Cel Shaded Jason Yadao

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Manga tales of life and love

It's been a while since this space last featured something from the "Random Plugging" department, where Wilma J. and I take brief looks at some of the anime and manga titles available now. It's also been a busy week behind the scenes here at Cel Shaded Central.

So this week, let's dispense with the usual column format and go to the reviews:

"Life" vol. 1 (manga, Tokyopop): Wilma writes: It's true that teens take a lot of heat from parents and peers, but as the manga "Life" shows, the worst pressures are self-inflicted. Teenager Ayumu Shiiba's friendship with Shinozuka falls apart in the stress of high school entrance exams. Guilt over the fight drives Ayumu to slice her arms with a razor until she bleeds, in the misguided belief that it will help her understand her friend's pain.

Despite the horrors of self-injury, "Life" is not as wrenching as, for example, "Confidential Confessions." But it is only volume 1, so Ayumu could be in for a whole lot more as the series progresses.

"Socrates in Love" (manga, Viz): Sure, "Socrates" was the best-selling novel of all time in Japan. Sure, there's also a manga adaptation of said novel. Both are now available in America.

I've had a chance to read the manga adaptation, and I hope the novel is a lot better. While the story of the ultimately doomed romance between Saku and leukemia patient Aki certainly has its moments, the overall pacing seems rushed to the point where it becomes difficult to really care about the characters and their plights ...

In Sunday's 'D&Q'

The back-to-school season has arrived ... are you ready to rumble? I'll take a look at the romantic comedy manga "School Rumble" in the Sunday Today section ... and as a bonus for those of you who might have missed artist Jin Kobayashi at Kawaii Kon in April, I'll also include some of the comments he made on his work at one of the anime convention's panels.