AniManga: Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

"My shallow thoughts drift...on the deep sea of imagination."

Rarely do I find a manga story that's so well written, that also has exquisite artwork. Kimetsu no Yaiba, (Blade of Demon Destruction) is an original concept with an imaginative recreation of old Japan. The series is written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. The manga ran from 2016 -2019 with a twenty-six episode anime adaption aired in 2019.

The story follows siblings Tanjiru and Nezuko Kamado. Their father died from illness while they were young. Teenage Tanjiru the oldest of five children took care of his mother and siblings. While Tanjiru was out on an errand his family was killed by a demon. Only Nezuko survived but was turned into a demon. Together they go on a quest to cure Nezuko's sickness and take revenge on the creature that caused it. Along the way Tanjiru learns of the Hashira, part of the Demon Slayers Corps and trains to become one.

Almost all demons in the world can be traced back to the primordial demon Muzan Kibutsuji. He is the original demon and had lived for centuries when the story begins. Muzan possesses three brains and five hearts. Along with his unique anatomy he has the ability to create new demons with his blood. Telepathically communicate with and control any demon created by his blood, shape-shift, and separate his body into pieces, then recombine. He is bloodthirsty and extraordinarily hard to kill with very few weaknesses. The demons he creates also possess super human abilities like regeneration, strength, agility and a special skill called Blood Demon Arts. The more humans a demon eats the stronger they become. The really powerful get selected by Muzan to be executive Hashira slayers known as the Twelve Kizuki.

There are only a few ways to kill a demon. They can be killed by beheading with weapons made from a special metal alloy. They're also harmed by the flowers from the Wisteria plant. The flowers poison demons. It interferes with their regeneration, strength and blood arts. The last and most effective weapon is sunlight. Any demon exposed to the suns rays turns to ashes. The sun is the only way to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji. He's powerful and has lived so long that he's become impervious to the other methods.  

The Demon Slayer Corps was founded by the Ubuyashiki family hundreds of years before the story begins. This family has the special ability to see into the future which allowed them to amass a fortune. Kagaya Ubuyashiki is the 97th leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. His sole mission was to put an end to the demon Muzan during his generation. To achieve that goal he accepted Tanjiru and his sister into the Demon Slayers Corps. This decision did not pass without resistance from even his most dedicated supporters. After all Nezuko is a demon and they are demon slayers...it goes against their code of ethics. It's the equivalent of letting a wolf tend the sheep. Or letting a fox sleep in the chicken coop. The main reason they accepted Ubuyashikis' decision was because Nezuko didn't eat humans. She possessed enough of her humanity not to attack innocent people. 

Hashira train using special breathing techniques and swords, which allows them to fight on par with demons for a short amount of time. The first breathing techniques and strongest are breath of the sun and moon. After came water, fire, rock, thunder, Insect and several others. The swords they use are made in a secret village of blacksmith's high in the mountains. The place is so secretive that all the artisans wear masks. Also demon slayers have to be blindfolded and carried to the village so its location can never be compromised in case of capture. Once a demon slayer choices their sword the blade changes color. These unique weapons once broken have to be returned to the blacksmith's village for repairs. They're that important.   

After Tanjiru finished learning breath of water, he finds out he is a descendant of the breath of sun user. This allows him to use two breathing techniques and combine them. On his quest Tanjiru becomes friends with Inosuke Hashibira who uses Beast breath and Zenitsu Agatsuma who uses breath of Thunder. Inosuke's mother was killed by a demon so he grew up in the mountains around animals. He's wears a boars head at all times, is a duel sword wielder, and likes his swords to be jagged like shark teeth. Because he's lived around animals most his life Inosuke has a rough personality and is easily influenced. 

Zenitsu is a spoiled cry baby who grew-up being trained by his grandfather. Because of his scaredy cat personality he often has to be persuaded or dragged on missions. When put under tremendous stress Zenitsu becomes narcoleptic. He passes out then his brain switched from coward to badass. Usually he doesn't remember what happened afterwards. Both Zenitsu and Inosuke are fiercely loyal to Tanjiru. While Zenitsu is in love with Nezuko. 

The story follows their adventures full of challenges and tragedy wrapped in an exotic dance of illustrative art. The author really focuses on world expansion and character development. All the Hashira have interesting backstories which lead them to join the Demon Slayer Corps. One is blind, One has been mutilated by a demon and survived, One is a trained ninja with three wives, One had to kill his own mother, the list goes on. They have different reasons and histories that enrich the overall plot. 

Aside from the epic battle scenes, carnage, madness, mayhem and cemeteries worth of dead people. There is an underlying tale of family bonds, tradition and sibling affection. The plot is actually quite heartwarming. (Did I mention the carnage...cuz the demons get bizzy) The battle scenes are graphically detailed, with a lot of action sequences. There are only pauses never breaks. Season two of the anime just finished airing February 2022, and season three has already been announced. For people looking for something new and entertaining check out Kimetsu no Yaiba. If u like the series, pass it on and tell a friend to tell a friend. 

Until next We Speak, Be Well 

Tha One an Only 

AniManga: Jujutsu Kaisen

 

First let me say I'm pleasantly surprised to see Bleach return to serialization. It was one of my top three manga's twenty years ago. I didn't like how the original story-line ended. It felt unfinished. I'm curious to see how the new arc develops.

 

Now with that p.s.a. (public service announcement) out the way, let's talk about the current manga in my top three. Jujutsu Kaisen, is written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. It been in serialization since 2018. The 24 episode anime ran from Oct. 2020 - Mar. 2021. If I had to describe the series in one sentence, I would say... "It has martial arts battles like Naruto, crazy powers like Dragon Ball Z, with plot twists and originality of Hellsing". It's off the chain.

The foundation of sorcery is control of cursed energy. All living beings release cursed energy. It's the build up of negative thoughts and emotions that's unconsciously leaked into the environment. When there's a strong convergence of negative energy it results in the birth of a cursed being. These cursed creatures or invisible to human eyes but can still kill, and consume humans. Cursed energy can also be imbued into objects such as weapons, places or jewelry. 

The most powerful cursed being was Ryomen Sukuna. He was so powerful it took the entire sorcery world to defeat him. All that remained of Sukunas' body were his twenty fingers (he had four arms) containing his cursed energy. The fingers were spread in various places throughout the world. Some were collected by sorcerers, others collected by curses, while the rest were lost.

The story revolves around a high schooler named Yuji Itadori. He goes from being a normal student to a fugitive in the dangerous world of Jujutsu sorcerers. Through a series of unfortune events Yuji ends up eating one of Sukuna's fingers to save his friends. Once Yuji ate the finger he became the host for Sukuna. Sukuna's goal is a world where curses rule and humans are servants. The more fingers Yuji consumes, the stronger Sukuna's possession over his body becomes. To help Yuji control Sukuna's possession they send him to a sorcerer school to learn how to control cursed energy. Aside from being able to see and exorcise curses, Jujutsu sorcerers can use it to recover from fatigue or heal wounds. 

The Jujutsu world is torn asunder once curses learned Sukuna had a vessel and could be revived. The majority of  the Jujutsu sorcerer's decided to execute Yuji. Most of the powerful curses hunted him for capture. Yuji spends the majority of the time fighting curses, other Jujutsu students, teachers, and rogue agents with nefarious agendas. The battles are intense and  exceptionally detailed. (They get busy!)  It's a fast paced, original story with good character development a lot of plot twists and dark humor. If you're looking for something new to read, u should definitely check out Jujutsu Kaisen. If u like the manga support the artist and tell a friend to tell a friend. 

Until Next We Speak, Be Well 

Tha One an Only

AniManga: KaraKuri Circus

It's been a while since I've watched an anime that's almost a perfect adaption of the manga. KaraKuri Circus is a manga written by Kazuhiro Fujita. Published from 1997 - 2006 The anime aired from October 2018 - June 2019.

The story is about a boy named Masaru who wants to become a puppeteer. It sounds simple. The anime is full of complexity and plot twists that make you binge watch at three in the morning.  Masaru's story is part of an older story that started over 400 years before Masaru was born. 

Two brothers Bai Yin (older by a three years) and Bai Jin traveled from China to Prague to study western alchemy. They met a woman named Francine and both fell in love with her. The younger brother, Jin professes his love for Francine to his older brother, Yin. The older brother asks Francine to marry him. In retaliation Jin steals Francine, defiles her and hides in a small town. 

Yin finds Francine after five years of searching. He finds her imprisoned and sick from poor treatment. Not only from his younger brother but also the villagers. They were superstitious and feared Francine was a witch because of her silver-colored hair. She dies in a fire before Yin could free her from captivity. Yin confronted Jin and found that his brother had gone insane but had also successfully created an elixir for immortality. 

After Yin left in grief over Francine Jin created a doll of Francine. He uses hair from the real Francine combined with his elixir and alchemy to bring the doll to life. The new Francine was perfect in every way except he couldn't get her to smile. To solve the problem along with his boredom Jin made puppets called Automaton. Their job was to serve Francine and make her smile. To achieve this goal they created a circus group called the Midnight Circus.

Fast forward to modern times. Bai Yin, Bai Jin, and Francine have all been reincarnated. The elixir of life got poured into the town Well and made all the villagers into Shirogane. The Shirogane age one year for every seven human years. They possess immense strength, speed, regenerative abilities, and their blood is poison to Automaton. Francine was a Shirogane from birth. She was trained as a puppeteer who could manipulate puppets to battle Automaton.  

Bai Jin created a disease called Zonapha Syndrome to punish mankind for losing Francine. The Midnight Circus and other Automaton travel the world spreading the Zonapha Syndrome. The Automaton of modern times no longer perform circus tricks. Instead they hunt humans and drain their fluids to use as fuel. Masaru, Francine, Bai Yin, and the rest of the Shirogane battle to stop Zonapha Syndrome from destroying the world.

The story is original. The action and art style is awesome. The plot has love, betrayal, ambition, good character development and enough action to keep you pressing the play button. There's also deep questions of morality and loyalty between men and family. If you're a fan of awesome anime check out KaraKuri Circus. 

AniManga: Kangoku Gakuen (Prison School)

Kangoku Gakuen (Prison School in English) is my manga guilty pleasure. It has a comedic storyline, interesting character development, kinky imagery, and insane plots. The manga is written by Akira Hiramoto. Its been serialized since 2011. The series was made into a twelve episode anime in 2015.

This AniManga centers around a group of five teenage guys who attend Hachimitsu Academy. The school was formally an all-girl academy and one of the strictest schools in Tokyo. To make things worse the school is under the control of a group called the Underground Student Council. Most of its members hate men. The rest of the student body is apprehensive about talking to men because they have no experience with them. If that sounds bad..it only gets worse from there. On the high school premises is a small prison, hence the name Prison School.  The five guys named Kiyoshi, Takehito, Shingo, Joji, Reiji get locked in prison. 

Kiyoshi is the main character of the series. He's in love with the president of the USC (Underground Student Council) little sister Chiyo. Kiyoshi is also the love interest of Hana another member of the USC. Hana is a martial arts expert, sadistic and is jealous of Kiyoshi's affection towards Chiyo. Out of the four guys Kiyoshi is the most normal and runs into the most problems. Kiyoshi and Shingo were friends from middle school. Shingo, is your average high school delinquent. He has a pessimistic personality and almost zero loyalty towards the other four guys. 

Takehito (also known as) "Gakuto" is a glasses wearing otaku with a fascination for the Three Kingdoms. Throughout the series, Gakuto proves to be a smart strategist and opportunist. During their stay in prison, Gakuto and Kiyoshi come up with several ingenious plans to escape their forced captivity. Out of all the guys, Gakuto takes the most physical abuse during the series. He also has the worse reputation. 

Joji (also known as Joe) is the weakest member of the group. He has a persistent cough that never goes away. He can only take light physical exertion and is no help in their attempt to escape prison. Joe does have an affinity towards animals. At one point during the series, he is portrayed as a Doctor Dolittle by talking to a colony of ants. Joe is loyal to his friends. On numerous occasions, he tries to be the voice of reason for the group.  

Reiji (also known as Andre) is the largest member of the group. He is overweight and taller than the other guys. Andre stands out from the group because he is a masochist with extra long earlobes. He enjoys pain and being degraded. During his stay in prison, he becomes obsessed with their prison guard Meiko. Like Joe, Andre is fiercely loyal to his friends. Throughout the series, he starts out as a gentle giant. As it progresses, he becomes more outgoing. Due to his strange proclivities, he becomes the object of fascination for several girls at the academy. 

I'll leave the circumstances of how the guys get locked in the school prison up to you the reader to discover. What I will say is once the guys are in prison they get treated like POW's (Prisons or War). Their prison guard and enforcer for the USC is a woman named Meiko. She is in charge of keeping the guys in line by using fear, intimidation, and extreme violence. For some reason, she has a particular dislike for Gakuto. 

Meiko is a tall curvaceous woman who is fiercely loyal to Mari the USC president. Meiko also has enormous breasts which she flaunts proudly. As a youth, she was bullied for her breast size until Mari befriended her and helped her develop the self-confidence to be proud of her figure. Due to her constant strength training, Meiko is often drawn sweating. She is an extreme sadist with inhuman strength. Meiko is stronger than Andre the biggest member of the guys' group. She can be seen as the main protagonist during the first half of the series. 

Mari is the USC president. She is also the daughter of the Chairman of the academy. Mari hates boys and believes all men are perverts because her father has a fascination with the female form (especially butts). Mari plots and conspires with the rest of the USC to get the guys expelled from the academy. In the first half of the series, she is pure evil. During the second half, she becomes calmer because she experiences some of the torment she put the boys through. Her relationship with the chairman is tumultuous. She is overprotective of her friends and little sister Chiyo.  

The character development during the series is phenomenal. The whole first half is about the USC while the second half of the series is about the above ground student council. The USC and the student council go to war for control of the academy and the five guys get trapped in the crossfire. My one criticism is that during the second half of the series some of the story arcs get dragged out. The writers break-up the action between too many chapters instead of keeping it fast-paced and condensed. 

Overall Kangoku Gakuen is an awesome series. If you're looking for action, ecchi, romance, comedy, interesting characters, with insane plots...I highly recommend it. 

Welcome to Tokyo

I just got back from spending two weeks in Tokyo, Japan. The trip was ultra-dope! Although I had two weeks vacation, I needed another two so I could explore some of the surrounding areas.

Tokyo is a big metropolis sized city! It's broken into smaller cities that offer different attractions for tourists and locals. During my visit I went to Shimokitazawa, Harajuku, Odaiba, Roppongi, Shibuya, Akihabara, Asakusa, Shinjuku, and a few places in between. I could write a whole post on Shimokitazawa itself. To give a more comprehensive view of Tokyo I'll briefly touch on some of the towns.

My journey began in the town of Shimokitazawa. This is a rock and roll, trendy town. Most of the residents had colored hair, colored contacts, make-up, dressed in boots, and love rock music. I bet you think I'm talking about women. No. I mean both men and women wore contacts and make-up. Half the bars had English menus and a lot had bartenders who spoke basic English. I say half because there were several places I visited that you needed to know basic Japanese. 

The big attraction in Shimokitazawa was clothes. There were dozens of vintage clothing stores that had good quality apparel for low prices. In Japan buying used clothes is as normal as ordering pizza. My Airbnb host Mai has a kimono shop there. Her shop Kien sells the best authentic traditional Japanese kimonos for women and men in Tokyo. Aside from her awesome kimonos Mai is a really sweet woman who looks way younger than her age. (It must be the food.)

Since my hair wasn't braided before I left, I had to find a place to get it done. That place was Roppongi. There's not much I can write about Rappongi that isn't available on any website about Tokyo. Roppongi is where the foreigners go to party. It's a place full of bars, nightclubs, restaurants and massage parlors where they do more than massage (or so I'm told). I didn't partake in any of the stress relief activities, but I did go club hopping. That was after I got my hair braided.

Inside a large building there is a small room called The Room 806. It's the first black owned hair salon in Tokyo. The owner is a brotha from Holland who liked Tokyo so much he opened a salon there. The Room 806 had skilled barbers and hairdressers who could braid, cut, add extensions, twist dreadlocks and anything else you would find in a black hair salon. My braids were so tight, it looked like my hair got cut down to a fade. That place was official like a referee with a whistle. If you're in Roppongi and need your hair done, I highly recommend making an appointment. All the information can be found on their website.

Later that night, I went out with the crew of the Tokyo Pub Crawl. A pub crawl (for those of you unfamiliar) is an event where you go to multiple bars in a few hours, getting drinks and meeting people. At each bar there was a complimentary drink. Bar games were played at each venue to keep the crowd interested.  The pub crawl staff was multi-lingual, friendly and kept us moving at a fast pace. One of the guys, David, spoke at least 10 languages.

The patrons of the Tokyo Pub Crawl were mostly foreigners, like myself, with a few exceptions. There were some women from other parts of Japan who came to meet new people and see nightlife in Roppongi. The pub crawl ended around 11:30 because public transportation in Japan stops at midnight.

For me, it was a choice whether to take a train home or stay out clubbing until public transportation started again at 5am. I chose the second option. Staying out all night afforded me the unique opportunity to explore the Tokyo club scene. After leaving the nightclub Ibex, I ate a chicken kebab from the snack shop next door then started club hopping. I went to The Pink Cow, Club Magnet, Jumanji 55, Bar Quest, and A-life. Out of all the clubs, A-life was really my style. It was a multi-floor establishment with a lounge that attracted trendy 20 somethings looking to have a good time. The music was a mix of R&B, Hip-Hop, Top 40, and EDM (Electronic Dance Music). The drinks were a little on the expensive side, but the crowd was partying hard. I left at exactly 5am, covered in sweat, and feeling like I had twenty pound sandbags attached to my feet. It was a good night.

The next day I recovered with coffee and donuts from a place aptly named Mister Donut. It had delicious, large American style donuts and great coffee. I could've gone to Starbucks, which you will find all over Japan. I chose Mister Donut because I had never been there and I wanted to try something new. 

From there, it was off to the city of Akihabara. It's called Akiba for short. In Akiba there's a place called Electric Town where they sell every type of electronic known to man. Aside from the electronics, they have enormous collections of figurines, collectibles, CDs, DVDs, anime, manga, and your favorite games. All of it spread out over a twelve block radius.

Directly across from the metro station in Akiba, there's the Sega building. Sega has a five floor building with the most advanced games I've ever seen.  As you know I'm a bit of an otaku, so I geeked the f**k out in Akiba.  Aside from all the games, Akiba is where the maid and other cosplay cafes are located. I'm not into maid cafes, so I didn't go in any. If that's your thing...then Akiba is a place you must visit.

Odaiba was an interesting place. What made it different than the other cities is that it has a beach, a multi-floored mega-mall, and a miniature Statue of Liberty replica. While in Odaiba, I got to see two different festivals. One was a Mexican food festival which served Mexican style foods, drinks and entertainment. The food was tacos, burritos, nachos, and a variety of Mexican beer. The entertainment came in the form of Mexican Mariachi bands and wrestling. They had a wrestling ring set up outdoors beside the festival. Every half hour they would hold a wrestling match with guys dressed in tights and masks. They're called Luchadores, and people take them very seriously in Mexico. 

The other festival was the Ultra festival. It played EDM music and attracted a trendy crowd who wanted to dance. The biggest attraction for me, was the life-size Gundam Unicorn RX-0 in front of the mega-mall. I had never seen a robot that big so I had to take a photo with it. Fun fact about Odaiba ... it's an artificial island.

Asakusa is where you go to see ancient Japanese culture and history. The place is filled with temples and shrines going back hundreds of years. The metro stop to Asakusa is named Omote-Sando. The two hyphenated words Omote-Sando mean Omote = (Way to) Sando = (Shrine).  They literally translate into ... way to the shrine. That place was an architect's wet dream. Tall temples covered with ancient texts and lavish designs. Almost all shrines had some form of temple guardians, in the form of either dog or gods blocking the entrance. Some of the shrines forbade photos being taken. 

While tourists roamed around the enormous complex, monks performed rituals with incense. They did this behind gated areas, so they wouldn't be interrupted. I walked off the main path, to escape the endless stream of tourists that crammed the streets so tight, we were almost chest to back. Asakusa is a wonderful place to learn about ancient Japanese culture, but I would recommend not going in the middle of the day. That's unless you like feeling like a sardine packed in a tin can.

Harajuku is the home of all things small and cute. It's only natural that a place like this would appeal mostly to young people. The crowd was more teenager than adult. Almost every street sold sweets of some sort. The sweets ranged from crepes to candy, with a thousand variations in between. The Sanrio store (the maker of Hello Kitty), was a big attraction. There's also Snoopy Town, which had clothing, bags, and other apparel featuring Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown. Once I adjusted to the pocket-sized people dressed in pink, I noticed there were a few adult attractions. There were several tattoo parlors in Harajuku which feature English speaking staff. There are also a few bars and sex shops, like Condomania. 

Outside the shopping district of Harajuku, there are several shrines. Some so small, they only have an entrance gate and main temple. The biggest shrine is the Meiji Shrine. Similar to the shrines in Asakusa, the Meiji shrine is located on a road named Omote Sando. The Meiji shrine was a large complex of buildings. Half was under renovation, so I could only see certain sections. It was beautiful, but small in comparison to what I saw in Asakusa. Overall, Harajuku was a great place to shop.

Shibuya and Shinjuku are two completely different cities that gave me the same impression. They're both good for shopping, dining and adult entertainment. The best restaurants in Tokyo can be found in these two cities. For authentic Japanese style cuisine (Udon, Ramen, Sushi) at lower prices, I recommend Shibuya. If you're looking for American style dining, I recommend Shinjuku. In Shinjuku they have your Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Domino's Pizza, KFC, and Taco Bell. I ate at a Hooter's. 

The Hooter's in Shinjuku featured a wide array of dishes I had never seen before. There were also a few that I had no interest in trying ... like fried pickles. The girls were all petite, Japanese women with natural builds and friendly smiles. It was a completely different experience from the Hooter's I visited during my short stay in Huntsville, Alabama. That Hooter's was filled with bleach blond women with augmented lips, butts and breasts. 

Both Shibuya and Shinjuku feature nightclubs and places to go after the club. Shibuya has the famous Love Hotel Hill. If you can't tell by the name, a love hotel is where people go to have sex. Unlike normal hotels where you rent by the day, love hotels are rented by the hour. Shinjuku features Kabukicho; the largest redlight district in Tokyo. The area is filled with bars, clubs and venues for meeting people and sexual services. Take some simple words of advice. The Yakuza frequent this area, so don't go running around acting like an ignorant tourist because it won't end well. If the nightlife isn't your interest and you're looking for a little culture while in Shinjuku, I recommend visiting the Suga Shrine. 

I had a great time running around Tokyo. During my visit I got to see giant robots, replica landmarks, electronics that can't be found anywhere else and tried food I've never tasted. For example, I always knew sushi was popular but I didn't know roasted fish neck was also popular. The fish was a large tuna. The neck was roasted and still on the bone. It looked like a steak when it arrived at our table. Only when I took off a few pieces and tasted the meat, did I realize it really was fish. It may not sound appealing, but it really was delicious. I also tried raw clams dipped in a pickled radish sauce, which I couldn't imagine being yummy...but it was. 

I've loved Japan since my first visit back in 1993. Back then, I was a USMC stationed in Okinawa for over a year. I always wanted to visit Tokyo, so this trip was a dream actualized. In between all the sight seeing, partying, drinking, shopping, exploring and absorbing culture, I managed to collect a few pics of Tokyo street art. Below are some photo's from my visit. If you have the time and means of travel, I highly recommend visiting Japan. Just don't go in September, like I did. During my visit there was an earthquake, typhoon, and a missile shot over the country by North Korea. Even with all that happening ... it was an amazing adventure, and I wouldn't change a thing.