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Review: Yakuza Moon Manga

  Rape, drugs, gangsters, tattoos and beatings are the five-tool topics of of shit that you’ll run through in the manga adaptation of the novel, Yakuza Moon. I read the book written by Shoko Tendo years ago and was moved by the honesty and openness in telling her life’s story as a strung out, glue sniffing daughter of a once successful and then financially struggling yakuza. The story and tale practically fit into any Japanophiles conception of what dirty Japan could be like but with more twists. The street life story isn’t unique, except that in Japan, you might think of teen sex or suicides as common, but harsh vein popping drugs? Definitely less. The manga was released in 2011 and it recounts the lowlights of her life. From shooting up and having sex with yakuza men, to being raped, and then practically prostituting herself to keep her parents out of the debt collectors hands was shocking. She was the recipient of apartments by richer married men – something that now happens in China. Tendo writes about the late 80s period when Japan was carefree and rich to just a few years later when the bubble burst. The carefree drug sprees became dirty, seedy and desperate. Even when you think Tendo is getting better, her life doesn’t improve at all. She goes through men as a stepping stone to find herself – they’re all crappy like her dad. The art is what I’d sort of expect. It’s fairly regular mature manga drawing style, but I would have liked to have seen something more indie that captures the grit of her life. The story was done well. The poignant moments were culled from the book and it made the story roll through with Tendo’s tremendous lows. It’s a painful read, but I’ll imagine the hell life is behind Shoko Tendo in 2011.
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Brent Millis · japan · Japan charity · Japan disaster relief · Japan earthquake tsunami · John Shirley · Kizuna: Fiction for Japan · Michael Moorcock · News · Reviews Books ·

There’s a Little Giant Robot in Kizuna: Fiction for Japan

When you’re thousands of miles away from a problem you want to solve, you do what you can. Although I live in California, some months ago I had the good fortune, quite by happy accident, to become involved with a book project for Japan March 11th disaster relief called Quakebook. It’s a powerful collection of true stories and images about what people in Japan felt and experienced during and just after the earthquake and tsunami. I helped edit the book, which you can learn more about here. Well, the world spins, and things were more or less settling back into the comfortable routine I had established writing news pieces for this humble website, when another happy accident occurred. Through the friend of a colleague on Facebook, I heard about a project called Kizuna: Fiction for Japan, an anthology conceived by an American expatriate in Niigata, Japan. His idea was to do with original, fictional short stories what Quakebook had done with true-life narratives. And he needed stories. Fast. He had only given himself a few months to put the book together and get it published, first as an Amazon Kindle, then as a printed hard copy. Well, seeing as how I had a short story about Japan lying around, and that the purpose of Kizuna would be to donate all proceeds to disaster-related Japanese charities, I figured I might as well send my story to Brent Millis, the project’s creator and editor, and see what would happen. And I’ll be damned if he didn’t decide to publish it. But for me it got even better. I soon found out that not only was I to be published, but my story would be in some pretty prestigious company. Very prestigious company. We’re talking science fiction and fantasy writers like Michael Moorcock and John Shirley. Yeah, the guy-who-wrote-the-screenplay-for-The-Crow John Shirley, and THAT Michael Moorcock. And these two guys aren’t the only amazing, world-class writers in the book. Some of the writers you may know, many of them you won’t but should. But as I did, I urge you to discover that for yourself. Although I am a contributor to Kizuna, the book is being sold for charity. So I bought the Amazon Kindle for $9.99. If you do the same it will go a long way towards helping charities like Smile Kids Japan give some hope and aid to survivors of the March 11th disaster. Survivors who are still homeless, dispossessed and trying to rebuild their lives. Parts of Japan are still broken and hurting; and like I said, when you’re thousands of miles away from a problem, you do what you can to help. Click on the links below to learn more about Kizuna: Fiction for Japan, and to buy a Kindle copy of this amazing and timely book. Kizuna: Fiction for Japan homepage. Buy Kizuna for Kindle from Amazon.
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Art · Book review · books · Figures / Toys · japan · Japan earthquake tsunami · Japanese Advertising · Japanese Culture · Japanese mascots · Reviews Books · Reviews Publications ·

Book Review—”Fuzz & Fur” a Delightful Tour of Japan’s Costumed Characters

Supposedly it’s a bad idea to judge a book by its cover. With this particular volume, however, doing just that is highly recommended. This is because the rich and colorful design on the outside is the perfect introduction to the varied and detailed tour of the fuzzy, furry, odd and wonderful Japanese mascots within. “Fuzz & Fur” is the second book about Japanese pop-culture icons by English brothers Edward and John Harrison. Their first book, “Idle Idol”, was a photographic guide to the inanimate figures which attract and greet customers outside Japanese shops and restaurants. “Fuzz & Fur” takes that premise and logically expands upon it by using pictures and detailed text to introduce the reader to a huge variety of animated, three-dimensional Japanese characters, basically guys in costumes playing fictional or mythological figures.

Here in the United States, at least, when you think of a person in a character costume, you typically think of a sports mascot, something like the Philly Phanatic or the San Francisco 49ers mascot Sourdough Sam. Or you see giant mice and anthropomorphic dogs, rabbits and ducks at amusement parks created by entertainment companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers. But that’s about it. However, in Japan fuzzy, furry costumed characters are far more ubiquitous, and are created and used for a wider variety of purposes than just promoting sports and entertainment. Japanese mascots are used to promote tourism, consumer products, government programs, and agriculture.

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