Star Wars: The Manga

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of revisiting the four part manga series retelling the story of Star Wars: A New Hope.  While the manga was originally published in 1998, I first discovered the series around the mid-2000's when I was still a snot-nosed teen.  The premise of the series alone was enough to pique my interest.  After all, Star Wars and manga are both staples of geek culture and to put the two together seemed like a perfect blend of ingredients (a la peanut butter and chocolate).

And to be fair, a lot of the lasting appeal you'll get from reading the Star Wars manga comes simply from seeing such beloved characters as Han, Luke, and Threepio represented in a whole new light.  Sure, the Star Wars manga sticks pretty closely to the film's original script and doesn't provide the reader with any new story material.  But, c'mon it's anime Princess Leia!  And while one would expect the novelty of the series to wear thin pretty fast, it actually never feels stale or tired.  Part of the credit for this has to go to the artist Hisao Tamaki.  While I am completely unfamiliar with the artist's work outside of this Star Wars adaptation, here he does a commendable job both with capturing the characters and environments of the Star Wars universe, but also with lending a sense of movement and life to the imagery of the comic.  The latter is where the book really shines.  Since it's an adaptation of a special effects and action heavy film, it is essential that the climactic scenes of the film are represented here with the same sense of excitement and movement that they had in their original presentation.  Thankfully the book's artist and editors were up to the task of adaptation, and the story's action sequences retain their fluidity and excitement in the transition from screen to page.

The strongest volume in the series would have to be #3, in which the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan is given spectacular treatment.  Vader's character design makes the transition to manga surprisingly well, and he has never looked more badass and imposing than he does here between the pages of the Star Wars manga.  The showdown between Vader and Obi-Wan also seems to have drawn some inspiration from samurai lore (an inspiration that works to wonderful effect).

If I had to add a caveat to my recommendation of this title it would have to be that this is a book for a very niche market.  And if you have to ask whether or not you're in that niche market, then chances are these really aren't the books for you.  The only other aspect of this book that makes me slightly hesitant to recommend it would be the fact that the book's contents were "flipped" for its American audience.  Meaning that the book publisher assumed that Americans would be resistant to reading the book right to left in the Japanese fashion, so they created a mirror image of the original artwork.  Unfortunately in this case this means that images from the film are reversed (ex- if Threepio was on the left in a scene in the film he would now appear on the right).  From a purist's standpoint this is a significant faux pas on the part of the publisher.

If you can handle the minor flaws that I just mentioned, by all means give this one a shot.  If nothing else it makes for a great curiosity piece for Star Wars enthusiasts.

Japanese Movies in the Year 2012

In my friend El Lobo's post on New Year's Resolutions back in January he mentioned wanting to watch more weird Japanese films.  I myself had already decided to embark upon a quest this year to watch an absurd amount of movies (read about that here) before El Lobo posted his New Year's thing, but I still found something worth emulating in his suggestion.  So heeding the advice (well, I was not technically "advised", but I took it that way), I made a decision awhile back to watch more Japanese movies this year.  Unlike Juan I am not limiting myself to the "weird" variety of Japanese film, but I'm not going to stay away from the offbeat stuff either.  OK, so truthfully most of my Japanese film consumption for this year has been of movies of the bloody/campy/horrific variety, but I wouldn't necessarily turn down an Asian rom-com if it crossed my path.  Get it?

So far my quest has led me to discover some true gems.  I've already talked about my experience with the 1990's horror film Splatter: Naked Blood a few posts back, but some other notable Japanese films I've watched this year would include Horrors of Malformed Men, an exquisite cult film from the 1960's that was banned in its native country, and Jigoku, a classic Japanese horror film about Hell and those who suffer in it.  There are more movies I could highlight of course, but I am sensing that such a list would be best left to a separate and longer blog post.  Seeing that my last few posts have been a bit bloated I'm trying to keep things brief tonight so I'll save that content for another day.

Horrors of Malformed Men

So perhaps then it's best that I end this post from a clip of a Japanese film that I watched recently, Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive.  Dead or Alive is essentially a yakuza film taken to absurdest heights and jam-packed with shock value and black comedy.  When I watched the movie the other day I was particularly floored by its opening sequence.  Seriously, that's how you grab a viewer's attention!  Watch what I'm talking about here.

Overexposure: Three Things That Have Grown Tiresome

Okay, so I would consider myself to be a pretty positive person and I generally think that the content of this blog reflects this worldview.  That said, I do go on petty rants once in awhile (as evidenced by posts such as this one and that one).  So as you could probably guess I have decided to eschew rationality and fairness  tonight in favor of a good old-fashioned Internet bitch fest in which I complain about things that I am really in no way whatsoever qualified to have an opinion about.  And the objects of my ire tonight are any pop cultural objects which I personally deem to be overexposed.  This is the stuff that might have had some value at one point, but has simply sat in the limelight for so long that it has lost its novelty and its ability to thrill.  There's a lot of stuff out there that could fall into this category, but I've narrowed it down to three things (some of which I used to love, some that I've always had a distaste for).  Join me in counting down the tedium of these expired artifacts:

1.  Zombie Related Humor: There was a point in time when I devoured anything zombie related.  Hell, this blog's very name stems from my zombie-philia.  So you can know for certain that when I say that I'm sick of zombie related media and merch that zombie stuff has truly oversaturated the marketplace.  And is there anything out there that has become more stale and uninspired than the zombie comedy?  Whether it's in film, print, or on the vast plane of crap known as the Internet, the zombie comedy has definitely run its course.  I think that the year 2009 was the last time that I had any interest in consuming any new "comedic" zombie stories. For me it was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies that was the last straw.  I was so totally behind that book just from the title alone when I heard about it on a zombie related podcast that I was listening to at the time (yes, I used to listen to 2+ hours of zombie talk a week, that's how into the genre I used to be), but when I read it I was disappointed.  The book read like a sloppily written cash grab (which is what it was) and the disappointment I experienced while reading it turned me into the humorless and cynical husk of a human being that I am today.  Okay so I exaggerate, but my point is still clear.  There have been so many shitty contemporary zombie comedies attempting to capitalize on the current interest in zombie fiction that I have become burned by the subgenre.  Sure I'll treasure Dead Alive to my dying day, but right now I'm ready to move on.  It's time for the genre to go into hibernation, only to be dug up again when enough distance has been placed between the public at large and crimes like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

2.  The Hunger Games: Alright.  Where do I even start on this one?  I am fully aware that as someone who has never read and/or seen The Hunger Games that I really have no place to be talking about it.  And I'd totally be cool with just leaving well enough alone and letting the tweens have their fun.  And yet the media is so oversaturated with Hunger Games crap right now that I have been drawn into talking about it against my will.  I think what bothers me the most about all the Hunger Games hype is that it's really just another symptom of America's obsession with the young.  Seriously, how else can you explain the fact that the hit media property at the moment in America is something that was written for 12-year olds (and whose central characters are primarily children or teenagers)?  It's cool if you're a kid who is into this stuff, but it kind freaks me out to watch adults obsess over things like this.  The Hunger Games film is 2 hours and 22 minutes.  In that time you could watch Citizen Kane and still have over twenty minutes to spare.  Actually there's a whole lot that you could do with those 2+ hours that would be a more fruitful use of your time as a full-grown human being.  And I hate to be the stereotypical nerd, but Battle Royale totally did this first and it's inevitably better than this Primrose Everdeen shit.  Now again I don't want to seem overly venomous against the property in and of itself (I've never read or watched it after all), I just want the media at large to stop bombarding the marketplace with Hunger Games hype.

3.  "Nerd" culture/pride: This one might seem weird.  First off, it's the most abstract of my three grievances.  Second off, I myself am rather geeky in the capacity that (a) I adore Star Wars and (b) I'm actually dorky enough to blog regularly about books and movies and the like.  But this is one (like zom-coms) that I actually like in small doses, but has grown tiresome and overexposed.  Since it's gotten to the point that people like Megan Fox are declaring themselves to be nerds, I think we can safely say that the term has become distorted and virtually devoid of meaning.  Therefore I have a problem with people calling themselves "nerds" simply because I find it to be an empty and incredibly unproductive term.  After all we live in a media saturated environment so it makes sense that most people would be enthralled by storytelling of some kind.  And as I stated in my last post, the Internet has made it incredibly easy for people with niche interests to follow their passions.  So basically its easier than ever to be obsessively interested in the minutia of a media property or segment of culture, so of course we're all nerds nowadays!  Therefore it is no longer really informative to describe yourself as a nerd.  Let's all move on.

Whew.  Glad I got all that off my chest.  Next time around will surely be a post detailing my favorite things, such as snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes and Japanese films that involve auto-cannibalism.

Hooray for the Modern Age!

What's up, my friends?  Today's post has been a long time coming.  Not for any good reason, mind you.  It's not that this post took a long time for me to crank out because it's some kind of masterpiece, but rather because I've been lazy and occupied with other things.  C'est la vie.  Anyway, today I was thinking about writing a response to my good friend Juan del Lobo's old post about the Victorian Age.  I had been wanting to post a rebuttal for a while now, but I was too lazy to do so.  But here I am now.

It should be no surprise to people who know me that I (respectfully) disagree with El Lobo's viewpoints.  I honestly believe that there has never been a better a time to be alive than the here and now.  I could explain my viewpoint by citing benefits of the modern age such as advanced scientific knowledge or civil rights, but since this is a pop culture blog first and foremost I'd like to make my case that there has never before been a time when it was easier or more pleasurable to pursue one's geeky passions to the nth degree.  And yes, this is a good thing.

The Internet has clearly been instrumental in breaking down the barriers that previously prevented people from achieving geeky bliss.  I remember as a child in the nineties dreaming of the far off day when I could watch the original Gojira in its original uncut Japanese-language glory.  Actually at that time the idea of watching any Godzilla film subtitled in its original language seemed pretty far off (granted I was 11 at the time and lacked imagination, but still) and now you can pick up both the Japanese and American cuts of the film on DVD in one package.  I bring up this story not to simply illustrate the joys of being a Godzilla fan in the 2000's and beyond, but as a symbol of how accessible the Internet has made various forms of culture.  With the vast information available on the Internet it has now become easier than ever to immerse oneself in whatever niche catches one's fancy.  Now that a plethora of music, videos, texts, and lectures have become available on the Web, the only real excuse for long term intellectual boredom is an inability to access a computer.

Some might argue that the our access to this unprecedented crap-load of media goodness can be paralyzing.  The consumer, they might argue, becomes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices on display and simply shuts down.  While I agree that this can be an issue, and while I have previously grappled with the idea of "wasting time on the Internet" (see my last post for more on this), I ultimately believe that the vast quantity of choices available to the modern geek is a good thing as it allows him/her to be exposed to a greater quantity of stuff, thereby increasing the likelihood that they are exposed to really niche stuff that they love, but wouldn't have otherwise discovered through a more limited or conventional media diet.  Another example from my life: when I first got Netflix I would paw through the DVD listings at random and add stuff to my queue that simply sounded cool.  Sure, such a method increases my likelihood of being exposed to irredeemable cinematic shit, but it also simultaneously means that I have a greater chance of finding that diamond in the rough.  As it happened I was able to use this method to discover the awesome Japanese zombie comedy Wild Zero as well as some "so bad they're good" gems such as The Apple and Blood Freak.  Now I'm not saying I couldn't have made these discoveries outside of the Internet, online retailers do have an undeniable advantage in that they can simply carry a bigger stock than the brick and mortar stores of yore (I wrote about this on my Tumblr awhile back).

Oh, and one last thing that we have that the Victorians did not is TAB.  You of all people Juan should appreciate the significance of this.

Guilty Pleasures of the Web

"A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. The 'guilt' involved is sometimes simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes. Fashion, video games, music, movies, and junk food can be examples of guilty pleasures." -From the Wikipedia entry

Isn't it really lame when people have no idea how to start off an essay so they just stick a quote at the top of the page?  I mean, it's such a cliche.  And even worse, starting off an essay with a source as dubious as Wikipedia should practically be punishable by death.  I'll just say it right now so you don't have to - I'm a horrible person. But as I outlined very clearly in my last post, I'm going through a writer's block at the moment and I'm trying to push past it so please cut me some slack.

All potential criticisms of my writing aside (which I have already addressed in a self-deprecating and humorous manner in an attempt to knock the wind out of the sails of any would-be haters), my use of the Wikipedia entry in the opening makes up for what it lacks in elegance by simply being useful.  And that, by the way, is why so many people continue to use Wikipedia, because for all its sloppiness and lack of depth, it also happens to be pretty damn accessible and useful.  I often hate myself for going straight to Wikipedia for answers to my questions because going to Wiki feels like such the stereotypical lazy college student thing to do.  And yet I still visit the site all the fucking time simply because it's easy and offers accessible (if not shallow) information on a myriad of subjects.  So what I'm getting at here kids is that I often use Wikipedia and often feel simultaneously pleasure and despair in doing so.  And in case you're totally dense and not following where I'm going with this I'll drive my point home now by explicitly stating that use of Wikipedia as a source of information is in itself a guilty pleasure for me.  I disparage people for using Wikipedia.  I have heard people speak of reading entries on the site for fun and this boils my blood because I find it to be such a shallow use of time.  Why read an online encyclopedia entry when you can read a book for once in your life, you uneducated cretin?  And yet while I'm may talk shit about the reading habits of others, the truth of the matter is that I visit Wikipedia often, and have even gotten entertainment and worthwhile information from perusing the contents of the site.  So yeah, it's totally a guilty pleasure for me.

Actually when it comes down to it, when I was thinking about writing a post about my guilty pleasures a lot of the examples I came up with were of Internet stuff [insert obligatory joke about tentacle rape porn here].  No, but seriously stuff like watching endless Youtube videos, or viewing mediocre Hollywood fare on Netflix instant, or reading blogs about Godzilla movies are all things I would consider guilty pleasures.  For example, even though it can be fun in a shallow way, there is something particularly pathetic about watching Judge Judy clips on Youtube.  It makes you go, "What has become of my life, that it has been reduced to this?"  And yet on the other end of the spectrum there is a definite pleasure I get out of such activities or else I wouldn't keep doing them.  I think part of the joy that comes from these activities is that they offer shallow fun.  This is pretty obvious.

I watch a lot of random crap on Youtube.  Some examples of the random crap I've watched recently would include a clip of Jaws winning an Oscar for special effects, a trailer for a Japanese comedy entitled Big Tits Zombie, and a nineties Celine Dion video.  While these three videos are all seemingly random works, they are all entertaining in similar ways.  For example, they're all immediately accessible.  You don't need a PhD in literature to understand why Big Tits Zombie is funny or to let the dated '90's pop of "That's the Way It Is" wash over you.  But in a more abstract way I also find these videos entertaining in the fact that killing time in itself can be an amusing activity.  Let me explain this point further.  What I mean is that by watching a seemingly endless stream of pop culture waste product on the Internet I am communicating to myself that I have the free time to waste.  And how luxurious it is to be young and feel confident enough in the time I have left on this earth to be OK with watching a slew of shitty 1990's pop music videos instead of, y'know, doing something worthwhile with my time.  It is a luxury to be able to afford to waste time and it is a privilege I treasure.  Am I proud to waste my time on Youtube watching crap?  Not necessarily, but it's something I'm not going to give up anytime soon.  I'm a sucker for the luxurious frivolity of the whole Youtube thing.

Ramblings on Writer's Block

Hi how's it going?  Actually don't answer that, let me tell you how life is working out for me instead.  Remember back a few months ago when I did that post entitled New Year's Resolutions which was about (obviously) my goals for the year?  Well I figured it was time to update y'all on how that stuff was working out for me.  To make a long story short what you need to know is that I'm on pace with everything except for my blog postings.  In regards to my blog I must say that I am dreadfully behind on my posting quota.  And now to reiterate that point with a needless amount of extraneous details: I'm 20% done consuming my book and film quota for this year (I've watched 101 films and read 10 books this year so far), yet I am only an abysmal 10% through with my goal of posting 100 blog entries in 2012.  Which means I've got to put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, if I want to finish my blog posting goal for the year.

Why should this concern you, my reader(s)?  Well, if I'm gonna keep posting and getting my count up then that means I'm going to have to become less particular about what kind of stuff I post to my blog.  Truth be told I felt for my friend El Lobo when he described going through a writer's block on his blog in his latest post.  In the immortal words of Juan del Lobo, "Hey, sorry I haven't been posting. I was distracted by a new Tumblr account, which didn't turn out to be as fun as I thought it would be. Also, I was suffering the consequences of a mild mental disturbance, to quote Middlemarch, in that I had a bad bout of writer's block."  Yes, my friend, I am with you one hundred percent.  I too have been neglecting my precious Zombie Baby in favor of other pursuits, some of which are rather legitimate (such as writing my midterms, launching Zombie Baby's sister Tumblr blog, reading a motherfucking book or two), and others which are possibly less legit (for example, consuming copious amounts of TAB and watching Danity Kane videos from back in the day).  And yet what all this comes down to is that I just haven't been posting recently.  And when I get out of the posting groove I tend to get rusty and develop a writer's block a la Guido Contini in Nine.

Nine

And being that I've established quotas for myself I'm just going to need to push past this block and start throwing stuff against the wall to see if anything sticks.  Which means that I might start posting more weird, pseudo-posts like this one about how I can't think of anything to write about (yes, I really have just spent 400+ words to communicate that I have nothing to say...see what I did there?)  But don't get me wrong now I do have a handful of ideas for future posts, it's just that a lot of my ideas are kind of lame.  I mean, I'm not gonna start posting some irredeemably vapid shit about award season fashion don'ts or what have you, but I will let you know that I may be posting some more conceptually tepid material.  But it's for my own good.  I feel that it's all too easy to avoid writing by simply telling myself that I have nothing to say, but that's not true. Again to refute this claim I'd like to direct your attention to this post, in which I have devoted a hefty block of text to a virtually non-existent subject.

Forgive me for rambling.  What I mean to say is simple: in the future I would like to take an active stand against writer's block and to be a more productive blogger.  And let's start here.  BANG, another post to add to the finished pile.  See?  Who says writing needs coherence and purpose?