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RIGHT TURN ONLY!! - Sodium Hypochlorite


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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2009 11:52 pm Reply with quote
I've heard so many good things about Banana Fish, but am always turned off by the art. I like that the reviewer addressed the crummy drawings and said the story was still worth reading. I'll have to give it a shot.
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Lemoncookies23



Joined: 02 Aug 2008
Posts: 355
PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2009 11:59 pm Reply with quote
Lol @ the figurines.

Asu no Yoichi's anime adaptation was good but ruined by a rushed, unresolved ending. I may pick up the manga now that it's being released.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:15 am Reply with quote
Banana Fish is overrated, since it pretty much spoon-feeds you all the "surprises" and pulls back on the potential action and adventure in favor of conversations. It's not bad, if you're looking for something slow, but if you want excitement, you could do better than BF.
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bahamut623



Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1463
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:50 am Reply with quote
I lol'd at "Hayate the Combat Blade". Good one.

Can't wait to get the new Bleach. I've been waiting for them to get to this arc for so long!

And Banana Fish is one of those series I've always been planning to read "one day". But I really will....one day.
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oriana3k



Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 94
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 1:13 am Reply with quote
I was just at Fanime and one booth in the dealer's hall had most of Banana Fish for sale. But not volume three. Not the one volume that I need in order to continue reading it. Sad
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 1:59 am Reply with quote
A twenty man cage match?

Their was a two on one battle (Scar vs Jelso and Zapano), followed by a two on two battle (Edward and Alphonse vs Jelso and Zapano), followed by a two on one battle (Scar vs Edward and Alphonse)(. A whopping total of 5 people where involved.

The Briggs Soldiers just pointed their guns at Jelso, Zapano, and Scar. If you can't follow such a simple battle than I can't imagine what's going to happen once the final battle happens and battalions start fighting.

Fullmetal Alchemist is not a series where people stand on the sideline and watch their best friend almost get killed.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:13 am Reply with quote
Can't wait to get my hands on Bleach 27.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:22 am Reply with quote
I tried for years to like Banana Fish, but could never quite appreciate it. I didn't mind the art, and found the characters interesting, but I couldn't get past how incredibly unrealistic it was, despite trying very hard for realism. It's got that problem where a foreigner tries too hard to recreate a culture they're not really that familiar with (likely experiencing only through movies and TV), and ends up making all sorts of mistakes that natives would find laughable. (For example, mixed race street gangs, and homosexual Italian mafia dons.) Perhaps I'm too much of a realist, but as a New Yorker I found much of its inherent worldview far too ludicrous to take seriously.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:48 am Reply with quote
I think it was around the chapters in volume 18 of FMA that I was starting to get pretty tired of the Briggs arc. And worse, afterwards were the ridiculously lengthy battles with Pride.

Though, I will admit, the reveal of who the manga Pride was and some of the events surrouding that ended up being some of my favorite material. I can't wait to see that stuff animated.

As far as Viz's release, though, I'm way behind, as I didn't start collecting the volumes until shortly before Brotherhood premiered. I only have the first eight.
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barbapapa



Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 224
Location: Belgium
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 5:37 am Reply with quote
Well, at least Piano no Mori's getting some attention.
It's true that it's not a manga you read for originality per sé (though many may forget that it's already over 10 years old), but it manages to pack in a lot of charm and wholesomeness. If that's your sort of thing, and you're into genre works; you'll no doubt love it.
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UtenaAnthy



Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 694
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 7:01 am Reply with quote
Re the figurine: I think that, despite the widespread labelling of it as prehistoric porn (note that I am not labelling all bishoujo figurines porn), it's just as likely it was a fertility figure for women or a goddess statue, presuming it must have been intended for male enjoyment is questionable, though I'm not saying it definitely wasn't.

I love Banana Fish, I've got 5 volumes and will try to get the rest, it's an excellent series. I actually quite like the art style, though the best part is the story and characters, it's like watching a really good episode of Hill Street Blues (sorta).
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2633
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:53 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
I think it was around the chapters in volume 18 of FMA that I was starting to get pretty tired of the Briggs arc. And worse, afterwards were the ridiculously lengthy battles with Pride.


I still don't think these battles are as long as you make them out to be. Especially if you consider that Pride is the strongest homunculus and these battles were heavily broken up. So each chapter was not just the Pride battle, there was other stuff going on as well. At the very least I find fights on average much shorter than your typical shounen series.

I will say that Fullmetal Alchemist does seem to have less one on one fights as the series goes on. I prefer one on one fights to fights with a lot of characters because yeah then sometimes it is hard to zero in on individual character moments during battles. But then I don't read Fullmetal Alchemist for the fight scenes. I am more interested in the plot & characters.

As for keeping track of all the characters I never felt it was an issue. At least not with the major characters. I tend to focus on core characters in a group and go from there.
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Mistypearl



Joined: 03 Oct 2008
Posts: 517
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 10:26 am Reply with quote
Quote:
There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium ...


You win points for a Tom Lehrer reference Smile
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musouka



Joined: 09 Sep 2003
Posts: 705
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 11:50 am Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:
(For example, mixed race street gangs, and homosexual Italian mafia dons.) Perhaps I'm too much of a realist, but as a New Yorker I found much of its inherent worldview far too ludicrous to take seriously.


I, uh, think you need to read it again, in that case. Not to say a series that is about a drug that makes people kill themselves is going to be the height of realism, but the two things you just complained about? Pretty much opposite from the actual series.

Mixed race gangs? Ash's is the only one, and the story hand waves that away as him being super charismatic. The rest of the gangs are entirely single race (African American, Chinese), hate one another and only work together in parts of the story because of Ash's charisma, again. And even then, it's shown to be an alliance that breaks down quickly in times of stress and no one really trusts or likes one another. Hell, it's what leads to the ending of the series.

Gay mafia boss? He's a pedophile, not gay. While that might seem like a silly distinction (for story purposed, not in real life, obviously!), it all goes towards the idea that this guy is so powerful that he can do whatever he wants, even to children. There are people like that in positions of power. It goes back to the argument about the gangs--Ash is supposed to be just that brilliant, to the point of being able to rally people that would normally be at one-another's throats.

Banana Fish is my all time favorite manga series, but not because it's realistic. It's not realistic at all, but it's unrealistic in the same way most of our entertainment tends to be. Almost no one who doesn't live in New York is going to get things perfect, even if they live in this country. Besides, knife fights on empty trains are fun. :p
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:01 pm Reply with quote
Oriana3k wrote:
I was just at Fanime and one booth in the dealer's hall had most of Banana Fish for sale. But not volume three. Not the one volume that I need in order to continue reading it. Sad

I actually found the first edition of this volume easier to find than the second one for some odd reason. I have no idea why, but it's a better option that none at all, you could probably still get it online for a decent price.
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