Vagabond

Tastes evolve. When you were a kid you loved flashy, weirdly animated and often simplistic cartoons or shows. The good guys were always good and the bad guys were always beaten.

When you grow up you tend to re-evaluate the current situation. Maybe you see layers of complexities in the stuff you thought was simple or simply find something that blows you away. In that vein, I admit to have read and watched many a morose anime series and read many a manga from the former.

That is until I read Takehiko Inoue's 'Vagabond'.

Takehiko is known widely amongst the western world for his iconic manga about basketball called 'Slam dunk'. I've read that too, but this is miles and miles above the fantasy world of Shonen manga. This is a masterpiece in itself.

The manga deals with a re-telling of the life of Miyamoto Mushashi loosely based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. While the novel is an epic work spanning at least 6 books detailing Mushashi's rise as a swordsman in the midst of Japan's feuding lords, the manga deals with it in a more personable manner, making it easier for the reader to get into the mind of someone we can only imagine.

Miyamoto Mushashi, inventor of the Hyoho Niten-ichi ryu style of kenjutsu, was a 16th century swordsman in Japan. At a very early age he showed skill with a sword others could only dream of. Stories of a boy from the country who bested students and masters from reputed schools of swordsmanship with a wooden sword made him grow into a living legend. A man who was and is considered the archetype of a samurai in many a mind.

But how did he reach this pinnacle? How did he become the Mushashi? That is where Takehiko Inoue's work provides an interesting insight.

Takehiko's work and basis of Mushashi's life is grim and dark. In the manga Shinmen Takezo, Mushashi's birth name, is a boy castigated by villagers as being a demon child after he assaults and kills a swordsman who issues a challenge to the townsfolk. His violent and angry ways fuelled by his cold hearted and anarchic father, Takezo leaves the village aged 17 to fight in the war between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi families for control of Japan. Along with Takezo goes his boisterous and reasonably untalented friend Matahachi who wants nothing more than to prove he is a man and Takezo's equal. Their lives run parallel to each other in the manga and are beautifully inverse in their odd relationship as friends.

The Mushashi in the manga is a beast. A demon forged by the sole purpose of being "invincible under the sun". He fights mercilessly, kills without remorse or hesitation and lives a destructive life. The manga portrays this in a most graphic sense, so be warned it's not pretty or nice. Reading a little into the manga, the reader is able to recognize Takezo/Mushashi's reasoning behind his way. We realise his motives for being this way as a justification of his existence.

When he isn't drawing his sword against a foe, Takezo is a quiet youth. Forever in his thoughts, polite and righteous Takezo deals with his day to day interactions in a humane way. He is almost portrayed as being more animal than human in thought, surviving on instinct. It is later that he, through his interactions and reflections realises what he is doing and has done all his life. He understands the concept of karma and his hand in creating a "cycle of death and desperation".

While my understanding and portrayal of the manga may seem complicated, the language and method used by Takehiko Inoue is simple and straightforward making it one of the most easily read manga I have ever come across.

What really shines through is the artwork. Characters are realistic. The odd rare super-deformed heads and anime conventions of emoticons are present, usually for comic effect, but they are unnoticable in the sheer work in making the character's feel believable. The picture I put up with this post is one of the examples of how the manga is drawn. Takehiko uses both pen and brush in liberal doses to create a fluid, almost Sumi-e form of expression. The swordfights are brutal affairs, dealt within a few panels - No acrobatics - No special moves - No superhyperpowered laser beams. All players are human, with human limits. The 'good guy' or the main character suffers real injuries that take a believable time to heal.

All this serves to negate the suspension of belief for this manga. Quite the opposite that by showing these characters who are so strong yet so fallible, Takehiko defies most anime and manga conventions. To anyone who thinks comics are unreadable things, I would recommend Vagabond.

You can read Vagabond here. It is marked mature for its graphic content.

Adventure Boys and Memories

Today I'm going to write about a manga and an anime I've recently seen. Both of them are fairly dated yet they are in themselves works of art.

Lets talk about the manga first. It's known as "Adventure Boys" or "Boken Shonen". Drawn and written by noted mangaka Adachi Mitsuru and serialised between '98 and '06 it's his best work till date.

sidenote: Most japanese comics are 'serialised' or released chapter by chapter in magazines that are compilations of different mangakas. This makes reading them a more involving affair and gives many artists their 'breaks'. Popular magazines include Shonen Jump and Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Adventure Boys comes in the form of 7 well told stories. We've all reached a point in our lives where we can look back on our youth. It's odd that sometimes our aims when we were young and our aims now conflict and sometimes suffer the ravages of time and sensibility. The manga tells us stories of this disillusionment of our youthful ideals through the eyes of the young.

The artwork in the manga is Mitsuru's traditional style which he uses in his more mainstream manga - Detailed backgrounds and props foreshadowed by simple facial and bodily forms. This drastic contrast lends to the apparent innocence of the subject matter.

Mitsuru's story writing is even more engrossing - he keeps it simple while letting the reader form their own thoughts about the direction things are going in. He doesn't hold your hand and lead you through the pages - he offers hints, tips and nudges in the right way. It covers a wide variety of subjects including the changes in friendship's, childhood beliefs, atrocities and even the innocent concept of love and belonging.

If this makes you want you to throw up, stop reading and skip to the movie below - still - I would reccomend reading this when no one else is looking lest you feel 'lame' or 'stupid'. The stories in this manga are applicable to all of us. So put your egos in a box and read.

All in all, a highly recommended read for anyone and not just manga lovers. You can read all 7 chapters online here.



Next, I'd like to talk about Memories by Katsuhiro Otomo. If any of you've watched the cult classic Akira and recognize it's makers name, then Memories will not disappoint.

‘Memories’ is a movie made up of 3 unrelated segments. All based on stories written by Otomo and directed by friends of his who have worked with the award winning artist/director in the past.

The first segment is called 'Magnetic Rose' directed by Koji Matsumoto and screenplay by Satoshi Kon. Set in a time in the future where space debris is eliminated and retrieved by ships serving as intergalactic garbage trucks. One such ship receives a mysterious S.O.S. from a highly magnetized region of space. What's more strange is that the S.O.S is actually an operatic piece. The crew find themselves drawn towards the source while wondering what lies there....and whether it's friendly.

The second one is a more humorous, sarcastic take on human frailties. 'Stink Bomb', directed by Tensai Okamura and screenplay by Otomo, is a comedic masterpiece of insane proportions. All hell breaks loose when a biological weapon is let loose towards Tokyo, prompting the entire Japanese self defence force to combat the terrible onslaught. The onslaught being brought by a single, weak, mild mannered lab assistant, Nobuo Tanaka. On a Honda super cub scooter. This is made of so much Win.

Sidenote: Here's what a Honda cub looks like. note the sheer unimpressiveness of the thing.

Finally, there's the short yet epic 'Cannon Fodder'. If you ever thought anime wasn't your cup of tea and the flashy lines and cheesy dialogue put you in a state of catatonic disapproval then this is what you need to see. The exception to the case, written and directed by Otomo himself, Cannon Fodder is equal parts Orwellian nightmare and a study into the world's (current) state.

All three shorts carry a pedigree in artwork, music and screenplay with them. The medium of animation, not restricted by physical boundaries or materials, allows the stories to come alive in ways most film makers can only think of. The segments provide you with a mix of all genres nearly at once - sci fi, action, comedy, drama and thrills - while not making it a mish mash of the same.

You can watch a medium quality, subtitled version of this film here. Let it buffer for a bit and be sure to click accept or the file wont play.

The death of a grasshopper.

He was a legend in his own right and it took my brain a few seconds to register him as the star of the hit TV series, Kung Fu, when he appeared on screen as Bill in Kill Bill.

Anyone in the world who recants into fancy kung fu stances or praises the Buddha in the style of (many) a martial arts flick upon hearing the word 'Grasshopper' wouldn't know what I'm talking about.

I am, of course, talking about David Carradine whose recent death is at once sudden and controversial.

His role in Kung Fu was a masterful piece of wooden acting and the story was ham-fisted in its approach but the concept was pure gold. Kwai Chang Caine, an orphaned Sino-American child is raised by in the Shaolin temple by the blind master Po and trained in the arts of Kung fu. Master Po is killed by the Emperor's nephew and the child, now a man, layeth the smack down on the nephew.

Implicated of murdering a relative of the emperor, Kwai Chang flees to the wild wild west where he wanders the frontier lands searching for his half brother, Danny. Along the series Kwai Chang comes to the aid of the downtrodden using his art to, yet again, lay down the law.

Why is this a good series? Well, the story wasn't stellar but the piece by piece episodes in themselves were well written and executed in a very graceful pace. Then there was the Aesop-like moral fibre in them - Kwai Chang's moral compass as a Shaolin monk prevents him from ignoring the people's plights yet he knows every move he makes somehow makes him easier to track down.

Finally, there's the martial arts aspect. It's not flashy or showy. People do not jump around with no respect to gravity. Ripping someone's heart out is not possible without scalpels, a degree in surgery and a strong stomach. The martial arts in the series are real and believable. Caine is not untouchable, just really really good at dodging. He prefers to choose practicality over pomp, tire his opponent out and end him with a swift, precise strike.

The show also used flashbacks to Caine's past in the temple as a device to understand the morals and motives of the character, fleshing out his being. Many of the teachings instilled into Caine by his masters are taken from Taoist and Zen teachings giving the show a touch of authenticity.

There are reasons for this which are more realistic than artsy. The show's concept, originally proffered by Bruce Lee in a different format, called for an actor of Asian origin who knew kung fu (ironically, Bruce Lee himself wanted the role of Caine). Studio heads at the time thought that an American audience would not identify with an Asian man being the lead of a primetime series and did not go ahead with Lee's idea.

When Lee left for Hong Kong to make 'The Big Boss', network executives picked up the concept and decided to cast an 'Asian-looking American' for the role. Carradine, with his one ninth Cherokee ancestry, fit the bill for the serene and poetic Kwai Chang Caine.

Of course, Carradine knew no martial arts and wasn't really trained in it for the purposes of the series. He held some credo as a dancer as well as being athletic and lithe. Going by what a Karate master at the time said that 'the only qualification that was needed to be trained in the martial arts was that you had to know how to dance' Carradine was perfect for the role.

Regardless, the show was a massive hit. It was a vehicle for many an Asian star in the US as many gained employment as actors depicting Caine's pursuers. It even starred Brandon Lee, ironically as the son of Caine, a role his biological father might have played.

David Carradine's death on June 4th 2009 was saddening. More so because of the circumstances surrounding his death than his age. He was found in his hotel room near Bangkok, dead by what forensics claim to have been 'autoerotic asphyxation'.

Even more saddening is the fact that the Carradine family lawyer, Mike Geragos, alleged on Larry King Live that Carradine was assassinated by "groups working in the martial-arts underworld." and that he did not want to go into "conspiracy theories" marshaling the FBI to Bangkok at the family's behest.

A man is dead. Best not to talk ill of one who is no longer with us, for even as we can surely see, we do not look.

I leave you with an clip from arguably the best scene in Kung Fu. Featuring a flashback of Kwai Chang's young days at the temple in which master Po gives him the iconic nickname of grasshopper.

The loudmouth we all have known....

She's the loudmouth we've always known. Managing our freedom of speech with her hammering words. She's Godzilla in a suit. love her or hate her....she's always there

A man, a boy and their stuffed tiger

How many of us would really sit up and notice the name William B. "Bill" Watterson II?

Better known as the creator of the iconic 'Calvin and Hobbes' cartoon strip the reclusive artist is hard to track down in reality. He stood for years as a force against syndication and merchandising of his art.

"My strip is about private realities, the magic of imagination, and the specialness of certain friendships. Who would believe in the innocence of a little kid and his tiger if they cashed in on their popularity to sell overpriced knickknacks that nobody needs?" - Bill Watterson.

A man with a degree in Political science and a knack for seeing things a bit differently, Watterson created a simple template that he could extrapolate to any length he wished. In his own words he never tried to "push the boundaries" or use his own personal life as inspiration for the strip. Calvin and Hobbes are just Calvin and Hobbes.

His views, however, are clear as day in his work. Whether it was his well placed jabs at the state of affairs of the world in general or his attempts to identify things closer to home, such as parenting and the way children have no filter between their brains and their mouths (the latter very well displayed by Calvin).

Both titular characters are in themselves complex if you choose to know more. Named after the philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes, both characters are actually quite their opposites.

Calvin is a impulsive yet imaginative kid and his views on religion are mostly centred around the debate of being good for Christmas presents while battling his urge to be bad. Hobbes is the more stable, intelligent albeit sarcastic part of the duo with Watterson himself admitting that he used Hobbes as a mouthpiece for his views.

Add to this Calvin's long suffering parents, known only as Mom and Dad, who have a very sardonic and often controversial way of parenting, recurring crush Susie Derkins (who Calvin torments and tortures since he is unsure of what love is), his bossy babysitter Rosalyn who is the only person, Watterson claims, Calvin really fears and Moe the bully.

Running for a decade between 1985 and 1995, the strip has a huge following around the world and has been translated into many languages giving countless folk around the world a laugh and a chuckle.

All in all, for me Bill Watterson is one of those people who stood for character and sensibility. At no point was he being boring with it, but rather pointing a well placed mirror to ourselves. His views on art are defined as there being "no 'high art' or 'low art' - Just art." while at the same times constantly amazing us as an artist rather than a cartoonist.

A humble man from a place in the past we forget all to easily.

I leave you with Bill's trademark wit being displayed in an answer he gave to one of his fans:-

Q: What attributes do you wish were seen more commonly among children?

A: Good parents!

- taken from Fans around the world interview with Bill Watterson

Why bankers are not the only wankers.

I was talking to a friend earlier who was curious about the state of the economy.

She started out by pointing me towards this rather informative, yet simplistic flash animation for anyone who doesn't understand the term "credit crunch". Have a look.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized.

Mr Jarvis raised a lot of questions in her head. We talked about how long would it take to fix and why people kept doing that when they knew the consequences. Then we got talking about money.

Which led me to another thought, Did you know that the money you have in your pocket is not actually money?

Side note: I had a Morpheus moment there, specifically the one in which he says "do you think that's air you are breathing?"

Its just a promise to pay the bearer the sum of the bill you are holding. A receipt. A sort of contractual obligation supported and paid for by the government.

Back in the good ol' days, the sum of money in an economy was actually backed up by precious metal reserves like gold or silver. By the 90s, most countries had switched from that to 'Legal tender' where the Government bestows value on the money.

On one hand this removes the limits of having gold for every pound stored somewhere and allows economies to blast off. On the other hand, It creates wild fluctuations like this. By creating an illusion of money in existance while the same not being true about it in circulation, It paints a odd picture of financial health. India, for example, is touted as becoming the next big market/economy/thing even though disparities exist in larger gaps than before.

This construct of 'free money' is both bad and good. Bad because it gives you the money to seriously fuck things up when you run out of fingers to count on, i.e. lose track of it. Good because my degree in Commerce is now actually making me feel happy (which I thought was impossible)!

Knopfler and the boys from Dire Straits sang Money for Nothing (....and chicks for free). The song talks about a record store owner's rant over how easy it was to "play the guitar on the MTV" and become a rock star for kicks.

That was the soundtrack running in my head whenever I listen to people moan about bankers being wankers. While I agree most of them are puppets of soulless organisms designed to slurp your life up like spaghetti bolognese, I don't think they are really *all* to blame for the problem.

Sure, they gave us easy credit - Overdrafts, loans with little or no collateral value and credit cards you could use to wipe the blues away - but who lapped it up and used it with abandon? There's no use hiding behind the facade that "They made it sound so easy" or "Everyone else was doing it" - what matters is that we gave in to it. We gave in to the culture of want.

I wont lie. I'm not exactly debt free. Got a student loan to pay off and owe many friends money, All of which weigh heavily on me and give me a fair deal of stress. Slowly though, I'll try to make my way on top of this.

And if ever I lose the grace of sane thought and go on a rant, you are more than welcome to put me in my place.

Until then, lets listen to some good ol' music.


We gotta install microwave ovens,
Custom kitchen deliveries,
We gotta move these refrigerators,
We gotta move these colour TV's, Lord!

Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it,
You play the guitar on the MTV,
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it,
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free,
Money for nothin' and chicks for free,


- Money for nothing by Dire Straits.

another victim...

Lo and behold. A friend comes to join me.

My good friend PK (whom I am going to be nice about) has chanced upon the idea for using this blog as a forum for our respective works of art.

Pictures speak a thousand words and all that...

Am all for it.

PK lives in Singapore and is probably the most sane of us all. He's part of the safe boy team. Dependable. Reliable (both depending and relying on my two-wheeler back home). He has an unusual ability to attract weird people - which speaks volumes for me and the rest of our group.

Hopefully, added attendence will give this blog a bit of stability and stature!

Hopefully...

Am I late?

My friends have always known me to be late.

Some people are known for being the life of the party while others are known for having amazing talents. I've been known for being late. Hence the blog title.

Most of my friends have blogs. I'm late for this too.

I suppose I never pictured myself as one who chronicles things in an online diary for others to read. My thoughts on things are private and shared only with a select few. I still feel this way.

Yet here I am, on my very own blog - 3 cups of tea and a sleepless night later - working on what to write. I dont think I'll write about my life because it's mundane. I'm a slave to work at the moment. I dont think I have far too well defined tastes to write about them.

I suppose what I can promise to write about is my insight. That too is perhaps, comically, 15 minutes late.

Therefore, I am going to write this blog not for information's sake, nor for placarding my life's worth but simply to figure out why I'm writing it.

sidenote: one of my esteemed friends described me in my 'chubby' past as a ruminating cow. So MOO to that!