Spring Wine and Food Baru, Apr. 5-7

The space in front of Lotteria in Tenmonkan was used for hosting a wine and food event. Unfortunately, I had to work evenings on both Friday and Saturday, and the thing closed before I got out of the school. On Sunday, I had to go shopping at Amu Plaza all day. So, I wasn't able to check out the products or prices. I did seriously want to get one glass of red if I had the chance, but it didn't work out. On the other hand, I think it's 500 yen ($4.50 USD) for a splash of wine (not a full wine glass), which is more than I'd want to spend for something like this.



Most of the foods were ignorable, so no loss there.



But, there was a fairly brisk business on Saturday by the other shoppers.



However, there was this one food truck that looked intriguing. Turns out "hulihuli" is effectively "rotisserie", and there is no one recipe for the basting sauce used by different chefs. I'll need to try it next time.



In the land of Godzilla and other giant monsters, you want to use this motto very sparingly.

Sensei and Me, First Half comments

(Image from amazon.co.jp, used for review purposes only.)

Sensei to Watashi (Sensei and Me), First Half, by Yousuke Takahashi, Grade A
I like Yousuke Takahashi's character designs, and I've long been a fan of his series Mugen Shinshi (Gentleman Mugen), but that ended a while back, and his High School Horror Stories series was just a bit too intense for me (the characters die in gruesome, ironic ways in every chapter, only to come back again to face new terror in the next chapter. I gave up after just one volume). So, I kind of had mixed emotions when I saw books one and two for Sensei and Me show up at the bookstore last month. They're in a larger format, 188 pages, for 1,300 yen each ($12 USD). A bit pricey, but I had 100 yen worth of points built up on my points card, and I'd lose some of them if I didn't use them up before the end of April. So I figured I'd be saving close to a dollar on the cover price if I bought book one right now, and that would let me see what the story was like. Then, if I did like it I could always get the second book later.

The story revolves around a young boy who has one big eye, and a horn in the middle of his forehead. Initially, he starts out unnamed, and isn't assigned a name until almost halfway through the book. His mother wants to get rid of him, so she takes him to a priest that controls spirits by writing commands or drawing pictures in ink on paper. The priest, later identified as Mumyou (no name) Sensei, touches the boy on the head and two demons fly out, turning him back to normal. The boy's mother leaves the mansion, and Sensei shows the boy around the grounds. There's a dead body ceaselessly drinking from a murky pond, little ghouls that need to be fed like chickens in a pen in the morning, and various strange customers that visit for bizarre requests. The boy tends to these matters as Sensei's student, and while doing so, spots the cyclops and horned demon watching him from the trees at the edge of the grounds. One customer, an older man, wants Sensei to draw him a new lover, since the magic for the last one ran out. The boy watches Sensei use his brush to create this fabrication, and then tries to do the same thing himself when he's alone in the room. He's really bad at drawing, and when the squiggly dogs, cats and people start emerging from the sheets, he panics. Sensei arrives and banishes the magic away. But, rather than getting angry he comments that the sketch of one woman must have been the boy's attempt to draw his mother. Shortly after this, the boy allows Sensei to return the two demons to him, and he suddenly has a cyclops eye and a horn again. Now, though, the eye won't stop crying.

The later stories go from supporting the weird customer/weird monsters theme to more of a comedic battle between Mumyou and his older sister (Mumei), and the boy (Muten) against Mumei's young female assistant (Yuka). In this facet, Sensei and Me is a LOT like the later books for Mugen Shinshi. There's still horror, but it's more gentle and atmospheric than outright shocking. Muten makes friends with a girl zombie that passes on to the afterlife after struggling to reach his side. Muten's own sister attempts to pass a death curse she's picked up on to her little brother, but that backfires. Mumei shows up as a soul-sucking cat monster that wants to eat Muten, but Mumyou interferes with her plans. And finally, Mumei transfers the faces of stalkers onto the breasts of their female obsessions, until Mumyou reflects those stalker faces back onto Mumei and Yuka. The volume ends with Mumyou cackling over the wretched fates of Mumei and Yuka in a way that scares Muten.

Summary: These stories originally ran in Manga Grim Stories magazine from 2017 to 2018. They are mostly lighthearted with weird overtones, but are pretty fun overall. I really like the artwork, backgrounds and character designs, which are very similar to Mugen Shinshi. The dialog is fast-paced, making it an easy read, and the story ideas are original. I am going to get book two in the near future. Highly recommended if you like older-school Japanese horror.

Happy Sugar 5 Poster

Poster for Happy + sugar night at Wicky House. Otaku music at its otakuest.

Bright Cathedral

More chalk art from Bright used men's clothing shop.

High Score Girl Continue, vol. 10 review

(Image from Amazon.jp. Used here for review purposes only.)

High Score Girl Continue, vol. 10(SquareEnix, 2015-16), by Rensuke Oshikiri. Grade: B+.
Ok, well, volume 10 finally hit the shelves, and with this the series is over. It was nice while it lasted, but at some point you always reach the final boss in the game, and then that's that.

When we last saw them, high school student Haruo Yaguchi was in the middle of a video game tournament being held in Osaka. He'd won his first round only to learn that his girlfrenemy, Hina Ohno, hadn't made it to the second round herself. Stunned, he's standing around, trying to come to grips with this situation, when Hina walks up and angrily bumps into him. The competitors around them recognize the two as the co-winners of the previous year's competition, and a special match is set up for just Haruo and Hina, on a pair of Street Fighter arcade consoles on the main stage. They both work themselves up into frenzies, with the boy convinced that this is his only way of showing his love for the girl, by defeating her once and for all. After two games, they're tied 1-1. As the final game is nearing Time Up, a pair of huge arms reach out of the screen and grab Haruo out of his seat.

A few days pass, and Haruo has completely given up on all games, and is now throwing himself into his work at a warehouse. His friends all worry about this change in him since his loss in Osaka. At the Ohno mansion, Hina is preparing to fly to California on July 24th to meet her parents and the guy they're arranging for her to marry. She removes her necklace, and has the crane arm catcher ring Haruo gave her sent back to him. On receiving the ring, and the news that Hina is permanently leaving Japan soon, Haruo sinks further into a funk. Finally, the date of departure arrives, and the boy just hangs out in his bed. His mother berates him in an attempt to get him to go to the airport to see Hina off, and he just leaves the house to get away from her. He finds himself outside Koharu Hitaka's parent's shop. As he's looking at the machines he used to play with both Koharu and Hina, Koharu comes out and asks what's going on. Haruo tells her, and Koharu says that while she's in love with him, that's nothing like the bond between him and her rival, Hina. She then literally beats sense into the boy, demanding to know where his original faith in games has gone. Through the tears, blood and torn flesh of his face, Haruo realizes that she's right.

He grabs his helmet and jumps on his scooter, then tries to race for Haneda airport. He keeps getting stuck at traffic lights, which helps fan his fury at himself. All he's ever had going for him were video games, so why did he let himself fall into this funk like this? As he gets more determined, various Street Fighter characters start appearing and running alongside him. Eventually, Haruo realizes that all the lights are going his way, and the street is completely devoid of cars. Unseen by him, every game character he ever played with is at work messing with the lights and diverting traffic. Unfortunately, at the same time, Hina has boarded her plane, which has taxied for takeoff, and is now in the air. Hina is staring forlornly out the window next to her. Harou vows to not give up, and all the game characters throw their fists in the air, sending up hundreds of energy blasts into the sky. Hina is amazed as the clouds light up in front of her.

Haruo crawls through the airport terminal doors, torn and ragged, obviously way too late to be useful. The Ohno mansion staff are standing around in their grief at losing the only one still living in the mansion. Suddenly, the PA system announces that one of the planes had to return to the gates because of demands by a passenger. The departures doors open and Hina walks through them. Haruo launches himself at her, professing his love. Hina hugs him back, and as everyone cries, Haruo promises to get a passport and join her in the U.S., no matter what it takes. The chapter ends with Guile looking down approvingly from the heavens.

Summary: Well, this never was a life-and-death struggle adventure series, and the artwork was always below average. It started out as a nostalgia piece revolving around arcade games in the mid-1990's, and never really outgrew that, even after it turned into a love triangle culminating in a "Street Fighter battle for the boy." Regardless, it was a fun romp, and I enjoyed reliving some of my time in game centers in Tokyo when I first came to Japan (although, I never did get that interested in Street Fighter). Oshikiri doesn't have anything else in the pipeline I care about, but I do look forward to seeing something I do like from him in the future. Recommended if you like game centers and arcade consoles.

Forbidden Fami Chiki Love

Family Mart konbinis have a truly bizarre way of trying to get housewives to buy their chicken bits. Who needs romance novels, when you can get your fingers greasy?

(If you can't figure it out from the picture, a guy in a gigantic paper-wrapped package of Family Mart chicken bits is making romantic love to a middle-aged housewife.)

Nigiwai Street Open Restaurant, Mar. 30

Ok, what to say about this...
A few weeks ago, I started seeing signs advertising something about a "Nigiwai Street" event. There weren't any images on the posters, and the text just seemed to be promoting some shops. I didn't pay much attention to it. Then, on Saturday, at 1 PM, as I was walking to the English school at the other end of Tenmonkan, I happened by a group of people preparing table settings along one of the walkways in the arcade. The sign gate says "Nigiwai Street Open Restaurant," and it lists a number of participating food places, such as Danken Coffee shop, a parfait cafe, and some restaurants, but there's nothing mentioning dates or times, or what the foods are supposed to be. (Danken is right next to the front end of the line of tables.) And, there's nothing about needing reservations, tickets, or prices.



I kept walking to the school for a 1:30 PM class start time. My first break occurred at 4 PM, so I came back to see what the foods were, and if I could just get a coffee and dessert. But, the customers were long gone, all the tables had been removed, and a work crew was in the middle of dismantling the sign gates. That was quick. Things couldn't have lasted more than 2 hours, if even that long.

Kagoshima. Blink and you miss it.