Hey guys! So I don't know how many gamers there are in our little community, and of those gamers I don't know how many are as infatuated with the Kingdom Hearts series as I am. Now, I wouldn't consider myself a "gamer" simply because I am not one. I have just loved the KH series since I was a kid, and as some of you may know, Kingdom Hearts III was announced to be inproduction at Monday's E3 press briefing. Woot woot!

Now there may be some of you out there who have no idea what the Kingdom Hearts series is or don't know that much about it. Well, let me take a little time to try to win you over to our side. The Kingdom Hearts saga began with its original release in 2002 as a joint venture by Square Enix (the gaming studio that brought you the Final Fantasy series) and the Disney Corporation (Disney Interactive Studios, to be specific). It was headed by then-first time gaming director tetsuya Nomura (drector of the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children film) and was based on an idea by producer Shinji Hashimoto. Believe it or not, while its fathers may seem to be the Final Fantasy series and the Disney universe, Kingdom Hearts was actually born from a discussion about Mario! Hashimoto was tasked with developing a game that could perform like and compete with Super Mario 64, and deduced that only a Disney character could rival such an iconic figure. While at the time it may have sounded like a figure of speech, Hashimoto decided that he would simply have to use Disney characters. Thus was the series born.

See, Kingdom Hearts takes the best of Final Fantasy-esque thematic darkness, maturity and depth and artfully combines it with lighthearted and comical Disney characters and worlds. What is most fascinating about the series, though, is its ability to successfully add that darkness and depth to Disney and the comedy to Final Fantasy (or characters designed to appear as though they were in the FF vein) without sacrificing either's integrity. The games mostly follow a happy-go-lucky kid named Sora who at first longs for adventure but when a darkness beyond his power whisks him away to the worlds he though he wanted to see, all he wants to do is return home. Unfortunately, fate has other plans as he is drawn into a conspiracy that shrouds every world and the mysticism of the mysterious Keyblade. Of course, there is farm more to the story than meets the eye, but why spoil it? All you need to know is you fight alongside Donald Duck and Goofy (in most of the games).

To date, the series has spawned seven games (and technically one movie), although there have only been two main titles released. Three years was the gap between these titles, and since then there has been an eight-year silence broken only by story-fluff games 9which I say lovingly, because even these games are AWESOME). I'm sure you Half-Life and Diablo fans can relate. But lo and behold, at Monday's E3 press briefing, the game was revelealed to be in development for the PlayStation 4 and XBox One by 2014. Needless to say, I fangirled out (not to mention the dual announcement that Final Fantasy XV would be with us soon). So what?

Disney's buyouts of these awesome-as-a-mofo companies. What we have to look forward to is the possible inclusion of playable worlds ranging from Toy Story to Spirit Away to Star Wars. Can you imagine? Mr. Nomura already stated that the Disney worlds of this game would be ones we have not seen before (although fan favorites such as Agrabah will probably appear again). While these may not be strictly Disney, Disney now has the right to market them as the see fit, and that leavves oppurtunites aplenty for us fans to fantasize about.

Personally, I'd love to adventure in a Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, or Howl's Moving Castle world. My only hang up would be my nervousness to see how these gorgeous anime settings transition into the third dimension. The simple thought of weaving through bath-house customer spirits and jamming a good Firaga in No-Face's lack-of-a-fat-face, mounting a wolf and swinging away my Oathkeeper at the malevolent Nightwalker's evil ooze, or treasure hunting for shests in the many rooms of the moving castle gives me shivers.

Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Wall-E, and Brave could all make magnificent worlds, especially the world-within-a-world potential of Monsters Inc. What I'm hesitant about, although most other fans are enthusiastic and strongly for it, is the inclusion of a Star Wars or Marvel world. While the Port Royal (Pirates of the Carribean) world proved that live-action could be integrated seamlessly and interestingly, I'm still on the fence.

Anyway, that's my piece. I hope I've excited you fans, rekindled you ex-fans, and attracted you (hopefully) new fans. For those of you who have never played or are behind, you've got a year to catch up, although with the inviting and AWESOME experience of playing Kingdom Hearts and its tendency to make you ingore sleeping and eating, you'll probably clock in hundreds of hours of gameplay and  blow through the series in 3 weeks. Max.

HEY EVERYBODY

It's your old friend, Robozo! Most of you (if not all) probably don't remember me, but I daresay I was an active member of the MM community that disappeared mysteriously. So, I've been taking a long hiatus from MangaMag, not really for any particular reason, sorry! But I have been keeping posted on DeviantArt. Today, I was doing some homework that I am incredibly behind on, and then a I realized how much I missed Magazine! So I'm coming back, and I hope to get to know all the new members! I see that we've made a few new installations to the site, which is great. I remember back when Manga Mag was young, and th backgrounds were still grey, and now its expanded so much!

I hope that in the coming....time, I can be an even better MM citizen! I cross my fingers that there could be a project in the works (?) and maybe I'll try my hand at critiques again. Anyway, if you happen to read this and happen to recognize me, I hope to see you again and get acquainted with all the new members!

So until then, please enjoy the happiest video on the internet:

Well, with my week plans dashed, I have more time for manga! I've already read it, I'm a fan, so I thought I would give my two cents on Matsuyama Takeshi's Okamirai.

Art

What can I say? It's drawn beautifully, backgrounds are paid well attention to, traditional mediums are used so you know how much hard work is put into it. The characters are very well thought out and drawn, everything is anatomically correct. There is no grey screentone, so no panel is boring and every action is dynamic.

It's my kind of art: it's definitely Jump-esque, there are a lot of smoky battle scenes (I love the way he uses traditional Japanese art clouds in the manga). When you read the first chapter, the art is a little rough and kind of painted-looking, but it cleans up very well, and becomes very fine and very crisp. The facial expressions are hilarious, definitely the kind of thing you want to see in a battle-fantasy.

One thing in the art that was kind of a turn off for me: the layered hairstyles of the gym teacher and the agent. It looks slightly unnatural, even for a fantasy piece. A simplified hairstyle works just fine :)

You can see Matsu-san works very hard to emulate every element of Japanese manga. A sincere thanks and show of appreciation for these gestures 

Story

It certainly feels, again, very Toriyama inspired. Read right to left, Japanese named techniques, quirky actions, chibi scenes, action tone, the whole 9 yards.

So I'm certainly getting the vibe that its been poured into the typical action mold, which is actually just fine. 

I just think it is all going very, very fast. By chapter 5, we have already received a rough introduction to the characters, a few battles, school scenes, and have almost climaxed an arc.

But so far, I know hardly anything about anybody. I know Jin wants to be a mangaka, but so far his personality has been left a little ambiguous. He seems headstrong, but not as much as Sonosuke (the only things we know about him being that he likes video games and ramen). We know that he is brave, but what are his extents? He's shown both scaredy-catedness and reckless bravery, so I'm left confused.

And what about Natsumi? She started off being really aloof towards Jin, which would explain his aggravted crush on her, but she has an unexplained change of heart and shows a great deal of interest in him.

Besides that, we've had dangerously little information about Raiju and the yokai, even though they are themes central to the manga. I'm sure we will learn more, but these are things that usuallyy should be addressed within the first 3 chapters. 

I'm sorry, Matsu-san, I know how hard you work and I am a fan of what you do, but Jin and Raiju, the mains, are entirely forgettable. I've seen primarily action, and not enough story, which is wha readers crave. Don't get me wrong, there is a goldmine in Okamirai 

So my question is: What is going on?

I really like Okamirai, and I know we will figure things out soon. But the temperature is far too warm, and fast. The solution: maybe a few stand-alone chapters where Jin and Raiju fight minor yokai, and Jin learns more about his new found powers and responsibilities. It's always good to get the reader comfortable with the material before introducing a greater antagonist or launching an arc. Also more gags :P

My grade: B+ 

Thank you, readers, and Matsuyama Takeshi. Pleases keep up the good work!