Welcome to the second article in our series, where American animation and comics and fans of Japanese anime and manga can connect with each other through pairs of titles that share tone, themes or character types in common.

Today’s pairing is about series that have been influenced by classic works of fine arts and literature, but with orginal twists.

BEAUTY AND LITERATURE

Anime/Manga: GANKUTSUOU
Anime directed by Mahiro Maeda, produced by Gonzo studios
Manga written by Mahiro Maeda, illustrated by Yura Arikawa

This is a fantastical re-telling of the classic novel, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, set in a space-faring future with some supernatural elements. Unlike the original novel, which was told from the point of view of the eponymous count, this story is told from the perspective of Albert, a young man who meets the Count at the beginning of the story and eventually discovers they have a disturbing connection. The anime also has a very different ending from the book – so don’t use this as a substitute for reading the book if it’s assigned to you for a class.

The 2004 anime’s most striking features are its lush and unique visuals. Instead of flat planes of color, the figures are depicted with textures and patterns that can delight – or boggle – the eyes. The Comic Con panelists said you can turn off the sound and just gaze in amazement at the characters’ costumes, some of which were created by real-life fashion designer Anna Sui. The series received critical acclaim as well — in 2006, Theron Martin of Anime News Network named Gankutsuou the best series of the year.

There is a manga adaptation of the anime currently being released, but for the full effect of the visuals you should go for the DVDs.

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Truth time, FOMAFers*, I found this webcomic a couple years late. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s still going… but I know out there in cyberspace, someone will snicker when they see this week’s choice. I can see them now, sipping a Brandy Alexander, puffing away on a grape cigarello. I can see them, and frankly, I hate them. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. On a recent tour of the internet (which seems to get bigger every day, I tell h’yew h’whut, I came across a comic that made me chuckle. I skimmed back across a few more strips, and more laughs fell from my mouth. Two hours later, I’d realized I forgot about addressing my save-the-dates with my fiance, and was promptly put in the dog house. Because I was in the dog house anyways, I cracked open a browser, and continued laughing until the wee hours of the morning. What made me laugh you ask? Why don’t I tell you… it’s the “Least I Could Do”. Get it? See what I did there? Yeah, I’m that awesome, and that’s why you’re a FOMAFer**.

“Least I Could Do” is a wonderfully humorous tale of a would be casanova, Rayne Summers. In another world, Rayne might be just like most of us… a bit of nerd, a pinch of geek, a jot of immaturity, and a dash of twenty-something sex maniac. The misadventures of Rayne have been dutifully written by Ryan Sohmer, and drawn first by Trevor Adams, then Chad WM. Porter, and now Lar deSouza. The strip has been going on since February 10th, 2003. Presently, it’s boasting daily updates. Kudos to them. But enough with the wikipedia crap, right? Let’s get into why this strip is heavy on the yuck-yucks.

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