Hi to all my loyal readers
I'm very sorry for disappearing off the face of the planet. I met my quota of posts for the class project that spawned this blog, so I took some time off to prepare for exam season (read: procrastinate preparing for exam season :p ).
This blog has been an interesting experience. It was started as a way to validate my manga addiction by disguising it as homework, and that's pretty much all I've done with it. Since I have exams for the next couple of weeks I won't have time to update, but I have a 3 1/2 week Christmas vacation coming up afterwards. Sending myself into a manga overdose-induced stupor will give me lots of material for Unrepentant Otaku, and I do want to keep it going. I obviously enjoy reading manga for manga's sake, but it's much better as a shared experience.
Monday 5 December 2011
Thursday 17 November 2011
Review: Ouran High School Host Club
Read Ouran HSHC online here
Watch the anime here
Welcome back, my lovely readers!
I hope this Thursday finds you well, and looking forward to a fantastic weekend. With 30 days until my first semester of university is over, I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend. Well I would be, except there are still 30 days until the end of my first semester of university, and it doesn't look like my workload will let up until the last possible moment :'(
Winter is finally settling in over this metropolis, and I'm feeling a little of the November blues. So I thought, how better to fix my under-the-weather attitude than with a super-cheerful and lovely manga that is also an anime full of roses and sunshine? And there's also a cross-dressing heroine! That's right, I'm talking about the hilarious, sympathetic, comedic, gender-bender high school romance, Ouran High School Host Club!
I've actually watched the anime, and the story matches up with the manga in most places, so I will be doing a sort of joint review of the manga and anime. Unless I specify that I'm referring to only the manga or only the anime, assume that I'm speaking about them both.
Watch the anime here
Welcome back, my lovely readers!
I hope this Thursday finds you well, and looking forward to a fantastic weekend. With 30 days until my first semester of university is over, I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend. Well I would be, except there are still 30 days until the end of my first semester of university, and it doesn't look like my workload will let up until the last possible moment :'(
Winter is finally settling in over this metropolis, and I'm feeling a little of the November blues. So I thought, how better to fix my under-the-weather attitude than with a super-cheerful and lovely manga that is also an anime full of roses and sunshine? And there's also a cross-dressing heroine! That's right, I'm talking about the hilarious, sympathetic, comedic, gender-bender high school romance, Ouran High School Host Club!
I've actually watched the anime, and the story matches up with the manga in most places, so I will be doing a sort of joint review of the manga and anime. Unless I specify that I'm referring to only the manga or only the anime, assume that I'm speaking about them both.
 |
| One of these things is not like the other... |
Monday 14 November 2011
Discussion: Licensing Manga in English (Pt. 1)
Hello all my wonderful followers ;)
I hope the weather isn't getting you down. Where I am it still feels like fall, but it's just as likely to be warm and sunny as it is to be cold and raining. I think there's so much rain because it's just not cold enough to snow here, but mother nature sure is trying her hardest to make it happen.
Anyway, as the title indicates, this is not a review but a discussion. On a manga-related issue! Hooray!!!
Just an explanation of how this is going to work:
The discussion will happen in 2 separate posts, published one week apart. This is so readers have time to acquaint themselves with the issue and join in the discussion as knowledgeable participants.
Part 1: The Facts
For the first part, I will present the facts of the issue as I see it. I will try my best to be impartial, but please understand that I'm only human. Please comment on the information I've presented. If any of it seems biased, or there are facts that you think I haven't included that are relevant to the topic, I will include another section on my post with these corrections/additions.
Part 2: The Verdict
The second post will be my analysis of the facts and my final opinion on the issue. I will try to present a sound argument using mature logic, so please feel free to point out any weaknesses in my arguments. In the comments, let your own opinions loose, and don't be shy about disagreeing with me. I won't reply to every comment, but I may post my own comment to keep the discussion going.
A discussion requires participation, so I strongly encourage everyone to leave a comment. It can be as short as a few words, but this won't work unless someone than me has something to say!
Well, let's get started :)
I hope the weather isn't getting you down. Where I am it still feels like fall, but it's just as likely to be warm and sunny as it is to be cold and raining. I think there's so much rain because it's just not cold enough to snow here, but mother nature sure is trying her hardest to make it happen.
Anyway, as the title indicates, this is not a review but a discussion. On a manga-related issue! Hooray!!!
Just an explanation of how this is going to work:
The discussion will happen in 2 separate posts, published one week apart. This is so readers have time to acquaint themselves with the issue and join in the discussion as knowledgeable participants.
Part 1: The Facts
For the first part, I will present the facts of the issue as I see it. I will try my best to be impartial, but please understand that I'm only human. Please comment on the information I've presented. If any of it seems biased, or there are facts that you think I haven't included that are relevant to the topic, I will include another section on my post with these corrections/additions.
Part 2: The Verdict
The second post will be my analysis of the facts and my final opinion on the issue. I will try to present a sound argument using mature logic, so please feel free to point out any weaknesses in my arguments. In the comments, let your own opinions loose, and don't be shy about disagreeing with me. I won't reply to every comment, but I may post my own comment to keep the discussion going.
A discussion requires participation, so I strongly encourage everyone to leave a comment. It can be as short as a few words, but this won't work unless someone than me has something to say!
Well, let's get started :)
Thursday 10 November 2011
It's Not You, It's Me...
Hey buddies
Sorry for the delay with this update. This has been a rather tiring week (first the workers strike, now the students strike... and it keeps raining) and I'm sure we're all a little fatigued. I know I am. So instead of a review, this is just a quick update.
In the last review I posted a link to read Yotsuba&!, but only 68 chapters are available on that site. I believed that it was no longer being translated online, but one of my readers corrected me (thank you for commenting!). Since manga that are licensed in English have a habit of temporarily disappearing from the internet (depending on how possessive the English publisher is), I wanted to post a more comprehensive list of resources specific to Yotsuba&!
The YotsubaScans blog has all the chapters of Yotsuba available for downloading here. I'm not sure if the person in charge of the blog is part of a scanlating group or just receives translated chapters and posts them, but they are being careful to respect publisher's rights. If you love this manga so much you want to download it, please be sure to respect the rules of the blog owner, which you can read about here.
I don't ever download manga of the internet (for multiple reasons, all of which are irrelevant to this post), and if anyone else feels the same way you can still read this manga online. YotsubaScans currently uploads its chapters on only one site, Mangareader. Scanlator's rights are a can of worms I don't feel like addressing, but let it suffice to say that if the blog owner says they'll only host their manga on one site, don't bother looking for it anywhere else on the internet. If any site is found to be hosting manga they're not supposed to have, it will get taken down p.d.q. (pretty darn quick, for all you linguistically-limited folks). Since the blog owner has promised to upload to Mangareader, the most reliable place to read Yotsuba&! and check for updates is Mangareader. You can read Yotsuba&! on Mangareader by clicking here.
Summary:
Download chapters of Yotsuba&! here
Read Yotsuba&! online here
Play the dress-up game here
(okay that last link wasn't actually mentioned in the update, but it's a cute game, and both real and imaginary 4-year-olds love it)
Sorry for the delay with this update. This has been a rather tiring week (first the workers strike, now the students strike... and it keeps raining) and I'm sure we're all a little fatigued. I know I am. So instead of a review, this is just a quick update.
In the last review I posted a link to read Yotsuba&!, but only 68 chapters are available on that site. I believed that it was no longer being translated online, but one of my readers corrected me (thank you for commenting!). Since manga that are licensed in English have a habit of temporarily disappearing from the internet (depending on how possessive the English publisher is), I wanted to post a more comprehensive list of resources specific to Yotsuba&!
The YotsubaScans blog has all the chapters of Yotsuba available for downloading here. I'm not sure if the person in charge of the blog is part of a scanlating group or just receives translated chapters and posts them, but they are being careful to respect publisher's rights. If you love this manga so much you want to download it, please be sure to respect the rules of the blog owner, which you can read about here.
I don't ever download manga of the internet (for multiple reasons, all of which are irrelevant to this post), and if anyone else feels the same way you can still read this manga online. YotsubaScans currently uploads its chapters on only one site, Mangareader. Scanlator's rights are a can of worms I don't feel like addressing, but let it suffice to say that if the blog owner says they'll only host their manga on one site, don't bother looking for it anywhere else on the internet. If any site is found to be hosting manga they're not supposed to have, it will get taken down p.d.q. (pretty darn quick, for all you linguistically-limited folks). Since the blog owner has promised to upload to Mangareader, the most reliable place to read Yotsuba&! and check for updates is Mangareader. You can read Yotsuba&! on Mangareader by clicking here.
Summary:
Download chapters of Yotsuba&! here
Read Yotsuba&! online here
Play the dress-up game here
(okay that last link wasn't actually mentioned in the update, but it's a cute game, and both real and imaginary 4-year-olds love it)
Monday 7 November 2011
Review: Yotsuba&!
Read Yotsuba&! here
Play the dress-up game here :)
Hello folks
Thank you for the (single) comment on my last post. I look forward to more communication. I was actually sort of at a loss about which manga to review this time. There are a lot of manga I like to read, but I wasn't "in the mood" to go over any of them. In the end, I chose one of my all-time favourites. Note that the title is not "Yotsuba" but "Yotsuba&!" because each chapter is named after a different topic, for example Yotsuba and Shopping! or Yotsuba and TV!. So the title reflects the enthusiasm that Yotsuba has for life and each subject.
Play the dress-up game here :)
Hello folks
Thank you for the (single) comment on my last post. I look forward to more communication. I was actually sort of at a loss about which manga to review this time. There are a lot of manga I like to read, but I wasn't "in the mood" to go over any of them. In the end, I chose one of my all-time favourites. Note that the title is not "Yotsuba" but "Yotsuba&!" because each chapter is named after a different topic, for example Yotsuba and Shopping! or Yotsuba and TV!. So the title reflects the enthusiasm that Yotsuba has for life and each subject.
 |
| In Japanese "yotsuba" is a 4-leaf clover. Since she has 4 green pigtails the name is fitting |
Thursday 3 November 2011
Review: Fruits Basket
Read Fruits Basket here
G'day mates! (*Please comment on this post once you've read it!*)
Fruits Basket is a very popular shoujo* manga that was even made into an anime. The anime is only 26 episodes while the manga is 23 volumes, so some of the characters that appear in the manga don't appear in the anime and it has a different ending from the manga. I rarely watch anime, so this review is about the manga.
Summary:
Fruits Basket is the story of a ridiculously cheerful and good-natured girl named Tohru Honda. After the death of her mother and some other circumstances, she is living alone in a tent and ends up taking shelter in the house of Shigure and Yuki Sohma. Yuki is the famous "prince" of her high school and she is excited yet shy to be living with him, but she doesn't expect to uncover a major secret -- the Sohma family is under a curse! Some members are possessed with the spirit of zodiac animals, and turn into those animals when physically weakened or when hugged by a member of the opposite sex! The story documents Tohru's encounters with the members of the zodiac and other characters, as she learns of the terrible implications of the curse and works to break it (falling in love along the way, of course!).
G'day mates! (*Please comment on this post once you've read it!*)
Fruits Basket is a very popular shoujo* manga that was even made into an anime. The anime is only 26 episodes while the manga is 23 volumes, so some of the characters that appear in the manga don't appear in the anime and it has a different ending from the manga. I rarely watch anime, so this review is about the manga.
Summary:
Fruits Basket is the story of a ridiculously cheerful and good-natured girl named Tohru Honda. After the death of her mother and some other circumstances, she is living alone in a tent and ends up taking shelter in the house of Shigure and Yuki Sohma. Yuki is the famous "prince" of her high school and she is excited yet shy to be living with him, but she doesn't expect to uncover a major secret -- the Sohma family is under a curse! Some members are possessed with the spirit of zodiac animals, and turn into those animals when physically weakened or when hugged by a member of the opposite sex! The story documents Tohru's encounters with the members of the zodiac and other characters, as she learns of the terrible implications of the curse and works to break it (falling in love along the way, of course!).
| Yuki the rat and Kyo the cat. Our 2 possible love interests ;) |
Monday 31 October 2011
Some Recent Updates
Hello hello hello!
This post is to address some house-keeping issues, so please keep on reading even though there is no manga discussion.
1.
I've updated this blog a LOT in the past week. As you can see, the background has changed, I've added some new gadgets on the side to that even the least tech-savvy of my followers can stay updated, and I've added a resource page with links to some of the more useful sites for manga otakus and nubes alike. Hopefully, this makes Unrepentant Otaku a more interesting site to visit.
2.
I would like to change the update schedule for this blog. I'm trying to be consistent in my updates, and I know that while it's fun to see new posts, it can also be overwhelming to keep up with a lot of new content in a short amount of time. So from now on, I will be publishing new blog posts every Monday and Thursday.
3.
Please comment on my posts! I live for feedback -- it gives me a feeling of self-worth and accomplishment ;) You don't have to leave a long comment, but if you read a blog post please drop me a line in the comments section about it. You can say whether you liked the review, or if the manga seems interesting, or even if the review was too long and boring to read . I don't need compliments (although I like them >_<) but I would really like to interact more with my readers.
Also, since I've been updating this web page, comment on this post to tell me if you like the changes or not. How can I make Unrepentant Otaku a more interesting experience?
That's all folks! Expect your next update this Thursday.
This post is to address some house-keeping issues, so please keep on reading even though there is no manga discussion.
1.
I've updated this blog a LOT in the past week. As you can see, the background has changed, I've added some new gadgets on the side to that even the least tech-savvy of my followers can stay updated, and I've added a resource page with links to some of the more useful sites for manga otakus and nubes alike. Hopefully, this makes Unrepentant Otaku a more interesting site to visit.
2.
I would like to change the update schedule for this blog. I'm trying to be consistent in my updates, and I know that while it's fun to see new posts, it can also be overwhelming to keep up with a lot of new content in a short amount of time. So from now on, I will be publishing new blog posts every Monday and Thursday.
3.
Please comment on my posts! I live for feedback -- it gives me a feeling of self-worth and accomplishment ;) You don't have to leave a long comment, but if you read a blog post please drop me a line in the comments section about it. You can say whether you liked the review, or if the manga seems interesting, or even if the review was too long and boring to read . I don't need compliments (although I like them >_<) but I would really like to interact more with my readers.
Also, since I've been updating this web page, comment on this post to tell me if you like the changes or not. How can I make Unrepentant Otaku a more interesting experience?
That's all folks! Expect your next update this Thursday.
Monday 24 October 2011
Review: Bakuman
Read the translated chapters of Bakuman here
Hello again folks!
2 posts in 3 days? How exciting! (Actually I'm required to have a certain number of posts a month, and my teacher just announced that more posts = a better grade. On the plus side, this means more updates for you, which is still exciting!) After blogging about Sket Dance I read to the end of the last translated chapter, and there were more and more in-text references (breaking the fourth wall...) about this manga called Bakuman. They're both serialized in Shonen Jump so I can see why that would be, but it just so happens that I read Bakuman before starting Sket Dance and it's very worthy of a review. One thing to note is that the author (actually, a team of 2 authors) writing Bakuman are the same guys who wrote Death Note (a super-epic psychological manga that I will definitely review one day!). If anyone has read Death Note, Bakuman is nothing like it but it is at least worth a try.
Summary:
This manga is about 2 boys, Takagi and Mashiro, who want to be mangakas*. Mashiro is in love with Azuki, a girl in his class who wants to be a voice actor*, so they make a promise to get married as soon as he rights a manga that gets turned into an anime and she does the voice of the lead female character. The story starts at the beginning of middle school and has continued into their early 20s.
Hello again folks!
2 posts in 3 days? How exciting! (Actually I'm required to have a certain number of posts a month, and my teacher just announced that more posts = a better grade. On the plus side, this means more updates for you, which is still exciting!) After blogging about Sket Dance I read to the end of the last translated chapter, and there were more and more in-text references (breaking the fourth wall...) about this manga called Bakuman. They're both serialized in Shonen Jump so I can see why that would be, but it just so happens that I read Bakuman before starting Sket Dance and it's very worthy of a review. One thing to note is that the author (actually, a team of 2 authors) writing Bakuman are the same guys who wrote Death Note (a super-epic psychological manga that I will definitely review one day!). If anyone has read Death Note, Bakuman is nothing like it but it is at least worth a try.
This manga is about 2 boys, Takagi and Mashiro, who want to be mangakas*. Mashiro is in love with Azuki, a girl in his class who wants to be a voice actor*, so they make a promise to get married as soon as he rights a manga that gets turned into an anime and she does the voice of the lead female character. The story starts at the beginning of middle school and has continued into their early 20s.
Saturday 22 October 2011
Review: Sket Dance!
Read Sket Dance here
Hello to my loyal readers! (all 2 of you)
Your patience has been rewarded with a new update. This is the first of my manga reviews. From now on, expect updates weekly. The reason I'm choosing Sket Dance is because it's a very funny manga and I wanted an excuse to read it last night. Actually I was gonna wait until all my midterms are over, but after the mental beating I just took with the first 2 tests yesterday, I needed to laugh at something other than my own pitiful existence. You're actually doubly lucky, because I stayed up so late last night/this morning that I was gonna leave the blog post until tonight, but I downloaded the blogger app and am now typing this on my phone during a break in my midterm crash course tutorial. I gotta say -- as much as I love my shiny, high-tech smartphone (android ftw!) I wish I had a keypad. [Actually, by the time I get around to posting it, it will be tonight. But I started it earlier than I intended and it's the thought that counts, right?]
But enough about my misery -- let's started with the manga!
Hello to my loyal readers! (all 2 of you)
Your patience has been rewarded with a new update. This is the first of my manga reviews. From now on, expect updates weekly. The reason I'm choosing Sket Dance is because it's a very funny manga and I wanted an excuse to read it last night. Actually I was gonna wait until all my midterms are over, but after the mental beating I just took with the first 2 tests yesterday, I needed to laugh at something other than my own pitiful existence. You're actually doubly lucky, because I stayed up so late last night/this morning that I was gonna leave the blog post until tonight, but I downloaded the blogger app and am now typing this on my phone during a break in my midterm crash course tutorial. I gotta say -- as much as I love my shiny, high-tech smartphone (android ftw!) I wish I had a keypad. [Actually, by the time I get around to posting it, it will be tonight. But I started it earlier than I intended and it's the thought that counts, right?]
But enough about my misery -- let's started with the manga!
Thursday 13 October 2011
And so it begins...
Hello to all my readers!
Since I've created this blog, I guess I'd better get cracking. You can't expect to build a solid readership base if you don't consistently update, right?
To start with, I just want to explain this blog. As the name implies, I'm an *otaku and I'm proud of it. Being non-Asian, it can sometimes be weird to talk about manga in daily conversation. But here on the internet, I can gush all I want about manga and maintain my dignity.
This blog is about manga. I write about what I've read, what I'm reading, what I want to read and what I vow never to read. I'll also post from time to time on manga-related issues, such as distribution of manga, commercial and amateur translating, and even anime and light novels.
I am pretty much a beginner to the manga scene. I don't speak any Japanese except what I've picked up from translators' notes, so things may get lost in translation. I'll try to explain the stuff that I talk about, but if you ever feel lost let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to enlighten :)
So here we go!
*otaku: it basically means a geek, or a fanboy. Ie., someone who's really into manga, anime, or video games. Not a geek in the sense of being really smart or a keener, because in Japan that's a good thing ;)
Since I've created this blog, I guess I'd better get cracking. You can't expect to build a solid readership base if you don't consistently update, right?
To start with, I just want to explain this blog. As the name implies, I'm an *otaku and I'm proud of it. Being non-Asian, it can sometimes be weird to talk about manga in daily conversation. But here on the internet, I can gush all I want about manga and maintain my dignity.
This blog is about manga. I write about what I've read, what I'm reading, what I want to read and what I vow never to read. I'll also post from time to time on manga-related issues, such as distribution of manga, commercial and amateur translating, and even anime and light novels.
I am pretty much a beginner to the manga scene. I don't speak any Japanese except what I've picked up from translators' notes, so things may get lost in translation. I'll try to explain the stuff that I talk about, but if you ever feel lost let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to enlighten :)
So here we go!
*otaku: it basically means a geek, or a fanboy. Ie., someone who's really into manga, anime, or video games. Not a geek in the sense of being really smart or a keener, because in Japan that's a good thing ;)
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