Otaku World - August 2005 - 1.13

Otaku World -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Volume 1 Issue 13 August 2005

TWELVE KINGDOMS Title: Juuni Kokki (Twelve Kingdoms) Publisher: Media Blasters, Inc Type of Anime: TV Genre: Fantasy, Adventure Subbed/Dubbed: Subbed

STORY: My Rating:

OTAKU’S WELCOME Well, what do ya know what do ya say! This is our final issue for this volume. I’m very happy to know that we even made it this far. So for this final issue I’ve included some interesting things to get you hooked for the next issue.

We have some games and some stories as well as the usual anime or manga review/spotlight. Enjoy! ■

Juuni Kokki, aka the Chronicles of the 12 Kingdoms, is about a girl, Yoko Nakajima and her adventures in a foreign land.

Nakajima is a school girl, a class representative who has lost the will to continue as head of the class.

One day, a strange man, Keiki, showed up at school and offered to be her protector. Since then, strange monsters Continued on Page 7…

SHOJO BEAT MAGAZINE For the nerd-impaired: shô•jo (sho'jo) n. 1. Manga appealing to both female and male readers. 2.

Exciting stories with true-to-life characters and the thrill of exotic locales. 3.

Connecting the heart and mind through real human relationships. Also spelled shoujo.

Shojo Beat is a manga compilation magazine produced by Viz. It's a monthly magazine that features NANA by Ai Yazawa; this was my main reason for picking it up. I didn't want to subscribe at first because I figured I probably wouldn't be interested in the other series they were featuring, but I guess I changed my tune since I just sent in my credit card information to Viz's site. If any of you are into shoujo (both the typical lovey-dovey stuff and the not-sotypical girls-kickin'-ass stuff) I'd recommend checking the magazine out.

Read on for mini-reviews of Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase (Fushigi Yugi), Kaze Hikaru by Taeko Watanabe, Baby & Me by Marimo Ragawa, and Crimson Hero by Mitsuba Takanashi Continued on Page 8…

CONTENTS

Introduction - - - - - - - Page 1 Shojo Beat Mag. Review - - - - - - - - Page 1 Twelve Kingdoms Review - - - - - - - Page 1 Website News - - - - - Page 2 Poetry Center - - - - - - Page 2 Anime Review - - - - - - Page 2 Art Show - - - - - - - - - Page 3 Manga Spotlight- - - - - Page 3 Anime Spotlight - - - - - Page 4 Club Information - - - - Page 4 Anime News - - - - - - - Page 4 Fan Fic: The Bet- - - - - Page 5 Manga Review - - - - - - Page 5 Fan Fiction Contest- - - Page 5 Recipe- - - - - - - - - - - - Page 6 Anime Connections- - - - - Page 6 Anime Scramble, Word Search- - - - - - - - - - - Page 7 Answers for previous games - - - - - - Page 8 Credits - - - - - - - - - - - Page 8

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WEB SITE NEWS!!

Our website is up and running again. So check the site out and find out what’s new. Oh, yeah, I’m going to change the layout of the club website, it’s time for something new. So I’m going to put a voting booth on the main page for two separate layouts and YOU get to vote which one you like best. Good Luck!

Currently we’re sporting the look of Dark from DNAngel. Have you seen the series yet?

If not, get to it people. Any way see ya’ on the site!

WEB ADDRESS: http://club.rintaki.org/ EMAIL ADDRESS: clubmembers@rintaki.org

POETRY CENTER You’re My Inspiration I’ve become tired of fighting against the mighty rushing currents of life.

It’s trying to tear away, threatening to wear away vital pieces of my self.

It seems I’ve been fighting so long.

All my strength, it is gone from the fight.

I weakly try to swim towards shore; feebly grabbed onto this rock - my salvation in this raging storm of life.

I clung on, trying to keep my hold tight.

And that’s when I saw you, cutting so easily, so cleanly through the current…

Or so it seemed to me.

The sight of your many scars; they told me how you’d come so far.

You stopped at my rock to rest – just for a moment, to catch your breath.

And your smile, it surprised me.

Watching you, I realized I’d been just going through the motions; swimming for so long, I’d forgotten why I swam.

I’d forgotten just what I was fighting for. by: Anonymous

ANIME REVIEW “SAMURAI CHAMPLOO” by: Judy Moua Samurai Champloo is an anime about two strong samurai who just want to duke it out with each other. There’s only one problem. A girl, who saves both their butts, now insists that they keep their promise to her. To both help her find the samurai who smells like sunflowers. They could try to ditch her, go separate ways, but it seems fate has it that they meet – again, and again, and again. They figure it’s trying to tell them that they’ll have to fight each other sooner or later. Not only that, but every time they try to fight each other, the girl turns up! Now, is that bad luck, or good luck?

Well, all in all, I’ve got to say that this anime had me laughing, again and again. Not only that, but you occasionally catch modern things in this anime. Like samurai having the “All Star” star on their backs instead of normal signs on the backs of their clothes. Now I’m sure they didn’t have that sign then. Did they? Hmmm… But Samurai Champloo isn’t all about laughs. It’s action-packed, and the two Samurai are quite amazing. One wears red, has wild black hair, which you could say reflects his personality…? Let’s just say, he’s bored unless there’s trouble (with him in the middle of it). The other wears blue and looks calm and sophisticated. He also wears glasses, which I doubt they had at the time. But you never know. These two aren’t cowed by anything. They’re samurai for hire, with their own codes of right and wrong - and they love to fight. You’ve got to see this anime (if you haven’t already). Bad words crop up now and then, but it shouldn’t be too much trouble getting past that and into the fiasco that is the “adventure” of two samurai and the girl who insists they keep their promise. ■ I give this anime 4 ½ stars out of 5

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Volume 1 Issue 13

July 2005

ART SHOW

MANGA SPOTLIGHT “Immortal Rain” Review by: Katherine Ruiz

Rain Jewlitt, known as the Methuselah, is a spacedout, immortal, 624-year-old man dressed in priest's clothes. He's got eternal youth and a large price on his head ... put there by those questing after the secret of his immortality. Machika Balfaltin is a tomboyish, energetic 14-year-old girl who, upon the death of her grandfather, sets out to kill Methuselah, the one bounty her assassin grandfather, Zol the Grim Reaper, couldn't kill. Instead, however, Machika ends up being saved by Rain again and again from other aspiring bounty hunters attacking them both. Sound like the beginnings of an odd relationship? You won't believe where their journey takes them ...

Sano “Hana-Kimi”

This is a really good book... READ IT!!!!!!!!!! No. Really. This was seriously cool. I love the characters a lot. Rain is especially neat. The story and characters remind me somewhat of Trigun. It's a really good read and I strongly recommend it! ■

Paradise Kiss 1-5 – A high school girl is at the crossroads in her life. She is being forced to go to school by her parents and just doesn’t like it.

However, she meets a unique group of students who design their own clothes called “Paradise Kiss”. But she has to make a decision, what will it be? This series will only be available in the library for a few more weeks, so read it soon. For Sale: $30.00

DVD’s for SALE

Fuji “Prince of Tennis”

Suki The endearing tale of a young girl in love with her neighbor and homeroom teacher. But is he the man that she believes him to be?

Read it and find out. This series will only be available in the library for a few more weeks, so read it soon. For Sale: $15.00

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Final Fantasy + Art box - $15.00 Pretear Vol. 1 - $10.00 Burst Angel Vol. 1 - $10.00 Jing, King of Bandit Vol. 1 - $10.00 Eden’s Bowy Vol. 1 DVD - $10.00 Bubblegum Crisis Vol. 1-4 Box Set - $25.00 Items cannot be bought with points. No exceptions.

If you have something you want to sell, we can list it for you. Email us at otakuworld@rintaki.org

CLUB INFORMATION How y’all doing’? Well it’s that time again for club info.

So what’s new? Well, there won’t be any meetings for the first three weeks of August. The final meeting will be held on July 29 at 5:00pm.

The first meeting when we return from our three-week break will take place on August 26 at 7:00pm.

Also, since there will only be one committee, the Planning committee. th Members must meet at 4:00pm until July 29 . Then they will meet at 6:00pm. The members of the planning committee will each receive 75 points a month (if they have attended all of the monthly meetings) or 25 points per meeting they have attended. Each member will have a specific duty that must be done. The CEO will give all assigned positions or assignments.

Other business we need to address is regarding the president of the club. We need a president. If you would like to know more please talk to the CEO. But for now there isn’t a president.

Let’s see…since there aren’t any committees or anyone to keep track of points or attendance the CEO will do that. So please don’t forget to sign in because that is how you will receive your points for any event you get involved in.

One last thing! If the club can manage to raise at least $200.00 for the club (not just to pay for the products) a month to cover membership dues then every member will be able to check out items from the library as long as they are official members. Attendance is an important part to maintaining official status in the club. That’s it for now. Later! ■

!!ANIME NEWS!!

The folks at Adult Swim are starting to reveal their fall schedule, and there's a double-dose of good news for anime fans! First off, FullMetal Alchemist will begin airing new episodes on Saturday, September 17th at 12AM Eastern; and then Neon Genesis Evangelion will be added to the lineup on Thursdays, starting October 20th, at 12:30AM Eastern.

As always, times and dates may differ from area to area, so be sure to double-check your local listings! ■

ANIME SPOTLIGHT “Burst Angel” Review by: Marguerite Ruiz

In a dark future where "an eye for an eye" is the only law, a society where firearm possession are common and ruled by a dark, corrupt and seemingly unstoppable organization known as RAPT. The only thing that stands in RAPT’s way is a mysterious girl with exceptional powers known only as "Jo". Backed by her friends Sei, Amy and Meg, she will quickly prove to become a force to be reckoned with.

The character designs for this show are extremely beautiful. I was just a little disappointed in the animation's execution of the original artwork. I'm a bit biased when it comes to GONZO, also, mostly because I've never been fond of their unnecessary and excessive use of CG-I. The first two episodes of the DVD weren't very engaging, sorry. Episodes four and three on the other hand had quite the interesting little plot with the twin brothers.

Episode three, I would like to note, has probably the best animation quality on the DVD. Hopefully, this show will eventually figure out what it wants to be genre-wise. It is surprisingly gory at times.

That's my only warning so far.

Sci-fi action or mech fans will definately enjoy this series.■

Provided by: Right Stuf International

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Volume 1 Issue 13

July 2005

THE BET – PART ONE Fan Fiction by Kim Johnson Note from author: This story is not really for anyone under 14 years of age. Thanks!

Private thoughts by Heero: Once I thought that I could infiltrate Relena's panties and I had a gun held to my face. I looked at her and smiled. I walked away. The guy's just laughed at me. But I knew that I could do it, eventually.

(Duo is at the table in the dining room at Quatre's home. Trowa is in the city with Quatre while Zechs, Treize, Sally, Wufei, and Hilde are on the patio playing poker with Dorothy and Mariemaia looking over everyone's shoulders. Relena is in the shower while Catherine, Lucrezia and Lady are in the kitchen cooking breakfast for everyone. Heero sits down at the dining table.)

Duo: Heero: Duo: Heero: Duo:

Now? (Silence) When?

(Silence) One week, that's all you have.

~KITCHEN~ (Lucrezia is cutting ham; Lady Une is cooking over the stove and Catherine is baking when Quatre walks through the door.)

Quatre: Lucrezia: Lady: Catherine: Quatre: Lucrezia: Catherine: Lady: Quatre: Lucrezia: ~PATIO~ Zechs: Treize:

(Quatre and Trowa walk in on the last of Duo’s sentence) Quatre: Who has one week to do what?

Trowa: Heero.

Quatre: Oh, are you guys still betting?

Duo: Yep, wheat head. We're still betting.

Quatre: Something smells good. Baltig must be cooking again.

Duo: Guess again?

Mariemaia: Treize: Mariemaia:

(Quatre walks toward the kitchen.)

MANGA REVIEW

Duo: All right, he's gone. Is our bet still on Heero? How about our bet Trowa? You know I really got to say that I'm gonna love winning all that money from you guys.

Heero: Trowa, our bet still stands.

Trowa: You'll never get Relena.

Duo: None of you will get Relena or Dorothy, because I am. Ha, ha, ha.

“Princess Ai”

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Hello ladies.

Hi, Quatre.

Hello, Quatre. How was the city?

Hi, Quatre. How was the market?

You do know that I have cooks to do all of that?

Of course we do, it's just that I want to show Zechs that I can cook a good meal.

I'm just used to cooking my own food, being in the circus and all.

I just felt like cooking.

Very well. Do any of you happen to know where I can find Zechs?

He's out on the patio playing poker. As if he ever could.

I'll raise you ten silver coins.

I'll see your ten silver coins and raise you five gold tokens.

Daddy, you can't do that. You don't have the right cards.

Mai, go in the house and prepare for breakfast.

Okay, I guess.

To be continued…

Review by: Charles Mitchell Take an amazing journey with a mysterious young woman searching for identity and salvation in this world and beyond. Ai finds herself lost on the cold, hard streets of Tokyo. She must piece together clues about who she is, why she’s on Earth and the secret of the heart-shaped box she carries. Sparks fly when Kent, a complicated young man, offer help…and possibly more. But the forces of love and chaos are closing in around her. An amazing story about a girl in search of who she is, I give this story a 4 ½ stars out of 5, only because the lost heroine with no memory is really over used. Still, all-in-all, it is a good story with nice twists and turns. ■

RECIPES FOR GOOD FOOD CLASSIC ONIGIRI (RI CE BALL) For 4 fair sized rice balls, you need: • 4 cups of freshly cooked Japanese-style rice. (Each onigiri requires about a cup of cooked rice.)

• 2 sheets of nori seaweed cut into 3cm/2 inch wide strips.

• Salt • Fillings. Some classic filling are pickled plum (umeboshi), bonito flakes just moistened with soy sauce (okaka), bonito flakes mixed with pickled plum (umekaka), flaked cooked salted salmon (shake or shiozake), cooked salty cod roe (tarako), chopped up pickles (tsukemono), and tsukudani, various tidbits – bonito cubes, tiny clams, etc. – cooked and preserved in a strong soy-sugar-sauce. Some non-traditional fillings that work well are described below.

ANIME CONNECTIONS: MATH “Voice Actors” How many voice actors can you recognize just by watching a series? Let’s find out! Prizes include: random keychains, posters, buttons, stickers, etc.We’ll only use one for now. This is only a test.

Himeno Awayuki (Pretear) + Peacemaker Kurogane = + Full Metal Panic = =

(Voice Actor Name)

The key to making good onigiri is to have freshly cooked, hot rice. You can’t make good onigiri with cold rice.

Wet your impeccably clean hands with cold water and sprinkle them with salt. Take one fourth of the rice and place on one hand.

Make a dent in the middle of the rice with your other hand. Put in about one (1) teaspoon or so worth of filling in the dent.

Working rapidly, wrap the rice around the filling, and form a ball.

To make the traditional triangular shape, cup your hand sharply to form each corner, and keep turning it until you are happy with the shape. Practice makes perfect.

Wrap the rice ball with 1-2 strips of nori seaweed.

Repeat for the rest of the rice.

To bring along on picnic, wrap in plastic film or in a bamboo leaf (which is traditional). Some people prefer to carry the nori strips separately and to wrap them around the onigiri when eating, to preserve the crisp texture of the seaweed.

If it’s hard to get a hold of the traditional fillings, here are some non-traditional ones that I have tried that work well. However, unlike the more traditional fillings (especially umeboshi) these fillings are quite perishable, so be careful in hot weather if you are taking them for a picnic. Any rather strongly flavored, salty filling should work.

• Ground meat (pork or beef or a mixture), cooked with grated or chopped ginger, then flavored with soy sauce, some red pepper flakes, sake or mirin, and sugar. It should be quite dry. Curry flavored ground meat mixture works surprisingly well too.

• Canned tuna, well drained and flaked, flavored with a bit of soy sauce and/or salt to taste.

• Flaked corned beef • Chopped up western style pickles (as long as they don’t have too much garlic in the brine), well squeezed to get rid of excessive moisture. ■

FAN FICTION CONTEST

ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE A FEW RANDOM KEYCHAINS & POSTERS.

Theme: The Night Light • Grand Prize: Check out card for max of 6 items from library.

• Second Prize: Check out card for max of 3 items from library.

• Runner ups: Free keychain or button.

Details: What is it that you envision in the night sky?

Or beneath the night sky? I sometimes envision Kenshin Himura sleeping casually beneath a cherry blossom tree next to a river. At least I’d like to. ;-) Rules: No yaoi, yuri or hentai allowed. Other restrictions are applied, please ask for more details.

Please submit art work no bigger than 8x10 inches with a 3x5 card with the following information – Name, phone number, title of work, volume/issue/page of contest. Winner will only receive prize if two more people enter contest.

Deadline: August 26, 2005

From – http://maki.typepad.com/justhungry/2003/12/obento.htm Page 6

Volume 1 Issue 13

ANIME SCRAMBLE “Anime Series” So here is how it works. Below are titles of series that have been scrambled up. All you have to do is unscramble them and write them down. Next month we will share our answers and we will give away prizes to the winner of the next game.

Laterz! Hint: There may be clues in this issue.

1.

shigugi yifu __________________________________ 2. siaikyu __________________________________ 3. maspeer rei uadkyo __________________________________ 4. aree dr ido __________________________________ 5. osthicb __________________________________ 6. xiaruma s __________________________________ 7. lganden __________________________________ 8. cpobeb wbyoo __________________________________ 9. zmnaauag aodih __________________________________ 10. bagel turns __________________________________

July 2005

Continued from Page 1 have been after her. To protect herself, Keiki gave her a sword that only she can use. As she was reluctant to use it, Keiki also called a water-like creature/spirit called Jyouyu to enter her. Now, whenever she must defend herself, her eyes glow red and Jyouyu takes over her body and attacks for her.

As Nakajima was trying to escape several monsters after her, she was knocked to the ground. When she awoke, she was in a strange land, her face had changed and she was able to understand the foreign language.

I’ve only seen a few episodes of this, but as far as I can tell, there is a rich mythology behind this story.

There are many different creatures with different powers, and all with names. The story uses an elaborate map to illustrate where you are in relation to the story and everyone else. Thus far, it’s pretty interesting.

ANIMATION: My Rating: The animation is beautiful, with elaborate backgrounds and fluid animation. The characters are fairly realistically drawn, at least more so than in most anime.

MUSIC: My Rating:

ANIME W ORD SEARCH F I ND 20 ANI ME CHARACT ER NAMES F RO M:

RURO UNI K E NS HI N, F ULL M E T A L PA NI C, T RI GUN & COWB OY B E B OP (DOWN & A CROS S ) B E WA RE T HA T F ULL NA M E S M A Y OR M A Y NOT B E LI S T E D

S F A Y E V A L E N T I N E P D G A A A E A I D M J E T I S D H W S G G N E E U O A K A O I O H R A S O G L O O E I J K L T F T Q K U I W S S T E O F H R O T Y M A U H P O I M W E O P S A I S D I I U F Y O S A N O S U K E G E D H O O T J K U L Z A X C G V M J D A B N S N M O Q M A W E I E M R T U Y U R I I L O R N P P A S K D F U G L H J L K L E Z X E C V B N L H J E M K D K E N S H I N I K A N A M E C H I D O R I E P O I Y K J H G H F D S C V Page 7

The music has a traditional feel to it, very instrumental and epic.

CHARACTER DESIGN: My Rating: The story emphasizes Nakajima and her struggle to find a place to belong. Other characters include a misfit, Sugimoto, who loves fantasy stories and is a bit too enthusiastic to take part in the adventure. The two have a rough relationship, as Sugimoto sticks to herself and isn’t very interested in gaining friends.

Nakajimi is more concerned about reputation, at least at first, and her initial attempts to talk to Sugimoto aren’t much of a success. The characters develop once they reach the foreign land as Nakajimi undergoes significant character development, and even goes through a phase where she isn’t very likable... ■ This review is provided by: Animetique

ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND BY YUU WATASE (FUSHIGI YUGI) Okay, cheeseball title aside, this is a series about Riiko, a high school girl (wait, what shoujo isn't about a high school girl?!), who meets a salesman that can promise her the one thing she has the worst luck in getting... a boyfriend. You saw this coming, right?

Please don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list.

We appreciate it very much.

Please leave a message for us in our jar. Thanks!

Kyo Soma

Without jumping into spoilers, it has a Chobits feel to it with more goofiness thrown in. I'm probably not the target audience for a series like this, but I can appreciate the cuteness.

KAZE HIKARU BY TAEKO WATANABE A historical series set in 19th century Japan centered around Seizaburo Kamiya, a young boy trying to make his way to become a part of the Shinsengumi a group of samurai who defended Kyoto during a time of political unrest. The style of art is very "old school" manga looking, very simplified compared to Godchild which precedes it in the magazine. However, the story presents an unexpected (okay, well, I expected it... but whatever) at the end of the chapter which makes it one of the series I'm anxious to read more about in the next issue.

BABY & ME BY MARIMO RAGAWA A young boy is forced to help care for his toddler of a brother when his mother dies at a young age. It looks to be a story about growing up, accepting responsibilities and learning to love.

Answers Anime Scramble 1. Hana-Kimi 2. Girl Got Game 3. Liling Po 4. Basara 5. Love Hina 6. Snow Drop 7. Petshop of Horrors 8. Immortal Rain 9. Hot Gimmick 10. Threads of Time

Credits: Editor: Kim Johnson Reporters: Anne Marsh, Maggie Ruiz, Katie Ruiz, Charles Mitchell, and Judy Moua.

= Saiyuki

2.

Rurouni Kenshin

+ Sanada Clan = Samurai Deeper Kyo + Muramasa Sword = Shura No Toki

CRIMSON HERO BY MITSUBA TAKANASHI Shoujo sports manga! The story of Nobara, a high school girl (what... again?), who must balance her life between her family's expectations of her to be a good traditional Japanese girl and her own desire to play volleyball and become a sports star. If any of you girls out there have ever had one of your parents tell you that you weren't "ladylike" enough, I'm sure you'll relate to this character. â–

Anime Connections: Math 1. Read or Die OVA + Genzo - Sanzo

3.

Samurai X

+ Shinsengumi = Peacemaker + Tatsunosuke = Ninja Scroll TV Series Anime Connections: Names -Akito Akito Souma, Fruits Basket Akito , Martian Successor Nadesico -Kaoru Kaoru Kamiya, Rurouni Kenshin Kaoru Kaidou, Prince of Tennis Kaoru Awayuki, Pretear -Shido Shido, Nightwalker Shido, Getbackers -Sagara Sousuke Sagara, Full Metal Panic Sanosuki Sagara, Rurouni Kenshin

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