Of Human Bondage (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

June 10, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Of Human Bondage” is a significant film in the career of Bette Davis, it’s also a significant film for how it made changes with the Academy’s voting procedures and it’s the best looking version of the film to date. If you are a film of classic Hollywood films or a fan of Bette Davis’ work, “Of Human Bondage” on Blu-ray is highly recommended!

TITLE: Of Human Bondage

FILM RELEASE: 1934

DURATION: 83 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, B&W, Monaural

COMPANY: Kino Classics/Kino Lorber

RATED: NR

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Directed by John Cromwell

Screenplay by Lester Cohen

Based on the Novel by W. Somerset Maugham

Music by Max Steiner

Cinematography by Henry W. Gerrard

Edited by William Morgan

Art Direction by Carroll Clark, Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by Walter Plunkett

Starring:

Leslie Howard as Philip

Bette Davis as Mildred

Frances Dee as Sally

Kay Johnson as Norah

Reginald Denny as Griffiths

Alan Hale as Miller

Reginald Owen as Athelny

Desmond Roberts as Dr. Jacobs

Bette Davis rose from the ranks of Warner Bros. contract players to become a screen superstar when she was loaned out to RKO to appear in John Cromwell’s adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage.

Leslie Howard (Gone With the Wind) stars as Philip, a British medical student who becomes infatuated with a most unlikely woman: a vulgar waitress named Mildred (Davis). Undeterred by Mildred’s obvious contempt of him (and her disgust for his disabled foot), Philip lavishes his affection upon the tawdry woman, and allows his personal and professional life to disintegrate as a consequence of her sadistic whims.

Though considered an unlikely choice to play a cockney working girl, Davis fearlessly embraced Mildred’s dark side, and delivered an erotic yet malevolent performance that launched her to the forefront of Hollywood’s leading ladies.

For actress Bette Davis, by 1934, while having shot nearly two dozen films in the last three years, she was not yet a well-known actress. While gaining attention for her lead role in “The Man Who Played God” in 1932 and eventually receiving a five-year contract from Warner Bros., the young actress still hoped for that one breakthrough role that would put her on the map.

And in 1934, thanks to screenwriter Wilson Mizner who showed her a copy of W. Somerset Maugham’s novel “Of Human Bondage”, she was adamant that she wanted the part, so much that she asked Jack L. Warner to lend her to RKO who held the screen rights.

There was one problem. The part that Bette Davis wanted to play was an image of an evil woman and Warner did not want his beautiful actress playing such a part. In fact, Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne and Ann Harding declined to play the role because of the character. But eventually, Warner decided to let Davis plan the role of Mildred Rogers.

A role that would eventually put Bette Davis on the map and the film would receive critical acclaim. While not nominated for an Academy Award, “The Hollywood Citizen News” questioned her omission form nominations and even actress Norma Shearer who was nominated that year, lent her support to have Davis nominated for her role. And because of the outcry for Davis to have a chance of nomination, in the only time of the Academy’s history, they allowed any voter to write a name on the ballot of his or her personal choice for the winners but would also lead to a chance in Academy voting procedures for the following year.

And now “Of Human Bondage” will receive it’s Blu-ray release courtesy of Kino Lorber. The film is mastered in HD from an original 35 mm print from Bette Davis’s personal collection (and was donated to the Library of Congress), will be released for the first time on Blu-ray in June 2013 with another Bette Davis Blu-ray release of her earlier film “Hell’s House” (1932).

“Of Human Bondage” is a film directed by John Cromwell (“Since You Went Away”, “Made for Each Other”, “The Prisoner of Zenda”) and would star Bette Davis, Leslie Howard (“Gone with the Wind”, “Pygmalion”, “The Petrified Forest”), Frances Dee (“Little Women”, “Becky Sharp”, “I Walked with a Zombie”), Kay Johnson (“Madam Satan”, “American Madness”, “Dynamite”) and Reginald Denny (“Rebecca”, “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”,”Cat Ballou”).

The film begins with an introduction to Philip Carey (portrayed by Leslie Howard), a man with a club-foot and a man who studied painting in Paris, but told by an art teacher that his paintings are not that good. He advises him to put his talent to something different and so, Philip goes to medical school in London. Not having much money, he is assisted by his uncle who sends him money to attend schooling and help pay for his apartment.

While a bit self-conscious about his foot, he does have time to hang out with a few of his medical buddies. One who asks Philip to assist in telling a joke to a waitress that he fancies.

When Philip and friend go to the restaurant, both are surprised to find out that the tearoom waitress, Mildred Rogers (portrayed by Bette Davis) is quite vulgar and lewd. This turns his friend off but for Philip, he is enamored by her beauty and bluntness.

And he becomes obsessed with her, so much that he keeps asking her for a date, following her, going to the restaurant and seeing how she also dates other male patrons that show up to the restaurant but for Philip, he wants her to be with him only. No matter how cruel she is towards him (and is not even attracted to him), he is too blind by his love for her.

Unfortunately, his obsession with Mildred begins to affect his medical studies and when he decides he wants to marry Mildred, she tells him that she is marrying another Emil Miller (portrayed by Alan Hale) and tells him to stop following her, insults him and his club-foot and more.

As time goes on, Philip meets another woman named Norah (portrayed by Kay Johnson), a successful romance writer who truly loves him. And just when things are going well for Philip, Mildred once again shows up in his life. Asking for his help because Emil had left her and now she is pregnant with his baby and nowhere to go.

With his feelings towards Mildred still strong, Philip breaks up with Norah and lets Mildred live with him and takes care of her financially.

But the fact is that Mildred is only using Philip and her disdain towards him is still the same. But feeling that she can use him may lead to destroying Philip’s life, but can this man survive this unfortunate fate?

VIDEO:

“Of Human Bondage” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio) and in black and white. or a film that is 80-years-old, I was quite pleased with the picture quality as the white and grays were well-contrast. The black levels were good but it’s the detail that looks impressive. Having seen the public domain of this film, to watch this film in HD makes a tremendous difference. The clarity and detail is much more evident, no blurriness or flickering. Picture quality was very good!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Of Human Bondange” is presented in LPCM 1.0 monaural. Dialogue was clear and dialogue was not difficult to understand whatsoever. I don’t recall hearing any significant hissing, cracks or pops during my viewing of the film but for the most part, I was quite pleased by the lossless soundtrack and that it was not terrible, tinny, nor did it feature a lot of hiss.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Of Human Bondage” comes with the following special feature:

Revealing Mr. Maugham – (83 minutes) A feature-length 2012 documentary directed by Michael House about British playwright/novelist W. Somerset Maugham’s life and career with interview with writers and fans Armisted Maupin, Pico Iyer and Alexander McCall.

“Of Human Bondage” is considered to be a film that launched Bette Davis’ career.

Having read Bette Davis’ biographies and seeing how she really fought to play a role that no one wanted, watching it today, you realize how the character role of Mildred Rogers could not be played by anyone else but “Mother Goddam”, Bette Davis.

Way before Joan Collins would play the “mega-bitch” character on television’s “Dynasty” and other women who would play the role of lewd, amoral women in soap operas, going far back into early cinema, we have seen how women known as “vamps” were portrayed as golddiggers and amoral women who would do anything to suck out the life of an unsuspecting male. Actress Theda Bara was a highlight of such style of cinema back in the teens, but by 1930′s, Hollywood Studios would not allow their top actresses to play such a part. Many up-and-rising stars denied to play such a role for “Of Human Bondage” but for actress Bette Davis, she wanted it and she got it!

While she did not receive an Academy Award for her role, the shocking role of this uncaring woman would captivate viewers. Unlike Theda Bara in “A Fool There Was” who used her sexuality to get her man or even Margaret Livingston’s role in “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”, sexuality was a way to show a weakness in a man.

For “Of Human Bondage”, the character of Mildred is not flirtatious or sympathetic towards Philip, she is blunt, insulting mean but also knows that his weakness for her can be used against him, anyway she sees fit.

She is a femme fatale, a woman of contempt and playing him can get her free housing, free clothes and trying to play this facade of being kind to him but not afraid to unleash her emotions of contempt for the gullible medical student.

For any man watching this film, one can only hope that he comes to his senses and realize that there are better women out there for him and that he would up from his curse of unrequited love.

Sure, modern viewers will see Mildred as a golddigger who was able to play and capitalize on a weak man. But back in the day, such attitude and lewdness for a woman on a big screen was a big risk for major studios, but one actress was no afraid of how Hollywood would think of her, she wanted the part and she received wonderful acclaim for it. “Life” Magazine even wrote that Davis gave “probably the best performance ever recorded on the screen by a U.S. actress”.

The film is rather significant for not only Bette Davis’ role in the film but how this one role led to outcry in the entertainment circles and would lead to the Academy’s changing its voting procedures for the next year. So, in American cinema, “Of Human Bondage” does have its place in cinema history, not much for being a great Bette Davis film but more for what it did for Bette Davis’ career. It’s the film that put Bette Davis on the map and the United States would finally know her name. It was a calculated risk by Bette Davis and Warner Bros. and it paid off. It made this actress a star!

The following year, Bette Davis would win an Academy Award for her role in “Dangerous” and again in 1938 for “Jezebel”.

“Of Human Bondage” would also receive two more film adaptations (one in 1946 and another in 1964) and for author W. Somerset Maugham, many novels he had written would receive several dozen of film adaptations with the most recent films “Being Julia” (2004) and “The Painted Veil” (2006).

As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is fantastic. For anyone who had watched the terrible public domain version of the film, the Blu-ray features much better clarity and detail. Unlike the public domain, the picture quality of this film is not scratched up, no flicker and this is the best I have ever seen “Of Human Bondage” ever! I am quite pleased with how much better this film looks on Blu-ray! And the lossless audio of the film is also very good with no major hiss, crackling, pops nor tinny vocals. Dialogue is clear. And Kino also included an 83-minute documentary for “Revealing Mr. Maugham” about W. Somerset Maugham’s life and career.

Overall, “Of Human Bondage” is a significant film in the career of Bette Davis, it’s also a significant film for how it made changes with the Academy’s voting procedures and it’s the best looking version of the film to date. If you are a film of classic Hollywood films or a fan of Bette Davis’ work, “Of Human Bondage” on Blu-ray is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Classic Hollywood DVD/Blu-ray, KINO VIDEO/INTL./LORBER

Hell’s House (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

June 9, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Hell’s House” is a pre-code, early Hollywood film featuring the early film appearances of Bette Davis and Pat O’Brien. It’s a rarity to find an early ’30s film shot on nitrate in good shape but also to receive a Blu-ray treatment. Overall, an enjoyable moralistic ’30s drama and a Blu-ray release that I recommend not just for fans of the talents in the film, but also fans who want to see more early Hollywood cinema on Blu-ray! Recommended!

TITLE: Hell’s House

FILM RELEASE: 1932

DURATION: 71 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, B&W, Monaural

COMPANY: Kino Classics/Kino Lorber

RATED: NR

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Directed by Howard Higgin

Story by Howard Higgin

Adaptation and Screenplay by Paul Gangelin and B. Harrison Orkow

Cinematography by Allen G. Siegler

Edited by Edward Schroeder

Art Direction by Edward C. Jewell

Starring:

Bette Davis as Peggy Gardner

Pat O’Brien as Matt Kelly

Junior Durkin as Jimmy Mason

Frank Coghlan Jr. as Shorty

Emma Dunn as Emma Clark

Charley Grapewin as Henry Clark

Morgan Wallace as Frank Gebhardt

Independently produced by Bennie Zeidman, HELL’S HOUSE (1932) is a Pre-Code melodrama that captured Bette Davis and Pat O’Brien just before they were catapulted to superstardom at Warner Bros. An exposé of the American penal system (not unlike I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and The Mayor of Hell), HELL’S HOUSE stars Junior Durkin as a wholesome farmboy who moves to the city after the death of his mother. Dazzled by the smooth talk and beautiful girlfriend (Davis) of a wily bootlegger (O’Brien), the naive lad runs afoul of the law and is sentenced to a brutal reform school. Abandoned by the legal system, the boy’s only hope is the conscience of the criminal responsible for him being there.

A young Bette Davis, the struggling actress was trying to make it in Hollywood.

Close to being terminated by Universal Studios a year prior, fortunately she was defended by cinematographer Karl Freund and was given a chance to be in a motion picture.

Davis would make her debut in “The Bad Sister” and would star in a few other films in 1931, but nothing that the actress could capitalize on. But Universal Studios renewed her contract for three more months and lent out to various movie companies.

In 1932, she was lent to B.F. Zeidman Productions Ltd. for the movie “Hell’s House” which would be directed by silent film director Howard Higgen and would star Bette Davis, Pat O’Brien (who would later star in the James Cagney film “Angels with Dirty Faces” and the Ronald Reagan film “Knute Rockne All American”) and would star teen actor Junior Durkin (who would play Huckleberry Finn in “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”) as the main protagonist Jimmy..

While the pre-code, low-budget film was not a box office hit, it is one of the few very early Bette Davis films that is in good condition and was shot during the latter years of the Prohibition Era.

And now “Hell’s House” which was mastered in HD from an original 35 mm print from Bette Davis’s personal collection (and was donated to the Library of Congress), will be released for the first time on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The Blu-ray will be released in June 2013 with another Blu-ray release for an early Bette Davis film titled “Of Human Bondage” (1934).

“Hell’s House” revolves around teenager Jimmy Mason (portrayed by Junior Durkin). Jimmy lives with his loving mother and one day, while his mother was walking and making a delivery in front of their home, she is struck and killed in a hit and run accident.

With no parents, Jimmy travels to the city to live with his relatives, his uncle Henry (portrayed by Charley Grapewin) and Emma Clark (portrayed by Emma Dunn). Both decide to take in Jimmy and raise him as one of their own.

The couple introduce Jimmy to their porter, Matt Kelly (portrayed by Pat O’Brien), a man who pretends he knows all the important people in the city and tries to impress his girlfriend Peggy Gardner (portrayed by Bette Davis). But the truth is that Jimmy is a con man and has an illegal bootleg alcohol business that he runs. But Matt wants to show Jimmy around, so they decide to meet up the following morning.

While things seem to be going well with the Clark family, Jimmy overhears his aunt and uncle talking about how his Uncle Henry has lost his job and has no income. His aunt Emma doesn’t know how they will survive with another mouth to feed and it causes Jimmy some concern.

While meeting with Matt the following morning, Jimmy is surprised to see how well-connected Matt is. He is introduced to Peggy and Jimmy thinks that Matt is a popular guy who knows everyone and has a beautiful girlfriend. Peggy tells Jimmy that if she needs to talk to her, he is free to come by any time.

Meanwhile, Matt receives a call from his employee and he happens to be drunk. Matt, concerned about his business goes to his office where he fires the guy for not doing his job. Meanwhile, Jimmy follows Matt to his office and he explains how he needs to get a job to help his aunt and uncle. So, Matt gives him a job to answer telephones at his work. But the rules are he can’t tell anyone about his work, about knowing him or anything. His mouth must be kept mum about his job and if he does well, he will earn $25 a week.

Excited about the new job, Jimmy can’t wait to start work the following morning.

And as Matt waits for Jimmy to stop by the office to start his first day on the job, a woman across the street contacts the authorities about a possible bootleg business happening across the street.

As Jimmy arrives for work for his first day on the job, Matt leaves the office to make some deliveries but not long after, police swarm in and Jimmy is arrested. As Matt sees from his back window, he decides not to help him and keeps driving.

As Jimmy is taken to court, he is expecting Matt to get him out and explain that he was just started working at the office for only a few minutes, but Matt never arrives. Jimmy is given a chance by the judge to reveal who put him up to the job and if tells the truth, he would be released. But Jimmy made a promise to Matt to not say anything, so he doesn’t. Because he didn’t tell the judge who set him up for that job, he is sentence to three years in a reform school.

When Jimmy arrives at the reform school, he still believes that Matt will bail him out but as that time never comes, Jimmy is put to hard labor. It is learned that the reform school is low on money and so the kids are put to hard labor by working on bricks and are treated poorly.

While a newspaper columnist named Frank Gebhardt (portrayed by Morgan Wallace) wants to investigate rumors of a corrupt system at reform school, the reform school is good at hiding their tracks.

Meanwhile, Jimmy meets a good friend named Shorty (portrayed by Frank Coghlan Jr.) inside the reform school and both watch each other’s backs. But the two come up with an idea to sneak a letter out and Jimmy hopes it gets to Matt and explain the terrible conditions the children are suffering at the reform school.

Unfortunately, as Shorty was trying to slip the letter out. He is caught, but instead of ratting out Jimmy, he takes the blame and is put in solitary confinement. And as Jimmy wonders where his friend is, he doesn’t know that Shorty is suffering in solitary confinement.

Will Jimmy find a way to escape from reform school and will Matt come to his rescue?

VIDEO:

“Hell’s House” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio) and in black and white. It’s important to remember that “Hell’s House” is an older video filmed in the combustible nitrate that silent films were shot. While the picture quality for the film is very good for its age, it’s important to note that the first reel of the print from which the master was derived from, suffers from nitrate decomposition and some missing frames. But the film is essentially intact.

While not pristine, considering that many silent films do not look perfect and some surviving films suffer from nitrate damage, for “Hell’s House”, it’s not the type of damage that prevents you from enjoying the film. There are no black decomposition showing up throughout the beginning of the film, if anything, the film looks much better than I thought it would be. Grays and whites are well contrast, black levels look good and while there are some white specks, this is probably one of the better 1932 films I have seen on Blu-ray.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Hell’s House” is presented in LPCM 1.0 monaural. Dialogue was clear and dialogue was not difficult to understand whatsoever. I don’t recall hearing any significant hissing, cracks or pops during my viewing of the film but for the most part, I was quite pleased by the lossless soundtrack and that it was not terrible, tinny, nor did it feature a lot of hiss.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Hell’s House” features no special features.

As a cinema fan, for any Bette Davis follower, trying to collect her films, especially earlier films, will learn quickly that they are not as easy to find. And when you do find some of them, the quality of the print and audio are bad.

So, when I found out that Kino Lorber was releasing two Bette Davis films on Blu-ray, I was surprised because I wasn’t aware that her earlier films were in good enough quality to be released on Blu-ray, considering that Kino Lorber has a strict guideline of what films would receive the Blu-ray treatment.

But finding out that “Hell’s House” was mastered in HD from an original 35 mm print from Bette Davis’s personal collection that was donated to the Library of Congress, I was enthusiastic.

Why the excitement? Well, I am aware that “Hell’s House” is not considered one of Bette Davis’ major films. Afterall, she’s not a supporting character and it’s protagonist is a teenage boy.

But what I enjoyed about this film is the fact that it deals with a story about corruption in a reform school (which usually doesn’t get made, unless there was actual problems of that era), it dealt with a major problem with bootlegging, but also you have three talents that would be well-known for certain reasons.

Bette Davis of course would become a legendary star, years after this film. But it’s hard to imagine that at the time of this film, she was close to losing her job and the films she did star in, she wasn’t getting any significant notice by it. But Bette Davis definitely shows the audience promise with her beauty and style in this film alone.

While Pat O’Brien, who may not be a legendary movie star, but has appeared in nearly a hundred films such as “Angels with Dirty Faces”, “Knute Rockne All American” and “Riffraf”. But similar to Bette Davis, his role in “Hell’s House” very early in his career.

And as for young actor Junior Durkin, while playing the role of Huckleberry Finn in “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”, “Hell’s House” was a major film in his career and he was becoming groomed by RKO Pictures for major work right after. But unfortunately, three years later, the day before Durkin’s film “Chasing Yesterday” was to open in theaters and he would now go by the name “Trent” instead of Junior, Durkin would be killed in a car accident in San Diego along with John Coogan Sr., producer Robert J. Horner and the driver of the vehicle who had lost control. The only survivor of the car accident was his best friend Jackie Coogan (known for his role as “The Kid” in the Charlie Chaplin film and later as Uncle Fester in “The Addam’s Family” but also responsible for the “Child Actor’s Bill” in California).

But there is another reason why the film is rather interesting. For many Bette Davis fans who watched the film on television, some have blogged about their experience watching this film. While a pre-code drama, those who have watched the film also claim the film has homoerotic tones between the characters of Jimmy and his good friend Shorty.

Personally, I never saw it that way. I thought of the two characters almost like best friends, brothers who watched each other’s back. And if there was any affection from Jimmy towards Shorty, it was more of how close they were as friends in prison. But I never saw it as the two were gay or the story was homoerotic. But then again, any friendship between young males have been seen and blogged by few viewers as being gay (ie. Frodo and Sam for “The Lord of the Rings”).

The film is also an early Hollywood film that touches upon corruption and abuse in reform schools. And what is interesting about this is the fact that a film goes to show how children were mistreated. But fast forward to 2013, and many of these kids who were in reform schools during the 30′s through the 60′s have come forward to talk about the abuse they suffered. And these stories such as the recent Florida’s Dozier School for Boys news or even the terrible news of reform schools overseas especially in Ireland are still appearing in the news. It makes me wonder if writer/director Howard Higgin had a mission to let audiences know of problems in the system.

The only pre-code element that I have felt the film may have contained is the bootlegging and moral dilemma. But nothing too serious and no one is seen murdering or doing drugs in this film, so it’s pretty tame when it comes to films of that era.

If anything, “Hell’s House” gives people a glimpse of an actress before she became a legendary star, a glimpse of an actor who would have a long career in film and television and a glimpse of a young actor who was destined to become something bigger but died at a young age.

As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality for this film was much better than I expected considering it’s 81-years-old. Audio is clear and despite the nitrate decomposition of the first reel, it didn’t make me flinch or even made me think that there were problems. Unfortunately, there are no special features included with this Blu-ray release.

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Classic Hollywood DVD/Blu-ray, KINO VIDEO/INTL./LORBER

Media Q&A with Melissa Peterman of ABC Family’s “Dancing Fools” (J!-ENT Interview & Articles)

June 9, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Melissa Peterman, host of ABC Family’s “Dancing Fools.” (ABC FAMILY)

On June 8th, ABC Family premiered it’s new comedy clip show “Dancing Fools” hosted by Melissa Peterman (“Reba”, “Here Comes the Boom”, “Working Class).

The show features the funniest, most outrageous and memorable dances caught on camera. The dancers from the top two clips of the week get to compete on stage for a chance to win $10,000.

For Melissa, since her acting debut on the film “Fargo”, she has appeared on television and is best known for her role as Barbra Jean on the TV series “Reba” (2001-2007) and has appeared on sereis sucha s “Surviving Suburbia”, “Rita Rocks”, “Working class” and “Pretty the Series”.

But for her role on “Dancing Fools”, Melissa not only hosts the show but she also provides her own humorous voice-over narration for the video clips featured.

In promotion of the series premiere of “Dancing Fools”, a media Q&A was held with Melissa Peterman to discuss her new series. Here is a transcript from the series:

Moderator You seem like you’re just naturally funny.

M. Peterman I like to think that, but my husband would probably disagree sometimes, but I think that I find humor in a lot of things.

Moderator How did you discover your natural talent for comedy on stage and on TV?

M. Peterman I had always loved theater. People are really surprised, I was kind of a quiet kid but I was a natural observer. I loved to watch people and part of it was I was close to six feet tall in high school and got into theater. When you got someone to laugh it was like the power of “if I can just get them to laugh with me and not at me”, it was a powerful—the ability to get a laugh out of somebody, it doesn’t matter if you do it for a living or not, that’s an amazing feeling, humor is the glue that gets everyone together and it was a great defense for me in a way in high school. If you’re funny, it doesn’t matter that you’re towering over every boy there, and then I learned to embrace my height so it was a good combo. I think I was just on stage. I did a lot of theater in high school, and when I first got that first laugh, I was addicted.

Moderator Speaking of your humor and using it in your show, “Dancing Fools”, you do these voiceovers for the videos, and they’re really funny. I was wondering do you prepare for those when you’re recording them, or do you make it up on the spot?

M. Peterman We had a great team of writers led by Brennan Huntington who is fantastic and we had a couple of writers who used to work for the “Ellen” show. So we had a great team that would come in and they’d been watching them and they’d send them to me and I’d watch them and mull it over. So, I was able to have jokes prepared, but a lot of times, we would get in the booth and start watching them and either tweak that or I’d have an idea or they’d have an idea. So, we had a template that sometimes we went off of.

There was one, and we could not figure out what to do with this. It’s this older gentleman and I think he’s dressed as a baby dancing and we couldn’t come up with anything because it was hilarious but a little creepy but we wanted it to be funny. So over time, after a couple tries, we just came up with a voice of, “Hi, my name’s Clark Stevens. I’m here to audition for the part of the baby. Goo-goo gah-gah.” We just went “Okay, that works, we can do that.” So, a lot of times, we had a template, but we would definitely stray from it depending on what was happening in the booth at the time.

Moderator Were you part of the evolution of the series or did they come and talk to you about it because they know you’re naturally funny?

M. Peterman Phil Gurn, who’s the producer, I’ve worked with him in the past. He did the Singing Bee which I did for him for CMC, and so, he knew me as the host but he came to me with this idea, and no, that was all them. I thought it was such a great twist of it’s got the feel of America’s Funniest Home Videos but with dance, but then the twist is there’s a game show element. There’s a live element of getting them to come dance live, I think is just genius, and that was the most fun to see the people that we were watching all week over and over again because that’s what I love about the videos too.

Even though we don’t want to admit that we’re getting sucked into watching videos on YouTube at our work, we do. I love watching any sort of fun video like that, and so, it was fun to have them, to be watching them over and over and then to see them come live, and who doesn’t like a chance to win $10,000 for a video that they might have done in their basement or at a wedding reception for fun? So, I just thought the idea was a great twist. You just love to watch it. You can’t stop yourself.

Moderator Any chance we can get you a part on “Melissa and Joey” and just do a Melissa Peterman trifecta on Wednesday?

M. Peterman I would think that would be amazing to do. I would love that. I’m a big fan of the show and the Melissa and Joey cast and our cast, we share some of the same crew as in we share some of the makeup people that have to do both shows, and I just have this feeling that Melissa Joan Hart and I would—everyone who knows both of us are like “You guys should do something together. You would love each other”. So, I’d love to do something with her.

Moderator What’s your favorite part about working on Dancing Fools?

M. Peterman Meeting the contestants. I just love genuinely—I think everyone has a story and I love meeting new people and we met some amazing people. I like hearing people’s stories and what they do and I love that and also the professional dancers that we have, I love trying to dance with them. That also makes me very happy.

Moderator How does “Dancing Fools” differ from any other dance competition show that’s on television today?

M. Peterman Because at any given point, we could have a ten year old or a grandma or two best friends or bridesmaids or groups—at any given point, you could have a 5 year old or a 80 year old coming to dance live and compete. So, I think that’s what’s very different.

Moderator What is your most embarrassing dance memory?

M. Peterman How much time do you have? Probably one of the earliest was my first dance recital and I think it must have been eight or nine or something like that and we were doing 99 Red Balloons. Imagine an eight year old girl with red turtleneck, leotards with the balloons and so, we’d rehearsed it without the balloons because we were going to carry helium balloons and then let them go right when the “da-da-da-da” started and we let them go, and I guess nobody thought that when helium balloons are released in an auditorium or a stage and they hit the lights they would all explode, and so, all these balloons just started popping and all of us were screaming but we were trying so hard to keep it together and keep dancing and I might have wet my pants. I was afraid by the balloons popping and the sounds and it was pop, pop, pop. So, that was the first, which was just a high bar to set for many years of embarrassing dance moments.

I love it when you think you’re killing it at a wedding and you’re like, “Man, everyone is watching me dance” and then you realize your dress is tucked into the back. That’s happened before. I’ve had a lot. I guess I’m not that embarrassed by it because I enjoy it so much that I figure things happen and I’m not the only one they happen to, but yes, thinking that you’re killing it and realizing that the reason they’re watching you is not the reason you think.

Moderator “Dancing Fools” is a perfect show for you to host, then.

M. Peterman It’s a perfect show, and I love it. I love game shows. I love dancing. I imagine I’m a much better dancer in my brain and I do love to dance. These two best friends [did] a dance that they sprung at a wedding reception and it gave me so much joy to watch them because you could just tell they were having the best time ever and we could not stop watching it over and over again. We bring them to do it live and it turns out that they had said that the wedding was going to be the last time they were going to do this dance together. They’ve been best friends since they were 14, and we brought them out of retirement on Dancing Fools to redo it and they were just the nicest guys, both recently married. One’s expecting a baby. I love those stories, and they were amazing.

Moderator Are there any comedians that have influenced you or that you admire?

M. Peterman Carol Burnett is a huge [influence]—I watched her Saturday night when I was a kid and just fell in love. Gilda Radner, I absolutely adored and would get to watch Saturday Night Live at my aunt’s house when I slept over and my parents didn’t know, so Gilda Radner, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin. More recently, Tina Fey, I think is just a genius, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, anyone who’s fearless. I feel like that’s what I love to see in another woman comic, be fearless and don’t worry about being pretty.

You’ll do anything if you know it’s funny, and you don’t care how you look and don’t be afraid to be the butt of the joke and I think that’s just the secret. It was very exciting for me when we were shooting Baby Daddy that Hot in Cleveland shot next door and Betty White was like four doors down from me, and I wrote her a letter and sent it over to her dressing room and she said I could come over and meet her, and for me, she did three of the most—Rose Nylund and Sue Ann Nivens—she created so many amazing sidekicks that were just hilarious, and she’s 92 and she’s fearless. So, for me, it’s any woman who is completely fearless and willing to go for it and commit.

Moderator When do you find time to sleep with everything that you’re doing and what else do you have coming up?

M. Peterman Well, it looks busier because they’re all airing right now. The reality is I’m done shooting them all so now they’re just all airing. So, it’s extreme periods of business followed by a good chunk of time off, but during the shooting, it was extremely busy.

I do it because I do have so much downtime when it’s over, and I have a husband who’s a stay-at-home daddy so I have that support at home, but it appears busy because they’re all airing at the same time. Right now, I’m off until July 15th when I go start Baby Daddy again, but it is busy but I enjoy it so much. If it was a show that I wasn’t having fun on or I didn’t enjoy, I don’t think I could do it or commit to that much, but I’ve honestly really enjoyed everything I’ve been doing. So, it’s fun. It’s never a job when you like what you’re doing. So, that helps.

Let’s be honest, what I get to do is—I’m not a miner. It’s a great job and I’m really blessed and lucky to get to do what I love. So, I still think as an actor when most of your career people are saying no to you, when people are finally saying yes, it’s really hard to say no especially if it’s a project that really appeals to you.

Moderator When it comes back to “Dancing Fools”, can you tell us some of your other favorite moments from this season, what else we have to look forward to?

M. Peterman There’s this awesome kid. His name is Juan and he dances as a character that is called Granny Myrtle, and when I first saw the YouTube clip, I was completely blown away because I thought it was a 90-year-old grandma dancing to Black Eyed Peas and completely killing it. I just thought “Oh my gosh, this grandma is amazing and I need to know what she’s eating because I need that”, and it turns out it’s this young guy and we bring him to dance live and I always like to go meet everyone before the show and I was just talking to him and he had the greatest story.

He created this character because he felt that he’d been bullied before and he didn’t have a lot of friends and he just started to make up a character and he thought what would be fun and make people happy and he came up with this Grandma Myrtle character and would go spontaneously dance and bust her out in public places, and I just remember this kid and I wanted his phone number and I wanted to keep up with him because I just thought what a great story, but he created a character because he felt sort of different. That’s again, like the human interest of seeing them live that makes me really, really happy.

Also, I think looking forward to you’ll get to see a lot of our own professional dancers. I do hone in a lot more as I get more comfortable, which is sort of funny, but there are some great contestants, and to me, that’s the best part of the show.

Moderator As far as “Baby Daddy” goes, what attracted you to the role of Bonnie?

M. Peterman Because she doesn’t have an editor. She just does whatever she thinks, and when you first audition, you basically just get that first pilot script so you don’t really [know the character]. [Creator] Dan [Berendsen] was so great and I think every great pilot, the characters are already super defined right there, and when I read it, I just loved her. I thought she was loud. She could come off as overbearing and whatever, but at the end of the day, she would kill for her kids and she was funny. It was a completely different character from Barbara Jean but it still had some of the fun elements of things just come out of her mouth, and she was single and she was this woman who her kids are all grown up and they’re on a new journey and she’s divorced.

So, she has a whole new chapter coming up and she’s not 22, but she gets to still date and see what happens now that you’re not a mom full time anymore. So, that sort of attracted me. I don’t know if you’ve seen the cast, but that was sort of attractive too to get to work with them every day.

Moderator You’ve acted in movies, television programs, you’ve hosted, is there one that you prefer over the other?

M. Peterman I don’t know. I always kind of think of myself as an actress first in a way, but the hosting comes so naturally because of my improv. I don’t think I prefer anyone over the other. I think what I like about it is if I go host, I think that makes me a better improviser because it makes me faster on my feet, and if I go improvise, that makes me a better standup, and if I go do standup, that works on my timing which makes me better at a sitcom role, and if I go do a movie, that’s a whole other sort of muscle. Everything’s smaller and it’s a little bit—just a very different feel. So, I think I enjoy them all because I think they make me better and help me exercise a different muscle that makes me better for another thing. I don’t know if that makes sense.

Moderator I was wondering how close do you get with the contestants?

M. Peterman As I’ve hosted a few other shows, I found that if you take the time to go before the show starts and say hello, welcome them and take a moment to chat with them, it puts them at ease and they can have fun because here’s the thing—their time on the show is—this is the clip or the moment that every family’s going to watch at every holiday. They’re going to e-mail it to everyone. This is their time to shine and this is their moment. They get to be a star and this is the clip that their family will air forever.

So, I just always think it’s really important to go say hello and welcome them and it puts them at ease and they can have fun, but I always spend a few minutes or even longer before the show starts with all of the contestants there. I don’t follow them home or anything, but I would a couple of them. They were pretty fun.

For more information on “Dancing Fools”, please visit the official website here.

Filed Under: GALLERY, Interviews and Articles

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) – J!-ENT Post Election Coverage for the AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – Interview with Melody Dassance

June 8, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

J!-ENT COVERAGE:

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 PST (5:00-6:00 PM – Tokyo)

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) – J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 2:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m. PST (6 p.m.-7 p.m. Tokyo Time)

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) – J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 3:00 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. PST (7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Tokyo) – Rino Sashihara takes #1

The Future Girls

The Next Girls

The Undergirls

The Top 16

Interview with Melody Dassance by Dennis A. Amith

Melody Dassance was one of the guest commentators on the YouTube AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou (General Elections) YouTube live streaming on Saturday. Melody who is based in France, has appeared on various television shows showcasing her as a big fan of the Japanese idol group, AKB48 and their sister groups.

While commentators voiced their opinion (which was dubbed in English for viewers at home), it helped to see Melody’s emotions come out during the election as some of the emotional speeches really affected her at times during the live streaming and it added to the emotional element of the AKB48 32nd Single General Election.

J!-ENT recently had a chance to speak to Melody hours after the live streaming event. (Note: The names on this interview use the Japanese family name first, first name second)

You have been on Japanese television prior for shows showcasing international AKB48 fans. How were you discovered in Japan?

Melody: Well, it was different each time… first time was that I passed a sort of casting for FujiTV’s “Iine JAPAN! Nippon Daisuki Gaikokujin No.1 Kettensei” that was posted online, looking for foreign fans. This time, it was more private, producers contacting several people about it in a very short amount of time. But that wasn’t related at all!

The main host for the streaming event was Georges, is he a TV host in Japan?

Melody: I didn’t know him beforehand but he’s actually a radio show host here! From what I’ve heard, he’s hosting a lot of regular radio shows right now. Can’t tell much more about him, but I’ll look for more info in the Internet. By pure curiosity! He is very nice.

You’re from France and how was communication with the guests? Are you fluent in speaking Japanese?

Melody: I am not fluent at all but I have been communicating with them in English. Some of the staff didn’t speak English either though so I was struggling with my own Japanese (very basic) skills, but I think it went okay overall!

How was the experience to take part in such a major AKB48 event?

Melody: It was amazing! It was my first AKB48 concert so I was kind of nervous, but everyone was very welcoming and it was an amazing experience. Being able to witness both a huge concert and the senbatsu sousenkyo ceremony was incredible!

You have seen many AKB48 performances but how was the experience of watching their concert before the elections? And did they hook you up with great seats?

Melody: It was great! It was my first AKB48 concert and it was such an awesome way to experiment it. We watched it from the studio corporate boxes up the stadium with the staff members.

What was the most moving speech for you at the AKB48 General Election?

Melody: I think it was showing on my face but Miyazawa Sae’s speech moved me. I was feeling very proud she managed to convey her true feelings without hiding anything. I am very glad she’s so determinate about SNH48. Shinoda Mariko’s speech was also both heartbreaking, but it is a beautiful way to announce her graduation.

When the announcement was that it was either Yuko or Sashihara going to be #1…before Yuko’s announcement, how was everyone inside the room? Was it tense? And how did you feel? Were you expecting Sashihara to take #1 because of how well she did during the preliminary votes?

Melody: Honestly, everyone was making different predictions and seeing how surprising the rest of the ranking was, everything could happen! I was more thinking Yuuko would get #1 because she is Oshima Yuuko, you know. She has this huge mainstream appeal and image that I didn’t picture Sashihara having. But it was very interesting and everyone’s reaction, girls and commentators, was great!

What was the biggest surprise for you in terms of members dropping or members moving up at this year’s elections?

Melody: I think Shibata Aya being totally new in rank this year and ranking center for the undergirls was the biggest good surprise! But I’m very happy, I like this girl a lot and I hope this will get her the chance to shine more in SKE. Kuramochi Asuka ranking so low was kind of a bad surprise too, but it feels she’s on the same roll as Akimoto Sayaka and all of these old generation members who are getting less and less love from management as months go by.

It was very fascinating to see how quickly the English dubbing was for the announcers and for the commentary crew including yourself. Did you have a chance to hear yourself being dubbed?

Melody: Not at all! Someone was translating me the questions and speeches but Georges-san was translating himself my answers to his questions so I didn’t even know I was dubbed!

So, you were unaware that on the left audio, you were all being dubbed and on the right audio, the whole general election, announcers were being dubbed simultaneously.

Melody: Totally! Actually we couldn’t really hear us since we were talking, we could only see how it looked on the monitor.

I was wondering because both audio were coming all at once and confusing viewers in the beginning, if the staff were knowing how to respond to the criticism on the fly?

Melody: I really don’t know, honestly. I guess technical staff members were receiving feedback and trying to fix possible issues but I can’t be sure, I really had no idea of how it sounded like and I was way too busy watching the election (laughing).

After the elections, did you get to go backstage or did everyone go home?

Melody: Everyone went home. We just walked across Nissan Stadium’s buildings to get our car. We ran into Maeda Atsuko and theater managers Togasaki-san, Yuasa-san and Shiba-san though.

Did you get a chance to meet Atsuko and Togasaki?

Melody: I just saw Togasaki from far away but he seemed rather busy! We ran into Maeda Atsuko after the election ended but she looked busy too, I think she was meeting Mariko upstairs. I only told her “thank you” and “good job, good night” though, nothing special. She sure is a gorgeous lady!

While watching Sashihara give her speech and how worried she was as being the new ace center, I know that Yuko found it very interesting to have Sashihara in the center position. Knowing that Yuko and Mayuyu will be behind her. I also find it interesting because for the 32nd single, I’m expecting it to be more of an upbeat dance track, nothing cute or idol pop like the songs Sashihara tends to perform (solo or with HKT48). What do you think about Sashihara being the center for the 32nd single?

Melody: This is definitely going to be interesting! As Sashihara told Yuuko, “This is going to be a weird song”! Everything is unexpected and this is great to look forward to it. Change feels good!

Who is your oshimen (favorite member) and having been on several shows about AKB48, have you had a chance to meet her yet?

Melody: My oshimen is Takahashi Juri and unfortunately I have never met her! I hope I will be able to take part in a handshake event one day!

Are you headed back to France or do you get to have a little more R&R in Japan for a little while?

Melody: I wish I could have stayed more but I have to go back to France for work! I already took a day-off on Friday to come here and I couldn’t take more of them

Having seen how the elections went and seeing how we are starting to see the transition of older members leaving and younger members now starting to get their notice and ranking much higher. As a longtime AKB48 fan, what is your feeling of seeing this transition?

Melody: I think it’s a good thing. Older members can’t stay in AKB forever, they have to live their own lives too. This changing feeling has been going around for the past year and it feels great. They are different parts of AKB48 history, and it is very interesting to watch the process. Next generation looks promising, with such caring and determinate senpai!

Right when Sashihara was riding the float after her speech, you were given a chance to talk about this year’s elections but the audio cut out during the live streaming. Can you tell us what you said? So, people will know what you were explaining to George during that portion.

Melody: I was saying that even if I got kind of cold towards Sashihara after her scandal, we could see tonight she is a modest and honest girl who does her best and everything she can for HKT48. She’s very hard-working and such a caring senpai. HKT girls still need someone to lead them forward and Sashihara is doing a perfect job so far. I am very happy for her!

Anything you want to add about your experience on Saturday?

Melody: It was great and I’d like to thank everyone for giving me such opportunity! It was perfect. I’d jump in another plane to do it again any day!

The Day After…

Morning newspapers in Japan featuring Rino Sashihara.

2013 vs. 2012 General Election Stats Comparison

Your votes do matter?

Consider how tight some of these votes were. The answer is yes. For the #20 and #21 position, Rie Kitahara was only 8 votes behind Aki Takajo:

#21 – Rie Kitahara (北原里英) – AKB48 Team K – TOTAL VOTES: 33,121

#20 – Aki Takajo (高城亜樹) – JKT48 Team J – TOTAL VOTES: 33,129

Meanwhile, there was a tie at the #54 and #53 position:

#54 – Mayu Ogasawa (小笠原茉由), NMB48 TEAM N – TOTAL VOTES: 13,613

#53 – Ami Maeda (前田亜美), AKB48 TEAM K – TOTAL VOTES: 13,613

Former AKB48 member Atsuko Maeda (who placed #1 twice in previous AKB48 General Elections) was at the stadium and a few clips captured her reaction to Yuko Oshima taking #2 and Rino Sashihara taking #1.

Atsuko Maeda joined Mariko for a post-interview.

How the AKB48 SoCal Fan Club reacted to Yuko Oshima ranking #2 and Rino Sashihara ranking at #1. Video by David Chang.

Yui Yokoyama (AKB48 Team A) and Nana Yamada (NMB48 Team M) posing together post-senbatsu sosenkyou

Takagi Yumana may have not ranked in this year’s senbatsu sosenkyou but it’s good to see her positive attitude along with her fellow SKE48 members who did rank.

Amazon Japan has listed the 32nd AKB48 singles for release on August 21st.

Post-interview with Yuko Oshima and Sae Miyawa and Rena Matsui videobombing during her interview.

Takamina delivering her speech to the members after the election.

SKE48′s Kanon Kimoto posing with her trophy.

J!-ENT COVERAGE:

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 PST (5:00-6:00 PM – Tokyo)

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) – J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 2:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m. PST (6 p.m.-7 p.m. Tokyo Time)

AKB48 General Elections (June 8, 2013) – J!-ENT Coverage for AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Sosenkyou – 3:00 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. PST (7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Tokyo) – Rino Sashihara takes #1

Filed Under: GALLERY, Interviews and Articles, Japanese Entertainment News, Latest News

07-Ghost Vol. 5 by Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

June 6, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

What I am enjoying about the “07-Ghost” manga series is its complexity and its riveting storyline of cat and mouse storyline with fantasy, dark elements, drama and more. The storyline is ramping up to be an awesome manga series and I’m looking forward to where this series is headed! “07-Ghost” Vol. 5 is recommended!

MANGA TITLE: 07-Ghost Vol. 4

STORY AND ART BY: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: ICHIJINSHA, INC.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga

RATED: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: July 16, 2013

The paths of one evil god, two rival empires, three unlikely bishops and seven brave ghosts converge in the destiny of Teito Klein, a boy who vows to master a powerful artifact known as the Eye of Mikael in order to lay bare the secrets of the world’s—and his own—murky past.

Having lost the Eye of Mikael to Ayanami’s Imperial Army, Teito is now in the midst of the Bishop Examination, a test that if passed will grant him the travel privileges he needs to reclaim the Eye. But during the examination he must face…Ayanami?

The Barsburg Military Academy has infiltrated the church and have managed to use a Wars and take the Eye of Mikael away from Teito Klein.

Meanwhile, both he and Hakuren have advanced to stage 2 of the Bishop Exam and find out that they must go up against themselves!

And with this latest volume 5 of “07-Ghost”, Frau tries to help Teito retrieve his memories, that includes going back to the area where he once lived. But will he be ready for what he will see?

What is “07-Ghost”?

In 2005, Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara created a fantasy manga titled “07-Ghost”. Serialized in “Monthly Comic Zero” published by Ichijinsha, the manga is currently on it’s 14th volume and won a double-first prize in the third Zero-Sum Comics Grand-Prix which was chosen first place by readers and editors, a rare feat.

In 2009, the manga series received an anime and drama CD adaptation and while the manga was licensed by Go! Comi (an imprint of American manga publishing company, Go! Media Entertainment, LLC.) in 2009 but in 2010, the company’s website expired and the license to the series was picked up by Viz Media.

“07-Ghost” is set in the Barsburg Empire which is divided into seven districts. The series introduces us to the upcoming graduates of the Barsburg Empire Military Academy and the main protagonist Teito Klein.

Teito is a person that no one at the Academy talks to or appreciates. For one, they consider him sort of like a teacher’s pet, because he doesn’t have to do certain things that the other students must go through. Also, he is a former slave of the Raggs Kingdom. But he does have one friend and that’s Mikage.

Teito tends to have frightening dreams, about his father dying and trying to give him a message. Seeing a pool of blood.

One day, Teito was going to turn in his report to Mr. Shigure until he overhears the heads of the academy talking about him. How he has exceptional abilities and is a candidate for the Eye of Mikael. It is revealed that the Barsburg Military dissected the entire royal family of Raggs in order to find the stone which belonged to the King of Raggss.

Immediately, memories start to come back to Teito and memories of the military leader Ayanami killing his father. As Teito surges towards him, he is held back and imprisoned.

Mikage frees Teito and not wanting to get Mikage in trouble, Teito pretends that he had taken Mikage hostage. As Teito escapes, Ayanami tries to stop Teito but Teito barely escapes with a shield.

As Teito escapes from the Academy, he ends up landing on a perverted bishop named Frau who takes him into the church. Because he is in District 7, anyone who escapes to that area is protected by the church and the Barsburg Military are unable to interfere. So, for now, Teito is in good hands as he tries to recuperate from his injuries.

While at the church, he learns about the guardians of the church and is told about the legend about the God of Death, Verloren, committing a heinous crime in Heaven and fleeing to Earth. He invaded people’s hearts and terrorized them. So, the overseer of Heaven sent Seven Rays of Light to punish Verloren. They were known as the Seven Ghosts and have sealed the evil Verloren. And the church has seven statues that protect the land.

Meanwhile, the military of Barsburg are intent in capturing Teito from the church and General Wakaba wants his military to use anything necessary to bring Teito back. Even if it means blackmailing Mikage to get to Teito.

But other dark entities working for the evil Verloren, known as the KOR are interested in Teito as well.

In volume 2, after threatening to kill his family, Mikage is possessed and sent to retrieve Teito. But for his love for his Teito who he thinks of his family, Teito immediately sacrifices himself to save his dear friend. The tragedy makes Teito despite the Barsburg Academy even more, but Frau knowing the hurt in Teito, finds the reincarnation of Mikage in a small dragon, who instantly bonds with Teito.

Wanting revenge against Barsburg Academy, the Church realizes that Teito is the Mikael Stone that they are after, but also know that he is a target and tells him that he must be trained to protect himself or else the KOR’s will get him.

Also, Teito has a new roommate, a cocky individual from a royal family, Haruken Oak who joins the church.

Will Teito accept the training that the church will have him endure? Meanwhile, the Barsburg Military Academy lays out plans to find a way to infiltrate the church and retrieve Teito.

In volume 3, as the Barsburg Military Academy has infiltrated the church, the WARS begin attacking both Teito and Haruken. With the Church knowing they have been penetrated, Teito learns the truth about the man known as “father” and raised him. He also learned that Verloren’s body was sealed by the eye of Mikael and had slumbered for 1,000 years. While Verloren’s soul was sealed by the Eye of Rafael and wanders the Earth to unable to enter Heaven and is forever reborn into human bodies.

But it appears that Barsburg Military Academy has more than one plan than to capture Teito, they also have a plan to target Frau.

In volume 4, the Barsburg Military Academy make their strike on Teito and manage to install a wars on the Eye of Mikael. Frau is left to decide which one to save….Teito or the Eye of Mikael?

Meanwhile, it’s the start of the Bishop Exam and Teito and Hakuren are partners. But are the two strong enough to make it out together and pass?

In volume 5, it is the continuation of the Bishop Exam as both Teito and Hakuren have passed. But now, they must find out that the next people they must defeat, are the dark versions of themselves.

Meanwhile, it’s a beginning in a new chapter of Teito’s life as he and Frau visit areas he once lived, in hopes his memories will he return.

As for the Barsburg Military, they managed to capture the Eye of Mikael, but without it’s master (vessel), it is useless. So now, they must do what they can to get Teito Klein.

Find out what happens in volume 5 of “07-Ghost”.

The main characters of 07-Ghost are:

Teito Klein – The main protagonist and a former slave of Raggs. He has been having nightmares of something terrible, but for Teito he is starting to realize that the nightmares are memories and that his father entrusted him with something special before he was killed by the Barsburg military. He is not friends with many people at the Barsburg Military Academy because he receives special treatment, but in truth, Teito has exceptional fighting/magic skills. His only good friend is Mikage. But when Teito finds out that members of the Barsburg Military were responsible for his father’s death, Teito escapes from the military and is a wanted individual.
Frau – A perverted Bishop who saved Teito after his escape from the Barsburg Military Academy. He is a member of the 07-Ghosts (Zehel) and is often teasing Teito.
Castor – A bishop who watches over Teito and a member of 07-Ghosts.
Labrador – A bishop who loves to garden and brew herbs for medicine. He watches over Teito by giving him things to protect him.
Mikage – Teito’s good friend and both have promised that they will die together as best of friends. Barsburg Military Academy tried to blackmail him by threatening to kill his family if he did not bring back Teito, but since he considers Teito as family, Mikage has sacrificed himself to save his dear friend. But to later be reincarnated into a small dragon.
Ayanami – The antagonist and Teito remembers him as the person responsible for his father’s murder.
Haruken Oak – New at the Church and becomes Teito’s roommate. Part of royalty but has his reasons of becoming part of the church.
Capella – A young slave that Teito has saved. He now follows both Teito and Frau.

For the last four volumes, we have seen the Barsburg Military Academy, do what they can to get their hands on Teito.

Infiltrating the church with their top soldiers to also revealing that they had spies in the church for the longest time. But now that the Bishop Exams are over, Frau wasn’t going to wait to see what happens. He and Teito were on their way out of the church in order to retrieve Teito’s memories.

While at one village, Teito ends up saving a young slave boy named Capella who joins them, the three now embark in a mission the Hausen House, where Teito’s guardian, Bishop Ver Kreuz, had went to. What will he find?

Meanwhile, at Barsburg Military, Ayanami knows he has control with the capture of the Eye of Mikael, but there is also a discontent among the soldiers who do not accept Ayanami as a leader and are planning to find a way of usurping their power.

With worry that Teito Klein may resurrect the Raggs Empire, Ayanami is determined of capturing Teito.

What memories will Teito discover now that he and Frau visit these areas that Bishop Ver Kreuz had visited and why did he steal the Pandora’s Box?

So far, I’m really enjoying where “07-Ghost” is headed. The writers are now taking Teito out of the area into new districts and obviously things are going to be more dangerous now that they are targets. Teito as the vessel and Frau using Verloren’s scythe, it will also be a test for Teito to see if he can follow the path of light and not give himself to darkness.

The character designs features quite a bit of closeups and some of the artwork for the action sequences do get a bit confusing at times and at times, I felt as I was lost and had to go back and read a certain area and find out who is who as the artwork tends to use a lot of line, less shading on characters (some designs are just all white and gray while blacks are utilized primarily for clothes, hair and line art). But it’s a style of the series that I have gotten used to.

Overall, “07-Ghost” has proved to be an exciting, action-packed manga series. One that definitely has a bishonen vibe with a little boys love but not explicitly. At first, I was thinking more of a brotherly aspect between Teito and Hakuren or Teito and Mikage but I think it’s more family ala brotherly and friendship, than actual pure love.

But what I am enjoying about the “07-Ghost” manga series is its complexity and its riveting storyline of cat and mouse storyline with fantasy, dark elements, drama and more. The storyline is ramping up to be an awesome manga series and I’m looking forward to where this series is headed!

“07-Ghost” Vol. 5 is recommended!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

07-Ghost Vol. 4 by Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

June 6, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

What I love about “07-Ghost” is its complexity, its intelligence and well-planning but also how it is able to balance humor, dark and deep storylines but yet maintaining and enjoyable storyline as each volume progresses. This time around, the Barsburg Military makes their move on Teito. Meanwhile, Teito and Hakuren must take on the Bishop Exam. Exciting, dark but also featuring an enjoyable, deep and fascinating storyline, “07-Ghost” Vol. 4 is recommended!

MANGA TITLE: 07-Ghost Vol. 4

STORY AND ART BY: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: ICHIJINSHA, INC.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga

RATED: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

When Ayanami storms the Barsburg Church in a ruthless effort to drive the Eye of Mikael from Teito’s body, Frau is forced to make a terrible choice: let the Eye fall into Ayanami’s hands, or abandon Teito to die. But Teito may be powerless to accomplish his search for truth without it…

The Barsburg Military Academy has infiltrated the church in hopes of retrieving Teito Klein, the vessel of the Eye of Mikael and a battle ensues.

What will Teito lose?

Meanwhile, it’s time for the Bishop Exam and Mikael and Hakuren must do all they can to pass. But will they?

Find out in volume 4 of “07-Ghost”!