BotTalk Reviews

A shōnen manga by Keiichiro Ryu, Tetsuo Hara and Mio Aso (Translation: Andrew Love) Spoilers! Spoilers!  CHAPTER 1 (book 1 of 18): The Sanctioned Kabukimono This is the story of Maeda Keiji (inspired by real-life samurai Maeda Toshimasu (1543-1612)), an eccentric, invincible Kabukimono, the illegitimate son of Takigawa Masuuji (1527-1635?) who was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa (1537-1587), the older brother of Keiji's uncle, Maeda Toshiie (1538-1599). It is the Azuchi-Momoyama period (the late  Sengoku period of feudal Japan). The soldiers of Takigawa Kazumasu (1525-1586. Military commander of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)) encounter a gigantic wild horse. Furuya Shichirobei (a General of Hojo Ujikuni (1541-1597). An homage to actor Kyusaku Shimada) failed to domesticate the monster steed. Keiji (who is also a Kōga-ryū ninja) tames the feral stallion in only ten days and christens it Matsukaze. Keiji defeats Furuya Shichirobei, Furuya kills himself to motivate his troops. CHAPTER 2: B...

A seinen manga by Osamu Tezuka  Spoilers! Spoilers!  CHAPTER 1: The Department Store Woman (Shinjuku Station (Tokyo, Japan). Young, warped, famous novelist Yosuke Mikura meets Barbara, a mysterious fuuten/vagabond who is a chronic alcoholic and the youngest daughter of Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne? The Greek goddess of memory who previously had nine daughters (all muses) with Zeus? Will Barbara be able to make Mikura realize that he's romancing a mannequin (Maname Sugata)? "Chanson d'automne" and "Le ciel est par-dessus le toit" by Paul Verlaine get quoted. The 1973 Japan National Railways strike, Bacchus (Roman god) and "Pavane pour une infante défunte" by Maurice Ravel get mentioned.) CHAPTER 2: The Woman and the Dog (Will Barbara be able to make Mikura realize that he's romancing the Afghan Hound (Sonya) of Rumi Nagahama (Hiroyuki Yotsuya's fiancé)? The Box Man by Kobo Abe, Guillaume Apollinaire and Franz Kafka get mentioned.) CHAPTER 3: The Bla...

A seinen manga by Osamu Tezuka (Translation: Motoko Tamamuro & Jonathan Clements) Spoilers! Spoilers!  EPISODE 1: The Woman in the Box (Count Alucard/Dracula entrusts his mysterious niece, I.L/Aiel (pronounced "I’ll"), a vampire and actress who can change her physical appearance by slipping into her coffin, to a dispirited film director, Daisaku/Masterpiece Imari.) EPISODE 2: Moths (Can I.L cure Shihoko's husband from his freaky moth obsession?) EPISODE 3: The Messenger (I.L helps a cancer stricken woman find contentment one final time. Hyotantsugi (Gourdski) appears.) EPISODE 4: President Flareluno/Fralerno’s Treasure (Just before his execution, I.L will make Micronesia's former president believe that his Japanese wife Mayako never betrayed him. We get a The Reptile (1966) homage. Cornell Woolrich gets mentioned. Masami Fukushima, Shoji Otomo, Sakyo Komatsu, Hiroshi Manabe, Junnosuke Kishida, Taro Okamoto and Shigeru Mizuki appear.) EPISODE 5: The Monster in Broc...