My friend Doug is an anime & manga junkie. He is knowledgable, at least he sounds it, and enjoys watching, collecting, reading, conversing with like-minded junkies, sharing anime & manga on USENET etc. etc. etc. all with a passion that screams out loud to be shared with the world. But no matter how many times I tell him to blog it, to start a newsletter, to start a web page, ANYTHING that would help open the floodgates and spread it around he just murmers something about cryonic nosespray and velveteen monkeyfish and then trails off into mumbling and muttering and changing the subject. "Blogs? I don't know about no blogs" he talks to the walls and fumbles for his nicotine gum.
Now I get to see this passion burble out of him like coke syrup from a broken fountain spigot over ICQ or GTalk or in emails ... but what can say? I am not the audience that he should be reaching.
So I'm going to post things he says about anime here. And if anyone wants to comment, then I'll collect the comments and give them to him and eventually he'll get it in his head to have his OWN blog. You can help send a boy to camp, in other words.
Here's his latest eruption:
"I am finally reading the last volume of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Yokohama Shopping Trip)...have watched the anime about a year ago due to the recommendation of a like-minded friend. d/l'ed the manga on same recommendation but saved it on his recommendation for a time when i needed something melancholy yet beautiful to read. the anime is brilliance encapsulated into a mere four episodes. the manga...well...it's twice as brilliant, and much longer and more detailed at 141 chapters. the anime is a must see in my opinion, maybe one of the ten best things i've ever witnessed in my life - though not for excitement addicts. the strength of the manga and the anime are both in the storytelling, not the artwork or the action within. the manga is 98% story, less than 1% action - yet it's as compelling as i could possibly wish for. the anime is more like 60% story, 40% action, and not even a shadow of the manga although it's purely taken from the manga and not diluted in the slightest by so-called "ratings goals" what with being an OVA and not a TV series. honestly, if you need a soul-satisfying story and are willing to spend more than a day on same you will be damned glad to read the manga...if not a full day available, the anime will do the job in ~2 hours. both are wonderful but either one will stand on its own without you feeling cheated out of the time spent on it. i must admit this is the most impressive manga i've ever read, but as i already said the anime is pretty wonderful as well."
So, be kind. Be gentle. The words you use are going to be forwarded to someone who can't blog, won't blog, but god help us all, SHOULD blog. More than I should, that's for sure.
