Vehicular bullshit, NFL Week 4 preview and a manga recommendation

Stupid car, didn't run. Of course, the radio was on, but did the car stayed like that when it's supposed to? No. Now I'll have to wait to get my license on Monday. Piece of shit.

I'm gonna do a double feature today. Week 4 preview on the NFL and a manga recommendation 'cause I like you a lot. :P

Chicago vs Detroit: It's the first game in the post-Matt Millen era and the Lions want to start off with the right foot against the Bears. Here's hoping Millen sticks to being a sidelines commentator. God knows one team had enough with his incompetence; why should another one hire him while shootimg themselves in the foot?

Seattle at NY Giants: The Giants are fresh from their bye week and look strong thus far. Can Seattle get quickly back on course before things get worse?

Washington at Philadelphia: The Redskins want to show the league that their win at Dallas is no fluke and they're looking to get the Eagles into a hole early. McNabb and the crew must bounce back following their loss to Chicago on Sunday Night.

Tennessee at Baltimore: The Titans want to keep going as an undefeated team and it looks like Vince Young wants to get to work in order to get his job back. The Ravens must pick up the pieces and stay strong unless they want a repeat or worse when they played the Steelers.

Tampa Bay at Denver: The Bucs sucker-punched the Packers with a good win now they're gonna try and smack the Broncos in their teeth. If Denver doesn't recover from the gargantuan upset they suffered at the hands of the Chiefs, there will be blood.

Buffalo at Arizona: The Bills are the second unbeaten team and they visit the Cardinals at the hot desert on Arizona. How will the Cards handle their beating at the hands of the Jets? Will Buffalo take heart of that game? (Go Bills!)

Steelers at Jaguars: Both teams come from overtime wins and they now face off after last year's playoffs. A hot, recent rivalry to be sure. Will they meet again in the post-season as well?

My recommendation for this week is... Houshin Engi.

I read this manga 4 years ago and to tell you the truth, I loved it. It was a pretty unique take on one of the legendary tales from China, made by mangaka Ryu Fujisaki.

Read this copypasta snipnet from Wikipedia:

The 23 manga book series follows the adventures of Taikobo and his trusty "Rei-jū" (霊獣, "Rei-jū"?) ('Spirit Beast' or 'Riding Beast') Sū-pū-shan (四不像). Taikobo was given a mission by Genshi-tenson (元始天尊) (Taikobo's mentor and the leader of the Sennin (仙人) World - Konrong (崑崙)) to complete the Hoshin Project.

The goal of the Hoshin Project, as explained by Genshitenson, is to trap Dakki and her minions in a 'middle' world between the Sennin World and the Human world, renamed 'Shin' (神, 'Shin'?) (Deity or Gods) World (Named 'Shinkai' in the English version). Taikobo's mission is to hunt down the 365 people whose names were written on the Hoshin Scroll. As Taikobo defeats and seals off each of the 365 people on the scroll, their souls are instantly transported to the Hoshindai (a floating island made to trap souls) and sealed there for all times.

At first, it does begin with Taikoubou (the MC of the story) getting started with the Houshin project and from the first volume, we begin to see how the story unfolds. I must note that the anime released 3 years into the manga's run takes several departures from the plot and there are many key differences as it progresses in the story (Dare I say can you spot them all? :P). Taikoubou himself is anything but typical when it comes to Shounen manga main characters, namely with some of his madcap, zany schemes, he doesn't shy away from doing a few underhanded tactics when he needs to and he adds what few protagonists deliver: humor. Some of his schemes and tactics get to be so low that even a few of his allies boo him because of it, especialy Suupuushan. Over time, though, you can see his commitment and his looking out for this allies and friends and probably an element that makes him shine is his unyeilding determination to make a better place of the Human World even when things get to be grim.

The manga has a plethora of characters that grow on you the more you see them and their different motivations as the plot advances whereas the anime cuts them in half and takes several departures from the source material as mentioned above. Perhaps one of the greater antagonists I've ever seen, Dakki may well be Taikoubou's polar opposite and it shows well at the first 5-7 volumes. Her cruelty, along with her beauty and her intelligence add to one of manga's more memorable antagonists and gives HE a particular dimension whereas other villains may seem unidimensional in contrast to her complex characterization.

The art is quite good for its time (It ran from 1996 to 2000, just so you know); the characters do look true to type with plenty of detail in the backgrounds and various scenes when the story takes place. The mystic aspects of China's storied past meet with the technological advances of the future (At least where the Kongrong mountains are concerned), but interesting enough it doesn't make it look like some futuristic tale that embelishes a legend by pure aesthetic appearance. As expected from shounen action manga, you'll see blood in good detail, but not scary as to make it into a seinen manga or anything like that. While the anime catches on with some of the stuff seen in manga, it pales in comparison to the source and ultimately you'll have enough after watching it once. There is plenty of battles and action that can keep any shounen fan quite satisfied, making it stand on even ground with other manga like Bleach, Naruto, Dragon Ball and others and more often than not you'll be hooked into the story as you read it all the way to its conclusion.

Kudos to Ryu Fujisaki for creating such a fascinating story and perhaps one of the best manga ever made. It is highly recommended you find it, buy and read it. If not, you can always Google for One Manga. It's 23 volumes long and you owe it to yourself to check it out. n.n

Whew! That's enough for today, I say.