Tuesday, July 21, 2009

It's about time...It's about CHANGE....of hair?

At the end of the school year, after the stress of finals was over and the scent of summer was in the air, the atmosphere here at Manga Meditation was one of anticipation for change...a change in hair! The arrival of summer had effectively chased away all need for the heat-retaining, long and bushy look, and all three of us were itching to try out cute summer cuts, similar to the edgy new haircut of pop singer sensation Rihanna. A short journey to the beauty salon later, all of us had chopped off the excess keratin and now sported beautiful, swishy, shiny, bouncy bobs!

While it is easy for us to cut off our hair, it is not so simple in the manga world. Characters often look similar (if not exactly the same) without hair, and a signature hairstyle, be it short, spiky, long, curly, or blue often times is the only way to distinguish characters...especially in shoujo manga.

However! Not only is hair an important characteristic in physical distinction, it also creates certain impressions regarding the personality of a character. Based on the manga that I've read, I've compiled a list of character hairstyles and the personality traits that seem to correspond most commonly.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

An Apology of Sorts

To our devoted readers:

As you may have noticed, our little online community has been sorely lacking in any type of updates much to the chagrin of us administrators. The seductive powers of summertime have proven to be too powerful for us and the goal of "updates once a week", which seemed laughably easy at the beginning of June, has now become a feat equivalent to Hercules' 12 labors.

However! A recent meeting of minds over the tesla-magnetic-supersonic-ultra-complex waves of Skype has rearranged the priorities in our respective summertime schedules, placing this blog at the top of the list. No longer shall we give in to the smell of barbeque in the backyard. No longer shall we be tempted by the sight of our swimsuits and towels and the idea of a day excursion at the beach. No longer shall we run outside to catch fireflies every time we see a flash outside our window. We serve a higher purpose, and by hook or crook (or by excessively guilt-tripping each other) we shall fulfill our quota of one post per week.

So away with ye, summer distractions. And onwards with our continuing mission to explore the manga world, to seek out new series and artists, to boldly mock where no one has mocked before (yes, even more than two months after the Star Trek movie, we are still slightly obsessed).

--Manga Meditation