I am Otaku: "Aahn-nyong Ha-say-oh, B*tches!"

Several posts back I introduced a wide-range of manga I previously, currently enjoy. It occurs to me I might not have been explicit enough in mentioning that all the 'reads' lead to the manga itself, as well as the '*credits' lead to a general manga source. Or maybe no one cares; I've considered that option, I just don't like it. ^^ Well, my "I am Otaku" series is back! Korean style!! Manhwa vs Manga!!! Actually those are two different words for really just the same thing. I'm coming around a bit on manhwa (previously I thought they were lacking in execution) but I still give a hearty edge to Japanese manga. But let's all give a warm, manic applause for manhwa:

Veritas
It's about fighting... and more fighting... Hmm, what else?
Oh, and the hero just might be a sneering idiot...
who rumbles using lightning!!!
Really, how much more awesome do you need?!

[ read ]
*credit

Additional manga updates include (colored links provided):

Claymore is still ongoing and getting better and better. The mangaka introduced in the last chapter 'abyss eaters' and they are unbelievably creepy.

Midnight Secretary is also chugging along nicely. Kyouhei has since given up fighting his love for his mortal beloved, and when dude embraces love, he embraces love. I'm very proud of him, sniff-sniff. Well, as proud as one can be of a drawing... I am Otaku!!!

Bleach is still wonderful though I do think the mangaka is walking a fine line on which the hero of the piece's relevancy may come into question. I understand that he has the overall plot already mapped out and so he cannot afford to have Ichigo (said hero) peak too early, but he is dangerously close to losing the belief of the reading masses in Ichigo. It has begun...

Bitter Virgin has completed its tragic journey and found itself on this side of a happy ending. The mangaka sobered it up a bit but one can dream that Daisuke's and Hinako's undrawn future is as bright, is as full of love and renewed hope as the story's end has gifted.

Deadman Wonderland is still f-ed up, still glorious and hero, Ganta? Might have earned himself a backbone. Awse.

"Aahn-nyong Ha-say-oh!"

I think I'll try my hand at Korean; what do you think? Lately I've been immersing myself in K-dramas to the point of obsessive madness, and on the odd occasion I come up for air, I think -- hey, maybe I should learn the language? I do have another language under my belt, one for which I haven't been doing the upkeep (Russian). Sigh. I just don't have any "in" (movies, music, TV, culture) with that particular language despite my relative proficiency. I just have no interest in it aside from the lovely idiosyncrasities which all languages harbor. Plus, all my life I've had this 'thing' for Asian stuff.

It started with kung-fu movies -- standard weekend fare as a child in Irvington, NJ. On a Saturday nothing could beat Shaolin temple and fighting styles which took their bite from nature and the fantastical (crane, snake, dragon). Even my first crush was centered on a Chinese guy. Gordon Liu, oh, Gordon Liu avenging honor, family, country... I had been all of six or seven but I carefully maneuvered him into every weekend rental. My parents never suspected a thing, hee! ^^ Ha, I think I was the only one in the theater during Kill Bill/Kill Bill 2 who was more excited by a Gordon Liu sighting than by Uma ripping out eyes and cracking skulls.

But I digress... S. Korea really surprised me. It began with the film "Shiri" and continues with my lovely stable of K-dramas. For the longest I thought the best cinema was coming from China but S. Korean cinema -- hell, their television! -- has given me much to rethink. So I think I'll pick up Korean. It will be difficult -- it's character based, and English and Russian is, well, not. Still, should be fun. It's all about follow-through. Besides, I'm not looking for textbook proficiency, just enough to have a basic understanding while watching my addictive dramas. ^_^

If I may be allowed a mini-rant, one of the reasons I love K-dramas as much as I do has to do with American soap operas. Now, the K-dramas I watch are much more along the lines of 'Desperate Housewives' or 'Ugly Betty' in terms of type. By that I mean they are a well-blended mix of comedy, romance, tragedy and soapy drama, but unlike our shows they have a definitive end like telenovelas. When I took up with K-dramas however, it was right around the time I quit soaps all together so I couldn't help making comparisons. K-dramas are just less likely to disappoint the way American soap operas have a nasty habit of doing. Sure, K-dramas have duds and drops in quality but by god, at least you are more likely to get happiness and a smile at the end of the rainbow instead of a big fat goose-egg and a "thanks for tuning in!"

(Guiding Light, you bastards!!!) /rant

Ahem.

Top K-dramas I've seen: My Girl; The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince; Lovers