reyyy ([info]reyyy) wrote,
@ 2008-04-14 04:21:00
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Current music:new mars volta

Stop freaking out
for a minute to inform you of my favorite 3 manga right now:

ZETMAN:

It's got the intensity and rage of Berserk, but the pacing and restraint of Vagabond. It also has transformations and monsters and hyper violence on par with Guyver. The fight scenes are way bad assly illustrated.

RAL GRAD:

This comic is pure entertainment. It's all about a young warrior battling with a dragon hiding in his shadow, and all of his decisions in life are based on titties. Takeshi Obata is the former artist of DEATH NOTE, another sensational comic. Though Death Note was mostly casual, Obata throws down hard in this one. He is NO SLOUCH when it comes to action, monsters, angles, everything. I'd say he's one of the most fluid action comic artists operating right now. Jason from Floating World originally showed me this comic, saying it was perfect for me. And it is. You can tell both the writer and artist are having a lot of fun doing this. I wish I could've found a better picture to plug, but it seems Ral Grad is still pretty unknown. That will probably change soon.

O-PARTS HUNTER:

This shit is silly and fun, which is why it's rad. It's totally Dragon Ball mixed with Naruto, exactly. Harmoniously fitting, due to the creator being the younger twin brother of the Naruto creator. I don't think anyone else could pull this off with the sincerity this dude can. If there's any question, just remember that the main character has a boomerang (sweet).

Good inspiring comics help me make comics. Since my last flip out post I've drawn some new pages. Go me.

I also want to honorably mention the documentary Zeitgeist which I only just saw, and was blown away by:

Zeitgeistmovie.com

A lot of the times when I'm depressed about life, it seems that I have no good reason. Art and living each day is really pretty rad. If anything upsets me, it's the bullshit system we humans have created in the last couple hundred years, that we are enslaved by. Social status, religion, money... THAT SHIT ALL DEPRESSES ME. And this movie, although not absolute truth, spoke to me in a way that seemed very organic to me. Give it a try if you feel like I do. Like a round mango in a crab juice world.

Cool. See you guyz.


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[info]adora_spintriae
2008-04-14 12:04 pm UTC (link)
although not absolute truth

Understatement of the year. It's really sad that any good points that could be focused on and discussed in an intelligent way get lost in that film amid the bullshit conspiracy theories, illogical emotive appeals, abusive ahistoricity and general nutcasey-ness. Strangely enough, in this way it perfectly resembles the religion(s) it has such a raging hate-on for. Hypocrisy at its best.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-14 09:00 pm UTC (link)
What I like most about the film's explanation of Religion(s) is how they are ALL based on the Sun, it's relation to earth, and the seasons the sun goes through, and it's impact on human life. It just makes perfect sense to me. The Sun is our "God". Religions are just fancy ways for us to worship our environment.

I don't consider it bad or stupid to make stories based on the Sun, but that's what I believe most religions are. Jesus Christ is just the most modern version of the sun-god story. It's not dumb or stupid to believe the modern story of Jesus, I just believe it's another placeholder for the Sun. I personally love the Sun more than perhaps I love this guy named Jesus? Because I see the sun every day, and it gives us life. It's like looking at God every day. I really believe that's where religions came from, worship of the sun. But now, unfortunately, religions are used to keep humans in PLACE, and in tandem with the fucked up way we live (monetary value, respect authority, etc).

It's not like I'm worshiping Zeitgeist The Movie as the New Religion. They just pointed out to me the simple fact that our spirituality is not something that died on a cross hundreds of years ago... It still rises and sets every day. We aren't humans in mourning of our faith, it is still blatantly right above us, right here. We are actively still involved in it.

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[info]adora_spintriae
2008-04-14 09:52 pm UTC (link)
You're right: It's not dumb or stupid to understand the origin of religious belief, or to process myths in a contextual and historical way. But people don't do that. Most people who believe in a figure of Jesus don't believe he's the placeholder for the sun - they believe in it in a Messianic fashion, because they don't know - or don't want to know - the context of things like the Mithraic tradition and the combination of Messianic and cult myths that went into the creation of the figure through history. Their faith, for them, is something unrelated to the sun, because they're worshipping a glorified egocentric projection of human's messed-up dominance over the world, not a figure who encourages respect and balance in human life with the environment.

And this is completely ignoring the majority of people in the world who are not Christian at all.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-14 10:10 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, well that's basically what I'm trying to do with all facets of my life. Look at humanity beyond what it thinks it is; a virus that is dominating everything it can touch.

We are better than that.

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[info]adora_spintriae
2008-04-14 10:26 pm UTC (link)
And that's great. I'd just encourage you to maybe seek out some research about the topics in the film that wasn't trying so hard to be sensational and approached the material from an objective viewpoint, not starting from hyperbole like, "Everyone is lying to you".

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(Anonymous)
2008-04-16 09:41 pm UTC (link)
I think you and other skeptics take the movie, its messages, and its fans to the extreme. Not everyone who might somewhat "agree" with the documentary is a conspiracy theorist.

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[info]adora_spintriae
2008-04-16 09:48 pm UTC (link)
I see your comment reading comprehension is about as good as your ability to critically deconstruct a film. Good job, asshat.

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(Anonymous)
2008-04-17 04:27 pm UTC (link)
Actually I just saw this line of text ":26 pm UT" and I had the urge to reply.

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[info]parkas_4_kids
2008-04-14 12:18 pm UTC (link)
Are you reading English-translated versions of those manga, or can you read Japanese?

Berserk is one of my most favorite manga, though the last couple volumes have been a bit weak. Best series ever, though? Battle Angel Alita. I've been wanting to make comics like that since high school.

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[info]mannymar
2008-04-14 01:22 pm UTC (link)
Have you read the One Shot Zetman? That thing is pretty bananas, but it's very much the complete opposite of the serialized manga. I consider the serialized version as Batman meets the Guyver, which is pretty damn epic in its own right.

That version of Blue Dragon looks a million times more appealing than the Xbox game. No disrespect to Akira Toriyama. I gotta look into O-Parts Hunter, haven't heard of that one.

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[info]davids_life
2008-04-14 01:48 pm UTC (link)
I was hip to the first two, Ral-Grad is dope, but never heard of Parts Hunter. I'll check it out and report back.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-14 08:52 pm UTC (link)
O-Parts Hunter is called "666 Satan" in Japan, FYI.

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[info]vctrb
2008-04-14 02:10 pm UTC (link)
thanks for the manga recomends

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[info]inkandthunder
2008-04-14 04:36 pm UTC (link)
I've been looking for new manga to read! I'm always dissapointed in the end though... Here's a comic to add to your list, it's one of the few manga I enjoy lately:

EMMA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_(manga)
It's totally soft spoken, but give it a try :)

Weird thing, I met some canadians in Thailand who reccomend me Zeitgeist, I haven't gotten a chance to check it out but I've been meaning to.

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[info]uproarforreform
2008-04-14 05:13 pm UTC (link)
i never read Zetman before, but i really should look into it. comparing it to Berserk and Vagabond makes me EXTREMELY interested in it now.

i've read the new Blue Dragon and O-Parts Hunter though, just the first chapters of them and they were both oookkayyy. im assuming since you like them so much they get a lot better.

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[info]uppermindink
2008-04-14 08:08 pm UTC (link)
Me and COdy were talkn' the other day about how you would really like RalGrad and O-Parts Hunter.

Then Boom! You already are.
I remember being the first to buy both books when they were released at the local comic shop. :]

Woot!
Keep it rockin' man.

Sad that RalGrad is only 4 volumes and O-parts is I think 19.
Quick series, but very epic.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-14 10:13 pm UTC (link)
Oh really? Ral Grad is that short? I was wondering about that... shit. That's kinda awesome though. I like short concentrated efforts.

Glad to be thought of :]

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[info]halliday
2008-04-16 12:33 am UTC (link)
RAL GRAD is an adaptation of a video game called BLUE DRAGON, which may be the reason it's pretty short.

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[info]rsjr
2008-04-17 07:21 am UTC (link)
Wait.
The same Blue Dragon on Cartoon Network with the Akira Toriyama designs is this book Ral Grad, as drawn by the Death Note guy??

I honestly don't know what the make of this.

I feel a bit let down.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-18 09:49 am UTC (link)
They both have like the same exact premise kind of, I take it? But I haven't played the game.

But they are surely different characters and shit. I'm not sure what the deal is with this "Blue Dragon In Shadow" thing, but maybe it's like Journey to the West? The old Chinese story that Dragon Ball and many other things are based on? Some kind of common folktale?

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[info]jvchamary
2008-04-14 09:58 pm UTC (link)


Ral Grad and Zetman are superb.

But O-parts Hunter is a steaming pile of shit that tries sooo hard to be early Dragon Ball, and fails miserably.

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[info]reyyy
2008-04-14 10:12 pm UTC (link)
Heh, it is pretty steaming, actually (characters even STEAM in the comic when they use their powers!) but that's kinda why I enjoy it. It's like Gold Digger... It's not authentic manga, but it's cute and ghetto enough to be entertaining. O-Parts is basically the exact same thing. But the twist for that comic is not that the creator is a Gaijin, but that he's the younger twin brother of the Naruto dude (arguably the most popular anime/manga series ever right now).

But overall, yeah, it's nothing special.

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[info]jvchamary
2008-04-14 10:45 pm UTC (link)

I don't know if you like Kia Asamiya stuff, but right now I'm really into Junk. It starts off so-so but rapidly becomes messed-up.

Probably the best thing he's done since Silent Moebius, which was seriously fucked-up.

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[info]uproarforreform
2008-04-15 04:58 am UTC (link)
Junk is wicked good. i own the first six volumes. i was never into Silent Moebius as much as i probably should have been, but i was really wowed by Junk. Asamiya's Batman manga is also wicked good.

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[info]eplus
2008-04-14 11:05 pm UTC (link)
i totally remember sending you a link to that flick a year ago.
shits right on par with "The corporation" as far as getting you real good and pissed over something too big to be changed within our lifetime.

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[info]bamfed
2008-04-15 02:12 am UTC (link)
I just started reading Zetman recently. It's pretty decently alright.

Just let the bursts of depression be washed under a wave of inspiration. Sometimes it's hard to get through that shit, but soldier on, young comics warrior.

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[info]royalboiler
2008-04-15 07:55 am UTC (link)
I gotta read that Ral Grad.
That sounds awesome.
I'm alredy on some Zetman.
This is such a good heads up post.

Like I was saying before, Jiro Matsumoto is my favorate
manga maker on the block these days.
http://www.omanga.net/?type=proj&cid=freesia
http://kotonoha.monkey-pirate.com/

--I'll be @ dicecat central in 5 days.
we have some taking over the earth plans to discuss brutherman.

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[info]halliday
2008-04-16 12:43 am UTC (link)
I really like ZETMAN... it's the first book Katsura's done I can really get behind, though I'S had it's moments near the end. I just think it's interesting to see the Japanese take on the North American concept of a superhero (the dude is a Batman fanatic (as is obvious from ZETMAN's design... the "cowl" and all), but it also has the tradtional elements of Japanese superheroes, such as Kamen Rider and Devilman (transformation, human experimentation, monsters, and a monster cast as a hero). It's also interesting to note the different pace of his superhero story... I think I've read 7 volumes, and Jin's "origin story" is still going.

I like how Ral's motivation is titties... just like me.

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[info]halliday
2008-04-16 12:51 am UTC (link)
You might like SOLANIN when it comes out from VIZ: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=8403

Inio Asano is one of my favorite mangaka right now... I've read a bunch of his stuff scanlated, and it's pretty amazing. He writes these weird but contemporary urban youth stories about fucked up relationships, time travel, and ghosts. http://www.manganews.net/creatorinfo.php?id=1505 NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH and WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD are great.

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(Anonymous)
2008-04-17 10:28 pm UTC (link)
zetman was okey at the very beginning ,then there was thoses useless rape sequences and murder associated with fanservice,my interrest faded away with that .
Same as Gantz but without the reflexion on society .
My katsura love vanished after video girl ai then Dna².

check the katsura X toriyama short story that just being published in SQ jump ,you could like it.
the art are really ok the story seems to be average .
faf'

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[info]wedbertham
2008-04-18 08:03 pm UTC (link)
Zeitgeist is just a long-form version of your stoner friend telling how things "really are," but with better visuals.

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