" to get the nekid fanservice in one way or the other. Of course, the justification being the mark on Karin's back.

Considering the number of blades she has around her, one would almost think she has a pactio card.  She might have a pactio with Eva, but we'll find out soon enough.  That being said, this is probably the aftermath of Wrecking Ball's attack, and Karin just regenerated (or whatever she does as an immortal).

That's it for the moment. If there are more, I'll make an update. ^_^

Update #1: "Oneechan! Oneechan!" ^_^

Update #2: Karin can smile. ^_^

Update #3: Looks to be an interesting chapter, with some exploration of Karin's immortality.

As always, thanks to Southrop for the share. ^_^ Southrop has some spoiler translator notes for those interested in reading them.

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 13 Review (Give a girl a croquet mallet and watch her kick butt.)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 13 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

The UQ Holder regulars aren't happy with Touta for attacking them, but they soon start entertaining the kids, who were frightened by Touta's attack. Touta ends up being entertained as well, causing Karin to remark on his childish mentality.

Karin and Kuroumaru are discussing the slum issue when Sister Kasuga arrives to thank them for helping. Sister Miao bangs a pan to summon the kids to lunch, kicking out some older, freeloading folks trying to score a meal. Touta enjoys some soup as the kids warm up to him.

Touta's bluster about protecting the church is silenced when the church takes a massive attack. A large man shows up, so Touta tries to stand up to him, only to get blasted back. The regular UQ Holder members defend the children from the brute's next attack, getting blasted down as a result. Kuroumaru comes in to assist them as one of the regulars identifies the brute as the Wrecking Ball, who uses a very expensive magic application to use compressed air bullets.

Wrecking Ball is about to attack, so Karin comes in to guard Kuroumaru's back. However, Totua jumps in front of her to payback Wrecking Ball for the earlier hit. Touta asks for permission to take down Wrecking Ball, but Karin tells him no as she'll deal with it. Touta refuses to accept that, so Karin flips to behind Wrecking Ball, telling Touta that first come, first serve. Karin battles Wrecking Ball, appearing to end things by telling the brute that no one can harm her.

Thoughts/Review:

Touta the idiot, still needs to learn a painful less. But enough about Thick Skull.

Sister Kasuga (KASUGA Mikan) provides us another name tie to Negima, this time via Misora. It would be cool if Sister Kasuga was the granddaughter of Misora, but that would be rather difficult IMO unless Misora had a child out of wedlock which took her family name, or Misora was somehow of an important enough family to warrant her husband marrying into the Kasuga family. As such, Sister Kasuga is likely either some relation of Misora's, or not related at all.

I do note that the Sister that looked like an older Cocone wasn't around. I was hoping she'd be here and could be shown helping defend the church. Oh well.

Wrecking Ball is just a generic, large villain, though as others have noted, he does slightly resemble one of Negi's opponents in Negima. I figure Karin will finish him off next chapter (assuming he's not already down for the count).

As for Karin, she is pure awesomeness at this point. OK, so she frightens the children, but she used Touta as a croquet ball when they first met to send him to the underground, and she's schooling his butt in the fight with Wrecking Ball.  I'm really hoping that we see more of her and start getting her background fleshed out, including why her "battle uniform" is a Mahora uniform.

As an aside, I wish Crunchyroll would put the effort into two page spread art that scanlators do. Crunchyroll's manga app just takes the two pages and slaps them together for the two page view, meaning the two page image isn't seamless.

Otherwise, this was a pretty good chapter, Touta elements not withstanding.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 431 (A popular character says farewell.)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 431 Review
Hayate the Combat Butler

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

With Ruka placing her hand on Hayate's, she has a request for him -- buy her some ice cream, and some of the good, expensive stuff.  When Hayate buys Häagen-Dazs, as she requests, which she really enjoys. Hayate is puzzled by her attitude, so she asks if he's seen the Audrey Hepburn movie, which he hasn't. She confesses that eating ice cream was on her bucket list, and thanks to Hayate, she got to do that with him.

Hayate thinks that she jumped the gun on making a bucket list, citing she has 41 years left, causing Ruka to demand to know if she'll die at 57. Hayate tries to look at Ruka's bucket list, causing her to freak out, saying she'd rather he looked at her breasts than see the lists. When he declines that offer, Ruka doesn't believe it, especially when Hayate shakily denies having a desire to see them. She turns it up a notch by giving the earnest but embarrassed offer again, freaking out Hayate. When he realizes she's teasing him, he gets upset.

In all seriousness, Ruka looks at her "get a boyfriend" item on her bucket list and presses her head against Hayate, telling him she could throw everything away for him. Just as she starts to cave into her feelings to truly give everything up for Hayate, the fireworks start, causing the moment to pass. Ruka accepts this, then as she writes a note while having Hayate keep his eyes on the fireworks, she tells him that he must really be unlucky since he could have married an idol like her had she beat Nagi. Ruka slips the note into his pocket, then after watching the fireworks with him for a moment, she quietly slips away.

Hayate knows she's gone, so he reads the note. One side simply says goodbye while the other teases him, expressing her hope that he regrets not marrying her forever. Hayate tells himself he already regrets it.

Thoughts/Review:

And so the first of the Hayate the Combat Butler characters leaves the series. When characters start leaving, the series is starting to wind down, which in Hata-sensei's case, will take another decade probably. *lol*

This was a very touching chapter. Ruka got to scratch an item off her bucket list from chapter 379, which was eating ice cream. No doubt, Hata-sensei had this in mind when he had Ruka make the list, considering how he is on making a point of certain things, then providing a payoff much, much later.

Do I think this is the last we've seen of Ruka?

I think she'll show up in either flashbacks, as a namedrop, or possibly in a cameo whereby she checks in with Nagi, Chiharu, or one of the other new friends she's made. After all, she was asked to go on the trip with the group in the Heaven is a Place on Earth anime (which is considered canon), and she played a small but important role in Can't Take My Eyes Off You (also canon).  That proves she and the girls stay in touch. I don't expect her to talk with Hayate though.

Regarding Ruka's departure, I liked that for a moment, she faltered because of her bucket list. For a moment, she was truly ready to give everything up to be with Hayate, which was a more realistic thing now that her parents took the debt back upon themselves.  However, in the end, she knew that Hayate was resolved (even if he was tempted), and she accepted that and moved on. Even now, her manner of exit still brings a tear to my eye.

As for Hayate, there's no doubt in my mind that he loved Ruka at some level. After all, Ruka is a hot, beautiful idol, and they would be a good couple, as witnessed by how well they work together. So yeah, Hayate loved Ruka, but I think that in Hayate's heart, Athena is still number one. Nagi would come in second, thanks to Hayate's commitment to her. I think that Hina, Ayumu, and Ruka come in third.

I don't know if we get more aftermath or not, but I'd like another chapter with Hayate returning to the other girls as the fireworks end. I'm sure the gag chapters are soon to come, if for no other reason than to get us through the winter holiday season.

So a bitter-sweet, good chapter in which Ruka leaves the series as a supporting character.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Volume 22

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku manga volume 22 review
Hayate the Combat Butler Volume 22

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Since I've already reviewed this volume based on the Japanese tankoubon, this review will focus on the Viz release, then some last moment thoughts.

Although I'm still irritated with Viz because of them falsely accusing me of copyright infringement, my love of the Hayate the Combat Butler manga trumps that, so I will continue to promote it.

Taking a look at the story in the manga, this second volume of the trip to Greece tying in with the omake chapters from early in the series shows how well Hata-sensei plots out his stories. Considering the years between those omake chapters and volume 22, it is nice that he is able to keep on top of things so well.

Also, this volume shows how Hata-sensei can successfully blend comedy elements while pushing plot threads forward, this time Hina's love interest in Hayate, Hayate's and Athena's reunion, and Ayumu's and Nagi's growing friendship on top of Ayumu's and Hina's deepening friendship. Hata-sensei worries too much about losing audience with major plot pushes or long story arcs, but I think he worries about nothing. I'm not sure how much of this is driven by his editor, but I am reminded of how slowly Hata-sensei ultimately progresses with the main story plot.

Still, there's no denying the pleasure of Hayate the Combat Butler, which is why I will promote even the Viz version, which thankfully goes the extra mile on the Japanese honorifics, which I like considering how very Japanese the story is.

The Viz release has the usual extras of Hata-sensei's note, the 4-koma strips (I wish those were in color, but oh well), the "goddess" page at the front of the manga, the dating sim page, and the advertisements for the next two volumes of Hayate the Combat Butler.

This is where Viz disrespects English-speaking fans. They advertise volume 23 as coming out in November 2013, but that is obviously a massive lie. As of this posting, the volume is scheduled to be released February 11, 2014.

The other thing that sucks for we English-speaking fans is that in Japan, Hata-sensei insisted that volumes 23 and 24 be released together so that folks could get the final two volumes of the Golden Week in Greece. We won't see volume 24 until September 2014, assuming Viz doesn't push it out even further. *_*  Isn't that just lovely, eh?

I realize that not enough folks are buying Hayate the Combat Butler, otherwise Viz would sell these on a proper, four volumes per year schedule rather than the measly two volumes per year we are graced with. It really is a shame because this is a really good manga series, combining whacky comedy, romantic comedy, and interesting stories.

Yotsuba&! Manga Volume 12 Review (Autumn goodness, complete with Halloween and camping.)

よつばと！
Yotsuba&! Volume 12 Review

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*SPOILERS*

Yotsuba&! is the one I look forward to most, simply to escape from a world of stupidity all around me to one of innocence. Of all the manga purchases I make, there is no doubt that

There are five stories in this manga. The first story has Yotsuba house sitting at the Ayase home when Tora comes by to visit  Asagi. Tora has never seemed that comfortable with Yotsuba, but you can see her warming up to spending time with Yotsuba, even taking the time to show Yotsuba how to tie a bow knot. I'd like to see more of Tora becoming more fond of Yotsuba and warming up to her even more in the future.

The second story has Yotsbua and Koiwai visiting Jumbo, where Jumbo is painting a table. That gives Yotsbua the idea to paint the kitchen table at home. She tries not to make a mess, but does so anyway.  I love the kid logic here in that Yotsuba thinks that if she paints the table, her dad will be happily surprised. I also liked how when Yotsuba saw she was dribbling paint on the floor, she thought to put down newspaper. When she tread into the paint with her socked feet, she takes her socks off to not make them messed up. In that regard, she is pretty clever. Koiwai laughing at Yotsuba's panic over not getting the paint off her hand was hilarious. Yotsuba's fear (and later depression) over not getting the paint off her hands for life is punishment enough.

For the third story, Yotsuba and Koiwai go grocery shopping, then shop for a bicycle helmet for Yotsuba, followed by cleaning up the paint on the floor, then dinner, then fun with Yotsuba's new helmet. This story is one of those awesome things about Yotsuba&! in that this chapter picks up the aftermath of Yotsuba's painting adventure. At the same time, this is really a chapter about nothing more than Yotsuba and her father spending a late afternoon and evening together.

In the fourth story, Fuuka and Hiwatari dress Yotsuba in a pumpkin outfit for the mostly unknown Halloween. Fuuka and Hiwatari then do some dressing up themselves and escort Yotsbua to a couple of places for trick-or-treating. This is so sugary-sweet (pun intended), and humorous since the Japanese don't celebrate Halloween. That said, Yotsuba cleaned up quite a bit for only hitting a couple of places.

For the final story, covering the final two chapters of the manga, cover Yotsuba, Koiwai, Jumbo, Yanda, Miura, and Ena going on a camping trip. I've never been camping before, but I almost feel like I have now, thanks to this story. I loved how the girls were put in charge of making the curry, yet Ena mostly dropped out thanks to getting oil splashed on her clothing. Yotsuba failing at cooking marshmallows over the fire made me laugh.  I was reminded of the first time I ever cooked marshmallows with my family over a bonfire as a kid. Good times.

Regardless, all of the other elements of the story were just a lot of fun from the girls being in the sleeping bags to Yanda scaring them with a stick and claiming it is a snake. I loved every moment.

On the Yen Press side of things, this volume is literally packed cover to cover, thus there are no extras. (Not that this matters since Yen Press's normal extras are just ads for other manga.) The Japanese honorifics are retained as usual and there are the occasional margin notes. 

As usual, when I read a volume of Yotsuba&!, I always have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. It is just a shame it will be a long wait until the next volume.

KILL la KILL- 08 (Time to hang out with one of the antagonists.)

キルラキル ep. 08
KILL la KILL SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

Satsuki announces that the natural elections for Student Council are on, as the students have seven days in which to fight by any means and prove themselves. At the end of seven days the survivors will return to the school for a sudden death runoff election. Satsuki seals herself off to spare her from attack while the battles rage below. The Elite Four decide they'll have a week of free time since they can easily defeat any attack. As the battles rage, Ryuuko borrows Mako's father's scooter, where she and Mako head to the ruins of Ryuuko's old mansion. Ryuuko explains how she'd been sent away, became a delinquent, then returned to find her dying father, whereupon she found purpose in trying to find her father's killer. Finding no other clues in the ruins, Ryuuko and Mako head back, but run out of gas and are picked up by Ira, who says his duty is to help students off campus.

During the ride home, Ira comes under attack by a newly formed auto club. Initially he tries to escape, but gets in a spin out and crashes. Ryuuko is going to help with the fight, but Ira stops her, taking on the challenge himself and defends her. Taking cover in Ira's shot up car, Ryuuko, Senketsu, and Mako witness Ira perform not only two transformations with his 3-star Goku uniform, whereupon he defeats everyone. He is reminded of when he was a junior high student council president trying to help the weak, and is helped by Satsuki, who reveals how she is different from the normal punks in charge of things. Ira delivers Ryuuko and Mako safely home, promising to fight Ryuuko on day seven. That day comes, so when Satsuki's runoff means the first five who get to the top of newly emerged towers are it, the Elite Four plus Ryuuko are top dogs. The Elite Four petition to have one-on-one battles with Ryuuko, which Satsuki agrees to. Ryuuko's first opponent is Ira.

Thoughts/Review:

The thing about KILL la KILL is that I never really know just what nuttiness is going to happen, something I mentioned in another way last week. This week was no exception to that.

It was rather amusing to me how the Elite Four considered Satsuki's seven days of fighting to be a week off. However, as witnessed by Uzu casually knocking a 1-star student back as the foursome took a stroll. No wonder their only real concern, as expressed by Nonon, was to not to forget to get back in time.

This week also gave us a good reason for Mako and her family to return to the slums last week. With the battles going on, as a no-star student, Mako wasn't in any danger, providing she didn't go attacking others.

The big surprise was how Ira honorably protected Ryuuko and Mako, even though his personal desire is to remove Ryuuko as a threat to his beloved Satsuki-sama. The fact that his Goku uniform transforms and shows him to be a masochistic was wrong, but funny. It also gives Ryuuko a means of seeing Ira in action prior to facing him.

As with Uzu, Ira got a flashback to when he first encountered Satsuki. He was an honorable guy back then, but powerless to save a boy from being forced to jump off a building because he did some tiny thing that the punks who's parents were people of influence in the town (including a police chief) were offended by. Their personally being offended by something trumps all else, and the offender MUST pay or else.

Satsuki comes off pretty cool here. When she saves the boy's life, but reveals how she now has power over the punks (taking over the one punk's father's business; making sure the police chief was accused of bribery), Ira wants to know how she's different from the punks. Her response was that she doesn't hide behind her parent's power, but she uses not only their power, but every other power she can get her hands on, then she controls that power.  She still remains the most fascinating character in the show.

Next week starts the Ryuuko vs Elite Four in one-on-one battles. We'll see how Trigger keeps things from just simply being Ryuuko defeats monster of the week.

In the end, a rather enjoyable episode.

Crunchyroll Manga - A Review of the New Crunchyroll Manga Section

With Crunchyroll getting into the manga business, I thought I should do a review of the Crunchyroll manga section.  Within this context, I will also be providing tips to help folks avoid pitfalls I encountered.

Crunchyroll's foray into the world of legal, online manga publishing is one I highly welcome, especially since they are doing "simulpub" work, meaning that for the manga they've licensed which is currently being published in weekly/monthly/whatever magazines in Japan, we are getting them on the same day in West and beyond to some 170 countries.  While there are only twelve manga titles currently licensed by Crunchyroll, should they add to this count, the service will only become better and better.

One does NOT need to be a member of Crunchyroll in order to read the most current chapter of their simulpub titles. As such, those simply wishing to read the most current chapter in Crunchyroll's collection can do so for free.  You do have to watch an advertisement prior to being allowed to read the manga though.

Navigation is quite simple, and I think most will find it better than the scanlation aggregation sites standard manga viewers. Readers are given an option of either a 2-page spread (recommended for those times when the manga artwork spreads over two pages) or a single page at a time. Moving between pages is as simple as either clicking the left side of the panel to advance (Japanese style), or the right side to go back. There's also an option to zoom in/out, and one can go full screen if one wishes. On my 28" screen monitor set to 2560 x 1440, the manga page is crisp and clear at full screen mode, even on the free side. Very nice for seeing more details in the artwork.

For those wanting to sample more of the manga goods beyond just the most current chapter, you'll have to become a premium member. Crunchyroll offers a two week free trial just for that purpose. If you've never been a member of Crunchyroll, you could even select their top premium account tier, thus giving you unlimited access to not only all of their manga, but anime and drama too.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!  When going for a free trial, you will be DEFAULTED to the "Anime Premium" plan, meaning your free trial will only allow you to watch anime.

If you want to change your premium membership plan, you have to change it at the top, which is easy to miss because the whole notion of a "free premium membership" means you get it all, not what they default you to.

In my opinion, Crunchyroll should have a better system in place for this, whereby they make it CLEAR that you have a choice of membership options, not just what they default you to.  Make a point of saying, "Pick a plan" first thing before choosing a ID/password.  Every other place I've ever signed up for makes things really clear on what you are getting. While I did see the "Anime Premium Membership" when I initially signed up, I just figured that this was what they called their free trial, or that it was all they gave away, but I'd still get free manga access as well.

If you do screw up, customer service is not the greatest. It appears that Crunchyroll uses one of those hideous systems whereby some computer application scans the submitted e-mail for key words, then formulates a response for the customer service person to send back. As a result, it took quite a few back-and-forth e-mails to Crunchyroll before someone actually bothered to read my e-mail, then told me I'd accidentally chosen the wrong option.  Technically, Crunchyroll chose the option, but I didn't realize I had the ability to choose something else. But I digress...

I did my free trial via PayPal, and this is another ding I'm putting on Crunchyroll, though I doubt they'll change how they do things since they could score a few extra dollars doing it their way.  The free trial puts you on a PayPal subscription plan automatically. So, when I chose "All Access Premium Plan," Crunchyroll was then authorized to immediately deduct the $11.95 subscription fee the moment the free trial ended.  I would rather that have been a non-subscription free trial, but if you sign up and then forget about it, they just score $11.95.

Changing my subscription plan from "All Access" to "Manga" was easy enough by accessing my account settings. Switching from a monthly subscription to yearly one saved me nearly $20.

It should be noted that if one doesn't have a credit card, one can get premium access for free by  going through various sponsor links and getting credits (like many online games have an option to do).

Even after making a premium manga (or "All Access") purchase, you'll notice that for a title like Fairy Tail or Attack on Titan, Crunchyroll only has the chapters that Kodansha Comics currently hasn't published, or scheduled to have published.  As a member, they'll give you a discount to sell you a copy of the printed edition of the book. Frankly, I found this disappointing, but not unexpected since the fear is you wouldn't buy a printed copy (or a DRM-infested ebook copy) if you could read the old volumes online for a subscription price.  I expect that when Kodansha Comics publishes volume 1 of UQ Holder, the first chapters that are in that volume will be removed as well, though I could be wrong. We'll see since UQH started from scratch, unlike Fairy Tail and Attack on Titan.

Much like Crunchyroll's anime section, the quality of the manga translations solely depends on the whims of the translator. So for UQ Holder, the Twins are keeping the translations in line with how they handled Negima!, which for me, is a pure win. For Coppelion, no offense to the translator for this manga, but I kept cringing because of the lack of Japanese honorifics and insertion of "superior" Western honorifics at times. ^_^; Most of the manga titles appear to retain Japanese honorifics though, and I do plan on giving these other titles a try since I'm paying for the privilege.

Since this piece is already long enough, I'll write another article stating how I think Crunchyroll's manga section can get even better.

UQ Holder Chapter 13 SPOILER Images (Update #1)

Here is the first SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 13, courtesy of the VERY gracious Southrop.

**********UQ HOLDER CHAPTER 13 SPOILERS**********

Up first, another family name from Negima!

This is KASUGA Mikan, who might be the daughter (or otherwise related) to KASUGA Misora from Negima, who was also a nun.


If there are new updates, I'll post them. ^_^

Update #1: A few more images.

Southrop has some translator notes for the upcoming chapter. ^_^ Thanks a ton to Southrop for the share.

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 12 Review ("...a boy without a winkle is a girl, and everyone was really disappointed.")

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 12 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Touta has a memory dream before waking up in the cramped room he shares with Kuroumaru at UQ Holder. Heading outdoors, some of the regular members of UQ Holder are drinking in their humanoid form. Their constant addressing him as "Touta-aniki" or as plain "aniki" irritates him since he thinks they are making fun of him, not showing respect. They refuse to stop since they are required to address the "numbers" members of the group with such honorifics.

Touta is also upset at the menial chores he does day in and out for only ¥200/hour. He wants to speak with Yukihime, but is denied at her request until he moves up to executive status by doing jobs. When Touta hears this from Basago, he thinks he has to do more cleaning, which amuses Basago, who then corrects Touta by assigning him a real mission with Kuroumaru, along with Karin as backup.

Meanwhile, Karin gets ready and goes to Touta's and Kuroumaru's room, where she discovers a naked Kuroumaru. Not only that, Karin discovers Kuroumaru is not male as she claimed. Kuroumaru desperately insists that she is male, but Karin isn't buying it, citing how improper it is for Kuroumaru and Touta to bunk together. Kuroumaru begs Karin not to tell Touta her secret, which Karin agrees to for the moment.

Now geared up and ready to go, the trio race to the job cite on foot. Karin explains they are going to the slums, an area outside the capital where the poor and undesirable are, placed there after the world decided to redistribute poverty equally among all nations. UQ Holder's mission is to protect such people from those who would attempt to slaughter the innocents living there.

They head to a church, where a nun has some small kids outside. Also outside are a group of yakuza-looking guys. Touta charges in, thinking these are the villains, and attacks. The nun tells him that they were part of UQ Holder.

Thoughts/Review:

Bwah!ha!ha!ha! I've been thinking all along that Kuroumaru was a girl, which is why my reviews of late have refused to use a gender term with her...until now.  Girl it is.

I chose my catch line quote in the header from Blackadder II, where the character Nursie is recalling when Queen Elizabeth I was born and everyone initially thinking the child to be a boy.

Out you popped, out of your mummie's tumkin and everybody shouting, 'It's a boy, it's a boy!' And somebody said, 'But it hasn't got a winkle!' And then I said, 'A boy without a winkle? God be praised, it's a miracle. A boy without a winkle!' And then Sir Thomas Moore pointed out that a boy without a winkle is a girl, and everyone was really disappointed. 

Besides being a funny line from a funny, British comedy, the line reflects fandom's attitude about Kuroumaru. For whatever reasons, a lot of folks wanted Kuroumaru to be a girly dude, have a romance with Touta, and so on. A lot of folks have stated how unhappy they'd be if Kuroumaru turned out to be a girl.

I never saw Kuroumaru as a dude. Everything about Kuroumaru screamed "girl" to me. As I have seen it, Kuroumaru was born a girl. She has all of the instincts of a girl in how she kept her chest covered to how she held up her arms in front of her, fists clenched below her chin, to express frustration with Touta. So for me, her whole body modification thing was an attempt to make her male, which failed.

Kuroumaru is desperate to be thought of as male. When Karin discovered her secret, Kuroumaru's initial response was to still deny her gender and insist she was a guy. When Kuroumaru saw that Karin wasn't going for it, she shifted to a plea to just not tell Touta her secret, and relief when Karin agreed, even though it was conditional.

So, I got to thinking. Why would Kuroumaru be like this?  We know almost nothing about her background, but we know that she's in a clan of some sort who appear to wear masks of some kind of bird design. Then it hit me -- what if Kuroumaru's clan is not a crow-youkai clan like Setsuna's, but were instead a clan of karasu-tengu -- a different kind of youkai?

Again, this is just speculation based on very limited evidence, but tengu are almost always male, hatched from giant eggs. We only saw males talking about Kuroumaru. The bird masks the men in Kurouaru's clan wear could be karasu-tengu type masks.  Tengu have great supernatural powers, and certainly we've seen Kuroumaru do something unique with the Kenfuka Bakuenheki attack (though admittedly, this could just be a previously unknown Shinmeiryuu attack, but it could be something special to Kuroumaru's tribe). Tengu can do shundo, as I understand it. Indeed, tengu martial arts skills are quite good, enough so that they've apparently taught ninja, samurai, and others.  Tengu, in more modern times, are protectors shrines, temples, and even help humans. Kuroumaru's tribe may have been the ones to teach humans the Shinmeiryuu arts.

So I can easily see a clan of karasu-tengu discovering a rare female born from a clutch, who then attempt to transform said female into a male because tengu are supposed to be male, but they fail. If Kuroumaru's body was already that of an immortal, then it would make sense that their attempts would fail. (Update: As pointed out, the various translations strongly suggest Kuroumaru's immortality came from the body modification. In that case, I'd say the clan's failed attempt to transform Kuroumaru into a proper male which resulted in her not only remaining female, but also resisting any further attempts to modify her body, no wonder they'd considered her cursed.) In a clan of nothing but men, she would be raised male, but she'd feel shame about being female, and now doubt, she learned to cover herself to prevent others from learning her secret.

Anyway, it is just a theory of mine which fits with the available facts at present. I could easily be wrong.

As to Touta, he's a mixed bag to me in this chapter. I give him brownie points for deciding that if he had to scrub and clean his way to see Eva, that's what he'd do. Naturally, he loses all of his brownie points by leaping before looking, thus attacking his allies because he assumed he already knew everything.  Touta's stupidity is what makes him so irritating as a character.

Regarding Touta's flashback memory-dream (which gave me a flashback to Asuna om Negima, who had similar amnesia and flashback memory-dreams), man was he torn up. No wonder Eva had to do something to save his life, otherwise he would have bled to death from his ripped off arm and leg wound.  People are speculating that Eva caused Touta's memory loss, and that may be right.  She would have done that to spare him the trauma, then just takes over as his guardian.

Speaking of Eva, I hope we learn what caused her to soften enough to join a group like UQ Holder, and its mission to help the weak. I'm pretty sure it was her time with Negi and the class, but I'd like to see that confirmed.

Sheeze, I've already written a ton. I'll have to be brief now. ^_^;

The slum thing is interesting, but exactly what I expect from social engineering types who think they know how to make everything equal and "fair" even though that's not possible.  I wonder if the nun at the church turns out to be Cocone. That would rock. ^_^

In the end, this chapter ended up being more enjoyable than I expected, as evidenced by how much I've spewed here. Looking forward to reading more. ^_^

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 430 (Time for a "go nuts" festival date.)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 430 Review
Hayate the Combat Butler

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Nagi and friends are enjoying the festival when Hina asks Ayumu where the good fireworks watching spot is that she found. She points to a nearby apartment tower, but Hina figures they can't gain entrance just because it is a good viewing spot. That problem is solved as Izumi reveals her dad owns the building and that everything is ready for them. Heading up to the observation point, Ayumu figures she'd call to tell Ruka and Hayate where they are, but Nagi stops her so that they don't get in the way of the time Ruka has.

Down on the street, Hayate and Ruka are chatting. Ruka decides that since she's no longer in debt, she'll treat Hayate to whatever he wants with the ¥20,000 she got from the doujinshi sales. After questioning that amount, Hayate then wonders if Ruka can do this since she's a famous idol. She says she'll wear her doujinshi mask and count on Hayate's protection.

Hayate goes nuts and orders a lot of food for himself, surprising Ruka. Hayate tells her that he can't hold back his excitement and that there's more where that came from. Ruka asks if he'll gain weight, but Hayate assures her that no matter how much he eats, his body fat has never exceeded 5%. He encourages her to let loose as well with all of the traditional Japanese festival things to do and foods to eat. He cites her never getting to do this as child, just as he never got to do as a child. So she agrees and the two have a wonderful festival date of fun, blowing the entire ¥20,000.

Later that night, the two sit on a bench near the water, where Ruka reflects a bit on things to Hayate before placing her hand on his.

Thoughts/Review:

Har! I had jokingly predicted on Twitter that the Student Council Trio would return in this chapter, and they did, though I thought they'd be back with their movie element. Instead, they were there to get the girls into the apartment building's observation area (or possibly a penthouse apartment).

I really thought we'd see more with Kuruso and Hayate discussing his older brother, but that was completely dropped in typical Hata-sensei fasion.

While I've seen countless summer festivals done at shrine locations or school locations, I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a summer festival held on city streets. I think this was a first because I noticed the difference in setting immediately.

Since Ruka appears to be making an exit from the series, save for the occasional cameo, I liked that she got a date with Hayate. The date was cute, but Hayate deciding to indulge was funny to me. Plus, I have to think that Nagi knew that this was the last time that Ruka would get to spend any real time with Hayate, so why not allow it?  I liked that about Nagi.

I do note with some amusement that Ruka did in fact sell 100 doujinshi. Hayate didn't press the issue hard, which I interpret is Hata-sensei's way of saying, "That's the end of that subject."

One never knows just where Hata-sensei will go from chapter to chapter, but he leaves us with the impression that may, just maybe, Ruka will have one final confession or chat about romance with Hayate. Then again, the next chapter might show the fireworks show and Hayate showing up with the other girls, sans Ruka.

Keroro Gunsou - 108 (Adult pastimes and deserted island fun)

ケロロ軍曹/Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunsou Anime Review episode 108

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

It is Children's Day and Tamama finds he's lost his tail. Keroro, Giroro, and Kululu help celebrate by getting sushi. They mention that as an adult, one can now buy, drink, and hit. Giroro and Kululu won't explain and Keroro is to involved in his collector's cards to notice. Tamama buys cases of the same snacks as Keroro, scoring a gold card on his first package, depressing Keroro and leading Tamama to know what "buy" is. Tamama heads underground to an adult, alien place, ending up at a bar, where he buys a cola on the rocks. Seeing another patron use a card to pay for their purchases, Tamama says he has a gold card, which gain him attention from an alien named Sayuri, who steals his wallet, but discovering nothing inside, she gives it back. When the police come to bust her, Tamama decides "hit" means fight, so he attacks and escapes with Sayuri. However, his tail has returned and she tells him that he wouldn't last in the world of adults. She disappears, but Tamama feels sure he'll see her again.

It is Golden Week, so Momoka has a trip with Fuyuki planned, but Keroro, Giroro, and Tamama tag along. Keroro accidentally hits the emergency eject button, sending them all out of the plane. Momoka wakes up to Fuyuki and is happy. When she realizes they are on a deserted island, she decides not to press the gem on her blouse for help. After catching fish for herself and Fuyuki, she helps make an SOS out of wood. The two go looking for water in the nearby forest, which Momoka notes is rather artificial looking. The two are soon attacked by Keroro, Giroro, and Tamama in power suits, but not acting themselves. Momoka defeats them, so they combine into a super mecha unit, which then captures both Momoka and Fuyuki. Momoka realizes she has no choice but to summon help, which she does. At the same time, the mecha gets fried in electricity and comes apart. Kululu reveals that this island is his testing ground, so he took advantage of his unconscious team mates to do some testing.

Thoughts/Review:

A couple of OK episodes here, but nothing too special.

The first story had some Space Battleship Yamato references with the in-series parody anime/manga franchise having the collectors cards thing.

Tamama becoming an adult was kind of fun, though the excuse to return Tamama to a non-adult was weak. Not that I didn't expect the status quo to be reset, but it would have been refreshing to have left Tamama as an adult.

For the second story, we get a parody of the combining mecha genre, though I don't know which specific series is being parodied. As to the island itself, I couldn't say what, if anything, was being parodied here.

As with the first story, the status quo is returned in the end, which is always the element of these kinds of series that I don't like.  I mean, it would have been nice for Momoka to get somewhere with Fuyuki.

In the end, a couple of OK stories, but as I said, nothing special.

Coppelion - 07 (A little bit of nuclear science, a lot of stupidity.)

コッペリオン Ep. 07 Review
Coppelion

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Aoi freaks out as Haruto has to get her to get him the emergency medical equipment he needs. With Ibara's heart not beating, Haruto does CPR, then attempts to restart her heart with a defibrillator, Aoi finally helping out. With her heart going again, the group returns to Planet, taking the 1st Division general with them as he's still alive, dropping him off at a police station cell. Haruto has to provide a blood transfusion for Ibara, who quickly recovers. Aoi is sulking in a locked room, so Ibara tries to get her out with reverse psychology, but that fails. Meanwhile, at the prison, Kurobe and Gennai can't get the general to talk, but Haruto does, learning that 1st Division are collecting nuclear waste to get it to the sarcophagus around the failed nuclear reactor, where they then intend to blow it up. However, they need Coppelion members to get into the radiation zone.

Ibuki is going into labor, but Ibara's attempt to get a helicopter sent fails since the Japanese government wants to put on a show for the world and not lose face.  Ibara decides to transport Ibuki to the hospital downtown that the JASA folks were going to originally. She tells Haruto about their plans, then they take a shelter tractor-trailer rig to the hospital, Kurobe and Gennai at the helm. Haruto tries to raise the other members of his team, but fails to do so. Meanwhile, Kurobe discovers that every route they attempt to take to get them downtown runs into a high radiation zone.  However, their route is deliberately being sabotaged as each one has a single, open container of high level, radioactive waste. Their next attempt to make it downtown is blocked when two unprotected high school girls stand at another waste container, blocking their path.

Thoughts/Review:

The problem with a series like this starts with the fact that the anime adaptation whacks off large amounts from the manga source, which would have provided a better story. The problems are exacerbated by the fact that the architects of the story (ultimately manga-ka Inoue-sensei) have done just enough research on nuclear energy to seem credible, but alas, the story gets injected with a lot of elements that are not true in order to push an anti-nuclear theme. I mean, if a sarcophagus was constructed over the reactor in this series, then why is it shown as being exposed to the elements?  I could go on and on, but I won't bore you.  I'll save that ranting for the final review.

As to the episode, Aoi continues to prove herself completely worthless. Sadly, I was spoiled about the character to a degree when I was looking over Crunchyroll's manga site, so my usual rants on her won't continue as I'll wait to see how that spoiler element I discovered plays out.

Again, the whole idea that a single helicopter can't be dispatched to help the Medical Unit is insane. Seriously, it is impossible to have 100% of helicopter assets to be in the air to impress the visiting gaijin. 

Then there's the threat from 1st Division, which while stupid, is supposed to be real within the context of this story. Ah, but nothing can get in the way of showing the gaijin that Japan is still awesome.  *_*  I realize the whole Japanese element of not losing face is at play here, but still, if Mishima broke the rules to get a member of the Cleaning Unit to help the Medical Unit, then he could dispatch a helicopter and ask for forgiveness later. Stupidity.

Finally, there are the two girls at the end, whom I was spoiled a bit on from Crunchyroll (not their fault, mind you). What kind of stupidity awaits us with them?

I was going to write more, but in reality, I'm weary of all the stupidity.  I guess I'm stupid as well, but there is a part of me that wants to see where this shambling mess ends up. So I'm in for the rest of the series, failed comparisons to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster not withstanding.