Mitsukazu Mihara's The Embalmer

FIR# 11
Title of Comic book/manga: The Embalmer
Author/Artist: Mitsukazu Mihara
Genre: Tragedy, Romance
Volumes Read: 1-4
Date read and finished: August 13-August 28, 2010

Every time I wait for the Manga Website to finally show the next volume, I was always like, "Finally! I can read it!"
The Embalmer was more than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be some Sci-Fi thing about the Dead, but I never expected there would be heartfelt-drama on it. It's like Grey's Anatomy meets Six-feet under.

The Summary
Shinjurou Mamiya is an embalmer in Japan--a rarity and also looked down upon by the general public. Despite this, Shin--along with his friend and undertaker, Renji, and a few others--does their job to reunite loved ones with the ones who had died and make them understand the importance of grief and acceptance.
For Shinjurou's part, it's just a job, but with it, he comes to an understanding of what it truly means to live.

Insights
I really love reading this, actually. Not only does it make you want to sympathize the characters because they are realistically made by the author/artist, but because it makes you realize how blessed you are to live and that you live the most of it.
In this manga, they not only talk about how inevitable death is, but also how it affects a person's daily life is--especially to the protagonist, Shin, who has to deal with the dead all the time and has to deal with issues regarding embalming in his country.
'Death is a funny noun,' as Shin once said, as everyday he and his fellow morticians try to make the ones who has lost a loved one understand the true meaning of death, as they say death is just a physical state but the spirit lives on, and the ones they embalm are still people and should be respected even after burying them.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders: A delectable read for Who-Dunnit fans!

FIR# 10
Title of the book read: The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
Author: Soji Shimada
Genre: Mystery(Who-Dunnit), Comedy
Dates: August 16(start of reading the book) to August 19(finished the book), 2010

Finally finishing the book, I had that odd feeling that the case shouldn't have ended like that(for full details, read the book). Although the whole mystery was finally solved after 40 years and that nagging feeling you get whenever you're trying to solve something is finally lifted, the ending of the dynamic would-be detective duo are sort-of unsatisfactory, especially to Kiyoshi Mitarai, the protagonist of the story.
Oh well, we can't be the readers the writer always expects...

The Summary
On a snowy night in 1936, an artist--Heikichi Umezawa--is battered to death behind the locked door of his Tokyo studio. The police find a bizarre testament describing his plan to create Azoth--the ideal woman--from various body parts from his young female relatives. Shortly after, his eldest daughter, Kazue, is raped and murdered. And then all his daughters and nieces all suddenly disappear. Gradually their dismembered bodies are found, all buried according to astrological details expounded by the artist.
The mysterious genocide grips the nation, baffling authorities and amateur detectives alike, but it remains unsolved for more than 40 years. Then one day, in the year of 1979, a document is brought to Kiyoshi Mitarai--astrologer, fortune-teller and self-styled detective. With his own version of Dr. Watson in tow--the illustrator and detective story aficionado Kazumi Ishioka--he sets out on the trail of the invisible perpetrator of the Tokyo Zodiac Murders and the supposed creator of the Azoth in this elaborate whodunit detective story as the hero--Kiyoshi Mitarai--only has one week to solve this.
Do you have what it takes to solve the mystery before he does?

Insights
In most(of what I read so far)detective stories, it is really a gripping, frustrating and, for my case, slow pace when it comes to the first and middle part, where the protagonist/s are still examining the clues, are still making speculations, etc about the crime scenes. But when I read the Tokyo Zodiac Murders, the same elements are still there--as the two argue(with a sense of witty wackiness and almost to the point that they lead themselves almost nowhere), debated what kind of killer would do such a thing and how the crime was done. But what made those parts more interesting is that this is not the usual crime investigation setting that happens in most detective stories. For instance, the crime itself has happened 40 years ago and the characters had never been present in that time yet.
I give praise for Soji Shimada for uniquely interweaving the usual themes of investigation, logic and wit with unprecedented humor of the two main characters, making the pace of the story very different and truly entertaining.

Who-Dunnit, darn it?!

FIR RB# 9
Title of Book being read: The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
Author: Soji Shimada
Genre: Mystery (Who-Dunnit), Comedy
Date that I started reading book: August 16, 2010
Chapters read: Prologue to Chapter one
Pages read: 33 pages

When I first read the title of the book a year ago, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders sent a chill down my spine. And it wasn't a scared sort-of chill; it was that of excitement. Although I admit I had some doubts. This was the second book that I read that was written by a Japanese writer, with the first one (although not totally an utter disappointment) being a bit bitterly mediocre.
But now, I'm back into reading this book with the purpose to blog about this to the world.

The Case Unsolved for 40 years
Before the prologue starts, a short note from one of the leading characters--Kazumi Ishioka--challenges the readers to solve the case ahead of him and the protagonist of the story, Detective Kiyoshi Mitarai. The clues are presented in the beginning of the book, with the two protagonists not far behind on discussing their theories and wishes the reader good luck.
In the prologue in the year 1936, the point-of-view switches that to the writer of his own testament and will: Heikichi Umezawa. Heikichi explains elaborately on what's been going on in his mind; that he is being possessed by the Devil and is hallucinating and had become completely delirious. He states that the only way that he can be saved is that he create Azoth: the perfect woman. In specific astrological detail, he also states that Azoth must be created from different female body parts with the females being astrologically different from one another and they have to be virgins so that Azoth will be truly perfect. Explaining further that he needed to chop up the bodies before they decompose, he also explains his past on how he had come up with the idea that Azoth will be his masterpiece as well as his and his country's salvation, and that Azoth--along with the will and testament that he had written--shall be put in the 'Center of Japan' while the bodies of the females he plan to chop up will be buried in different places in Japan, with an associated metal element buried alongside with their bodies.

The Japanese versions of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
In the start of the first chapter, the readers are met with the heroic duo: self-styled detective Kiyoshi Mitarai who plays as the Sherlock Holmes in the duo and his best friend and artist, Kazumi Ishioka, who is actually serving as the narrator of the story(except in the prologue and epilogue) and the one who plays as the Dr. Watson in the two.
Kazumi first describes himself as an addict in reading mystery novels, crimes, news, issues, etc. and was one of the people of Japan trying to solve the Azoth murders that had taken place 40 years ago. Now, in the year 1970, it seems not even police today--with all the technical advancements and better task forces and investigators--are able to figure out the mystery behind the Azoth murders.
Kazumi then switches his views to his friend, Kiyoshi, who--in unknown reasons--appears to be in a depressive state and decides to share to him instead the Azoth murders to cheer him up, as he seem to know that Kiyoshi has a fond for mysteries, despite that he is more of an astrologer and not a true licensed detective.
As the first chapter progressed, the two would-be detectives talked, argued, lectured and discussed their theories together as one-by-one they piece together the three different scenes of the crime: 1.) The murder of the writer of the will and testament, Heikichi Umezawa, 2.) the raped and murdered Kazue, Heikichi Umezawa's eldest daughter and 3.) the disappearances and murder of his six daughters and nieces, whose specific body parts appeared to have been cut up, probably used to create Azoth.
Now the big question mark now is that where is Azoth? Was she even created? If she was, who created her? And who would even go to the trouble of killing these people to create Azoth?

Insights
I was literally thinking when I read the book. I mean, it was obvious the author was also challenging the readers on this whole thing.
But for those who aren't used to this kind of mystery, I guess they won't be able to have a mind to really solve along with the characters, especially since the clues that had been presented in the book was not shown in an orderly manner and seems the whole investigation favored more to the fictional would-be detectives than the readers.
But still, the story is totally unique and wacky, as the two characters are very witty and also flawed, in the sense that they are handed with the difficulty that they are reacting to like any person would in the world, unlike their more intense, sexier Western counterparts where protagonists are unstoppable forces in the modern jungle, which is unrealistic.
Read this yourself, I dare you, and I'm sure you'll laugh and solve along the wacky and bumbling Japanese sleuths!

Fashionable IS uncool (exclamation point)

FIR RB# 8
Author of the article read: Colin Goh
Page nos.: 2
Read from: Reader's Digest
Date read: August 9, 2010

The article Colin Goh wrote made me realize that the youth hasn't changed its ways of being trendy and 'fashion-forward' for their sake of proving a statement...whatever the obscured statement could be. But in his article, he makes us realize also how different the youth was and the youth is today, and the difference couldn't be made any clearer.

The Article
The article starts off with him remembering how he was in his teenage years, especially when his vice-principal had told them, 'Fashion is ephemeral, but style is forever,' in which he and his friends snickers at this remark. But looking back to their old photos, they realized how tacky they had looked before: with all the big, puffy hair, mismatched shirts, torn jeans with colorful socks and leg warmers in the middle of the day! And at school!
He makes it a point that in his years the youth dress up so radically because they wanted to make a 'statement', and the statement is usually that of rebelliousness against adults, law or the social norms. To him, it still bothered him why he didn't listen to his parents when they had kept him from dressing up like a...you-know-what, but also bothered him why their folks overreact so much. Perhaps parents, too, had fought their own parents about what they should wear and what not to wear.
Fighting over fashion is an age-old rituals all families re-enact every generation, according to him. He also states that he expects his own daughter to argue him about what she wears someday, given that 'trendy' fashion today emphasizes on sexualization, and hopes that he has enough wisdom not to overeact as his parents had before him, because arguing at your parents are a necessary part of growing up, as he states in his article. He also makes it a point that the Youth culture should not be look down upon, as it is a way for the youth to seek their identities amidst the seething mass and creative experimentation should be encouraged.
But the irony today is that the youth no longer see fashion as their way of being a unique individual and is instead a way for the youth to blend into a specific group, creating stereotypes. The youth nowadays only care how 'important' a certain label is, or to be more precise, how high a price a certain label is. Instead of making a loud, individualistic statement that says: 'See me as who I really am', it rather says: 'Hopefully, you think I'm rich'.
He states that kids today also see fashion as a sort of arms race, as every kid races on who gets to be really fashion-forward, all the while they let their parents suffer for wasting money on clothes the marketing department puts on the rack, which isn't just pathetic but also it lacks personal expression.
In his last sentence, he says that kids can still fool around with fashion, but make sure that creativity is used and not their parents credit cards, other wise the only label that they'll be able to acquire reads: 'sucker'.

Reaction
I agree with Colin Goh in so many ways. First of, it isn't hard to see how the youth are such copy-cats when it comes to what's the latest.
Sure it is fun to copy what the celebrities are now in, or what the designers and markets now have in store, as they are the ones who start on the choices we make when we shop. We also learn from the media what kind of clothes are best for us.
I, too, wear for what I am, as I believe there is no other style than what I already wear. Unfortunately, peers are into social pressure, even though they don't notice it, and I admit I have been pressured as well for being so different.
I guess it can't be helped because this is who we are, whether we do find a label that says 'Sucker!' or not.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard - Reread!

FIR RB# 7
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fairy tale/ Fiction
Pages read: 20-34 (15 pages)
Chapter read: Chapter 2 only
Date read: August 1, 2010

I got the book of The Tales of the Beedle the Bard for my birthday present and, since opening it, I couldn't put down the book. Well, eventually, I did put down the book after finishing it in one sitting (including the Introduction, a footnote from J.K. Rowling herself about the book, the commentaries of Dumbledore, as if he himself had read the book [well, the stories are from Harry Potter!], the Afterword and a brief background of the ones who published the book).
But then again, what got me reading again about this book wasn't that I wanted to pleasure myself and just be engrossed at the pages of the stories. No, the thing is, I wanted to convince my brother to read it for himself! I wanted him to be interested in a real book! (And not get himself be stuck on the PC [so I can have my turn, hehehe] and train himself to read and understand what he reads! He couldn't even understand the easy words that are printed in his own favorite books about the Disney shows he watches that had been turned into books themselves!)
Anyway, I read to him a story from the Tales of the Beedle of the Bard, and it's actually my favorite: 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune.'

The Fountain of Fair Fortune.
The story goes that in the ancient times, there was known to many lands about the Fountain of Fair Fortune. They say it has magical properties and that the only one who can bathe in its waters will be given eternal Fortune forevermore.
Enter the three witches, Asha, Altheda and Amata, each has her own problems and wants to bathe in the waters of the Fountain to erase their misfortunes. Asha, whose problem concerns of the incurable sickness no Potion can cure, wishes to be cured by the waters. Altheda, who was robbed of her home, her money and wand, wants to have those that had been stolen from her returned. Finally, there is Amata, who wanted her heart to be cured because her former lover had broken her heart. Each witch pity each other for their misfortunes, and promises to stick together to get to their goal.
When at last the wall that was protecting the area of the Fountain opens, a vine from that area had twirled around Asha to pull her inside the land where the Fountain was. But along her came her two friends, which Amata had accidentally pulled along with her a Muggle Knight and together, the four of them were inside the mystical land. The two witches were angry at Amata for pulling along a stranger, for it was already difficult for the three of them to decide which one can only bathe in the Fountain. The Forlorn Knight, however--knowing that he is not a brave Knight at all and cannot fight the magic of the Witches--proposes that he leaves, which made Amata angry, for she expected the Knight to be manly.
And so, this strange group of four people struggled with the three tasks that lay ahead of them as they journeyed through the mystical Forest surrounding the Fountain of Fair Fortune. When at last they have reached the top of the hill, where the Fountain resided, Asha, who was already gravely ill, fell down in agony. Her three friends tried to make her get up, but she only refused and got worse. The resourceful Altheda quickly gathered around her the herbs and flowers and shrubs that she knew might be helpful to ease Ashe's pain. Mixing the Potion to the Knight's water gourd, Asha drinks the potion Altheda made and was instantly cured! With Asha's malady resolved, she tells Altheda to bathe in the waters of the Fountain for she no longer needs the power of the Fountain. But Altheda, who was busy picking herbs in the forest, tells them she no longer needs the Fountain as well, for she can make a fortune out of the curing potion she made for Asha. This leaves Amata, where the Knight himself gentlemanly lets Amata be bathe in the Fountain. But she, too, refuses to bathe for she realizes that her former lover had been unfaithful, and that had been made clear to her when she put her memories in the river in one of the tasks they had faced before so that they can get to the Fountain.
Alas, the once Forlorn Knight, who had proved to the Witches how very chivalrous he was, bathed himself in the Fountain, coming out feeling the powers of the Fountain in him. Kneeling in one knee in front of Amata, he truthfully tells her that he had fallen in love with her and asks her hand in marriage, which delighted Amata very well, for she knew she had finally found the man worthy of her.
Leaving the Mystical forest of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, the four friends led happy lives, not knowing that the Fountain held no magical power whatsoever...

The moral message of the fable
As the saying goes, 'It's not the destination that counts; it's the journey'. I guess it is quite clear what the fable was trying to tell, as the forest where the Fountain was was already filled with answers for the three witches (not sure what exactly was for the Knight because it is implied that he wanted to be brave by bathing in the 'mystical' Fountain. But instead he finds true love in Amata instead, which is itself rewarding and a great fortune indeed).
According to Dumbledore's commentary though, he likes the fable so much not just that it has a great moral story and that it is very popular, but also it didn't objectify with interbreeding between a Witch (one with magical power, that is to say the one with Pureblood) and a Muggle(the one with no magical powers).
To put it into a more, 'not-so-Harry-Potter' scenario, an example of this is our society today. Today, globalization is breaking boundaries among the cultures that was once so foreign to us. National Geographic, Discovery channel, etc. are great and educational examples of TV media where people go around the world to document different places and such. Newspapers, magazines, Internet, etc. are also big contributors for globalization, for understanding of each ones cultures, personalities, etc.
In the Story's case, it was interbreeding. Globalization also agrees for the interbreeding from many different cultures, making no boundaries, discrimination and no Xenophobia...
Okay, that's a lot of moral messages for one short fable...