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Just in time for Halloween, Kodansha International has decided to give Westerners a few tips on battling Japanese monsters with the release of Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt. The guide doesn’t cover all Japanese monsters- you’re on your own when it comes to kaiju- but is helpful against a very specific form of Japanese creepy-crawly: the yokai.

Yokai, according to the introduction, is a Japanese word that is notoriously difficult to translate. In English it is variously transcribed as ‘demon’, ‘goblin’, or ‘monster’, yet none of these accurately describes the variety and sheer weirdness of these supernatural creatures.

The book provides information on forty-three separate yokai. The guide is laid out in a fun, attractive manner somewhat reminiscent of a magazine, with lots of sidebars and little colored boxes containing quotes or important points about particular yokai. While each entry is only four pages long, they manage to convey a great deal of information. The authors provide physical descriptions, a list of each yokai’s supernatural powers, the areas where it is most often seen, and even a rough estimate of its current population statistics. They tell the most famous stories about each creature (including origin stories, where they exist) and provide references to the earliest known written sources about each yokai. Despite the lack of solid facts about yokai, the author’s entries remain remarkably free of speculation. Except for a few snarky comments, mainly about the reader’s chances of escaping certain yokai, they only repeat stories that have told in Japan for centuries (or are documented urban legends). The book also includes a helpful Japanese-to-English glossary and a list of recources for further reading/viewing.

Those familiar with Japanese culture will recognize several of the entries, such as Tengu and Tanuki. But a few will be new to even the most hardcore Japanophile. Who outside of Japan has ever heard of Wanyudo, a yokai who appears as a flaming cart wheel with an old man’s face inside, or of the ‘Bathtub-Licker’, an unpleasant creature who sneaks into your bathroom to devour the soap scum off your tub? And readers will probably learn something new about even the most familiar yokai; for instance, that are there two classes of tengu, one more violent than the other, or the horribly ironic origin story of Onibaba. It is these bits of arcane detail that make Yokai Attack! worth reading.

The book’s dedication appropriately goes to Lafcadio Hearn, a journalist who was responsible for bringing early knowledge of Japanese culture and folklore to the West. While Yokai Attack! reaches nowhere near the scale of Hearn’s groundbreaking work, it does provide an interesting peek into the darker, stranger corners of Japanese culture.

The yokai are helpfully separated into categories indicating the danger they pose to humans (Ferocious Fiends, Gruesome Gourmets, Annoying Neighbors, The Sexy and Slimy and The Wimps). The most dangerous, since I know you’re wondering, is the Tengu, followed by the Kappa. Not only are ancient legends represented, but also more modern urban myths, such as a ghost that exclusively haunts girls’ elementary school bathrooms.

The book is illustrated by manga artist Tatsuya Morino. The yokai portraits are drawn in a silly, cartoony style, which removed from them any air of menace. Morino is obviously a talented artist, but his style isn’t really suited to the subject here.

Yokai Attack! is a fun, educational read for fans of Japanese culture or horror (or both). More than likely you’ll be annoying friends and family in no time by reading snippets of yokai lore out loud to them. But hey- this information could save their lives!

Details

Publisher:Kodansha International
Author: Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt
Pages: 191
Format: Book
MSRP: $14.95
Date of Publication: 10/1/08
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Yokai Attack!

About midway through Sebastian Gutierrez’ entertaining vampire flick Rise: Blood Hunter, the lead bloodsucker asserts something to the effect of “Sex and murder are the only real pleasures man has left.”

But in the world writer/director Gutierrez creates, those are actually the only pleasures left to vampires, much to their cost. They can’t eat food, hold no love for their fellow creatures, are cut off from their families (due to their being, you know, dead) and must hide their true natures from unsuspecting humanity. And, of course, there’s the little matter of an irresistible craving for human blood.

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Some time ago, Douglas Adams wrote a short story entitled ‘The Private Life of Genghis Khan ‘ which lifted the curtain on the legendary conquerer’s civilian existence to humorous effect. The Great Khan breaks into a woman’s yurt, forcing her to treat him with all the banality of a middle-manager arriving home after a long day at the office. Later in the story, the Khan is pestered by his son to commence World Domination who in turn is treated to an endless litany of prior engagements that dissapointingly have nothing to do with conquering the known world. In the end (and I hope I’m not spoiling anything - skip ahead if you’ve not read it) it is only after being insulted by Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged that Genghis Khan is motivated enough to storm his way to Europe.

While Adams’ story is, on the face of it, preposterous it does raise an interesting question - what exactly did Genghis Khan do with his free time?

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An average student finds himself up to his armpits in monsters in Rosario+Vampire, a charming manga by Akihisa Ikeda from Viz Media’s Shonen Jump Advanced imprint. Of course, this being manga, several of the monsters are in the form of sexy young women vying for his attention. I recently obtained a copy of Volume 2 of the series, which was met with great approval from my nine-year-old daughter, who had been following the magazine serialization.

Tsukune Aono is an utterly average high school freshman, in the most literal sense of the word – he fall precisely on the median in many ways, including the high school entrance exams. Unfortunately, this undistinguished result prevents his admission to most of the best schools, but he is accepted into one exclusive academy. Upon arrival, he discovers it’s exclusive because its mission is to educate young vampires, werewolves, demons and other monsters.

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The fact that there are lesbians in Kannazuki no Miko shouldn’t be a big deal. This is the 21^st century after all, and I live in America, a >cough< enlightened country. And if sales of yaoi manga are any indication, anime fans are especially enlightened concerning homosexuality.

Unfortunately, the girl-on-girl love in Kannazuki no Miko is a big deal- but only because the unusual love triangle is the only thing the show has going for it.

The series opens in one of those fantastic, elite prep schools that doesn’t actually exist outside of anime. Himeko, one of a vast legion of orphaned anime characters, stays in the school dorms. She is the sort of girl we’re supposed to love: quiet, kind, timid, unbearably sweet. Except to a jaded old lady like me, it’s all too easy to see why her classmates feel contempt for her; she simply won’t stand up for herself. One of Himeko’s classmates doesn’t participate in tormenting her, however. Chikane is beautiful, kind abd good at everything, from archery to playing the piano. She’s the object of every girl-crush in the school, and is expected to marry Ohgami, her equally perfect male counterpart. But Ohgami actually likes Himeko…and so does Chikane.

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A supremely skilled fighter wanders the Earth, like Caine in Kung Fu, looking for the ultimate battle in Death Trance, a rip-snorting action film directed by Yuji Shimomura, action director for Versus, and featuring Versus lead Tak Sakaguchi as action director and leading man. The 2005 film is available on DVD in the United States courtesy Media Blasters.

Sakaguchi plays Grave, a mysterious man of few words who raids a hidden temple for a coffin the local monks had been guarding for a century. Rumor has it that the coffin will grant a person a wish. But when a Ryuen, young apprentice monk (Takamasa Suga), returns shortly after the raid, the head monk warns him that opening the coffin will release the Goddess of Destruction. He hands Ryuen a sword with an amazingly phallic handle and urges him to track down the thief with the sword. Unfortunately, many others are also after the coffin for the power it contains.

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Never fear, my friends- there is a Yuri Menace review on the way! Until then, hop aboard the man train!

In many ways, Fake is a mismatched cop story: the manga is about two NYPD detectives, complete opposites, who are paired up and have to adjust to each other’s different styles. While they often find each other exasperating, they eventually learn to work together, becoming effective partners and close friends. Except in Fake, these guys become more than friends. A lot more.

The story opens as Ryo arrives at the 27^th precinct for his new assignment with Criminal Investigations. Ryo’s a good cop, hard-working, conscientious, a read Boy Scout. To his dismay, his new partner is Dee, an impulsive, loud, lazy, belligerent guy. But he has a kind heart, so Ryo finds it impossible to hate him. Their first case is a drug-related murder. The victim’s son, Bikky, is in danger from other drug dealers who think he has some of his dad’s stash. Ryo brings Bikky home to live with him so he can protect him, but when the dealers make their move he ends up having to save not only Bikky but also Dee. Another kid falls into the story almost immediately when Bikky’s friend Carol gets mixed up in a mob murder. It’s Dee and Ryo to the rescue again!

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The boys are off to GenCon, and there’s not much going on in Asia today, so here is a repost of a review I did a while ago!

Familiarity can be a comforting thing. Children drag their favorite stuffed toys everywhere. Family pets are disturbed by changes in routine. Even adults have their favorite bathrobe, mug or recliner. But familiarity isn’t always good. Take, for instance, the anime Venus versus Virus. Every element of the show has been done before, not once but multiple times in other anime series. V3 is a blend of well-worn ideas, and the result is worse than bad- it’s mediocre.

Sumire is a typical anime schoolgirl- meek, sensitive to the point of near-constant hysteria, kind, apparently orphaned etc. She has recently moved from the dorm of her Tokyo prep school to an apartment behind the antique shop where she holds a part-time job. She lives with Laura, a little girl whose sole joy in life seems to be acting as annoying as possible, and her ice queen boss Lucia (pronounced Loo-see-uh), a beautiful but cold woman with a dark and mysterious past, deeply-buried traumas etc.

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Not much happening in the world of Asian news today, so here’s some reviews from the old site. Hopefully you’ve forgotten them so they’re like new!

Japan’s Studio Gonzo has something of a reputation (whether it is deserved or not) for creating visually impressive anime with weak stories and flat characters. Using one of Western literature’s most enduring tales as a basis for a new show is probably one of the smartest things they could have done. Gankusuou is a sci-fi retelling of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo and, somewhat surprisingly, it works.

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Before you read this review, in the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I am not a vampire person. I think they’re way overdone these days. However, there are lots of vampire fans out there, which is why I’m a little surprised that Black Blood Brothers has slipped under the radar in America.

In Black Blood Brothers there are two kinds of vampires: the regular kind (think Anne Rice) and the Kowloon Children. The Kowloon Children are a recently-emerged bloodline; their point of origin is the now-deceased Kowloon King. Kowloon children differ from regular vampires in two significant ways: they can convert humans and other vampires to their bloodline simply by biting them (regular vampires have to convert people the old-fashioned way: by feeding them some of their own blood, and they can’t convert other vampires) and they exert mind-control powers over their ‘children’. Also, while the earliest generations of Kowloon Children (direct descendants of the Kowloon King) seem relatively reasonable, later generations are raving lunatics with one impulse: to chomp whoever is in sight and turn them to Kowloon Children as well.

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