Emily's virtual rocket : review

Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

13 October 2021

lead story - The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a call for compassion

Fiona Sturges

The Guardian

Bristol, UK (1873)

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Bristol_1873.png

please press: www.theguardian.com

19 September 2021

lead story - The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye review – a cry for compassion

Felix Moore

The Guardian

Issues And Answers, ABC program

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Issues_and_Answers.jpg

please press: www.theguardian.com

12 December 2020

Hungary - Hungary's Constitutional Court to Review Transgender Law

Justin Spike

OS News & World Report

Miskolc, Hungary

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Miskolc_city_hall_square.jpg

please press: www.usnews.com

13 November 2020

Joe Biden - Trump campaign drops Arizona lawsuit requesting review of ballots

Kara Scannell

CNN

Saguaro cactus flowers (Carnegiea gigantea)

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Carnegiea_gigantea_%283%29.jpg

please press: www.cnn.com

29 December 2019

civil rights - Connecticut sports decade in review: Transgender high school athletes’ success sparks debate on fairness and inclusion, and a Title IX complaint

Lori Riley
Hartford Courant

Hartford, CT

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Constitution_Plaza_-_Hartford%2C_CT_-_DSC04945.jpg

please press: www.courant.com

24 December 2019

civil rights - Transgender plaintiff asks 5th Circuit to review Trump appointee’s refusal to recuse

Alison Frankel
Reuters

Dallas, TX (1942)

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Night_view%2C_downtown_section%2C_Dallas%2C_Texas_ppmsca09600u.jpg

please press: www.reuters.com

12 November 2019

SPECIAL - review of Maomarimo

When I first chose to pick Maomarimo, I was rather puzzled when Mangahere chose to put up a warning sign about proceeding any further. The editors of manga were, let's say, a bit quirky. When I read chapter nine, however, I found out exactly what they were warning me about. And it was truly disgusting.

I'm not trying to be a prissy. However, when Horikita Aoi carefully masters an art over eight chapters, only to have it flushed down the toilet, it really is disgusting.

If you want shits n' giggles, hey, have at it. However, when you seek a thoughtful examination of transgender life, you can do better.

Far better.

08 September 2019

review of Oneechan ga Mamotte Ageru!

Artist - Yoshino Sora

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Delegates_of_3rd_Asian_Cartoon_Exhibition.JPG

(note: I tried - really tried to find the picture 'Oneechan ga Mamotte Ageru!' All to no avail. Sorry.)

To those who follow Japan and Japanese transgender culture, yeah, there are flaws, but Japan does seem to be making an effort. One of the really bright spots is an article entitled 'Transgender granted long-term residency in Japan'. It is in this mix that Yoshino Sora is drawing her manga. Unfortunately, Ms. Yoshino isn't doing her best work.

Mind you, her work is a far cry from the 'work' done by the Jack Chick tracts. But this is a hornet's nest from the outset. Anri goes to the studio to do a tryout. And who does her mother pick to get some 'papers'? Kairi, her younger brother. Of course, her daft mother doesn't dream of going to the studio herself. And let us consider the appellation 'Kairi'. When I thumbed Japanese names, one listed 'Kairi' as female/unisex, the other as strictly female. Where does it fit in the universe?

Towards the end, a more proper 'Kairi' is found, a transgender female. But geez, their mother is in a virtual loony bin. The proper way to go is not to rush into things, nor to refuse forever into decades. In other words, it's somewhat of a balancing act. Am I telling you that you must never make a mistake? Of course not. But find the right road, and stay the course as best you can.

Aesthetically, Ms. Yoshino does a decent job. I just wish she would do better with words.

26 August 2019

review of Shishunki Bitter Change

author: Masayoshi

Shishunki Bitter Change

Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Shishunki_Bitter_Change_volume_1_cover.jpg

Before I get started on the main manga, there is a story to be told. It originally started in Japan, from Empress Koken. (孝謙天皇, 713-770 CE) It describes the tale of the cow-herder and the seamstress, or Higoboshi and Orihime. To keep things very short, they were very star-crossed lovers. Due to her father's anger, they would only be allowed once a year. In modern times, slips of paper would be handed out, with wishes for the future written on them. They were then hung on a holiday tree. (perhaps analogous to a Christmas tree)

Japanese woodblock of Tanabata, 1852
Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Tanabata_Festival_in_Edo_%28Hiroshige%2C_1852%29.jpg

Now to the manga. Yui (大塚結依) and Yuuta(木村佑太) are, in the beginning, elementary school students at later grades. (5th-6th grade?) Supposedly, they were at an earlier grade, but this is where the drama takes place. The change takes place immediately, with Yuuta falling from the tree onto Yui. Perhaps you don't see it (well, at this point you don't see at all, unless you're psychic) but the hint is starting to crop up; the cap is seen. To Masayoshi's credit, he puts in the tiniest detail, things that you won't see for detail, but things that are there - to which an uninformed public will pooh-pooh him for his (relatively) spare drawing.

However, to his demerits, are the supporting cast. One of the earliest is Haruki (木村春樹) one of the kindest, most thoughtful little boys around. Yeah, he's a bit of a squirt, but that's the exception rather than the rule. However, in his last scene (and absolutely the most important one) neither Yui nor Yuuta mentions his name at all. Not once. If taken alone, he might as well be a stick figure. Granted, Yui and Yuuta are involved in one of the most intense conversations of their lives... but still, Haruki deserves better.

One other problematic person is that of Tachibana (橘隼人). He doesn't show up until chapter 20, and when he does appear, you might think that he's little more than a street punk. However, he does appear far more greatly. When he does (finally, at last) decide to attend high school, he has grown to such an extent that he qualifies as a minor/major character. Shortly after the kiss he plants on Yuuta, however, he becomes strangely silent. It's not nearly as irksome as what happened to Haruki, but it left me wanting nevertheless.

The singular problem facing Yui and Yuuta is not, strictly speaking, "transgender". For example, in the earlier sections, both Yui and Yuuta desperately want to change back to their "normal" skin. But what is "normal", after all? Neither Yui nor Yuuta can dodge the complexities of life. They can't escape that this is normal.

In the final chapter, Kazuma (高岡和馬) one of the other minor characters, nevertheless gets to utter one of the more intriguing passages. He says, "I... think it's (Yui and Yuuta) been decided ages ago."

We - all of us who follow a different path - are descendants of the cow-herders and seamstresses.

29 January 2018

Poland - OUT: LGBTQ Poland by Maciek Nabrdalik review – Poles apart

Sean O'Hagan
The Guardian

20 December 2017

Transgender Jewish woman wins review of child contact case (UK)

Harriet Sherwood
The Guardian

Credit: https://ka-perseus-images.s3.amazonaws.com/9c92f28462d37a24e83f314a098b182ef257da94.png

please press: www.theguardian.com

19 November 2017

Review: Two voices tell a deeply human transgender story 'As One'

John von Rhein
Chicago Tribune

'As One' opera

Credit: http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/images/cache/cache_b/cache_4/cache_4/as-one-san-diego-opera-0304944b.jpeg?ver=1506726829&aspectratio=1.4971428571429

please press: www.chicagotribune.com