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Shaman Warrior, vols. 1-5 (Park Joong-Ki)
Shaman warriors have the ability to transform their bodies in various ways, making them formidable war machines. As this series opens, a legendary shaman, Yarong, meets his death under circumstances that seem highly suspicious to his servant, the massive fighter Batu. Batu swears to defend his master's child, Yaki, but he soon finds this far more difficult than he expected: shaman warriors are being hunted down and killed, with the circumstances of Yarong's death being twisted to provide an excuse. Batu at last decides he must take desperate measures to ensure that little Yaki survives and becomes able to defend herself.
Thus far, this is playing out like an almost gender-blind shounen/seinen adventure. There are more male characters than female characters (especially in the first volume), but the female characters we've encountered thus far are fighting, doing magic, and adventuring along with the men. These female characters are also generally drawn with reasonable bustlines and amazingly modest clothing. The story includes betrayal, loyalty beyond the grave, a variety of non-romantic attachments (siblings, master-servant, parent-child, team mates, etc.), and complex politics. The artwork is gorgeous, illustration rather than cartoon, along the lines of Inoue's work on Vagabond and Samura's work on Blade of the Immortal (and when we do encounter grotesques, they're all the more unnerving because they're so well-drawn).
Oh, and telophase? Batu the Destroyer traveling with little Yaki is just your kind of thing!
Shaman Warrior, vols. 1-5 (review) |
(FYI - that's teenaged Yaki in the icon.)
OK ... wild theories time. The Mr. and I don't think Yarong was Yaki's father. We think Yarong was Yaki's mother.
This may sound like total crack - after all, we have a number of pictures of bare-chested Yarong in vol. 1, and that's a totally masculine-looking torso, very much in the realistic mode: not tapered and bishie-ish, but compactly muscled and slightly stocky. But think about how Yarong has a tiny baby, and Batu keeps urging him to take it easy because "you can't fight anymore. Your body can't take it" and the General who sends Yarong off on his fatal mission apologizes that he had to "inform you of this while your body is still changing," and then later this same General thinks of Yarong with this statement:"I have plucked the most beautiful flower in all Kugai ... ."
I guess only time will tell.
Park gets a little weird with names: there is a character called Genji (female, and supposedly Batu's sister) and another called Aragorn (the tattooed warlord of a clan that's being forced out by the General). Genji is a lot of fun - frankly outspoken, a skilled fighter, and a master of disguise. Aragorn's a pretty good character too, but I keep twitching every time I read that name ... .
Yaki's experiences in the Butcher Camps are all too realistic, except in one area, and I think Park is actually to be commended for not going for the sexual angle in most of what happens to her. I also like how Yatilla gives her a reason to go on and be strong. He's a very promising character, and I hope we'll see more of him.
My only regret thus far is that Yarong was killed off so soon. He was just my sort of character.
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telophase introduced me to Mononoke, and I watched the first episode online. Again, I couldn't make myself sit for more than that. It was indeed very cool, what I saw of it.
I feel like I've been peeling off layers and layers of cocooning junk all my life, and the real me is only just emerging. I want people to love that person that I've become.
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Yeah, it made me think of Peter Max meets xxxHolic-style CLAMP, actually!
Yes, I want to watch Champloo with you sometime!
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I'll have to see if I can somehow fit that in before we go on vacation. Life is so messy at the moment ... it's making me rather cross.
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I know! If we only had enough staffing that I could depend on everyone taking care of things while I was out at work ... ! Among other things, I need to take Care out to buy both her and myself new bras, which is never a fun expedition ... .
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Yeah, that's Care's problem as well, although she may have gone up a cup size, which would help. I'm having a problem in that the lower quad of the boob that had the surgery is distinctly less full now, and the band is slipping up and onto it on my older bras. Ugh.
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We went to the Dor-Ne Corset Shop in Silver Spring and got fitted! I was wearing the right size (hah!) - 40D. I got a couple of different bras ... one is a sort of old-lady front-hooking bra but it's comfortable. Sadly, they only had it in black. I found a couple of places I could buy it online in white or blush, but the most pro-looking site had 3 bad write-ups on Google shopping ... . I also picked up a couple of different style Bali bras at Macy's. We'll see how they do. And I'm not supposed to talk about Care ... .
I think the cookie pads would drive me nuts ... let's see how these new bras do. The lady at Dor-Ne thought a better fit would help, and I learned a little about what to look for.
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Ahhh, I guess it depends on your definition of bigger busted! They come barely large enough for me (band size), and my experience with that phenomenon would suggest that they won't be cut very generously either. The online lingerie shops have a variety of bras that do come in quite generous sizes, but I don't like buying bras blind like that. Once I know a style fits, I'll order more online, but I need to try on one first.
The other problem I've got is that I've very sensitive to the rubbing of interior seams and stitching. A lot of these "pretty" ones seem very harsh and scratchy to me. Bali makes several styles that are purposely very soft and seamless inside.
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Heh, I was talking about the fact that the largest band size they seemed to have was 42, but you're right, that might have just been that merchant!
Yes, it's like the Natural Balance shoes - they make EE-width women's, but they don't have them in their own stores! So stupid ... .
Huh, I think of plain ones as sleek and elegant ... I mean, does that really look old-ladyish to you? (That's the style I wear for things that are cut down to there.)
And you know me well enough by know to know that at the end of the day ... "hell, it's just underwear!"