I'd wait any length of time for a Misaki cover.

Though it is a shame that they lost focus on the series. The golden age of translated print manga is long gone, unfortunately.

I picked up the complete set on the cheap from Rightstuf.com's clearance sale. Total for the six disks + art box was about 40 bucks.

Okay... the basics of the story is that Rebecca Miyamoto, half japanese, half american, second child to a family, grew up in the US and graduated MIT at age 10. She decides (for some reason) to become a teacher at a school in Japan.

The classes at the school are filled with the stereotypical types of students, including the bookworm, the mean girl, the creepy class-rep, the overly excited one(maho!), the one that like animals, the so-boring-she's-invisible one, etc..

The teachers aren't much better. One's just called "Old Guy", one's a drunk,Becky (of course), and the fourth is the PE teacher. All commanded by the never-seen and mysterious principal.

If I had to place this on the wacky anime chart, it would fall somewhere between Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemy, I guess. The humor is not so dark as it is blunt, and the wackiness is under actual control. After settling in, Becky takes to calling the students by their primary qualities (The excitable one is called Cowlick because of the tuft of hair that's always sticking up, the incessant studier is called Bookworm, etc...)

In one episode, the class enters a dark room of the school. Bookworm (gifted with a high forehead that reflects light) turns around and the glare from a light blinds everyone. Becky takes off her sunglasses to reveal the associated sunburn-raccoon mask. Again, not dark humor, just blunt (and freaking funny in context).

Another episode starts with Becky writing on the chalkboard saying "this is your assignment for today." With the subs on you can read the board which has "you kill each other off", a homage to Battle Royale, no doubt. The entire show, every scene, has little things crammed into the background for you to notice. Oh, and it has AD-Vid notes as well, something I learned to appreciate in Excel Saga.

I'm only a part way through watching, but I am really enjoying it. I laugh hard almost every episode. It's definitely worth a watch.

-Maverick

Kenshin, are you a member at http://gunslinger-girl.up-with.com/forum.htm?

Never seen them, but they played in Cleveland a few years back and they were THE show to see.couldn't get tickets to save your life. Every radio station had an excellent review for them.

I thought I'd toss in a review of a board game for those who want to create their own "Zombie Appocalypse" excitement.

Zombies!!! is a unique game from Twilight Creations Inc. http://www.twilightcreationsinc.com/zombies/

You and other survivors must make it from the town square to the helipad while fighting off the moaning army of the undead in the streets and in buildings.
Or as the site says:

QuoteZombies!!! puts you in the middle of the action as you try to escape the ever advancing zombie horde. Players must use a combination of wits and brawn to be the first to the heliport and certain escape. The only problem is, the zombies are everywhere, they appear to be very hungry and your opponents would really prefer if you didn't escape.

We've played this game several times with four or five people and it's freaking fun.

You start out in Town Square with three action/item cards in your hand. The first player draws a city tile from the deck and places it, and inserts a number of zombies, health, and bullets that is dictated by the card. That player then rolls a movement die to proceed that many squares (each card is 3x3 squares, not all traversable). They battle each zombie as they come to them, rolling the other die. 4+ on the die means a victory and you collect that zombie to your pile. Less than 4 means you have to sacrifice a number of bullet tokens to get to 4, or a life token to roll again. After movement, the player rolls a die again to see how many zombies they get to move 1 space each. Running out of life restarts you in town square with half your zombie kills. The first to the Helipad center or to 25 zombie kills wins.

Sound easy? Think again. Since each person draws a city tile in their turn, the city, and consequently the number of zombies, increases rapidly before the helipad is uncovered in the lower third of the deck. Buildings contain health and bullets, but there's only one way into each building, and there are Zombies in there. You have to fight them to get the goods, which more often than not results in wasting more than you get out of it.

Still sound like a walk in the park? Sheesh, you're dense. There are other players all playing for the same goal!!!! To be the one alive at the helipad or with the most kills. They (and you) will move zombies to block their paths, force a combat roll to begin their turn, or play an action card to put the screws to them. This is about survival, after all, and being second place to the heli-pad means a last stand against the hoard while you watch the winner wing their way to freedom.

The action cards range from being able to collect and use a weapon after visiting a certain building to adding 10 zombies to the board at your pleasure, to controlling another player's movement through those zombies. All of the included cards are incredibly well drawn with a small assortment of characters you'll swear you've seen before. Most of them sport a guy who looks just enough unlike Bruce Campbell to avoid suits, doing all of the classic Ash facial expressions. Insert "Workshed" here.

This game is about luck and conniving more than skill. On our first true game night with it, we found ourselves engrossed (quite unintentionally) as character types from zombie flicks. Myself and my friend's younger brother tried the "buddy-system" approach, my friend was the classic "jerk who screws everyone and leaves them to die", and the other two guys played it by ear.
Incidently, being the jerk sucks because everyone gangs up on you eventually, dumping wave after wave of zombies and cards against you. The buddy system only holds up until one of you dies, then it's everyone for themselves.
Playing it by ear seems to be the way to go.

The basic kit is a bit thin on zombies, so you should also pick up a "Bag-o-zombies" to go with it.

Overall, this game is a great way to spend the evening with friends. A game usually lasts an hour, depending on how the city forms. If you want to make it really hard to get to the helipad, place the Hospital or firestation tile adjacent to the helipad and supply the zombies from there. It certainly makes the game difficult and unpredictable.

On a more personal note, this game is nearly identical to a game my friend and I were developing only a couple of years ago. We were shocked to find that someone had already done it, and done it better. Kudos to them for getting there first and doing it well.  :ehail:

Just read through it at Spectrum. Feels like cheating, but good to know how close I've been. Great Manga series.

Quoteif you want to read more gunslinger girl up to the end of volume 10 then you can read it online at "Manga Spectrum"

Actually, I bought 7-10 in the japanese from Sasuga books (http://www.sasugabooks.com/) and after the first few hours tring to get past the first page, I just downloaded the unofficial translations for 7-9 on torrents, perfectly legal since I own actual copies.
   Volume 10's translation is not widely availiable, so I'm actually translating it as best I can using a combination of a kanji-search/translation program, Windows Character Mapper, and Babel-Fish.

First, this method is tedious, as I have to find the correct kanji and copy it and the approriate additional bits of the alphabet to babel-fish, then i have to try to make heads or tails of the resulting translation. As they say, Context is everything, and with that in mind, I don't think I'm doing all that badly. I only have the first five pages done so far, though.

I've purchased the games individualy over the years. BTW, anyone still wanting just Portal, Steam has it for $4.99 via their store until January 2nd. 75%off!!!

I tried firing up the Bioshock demo, and really wasn't impressed with the coding. I don't have a "great" system, merely one that has served me well for almost five years and has been adequate enough with several upgrades. Bioshock requires an uber-puter and I'm not going to build a new one just for one game.
I can run all of the Valve games easily. They don't look fantastic, but they're playable and I have enough effects to appreciate the game quality. Valve knows their stuff and makes games that are fun, playable on most systems, have actually story to them, and keep you wanting more. Contrast this with companies that make a game with new water effects and force you to upgrade.
  I think they succeeded at where Interplay wanted to go with their "By Gamers, For Gamers" philosophy. In the commentary for Portal, the voice-actress even admits she's not a gamer, but wants to play Portal because the gameplay intrigues her, as well as to get the cake recipe.

BTW, anyone interested in knowing what my ancient system is:
It's home built- P4 2.4GHz (started out with a 1.4), ABIT BD7II-RAID with a pair of Western Digital 80Gig drives, 1GB Kingston value ram, ATI-9800 card,Creative DVD-rom drive, and a Soundblaster Audigy OEM card. Oh..WinXP, of course.

This has been, by far, the most reliable board I've ever had, and my I-T friend says he's never seen one upgrade and survive like mine has. I'll be sad when I finally do upgrade from it. Maybe I'll make a cake.

Quoteyeah but the funny thing is he doesn't get it in the end as its used to get access to kabapu's bank accounts XD

I actually think his debt has been repayed. Momochi would be the one keeping track of it, and it's not like the debt was owed to an outside group or bank. That and you don't hear him babbling about not having money again. He enters the room in the last frame of the chapter saying "Hey!! The King of Debt!!" to Iwata.

NOticed something interesting in 18, brought to my attention by the Oubliette. Miwa's facial traits when she doesn't have her glasses and head-gear on. The nose, the curve of the ears and chin, and especially the mole.

Maybe it's simply artist-style playing into it(but in Excel Saga, you can never be sure), but I think maybe Miwa and Momochi might be sisters? Maybe Momochi is the progeny of a late-life pregnancy of Miwa's parents.
Anyway....seemed to pop into my head like possibilities will.

Overall favorite? Has to be Casablanca. Not the bastardized-colorized version, but the original B&W.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no slouch with movies. But given the choice of the newer, CG-filled 100+million productions and the older stuff where they actually blow things up ('Apocolypse Now' I believe still holds the record for the largest pyrotechnic display in a movie), roll cars, etc.... I'll always take the older stuff.

Kung-fu flicks and B-movies are favorite categories.

Has anyone seen a release date for volume 7 yet? ADV's site is crappy with ads and useless polls, and there's no mention of any GSG volumes at all. I'm guessing that Yu Aida & Co. and ADV have not been on decent terms.

I hate to get the jap version because I can't read it, though I could certainly use the language skills from learning how.

So... Anyone out there heard anything on the future volumes and their official US releases?

Quoteand if the courts rule against him, there will be the creation of a new, unjust law.

Welcome to the US legal system. If you're not a criminal now, we'll fix that.
  I don't think such a law is just, particularly in the case of art. Maybe the lawyers can dig up a few San Fran area rulings to help this out. The problem is that this isn't a constitutional matter, as it would be for some form of press or free speech. Art isn't covered, so it's state law issue. As we know, those can vary quite a bit and depend heavily on previous cases.
The argument for drawings being different than photos is good. Where is the defining line between art and porn? If a single page in question had been blown up to 18"x36" and hung on a wall, would the content even be in question?

We really do need more info in this to make a better analysis.

I didn't see it listed in the story. What Manga was it, and what did the frames contain? How did they know what was in it?

You see this kind of thing all the time over the Second Amendment, but i'm leaning towards something a bit less serious here (for everyone except the poor guy who it's happening to, that is).

If the manga contained images that would qualify as child pornography, either on the state or federal levels, the guy is toast. In fact, I'm leaning in that direction. Whether that image meets the definition properly, as opposed to say Ropponmatsu II (which could even be argued at times), is the defining issue. Even if he didn't know it was in the manga, he's still responsible for possessing it.

Lets be perfectly honest here. The facts aren't being reported in full. Until you know the full scope of the details, it's pointless to worry about infringement of rights.

And for any of you with any huffing about what the cops can and cannot nail you for... If you have any ROMS or CD images without the originals, unpaid-for MP3's, or VHS recorded NFL games, you're breaking the law, and can be nailed for it if the cops search your home for anything else. Ignorance of the law is not a defense.

My guess is the guy was reading it in a place where someone got offended at the content, they called the cops, likely saying it's kiddie porn, and no judge will refuse a warrant for kiddie porn.
Again, the guy's defense depends on the definition of the content. This has nothing to do with "objectionable material" as it's normally dealt with in American released comics or manga.
You can't show breaking glass in a comic that is released in Canada, or so I'm told. If such a comic were imported via individual purchase, rather than distribution, the law has been broken, and you can be held legally responsible. It's just the way import laws work.

Just from those sketches, she and Matsuya could play bad-cop bad-cop till they're blue in the face. I've always found Matsuya to be my personal favorite due to her seriousness and sarcasm in the face of the outright lunacy. Given the er...less wacky... nature of Watanabe in the majority of the manga, his family is likely not the type to produce a wacky character.

I think she'd be an interesting addition to complement Matsuya in the serious department. She doesn't look like she's as emotionally closed as Matsuya. In direct  comparison, she'd probably seem almost perky.

Maybe I'm just thinking wishfully.