Anime to Beat The Heat With +Contest Update

Greetings and salutations my fellow anime fans and friends! This month has been so blindingly hot that your blogger host has occasionally found himself half dead! The rest of the time I was either running family errands or becoming a bit addicted to Funimation's website. (Some Summer vacation, I think I'll have more free time when I go back to law school!)

Anyway, seeing as how most of us are likely suffering in this heatwave (wow, just a few months ago we were having record cold) I thought it wise and prudent and reasonable and some other words that make it sound like this post is more thought out than it really is that I should make a list of a few anime series that I think can help you beat the heat!

After all, if you can't use anime to make your life's problems more bearable, what's the point of watching it at all?



First up is Kanon!

Before you even finish the first episode, you'll feel cooler thanks to the heavy emphasis on snow as a motif! Virtually every outdoor scene is fluffy white with sparkles of ice. If you imagine yourself as the characters, you'll feel cooler in no time flat.

Imagine eating ice cream with Shiori outside in the snow. The real world may be blazing hot but Kanon's world is nice and cool. Every gentle breeze carries a nostalgia for the winters of your past and each girl is a soothing balm to the soul.

Of course, you may end up crying, but that's the price you have to pay for snowy winter in July!

But if Kanon's not your cup of tea. . . .



How about a hefty dose of Kamichu!

Yurie can teach you all the ways to relax and veg out in the heat! From helping adults rediscover their summer memories to curling up on the floor for a nap, Kamichu is the series where a student goddess can teach you all about living your life lazily.

Join in on a beach trip that's more than the usual fanservice-filled beach episode, take laziness to a whole new level and spend some time with a sweet goddess-in-training.

Kamichu is a series that reminds you not to go outside and die of the heat. Don't forget to make a donation to Raifuku shrine though!

Of course, sometimes summer heat can be worth the trouble. There are hot springs and beaches and even public baths that are well worth visiting. So maybe you'd like to head out in the heat with. . . .



the girls of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie!

Let Valkyrie take you on a tour of the best bath house this side of Tokyo! Join Sanada for a great hot spring bath after nearly freezing to death! Don't allow Laine to drive you to the beach but enjoy a day there after taking your own vehicle!

If there's one thing the cast of UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie knows, it's how to enjoy themselves on a hot day. Of course, fanservice here isn't remotely optional and you will probably be required to see some flashy transformation sequences. Maybe this is what summer is really all about?

So that's a few anime to help you beat the heat! Hopefully, we can all avoid dying from this heat wave that is making all of us realize the horrors of our local electric companies jacking up rates during the summer months! (Yes, they commonly do this and no the extra cost isn't just from your air conditioner.) Make sure you drink lots of water (soda and tea can dehydrate you!) and you stay out of the sun as much as possible. If you start feeling dizzy or disoriented, get to a shady place or inside, drink water and have it poured on you! Watch out for your older relatives and little kids. They're especially vulnerable.

Contest Update: I've decided to extend the entry deadline AGAIN for the Top 5 contest as I can currently decide the winner with a coin toss. (Maybe this was a bad contest after all?)

If you do want to enter, please use this

Contest Entry Link!

Join me next time, same blog channel, same blog idiocy!



Bye-ni!

Manga Review: Bamboo Blade.

Manga Review # 001
Title: Bamboo Blade
MSRP: US $ 10.99 (CAN $ 11.99)

Hello again my few and scrappy fans! I'm your Navigator Richard J., deranged and twisted as ever.

Today I am reviewing Bamboo Blade by writer Masahiro Totsuka and artist Aguri Igarashi! This one is a lot of fun and quite lovely. Here's the manga front to back!

The front cover features our heroine, Tama-chan!



The back cover does too as well as Kojiro-sensei but more on him later!



Now, on to the main event! As you know, we here at Blog of A Heretical Dub Lover like to have special guests for reviews and this one is no exception!

However, my guest reviewer is late getting here. (She probably overslept.) So I'll start us off!

First, let me tell you about this manga! Bamboo Blade is the story of Kojiro, a teacher at Muroe Private Senior High School. He's lax, not very pulled together and, as a fellow teacher describes him "an enthusiastic, sort of dim-witted teacher" who may be able to "shake things up."

Kojiro is also the comedy relief of the series. In spades.

The series starts, however, with our heroine Tamaki Kawazoe. After showing off her Kendo skills briefly, we switch to Kojiro as he makes a bet with his sempai, a fellow teacher. They will take their respective Kendo clubs' female members and conduct a match. If Kojiro wins, he gets a year's worth of free-sushi from his sempai's father's restaurant! (What does Kojiro give up if he loses? You'll have to read to find out!)

Realizing only afterward that he has only two girls in his Kendo club, the hyper Kirino Chiba and the ever-absent Saya, he quickly comes to the conclusion that it's time for new recruits! Unfortunately, his sudden EXTREME enthusiasm for Kendo scares people more than anything else but he soon learns of Tama-chan from Nakata, a boy who wants to join! She's a childhood friend and someone he's tried to get to join school Kendo clubs before.

Tama-chan lives at a dojo and sees Kendo as more of a chore than anything else. However, it's a chore she's mastered. Without breaking a sweat, she can take down anyone. Kojiro tries to gain her membership but her complete lack of interest early on may mean his dream of easy sushi might not come true!

Bamboo Blade is a well-balanced mix of slice-of-life, comedy and Kendo badass-ary. The fight scenes are extremely energetic and very well drawn in my opinion. The humorous moments with Kojiro are spastic enough to easily draw a laugh. However, what makes this series worth reading are the quiet moments.

One of my favorite scenes is a simple one. Tama-chan had tried to record a show but recorded a comedy routine instead. As she watches it anyway, she gets a little smile on her face. It's just a few panels but that smile tells you so much about her. It's also a decided contrast from her Kendo stance face, which would be at home on Musashi Miyamoto.

This is a Yen Press title so you can expect color pages. This series is no exception from the norm. Here's the lovely color page (the next page is also color but it's a table of contents, not a nice shot of Tama-chan so who cares right?)



Also, the paper quality is good, the pictures are very clear with stand out ink, even in shade and line heavy scenes of Kendo. The writing is fluid and easy to get into. Another quality product from a quality company.

The character designs are distinctive within the manga, meaning you can easily tell characters apart. More attention is given to the cute girls in this manga but don't underestimate the men. Kojiro and Nakata each get to look good and the first not-so-nice character gets multiple images of his SADIST face.

The contrast between expressions in general in this series is quite well done. The characters are very expressive, even Tama-chan in her own stoic way.

I already mentioned that the writing can pull you in. It also has a flowing plot that advances at a natural pace. The jokes don't feel out of place and the characters have plenty of personality.

Ah! My special guest has just arrived! What the heck kept you?

Yurie Hitotsubashi: Sorry. I fell asleep.

Richard J.: Why do you have a cat in your hands?

Yurie: This is Tama-chan. I thought you wanted to review her.

Richard J.:. . . .



Yurie: I'm just being silly. Please, let me start by introducing the characters now!

Richard J.: Well, I kinda did that but okay.

Yurie: Thanks! Here is Kojiro-sensei. He's in it for the sushi. He's our debt-ridden hero.



Yurie: This is Tama-chan. She's our disinterested heroine and goddess of victory!



Yurie: Here with have Kirino. She reminds me of my friend Matsuri. She's our energetic heroine!



Yurie: Oh, here's a Kendo scene from the manga.



Yurie: That's all!

Richard J.: Wait, aren't you leaving out a character? Where's Miya-miya?

Yurie: Oh. . . um. . . do I have to? I do, don't I.



Yurie: I'm glad I'm on this side of the manga. She scares me. She's our dark goddess of victory?

Richard J.: Thanks for the helping hand Yurie!

Yurie: Thank you for inviting me! Kamichu!

Will our heroine's heroic fighting spirit be awakened? Will she join the club and use her bamboo blade to kick some villain's butt? Will any other girls join? What does Kojiro's sempai want if he loses? Who is the mysterious Saya? Who is Miya-miya?

Find out most of the answers in the first volume of Bamboo Blade!

Also, check out the anime when Funimation releases it! 26 episodes of Kendo and cute girls! (You can also find more of Yurie by checking out Kamichu!, once available from Geneon but now coming at you from the same awesome company bringing us the Bamboo Blade anime!

The first volume of the manga is available now Robert's Anime Corner Store, The Right Stuf, Amazon and Books-a-Million! Don't hesitate to buy this one folks!

Oh, since no one entered, no one won the contest for the Afro Samurai Resurrection DVD.

Bye-ni!