This month, I’m reaching into the PopCultureShock vault for a review of Mitsukazu Mihara’s The Embalmer, one of those offbeat titles that Tokyopop published back in the aughts. It’s not hard to see why Tokyopop thought there was an audience for Mihara’s work, as she played an important role in defining the Gothic Lolita aesthetic. Tokyopop licensed five series—Doll, Haunted House, IC in a Sunflower, Requiem in Phonybrian, and The Embalmer—but they didn’t really catch on with North American readers. That’s a pity, as titles such as The Embalmer were anything but cookie cutter, tackling difficult subjects with sensitivity, nuance, and style. Readers interested in tracking down this OOP gem should note that Tokyopop only translated four of the seven volumes before canceling the series. Mitsukazu Mihara’s The Embalmer, Vols.... The post From the Vault: Mitsukazu Mihara’s The Embalmer first appeared on Manga Bookshelf.
Oct 1, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
From the Vault: Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai
Not Gainax' best-known series, but a gem nonetheless. Read more
From the V-Cinema Vault: Daikanyama Horror
"The girls were dying to be famous..."
Anime From the Vault Episode 3: FLCL
To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, I could watch Fooly Cooly if my hair was on fire. Read more
Anime From the Vault Episode 2: True Tears
The first rule of True Tears is you have to pick a side. Read more
Spring 2021 First Impressions: Back From the Vault
There’s a lot to get through this time – so much so that I cut a bunch of it from my list without even trying to write it…
Anime From the Vault Episode 5: Ghost Hound
Break out the headphones. Read more
Anime From the Vault Episode 6: Hikaru no Go
A classic in every sense of the word. Read more
Anime From the Vault Episode 4: 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byousoku 5 Centimeter)
Shinkai brings to life the innate beauty in people and places that we all see in our mind’s eye, but can’t quite capture. Read more
The Heavenly Delusion #12 — Cracking the Vault
For the first time, the vault kids were the stronger part of the episode. Impressions: At least they're coming to some kind of conclusion-ish thing here with…
From the (Undergrad) Vault: How Spotify’s Use of Deep Learning Algorithms Allows for a Personalised User Experience
NB: This post is unedited from its initial submission aside from separating the paragraphs to be smaller. I did not voluntarily go into debt for this essay just…
Discovering the Lost American Gundam Adaptations | Ep 1 | The Vault
#lostmedia #documentary #gundam Welcome to The Vault! A series in which we cover some of the lost media hiding inside of the Library of Congress archives! In tonight's episode…
The Vault - My new lost media series coming soon!
Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7GWq_TBvJKWLFIb2eLp-bw/join The long awaited series is almost here! prepare yourselves for The Vault: A lost media mini series covering all of the…
Uncovering the Original Sailor Moon Presentation Pitch | Ep 2 | The Vault
#lostmedia #sailormoon #trending Welcome to The Vault! A series in which we cover some of the lost media hiding inside of the Library of Congress archives! In tonight's…
Current Status of the Normanic Vault (as of September 2021)
Some additional updates regarding the future of the blog, but mostly good news.
#DirtyPairCember Episode 14: The Vault Or The Election? The Convention Hides The Killer
Very interesting to have an election based episode during an important election year. I don’t think this one hits as hard due to a lot of focusing flaws.Dirty…
EXCLUSIVE REVEAL: UNRELEASED Tamagotchi Cartoon Pitch DISCOVERY | Ep 3 | The Vault
Welcome to The Vault - Episode 3! 🕵️♂️✨ Join me on this captivating journey of discovery as we unveil the untold story behind the lost American Tamagotchi Cartoon Pitch…
The CANCELLED NBA ANIME Spin-Off About TRACY MCGRADY? | Ep 6 | The Vault
Did you know that in the 90s, Bandai had teamed up with PLEX to create a bizarre American Slam Dunk spin-off about NBA basketball player, Tracy McGrady? The…
SHOCKING DISCOVERY: The Lost LIVE ACTION GATCHAMAN Project in America! | Ep 4 | The Vault
Discover the untold story in the latest episode of The Vault! 🕵️♂️✨ Join me as we unveil the lost Gatchaman/Eagle Riders concept – Eagle Force. 🦅🌟 Dive into…
Dirty Pair (Episode 14) – The Vault or the Vote? A Murderous Day for a Speech
A dead body has been found in the 3WA headquarters so Kei and Yuri have been assigned to track down the person responsible and stop them from doing…
FOUND: The LOST Pitch Of ANOTHER Live Action Sailor Moon Spin Off? | Ep 5 | The Vault
Welcome to Episode 5 of The Vault! 🕵️♂️✨ In this exciting installment, join me on an extraordinary journey as I unveil the full show bible/treatment for the elusive…
Learning From the Best
When one living legend mentored another.
Dispatches from the Abyss
When Riko sends a mail balloon to the surface in Made in Abyss’ first season, the framing is that of a cave raider’s ascent. The balloon travels through…
Tales From the XXXX Ep 002: Tales From The Social Distancers
In this Episode of Spiraken's Latest Podcast Show about nothing and everything "Tales From the XXXX" Xan and Gretta discuss the current situation facing the country...Social Distancing. They also…
From the Apennines to the Andes
oxical reception and reputation. In Japan, it is just as well considered as Isao Takahata’s other two entries in the World Masterpiece Theater, with entire generations of animators…
Banished from the Hero’s Party | Episode Seven: Downhill from here.
Episode seven was just very disappointing. There wasn’t a point during the episode where I felt entertained or thought whatever the characters were talking about was remotely interesting.…
Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside
Argonavis from Bang Dream! Episode 5: Separation from the Past
Visit the post for more.
Following Recommendations from the Internet...
Use Code "GLASS" to get $5 off for your first #Sakuraco box through this link: https://team.sakura.co/glassreflection-SC2208 and #TokyoTreat box through this link: https://team.tokyotreat.com/glassreflection-TT2208 I have found myself slightly behind…
From the Archives: AnimEigo Interview
From the Archives is a deep dive into MAHQ’s history that revisits some old content that still has historical value. It was recently in the news that AnimEigo…
Banished From The Heroes' Party
Banished From The Heroes' Party is currently streaming on Funimation....
Review: FROM THE NEW WORLD
In their time, Vertical Comics had a passionate fanbase of readers who considered the company to have better-than-average taste in licenses....
A Fugitive from the Past
by Jeremy Clarke. Voted third in Kinema Junpo magazine’s 1999 list of the greatest Japanese film of all time, Tomu Uchida’s A Fugitive From The Past (1965) is…
From the outside looking in…
Hi, everyone! I don’t think I’ve ever felt nervous while writing something before. …
Entries from the Dead: Gibiate
This is a very fresh addition to my anime graveyard, having dropped this just last night. Normally, I would try out an anime, drop it, and then not…
Computer back from the dead
Last week my laptop motherboard when kaput and it took with it my entire top. Luckily it’s still under warranty until July 2011 which is good since they replaced…
Dispatches From The Yuri Council
12 Days of Aniblogging 2021, Day 11 As usual I am taking a Christmas Eve writing break, but if you want some more words from me, here's a podcast…
From the Founders of Fansubbing
An important message from the founders of Fansubbing.
Recreating the drinks from Bartender
Just like how a cooking anime is going to leave you peckish, Bartender was an anime I...
More Raws from the Attic
Time to share a bit more buried treasure with the anime universe. Today's offering is Super Real Mahjong, a pair of OVAs from 1990 which sha...
Assorted Animation from the 1960s
The 1960s featured two landmark anime both released in 1963, Astro Boy and Gigantor – the latter is particularly notable for being the first televised mecha series, with…
143: The Sickos Drink From the Toilet
Most of the time when the Sickos read dumb posts it is to mock and belittle them. No more. We now accept them as true and real. We…
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 04 – New Friends from the Third Rock
Suletta responds to Guel’s proposal, on which he immediately tries to backpedal, as you’d expect: running back into her Gundam and booking it out of there. The next…
Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
Poems from the Frontier of Japan
Most people think of Basho and haiku when they think about Japanese poems. Japanese poetry encompasses more than lovely nature images. The word literature conjures, at least for…
Who Are The Strangers From Hell?
Strangers from Hell, or Taineun Jiokida [ 타인은 지옥이다] is a 2019 Kdrama. It is a live adaptation of a webtoon sharing the same name. This is a…
Still More Raws from the Attic
Here's another raw I'd dearly love to translate: Noel no Fushigi na Bouken ( Noel's Fantastic Trip ), a 1983 children's movie. According to...
Letter from the Editor: 2024 Planning
Hello, Everyone! It is a little early for this, but here are some of our plans going into 2024: EDITING OVERHAUL Remember back in July when I told…
Happy Thanksgiving from the BtT Crew!
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sin…
Fabiniku – 12 (Fin) – From the Heart
When Tachibana’s rants and rampage convince Jinguuji that the best thing to do is to disappear from her sight, Schwartz rises as the true hero of this story by smacking…
Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout