The world has become a desolate, lawless land where bandits roam free, innocent people suffer, and demons lurk around every corner. Souna Yuuki is traveling with his family when they are attacked by bandits. His entire family is murdered, and he is left with a snake mark on his hand. As he is about to die, a women comes up to him and gives him an option: continue to live in this harsh environment or die peacefully now. Yuuki chooses life and Garami, the woman, gives him a second chance at life in exchange for his servitude. Garami is a weapons merchant and a gun for hire that travels from town to town for clients. Yuuki sees how brutal and unforgiving this world can truly be.

Kenn's Comment: Like last week's manga feature, this one fell off my radar many moons ago, and I haven't really had to chance to take a look at it's more recent happenings.

Regardless, it's got quite an interesting story. Going through the barren lands, selling weaponry to those who have the money to afford it, combined with Garami's mysterious nature as well as Souna's maturation in the harsh, post-apocalyptic world. More people join the party, but that's more or less the point I've read up to before putting it away.

The art is great. It's quite detailed and reminds me of the art of Vinland Saga crossed with something like Freezing. It has a bit of that distinct Korean artist look to it (or maybe it's just me). It does have quite a bit of blood and violence, so take that into consideration before starting this one.

Anywho, enjoy this one! 

A lovely song featuring a cast of 8.





Title: ゆめのかたち, Yume no Katachi, (The) Form of Dreams
Producer: ふわりP
PV: ねこむら
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: 初音ミク、鏡音リン・レン、巡音ルカ、MEIKO、KAITO、GUMI、がくぽいど

Kenn's Comment: Lovely song ain't it? I especially love the last part as things really pick up. It really reminds me of that Idolm@ster song, which I had in the Song of the Week a few months back. 

I'm really hoping that there's an 歌ってみた with 8 great singers as it just might be one of the best things to bless the internet for a while. 

These 8 are more or less the most popular and most used of all the programs, and you'll usually find these 8 in various configurations in most songs. Enjoy the gorgeous song! Sounds like something you'd have an idol group sing at the end of the concert or year.

Title: Zetman
Author: Katsura Masakazu
Genre: Seinen, Action, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Tragedy
Serialized in: Shueisha Weekly Young Jump
Total Volume Count: 16 (ongoing)

Series Summary from MangaUpdates:

It follows the life of a homeless boy living with his "grandpa". The story starts to kick off when they encounter a man trying to commit suicide mumbling something along the lines of "before it is too late". Of course from then on the action begins and the dark plot begins to unfold with each volume. 

Kenn's Comment: I haven't been following this one recently, but I read a bit of it a few years back. It's not something you'd really want your kids to be reading, as it does delve into some rather mature topics. The atmosphere of it is rather dark and grim, with a few moments of short-lived happiness. The art reminds me a lot of Western comics (Marvel, D.C., etc.), and has an amazing amount of detail put into the backgrounds (as well as the character designs).

The story's main characters are an interesting bunch. They're essentially two completely different people pursuing the same goal. The homeless, realist and the wealthy, sheltered idealist. The main two characters are essentially foils for each other. There's a plethora of characters that come and go throughout the series' 16 volumes (and counting), some not having much consequence on the story, and others who push the main characters along their respective paths.

There's also apparently an anime in the works for this one, which worries me quite a bit. The story of the series itself is a bit...scattered, especially with the dual story (two different main characters). The animating company, TMS, is by no means a bad studio. Under it's belt it has Detective Conan, Lupin III, Fist of the North Star, and Anpanman, among a huge list of other works. It's a difficult work to do. Focus too much on the action and you lose the story. Focus too much on the story (which would be hard to do) and you end up with a gritty snore-fest. It's supposed to be out in April, so we'll see then.

Yay for Luka!




Title: 生命ツマリ症候群, Seimei Tsumari Shokogun
Producer: やみくる
Illus: 篠川イヅ
PV: yonoP
Vocaloid: 巡音ルカ

Kenn's Comment: A nice calm song by やみくる. I'm not entirely sure what the English translation of the title is. I've looked up the words in a dictionary, but I'm not sure how they'd fit together in a sentence.

Anywho, I'm quite fond of the melody of this. Luka's really the right one for this song. Her voice has a certain calming quality to it that Miku and the rest don't really have. The light instrumentation really adds to this effect.

Anywho, I'm dealing with a bit of a hangover right now, so I'll keep this short. Enjoy!

“Back in the day, that place was a house filled with magic—a place where you ended up smiling even if you were crying. Surely, an invisible wizard must have lived there. Or so I thought.”

What’s a young child to do when her mother leaves her father for another man? Or when her father remarries a woman who brings along a child from a previous marriage? Or when her childhood neighbor friend invites her to live with him?

Kenn's Comment: This is a wonderful and beautiful series. Everything about it really just feels very natural. I've even seen it described as 'god-tier' (super good). The pacing is perfect and there's no jarring plot twists or heavy drama to weigh it down. The characters are well developed; the main two especially, as neither of them are flat characters. I'd say it's something like My Girl (Sahara Mizu) crossed with a good shoujo romance. I can't think of a good shoujo romance off the top of my head, so I'll leave that up to your discretion.

Great art, great story, great characters. What's not to love about this series?

A nice light song that's surprisingly, not using Miku.







Title: 想像フォレスト, Souzou Forest, Imagination Foresｔ
Producer: じん
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: IA

Kenn's Comment: IA's been enjoying a good number of songs recently; I hope that she'll become the next GUMI and not fade out like all of AH-Soft's 'loids. IA here sounds almost exactly like a cross between Miku and GUMI. I'm hoping that sound of hers (hopefully she gets a more distinct voice as producers warm up to her).

The PV and art for this are really quite something. It's the story of a girl who lives by herself in a quaint little house in the woods. Much of the story can be derived from the excellent PV, though the ending is a bit odd for me. I suppose forgiveness and whatnot are important, but maaaan that kid. Not sure if he's the same one or not, but that kid.

The mom and girl remind me a lot of Irisviel and Illyasviel (Iris/Ilya); it's the eyes and hair.

Anywho, enjoy the song! It was #1 on the charts last week.

A Day With Kenn returns, though slightly slowed down due to construction in front of my gate.

It's a pain to get out of the house now...


We begin yesterday. This is a shot from the Seabus on the waters of the Burrard Inlet. It's been really nice out lately, though still quite chilly. The sun is a little bit misleading, as the ladyfriend found out today. The photo was taken through the Seabus window, which is why the photo degrades towards the top.

 A hill coming out of Lonsdale Quay. One of the steepest hills I know (Victoria drive's southern sections are as steep, if not steeper). Standing on the bus on this hill is an interesting feeling because of how angled it is.


Shot this while walking back from Park & Tilford because of a bus that never came. Not sure what the river is called, but it's quite picturesque. I think it's part of a park, but I haven't been able to find access to the park...let alone the river.


In the heart of Vancouver, right beside City Center station. Sears building (Pacific Center) is the round building on the right. Scotia tower on the left, with a building I forget's name and purpose in the center. It's clock at the top is cool though. Whether it's accurate or not, however, is not entirely known.


Went skating today with the ladyfriend at the GE Ice Plaza at Robson Square. Smaller than most rinks I've been to, but the only outdoor rink I know of. It was built for the Olympics way back in 2010, and is opened every winter, from...December to the end of February I believe.


Gorgeous weather today. The GE Ice Plaza is right behind the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery), which is a few minutes from City Center Station.


View Larger Map


After getting lost a few times, and a rather long walk, we arrived at Capstone Tea and Fondue. Pretty place, and the fondue is more filling than it looks. Misfortune strikes hard here as I end up stabbing myself with the fondue fork, and dripping chocolate everywhere. Don't worry. I'm perfectly sane. 


Stopped by the CIBC Lunar New Year festivities. A Lantern Aquarium made by artists with entries by local children. Neat experience, though I was expecting something a little bit more awe inspiring. Not sure when this event closes, but it's on the other side of the Art Gallery. Other side referring to the side that Robson Square is on. 


Not entirely sure what the structure at the bottom of the picture is. Perhaps something unfinished? The hanging fish were neat, though they're not really lanterns. 

I remember telling the ladyfriend that it wouldn't be an aquarium without a shark. I don't think I took a photo of it, but there's definitely a shark there. It's easily the biggest single piece in the exhibit, as well as possibly being the brightest.



Flying fish I think? The ones with wings. Not entirely sure what this piece was supposed to be. The buckets on the ground are tapped like a radio drum set up, though I couldn't really discern any pattern. To be fair, I couldn't really tell which drum was being tapped when, so getting any sort of pattern from that would be an impressive feat. 



A jellyfish I think? There's a ray on the ground too. Not sure if it's a jellyfish because the 'bell' of the piece isn't really a bell as it's not lit...nor was it shaped like the bell of a jellyfish. 


The hanging fish from a photo above. Flash killed the few in front, but the rest are fine. Doesn't look like these ones are lit, though the paperwork is impressive. 




Fountain right behind the lantern show. For some odd reason the dust and whatnot on the lens of my camera didn't show up in any of the other photos. Strange. Think of it as the tamayura, like in the series penned by Sato Junichi. 



Same place as the second picture I took, just in the night. My phone's camera isn't exactly spectacular, so this one's about as grainy as whole grain mustard. 

I think that's about it for today. See you all tomorrow for the Weekly Manga Feature! 

Does having mismatched clothing like that constitute hipster-ness?






Title: 怪盗・窪園チヨコは絶対ミスらない
Producer: ぽわぽわP
PV: M. ziP, ポイゾ
Genre: Pop
Vocaloid: 鏡音リン

Kenn's Song: There were a lot of songs this week, but this one stood out a bit more than the others. The latest work by 164 was about to go up instead of this one at one point. The song has a peppy rhythm to it, and the bright, colourful PV and art really compliments that. Speaking of the PV, it's really well done. A lot of the PVs are very well done, but use the same static piece of art over and over, like zooming and moving around it. This one does something like that, but has effects to make everything look a lot smoother and less...Flash animated.

I have absolutely no clue what the title means in English, or how you even read the kanji. If someone wants to take a crack at it, by all means, please do.

Title: O My Heart
Artist: Mother Mother
Genre: Indie, Rock
Single: N/A
Album: O My Heart
Vintage: 16/09/08 ddmmyy

Kenn's Comment: Originally from Quadra Island, a very, very small island town off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. There's like, one or two schools on the island and has a population of less than 3000 people (the census includes smaller surrounding islands as well). They're based in mainland Vancouver now, joining The Zolas, Said the Whale as well as many other great indie bands that are here.

The music video is a little bit on the odd side, but the song is great. The vocals are awesome. Not too many bands have 3 vocalists whose voices compliment each other's so well. Ryan (main voice in the song)'s is complimented by Molly's (the female vocals heard most of the time). Her voice is then complimented by Jasmin (keyboardist, not singing most of the time. It works wonderfully.

Anywho, Skyrim is calling. Enjoy the song!