My first recommendation this season goes to TV Tokyo's 死化粧師 . Based loosely on the manga by 三原ミツカズ, each episode evolves around the main character - Mamiya Shinjirou's daily encounters as an embalmer. This series does not have much of the usual ingredients of mystery solving elements by some super detective, rather it focuses on issues faced by people when their loved ones die in the most unexpected circustances. Mamiya's job as an embalmer forms the link between the dead and the living (not in the spooky sense). In one volume, a ballerina was killed in a car accident and her leg had to be amputated. Her fiance however requested for her to be dressed in a ballet costume (as he would expect her to want to since she loves dancing) for the final funeral. Shinjirou's character as an embalmer is often sandwiched between trying to help the family of the deceased and having to carry out the actual embalming of the dead. While dealing with such requests, Shinjirou grows to accept death in a different way, at the same time he also tries to bring peace and closure to the families of the late.
Oh...it helps that 和田正人 who plays Shinjirou really looks like the Shinjirou in the manga!
Manga is a total of 4 volumes. Recommended for those who like mangas with a strange bitter after taste. The drawings are not pretty aka no bishounens, but visually very impactful. Artist used very bold strokes and the entire 4 volumes emphasizes the gloomy and moody atmosphere very well.
Next in line is 風魔の小次郎！！！！Yes....definitely not one of 車田正美 (of saint seiya fame)best works, but still.........ninjas, ninjas and more ninjas....my favourite!
Story tells of two rival ninja academies 白鳳学院 and 夜叉一族 who cannot stop bitching each other off. Of course from the name, we all know that 夜叉一族 is the unscrupulous one and in order to counter them, 白鳳学院 enlists the assistance of 風魔一族 - a legendary clan of ninjas with super duper powers.
What l like about such series is how each ninja has their own special skills and weapons. Every character is unique. Then of course, there are underlying themes ( mainly emotional type!) as well. If you enjoyed Shinobi (which is very lame compared to the anime) or Basilik, this would be your type.
Unfortunately, this series is not shown on major channels, its broadcast mainly on cable TV and the likes. But there are always DVDs if you are really keen ( and other methods which I shall not mention!)
Opening by アンティック-珈琲店:
1 comment:
muahaha i like shinobi leh-! as long as dere is people with long hair n skirts flying and fighting, i wil ai shang the whole show... nyek!
momodaisuki
Post a Comment