Tag: comedy

Macmillan Koukou Joshi Koushiki Yakyuubu

In English Macmillan Koukou Joshi Koushiki Yakyuubu would be mean something like “The Macmillan High School Girls’ Hardball Baseball Club.” A 2-volume 4-koma gag manga about girl’s hardball baseball, which is apparently a real thing in Japan, even though there are only 16 teams at the high-school level, in this manga at least.

One would think that premise would be interesting enough, but the author went further. Male sports teams in manga tend to have female managers, so the author gave the Macmillan team a male manager instead.

Since Masakiyo is a rare breed of high school boy (even in this ‘politically correct’ age) who loves cooking, sewing and laundry and has relatively no interest in or knowledge about sports or girls, it would seem he’s not much different from your female regular team manager. And indeed, possibly because the manga is so short that there was no time to explore complex concepts, remarkably little fuss is made about his presence on the team. His classmates tease him only a little, with one exception the girls get used to having him around quickly and don’t really treat him as a ‘boy’ and he himself doesn’t spend any time thinking about gender roles, he just gets on with the washing and mending.

Macmillan Yakyuubu is short, but it does manage to cover the ‘essentials’ of baseball manga – training, rivals, team bonding and, of course, Koshien. Everything is handled lightly but not necessarily comically. This is one of the least gag-heavy 4-koma I’ve ever read. It’s very laid-back slice-of-lifeish, though the last few chapters have quite a bit of sports action and some rather predictable drama.

I wish I could say the characters are all likeable, but the pitcher really lets the side down. Apart from her, all the other team members are hardworking, friendly, fun-loving and cheerful. The pitcher is just your typical high-maintenance tsundere who often ruins the mood for everyone concerned, the reader included. She’s also the one who just can’t get over the fact that Masakiyo is a guy, and keeps making things awkward all the time. Still, she gets better quickly, and in any case there’s no time for that kind of drama once the Koshien Tournament rolls around.

All in all, Macmillan Koukou Joshi Koushiki Yakyuubu is a pretty good read. I liked that the author didn’t try to shoehorn laughs in where they didn’t belong (Mr. Fullswing, are you listening?!), the sports action was well-drawn and easy to follow, the series is short enough that it ends before it get tiresome, and apart from the first chapter it has very little fanservice. Most of all, I really appreciate the existence of at least one manga about a guy surrounded by girls that doesn’t devolve into a harem manga. Most of the characters keep their heads on and their eyes on the prize the whole time, even when they’re having fun. Good stuff!

Mr. Fullswing manga review

I stopped reading manga and watching anime for a while back there, but I’m slowly picking up one or two series here and there.

I like baseball and I’d heard Mr. Fullswing was really funny so I thought “Why not?”

Story: Saruno, our main character, falls in love with a girl who happens to be the manager of the school baseball team. To impress her, he joins the team and pretends to be a good player, but he’s actually a complete beginner. He does however have a legendarily powerful swing that just might bring luck to the down-and-out Juunishi baseball team…

My verdict: It’s not that funny, and it’s not really about baseball either. Firstly the team has yet to play a real baseball game. They’ve been doing bullshit shonen-style training like catching three balls at once and throwing balls at moving targets. Their “baseball” games have also come with ridiculous conditions like stripping and adding weights. On top of that are all the bogus magical moves like razor balls and super speed, stuff that the series can do without because when it gets serious and normal it’s actually pretty good.

I read up to chapter 54 and it was hard going. There’s a gag on every page, usually a forced and unfunny one. It slows down the progression of the story, and it’s hard to laugh at jokes you know are coming. You know every time you turn a page that Saruno is going to do something “wacky and unexpected” so very quickly you stop finding him amusing and just want him to get on with it. It’s especially bad when it breaks the mood when something important is happening… which is all the time, come to think of it.

As I said, Mr. Fullswing is pretty good when it tones down the LOL RANDUM stuff and sticks to the story it’s trying to tell. That makes the occasional gags more amusing and easier to take. I think the author has realized it, which is why the more recent chapters are slightly more bearable. I don’t I care enough about the outcome of the Year 2-3 vs. Year 1 game to read the rest though.

I dread what will happen when they get to the Summer Tournament and Koshien anyway. If the older team members of the Juunishi team with their Time-stopping Fielding and Razor Curveballs couldn’t crack Koshien then the opposing teams must have some unimaginably (stupid and) powerful techniques that will only make Mr. Fullswing more of a slog than it already it. Maybe it’s best if I quit while I’m ahead.

Dog Days anime review

Official story: In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons a hero who can save the country. What she gets is Izumi Shinku, a middle-school boy from Japan. Awaiting him in Fronaldo is the task of becoming hero enough to defeat his enemies while learning the peculiar rules of battle in this strange new world.

Cheerful, upbeat series about a boy who gets pulled into another world where he becomes their hero. He then helps them in a “war” against a rival kingdom. A war where nobody dies or even gets seriously hurt, and where everyone celebrates with a concert at the end. Apart from one encounter with a monster the series is light-hearted to the point of absurdity, and at only 13 episodes it’s over long before it has a change to grate on you.

There seems to be room for a sequel, but I don’t need one. They’ll only mess it up somehow anyway. At the end of Dog Days the world of Fronaldo has been saved, Shinku (the protagonist) has gotten lots of experience, and in theory he can go back again within 3 months. That’s enough for me.

I need more series like this. Stuff that makes me feel good inside and leaves a good taste when it’s all over.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! anime review

After watching what I could stomach of Darker than Black, I wanted to try something a little more lighthearted. I often download stuff at random, but this time I read the description and it sounded funny: Italian hitman who looks like baby trains Japanese high schooler to become Mafia leader. What could possibly go wrong?

I watched 10 episodes of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! before giving up, but I won’t say anything went “wrong” with it. More like something was right, so they took that something and reused it over and over again, thereby flogging it to death.

Basically each episode was like the one before it. The same things happened, the characters had the same reactions to it, it ended the same way, on to the next. Tsuna acts like a flabbergasted moron, Reborn is all-wise and all-knowing, Lambo is cute but annoying, Haru is also cute and also annoying, Kyoko is cute and clueless, Yamaguchi is an idiot who thinks everything is a game, etc, etc. You can tell what’s going to come out of everyone’s mouth before they even open it.

I found the first episode or two pretty funny, seeing all the crazy things Tsuna would get up to after being shot with the Dying Will bullet. But after that it was just “Bullet of the Day” ad nauseam, and Tsuna didn’t seem to be getting any brighter or more likable. Also I hate manipulative know-it-alls like Reborn. That smug bastard just pissed me off, episode after episode. If the two main characters suck so hard, there’s very little a series can do to redeem itself.

I hear eventually there’ll be some tournament-style fighting and some time travelling, and nothing could be less appealing to me, so I figured I’d quit while I was ahead. At least I laughed my head off at the Organ Block, so that’s worth something.

Sgt Frog volume 1 manga review

I get bored at the salon a lot, so I’ve taken to bringing my own literature. Last week it was Sgt Frog volume 1.

Keroro, the frog sergeant in question, is an alien who comes to Earth as a scout in readiness for the invasion of the Earth. By chance he ends up in the Hinata family house where he is quickly captured. When a hilarious misunderstanding leaves him and his platoon stranded on Earth, Keroro is left to fend for himself as he best knows how…which means slaving for the Hinata household as their unpaid housekeeper!

Sounds like a sad tale, but it’s actually quite hilarious, mostly due to Keroro’s charm and upbeat attitude. Far from a shrinking violet he’s a tough-talking, mischievously insubordinate, choleric and has a crazy love for building Gundam models. Part of the humor comes from the disjointed fact that he’s an alien frog and yet loves modern things like iMacs and manga.

The human component is the Hinata family: Natsumi the bossy older sis, Fuyuki the easygoing little brother and their mother Aki. Personally I’m always more interested in the activities of the frog team, but the humans provide a good foil for their personalities to bounce off. It wouldn’t be the same manga without them.

Volume 1 starts Keroro’s abandonment on Earth. He later finds his subordinate Tamama (soooo cuuuuuuuute) who is living with Fuyuki’s classmate Momoka. The end of the volume introduces Moa, a.k.a. Angol Mois, the Lord of Destruction… currently disguised as a 14 year old girl who called Keroro “Uncle”. I can’t wait for volume 2!