Book Review: Boys Run the Riot, Vol 1 by Keito Gaku

 

Boys Run the Riot, Vol 1     

Author: Keito Gaku

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

American release date: May 25, 2021

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/LGBTQ+/240 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Ryo feels as if he is living a lie, just because he appears to be a girl when he knows, inside, that he is a boy. But it’s not as easy as telling everyone the truth, because that just isn’t going to happen, and he knows no one will accept him if he does. So he does what he can. Each morning when he leaves the house, he stops in the train station bathroom to change into more comfortable boys’ clothing and put on a binder. Chika is his good friend, but he hasn’t even told her how he feels.

A new student arrives in Ryo’s class. His name is Jin and he should be a third year but was gone for a while and is repeating second year. The teacher directs him to the seat behind Ryo, who wonders how this guy can want to draw attention to himself the way he does. Ryo is seen by most people as weird, but how can he help that when he isn’t even allowed to be the person he is inside? And when he is with Chika, he can’t help but wish he was born a boy.

After school, Ryo goes to a new pop-up clothing store for a brand he really likes, but just as he reaches for a T-shirt, another hand reaches for it at the same time. Turns out the hand belongs to Jin! Jin thinks it’s great that they have the same taste, and he wants Ryo to make a brand with him, sell T-shirts online. But Ryo runs away.

Later, Ryo and Jin begin to talk, and Ryo starts to think maybe they should do the brand thing. But he is more afraid of what people think than Jin is. Jin thinks Ryo is more creative, so he can design the shirts, while Jin will take care of the business aspect. They make their first shirt and go to the Photography Club to see if they can borrow a camera to take pictures for promotion. That is where they meet Itsuka, the sole member of the club. He loves taking photos and uses a vintage camera his father gave him before giving up on his own photography career. But Itsuka is himself suffering from peer pressure and isn’t sure what to make of Ryo and Jin at first.

Just started reading this today and I already love this series! You don’t see a lot of transgender main characters in manga, especially not trans boys. You have to feel for Ryo, having to hide who he is because of society’s assumptions about him. I like both him and Jin and think they have the makings of good friends. Ryo’s revelation regarding how he feels didn’t bother Jin one bit. He tends to embrace the truth and isn’t afraid to show it. I look forward to reading more about them in the future.

 

Book Review: Bleach, Vol 69 by Tite Kubo

 

Bleach, Vol 69        

Author: Tite Kubo

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: March 7, 2017

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Supernatural/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Kurotsuchi explains to some of the horrified Captains why Aizen can’t do what he threatens, namely shoot down Reiokyu.  Unfortunately, some of the Quincies choose that moment to arrive. While Shunsui hopes they have come to help, the truth is quite the opposite. Looks like a fight is going to happen. But that is interrupted by the arrival of Bazz-B and two girls. Seems that the Bazz is willing to help the Soul Reapers, being rather angry at Yhwach for abandoning them. Besides the desire to kill Yhwach, Bazz has a beef with Ichigo as well.

Ichigo et al need to figure out how to get to Reiokyu again, but help arrives from an unexpected source – Grimmjow! Whodathunkit?  And right behind him is the adult Nel! Apparently Uruhara has made something for her that allows her to switch between her child and adult forms whenever she wants.  A box unexpectedly appears, heralding the arrival of Yukio and Riruka. When Ichigo questions Grimmjow on his motives for helping, he claims that if Hueco Mundo were to disappear, he’d have nowhere to kill Ichigo. Sounds legit.

Yhwach has taken down Reio and now he’s ready to reinvent his nation, rebuilding the Royal Palace to resemble his own. The Court Guard Captains are confused, but Shunsui realizes that this is a testament to the strength of their foe. Yhwach tells his followers that the castle will be the foundation for the new world, Wahr Welt (castle of true world). The Captains move to attack, but Kurotsuchi isn’t with them. As always, he marches to the beat of his own drummer. But he is surprised to find Kenpachi has anticipated his move and followed him.

Once Yhwach gives his orders, Haschwalth gives one of his own – that Uryu be followed, to make sure he does nothing that goes against His Majesty’s plans. Apparently there is a lack of trust there. Haschwalth is surprised to see Bazz B, having assumed he was with the ones who didn’t survive. Bazz doesn’t hesitate to tell Jugo just how angry he is, despite their long history together.

Some interesting things going on here, including the backstory of Bazz and Jugo, and how Jugo came to be Yhwach’s second-in-command. We can see a certain dissension in the Quincy ranks. Will this become advantageous to our heroes at some point? Clearly someone doesn’t trust Uryu, but is that suspicion justified? I thought I caught a glimpse of something like dismay with Uryu, and I am still of the opinion that he will do right in the end, regardless of appearances right now.

Everyone is getting into position. What purpose will Aizen serve? He is doing his best to escape. I’d say good luck to that, but we all know from experience that this man is dangerous, even as hamstrung as he currently is. Don’t underestimate him.  I feel the ultimate battle will be between Ichigo and Yhwach, but everyone has a part to play. Good volume, only five more left!

 

 

Wednesday Briefs: Bad Karma and the Family Plan #35 (7.3)

 Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.

Vinnie calls Troy McGarrett to satisfy his mind that certain loony actresses are still safely locked up, but he still feels uneasy. See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #35 (7.3)

By my reckoning, we were maybe an hour and a half, more or less, from our destination of Imperial, Georgia.  Smooth sailing, right? Drop Sarah and Alex off at her friend Mercy’s place, bid the pair a fond farewell. Maybe talk about future plans to get together once all this was behind everyone, particularly Benny. Not to mention Sarah and her again ex—did that make him an ex twice removed or something? Then continue on to Atlanta, spend a couple of days at a hotel with Benny until it was time for him to testify and put his own ex away for a very long time (lot of exes going on here, I’ve noticed. Glad I don’t have any).

And then I heard Sarah ask, “Ethan, can we get off at that rest area? Alex needs to go.”

How could a trip that seemed so short take so long? Not that I was anxious to be rid of Ethan’s relatives, that wasn’t it at all. The reason for the journey aside, it was nice to spend time with Sarah and Benny and little Alex. Make it seem as though we were having a nice, cozy family occasion…until one examined the reason why we were all there. Suddenly not so nice or cozy.

It also didn’t hurt that we seemed to attract misfortune every time we stopped for something. First the flat tires. Then the woman who resembled you-know-who. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn’t particularly want to find out what was behind Door Number Three.

I still couldn’t entirely rid myself of the feeling that maybe Chip was stalking us. If not personally, then through some misguided flunky who was willing to do his master’s bidding through a strange sense of loyalty. Okay, even I could tell how off-the-wall that theory was. Didn’t mean I wasn’t apprehensive about seeing that maniac serial killer again, but I knew we would be notified if he should so much as come up for parole (which he wasn’t eligible for, ever) or if he somehow managed to make a daring jailbreak. That hadn’t happened, clearly.

Sarah was saying something about diapers and potty training but I was only half listening as Ethan took the exit to the I-75 Welcome Center. I was too busy examining the parking lot, which contained a few other vehicles. As we parked, I noticed people getting into a couple of cars, heading back toward the highway, leaving only two others.  Nothing suspicious that I could see…yet.

The welcome center resembled a gray log cabin. Inside, the motif was continued, with a fireplace on one wall, in front of which sat a few wicker rocking chairs, displays of local interest, and a long counter filled with brochures from end to end. No one was in sight, but an older gentleman came from the men’s room. He paid us no attention, but browsed through the available brochures before selecting a few and exiting the buildings.

Sarah started down the hall toward the rest rooms.

“Maybe you should take him to the men’s room?” I suggested. She gave me a look as if to say why the hell should she do that? Ethan seemed to understand my line of reasoning. What if the unknown woman was lurking there? We certainly couldn’t accompany her there and she’d be defenseless.

Okay, maybe not defenseless, but she’d have Alex, and that could make things tricky.

“It’ll be okay, Vinnie. But just to be safe, maybe I should go in first and check it out?”

“To the ladies room? Be serious.” Sarah snorted. I guess the idea was a little ridiculous, and just as likely to get Ethan busted for being a pervert.

“I can check,” Benny offered, but that idea was quickly shot down as well.

“Guys, if I don’t go right now, Imma make you lot clean up the mess. And trust me, you don’t want to do that.” Not waiting for a reply, she carried Alex down the hall and through the restroom door. The three of us looked at one another and shrugged, as if to say what can you do? We stood there for an awkward moment, but when no screams were forthcoming from that direction, we settled ourselves in the rocking chairs and waited.

 to be continued

Now go see what's up with the other Briefers!

Cia Nordwell

J Ray Lamb

 

Book Review: Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An), translated by Robert Van Gulik

 

Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An)      

Author: Robert van Gulik (Translator)

Publisher: Dover Publications

American release date: June 1, 1976

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Detective/237 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

In the first half of the seventh century AD, during the Tang dynasty, Judge Dee (Dee Jen-djieh) is appointed magistrate of Chang-Ping.  Dee has four assistants. His chief assistant is Hoong Liang, known as Sergeant Hoong, whom he has known since he was a small boy. Two others, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai,  are of special use in the dangerous task of apprehending criminals and were once “brothers of the green woods”…that is, highway robbers. His fourth lieutenant is Tao Gan, a reformed swindler.

 Those who wish to avail themselves of the tribunal when it is not currently sitting do so by striking a gong, alerting the magistrate that he is need to adjudicate. One morning this is done by Koong Wan-deh from the Six Mile Village, where he owns a hostel. According to his tale, two silk merchants stayed at his hostel overnight and left the next morning. Apparently they were robbed and murdered on their way out of town. The village warden, Pang Deh, believing that Koong had killed the two and dragged their bodies to the road to avert suspicion from himself, dragged the bodies back to the hostel and accused the hostel owner of their murder. So he hastened to the tribunal to set matters straight.

While investigating this case, Judge Dee disguises himself as a physician and heads to the town in question. In the course of selling his drugs, he is approached by an older woman with a sad tale involving the death of her son. Deciding this case needs a closer examination, Dee accompanies the woman to the house. All the while, she extols the virtues of her late son’s wife, so grief-stricken that she shuts herself up in her room for most of the day, a serious widow. Dee suspects there is more to this case than meets the eye.

A third case concerns the death of a beautiful young bride on her wedding night. The distraught father of the groom blames a young man who was present at the teasing of the couple, whose jests went too far. He accuses the young man of being jealous of the bride and thus killing her by an unknown poison.

Chinese detective stories have their own unique style, a direct result of the culture in which they were written. Many of them begin with the knowledge of who the criminal is, although that is not the case with these stories. The translator, Van Gulik, has written an introduction to the volume as well as extensive notes. I would definitely recommend you read the introduction, as it provides valuable as well as interesting insight into the stories.

These three stories intertwine, and were definitely fun to read. This is my first time reading Judge Dee, although I know a little of the character having seen two Detective Dee films (based on the same character). It is also important to note that in Chinese courts, it is not uncommon for them to torture witnesses in order to get them to confess, and such is the case here. That being said, these stories are well written as are the characters. They are very interesting, and I enjoyed figuring out the mysteries involved (sad to say I don’t believe I guessed correctly on any of them). I look forward to reading more of the series. This is a must read if you enjoy detective stories as well as stories involving Chinese culture.

Saturday is Horror Day #73 - The Great Hypnotist, Everything Everywhere All at Once

 The Great Hypnotist

Xu Ruining (Zheng Xu) is a successful psychologist who specializes in hypnotherapy. His former teacher, Professor Fang (Zhong Lü) refers a rather troublesome patient to him, Ren Xiaoyan (Karen Mok). Red has been to other therapists, but no one believes her when she says she can see dead people. Dr Xu doesn't especially seem to believe her either, but he's determined to get to the bottom of her problems, which involve having been abandoned as a child and left in an orphanage, even as he tells her that no one leaves his office without having been cured.

Sounds like a challenge, but which one will come out on top?

This is a beautifully filmed, well-acted and well-written thriller about two protagonists who are both strong-willed and determined. The plot and the characters suck you in until you don't know which side to believe. Does Ren really see dead people? Can Dr Xu bring her back to reality? It seems as though the more he tries, the more he is sucked into her reality. Is it reality or is it something else?

You may remember Zheng Xu (Dr Wu) from another film I recently reviewed, Lost in Hong Kong. This 

role is like night and day from that other one, showing the actor's versatility. I'll have to look for more of his films.  I enjoyed watching this film and will give it 4 solid Stars.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Evelyn Wang's (Michelle Yeoh) life is not quite the way she once pictured it. She and her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) own a failing laundromat. Her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is at odds with her, and Evelyn can't bring herself to tell her aging father, Gong Gong (James Hong) who lives with them, that Joy has a girlfriend. The business is being audited by the IRS. Evelyn, Waymond and Gong Gong go to the office to meet with agent Deirdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis). And that's when everything begins... to change?

Evelyn finds her attention is wandering from Deirdre and her incessant complaints, when she finds herself looking at a strange note telling her to do strange things, such as put her shoes on the wrong feet and think herself inside the janitor's closet. When she does, she finds herself with a man who looks like her husband but who says he is from another universe, and it is up to her to save the world...

Say what?

To say this movie is a wild ride would be an understatement, and on the surface it seems chaotic and 

erratic as Evelyn tries to make sense out of everything, but in so doing she learns to come to terms with her own life and the people in it. Great cast and imaginative writing make this sci-fi thriller is sure to become a cult classic. It requires multiple viewings, I think, and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see it in the theater. I hear it was mind-blowing. I give this film 4.5 Stars.

Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 13 by Yoshiki Nakamura

 

Skip Beat! Vol 13      

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: July 1, 2008

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Shojo Manga//2 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

It’s a sink-or-swim moment for Ren! He has to convince both the President of LME as well as the director of the film that he can play Katsuki not only well but better than his predecessor. Mostly he has to convince Lory, who knows him too well to think he can accomplish this. Ren requests to ad lib a scene, expressing his confidence that his co-star Itsumi will not only be able to do so, he will make her react the way he wants her to. The scene begins…where will it end? Most importantly, will Lory approve?

Afterward, Kyoko is amazed that Lory has figured out that Ren is in love with a girl…although she is clueless to the fact that the girl is her! Mr Yoshiro suspects the truth, and tries to give Kyoko a clue, but the poor girl remains oblivious to his hints. When Kyoko offers Ren the precious stone she once received from Corn (whom she believes to have been a fairy but was actually Ren), what will he do?

Most of this volume is taken up with Ren’s test, but it’s well worth the price of admission to watch him in action, drawing on newly discovered although unadmitted feelings for Kyoko. Between the two of them, they don’t have a clue! Guess we have to wait to find out which one catches on first!

Great volume, can’t wait for more!

 

Book Review: Bleach, Vol 68 by Tite Kubo

 

Bleach, Vol 68      

Author: Tite Kubo

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: March 1, 2016

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Supernatural/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Yhwach has slain the god Reio – his own father! Or has he? Kiskue has called an emergency meeting of the captains, although they don’t all show up, some being dispatched on other business. And some, such as Kenpachi, being laid up. Kiskue’s purpose is for them to storm Reiokyu. Yhwach kindly offers to lay Ichigo to rest by his own hands. Does anyone think even for a moment Ichigo will take him up on his “generous” offer? Not likely! The Visoreds assemble as well, and are given Soul Reaper uniforms.

Yhwach tells Ichigo that if he pulls the sword from Reio, he can destroy the Soul Society with his own hands. He appeals to the Quincy blood that flows through Ichigo. As the world begins to tremble, Orihime offers to heal Reio, but is told that cannot work. This is when Ukitake steps up and offers to take Reio’s place! Say what? How does that even work? And what effect will that have on Ukitake, who is fragile at the best of times?

Meanwhile, Shunsui has business of his own to attend to. He is attempting to make a deal with the devil, aka Aizen, still confined far beneath the barracks. He offers to bring him to the surface under certain conditions, in return for which he will use his spiritual pressure to aid the Soul Society. As Ichigo argues with Yhwach, Uryu appears, but his appearance seems to be no cause for joy because, as he puts it, “I am a Quincy.”

Will Ukitake’s sacrifice be in vain? Will Uryu prove to be a traitor to his friends? Will Shunsui really be able to control Aizen, and will Aizen be of aid to the Soul Society? Holy cow, so much going on. With each volume, we draw closer to the end. I have to believe Ichigo et al will triumph, but there are no guarantees, especially in a manga.

Onward to the next volume!