Podcasts about tohru fujisawa

This week on Krewe of Japan Podcast... 約束の通り、日本アカデミー最優秀作品賞受賞監督の内田英治さんと日本語版のインタービューです。このボーナスエピソードは日本語と英語で放送します。内田英治監督の生活とキャリアについて話を楽しんでください！将来にもっと日本語版のゲストインタービューが出てきますので、ソーシャルメディアで是非フォローしてください。As promised in Episode 18, here is the Japanese version of our interview with the Japanese Academy Award-Winning Director Eiji Uchida from January 2022. This bonus episode contains both full Japanese and English dialogue between Eiji Uchida, Doug, & our translator Yumi. Please enjoy this fun episode about Eiji Uchida's life and career! And stay tuned for more Japanese language interviews in upcoming seasons of Krewe of Japan Podcast!(Interpretation provided by Yumi Mano) ------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel), & join us on Discord.  More on our Krewe of Japan Podcast LinkTree! Until next time, enjoy!------ More Info on Eiji Uchida ------Eiji Uchida's IMDb PageEiji Uchida on TwitterMidnight Swan on IMDb

This week on Krewe of Japan Podcast...the Krewe sits down for an exclusive interview with Eiji Uchida, the director of Netflix's The Naked Director & 2020 Japanese Academy Award Winner for Best Film...  Midnight Swan. In this in chat, Uchida-san discusses his career in the Japanese independent film industry, how diversity is important in movies, how internationalization via streaming platforms changed his approach to directing, Japanese biker gangs, and so much more!(Interpretation provided by Yumi Mano) ------ About the Krewe ------The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy!------ More Info on Eiji Uchida ------Eiji Uchida's IMDb PageEiji Uchida on TwitterMidnight Swan on IMDb

Onizuka Eikichi é um rapaz de 22 anos que no seu tempo de escola era líder de uma gangue de motociclistas da pesada e faixa preta em Karate. Depois de se formar numa faculdade de quinta-categoria em Estudos Sociais, resolve exercer a profissão de lecionador, mesmo não tendo a mínima aptidão para o cargo. Com muito sacrifício, Onizuka consegue um emprego em um colégio e vai dar aula para uma turma fora do normal. Utilizando métodos pouco convencionais, ele procura colocar seus alunos na linha, tornando-se amigo, compreendendo-os e mostrando á eles que um professor também possui sentimentos (do modo mais difícil para eles). E claro, aproveitando pra ver as garotas de uniforme escolar e tentar conquistar Azusa Fuyutsuki, uma professora da mesma escola. Neste mangá escrito e ilustrado por Tohru Fujisawa, publicado pela editora NewPOP no Brasil, foi lançado entre os anos de 1997 e 2002, irá te envolver com a ética de Onizuka e sua dedicação em sempre ensinar o certo aos seus alunos, mesmo que algumas vezes seja por linha tortas! Quer ficar atualizado sempre que sair algum conteúdo novo? Gostou do nosso conteúdo? Siga nosso perfil no Instagram, visite nosso site para se integrar mais sobre os episódios e se quiser pode apoiar nosso projeto através do Apoia-se: Site: https://cantinhocast.com.br Apoia-se: https://apoia.se/cantinhocast Instagram: https://instagram.com/cantinho_cast/ Dúvidas, sugestões, caneladas? E-mail: zartel@cantinhocast.com

In this week's episode, I had a converstion with my comic friend about a few different flavors of manga! (Also I got a little too excited about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure..)You can follow Just Nerds here:Credits to my pal Simon for the super awesome intro/outro music. You can hear more of his wonderful ear candy here: =====You can check out some of the comics we'd discussed in the links below. If you’re interested, please support these authors and artists!Great Teacher Onizuka by Tohru FujisawaTwin Star Exorcists by Yoshiaki SukenoYona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

Who's the greatest teacher in manga? Korosensei? Zetsubou Sensei? The Ultimate Otaku Teacher? Ha! Posers, all of them! They pale in comparison to the original gangsta, the one and only, Great Teacher Onizuka. To celebrate the GTO manga's 20th anniversary, we're schooling you guys a crash-course on the fundamentals of GTO. Fellow All-Comic manga specialist Nick Rowe joins us to give us the 101 on how the old folk discovered GTO back in the days of Tokyopop and how filthy rich GTO's creator Tohru Fujisawa became because of it's success. Not only do we talk about the original manga in depth, we touch upon the prequel, sequels, and spinoffs as well! Everything you ever wanted to know about GTO is covered in this erudite educational episode. But first, we've got about an hours' worth of news to peruse through! We correct the previously misreported circulation numbers for One Piece, butt heads on whether Keijo!!!!!!!! was unfairly canceled, and are simultaneously bemused and amused over the recent controversy over Sword Art Online being in an Idaho Middle School's library. Oh, and we discuss To Love Ru being licensed by Seven Seas. Finally, the greatest softcore porn manga in Shonen Jump's history will be available in bookstores everywhere. Can't wait for the inevitable school library controversy over that one. PODCAST BREAKDOWN: Part 1: News 00:20 - Intro & One Piece Circulation News Update!! 3:10 - Gangsta Resumes on May 20th 4:20 - Was Keijo!!!!!!!! Wrongfully Canceled? 12:00 - Gengoroh Tagame Ends My Brother's Husband Manga in May 14:14 - Angel Heart Concludes in May 15:54 - Ryohgo Narita’s Bleach Novel Begins Digital Serialization on April 28th 17:54 - One Piece Magazine Will Serialize the Upcoming Ace Novel 18:54 - A Berserk Novel Written by Makoto Fukami is Coming Out on June 23rd 20:10 - Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro Will Publish a One-shot in Grand Jump This Fall 21:57 - Orange Manga Gets New Chapter in May 22:57 - Detective Conan Gets Two New Spinoff Manga 25:47 - We Never Learn & Robot X Laserbeam Have Been Added to the English Shonen Jump 29:50 - Seven Seas Licenses a Lot of Monster Girl Manga!! 36:30 - Bookwalker Global to Release The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress Light Novel 38:00 - Viz Licenses Splatoon Manga 39:00 - Kodansha USA to publish Days, Tsuredure Children, & Battle Angel Alita 40:55 - Kodansha is Recruiting Staff for the "Largest Scale Manga Application in History" 41:50 - Kaoru Shitani is Taking a Hiatus From Manga 42:45 - Gosho Aoyama’s Series Have a Combined 200 Million Volumes in Print Worldwide 44:22 - Kids on the Slope is Getting a Live-action Film 45:12 - Sword Art Online in a Middle School Library Controversy Part 2: GTO Discussion w/Nick Rowe 49:49 - How We Got Into GTO 1:05:38 - Overview of the GTO Franchise 1:10:26 - Our General Opinions of GTO 1:22:00 - Opinions on the Manga’s Second Half 1:30:50 - What Makes Onizuka A Great Teacher 1:33:00 - Our Favorite Arcs in the Manga’s Second Half 1:40:48 - Opinions on the Teshigawara Arc: Empathy vs. Sympathy 1:48:15 - Opinions on the Manga’s Final Arc 1:52:05 - Should You Read Shonan Junai Gumi Before Reading GTO? 1:57:26 - Why Uchiyamada Shouldn’t Get His Own Spinoff 1:59:10 - Does GTO Deserve its Critical Acclaim? 2:07:25 - Tokyopop is a Really, REALLY Shady Company 2:10:15 - Why GTO Works So Well 2:14:20 - Are Any of the GTO Sequels & Spinoffs Worth Reading? 2:24:20 - Wrap-up Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and now on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha and special guest Nick Rowe at @SPD4649. Due to the number of MHA-related questions we received, we will be recording a separate MHA Q&A special to be released on Friday, May 19th! We’ll be recording on Sunday, May 7th, so make sure to send any MHA-related questions and debate topics suggestions for us to discuss on the show before then! The next Manga Fight will differ from the usual format, instead tackling a genre instead of a specific series. Said genre will be MONSTER GIRL manga!! If you guys want to send questions and topic suggestions for that episode, you may do so on twitter, the Manga Mavericks thread on Animation Revelation, or e-mail us at mangamaverics@gmail.com. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us at mangamavericks@gmail.com! Thanks for listening!

Who's the greatest teacher in manga? Korosensei? Zetsubou Sensei? The Ultimate Otaku Teacher? Ha! Posers, all of them! They pale in comparison to the original gangsta, the one and only, Great Teacher Onizuka. To celebrate the GTO manga's 20th anniversary, we're schooling you guys a crash-course on the fundamentals of GTO. Fellow All-Comic manga specialist Nick Rowe joins us to give us the 101 on how the old folk discovered GTO back in the days of Tokyopop and how filthy rich GTO's creator Tohru Fujisawa became because of it's success. Not only do we talk about the original manga in depth, we touch upon the prequel, sequels, and spinoffs as well! Everything you ever wanted to know about GTO is covered in this erudite educational episode. But first, we've got about an hours' worth of news to peruse through! We correct the previously misreported circulation numbers for One Piece, butt heads on whether Keijo!!!!!!!! was unfairly canceled, and are simultaneously bemused and amused over the recent controversy over Sword Art Online being in an Idaho Middle School's library. Oh, and we discuss To Love Ru being licensed by Seven Seas. Finally, the greatest softcore porn manga in Shonen Jump's history will be available in bookstores everywhere. Can't wait for the inevitable school library controversy over that one. PODCAST BREAKDOWN: Part 1: News 00:20 - Intro & One Piece Circulation News Update!! 3:10 - Gangsta Resumes on May 20th 4:20 - Was Keijo!!!!!!!! Wrongfully Canceled? 12:00 - Gengoroh Tagame Ends My Brother's Husband Manga in May 14:14 - Angel Heart Concludes in May 15:54 - Ryohgo Narita’s Bleach Novel Begins Digital Serialization on April 28th 17:54 - One Piece Magazine Will Serialize the Upcoming Ace Novel 18:54 - A Berserk Novel Written by Makoto Fukami is Coming Out on June 23rd 20:10 - Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro Will Publish a One-shot in Grand Jump This Fall 21:57 - Orange Manga Gets New Chapter in May 22:57 - Detective Conan Gets Two New Spinoff Manga 25:47 - We Never Learn & Robot X Laserbeam Have Been Added to the English Shonen Jump 29:50 - Seven Seas Licenses a Lot of Monster Girl Manga!! 36:30 - Bookwalker Global to Release The Combat Baker and His Automaton Waitress Light Novel 38:00 - Viz Licenses Splatoon Manga 39:00 - Kodansha USA to publish Days, Tsuredure Children, & Battle Angel Alita 40:55 - Kodansha is Recruiting Staff for the "Largest Scale Manga Application in History" 41:50 - Kaoru Shitani is Taking a Hiatus From Manga 42:45 - Gosho Aoyama’s Series Have a Combined 200 Million Volumes in Print Worldwide 44:22 - Kids on the Slope is Getting a Live-action Film 45:12 - Sword Art Online in a Middle School Library Controversy Part 2: GTO Discussion w/Nick Rowe 49:49 - How We Got Into GTO 1:05:38 - Overview of the GTO Franchise 1:10:26 - Our General Opinions of GTO 1:22:00 - Opinions on the Manga’s Second Half 1:30:50 - What Makes Onizuka A Great Teacher 1:33:00 - Our Favorite Arcs in the Manga’s Second Half 1:40:48 - Opinions on the Teshigawara Arc: Empathy vs. Sympathy 1:48:15 - Opinions on the Manga’s Final Arc 1:52:05 - Should You Read Shonan Junai Gumi Before Reading GTO? 1:57:26 - Why Uchiyamada Shouldn’t Get His Own Spinoff 1:59:10 - Does GTO Deserve its Critical Acclaim? 2:07:25 - Tokyopop is a Really, REALLY Shady Company 2:10:15 - Why GTO Works So Well 2:14:20 - Are Any of the GTO Sequels & Spinoffs Worth Reading? 2:24:20 - Wrap-up Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and now on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha and special guest Nick Rowe at @SPD4649. Due to the number of MHA-related questions we received, we will be recording a separate MHA Q&A special to be released on Friday, May 19th! We’ll be recording on Sunday, May 7th, so make sure to send any MHA-related questions and debate topics suggestions for us to discuss on the show before then! The next Manga Fight will differ from the usual format, instead tackling a genre instead of a specific series. Said genre will be MONSTER GIRL manga!! If you guys want to send questions and topic suggestions for that episode, you may do so on twitter, the Manga Mavericks thread on Animation Revelation, or e-mail us at mangamaverics@gmail.com. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us at mangamavericks@gmail.com! Thanks for listening!

Manga review of GTO Volume 13 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated and adapted by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated OT-- Age 16+. So the Holy Forest class trip to Okinawa is happening. Onizuka is having fun with the trip, bunking his class co-ed in the hotel, even sometimes shacking up arch enemies together. But something else got his attention last volume. One of his students, Kikuchi, told him about a legend concerning a Christian missionary that had buried 2 billion yen worth of treasure on Iriomote Jima, a sparsely populated island which is one of the wildest and most unexplored areas of Japan, consisting mostly of subtropical jungle. Deceiving most of his students, Onizuka tells them that they will be conducting research on how sea turtle eggs taste. Yep, that's the excuse he gives to make them start digging for the treasure! As they trek through the jungle, Noboru gets kidnapped by Anko and her cronies and they drag him deep into the wild. They tie him up, thinking that Onizuka will get blamed for his disapperance. Instead, the girls realize they have become lost. When Anko falls into a sea cave, it's Noboru to the rescue, which sets off a chain reaction leading to one of the most unlikely romances I've come across in the series so far.   The cool thing about GTO is that Fujisawa always uses the characters as the focus. Yeah, he puts Onizuka in there with all his rudeness and crudeness, but in the end all the kids and teachers are human beings. Yes, even Uchiyamada, who sets out to bring Onizuka down once again, only to find himself being lapped danced and boob slapped at a strip club and then ending up dredged in a fish net! The spotlight of volume 13 is on the evolving relationship between Noboru and Anko, which goes back to the earliest volumes of GTO. If you remember, Noboru was being bullied by Anko and her crew so much, he attempted to kill himself. My, how far we've come, thanks to Onizuka. Now, thanks to their test of survival, it might be that Anko and Noboru might end up loving each other! In some other manga series, characters are introduced and seem major before they move back into a supporting role forever. You have the sense in GTO that any character can step up into a starring role at any time if it serves the story. It can get repetitive at times because in the end GTO's main purpose is to find a way to reach every kid in his class, no matter how much they may hate him. But finding out how he reaches them is what is fun. My Grade: A You can listen to my podcast review of Volume 1: http://sesho.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=319225 (I will say this. GTO is one of the titles Tokyopop has lost the license to publish, so I wouldn't dally if you want to try this series out. The entire series is now out of print)

The back to school episode of the Spiraken Manga Review has a surprise in it. Moonstone from the Animentors guest hosts with Xan. They both review manga written by Tohru Fujisawa , "Shonan Junai Gumi" and "Teacher Kamen Since it is a back to school episode Moonstone and Xan cover alot of topics in this episode including Yaoi, G.I. Joe, Transformers 2, College Talk, The inpending Zombie Apocalypse, reasons why manta rays are dangerous to your personal areas and finally why you should listen to Moonstone's podcast, the ani-mentors at www.themented.com Remember about the Dragonball Giveaway, where a winner will recieve 5 volumes of Dragonball the Manga. In order to win this contest you need to answer the following questions. 1) What is your name? 2) What is your favorite podcast? 3) What is your favorite Character and Why Send your answers to Spiraken@gmail.com or call 206-426-6665 and leave your answers there. The Contest will end September 30th. Remember if you want just a random manga, you will need to answer the first 2 questions and as your third answer send me a reason why you deserve manga. Hope you enjoy this episode and please send any comments concerns and ideas on how to make this podcast better. also check out Xan's articles and editorials on anime3000.com and thank you Music For Episode:Intro Music -Hitori no Yoru By Porno Graffiti(GTO OST),Background Music -Great Teacher Onizuka theme (GTO OST),Background Music -Cresta of Love (GTO OST),Background Music -Great Teacher Onizuka Theme Brass Version (GTO OST),Background Music -Combattler V theme By Ichiro Mizuki (Combattler V OST),Ending Music -Shizuku By Miwako Okuda (GTO OST) Our Website http://spiraken.podbean.com Our Forum http://spiraken.rapidboards.com Our Email Spiraken@gmail.com My Email xan.spiraken@gmail.com Our Twitter Spiraken Xboxlive Gamertag Xan Spiraken Our Voicemail 206-426-6665 (monk) Random Question of the Week: What is Kamen Rider 3's special finishing move?

Manga Review of GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 9 by Tohru Fujisawa (creator of Rose Hip Zero, Rose Hip Rose, GTO: The Early Years, and Tokko).  Translated and adapted by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. Ruraka is still trying to avoid the fated prophecy of her dreams in which GTO became her true love. She and her friends were willing to do anything to break the charm, including using black magic cookies to poison Onizuka. They finally have the last ingredient: GTO's pubic hair! Now they intend to cook up some cursed cookies, but how are they gonna get GTO to eat them? Azusa has some problems of her own as she begins to garner more and more attention from her male students. They think she is very cute and are basically willing to become her lapdogs in order to curry favor. This doesn't sit too well with the female students and their jealousy soon turns to rage as they begin to pull all sorts of pranks meant to hurt Asuza. And don't think that after nine volumes, GTO has made peace with all of his students. Miyabi and her pals are still deadset on getting him fired and blackmail another teacher in order to get his aid in their quest. As always, GTO piles on the humor but also touches on some important issues in education. One of the main themes hit upon in this volume is the lack of a significant age gap in young teachers that are starting their careers in high school. Basically, the closer you are in age to your students, the harder it is for them to respect you as an authority figure. It's probably not a good idea for a young 22-year-old teacher straight out of college to begin their career as a high school instructor. Especially if you're a pretty woman or a handsome guy. It brings all kinds of weird factors into play as seen in GTO. Students can sometimes see you as a romantic interest since you are so close in age. Azusa made no moves on any of the guys in her class. Not in the slightest. It just comes naturally to guys to treat pretty women with more kindness than ugly ones. It's just something in the hormones I guess. Probably everybody male or female had a teacher sometime in their school career that was so good looking or pretty that everyone wanted to be in their class simply to be around them. It doesn't help that Azusa is a very kind person and seems a bit helpless. Again, it plays on the male chivalry gene. Fujisawa's art is sparkling and masterful as always and the humor is deadon hilarious. My Grade: A+  

Manga Review of GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 8 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated and adapted by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. Tohru Fujisawa starts Volume 8 of GTO out pretty cleverly by doing a whole chapter from Onizuka's first person point of view. In fact, we never even hear him talk. All the dialogue comes from Saejima, one of his old motorcycle gang buddies that holds an even more surprising job than GTO. Saejima is a cop! But he's not above swiping seized drugs and hiring call girls. He's probably not the best guy to go to in times of moral crisis. But Onizuka is desperate. He's being driven crazy by Urumi Kanzaki, the legendary school terrorist that GTO almost buried alive last volume. She's basically made him her slave by threatening to tell the authorities about the incident. GTO is looking for a way out of the situation or to reach Urumi and turn her to the good side. Or to at least make her value her life. You see, Urumi lost her faith in not only teachers, but in humanity and life in general back in the 6th grade. GTO and some other students, including Urumi, run into Ms. Fujimori, her 5th and 6th grade teacher. Back then, Urumi was recognized as being gifted and talented with a genius level IQ, and she never caused any trouble. Ms. Fujimori did something pretty horrible to her due to her lack of maturity and teaching experience that has caused a wound inside Urumi that continues to fester to this day. It's up to GTO to heal her soul and, as he quite eloquently states, "open up her butthole", to let out all the crap that she's been holding inside of herself. The cool thing about GTO besides all the great art, vulgarity, and humor, is the fact that it takes up some pretty powerful issues that continue to be argued about in education and probably always will be. This volume takes up the debate about whether teachers coming out of college with no experience are equipped to deal with gifted and talented students. Fujisawa appears to give a big NO as the answer to this question. Everyone can probably recall a classmate sometime during their school career that always seemed to have the answer to a teacher's question. You might have also encountered someone that seemed SMARTER than your teacher as well. Some of them would even argue with the teacher when they found something wrong with their reasoning or a fact they found erroneous. The fact is that a lot of really smart kids are BORED in a typical public school. In the best case, these kids should be placed in more advanced classes, or if they must stay in a regular class, the teacher has to give them more intellectually challenging activities. Ms. Fujimori found herself ill equipped to serve Urumi's needs and started to resent her because she began to fear that maybe Urumi was smarter than her because she came from a second rate college. A teacher should never belittle a student because of their own insecurities. Tohru Fujisawa continues to crank out volume after volume of comedy, drama, action, outstanding art, and great theses on what is wrong with the current state of government run, assembly line education models. Excellent series. My Grade: A

Manga Review of Rose Hip Zero Volume 2 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated by Emi Onishi. Adapted by Michael French. Originally published by Kodansha in Japan. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99. Rated Mature 18+ for mild sexuality, intense violence, excessive gore, and moderate fanservice. Shohei and Asakura, alias Rose Hip, were almost killed by the crazed psycho who called himself  "The Sheep" (uh, is that a reference to Silence of the Lambs or what?). But Asakura was able to defeat him and hand him over to police custody. But we found out at the end of the last volume that the Sheep was just a lackey of "The Shepherd". His intent is to kill Asakura because he feels she is standing in the way of his "cleansing" of Tokyo. What he means by cleansing is to get rid of all the scum. And the Shepherd's definition of scum is politician (don't know if I completely disagree with that).  He's bored, sick, and tired of the current corrupt government that is running the show. He probably intends to extend his program to the whole country after he takes care of Tokyo. He has planted what amount to sleeper cells all across the city by using post-hypnotic suggestion. All it takes is a spoken word, whether it be in person or over a phone, to turn a normal person into his mind controlled slave. He even makes one of Shohei and Asakura's teachers blow her brains out! The dude is not messing around. Help arrives in the form of Natsuki Kuonji, who, just like Asakura, was trained to be a killer from an early age. But she isn't called the "Angel of Mercy" like Asakura, who never takes lives. Natsuki's nickname is "Bloody Angel" and also "Kiss Maniac Natsuki", and she is much more prone to take people out with her weapons. Just from their names, you can tell these two girl's methods of dealing with criminals is going to be like fire and ice. But Asakura, Natsuki, and the Shepherd share a connection. They were all raised by a league of assassins called ALICE. John Keats once said that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. I'm tempted to use that in reference to Tohru Fujisawa's art. He's just great. Fujisawa achieves the perfect balance between highly detailed characters, liberal use of elaborate backgrounds, excellent action scene layouts, sympathetic characterization, and sexy women. Don't worry ladies, he draws pretty guys for you as well. We get more of a feel of Asakura's disconnect in this volume when we learn that she lives alone and doesn't ever remember having a family. All she remembers faintly is that she was raised by the assassin organization called ALICE. Fujisawa does a good job of showing that from time to time, if not frequently, Asakura longs for a normal life, longs for a family, regular friends. Maybe at this point, Shohei is the closest thing to that dream. There's even a bit of romantic tension between the two as we get to see that most lovey dovey quintessential scene in manga, the "oops, I fell, making you fall on top of me, isn't this awkward, why are you blushing" scene. Great read, action packed. Not for kids though. Here is the link to Podcast Episode 119 where I did a review of the first volume:   http://sesho.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=364248 (Is it just me or has Tokyopop been quietly raising prices on some of their titles to $10.99 even though you're not getting any more pages than the $9.99 books? Is this a page from ADV Manga? We all know where they are today, don't we?) My Grade: A

Manga Podcast Review of Rose Hip Rose Volume by Tohru Fujisawa, writer and artist of GTO, GTO: The Early Years, and Rose Hip Zero. Translated by Emi Onishi. Adapted by Michael French. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $10.99, Rated Mature 18+. While this is billed by Tokyopop as the sequel to Rose Hip Zero, this series actually came out first, so in fact it is a prequel. Aiba Shohei is a kid not very interested in the elite high school he attends or the life his father has laid out for him. You know, the whole go to a good school, go to a good college, get a good job, have a good life, or face being a loser speech! Shohei would rather be a criminal than live such a life. Him and his friends have been profiting from an internet site they run in which they offer panty shots of unsuspecting girls they photograph on the train. But one of these girls is about to change his pathetic life. Her name is Kasumi Asakura. She catches him trying to take a picture of her and steals the memory card out of his cell phone camera to hold over him as leverage. Little does he know that this sweet looking girl is actually the ace police agent Rose Hip, the Angel of Mercy. He will soon be caught up in her hunt for the homicidal Goldilocks Killer, who has been murdering and mutilating women in Tokyo. My Grade: A

Podcast manga review of GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka volume 7 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated by Dan Papia. Originally published by Kodansha in Japan. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. Well, it looks like Onizuka has foiled the plans of Teshigawara and Mrs. Oda. He's become quite the celebrity after rescuing Oda's daughter, Hidemi, from some thugs who had kidnapped her to blackmail Hidemi's father, an important politician. But GTO got shot in the process. Can you believe he not only took the National Scholastic Achievement Test before going to the hospital, but also scored the highest in the country? So his job seems safe for the time being, but a new enemy rears its pretty head in his class. Her name is Urumi Kanzaki, a legendary classroom terror that had dropped out of school, much to the delight of the Holy Forest faculty. Now she's returning with the express purpose of torturing GTO. My Grade: A

Manga Review of GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 6 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. Things were not going very good for GTO at the end of Volume 5. Representatives from "The Mother and Child Victim's Support Group" showed up at school demanding to observe Onizuka's classroom. It seems they have gotten word of inappropriate behavior in his class and they want to check it out for themselves. Wouldn't you know it that GTO is on one of his slightly crazy kicks and is walking the halls wearing nothing but suspenders, a bizarre elephant head tutu around his crotch area, and some boots! In a hard to miss Freudian metaphor, Onizuka sprays some sort of substance, which I can only hope was water, out of his trunk onto the face of the leader of the support group. He's on the verge of losing his position, but Teshigawara, the evil math teacher, wants to make sure Onizuka never gets another teaching job for the rest of his life. He wants to expose him for the unqualified joke that he really is. He proposes a plan to Ms. Oda, the support group leader, in which Onizuka will take the National Scholastic Achievement Test. This is an academic test that students take three times a year. If GTO is able to make the top score in the country, then he will be able to keep his job. If he can't do this then he will have to give up being a teacher forever. Of course, we all know Onizuka is a complete moron so there is little hope he will even pass it, much less ace it. Since he only has a week to prepare, Azusa invites him to stay over at her place so she can coach. You can imagine the fantasies that start going through our hero's head when he hears this proposition. The main thing that this volume and the series as a whole has going for it is its humor. Tohru Fujisawa is a great master of the common joke. He can make you laugh. When Onizuka starts daydreaming about all the fun he's going to have staying over at Azusa's (He actually visualizes the info he has to study being written on her naked body), he is rudely awakened when he finds out the dictatorial study regimen she has laid out for him. And some incredibly horrifying dishes to eat as well. He goes to an almost exclusive diet of grilled tuna head. She even supplies extra tuna eyeballs for him to eat that supposedly increase brain activity. Besides that she has electric head bands, pyramid triangles, wave generators, memoryman headphones, alpha wave music, and computer software to aid him. It doesn't really bode too well for his confidence that she's willing to go to such extreme lengths. The art is great as usual and is drawn very realistically. While there are moments of visual morphing during moments of humor or high emotion, there aren't any chibi figures to be seen in this series. So while the humor can be very funny, it never achieves this through drawing characters in wacky styles. It is done more by having the characters react to certain situations or to each other. Fujisawa also handles the action sequences very well. A great read. A great series.   My Grade: A  

GTO volume 2 by Tohru Fujisawa manga review. Translated by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. Onizuka's training is over and he is all set to become a full-fledged teacher. He thinks he made such a good impression at Musashino High where he student taught that he will be getting a call anytime telling him that he has been hired. He even skips taking the teacher exam because he thinks the position is his. Imagine his shock when his friend brings his attention to a newscast that states that you have to pass the teacher exam to teach at a city school! Onizuka is relieved to learn that he can still teach at a private school and is able to arrange an interview at Holy Forest Private Academy. On the way there he headbutts a man groping a young woman's ass on the train. An ass that Onizuka himself was thinking about squeezing. By coencidence, it turns out that the young lady, Azusa Fuyutsuki, is also interviewing for a teaching job at Holy Forest. Unfortunately, the Vice Principal that interviews him is the very same bald old dude that he headbutted on the train! Will this be the end of Onizuka's teaching career? My Rating: A+

Podcast Episode 88: GTO Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 1 by Tohru Fujisawa. Translated by Dan Papia. Originally published in Japan by Kodansha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+. 22 year old virgin at large Eikichi Onizuka dropped out of high school but went on to complete a college degree at Eurasia College but is finding it hard to get a job. It might have something to do with his bleach blond pompadour and his three requirements for his prospective employers: an 8 million yen per year salary, opportunities to meet movie stars, and an unlimited expense account. You could see where he might have a problem, right? It's been 6 years since he came to Tokyo with his pal, Ryuji. Both of them made a promise to become great men. Ryuji has a good job as a store manager. But Eikichi's hopes are sinking lower and lower. Until he stumbles upon the idea of becoming a legendary teacher after meeting a young high school girl named Erica Nakajima seeking comfort from a bad relationship. My Grade: A+