A couple of weeks leading up to the con to meet Suda, I was determined to beat a new GHM game, but things just didn't work out and I wasn't able to play anything at all. I knew I wanted to draw something for Suda, but I didn't want to draw something NMH related. Sure, it's my favorite and a fan favorite overall, but I love all of his works! I settled on finally taking the opportunity to read Kurayami Dance, the manga the original concept for the game Shadows of the Damned was based off of. Now, I enjoyed SotD and it had some incredibly cool moments and I do like Garcia, but it's definitely not my favorite GHM game and the final portions felt like a chore to complete. After reading this manga, it made me mourn what could have been, but I'm still glad that the original concept was at least preserved in this form.

To no surprise to anyone familiar with Suda's work, it's very surreal, you could even call this one Kafkaesque since it was heavily inspired by Kafka's novel The Castle. The manga itself is beautifully drawn, the lines are clean and simple with the backgrounds and environments really stealing the show. Syuji Takeya's usage of perspective is magnificent as well. There were a lot of times I stared at a page or a panel in awe, just taking in how it was crafted. I really love Wataru as a character and his dialogue with everyone amused me greatly, especially with his companion Challia (yes, he is named after the Gundam character). If I was a smarter person, I'd love to dissect the themes of this manga in depth, but I am quite frankly too pea-brained and too lazy to do that. Maybe another time. I want to re-read it over and over, and also get my hands on the original release since it was never officially translated into English. I totally get what Wataru means when he says he's in a hurry to live, especially in his profession as an undertaker...

Another fun thing to note, there are a lot of Easter eggs to Suda's other works nestled in the pages! I loved seeing them all and especially loved seeing Travis make a cameo, kyaaa!! I also loved Baba and Nekoda and I want them to have their own manga, game, anything! More of them please!!

This randomly caught my eye at the book store. I instantly recognized the style, the mangaka who created BLAME! I had no idea he did a comic about Wolverine, and so long ago too (2003). I was instantly intrigued and picked it up.

The story wasn't anything special, it was your run-of-the-mill "save us, chosen one" plot but what really makes it shine is Nihei's distinct cyberpunk elements, complete with awesome robots, time travel nonsense, and terrifying abominations. The art is absolutely gorgeous and judging from the raw inks that are showcased in the back of the comic, coloring it did a disservice to his work and I wish we could have seen a full version in b/w only, even as a digital download would have been cool. Nihei's inks are so raw and powerful. Of course, I also really enjoy the way Wolverine is depicted here (no surprise to anyone familiar with my taste in fictional men), he looks so young and yet still distinctively him.

Overall, I'm really glad I bought it and reminds me that I bought another manga by Nihei at HPB last year, a hard cover of Abara. I should really get to reading that, and Blame! too. On a final note, I actually ended up having to exchange my copy. Right after I read it, the binding completely fell apart! I've never had that happen to me before and I'm glad I was able to exchange it without a fuss.

I'm not sure how I made it out of my teen years never hearing about this series! I did like Invader Zim growing up, but I wasn't crazy about it like some of my middle school friends were. This comic is very special to a good friend of mine, and she happened to come across a copy in person. I told her I would send her the money if she mailed it to me, and here we are!

The humor was so nostalgic, it's that 2008 SPORK OF D00M!! xD type of random humor that is also present in Zim. Jhonen's drawing style is really unique, I don't think there's truly anything like it out there. I asked my friend how old Jhonen was when he made this and made a guess around age 19-22 and was correct!! It's definitely the work of a late teenager/young adult, and not in a bad way, at least I don't think so. I'm sure this comic had a profound impact on a lot of school kids back in the day. I laughed so much, marveled at the secret messages in the illustrations, was very impressed at the eldritch horror monster and even felt a little sorry for Nny. Oh, and I really got a kick out of the graphics on his shirt constantly changing. Very interesting take on heaven and hell as well. You know, for something I probably should have read 15 years ago, it honestly still hits. Maybe that's just my inner edgelord talking though. Loved it!!

I know there's differences between the DC and the original comic run, so I will probably update this because I'm curious what was changed/taken out.

A friend of mine loves this book, so I was really excited to read it! It was downright weird and creepy at times, and I liked it but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it. Going off of vibes alone, I'd say it's kind of like Mean Girls meets The Craft. Isn't this just what typical sorority life is like? No? Are you sure?

It's a fever dream of a read and generally, I can enjoy a story with weird elements that offer no explanation, but this time I'm not sure if it works. The boy who keeps chasing after the main character is kind of annoying (I get the feeling it's supposed to be the "girl doesn't realize boy has been there for her this whole time and finally gives him a chance" trope, ugh). The Bunnies themselves are insanely boy crazy and I didn't think any of them had a personality that stood out too much, which could have been intentional. The twist at the end did shock me though, and had me second-guessing what parts were real or not. I guess I'll work through that if I decide to read it a second time, and I did enjoy the prose a lot, especially the descriptions of all the characters. If the author's intention was to just write an experimental, bizarre book, she nailed it. This quote from the book sums it up the whole thing quite well:

"JUST SAY IT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK THIS MEANS AND WHAT YOU DID EXACTLY."

If two manifestations of my mind, heart, and desire started boning I don't think I could ever live it down. This book would work really well adapted into a movie or a show.