Passionate Book Reviews

Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku and Other Rumiko Takahashi's Mangas

Rumiko Takahashi is a most famous, respected mangaka and a richest woman in Japan thanks to her works. They feature an interesting plot with unconventional denouements of critical situations, many impressive characters, rich action and humor.

While at Japanese Women's University she attended a manga creator school and published some short stories in its limited-circulation journal. After graduation she devoted herself to manga creation despite her profession. As a result, her fans and all readers know her as the author of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Mermaid Saga, Ranma 1/2, InuYasha and some other mangas.

Urusei Yatsura is one of her 1st prides (34 volumes from 1978 to 1987) enjoying great appeal and better known in the West as Lum (or Those Obnoxious Aliens). For this 1st professional piece of her work she was awarded the Best Young Artist prize. Its plot is rather simple - space invaders give mankind a chance if its representative wins against theirs.

A lot of humor, amusing characters and adventurous plot development define this and most subsequent works. It also provides good info on Japanese culture and mythology. Next manga plots and their characters grew more complex with this manga as probably the funniest.

It gave birth to an anime series, some movies and OVAs. Compared to the other Takahashi's screenings, this series is the longest (almost 200 episodes) starting 3 years after the 1st manga release for 1978-1987.

Unlike all her other mangas, Maison Ikkoku has almost autobiographical narration for not telling about herself, but for reflecting her life impressions during her beginning career in a tiny apartment with 2 assistants and heaps of drawing supplies.

Maison Ikkoku was released simultaneously with Urusei Yatsura and depicts inn dwellers like Takahashi's past neighbors. The manga was on sale for 1980-1987 laying a basis for an animated series and some movies.

Ranma 1/2 is a story of a guy, Ranma Saotome who after falling down a legendary damned spring in China was cursed to turn into a girl in cold water and backwards in hot water. He settled in his dad's friend's dojo (both martial arts masters) and will have to marry one of his daughters. Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura contain many comic elements about Ranma's opponents and his new family members.

The manga went out 1987 to 1996 with great success resulting into an anime series of 6 seasons. Its 1st 3 seasons copy the manga action with the rest as a separate narration related to the manga only by characters. The series wasn't popular probably due to its 1st half targeting the male audience like the manga while the 2nd drama-like half more interesting for women.

Her another manga (the biggest with 56 volumes) is InuYasha telling about a half-demon and high school student, Kagome transferred from modern Japan to the middle ages. There she became a reason for reviving the demon-man InuYasha and destroying the Jewel of 4 Souls giving its owner unimaginable power. On a trip with InuYasha, Kagome tries to return the jewel to its keepers by collecting its pieces.

Like earlier Mermaid Saga, InuYasha is an adventure novel with little humor but not so pessimistic. Its characters try to unite the Jewel of 4 Souls, each with his own aims.

InuYasha circulated for 12 years (1996 - 2008) winning the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2002 as the best shonen manga of the year. It grew into an anime series of 167 episodes, some animated movies and an OVA. The series covers just the 1st 36 manga volumes, so a sequel may follow.

In 1995 the writer's millionth book was sold with the current edition 100+M copies. 2009 saw the release of her new manga, The Boundary of Rinne (Kyoukai no Rinne) in the Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) magazine about a girl, Sakura Mamiya meeting with a ghost.

Book Review: Death in Small Doses by Bernard Steele

Books with terrorism as a plot line seem to be the favored genre of the 00 s. Certainly much has been made by the press of the concept that terrorists could attempt to detonate a dirty bomb in some densely populated place like New York. The consequences of such an action would be unthinkable.

Bernard Steele s Jihadists in Death In Small Doses have radiation as their central weapon, but it is not for a bomb, their plot is much more insidious, to put it into a vapor and expose rush hour subway commuters. The effects would not start to be seen for days. The number of deaths might only be in the hundreds, but the destabilizing effect on the government would be incalculable.

Of course a major problem is how to smuggle radioactive material into the country? You can hardly stroll though customs with a tub of it in your carry on luggage. Who are the most effective smugglers? Well the drug trade clearly are the experts. While we watch CNN reporting about law enforcement intercepting a $10 million drug cache at the border, how many of those $10 million loads do make it to the market? The answer unfortunately is most of them.

Bernard Steele has created a very intricate plot in this book. He needed to create a segway whereby the authorities could discover the terrorists scheme, sure he could have had the NSA discovering some covert phone call, or email conversation, but this has been done to death in other novels. Instead he takes us into an interesting sub plot, indeed it is drug smugglers that import the radioactive material, albeit probably unknowingly, and in the process they inadvertently contaminate a load of cocaine. When users and dealers start dieing the game is revealed.

One of the facets that I enjoyed was Steele s Jihadists, yes they were as dedicated as the animals that pulled off 911, but they were also long term US residents who have become an accepted and mostly respected part of the local community. These are no AK47 toting thugs, but well dressed and well educated business men. There is also an interesting twist at the end of the book that certainly leaves Bernard Steele the option to reuse some of his characters in a future work. If he does take that road I hope that in book two he fleshes out the characters a little. I liked what I saw and think that someone like Sammy the butcher (as in meat!) could become a great focal point for a future story.

I enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and written from several viewpoints. The different viewpoint style though, is one that has to be managed carefully in order not to confuse the reader. There are two aspects in particular, length of time spent with a character, if you hop from character to character every couple of pages, the book becomes choppy. Conversely if you spend too much time with a single character the reader loses the thread of what is going on elsewhere.

The second issue is how and when you segway into the change.

I think Death In Small Doses could have withstood a slightly heavier handed editor to smooth out the ride for the reader. But please do not be put off by that comment, it is still a very fine book, and for a first time effort Bernard Steele deserves kudos.

There is a web site that has more information about the book and the author, you can also order it through Amazon.

A New Trilogy of Novels - The Cyannian Trilogy

Listening to various scientific bodies located around our world, I contemplate their submissions of doom. The diversity of opinion seems, at times, contradictory, and yet, as Earth reveals in her changing moods the threat to humanity’s survival in the future, the majority of us continue to ignore her warning. The story of the Cyannian Trilogy opens in the first book with a catastrophic event that brings the current civilization on Earth to an end. Complacent attitudes have been commonplace, thinking such violent changes were inconceivable on a world that for thousands of years had provided humanity with a stable existence.

Since my childhood, I have been subject to a spiritual influence from my mother’s activities as a practicing spiritual medium. Over the years, her beliefs have eroded my skepticism, and I have joined her, and her companions, in their concern for our world and the people on it. I have always felt that the solution to our problems must be a combined one. In my trilogy, the development of a brotherhood brings all the races together on Earth to live as one people. The significance behind this idea focuses on three fundamental points. How the subsequent technology developed conserves Earth’s resources, the wealth of knowledge emerging shared universally among the new civilization, free from possessive attitudes demonstrated by the individual nations of old, and finally, the revelation of a more in-depth understanding of the purpose for our lives here.

Life today is in the fast-lane. No one has time to pause and rationalize over the meaning of our existence. My trilogy has been influenced by witnessing the experiences my mother had as a practicing spiritual medium. The insight she gained arose from her obsession for the truth, and which led her to explore the life beyond where she found it. My story, though a fantasy, reflects many strange experiences that have occurred close to me during my life. Uses real and hypothetical situations that submit an idea of what is going on around us as we live out our lives.

Cataclysm Earth, describes events resultant of a world abused. Heritage from Cyan, suggests a solution that focuses on uniting the people of Earth. Avataria, the final book is symbolic of pre-cataclysmic Earth, and tells the story of how, and why it all went wrong. I do not possess all the answers. Following my years of skepticism, I have finally settled upon an idea to air my concerns for our world and its inhabitants, and have applied it in a story; touched by countless psychic experiences.

Rough and Mitsuru Adachis Other Mangas

Mitsuru Adachi, a widely known sports (mostly baseball) manga author was born February 9, 1951 in Isezaki, Japan. Debuting in 1970, he became famous after mangas like Touch and Nine. They brought him popularity and recognition throughout Asia. His most works feature senior pupils or college students as lead characters. Since 1970 he has published over 20 mangas including short story collections and multi-volume series.

Manga Nine (released in 1978) is a high school baseball and romance story. It made Adachi a renowned Japanese mangaka and proceeded to 3 TV series. Katsuya and Susumu start playing baseball to impress Yuri, Katsuya's girlfriend later appearing the coach's daughter. But Katsuya is also adored by Yukimi... The intrigue is about love relations and the team's success.

1980 released Adachi's early big manga Miyuki (12 volumes). Wakamatsu Masato and his step-sister Miyuki are high schoolers in Toukyou living on their own without their father working overseas. Charming Miyuki is a star among guys around Masato while he dates Kajima Miyuki, a dream high school girl. Only after eventful years do the "flatmates" realize their personal preferences. The well-styled manga boasts an interesting plot, nice scene and youth emotions.

The next year saw Adachi's superhit manga Touch (26 volumes) finished in print in 2005. This shounen story tells about 2 twin brothers, their pretty neighbor and baseball activity.

The manga (1981-1986) belongs to a top author, Mitsuru Adachi. This wonderful writer usually relates his stories to baseball and Koshien, the stadium of the All High School Baseball Tournament.

The Rough manga was released in 1987 now counting up 12 volumes. It's a romance/sports story seemingly inspired by Romeo and Juliet. 2 young gifted sportsmen, Yamato Keisuke and Ninomiya Ami, come from rival confectionery families. Ninomiya's grandfather had marketed an owl-shaped cake, but Yamato's grandfather copied the product adding ears which killed the competitive business. After such a shock Ninomiya died cursing the Yamatos and starting their war.

Manga Nijiiro Togarashi (Rainbow-Colored Chili Powder, 1990) is Adachi's rare sci-fi manga (11 volumes). Here Shichimi is going to Edo (Tokyo's pre-capital name). His deceased mother had just left him a walnut and sent him to his half-siblings. Shichimi makes farewell to an old tough firefighter whose cloak emblem is the same with his. On arrival in Edo Shichimi faces a stranger sneering at outer peace and disillusioning people.

The H2 manga was in print 1992 to 2004 becoming Adachi's biggest work (34 volumes). It developed into a namesake series. Kunimi Hiro had been a baseball talent before learning his arm was crucially damaged. So he transfers to a high school without a baseball team only to find out there his arm had a wrong diagnosis being perfectly OK. Then Hiro arranges a premier baseball team against his ex best friend and teammate, Hideo, in the Koshien.

2000 released a 5-volume manga Always Beautiful Sky (Itsumo Misora) about 6 kids brought together by providence.

The Katsu! manga has been released since 2002. In it Satoyama Katsuki is a carefree and lazy teenager. His secret love, Mizutani Katsuki, has a father who was a pro boxer and inherits this hobby. Satoyama enters a boxing gym just to impress Mizutani but soon discovers genius abilities inside...

The Cross Game manga has reached 17 volumes so far since 2005. It proceeded into an anime series. The hero, Kitamura Koh, has long befriended the Tsukishimas. Their ties are even supported by symbols. But their friendship has to shockingly end some day...

In 2009 Adachi released a short manga, My Sweet Sunday, together with another famous Japanese writer, Rumiko Takahashi. It's an autobiography describing their careers in the manga business.

2009 also released the Q and A manga currently in 2 volumes. 15-year-old Atsushi Ando's family returns to their towna after some time. There he encounters fortunes and misfortunes due to pranks by his dead older brother, Hitsushi Ando aka Q-Chan, whose death caused this move. The biggest prank is that only Atsushi can see the ghost.

Mitsuru Adachi is a baseball fan as a viewer and even an owner of a team called Vitamin A. He's been focusing his manga on this sport for years leaving no doubt about keeping up the trend.

A Review of the ebook Child Safety Online

The advent of the Internet added new dimensions to the lives of computer users, many of them good, but as with a lot of things in life there is a downside. Many thousands of adults get caught out by online scammers and as we expect children to be more gullible than adults they need protecting from predators, making child safety online absolutely essential.

Protecting our children is mainly common sense, but for those who are new to the Internet it can be baffling without knowing what to watch out for and how to deal with problems. Before I review the ebook I ll tell you about my friend and her daughter.

Five years ago my friend s 12 year old daughter was groomed by an online predator and my friend had no idea what was happening until it was too late. She thought that her daughters growing behavioral problems were down to the transition from childhood to becoming a teenager those difficult years. My friend didn t know that she was using school and a friends computer to go online and visit chat rooms. That her daughter lost her childhood to a monster more than twice her age who she met in a chat room.

My friend fought back and was even instrumental in getting the law changed to help protect children more. It took a long time and a lot of pain and sorrow for all of the family before things got back to anything like normal. Although things are much better now the harrowing events of 5 years ago have tainted their lives and that can never be altered.

Whats In The Ebook

In Child Safety Online there are detailed tips of what parents should watch out for and how to deal with any potential problems from perverts. Apart from online predators there are other dangers which include pornographic websites, bullying, gambling and online games that are not suitable for children.

In this ebook you learn about two types of Child Internet Protection Software and how to use them. Also step by step instructions are given on how to find out what sites your children have visited and how to block them from accessing any danger sites. There are even sections on identity theft, spyware and malware and how to avoid and deal with the problems.

What I Think About It

Child Safety Online is well written and I felt that it explored potential problems and the warning signs to watch out for in children thoroughly. The ebook is full of excellent advice, in fact much better than I expected. To me the only downside was that parents could easily find themselves getting paranoid whilst reading the warning signs, but it s a sad fact that sickos on the Internet are a real threat and a little paranoia is less harmful than online predators who try to catch children at an impressionable age with the intent to do irreparable damage to those precious lives.

If you are worried about online threats to your children then I can recommend Child Safety Online as a source of good information and advice.