Posted in Ôoku, Culture, Gender, Manga, tagged alternate history, Arikoto, Aso Yumi, Ôoku: Tanjô, female sexuality, Gender, gender expression, genderswap, Gyokuei, Iemitsu, J-drama, Kasuga, Masakatsu, Matsudaira, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Oooku, Sakai Masato, samurai, shipping, Tabe Mikako, Tanaka Koki, Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku on 2013/05/04 | 1 Comment »
First of all, a bit of (old?) news from the entertainment world: Kanno Miho, who played Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi in the film Ôoku: Eien, and Sakai Masato, who played Arikoto in the drama and Emonosuke in the film, registered their marriage on 2 April. おめでとうございます！May your work in excellent gender-based dramas lead to you happiness. (Sources: Oricon, Tokyo Hive)
Source: Oricon
Posted in BeruBara (The Rose of Versailles), Manga, tagged Andre Grandier, BeruBara, LINE, manga, Marie Antoinette, messaging, Oscar, Oscar de Jarjeyes, Riyoko Ikeda, stamp, sticker, The Rose of Versailles on 2013/04/13 | 1 Comment »
My favorite part of using the “global messaging service” LINE is being able to chat with my friends for free even if they use another carrier or are in another country. A close second is the “sticker” (スタンプ [stamp] in Japanese) function, which are basically bigger and better emoji. On April 11, LINE released 5 new paid sets of stickers, including a BeruBara (The Rose of Versailles) set:
Image from LINE
The BeruBara stamps/stickers were 199 yen. Some of my favorites are below the cut.
Posted in Anime, Gender, Manga, tagged 3-11, anime, Black composer, classical music, feminism, Gender, gender gap, glass elevator, manga, Margaret Bonds, recession, Sailor Moon, stalking, Tohoku Earthquake, violence, wage gap on 2013/04/02 | 3 Comments »
In this gender reader: women overlooked in recovery hiring, gendered violence in Fukushima, Koyuki Higashi’s big damn wedding, Flootchism, empowerment in Sailor Moon, and more.
Image credit: Haruko Kudo. Via Higashi Koyuki’s blog.
Posted in Gender, Manga, Takeuchi Sachiko, tagged 男になりタイ, 迷走ラブゲーム, japan, Kai, lesbian, LGBT, manga, Otoko ni Naritai, queer, Sachiko Takeuchi, sex reassignment, SRS, Straying Love Game, surgery, Thailand, trans*, transman on 2013/02/15 | Leave a Comment »
I Want to Be a Man! My Boyfriend Used to Be a Woman (『男になりタイ！私の彼氏は元女』)
By Sachiko TAKEUCHI (竹内佐千子)
Published by Media Factory (メディアファクトリー）
Color; black and white
2008
1100 yen
Amazon.co.jp
Hello, my name is Sachiko. I’m a woman.
Up until now, I’ve dated women. I’m a lesbian.
Recently, I’ve taken a new lover. His name is Kai, and he’s a man.
But Kai was born a girl. Kai’s body is female, but his heart is male. (p. 5)
The title of Takeuchi Sachiko’s third volume of autobiographical manga contains one of the best untranslatable puns I’ve seen in Japanese. 『男になりタイ！』 literally means “I want to be/become a man!”; however, Takeuchi has written the verb ending for “to want” (~たい, ~tai) as the katakanaタイ. In this case, the katakana refers to Thailand (Tai), the setting of most of the manga.
(This review contains spoilers for honey & honey, honey & honey deluxe, Otoko ni Naritai, and Straying Love Game.)
Posted in Gender, Manga, Ôoku, tagged japan, manga, Ohoku, 男女逆転大奥, Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Arikoto, Iemitsu, Chie, Sakai Masato, Gyokuei, Ôoku: Tanjô, alternate history, drama, Tanaka Koki, Tabe Misako, 大奥 誕生 on 2013/01/17 | 4 Comments »
Aired Nov. 9, 2012 on TBS.
This recap contains spoilers for the drama and the manga, including the Tsunayoshi story arc (vol. 4-6 and the film Ôoku: Eien). Episode 4 recap here; manga analysis here; Ôoku category (film, manga, and drama) here.
Before I start the recap today, I did see the Ôoku: Eien movie, and damn, is it good. Sakai is much, much better suited to playing Emonnosuke, and Kanno Miho was such a great Tsunayoshi. I need to collect my thoughts (and maybe see it again), but the sets are gorgeous, the music is great, and it’s a great “sequel” to the first film.
Image via TBS. http://www.tbs.co.jp/ohoku2012/gallery/p05-14.html
Posted in Ôoku, Culture, Gender, Manga, tagged Arikoto, Aso Yumi, 男女逆転大奥, drama, genderswap, Iemitsu, KUBOTA Masataka, manga, Ohoku, Oooku, Sakai Masato, Tabe Mikako, Tokugawa, Yoshinaga Fumi on 2012/12/26 | 8 Comments »
After Ep. 3, my will to watch this show waned a lot. Fortunately, the drama picks up more in this episode, and there are points I was willing to overlook or accept for the sake of adapting this manga for TV. Arikoto’s cross-dressing scene in Ep. 3 was not one of them, so I’m still a bit sore about that.
Warnings: spoilers for the manga and drama, including some from later episodes/chapters.
More Ôoku here.
Posted in Ôoku, Gender, Manga, Visual Culture, tagged Arikoto, よしながふみ, 男女逆転大奥, drama, Gender, genderswap, graphic novel, Iemitsu, manga, Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Sakai Masato, Tabe Mikako, Tanaka Koki, Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku, 大奥 on 2012/12/06 | 5 Comments »
Ooku, Vol. 2, p. 205
Ooku, Ep. 3. Ain’t no party like an ooku drag party… Image via TBS
Hello to my new readers from d-addicts, where my blog was linked on the Ôoku drama thread. I know I’m rather behind on the write-ups, but I do hope you enjoy them as I get them out.
Episode 2 recap here. For other past posts about the films, manga, and drama, see the Ôoku category.
Warning: spoilers, rape, violence.
I’m a great fan of stories (regardless of medium) that make me experience a range of complex and subtle emotions. Or, as one might say, something that hits me right in the feels. The events of Vol. 2, Ch. 4 in the manga–Ep. 3 in the drama (aired 26 Oct. 2012)– are the precursor to a truly epic emotional roller coaster.
Posted in Ôoku, Gender, Manga, Media, tagged Arikoto, Ôoku: Tanjô, 男女逆転大奥, drama, Iemitsu, Sakai Masato, Tabe Mikako, Tanaka Koki, TV, Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku on 2012/10/17 | 1 Comment »
A run-down and thoughts on the drama Ôoku: Tanjô, episode 1 (aired 12 Oct. 2012 at 22:00 on TBS). Spoilers!
Arikoto (Ôoku Vol. 2, p. 81)
Posted in Ôoku, Gender, Manga, tagged Arikoto, よしながふみ, Ôoku Eien, Ôoku: Tanjô, 男女逆転大奥, drama, Emonosuke, 誕生, film, Iemitsu, manga, Ohoku, Tokugawa, trailer, TV, Yoshinaga Fumi, Ōoku, 大奥, 永遠 on 2012/10/03 | Leave a Comment »
The official trailers for Ôoku: Tanjô and Ôoku: Eien have both been released.
Ôoku: Tanjô (Iemitsu/Arikoto)
Image from TBS. http://www.tbs.co.jp/ohoku2012/
Posted in Anime, BeruBara (The Rose of Versailles), Culture, Manga, tagged anime, ベルばら, ベルサイユのばら, BeruBara, English, English-language, license, pulblication, release, RightStuf, Rose of Versailles, subtitles, US on 2012/09/19 | Leave a Comment »
Via Anime News Network:
RIGHT STUF, Inc. Acquires THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES
Image via rov.rightstuf.com
DVD sets in 2013 and to conduct fan Q&A with creator Riyoko Ikeda; Viki to begin streaming series in December 2012.
GRIMES, Iowa, Sept. 12, 2012 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of The Rose of Versailles anime series from TMS Entertainment.
Also known as “Berusaiyu no Bara” and “Lady Oscar,” The Rose of Versailles will be released via Right Stuf’s Nozomi Entertainment as two limited-edition DVD box sets in 2013. The series will also be streamed, beginning in December 2012, and made available exclusively to fans in the United States and Canada on Viki (viki.com), as part of the site’s growing anime lineup. This will be the first time the entire anime series will be available to English-speaking audiences in North America.
