“moth burning death tornado!!”

a title i grabbed at work to see what the big deal is. yu-gi-oh! duelist vol. 1.

someone called yugi has a bunch of boring friends, and they play this card game with magical monster cards that fight each other. i guess it really is a game, so if readers actually shell out for the cards, they might have fun with the books. for me, on the other hand, it read something like this:

best program ever.

my esteemed mentor is out for a month, and on friday i did my first animanga program. i’d noticed thursday that there were still no sign ups, which is really bizarre because usually we get a handful and they wouldn’t have known that i didn’t know what i was doing. but sign-ups rarely indicate any real numbers about attendance, so i set out the pocky and fudgy koalas and popcorn and orange soda, and got the dvd projected on the wall. no one came. so i waited, outside the door of the meeting room, to entice teenagers. kind of like a hooker.

3 fourteen year olds came by, 2 girls and a dude. “hello!” i said. “are you here for the anime?”
“what?” said the dude.
clearly not.
“wanna watch a movie?” i asked.

but it turns out they did. they came in and eyed the snacks hopefully. i told them to eat.

“you can eat in the library?” the dude said.
“what are we watching?” one girl, we’ll call her n, said.
“anime! the prince of tennis.”
“…what’s that?”

they were all best friends. they hadn’t heard of anime. or manga. but they wanted to watch anyway.

“so, why’d you come to the library today?” i asked.
“MYSP@CE!!” they chorused.

“you work here?” said the other girl. we’ll call her s. “yep.”
“you look like sixteen.”
“that’s why they let me watch movies with you guys.”
“oh.”

then they all pulled chairs up, made me sit in the middle, and we watched 3 episodes of the prince of tennis. it turned out they were 3 of the most hilarious youth in all the land. it was like mystery science theater with anime.
“what are these?”
“pocky!”
“they look like chocolate covered sticks!”
“well, they kind of are…”

“man, look at their shorts.” (pointing at the tennis players on the screen).
“yeah, you wear shorts like that at our school, you gettin jumped.”
then the girls came on in their school uniforms.
“THEY FORGOT THEIR PANTS!!”
“n, i think you should wear a big bow like that.”

“do you have a boyfriend?”
“i have a husband.”
“YOU? who let you get married. you’re 16!”
“what’s it like to be in love?”
“it’s fun. i have a great husband.”
“did you move in with him yet?”
“um…yeah, we’re married.”
“oh. oh yeah. i didn’t believe you when you said you’re married.”

and the librarian dream come true part:
“i didn’t know you could do stuff like this in the library.”
“what days do you work? we’ll come back.”

after we finished the movie, they took turns standing up in front of the room telling jokes. then the dude sang us a song and we pretended to be simon, paula, and randy. (they made me be paula.)

it was the most under-attended program i’ve done, and also the most fun i have ever had at work. explain that one.

weekend graphic novel binge

when i start my new job (still a few months off, sadly) i will be developing and maintaining the teen and adult graphic novel collections. really exciting, as graphic novels are rapidly becoming another of my oysters. i did a project on graphic novels/manga promoting literacy in teens last semester and since then i’ve been all in.

i was feeling the beginnings of an ear infection while at work on friday, and snow was in the forecast, so i decided to turn the weekend into a full on graphic novel binge. aside from friday night, which is always date night with my beloved, saturday night (ms. s’ b’day party) and sunday night (AHAS meeting) i have been reading reading reading. reading in bed. reading in the recliner. reading in the bathtub. a short break for homework. but mostly reading.

here are the fruits of my labor:

Miki Falls: Spring, by Mark Crilley

Type: global manga (reads front to back and left to right, but characters are manga style)

Miki starts her senior year of high school vowing to stop worrying about what other people think. So when the cute new student, Hiro, is a giant jerkface to everyone, she sees past his tough facade and makes friends with him. BUT Hiro has a secret, one that may destroy their friendship! Crilley’s artwork is some of the best I’ve seen, and (bonus!) he’s coming to do a program at our library in April.

Fruits Basket: Volume 3, by Natsuki Tayaka

Type: shojo manga (reads from back to front, right to left, packaged for high school girls)

The continuing story of Tohru Honda, who, after being orphaned and losing her tent to high winds, is taken in by the Sohma family: Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo. But wait! The Sohmas have a secret! Whenever they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into a member of the Chinese Zodiac! In this volume, we meet Hatsuharu, the ox. (moo!) Excellent fun.

Agnes Quill: an Anthology of Mystery, by Dave Roman

Type: comic style western graphic novel

Agnes has inherited the ability to communicate with ghosts. Sounds exciting, right? Too bad. I didn’t like it. Each chapter is illustrated by a different graphic novelist, some of whom were way too busy and difficult to read, and the stories were underdeveloped.

Alice 19th: Volume 1, by Yu Watase

Type: shojo manga

Poor Alice. Her beautiful blond older sister Mayura has a crush on the same boy she likes: the enigmatic Kyo. Alice doesn’t stand a chance until one morning, when she darts into traffic to rescue a stray bunny. In turn, Kyo rescues Alice AND bunny from being hit by a car. But wait! This is no ordinary bunny, it’s a magical bunny girl sent to teach Alice to speak the truth from her heart!

Avalon High Coronation: Volume one, by Meg Cabot and Jinky Coronado. (best. name. everrr.)

type: western graphic novel, similar in style to “betty & veronica” ie ridiculously large breasts.

Ellie thought she was just an ordinary high school student, dating an ordinary football quarterback. But wait! Her boyfriend Will is no ordinary football quarterback, he is none other than the reincarnation of King Arthur! Except that he refuses to believe it, meaning that he will not fulfill his prophesy in time and the world will end. But who has time to think about that when Ellie’s just been nominated for homecoming queen??

Bleach: Volume 1, by Tite Kubo

Type: shonen manga (packaged for high school boys but enjoyed by all, obviously, action/sports)

Ichigo Kurosaki is an ordinary high school student. But wait! He can communicate with ghosts! (does this sound familiar?) And furthermore, how did that mysterious soul reaper get into his bedroom? And why is she telling him that he needs to carry a big sword and rescue good ghosts from bad ghosts? And…is she kinda cute?

A happy weekend indeed…