gen

Barefoot Gen, Vol. 2: The Day After
$14.95
Barefoot Gen Volume Two picks up where volume one leaves Gen just after the explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. It a gripping and very painful story of survival in the fist terrible time after the bomb devastated Hiroshima. For those that survived the bomb and the deadly radiation, life has now become a desperate fight for survival in a harsh and brutal world. If you have read Volume One, you cannot skip this one, just as you have to read Volume three and four too.

Barefoot Gen: The Movies 1 & 2
$29.98
[NOTE: somehow my copy of BG2 is without subs, so until I get that fixed, this review is of the first film only.]

Barefoot Gen (Mori Masaki, 1983)

Barefoot Gen is something more than a manga; Keiji Nakazawa's wildly popular ten-volume series (only the first four books of which, until very recently, have ever been available in English; volumes 9 and 10 are still not available in translated editions as I write this) is one of the definitive accounts of Hiroshima from a Japanese point of view. They are all the more so for treading the line between moralistic and preachy and, in the first four volumes at least, coming down on the right side of that line almost all the time. There have been a number of film adaptations of Gen, but Masaki's anime (the others have all been live-action films) seems to be the best-known of the bunch.

The plot: Gen (Cardcaptor Sakura's Issei Miyazaki) and his family live in Hiroshima. They're of the working-poor class (and in the manga are outcasts, because of Gen's father's anti-war stance; while passing reference is made to this in the anime, the extensive subplot surrounding the family's ostracism is almost entirely excised from the film), barely scraping by thanks to wartime hardship. We get a picture of their lives before the bomb, and then we get the bomb itself. While the film is presented in the kind of anime style one often sees in anime aimed at younger viewers, the scene of the bombing itself should probably be screened by parents beforehand to judge its appropriateness for younger children. This is brutal, if stylized, stuff, and Masaki doesn't shield his viewers. The remainder of the film deals with the beginning of Gen's post-bomb life, as he tries to make enough money to keep his family fed while dealing with the horrors that surround him constantly.

There are some abbreviations (as I mentioned above regarding the ostracism subplot) that give the thing a lighter (in substance, not in tone) feel than the manga upon which the film is based, but it's still an excellent introduction to a thriving subgenre of popular Japanese literature, as well as one of manga's most enduring, if unjustly overlooked, works. Certainly worth looking into. ***

8-in-1 Black Fm Transmitter Car Kit with Remote and Car Adapter for Ipod 3rd, 4th, 5th Generation, Mini, Photo, U2, Nano 2nd Gen, Video, Classic, Touch
$29.95
I got this product to use with my ipod touch, and the touch doesn't sit very well in the holder, the lighter link causes the ipod to sit at a weird angle and be in the way of my shifter, and it broke after about 3 months.

(Blue Rubber) Mivizu iPod Touch 2nd Gen 3rd Gen hard rubber skin case cover for iPod Touch 3rd Generation 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB with screen protector
$29.95
Sigh, I thought that, based on other reviews, the two parts of the shell would click together firmly and not come apart. Unfortunately, I haven't found this to be the case. About 70% of the time that I remove the iPod from my backpack or pocket, the shell stays intact; however, the rest of the time, it comes apart. I'm very worried that I will drop my iPod someday because of this.

One pro is that the material of the case does indeed feel strong - I like the hard rubber texture. Not soft, but not hard or glossy like a crystal case. I also had no problem using my charger and headphones with the case on.

My case has an additional defect - on one edge, the case is slightly bowed out and doesn't sit flush with the iPod. It's only a 5mm wide area, and I don't think it would really affect anything, but just a little annoying. Otherwise, the fit of the case is very good.

So, this case isn't horrible, so long as you're really careful about picking up and holding the case so that the iPod doesn't slide out. Annoying, though... enough to make me want to purchase a different one.