Now, I’m getting doubly curious about whether or not this business with the owls has always been part of Ms. Mine’s back-story. The fun of keeping up with all the different avenues of pop culture, of course, is that sometimes you run into some wonderfully serendipitous coincidences. At the moment, all the Batman books are in a cross-over entitled “The Court of Owls” which is introducing a nefarious, owl-themed secret society into the Caped Crusaders’ history. It’s a “retcon,” of course - - and I suspect that these glimpses of owl people in Fujiko’s past might be a retcon, too.
At this point, we can only conclude that DC and FUNi are building up to an epic mutli-media crossover that they’ve managed to keep an astoundingly-tight lid on for all the time it’s taken to put it together.
Anyway, for a show that’s got a veritable landscape of naked breasts parading in its intro, THE WOMAN CALLED FUJIKO MINE actually deserves some marks for subtly. For the first time since this series began, Fujiko wasn’t holding all the cards. You can see her losing her touch throughout the extended chase for the “Illustrated Girl.” Normally, she’s a pretty good shot, but I don’t think a single round out of her near-constant shooting spree hit a mark. Obviously, her obsession with the parallels of the girl’s situation and the incessant, horrible memories they trigger is starting to unravel her already-fractured psyche.
When the show started, I figured it was going to be COWBOY BEBOP REDUX with a string of campy, episodic done-in-ones - - but now it’s looking like it’s aiming to paint something a little more incisive.
Watch this episode, "Love Wreathed in Steam" here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
Maybe Fujiko wasn't hitting because of lag. That always seems to be the case when I'm playing UNCHARTED 3 multiplayer and the dude wont go down.
I don't know what it was about this episode, but I really felt sorry for the Kaleidoscope Girl. Living her entire life and being used like an object. Never being treated as a human being. It got my blood boiling.
The whole owl thing in this series reaches a whole new level next episode. It was rather surprising how far back their hand goes in this story.
While it's nice to see Batman put up against a challenge. Comic heroes have it too easy, and writers haven't done enough to make them less invulnerable. Though, fans are also to blame there. You even touch Superman's powers and people throw massive fits. One of the things that drew me away from comics and to manga is that the heroes will often get seriously messed up.
The whole Court of Owls thing is a tad weird, and I wont go into the whole maybe "evil brother" issue. I think even soap operas shelved that tired out cliche years ago. Does DC really need yet another not-so-secret society?
I understand DC, but what does VIZ have to do with this? TMS Entertainment in Japan is the production company behind this series and FUNimation is licensing it to the US. If anything, I believe FUNi has a closer relationship with Kodansha USA as a manga publisher.
@FoxxFireArt: i agree with most ya say here .But i think it was a tongue in cheek thing on the dc lupin crossover.Also one should consider how long it takes to animate these.Their story had to have been done months before dc had their court of owls.
Also consider how poor the whole dc52 has been done. It was / It is done on the fly .So their is no legs to the argument it was planed out well before.If any thing one could argue comics have um "borrowed" ideas from manga an anime.Sure theirs a few head nods in anime to comics as well.
Oddly enuff their is a movement it seems with the big two publishers to manga / anime up their comics,yet again :/
@Marshal Victory:
Well, from what Sara Lima of Comic Vine says, the sales of DC comics are up from last year. It's doing well enough for them. I just wonder how long this growth spurt will last them. I thought it was kind of insane that the first month of their grand relaunch wasn't over and people were calling it a success.
I love that Tom recognizes that this is a "retcon" on DC's part. I'm pretty sick of people using the term "revamp". DC is just using "revamp" becasue they want to avoid the stigma that comes with saying a "retcon".
@FoxxFireArt: Some other sites have pointed out their sales numbers are not holding tho.yes its better than before nu52 but they seem to be slowly losing what they have gained.They lost a lot of old fans who are just not coming back.An their in break neck mode to keep 52 titles out there.Many titles are canceled an an new ones replace them.I think they are on wave 3 of this .Its wearing thin on some of those where are die hard dc fans an well as the new ones.
It would not surprise me if dc called it a golden shower on their fans ,an some fanboy would think its a compliment.Bet some would be the same fans who got upset over a Cat woman zero cover.That she was being objectified as a sex object.... yeah think about it.. Cat woman..
Kinda feel sorry for them.I mean think if they watched This Lupin series an saw Fujiko do her thing.I could only imagine them not being happy campers about this show.Which if any one was a real fan of Batman or Cat woman odds are they would love it.