Finally got to put up my review of Polyphonica. =D
Title: Polyphonica
By all means this anime is average. There’s nothing groundbreaking about it. Ask 10 people and 7 will say they won’t go past the 3rd episode.
But for some odd reason, I enjoyed it immensely.
One reason may have been my hidden shallowness enjoying the male eye-candy (Photon, Renbart, and Yardio). Another may be due to intriguing idea of using music for battle (and the music didn’t sound too bad either). However, I know the main reason I liked this anime – it was because I liked making fun it XD. Stupid I know but it makes the show all the more fun.
It’s easy to tease when you hear the music the characters are playing on their instruments but their fingers don’t match the notes. Or how a serious discussion involves a close up of a swimsuit clad female-character’s butt crack. And said butt crack being on the screen for over 30 seconds. When you have only subtitles to understand what’s going on (and said subtitles positioned exactly where said butt crack is), you are inevitable forced to look at it and go WTF why? XD
The best thing though was hearing Photon sing. No guy is allowed to sound like that. Seriously. It was just…wrong. On so many levels.
It brightened my day.
Teasing aside, I liked the premise of spirits and humans working together. I’m still a little curious how this relationship works though. Photon and Corti obviously have a relationship that screams more than friends but I’m not sure where it’ll go. Corti being a spirit will live on forever while Photon being human will get old and crusty. The same can be said for Eufinley and Yardio. No other characters are mentioned or they themselves mention an actually relationship (like kissy kissy and babies kind) between a human and spirit outside of work / friendship reasons.
I’m also curious about those characters shown at the end of the final episode. I noticed several from the covers of the Polyphonica Light Novels (I was lamenting about how I still have a ways before I can read these). I wonder if there’s going to be more Polyphonica in the future? (If so, I’m game)
In the end, Polyphonica is an anime to watch if you have time on your hands and aren’t too picky about what you’re seeing. If you don’t take it seriously and just go with it, you might enjoy it. I did. But I have eccentric tastes. I liked Glass Fleet for goodness sake and everyone said that sucked!
Here’s the summary on the back:
Phoron Tatara’s no ordinary musician. As one of the rare Dantists who can summon elder spirits using music called Commandia, his gift is so strong that his spirit partner is none other than the infamous Corticarte Apa Lagranges. Sure, she may look like a young girl in her human form, but you don’t get nicknames like “The Crimson Annihilator” and “The Bloody Duchess” for sitting back and watching the daisies grow.
Now, at the behest of the Tsuge Divine Music Player Office, this dynamic duet travels the continent of Polyphonica on Phoron’s combination motorcycle/organ, following the song of the open road, orchestrating rescues and generally fixing whatever’s baroque! Some musicians wait for a muse to hit them, but Phoron makes his work for scale!
I officially love “Vigilance” – the new theme for my blog. Not only can you change the header but you can also change the background color @_@ Especially useful for a computer retard such as myself.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to use any other theme again.
This header is to commemorate the new Spice and Wolf light novel which will be released in December! Yeah! I was going to go for a winter theme but the coloring on the picture was being a butt. Plus I loved the way the Spice and Wolf logo came out (have no idea how that happened. I was trying to color something in when that logo appeared even though I had it on another layer (and I had that layer invisible o_O). It was creepy but awesome. I figured this was a predestined thing so I just went with it and thus the header you see before you).
Here’s to hoping the novel does well!
Prince: Pose for the camera! Sheila: *sigh* dork
Yeah! What a quick update! I’m so used to the next chapter on new manga to take forever to appear but wow! I guess the rising popularity of Crimson Empire helped spur on its next chapter. Thank you so much people translating Crimson Empire. You have brought more happiness to this world in the form of good looking men *jk*
Chapter 2 deals with Sheila’s new life as a maid/protector to Prince Edvard. We see how she first became his new protector (or in his eyes, his new property *sweatdrop* I wonder why guys in girl-orientated mangas always say that? Cain from Stray Love Hearts said that. Oni from Zeele Sacrifice said that. It must be a guy thing). Edvard is kind of…special. Seems like a common trait found in Quinrose’s men (not that I’m complaining. It just makes things all the more fun!)
In this chapter we get to see more guys! Yeah! *throws up confetti*
Aside from the prince, we have his “brother.” The typical ass. He may get better but for now…ass. =P (We also see the brother’s…like, right hand man. Nothing much on him…just that he’s there)
There’s some guy who’s wearing a pirate hat and fuzzy coat…pssfft. I love the ridiculous outfits some guys are forced to wear. =3 I think he has a sis-complex. Also, mentioned quickly was a knight who likes to do experiments. What experiments? I’ll let your imagination turn your thoughts dirty ^_^
Knowing Quinrose, he who smiles the most has the most mental problems...
The two guys that win for me are the happy go lucky magician Meissen and the demon Michael. Yes *fist pump* I’m always like this. I have 2 favorite types: The happy funny guy and the kind of serious guy (note that I never really like the angry serious guy…I just want to give him a wedgie than fawn over).
I'm too sexy for a caption.
Here’s the url on mangafox if you want to give it a read!
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/crimson_empire/v01/c001/last.html
More eye candy...if you like these two.
Title: Vampire Doll vol 3
Author Erika Kari
Vampire Doll is a series I started long ago but only recently got back into it. The reason? Well, the company releasing Vampire Doll is Tokyopop. If anyone remembers, a while back Tokyopop said they were going to cancel/place on hiatus certain titles – many I was collecting. Like the mature person I am, I shouted “You suck! Wah!” and promptly forgot about any titles I had with Tokyopop (wasn’t hard seeing how most of the ones I was collecting weren’t going to be continued for a while).
I was randomly looking for something to read on my shelf when I spotted Vampire Doll. I read it again. I laughed like crazy. Then I went online and found the whole series had been released. WTF!? Tokyopop finishing a series!? (okay, that’s pretty low because they have finished other titles in the past. I’m still holding a bit of a grudge…).
Happy, I placed an order. Volumes 4 and 5 got shipped to me first (>_>;). Later Volume 6 (>_<). Finally, recently – volume 3 (\ ^o^ /)!
For those who haven’t read Vampire Doll, the story is about a vampire aristocrat that gets sealed away. Many years later, the descendant of the one who sealed him away awakens him into a doll…a female one. Vampire aristocrat: WTF!? Rather than get too worked up over this, the vampire aristocrat eventually just goes, meh. Whatever -_-. Which is just awesome XD Most people freak out in a situation like this. Or at least check themselves out…anatomy wise. Not the vampire aristocrat (whose name is Guilt-Na-Zan BTW). He just rolls with the punches.
Oh, and the reason Guilt was unsealed? Was because the descendant needed a maid! Yeah. Guilt: You @#$%-ing kidding me?
I love the random humor in Vampire Doll. Guilt has such a complex about Kyoji (the descendant) that he attributes every misfortune in the world to Kyoji (and he’s usually right!). The secondary characters are just as good. My personal favorites are Vincent (the bat) and Kyoji’s brother (he’s so pathetic it’s great).
There’s really no story in Vampire Doll and that’s fine with me. It’s the humor I read Vampire Doll for! (And the characters =3 ) That humor continues to sparkle in volume #3 (see, I’m finally talking about it). The first story starts with Guilt waking up one day to find himself shrunken to literal doll size! If that wasn’t enough, two gay guys later try to steal him at a doll show exhibition (lol! Guilt’s reaction to meeting two eccentric gay guys for the first time was great =D). The series does get a little somber when we look into Guilt’s past, but it still retains some funnies.
My personal favorite are the omake 4-koma at the end of the manga. It takes the characters of Vampire Doll and puts them into an RPG video game world. As a video game geek, this just makes my day =3
Conclusion: If you’re looking for something to light and humorous with supernatural elements, Vampire Doll is something you may want to check out. ^_^
A vampire in priest grab…why does that sound so wrong?
Summary on the back: Guilt-na-Zan’s life has never been easy since being put into the body of a female doll, but what happens when he wakes up and he’s the size of a mouse?! and if that wasn’t enough, he then has to become a fashion model for some crazy stylists? And just what factors lead Guilt-na-Zan to become the great vampire that he is? The answers may lie in the past – before Guilt-na-Zan was sealed away from a hundred year!
I remember when I first created this blog, I said I’d do all sorts of translations on here. That proposition was hospitalized in critical condition when it became apparent Biochemistry Lab wasn’t going to let me do ANYTHING other than biochem. Now that the evil has finally passed, I can get to doing what I started out to do: Comic Sylph Translations!!!
Of course, at my current rookie level, I won’t be able to pump them out like that *snaps fingers for emphasis* I’m trying to practice with Nakayoshi titles since they are meant for a younger audience (basically are at a level I can read at without having to stop and go dur?). I’ll ping pong between the two so don’t worry if I don’t update too often with translations =) )
Note that I don’t do RAWS. Sorries ^_^;
Title: ストレイ・ラブ・ハーツ！ (Stray Love Hearts or S.L.H.)
Manga-ka: 硝音あや
コミック・シルフ vol. 6 (2009 May)
Room 12:
Translations for Room #12 can be found on my lj account: click here
**For some reason, lj does not like having spaces so it crammed everything together. I tried to fix it as best as I could but…it still looks a little…cramped**
For the summary:
O: "Is that a plane flying around in pre-historic Japan? Oh crap..."
Title: The Lord of the Sands of Time
Author: Issui Ogawa
Truth be told, I’m not much of a science fiction fan. Don’t get me wrong, I can do science fiction if it’s on the light side – in terms of names used for places or creatures, of the theories and hypotheses used, of descriptions used for a spaceship layout or whatever, etc. Hardcore science fiction makes me go what? What just happened? I think I missed something important.
So when it gets to the point where I can’t tell a name from a species from a place from a type of material used, that’s when I give up and turn to something more suited for my simple tastes. I know I could be missing out on something great and awesome, but if I can’t understand what’s going on, it’s not worth the pain in my view.
Thus the question, why in the world are you reading Haikasoru books!? >:O
Easy: because I want to support Viz’s light novel line. I’m hoping if the Haikasoru line is successful, then other titles like Shakugan no Shana can be continued.
However, so far I’ve found the books under the Haikasoru line to be very interesting. Zoo was my first step in – knowing the author from his other work, Calling You. I was greatly satisfied by the presentation of the book, both in terms of translation and the stories themselves.
My second book with Haikasoru is The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa. This is what can be considered a “light” science fiction book. The main focus of the book deals with a battle between an unknown species and humans. Both are vying for one thing: survival. Victory depends on who can defeat the other – but this can be difficult due to both sides using time travel to try to gain dominance over the other in battle.
The time travel explanation wasn’t too overly difficult. I mean, if I could understand it, then any one else can. Basically, the earth sends these human/android thingies called Messengers into the past to change the fate of mankind (because they’re losing big time). The only problem is by changing the past, the Messengers can’t go back to the future they were originally from (because that future no longer exists due to things like the descendents of individuals who died in the past no longer existing in the future (a great source of anguish for some Messengers for this means their loved ones might not exist anymore) or the introduction of future technology into the past changing the vary lifestyle of the people who do live in the future).
Most of the time we experience the world of The Lord of the Sands of Time via a Messenger by the name of O. I love O. Seriously. I just wanted to hug him. He was like a giant teddy bear that demanded to be hugged. I liked how O never gave up on the humans (even when they were being butts and had me going, you know what people? Really? You’re all going to die and you’re fighting with one another? =_=|||). Miyo is another character whose eyes we see the world through. Miyo is a character from the past – a shaman queen. I liked her strong will – despite all the shit going down, she still kept going. Other secondary characters were interesting but we never really get to see too much of them (guess that’s why they are secondary characters).
In the end, I greatly enjoyed The Lord of the Sands of Time. It didn’t require hard thinking and it even had romance (I won’t lie – romance and humor are two things that make me enjoy something more…I blame my gender and ancestors). I kind of found the reason the other species wanted to kill the humans kind of dumb. But then again, humans have done the same thing too. All and all, I recommend this book if you are looking for something dealing with time travel but don’t want to overuse your head trying to figure out the theory behind it.
That and the ending made me happy. ^_^
Here’s the summary on the back:
Sixty-two years after human life on Earth was annihilated by rampaging alien invaders, the enigmatic Messenger O is sent back in time with a mission to unite humanity of past eras – during the Second World War and ancient Japan, and even back to the dawn of the species itself – to defeat the invasion before it begins. However, in a future shredded by war and genocide, love waits for O. Will O save humanity only to doom himself?
Stray Love Hearts
My favorite isn't here...T_T
Little random history:
This is a series that runs in Comic Sylph along with Zeele Sacrifice. When I first saw it, I though it looked really cute but I was given the impression it was a yaoi! See, the reason was, in one of the chapters, it ends with two guys kissing. I was all o_O uh!?
But later chapters revealed they weren’t kissing – one was just examining the eye of the other…just, I guess in this world, you do it with your face RIGHT NEXT to the other guy’s.
After establishing this wasn’t yaoi, I saw on mangafox chapter #1 had been translated and decided to check it out. Now things make sense in these later chapters. Because I was all, why does she have to sleep in the rooms of these hot guys (not that I’m complaining =3 and no arkynox, not like that XD This isn’t hentai! ) or how she randomly enters the dreams of said hot guys.
My ramblings aside, it’s a really cute series. I like the hot guys (who doesn’t!) and the mystery. My favorite right now is Kuga (he’s so cute!). I like Ren too (he’s the blonde guy on the cover) . They have a love hate friendship. I like how Kuga (when he musters the courage) tries romantic advances on Hiyoki (the main girl) but Ren always jumps in and ruins it! Lol it’s great XD (but a part of me wants to kick Ren in the butt for the interruption). If you like reverse harems (Heart no Kuni no Alice fans especially), then you might like this series.
Here’s the summary from mangafox:
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Kozue Hiyoki is visited in her dreams by a man who steals her heart- literally! Determined to find him and retrieve her stolen heart, Hiyoki, with the color of the man’s hair and the tattoo on his chest as her only leads, enrolls in the S-Hall dormitories of St. Nazareth Academy, but quickly realizes that its residents are not at all like she expected… For starters, they’re all guys!
There, Hiyoki soon discovers that she has the ability to look inside her dorm-mates’ dreams, which may be the key to uncovering the identity of the thief who stole her heart…. But perhaps her biggest challenge is that most of the guys won’t let Hiyoki into their rooms, much less their hearts!
And here’s the link to chapter 1:
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/s_l_h_stray_love_hearts/
This comic is from the anime Polyphonica (thank you Sentai for licensing it!). It takes place in episode 6, where the gang is trying to find a lost cat – only no spirit power is allowed. When the cat final does get cornered, rather than give up and accept its capture, the cat jumps off a bridge. A friggin bridge. Now I thought, why would a cat be so desperate to get away from this little girl (its owner) that it’d jump off a bridge? That’s how this comic got made:
So that's why the cat tried suicide instead!?
Crimson Empire
Who WOULDN'T want to be in this position? =D
Another game of Quinrose (Heart no Kuni no Alice, among others). No idea the story but I know there are some hot pieces of meat running around XD
Anyway, this is the manga version of Crimson Empire. I spotted it on mangafox randomly. Here’s the description on mangafox:
“it’s about a girl who when she was a kid, she was sold by her family as a slave. She met a demon while she was at the slaver’s place who told her that she would be successful. She was later bought by an assassins guild and was trained to be an assassin. But after a little fight with the guild master, a legendary assassin, she and her 2 other friends were sold again. Now, to be bodyguards for the nobilities.”
The first chapter is up. It deals with our currently unnamed protagonist’s dark past and how she became the person she is today…I can’t make any judgment calls on this manga right now, seeing as I have only the first chapter to go on. But so far I like what I’m seeing. I like the demon guy. Maybe it’s the glasses? =P
Here’s the link:
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/crimson_empire/
A banner link...but no one uses those anymore D: !!!
Lol I was so bored at school yesterday I doodled a bit while waiting for my next class. I thought, this would look cute as a banner link and got to coloring it today. Trying to animate it was such a butt though!
Too bad no one uses these banner links anymore XD
Oh well, at least it looks cute!
Music: Seventh Heaven album by Kalafina
