Not an introduction to Cpop

This is not an introduction to Cpop, largely because my knowledge of Cpop is limited to songs that I get from my sister years after they are popular in Taiwan when I hear them in karaoke. As such, the music I listen to tends to be very pop-y and very popular; I have zero knowledge of the Taiwan indie scene.

It's also not an introduction because I don't listen to all of Cpop. I have zero knowledge of the Cantopop scene, very little knowledge of music in Taiwanese (as opposed to music in Mandarin Chinese produced in Taiwan), and zero knowledge of music produced in Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, or the rest of the Chinese diaspora.

Mostly I just want to give people Chinese music and make other people out there who do know more about Cpop than me post about it because they are ashamed and embarrassed by my horrible not-introduction!

Also, I have no idea how to talk about music, so there will be much handwaviness.

( Music! )

Minekura Kazuya - Wild Adapter, vol. 03 (Eng. trans.)

Yay! New Minekura that I haven't read before! Well, I've flipped through the Japanese version, but I have a hard time with Minekura's Japanese.

This is also the volume that had me and rachelmanija very confused over the seemingly random sexy ear-biting that happened in the middle of a gun fight.

Tokitoh and Kubota continue to haphazardly look for clues about the drug Wild Adapter and hints of Tokitoh's past, and they end up attempting to infiltrate a religious cult. They don't infiltrate very successfully; they're both too cynical and sarcastic for that. Plot happens.

It feels rather useless describing the plot -- I'm sure it's fine plot, but what I'm really interested in is how Minekura uses MotW plots to reveal bits and pieces about her protagonists, as she does so well in Saiyuki. The real story isn't the chase for WA (and I can't really see Tokitoh and Kubota ever resolving it), but rather, how this rather uncivilized man Kubota found on a street seems to be slowly making Kubota more human. I love how this volume ends and begins: Tokitoh and Kubota lazing around on the sofa, talking.

I also love the little short at the end.

No real spoilers under the cut, but I figured I'd just cut in case people wanted to be surprised by some bits.

( Favorite moments )

It's been so long since I've read new Minekura that I'd forgotten how much I love her snark and her subtext, how the most important things happen in the smallest of moments.