Mushishi

Like the manga, whose first volume is now available in English from Del Rey, the anime is incredibly beautiful, magical and mysterious and strange. I very highly recommend both incarnations, even if you don't usually like manga and anime. (I have only read the first volume and watched four episodes, so no spoilers, please.)

Ginko is a young man with a very green eye peering out from under a mop of white hair, and he is a mushishi: an expert in mushi, which he explains as follows, holding out his hand: "Imagine that humans are the beings at the tip of my index finger. Other animals are the other fingers, and insects and reptiles, more distantly related, are at the palm. Microbes and fungi are the veins along the wrists. Mushi, the primal beings, not quite animal, not quite plant, not quite spirit, are at the heart."

Ginko wanders through a gorgeous, timeless Japanese landscape, helping people affected by mushi through a combination of medicine, logic, and magic; he finds a boy whose left hand draws creatures that leap off the page and fly away, a girl who has merged with a living, travelling swamp, and a village high in the mountains, where the falling snow softens all sounds until the mushi who feed on sound move into people's ears to survive.

This is not like anything I've ever seen before, much more lovely than horrific though it can be creepy; it makes me think of moss and forests and falling leaves, and every time I've ever been alone in a beautiful wilderness humming with life.

Mushishi

Like the manga, whose first volume is now available in English from Del Rey, the anime is incredibly beautiful, magical and mysterious and strange. I very highly recommend both incarnations, even if you don't usually like manga and anime. (I have only read the first volume and watched four episodes, so no spoilers, please.)

Ginko is a young man with a very green eye peering out from under a mop of white hair, and he is a mushishi: an expert in mushi, which he explains as follows, holding out his hand: "Imagine that humans are the beings at the tip of my index finger. Other animals are the other fingers, and insects and reptiles, more distantly related, are at the palm. Microbes and fungi are the veins along the wrists. Mushi, the primal beings, not quite animal, not quite plant, not quite spirit, are at the heart."

Ginko wanders through a gorgeous, timeless Japanese landscape, helping people affected by mushi through a combination of medicine, logic, and magic; he finds a boy whose left hand draws creatures that leap off the page and fly away, a girl who has merged with a living, travelling swamp, and a village high in the mountains, where the falling snow softens all sounds until the mushi who feed on sound move into people's ears to survive.

This is not like anything I've ever seen before, much more lovely than horrific though it can be creepy; it makes me think of moss and forests and falling leaves, and every time I've ever been alone in a beautiful wilderness humming with life.

Things I have read in or approaching Taiwan (briefly)

Godchild volume 1, demented manga by Kaori Yuki. The first panel is more cracktastic than entire multi-volume runs of some series.

Narration from the first panel: "Perhaps to ease his lonely soul, Cain starts collecting dangerous poisons. While living with Riff, his manservant since childhood, half-sister Mary Weather-- daughter of his father by a maid-- and Oscar, who wants to wed Mary, Cain meets Dr. Jizabel Disraeli, an assassin of the secret organization 'Delilah.' He wants to rip out Cain's eyes to add to his collection."

Barking mad Gothic horror, made even weirder by the tone-deaf English translation (that should be Merriweather and Jezabel), full of over-the-top horror, Gothic Victoriana, Lewis Carroll allusions, mad killers who wear rabbit masks impregnated with exotic hallucinogens, and disturbing sexual undertones and overtones such as a half-naked pubescent Cain writhing in his sheets, saying to his sexy valet/butler/true love Riff, "I didn't want that guy helping me dress."

Volume 2 contains the Parrot of Doom.

ES (Eternal Sabbath) volume 3, manga by Fuyumi Soryo. Gorgeous, spooky, and smart manga about a young man who can enter the minds of others, and the woman scientist who gets entangled with him. This volume is especially creepy, with great use of white space and silence to induce a sense of paranoia and tension. I continue to be very engaged by the main characters.

The Empty Empire, volume 1, manga by Naoe Kita. From page one: "Beyond the year 2500 AD, he appeared to unite the world: the Emperor Idea."

The telekinetic amnesiac clone of the dead (or is he?!!!) Emperor Idea escapes and is found by an ass-kicking young woman and a strange scientist who looks a lot like Hakkai. There is a sexy butler/valet, and a missing body, and two missing eyes from different people. Everyone's heads are strangely bulbous, and I laughed every time someone referred to Idea, but the characters were growing on me by the end of the volume.

Thud, by Terry Pratchett. Very funny, very smart. Vimes tries to stop Ankh-Morpork from exploding via ethnic tension between the dwarves and the trolls, and also to meet the equal challenge of getting home every night at 6:00 PM to read "Where's My Cow?" to his son. I particularly liked the bits with Mr. Shine. And the Gooseberry. And the girls' night out. And the guy who's supposed to audit the Watch. And I continue to love Vimes.

What the Lady Wants, by Jennifer Crusie. Early romantic comedy, slight but funny. My favorites of her earlier books are still Getting Rid of Bradley (the green hair!) and Manhunting (the terrible fates that befall every man the heroine meets).

Niccolo Rising, by Dorothy Dunnett. I only just started this, but it already makes more sense than A Game of Kings.

(no subject)

I am back and sort of watching the Oscars. It is full of mildly amusing shadow dancers and montages on highly specific themes like "America." Since I think I only saw three of the movies nominated for anything, I am not caring much this year. Though I did think that Forrest Whittaker was great as Idi Amin. Oh, hey, he got it. Yay! And hey, telophase, he's from East Texas!

Also, Philip Seymour Hoffman has the worst hair I have ever seen on anyone.

I managed to smuggle a bag of pork floss and a bag of squid jerky past four customs officials and an official customs beagle whose handler parked it by my baggage carrousel to try to prevent people from bringing Taiwanese food into America. I can't say that I blame them. (The food smugglers, I mean, not the customs beagles.)

I got further into Niccolo Rising on the plane. Still not confused! Much. I now have a sneaking suspicion that I have, in fact, already met Niccolo. If so, I like him.

(no subject)

I am back and sort of watching the Oscars. It is full of mildly amusing shadow dancers and montages on highly specific themes like "America." Since I think I only saw three of the movies nominated for anything, I am not caring much this year. Though I did think that Forrest Whittaker was great as Idi Amin. Oh, hey, he got it. Yay! And hey, telophase, he's from East Texas!

Also, Philip Seymour Hoffman has the worst hair I have ever seen on anyone.

I managed to smuggle a bag of pork floss and a bag of squid jerky past four customs officials and an official customs beagle whose handler parked it by my baggage carrousel to try to prevent people from bringing Taiwanese food into America. I can't say that I blame them. (The food smugglers, I mean, not the customs beagles.)

I got further into Niccolo Rising on the plane. Still not confused! Much. I now have a sneaking suspicion that I have, in fact, already met Niccolo. If so, I like him.