What’s all this? I won something? That never happens. The last contest I won was in high school—for neatest handwriting on a set of collegiate applications.

That’s not a joke. The college gave me a T-shirt.

No, really–I can’t even choose between two sealed Netflix packages to guess which one is the DVD I want to watch first. You would think that, eventually, the odds would fall in my favor, but no. Even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern didn’t have this kind of trouble.

All of this is leading up to my announcement: I’m one of the winners in the 365 Days of Manga giveaway offered via Suvudu.(!!!)

For this contest, the odds are actually really good. There’s a new name chosen every day, and that person receives five free manga from the writer of the 365 Days of Manga reviews, Jason Thompson (author of Manga: The Complete Guide).

I said I’d post a photo of myself with the manga I received, so here it is:

This is probably the only time you’ll ever see my photo (unless I end up at a convention somewhere, and I simply have to post about it). Call me camera shy if you like, but we all know it’s really just paranoia. ;D

The titles that I received include the following:

Speed Grapher
Category: Freaks, vols. 1 & 2
Flesh-Colored Horror: The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection
Tomie 2: The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection

Having seen half of the anime earlier this year, I’m somewhat familiar with Speed Grapher, and now I’ll be able to see how closely it follows the manga. Category: Freaks is a title I’ve never seen, and I’m definitely looking forward to trying it out. As for Tomie 2 and Flesh-Colored Horror, I think I was just surprised to see a ComicsOne manga show up at my door. I haven’t had one of those in years. I’m pretty sure the last ComicsOne title that I owned was Maico 2010 (wow, why don’t I just keep dating myself?).

Thanks, Jason! I’m really looking forward to reading them.

Additionally, I picked up 20th Century Boys, vol. 5 over the weekend. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet (deadlines will prevail over my pleasure reading) but I’m absolutely itching for the chance to get started.

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ZOO by Otsuichi
Haikasoru, 2009, 258 pages, 978-1-4215-2587-7, Trade Paperback, $13.99

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Horror

Short story collections aren’t my usual reading fare, but then neither is dark fantasy (or horror…or however you’d care to classify these stories). Nevertheless, I was remarkably interested in reading Zoo—I’d finish one story only to find myself impatient to start the next. For the most part, I was satisfied with the work contained in this collection, and I’d probably recommend specific stories to someone else who was interested in the genre.

There is, however, a certain lack of clarity in a few of the stories that I found somewhat frustrating (though I’m beginning to think that this is simply a hallmark of Japanese storytelling and not an issue specific to this author). Vagueness has never been something I’ve particularly cared for in my reading, unless it’s used with care. Likewise, I tend to feel a little put out when the ending of a story has a twist that comes so far out of left field that it seems like the author simply couldn’t decide on what to do and threw something together at the last minute.

But you take that chance when you pick up a collection, and I was prepared to find issue with at least one or two of the tales.

The first story, for which the book is named, isn’t my favorite, but I suppose it has its own qualities. It’s reminiscent of the movie Memento and, if you’ve ever seen it, you can take a guess as to what happens. I suppose the most curious aspect of this story (and any others like it) is in determining just how someone is capable of deluding himself so thoroughly that he forgets what he’s done despite still knowing that he did it. Personally, I can’t fathom it, which is probably why I have trouble with this type of narrative. I can think of one or two ways in which “Zoo” might have been more satisfying to me, but I imagine other people will like it just fine as it is.

The only other story that was noticeably disappointing was “Wardrobe.” Cut scenes and convenient misdirection lead up to what was, for me, something of a cheat. The narrative continuously builds up suspicion on one character only to hurl it out the window at the very last moment and foist it onto someone who was barely present for the majority of the story. I got to the end and made the face that I typically reserve for unnecessarily dense academic essays. This is never a good reaction.

My two favorites are, easily, “The White House in the Cold Forest” and “Seven Rooms.” Strangely, both of these stories were responsible for a show of squeamishness on my part. Not due to any excessively gruesome bits, mind (there’s very little of that in this collection, actually…at least, not to the point that you can’t stomach it), but rather to descriptions of smell and touch. Saying that certain elements of the story and description “grossed me out” is, perhaps, a pedestrian way of describing it, but it’s also the most accurate. In “The White House in the Cold Forest” I found the visual description to be quite provocative, and “Seven Rooms” was the most straightforward of all the stories (which, for me, is a draw).

Following those two, I definitely enjoyed “Kazari and Yoko.” This was another straightforward narrative, and one that could exist in any genre. The topic here had more to do with extremes than anything else. The noticeable differences in how Kazari and Yoko are treated on a daily basis manifest in their behavior and in how others perceive them. And while it’s not essential to the story, I suppose, I’d be curious to find out exactly why their mother behaves as irrationally as she does. Overall, this is definitely a good story that is likely to make an emotional connection for most readers.

I recall receiving a text message about “Find the Blood!” that noted how the opening was rather comical (in a good way, of course). I’d have to agree, and there are other aspects of the story that continued to amuse me throughout. The events themselves were a bit frantic, and, for some reason, I was reminded of the old Clue movie starring Tim Curry. Whether or not you like the ending will depend entirely on your own preferences—I happened to like it, but then I was probably imagining some future storyline that would feature the culprit.

As far as the rest of the stories go, I’m largely ambivalent toward them. Not that they didn’t each have their own good qualities, but they simply didn’t stand out quite as much as the others (either that, or parts of them were confusing). The exception, perhaps, is “Song of the Sunny Spot” which, though I don’t list it as a favorite, certainly left me with a positive memory. It’s one of the stories that I found most emotional, especially toward the end. And when I discovered the truth about the dying man, it became all the more interesting. It’s certainly one of the more understated science fiction stories I’ve ever read, and I think that suits it well.

Overall, this collection was decent with a few stand-out stories. Should I come across anything else from this author, I’d be likely to read it.

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MONSTER by Naoki Urasawa
Viz Media, 18-volume manga series
Madhouse, 74-episode anime series

Genre: Psychological Suspense Thriller/Horror/Manga

Once again, Pink Raygun has kindly accepted one of my articles. This time I tackled a rather lengthy subject (at least, it’s lengthy when I write about it)–namely, the Monster animation. Granted, this is a book review site, and I only touch lightly on the manga. But, frankly, I consider the two rather interchangeable (as the article will explain) so I don’t have any qualms about linking to it here. Monster is Monster.

I begin with a general overview of the series and follow with short pieces on each of the major characters. I then talk about the animation itself as well as its American release. Keep in mind that I did write this before the first episode aired on Syfy (October 12). The show is now in its third week with two episodes every Monday night. I’ve been watching them religiously despite the fact that they keep me up far past my bedtime.

If you haven’t been watching, you should be! I’m still leery of the dubbing, of course, but anyone who knows anything about anime knows that’s just how it is. Although I will say that Liam O’Brian is a fantastic Tenma.

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Viz has done it again.

Which is to say they’ve done something amazing, in my opinion, and it just goes to show how long I’ve been neglecting the major manga publishers when something like this slips by my notice.

Haikasoru is Viz’s new(ish) publishing imprint dedicated to Japanese speculative fiction. The tagline on the website reads “Space Opera. Dark Fantasy. Hard Science.”

Well, I’m in. In fact, I feel an online order coming on any time now.

Foreign SF/F (most notably by Japanese and Hispanic writers) has been an interest of mine for some time, but since it’s nigh impossible to get ahold of such books, I’ve had very little to read in that area. Japanese fiction in particular is difficult because I don’t read Japanese and, therefore, can’t simply import a book or two written in its native language (Spanish fiction I could at least read, though it might take a while to get through an entire book). I can think of very few Japanese science fiction titles (that is to say, novels rather than manga) that have been translated into English. Off the top of my head, I want to include The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke Kishi, but that’s really not an SF title at all–more of a survivalist thriller.

Needless to say, I’m excited about this, and I’ve already picked out which book(s) I’ll be ordering first. Their catalogue so far is short, and it shouldn’t be that difficult to catch up. But before I talk about their current line-up, let me point out one thing:

Battle Royale (by Koushun Takami) is being rereleased as a new, revised edition. It will include a new introduction, an interview with the Battle Royale filmmaker, and an afterword by the author. It’s due to release on November 17.

This is definitely on my birthday list. Sure, I have the original release of Battle Royale–I’ve read it and I love it. But who can resist a new edition with new material? Not I.

If you’ve seen and enjoyed the movie, then you must read this book. There’s so much more detail and story to take in. Granted, it’s quite long, and if you’re not accustomed to Japanese names, then you might get a little confused at first–but it’s certainly worth it.

Here are the other books being released by Haikasoru, in order of availability:

All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka–Available Now
Usurper of the Sun by Housuke Nojiri–Available Now
The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa–Available Now
Zoo by Otsuichi–Available Now
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe, (paperback release)–11.17.09
The Book of Heroes by Miyuki Miyabe — 1.19.10
Yukikaze by Chōhei Kambayashi–1.19.10

Stop by the Haikasoru website for more information and for summarizes of these titles.

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