I recently bought Volume One of Confidential Confessions by Rieko Momochi after seeing a review on the net of it. It's a collection of volume long (or less) manga about girls with serious issues. However, the shoujo manga bend is definitely apparent in these works, and it lends them a lot of credibility because it keeps from getting too distasteful content-wise. This also keeps it from glamorizing any of the issues dealt with at all. It instead removes any glamour from suicide, self-cutting and teen prostitution (as if there we're any glamour to begin with, but in the character's minds, and in some very troubled real teens' minds, there's an allure to those activities,) issues dealt with in this volume, without even a second thought. Better still it does this, as I said, with pretty good taste.

The stories do essentially end on happy notes, but it's always a pyrrhic victory. The lead character may have won, but only after being dragged through the mud first, and it's not a perfect win of course (you may have escaped you fate, but you may have lost someone in the process). It keeps it from being an after school special in manga form, even if Tokyopop, the US publisher feels like billing it like that. Besides no after school special would have the right balance of grittiness to tastefulness. It'd be way sugar coated. Confidential is like sour candy. There maybe a semi-sweet center, but it'll never be straight sugar, and you probably had fight through some pretty sour stuff just to get to that.

I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of the series, but particularly volume three. That volume follows a girl through her battle with methamphetamines, and as I had friends in my first of Jr. High who dealt with that, I'm curious to see how it's handled.

I'd give 4.7 out 5, because it does anything but talk down to you. Though it really earns its 16 and up rating, though if you're facing the same problems as the girls in this comic, you should read it regardless of your age, because it might turn your life around. There are also a number of help lines and websites about these things too. The manga shows what happens when no call for help is made, and it's pretty depressing.

"Suicide is just one person escaping from the world, without even [fixing] the [situation] that made [them] kill [them]self in the first place" - Manatsu, Confidential Confessions Volume 1.

Wise words. Wise words.

Video: Shalom
Produced by: Violent Films/EMU SKateZINE
Format: wmv file on CD-R
Rating: 4.25 out 5

If you hope over to EmuSkateZine.com and look around a bit, you'll note that EMU interviewed me about my music and my love of anime. Anyway, Spencer Winters from EMU hooked me up with a copy of Shalom, the first video EMU has put together under the name of Violent Films.

The video is actually on a CD-R, but it looks pretty good, especially considering that it was put together using Windows Movie Maker. The quality of the shooting in the video is also really good. Everything is framed nicely and the moving shots, which were done hand held by people skateboarding alongside who ever was doing the trick, are very smooth-looking. In the looks department, the only thing that's holding the video back is the number of pixels and the encoding. Other those things, it's quite nice.

The video also captures the cultural aspects of skateboarding in the Seattle area, but especially does a good job capturing skate culture on the Eastside, particularly in Redmond and Kirkland. It not only gives a good glimpse into the skatepark element of skating on the Eastside, but also into the underground, skate-where-you-where-you-want (perhaps where shouldn't) side of skate culture too. That element, even though it maybe somewhat illegal at times, is where skate culture was formed, so it's interesting to see that that part is alive and well today, even with the multiple skate parks that have been built.

The locations where the video was film shot, and what was skated also add a lot to the video. Everywhere from both the Kirkland and the Redmond skateparks, to the back streets of small neighborhoods, to the alleys of various business parks, to parking garages, to various parks and schools, to the Seattle center, and almost anyplace that had something that could hypothetically be skated. As far as what was skated, everything from stairs and rails, to dumpsters and playgrounds slides were skated.

The quality of skating wasn't super, but it was pretty solid, especially for people who aren't even in high school yet. Also, considering that they were skating some of the weirdest stuff I've ever seen skated, it's better still. Some of it was night skating too, which is fairly gutsy. Factoring in that it mostly improv, off the cuff stuff, it's good street skating.

The interludes that don't feature people skateboarding range from sorta funny to absolutely hilarious, especially if you know the people involved, though that's not necessary to enjoy those parts of the video. The various interludes feature an lady talking about skater she once got hit while driving, a guy telling them to leave the premises, the EMU crew and other ICS skaters roughhousing, a little in-joke for ICS students and alumni, the EMU crew and other ICS skaters building a ramp while asking Jake (one of the skaters helping build the ramp) about his alien language, Jake singing the Police's “Roxanne” and a stick-figure animation of someone jumping over a giant, hungry fish and a guitar solo.

All in all, Shalom is a good, fun skate video in all aspects, and is definitely worth checking out if you can.

Artist: Various Artists
Album: Gravitation TV OST
Genres: J-Pop, Drum n' Bass, Trance, House, Techno, New Age, Jazz, Pop Instrumentals.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Gravitation is an anime series which I enjoy a lot, especially for the music and the way it's used (but also for it's interesting story). So when I saw the soundtrack for it the other day at Anime Kingdom in Bellevue, I bought it and reviewed it.

It leads off with a piano and string version of the show's opening theme, "SUPER DRIVE", and that mix is called the "silent beat mix". This is followed by the J-Pop/Techno version that is over opening credits and two other mixes: the "pure silence mix" which recasts the song as guitar and synth instrumental the "zero basement mix" which warps the song into a tight, though slightly dated Drum n' Bass song. Those mixes are followed by a dance floor-ready track named "The First Dimension". Then comes two remixes of the song's end theme, "Glaring Dream". The first mix, the "secret dream air mix" makes the song an instrumental, new age piece and the second mix, "a light in the darkness mix", is an instrumental, Drum n' Bass version of the track. Those two are followed by the original mix of "Glaring Dream", an upbeat J-Pop track with nice production and a great 1980's style Hip Hop beat. Then comes "missing piece" a dark, instrumental new age piece reminiscent of some 1980's movie scores with it's luscious synths and echoing pianos, and that is followed by "melting noise", a smooth, funky, instrumental jazz song with nice guitar and sax soloing, great rhodes piano synths and a beat that just sways smooth and easy. That is followed by the Industrial pounding of "Liquid Brain" and the hyper Trance styles of "POWER CAVE". Then comes the "sacred beauty air mix" of "Sleepless Beauty", a nice piano and string version of the song, which is followed by the downtempo Techno/Hip Hop instrumental, "Hypnotic Distortion". Then comes the original version of "Sleepless beauty", which is an upbeat J-Pop song and the Trance song, which is ok, but it needed a better snare drum, because the used in the track, in my opinion, isn't punchy enough. The same could be said for the next track, the "Zoom Mix" of "THE RAGE BEAT". Luckily the original version of song comes up right after, and with it's toe-tapping combo of Drum n' Bass and J-Pop, and it's my favorite song on the disc. It's just got great energy. On the last track, "the last element mix" of "THE RAGE BEAT", the cd is ended on a nice, layed back note, with sweet strings and new age synths.

My only problem with this cd, is that it's a bit short and the production isn't smooth through out. Some tracks definetly sound more polished than others. All in all though, I'd recommend this cd to anyone who likes Pop and/or Electronica.

Artist: Yoko Kanno
Album: Original Soundtrack Arjuna: In The Another World
Rating: 5 out 5
Genres: J-Pop, Celtic, European Folk, R&B, Flamenco, Arabian Music, Orchestral, Choral, Rock and Electronica.

Yoko Kanno has made a name for herself in the Japanese music scene and in the global animé community with her well arranged, genre fusing soundtracks for animé hits such as Cowboy Bebop, Vision of Escaflowne, Macross Plus and Neon Genesis Evangelion among numerous other shows. The soundtrack she wrote for Earth Girl Arjuna, a magical girl series fused with an intelligent commentary on the enviroment and humanity's role in it, follows this trend of smooth genre blending and excellent, emotional music.

The lead song, "Early Bird", is simply beautiful, slowly starting in with sweet vocals, but ending with eerie choral elements and dark synthesizers. The 4th Track combines Chant, African Drumming, Ambient Electronica and Doom Metal to create the dark, aggressive, slightly dissonant song that is "Time to Die",. In contrast to that, the 5th song on the album, combines eastern European folk with traditional Arabian music and a dash of synth in the very enjoyable "2nd life". She genre crosses again in "Omega Blue" combining, pop, electronica and orchestral strings together in a very capable and effortless fashion.

But not only does the soundtrack contain genre melding masterpieces, but songs perfectly with in some particular genre or another. Track 14, "Before Breakfast" is a classic and lively Celtic tune, down to smallest detail, and on the other side of the genre spectrum "Bells For Her" sound like something straight out of a traditional motion picture score. The most impressive thing about this score is how in spite of it’s diversity, it has a cohesiveness and that combined with the quality makes this album is excellent, all 20 tracks of it. Odds are if you like any type of music, you probably hear it on this soundtrack. All in all, it's entirely worth the money, even at $30 a Japanese import.