Cel Shaded Jason Yadao

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A last round of anime love

Circumstances for the past two weeks have prevented me from sharing the last few entries in the Anniversary Giveaway I held back in June, when I asked readers to tell why they love anime and/or manga.

So before I drag out the suspense any longer, here are the final four winners:

From Jocelyn Quon, 25, of Honolulu: "I love anime/manga because it lets you suspend reality and escape to a world where giant mechas and cute talking animals are normal."

An entrant who asked to be referred to as "Alice's aunty" of Honolulu wrote, "Nostalgia -- comics and subtitled samurai movies (precursors to manga & anime) helped me learn to read; helps me connect with my teenage nephew."

Jessica Shimada of Honolulu contributed, "Manga has hot guys, soap opera romances, total nonsense comedies, and that's just for starters. What else would you need to make superb fictional stories?"

And finally, Sky Achitoff, 19, in Kaaawa wrote, "I love anime/manga because it has giant freakin' robots. What else do you need? The only things better are ninja-robots. Which anime also has."

Random plugging

"Ninja High School: Hawaii" Vol. 1, from Antarctic Press: The long-running OEL (original English language) manga series takes a detour into our back yard with this side story.

Aside from how the art's mostly based on Hawaii stereotypes ("Hawaii" being artistic shorthand for "let's throw characters into 'exotic' settings with palm trees and volcanoes"), the story's an interesting read ...

Coming up in 'D&Q'

Manga style is appearing everywhere, and to prove it, Wilma J. will be taking a look at some of the more ... intriguing manga-ized franchises. "Nancy Drew"? Harlequin romances? "Star Trek"? A sequel to the Jim Henson film "Labyrinth"? You've got to see it to believe it in the Sunday Today section ...