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But that is of no matter, what matters is this amazing title which I've had the joy of discovering, and now, want to share with others.
Shin Angyo Onshi is the story of Munsu, an angyo onshi: a government agent of the country of Jushin who traveled in secret and rooted out corrupt officials and warlords to restore the peace and bring justice to the people. However, at the onset of this story, Jushin has fallen, and Munsu wanders the ruined country cleaning up the shattered remains of the once glorious country.
This work is the brainchild of writer In-Wan Youn and artist Kyung-Il Yang, serialized in Sunday GX which is published by Shogakukan. Both In-Wan Youn and Kyung-Il Yang grew up reading and enjoying manga despite not knowing much about Japanese culture. In the same way, they believed that Japanese readers would enjoy reading a work drawn from a Korean cultural background as long as it was interesting. In this fashion, they have seamlessly integrated an eclectic array of Korean culture and folklore into an amazingly woven tale.
They work close together with their editor, referred to as N-san, and streamline the plot into an easily absorbable and appreciated form. They also provide very informative and interesting author's notes at the end of the volumes/chapters at times.
This isn't simply a retelling of cla.ssical folktales, far from it. The story is dark and twisting and a unique product of its own. From the onset of the very first chapter we have a plot twist and the ugly face of the remnants of a ruined country. Moral dilemmas and plenty of action is all abound. The story is seemingly episodic at first, but soon enough ties together into a much larger plot.
The characters who drive the plot are also wonderfully developed. Munsu is an anti-hero as much as an anti-hero gets. His stout stance in his principles and seeming lack of morality and kindness at times--much to the dismay of the "helpless"--hide a darker past. Sando, his "bodyguard" is a complete 180 from him: innocent, naive, and sweet, she is often taken aback at Munsu's seemingly incoherent acts.
What I love about this series is that while it contains elements of fantasy, it still remains very believable. Munsu is not a man who can whip out an energy blast. Instead he fights with his head and his guns.
The art is also fantastic, it's as if I'm reading a series with the artwork of Takeshi Obata but even more detailed, refined, yet rough at times. One could get into series for the art alone.
The plot never seems to slow down, much like Claymore once it got to the Teresa Arc. Just full steam ahead and no fillers, indeed, no chapter is wasted on filler, only more development. In fact, this is a series often compared to Claymore and Berserk.
It's finished its run at 17 volumes this year, and I eagerly await the day when a competent publisher licenses this series and does it justice. I can't wait for an anime adaptation either, provided there ever will be one.
You can find the scans online here at Anime-Source.
I've barely scratched the surface of the series here, so please check out this wonderful title, and tell people about it.
A really short plot summary:
A young man finds and returns a lost wallet and cell phone to a beautiful young lady, thus begins the destined relationship between two strangers. Sound typical? Well then, how about making the young lady the young man's future homeroom teacher, and give them both a twisted sense of right and wrong. And just for kicks, let's have the young man help himself to a self proclaimed reward from the lost wallet before returning it...but of course, this scenario wouldn't be complete unless the young lady was very unforgiving when it came to teaching one of her students a lesson on morals.
A picture for you guys, eh?
From volume 2, chapter 13.
You can read the manhwa online here.
Not that most of you care anyway, right?
Or will read this. Ever.
Sigh.
Thanks to everyone who participated. Be proud of your work! You showed signs of life among the 1000+ members we have in this union! Kudos!
As for anime news, Claymore kicks ass.
I have some news for you guys! We're having an AMV contest!
What? An AMV contest?!
That's right! Why not, right?
Basically, you can use any song and any series you like, just make it fun. It'll be a nice way to kill off a little boredom and have fun learning a little bit of video production.
I was actually inspired to make my very first AMV based on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya set to Mugen by Porno Graffitti, entitled Haruhi is Forever, recently.
We've all seen that one really kickass AMV, right? Well, Koopiskeva's Skittles (also based on Haruhi, set to CandyPop by Heartsdales featuring SOUL'd OUT) was the one for me. It's so good that it made me spend an entire week of my life making my very own AMV.
Check both out! 
But wait, don't have one of those expensive video editing software? Don't worry, most of you probably have Windows Movie Maker, and while not Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 by any means, it'll get the job done and help you get that first step into making your AMV, and perhaps later video productions as well.
Don't have that or want to use an alternative? There's a free site called Jumpcut with relatively easy to use controls and a decent amount of effects, and you can edit online and learn the ropes of video editing.
Well, what are you waiting for? Unleash your creativity into the world!
Click here for the official thread for the AMV contest!
Courtesy of ASOS Brigade:
WHAT?! They're giving us free food and supplies for our club if we visit this place called "America"?! NOW WE'RE TALKING!!! WHERE'S THE PLANE!!1 Oh Mikuru, I have an outfit for you~
The three Japanese voice actresses/singers for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are Guests of Honor at Anime Expo 2007 in Long Beach, California. AYA HIRANO (Haruhi), YUKO GOTO (Mikuru), and MINORI CHIHARA (Yuki) will be flown in directly from Japan especially for this event.
Also, for ONE DAY ONLY, LIVE and IN CONCERT
SOS BRIGADE INVASION TOUR
HARUHI LIVE CONCERT EVENT
4:30pm SATURDAY JUNE 30, 2007
LONG BEACH ARENA
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, USA
In other news: Please email us if you are planning to enter the dance competition (don't forget to fax/mail the forms, but email to let us tentatively schedule you in too) The email address is n dance@asosbrigade.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . This email is ONLY for dance contest entry, please visit our company website at www.bandai-ent.com and use the contact form there for other questions/comments.
Click here: RULES/INFO (PDF) and ENTRY FORM (PDF)
IMPORTANT CHANGE! DANCE CONTEST TIME IS CURRENTLY STARTING AT 3PM ON FRIDAY TO ACCOMODATE PEOPLE!!
Oh. BTW, the winner(s) of the Haruhi Dance Competition Friday at the booth will receive the opportunity to dance on-stage in front of 9,000 people WITH the SOS Brigade during the concert on Saturday.
********************
I so want to go, if just to meet Hirano Aya or see the winner dance.
Yeah, I'm surprised, too. Well, with two of the biggest shonen series
around getting their asses in gear recently, I thought it was due time
for an update.
Yes, on 2/15/07 Naruto will finally begin Part II of the manga and the
fillers will end! Bleach has returned to its canon, post-Soul Society
arc as of episode 110 and is at episode 112 at the moment.
The Naruto manga slowly picked up again, and Bleach has been in a new
arc for a while. Are things looking good? Or have the horrible fillers
destroyed people's interest in coming back to their old favorites?
Well, that's up to you.
Oh yeah, anyone else play Portable Ops yet?
It's not a "real" update, but an update regardless.
What are you currently watching these days in the world of anime? Is it good? Is it bad? Share with us your experiences!
***The DS Lite comes out June 11th, hooray!***
The greatness that is Haruhiism has taken yet another stranglehold of the world:
Haruhi Suzumiya Single on Oricon (2006-05-12 14:55:43)
"18th best selling single at major music stores"
Haruhi Suzumiya CD Sells Out (2006-05-12 12:10:53)
"Ending theme sells out almost immediately, ranks highly in Amazon sales chart"
If you still haven't caught the fever, GO RIGHT NOW AND CATCH IT!!!
In a further effort to revive this place, this update will be about something somewhat controversial.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8787
"Nobel Prize" For Foreign Manga
posted on 2006-04-29 12:26:37
source: Mainichi Shimbun
Japanese Foreign Minister Proposes Nobel-esque Prize For Best Non-Japanese Manga Artists
Japan's
foreign minister, Taro Aso, has proposed the creation of a prize akin
to the Nobel Prize to be awarded to the best up-and-coming foreign
manga artists. Speaking at the University of Digital Content in
Akihabara, Aso said that by giving non-Japanese artists such an award
would increase their affinity with Japan.
Speaking about the tense political situation between China and Japan,
Aso also called for the creation of an "anime ambassador" award for
up-and-coming Japanese artists. Aso said that, while relations between
the Chinese and Japanese governments are very poor, anime and manga are
extremely popular in Japan. Speaking to a group of about 100 students,
Aso said that manga and anime creators have engrossed young people in
many nations. "It is something that the Foreign Ministry could never
achieve," he stated.
A big fan of manga himself, Aso will be in the USA next week.
The University of Digital content is an animation school in Akihabara.
Thoughts? And just what do YOU think qualifies as foreign "manga?"
Oh, and two interesting links, or rather, links of interest:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/columns/answerman.php?id=242 - This week's Answerman (Rant included)
http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/4486/the-next-anime-star?fr=fp-buzz-more - Yahoo! Buzz page about E7
What do you think of this rant? Does he have a point? Or is he just a radical fan blowing off steam?
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/columns/answerman.php?id=241 - Scroll down to the rant section to see, well, the rant.
Included in the main entry is the rant in its entirety.
What is the Haruhi fever? Well, come in and find out.
And all espers, time travelers, aliens, ghosts, and others of the sort are all welcome!
Oh, and expect a dub of Bleach sometime in the fall.
I'm sad to admit but this union IS pretty dead...
Then again, we haven't taken much initiative to revive the place...
*sigh*
we lost ours... so someone thats not me make one?
>.>
so im lazy. we have 1k users... someone should be able whip something up quickly...
Frankly, I don't know what to do to bring this place back. I'm sure we could do discussions or debates, butI'm afraid that'll tire too soon. Or we could go off-topic for a little while, but...
Hmm...What do you all think?
Edit: In an ambitious move, Dante-2006 has been promoted! respect? lets see what ideas this young one has =p
So apparently according to gamespot we are going AWOL...
fun fun i guess.
If anyone wants to be an officer and see this place get better, im all for it. =p
Hey guys, it's finally a friggin' update! Gah, this union is so dead... It's sad really. I hope we can revive it, but doesn't seem likely.
I blame this on the AU not being able to post an image link to this place.Well, if anyone has a suggestion to help get this place active again, feel free to comment!
As you all know, GS has been down for a few days due to site redesign. At the time of writing this, the main forums are still down, but, it looks like we got a complete makeover to the entire site.
Anyways, be sure to check out Evil_Lug's post about Disgaea 2 down below!!!!!
It's FREAKING DISGAEA 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
for the PS2 RPG Dragon Quest VIII now hosts a streaming trailer and
allows site visitors to register to recieve a free playable demo of the
game.
thanks AnimeNation News
Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation
(NASDAQ: NAVR), and one of the nation's leading brand management and
independent home video entertainment companies, is launching the
FUNimation Channel(SM), a 24-hour digital network featuring programming
of top-rated anime brands from Japan. "The broadcast success we've
experienced with our anime brands proves that solid TV exposure gives
fans the chance to see more great anime and it increases sales and
licensing opportunities. This has driven us to pursue additional
avenues to get more of our shows broadcast exposure in the United
States," said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation
Entertainment. "The FUNimation Channel will give us the opportunity to
bring more of our proven, high-rated anime titles from Japan to fans
throughout the United States and expand awareness of anime to whole new
audiences."
- courtesy of Anime News Service
