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1001 Nights (or Arabian Nights) is a collection of stories gathered over many years by Middle Eastern scholars. The stories themselves are less famous than the framing tale in which they were placed: Shahryar, a mad sultan, begins taking girls into his harem, spending one night with them, and then having them executed in the morning. Scheherazade is a brave woman who agrees to stay with the sultan. But that first night she begins telling him a story…fascinated by her endless collection of tales, the sultan keeps her alive so he can hear more.

Jeon Jin-seok sets his manhwa of the same title in the same place, and with the same sultan. In the Middle East, sometime during or just after the Crusades, and unnamed country is ruled by the young sultan Shahryar. After a nasty experience with an unfaithful wife, Sharyar creates a rigid schedule: Every night he has a lovely young virgin brought to his palace; he sleeps with her and, in the morning, has her beheaded. Even crueler, the women are made well aware of their fate beforehand.

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In the author’s comments section at the end of volume one, mangaka Makoto Tateno claims she didn’t know if Steal Moon would fit in the boys’ love genre, since it is a science fiction manga. She should have no worries on that account. Steal Moon is as much a science fiction story as Brokeback Mountain is a Western; slapping a ten-gallon hat on Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t make that film a cowboy movie, and sticking a couple supercomputers in Steal Moon doesn’t make it science fiction.

Nozomi is a young punk who makes his living by fighting people in narrow alleyways (I’m not totally sure how he makes money by doing this…does he take bets? Or maybe he just steals his opponents’ wallets after he knocks them unconscious.). He’s undefeated in the street-fighting world, so when a new challenger approaches with a rather sinister proposal, Nozomi doesn’t think twice about accepting. So when tall, dark and handsome Coyote beats the crap out of him, Nozomi finds himself having to do whatever Coyote says.

Usually in a yaoi this would lead to some rape scenes, but Coyote actually has something different in mind. He sells Nozomi to a company called Digital Angels. DA has an interesting business plan: they ‘buy’ people from other people, lock them in little rooms, and focus a webcam on them 24/7. Every time some perv on the Internet clicks on their particular webcam, the prisoners earns 200 yen; when they pay back their purchase price (usually in the millions) they are free to go. So they’re less slaves than, say, indentured servants.

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So a few years ago I saw a film called Uzumaki. It was a Japanese horror film, one of the creepier, more bizarre movies I’d ever seen. The movie was about a town obsessed with spirals; that odd, repeating pattern that occurs often in nature and human art. The movie featured a variety of weirdness, including a boy who turned into a snail, spiral-patterned cremation smoke and a girl whose hair curled and took on a life of its own. I slept with my head under the covers that night.

I picked up the original Uzumaki manga by Junji Ito because I liked the movie and was curious to see how it differed from the original three-volume story. It differs quite a bit. The plot is mostly the same, though cut quite a bit shorter in the film. The main difference is that the manga is far, far, far more disturbing than the movie.

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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!

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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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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One of the first anime and manga titles that caught my attention was the story of Takao Saito’s ruthless hit man who calls himself Duke Togo but is better known by his infamous code name Golgo 13.  A world-class marksman, dangerous martial artist and hardy survival expert, G13 sells his deadly skills to whoever will meet his price, including the CIA and KGB. 

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Not much to this, but damn if I’m not looking forward to hearing the new Dir En Grey album. You can find out more at their official site.

Oh, and while I’m at it (and because the above is not a proper video), here’s the uncensored version of ‘Obscure’ (probably NSFW depending on how lame your co-workers / boss might be…) Read the rest of this entry »

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Kaoru Mori has a thing for maids. Not like that, you pervs- she likes drawing them and writing about them. Mori’s maids aren’t the naughty kind either; they are English, Victorian, and very proper. Clad in ankle-length black dresses and fluffy white aprons, these ladies are smart, competent, and very real.

Mori’s first manga to be released in the U.S., the well-received Emma, chronicles the forbidden love between a maid and a gentleman. The series captures Victorian England in breathtaking detail, and the story is heart-wrenching and intimate. Mori’s second manga to be released here (though it was actually written before Emma) is Shirley, another Victorian maid-manga that takes a different tack.

The volume’s first three stories focus on the title character, Shirley Madison. Bennett Cranley is a young female pub owner in search of a reliable maid. She returns home from work one night to find a ragged girl sitting on her stoop. Thirteen-year-old Shirley is answering her ad for a maid. She’s young to work, even in Victorian England, and reticent about her past. Bennett hires her out of pity, but to her delight she finds that Shirley is a hard worker and an excellent cook. But she’s still a kid, and in the second story Bennett finds herself buying Shirley a doll. In the third story Bennett’s crochety aunt visits, only to be on the receiving end of Shirley’s wrath when the aunt insults Bennett. A possible love interest for Bennett shows up in this story as well, but regrettably the potential isn’t pursued.

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Well friends, this may very well be the last edition of Yaoi Menace. I think I found the book that will put me off the genre forever.

Yaoi: Anthology of Boys’ Love Volume 1 from Yaoi Press is a collection of three short stories brought to life by international teams of writers and artists. Also, it sucks. Hard. No, that’s not a good thing.

The first story, The Price of Freedom, is written by Misa Izanaki and drawn by Yishan Studios. It begins when a family of what appear to be less-than-Yeti but more-then-human creatures rescues a young woman and her baby, who are lost in the forest. The child, Aren, is a half-incubus (wings, tail, horns etc.) and grows up with the Yeti family’s son, Kumari. Then one day Aren’s mother announces that they are going back to her family.

We meet Aren again years later, when he is the star attraction of a circus sideshow, where he plays demon to an ‘angel’ (a man who inexplicably has feathered wings, as opposed to Aren’s bat wings). The ‘angel’ happens to be the lover of the sideshow’s owner, and after work they get their kicks raping and humiliating Aren.

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