Silvery Wings

Recently in our AP English Literature class, we have just finished reading Frankenstein, a novel centered around a humanoid creature with human emotions who ends up completely alone and neglected by even his creator. Last week, I compared him to another non-human creature: Saya. This week however, I will compare him to the main character of Accel World, a very human teenage boy: Arita Haruyuki.

http://timelessobserver.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/accel-world-1-2/

Haru is a person who is obese, short, and reticent by nature. His parents are also divorced and he lives with his mom, who is almost never awake or even at home when he is. As you have probably guessed by now, he has been bullied and is basically a social outcast. The only 3 reasons that he did not become vengeful or suicidal like Frank Jr are:

1) He has 2 close childhood friends that he could rely on after school hours.

2) He has technology; Accel World is set in the future where everyone has a NeuroLinker - a device that is basically like a supercomputer with internet access and the capability of full-diving into virtual reality worlds. Thus, he could play Virtual Reality games to relieve his stress and have indirect human interaction. Later he was introduced to Accel World and given the secret Brain Burst program, a virtual reality game unlike any that had ever existed. The program also gave the owner superhuman abilities in real life - at the cost of points that could only be earned in game. Once your points reach 0, you lose the program forever and cannot reinstall it as the central server recognizes your specific brain waves.

3) Someone else reached out to him and helped him with his school life. Although acting with ulterior motives and out of self-interest at first, she soon began to care for Haru as a person and made his in-school life slowly begin to improve (Starting with getting rid of his bullier.)

http://myanimelist.net/profile/Halktail

I believe that the reason for the disparity between Haru and Frank Jr is due to the fact that Haru looks more human than Frank Jr, while also having at least a few precious human connections during the darkest periods in his life. Haru was given the Brain Burst program and introduced to a completely new world by who appeared to be a complete stranger. He was at first confused as to why such a person would talk to him randomly out of everyone, but the two eventually become close friends.

Haru's avatar in Accel World is Silver Crow, the first avatar in Accel World with flight capabilities. The program scans your memory and builds an original avatar from scratch based on your emotional scars. His wings represent his desire to be able to fly, aiming for the sky and escaping the living hell that he has been through in his life.

The main point that I am trying to make here is that anybody put in Frank Jr's situation has only really one hope of changing it, and that is to find someone who can accept you and even like you for who you are. Haru was lucky, in that somebody like that found him, but Frank Jr should have scoured the countryside for someone who could see past his appearance and like him for his purity on the inside. Vengeance usually leads to unfavorable results for both sides, as Haru learns from the person who gave him Brain Burst (she turns out to be one of the 7 strongest players in Accel World: Black Lotus, go figure.)

Here's some awesome soundtracks from Accel World, from when Haru discovers his wings for the first time, and reclaims them the second time after they were stolen ( spoiler :l )

Silver Wing

Silvery Wings

FrankJr no Uta

(In this post, I'll just refer to Frankenstein's creature as FrankJr)

Frankenstein, Saya no Uta (Song of Saya), FrankJr no Uta. If you are familiar with the story of Saya no Uta, then you can see the similarities here between the creatures called Saya and FrankJr.

Well who is Saya and what kind of creature is she? First of all, Saya no Uta is an extremely grotesque and messed-up visual novel (basically a choose your own adventure story), but with good reason - it is a crucial component of one of the most interesting stories that I have ever read. Second, the story doesn't show what she actually looks like, only the main character's twisted view of her. Fuminori (the main protagonist of the story) has a brain disorder that resulted from an new untested kind of neurosurgical operation that was performed on him to save his life after he was involved in an accident. As a result, he senses everything (and I mean everything - the sky, the road, people, chairs, tables, etc.) in a twisted way and a normal bed would look, feel, and smell to him like this:

http://archive.foolz.us/a/thread/85012683/

Similarly, normal food tastes repulsive to him, and everybody's voice sounds like the sounds of some warped flesh monster. He finds it extremely hard to talk to or even be around other people because he basically sees, smells, and hears this thing:

http://saibateku.net/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=141

As a result, Fuminori begins secluding himself and becoming extremely choleric, even suicidal, until one day in the hospital in the middle of the night, he meets Saya. She is the first thing that he sees, hears, feels, and smells as human since his operation, and he immediately befriends and talks with her.

http://inside.anime-expo.org/games/2011-03/jast-usa-tweets-about-possible-nitro-%E2%80%9Csaya-no-uta%E2%80%9D-license/

Now if think about it, you should immediately be suspicious of Saya and suspect her of being something other than what she appears as. You would be correct.
The story never reveals her true form, but it strongly hints what she looks like by the fact that she looks so horrifying to normal people, they lose their sanity as soon as they set their eyes on her. It is implied that she is some sort of fleshy creature that can somewhat change the shape of her body, like a blob, and has multiple appendages protruding from it. She is shown to be more intelligent than humans and have much higher regeneration abilities as well as the ability to modify other living organisms. However, like FrankJr, she is alone. Being the only member of her species (whatever that may be) on Earth, she lived a secluded and depressed life until she met Fuminori. He could converse with her normally due to his abnormality and you quickly discover that although her true form is unpleasant, her personality and her mind is not too different from a child. She is not bad or evil in nature, and doesn't view eating humans as wrong (although she later becomes more reserved due to concern for Fuminori) because she views them how we view cows and chicken, as a lower form of life that she must consume in order to survive. It is hard to find fault with her for that, and the main character eventually eats human meat too, as his warped senses make it seem like the only appealing food to him (I did say that this visual novel was slightly messed-up.)
Saya and Fuminori saved each other from the dark recesses of loneliness, because basically, no matter how bad the rest of the world seems like to them, they will always have at least one other person to rely on, one person who understands and cares for them.

The Good Ending from the V.N. http://sayanouta.tumblr.com/page/12

For FrankJr however, this was sadly not the case. FrankJr was a creature who was not NEARLY as warped or grotesque as Saya, but he ended up in a much worse situation than her. The answer to "why?" is clear: It was because he had absolutely nobody else to rely on, nobody else who bothered to understand him. Even his maker, Frankenstein, hates and repulses him, so FrankJr was driven in a state similar to Saya's before she met Fuminori.
Due to reading/watching Saya no Uta, I feel sympathy for Frankenstein and I understand his situation. Victor Frankenstein was too irresponsible, and could not face the repercussions of his actions. As a result, FrankJr had to go through complete rejection and general disgust without understanding why he was so different from all the shorter humans.
Even though Saya understood that she was different, she was sad because she didn't have any interactions with other people, because they would all be repulsed by her and freeze with terror on sight. She could only have dreamed of such things as she lived alone reading human literature.

So remember kids, bullying is bad.

(The visual novel of Saya no Uta requires some online searching to find the English subbed version. You can just watch play-through videos here)

Welcome the the Accelerated World

Accel World features a full-dive video game which stage is the real world, only modified for battle purposes. This following section is going to be me capriciously describing the 2 main characters of Accel World with some background information. If interested, go read the light novels here and watch the anime here. The anime stops at the end of Volume 4 in the light novels.

http://www.wattpad.com/21877936-return-of-princess-snow-black-based-on-accel-world

Haruyuki Arita (Haru) - [Silver Crow]

Haru
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=452777

Haru is the main protagonist of Accel World, initially having low self-esteem until he meets Kuroyukihime due to bullying by a few kids as well as his weight. His avatar in Accel World is "Silver Crow," and it turns out that he has the first and only avatar that can fly. He joins Kuroyukihime's reborn "Nega Nebulous" faction. Unlike Linton from Wuthering Heights, after a pretty girl appeared to try and help him, perhaps even loving him, he reached out and accepted her hand instead of treating her like crap and continuing to wallow in his own misery.

Silver Crow
http://www.3djuegos.com/comunidad-foros/tema/18382362/0/personaje-del-mes/

Kuroyukihime - [Black Lotus]

Kuroyukihime
http://accelworld.wikia.com/wiki/Kuroyukihime

Kuroyukihime is the main female protagonist of Accel World, befriending Haru after she realizes his potential in video games and making him one of the members of her reborn faction: "Nega Nebulous." She is one of the 7 kings of pure color, but was in exile at the beginning of the novel due to a complicated series of events leading up to her killing the old Red King after a treaty was formed. She is insanely powerful, being one of the only eight Level 9 Burst Linkers of all time (seven currently, as she killed the old Red King).

Black Lotus
http://accelworld.wikia.com/wiki/Death_By_Piercing

If you can get past the fact that the main character is significantly overweight, then you see that Accel World is a masterpiece of a creation, containing a vast and complex world with diverse characters that are on par with or exceed Sword Art Online (They were written by the same author.) Like Wuthering Heights, the characters of Accel World are complex with diverse personalities, and the story relies heavily on the characters' interactions with each other. However, very unlike Wuthering Heights, the story's world is extremely vast - especially inside the Accelerated World in Accel World. There are also more characters, although the story focuses on developing a select group of critical characters. This creates a pleasant effect of a sophisticated plot while making it easier to get into - because it seems like a real world. I could not get into Wuthering Heights nearly as easily as I got into Accel World because I could not relate to almost any part of the story. For Accel World however, I felt like I could really empathize with the characters, and I could even be put into the world without even affecting it too much, it being so vast. There's no way that I could say this for Wuthering Heights. Being in my top 3 stories of all time and my top 10 anime series of all time, Accel World is a great gateway to a temporary haven from the all the stress and work of the purgatory known as everyday life. :)

Opening Song 1

I don't particularly like it.  :l

Ending Song 1

Opening Song 2

Ending Song 2

Reading Quiz!

Test your reading skills with this unofficial AP English Literature quiz written by me.

The questions that follow are from the following fan-fiction passage written by me:

It was a clear moonless night in Kadesh, Egypt. I was on an errand for Ramses II, who was about to get his [butt] wiped across the Nile by the Hittite forces. So of course I, The Eternal Nightmare, decided to tip the scales a little.

I immediately located the one of the enemy Hittite encampments on the valley-side. The lights of their scattered campfires were tiny suns in the dead of the night. I pondered why ever since ancient times, humans have always been afraid of the dark. I could see just fine in the darkness, and the obnoxious light from the fires seemed downright unnatural to me. Then again, my eyes have seen things past and future, while humans can only dream of things to come.

The guards that were currently on duty were staring around lugubriously, jealous of their comrades respite in slumber. Ironically, the enemy’s fires probably made it much harder for them to see me, a swirling darkness, circling around their camp. As for the real reason why I had decided to give Ramses II a hand before the formidable Hittite army fell upon his precious city like a flood, well… It was compensation for all the souls that I had feasted on in his city. I had even eaten dreams from his favorite eunuch, a tall and well built specimen. After all, I didn't want him to send his high priests after me; I had a great disgust for all things holy, and the Egyptian high priests were quite adept in their art, being empowered by whatever gods they worshiped. Not that I couldn't take care of them if the time came.

The wind blowing around the camp began to diminish, until all the campfires were perfectly still. In the rest of the valley, it still howling and blowing. The air was unnaturally still as the Hittites continued to sleep away. I counted how many guards they put on post - one… two… All right, 6 plus one necromancer. Not a problem for me, I’d have to go for the necromancer first, and hopefully the other 6 won’t struggle too much before I finish them off.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The cloud of darkness at the edge of the camp took shape, and I materialized as a shadowy figure with two nasty looking blades attached to my arms. The necromancer twisted his head like a cat's and stared in my direction with some uncertainty. [Darn], those magicians always have surprisingly sharp senses.

“Hey Sinop, do you feel that?”

“Huh?”

“Wasn't there a headwind blowing through here just a second ago? Kept taking off my hat. But the air seems unnaturally still now.”

“Who knows man, it’s [freakin'] Egypt. I hate this place, don’t even know why the King wants us to capture it. All I've seen of it’s ‘glorious wealth’ is sand, buildings made of sand, and more sand.”

I didn't want to hear their housewife-like chatter anymore. Suddenly the light of the fires and the stars were all snuffed out like candles; the air was as black as The Void. The necromancer cursed and began chanting some strange words. I shot from the edge of the camp with the speed of an arrow, and impaled the poor bloke through his left eye and out the back of his head. The unnamed abominations that were being summoned crumbled into nothingness like walls of old Mesopotamia.

The other 6 soldiers, all effectively blinded, were slow to act. I casually waved my hand and implanted dark dreams in each one of their minds. It was so much easier to deal with this common rabble. They all tried to raise the alarm - to no avail. Fear spread through their minds like a poisonous fog, incapacitating their brains’ ability to send signals to the rest of their bodies. As their eyes glazed over and they groggily moved about like some weird species of snails, I feasted on their fear and replenished my energy.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The six hollow shells soundlessly dropped to the ground. I flexed my arms and laughed as my nightmares spread through the camp like wildfire.

Suddenly though, I felt like invisible constraints seized my entire body. Not good. I tried to move, but was immobilized. Was it a group of elite Hittite magicians? Suddenly, a voice came from everywhere and nowhere: “Congratulations, you have been selected as one of the future champions for the League of Legends. We'll just have to put you in stasis for a while as we prepare the fields of justice that you will be fighting on.”

I had no idea what the words meant, so I struggled more and felt the spell that was binding me loosen. Whoever attacked me was going to regret it badly; my shroud of darkness has always made me temporarily immune to all magicians' magic, even the most powerful. I activated it and felt the bonds holding me nearly break.

A heard the voice again, it was laughing. The bonds became infinitely tighter. I struggled vainly and vaguely wondered who could achieve such a feat of binding me. Darkness descended again, this time upon myself.

Reading Questions (answers in comments):

1) Which of the following is NOT used before the first picture?

a. Simile

b. Asyndeton

c. Metaphor

d. Anastrophe

e. Personification

2) In the first sentence of the third paragraph, "lugubriously" can be most accurately substituted with:

a. Vainly

b. Brightly

c. Gloomily

d. Condescendingly

e. Licentiously

3) The narrator's tone in the third paragraph can most closely be describes as:

a. Apathetic.

b. Sanguineous.

c. Cynical.

d. Contemplative.

e. Irritated.

4) The narrator would probably agree with which of the following statements?
a. Humans are adaptable to many situations
b. It is a phenomena how any humans have survived for so long.
c. The defenses of the Hittite camp were unobjectionable.
d. Most humans rely so much on what they can see, they don't notice what they can't.
e. The necromancer was incompetent for being unable to stop the narrator.

5) The narrator most likely believes after the end of this passage that the one who imprisoned him was:
a. A Hittite magician.
b. An Egyptian magician.
c. A being like himself.
d. Some new sort of powerful human.
e. Some sort of otherworldly being.





How did you do?
5 / 5 : Perfect! You're either a dirty cheater or a good reader!
4 / 5 : Decent. Still could use improvement.
3 / 5 : Not bad, but could use improvement.
2 / 5 : Needs Improvement. Study more!
1 / 5 : Terrible. Spend all your time this month reading AP English level text.
0 / 5 : You can't read English.

Capricious blogging germane to my avocations

I have constantly heard that the best way to remember new words is to actually use them, no matter what language you are speaking in. Therefore, in this post I will attempt to appropriately incorporate as many of our AP English vocabulary words into my post as possible. If you do not understand or remember some of the words I use, appropriate definitions may be found on the interwebs.

First of all, let me introduce the story that I will be talking about today: Mirai Nikki (Future Diary.)
Mirai Nikki is a relatively dark Japanese animated series, with the reticent main male protagonist Yukiteru Amano and the awesome (in my opinion) main female protagonist, Yuno Gasai, who is an inexorable stalker of Yuki. She does this with ardor.

http://kawaii-mobile.com/2012/06/mirai-nikki/mirai-nikki-yuno-gasai-yukiteru-amano-320x480-3/

The plot basically boils down to this: There are twelve people in the story, Yuki and Yuno included, who each have an avocation of writing in a diary of some form (phone, book, etc.) Suddenly one day, their diaries receive the power to predict the future, each in a different way (i.e.- Yuki's predicts random events that he would have recorded himself, and Yuno's predicts anything that Yuki does, since she is obsessed with him.) This power was bestowed by Deus, the God of Time and Space, whose lifespan was coming to an end. He looks more and more moribund later in the series, as parts of his face and machine-like body start falling off. In order to save the universe from complete destruction, a new God of Time and Space had to be chosen before his death.
Probably after musing for a some time, he decided that the last survivor out of the twelve chosen people would succeed him as God - in short, the twelve were pitted in a battle-royal against each other without knowing each other's identity.

Yuno is generally revealed to be, to put it bluntly, insane. There is a huge disparity between how one would expect a typical pretty high school girl to act and how she acts. She enjoys slaughtering anybody who acts licentiously around Yuki or otherwise endangers him. Her eyes often turn vacuous and her face is covered in shadows when she enters this "insane" mode. Her love for him is genuine though, albeit in a twisted kind of way - she would willingly risk her own neck to save hers. Many times, Yuki's plight was reversed because of Yuno's quick action and steady hand of slaughter (She goes on a huge killing spree throughout the series. She kills more people than even all the other participants of the game combined, I believe.) Her personality, however, led her one time to presumptuously capture Yuki in order to eliminate the possibility of the other participants of the game killing him. Yuno's impetus for killing is presumably to save Yuki. Later on, Yuki's impetus for becoming God is to bring his parents back to life after they were both killed.

http://www.hexieshe.com/634738/

http://media.giphy.com/media/SMtXYhqne1GyA/giphy.gif

Spicy Wolf

http://nopybot.com/2009/10/18/spice-and-wolf-ii-review/

Spice and Wolf is an anime series with 2 seasons, based off of the light novel written by Isuna Hasekura. It's set in a time when humans still used horses to travel, and begins in a village where the inhabitants worship a local wolf goddess that brings good harvest to the wheat every year - the village's main source of income. Some people find it as a series that is not particularly enjoyable, because most of the plot involves pecuniary topics, as the main character is Kraft Lawrence - a professional travelling merchant. "Spice" from the title is supposed to be him. "Wolf" is the wolf goddess ホロ Horo/Holo that he encounters while doing business in the village and ends up travelling with throughout the series. Hence, Spice and Wolf.

http://tokyo3.losthost.org/data/images/1202953408318

In the beginning of the story, Holo decides to leave the village to travel with Lawrence, because she notices that the villagers don't actually appreciate her anymore. The villagers say that they don't need a harvest god. While she initially helped them by making a good harvest, she sometimes had to do the opposite to prevent the village from being struck by the Tragedy of the Commons, which caused resentment among the ignorant villagers. When she left, she was portrayed in the village harvest festivals as an oppressive force and a thief... you probably know how it goes.
Holo and Lawrence develop bonds somewhat as they travel on the road and engage in economic ventures; Lawrence doing business as a merchant, and Holo just riding along (and occasionally helping in her own way) until Lawrence can drop her off near the general vicinity of Yoitz - her original home with an unknown specific location (she forgot herself since it's been countless centuries since she left). The two fail to become extremely close at first, however, partially because Lawrence repeatedly shows fear of Holo's true wolf form. After these incidents occur, Holo becomes dejected for a day. Later on though, the two trust each other completely and become an effective team for combating huge economic scandals later from a strategic and physical standpoint.

Ahhhh...
http://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/e4/51/10049194742.jpg

Scene of Lawrence cowering in his primal fear of Holo, who is just returning something to him after she chased off some muggers who stole it.
http://medievalotaku.wordpress.com/2012/07/

Holo and Lawrence later on in the series (after Lawrence becomes comfortable with her true form.)
http://dubsub.blogspot.com/2012/04/spice-and-wolf-season-one-anime-review.html

I was interested to note how this series is kind of like the "literary fiction" of anime, although not quite as hard to get through as books like Wuthering Heights (a big reason that Wuthering Heights is difficult to read is that it uses a different kind of diction than most of us are used to.) It kills me to say this, but I recognized some elements of Catherine's character, although small, in Holo, such as saying self-complacent things at times. Holo's personality however, is much more likable and whenever she realizes that she has does something wrong, she immediately apologizes. She never acts odiously, and only freaked out one time, when she found out that her home was destroyed long ago by huge bear spirit (understandable.) Lawrence is almost the polar opposite of Heathcliff, being more passive as well as generally kind - despite being a merchant. Together, Lawrence and Holo make a much more dynamic and interesting pair than Heathcliff and Catherine.

There were some parts of Spice and Wolf when the story got really focused on explaining a certain financial concept or describing an economic system - these parts were a little boring, but still crucial to the plot, helping you enjoy the series to its fullest later on. The author who wrote this story also really understands economics; I learned a lot about macroeconomics from just watching this series.

Throughout the series, Holo and Lawrence are suggested to have feelings for each other, but there are two main problems that prevent an official relationship from developing. First of all, Lawrence is too shy/passive and Holo is too stubborn for them to announce their feelings directly. Secondly, Holo is a wolf spirit who has lived for hundreds of years, and will probably live for many more. Lawrence however, is a human with a normal lifespan, so Holo will probably have to watch him age and die as she remains practically unchanged. This story does, however, have a happy ending.

Season 1: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAD7E90412AEF3DF
Season 2: http://www.animeonhand.com/iam/spice-and-wolf-ii

http://detarame.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/spicywolf-2nd-1.jpg

Manga vs. Comics

Apparently we don't have to post this week, but oh well - why not? Talking about Japanese popular culture is an enjoyable pastime if your computer is too bad to play Osu (and the such.)

When translated literally, "manga" means "whimsical drawings." They are very, very different from Americanized comics, where there are generally heroes with some sort of super powers saving the day.
Pieces of Japanese culture and history often appear in manga, and although many manga series do have characters with superhuman powers, just as many are "slice of life," which is basically akin to "realistic fiction." Japan's collection of manga are much more diverse than America's collection of comics, and most Japanese anime are either based off of manga or light novels (Some are based off of manga based off of light novels). I also find comic books a lot more inconsistent than manga, as is the case (huge problem) with Superman. In all the different movies and comics that superman has appeared in, he has been portrayed with such greatly varying degrees of strength that you could take him for a superhuman with augmented abilities form one comic/movie, and almost a literal god from another comic. ( Just read this Wikipedia article and you'll see how inconsistent Superman is. It's basically like fanfiction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_and_abilities_of_Superman#Golden_Age_Superman )

In a lot of the manga/anime series where there are superhuman characters, the main character usually starts out relatively weak, which allows for a much more interesting storyline where the main characters generally either grow in strength and triumph over the antagonists, or grow in strength before one dies in order to save someone or something - usually most of humanity or just someone they're in love with. (There are also excellent series that deviate from this, but there are too many different types of storylines to list.)
I don't particularly enjoy the second kind of ending though, because it's usually pretty sad and involves the main character being separated from their beloved. There are also series in which there arguably turns out to be no concrete villains, such as Shakugan no Shana (Shana of the Flaming Eyes) or Shiki.
In both of these series, the people who are initially presented as the antagonists turn out to just be doing what they need to survive (or more accurately, following an irresistible primordial urge.) Shiki however, was much more dark as a whole than Shakugan no Shana, which is also a serious series, despite having a happy ending with a less ominous mood overall.

Shakugan no Shana

http://zonimex.blogspot.com/2013/05/shakugan-no-shana-movie-subtitle.html

http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-647851/anime-motivational-posters-read-first-post?pg=3295

They do share some themes however; in Shiki there are vampire-like creatures (called Shiki) who must feed on humans in order to survive. This creates an endless cycle where more Shiki are created from humans against their will, and eventually, the villagers rise up and ruthlessly slaughter the Shiki while they are helpless during the day. In Shakugan no Shana, there are beings called denizens, who feast on human essences, and view humans in a way similar to how humans view livestock. In this series though, there is a happier ending where
(***spoiler alert***)


a new world is created for the denizens, who also no longer have to feast on humans in order to survive.

(*********************)


It's complicated to explain it all, so just watch all 3 seasons if you're actually interested. I promise it'll be one of the most important 28.5 hours of your life (probably.)

(3 seasons of Shakugan no Shana: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F4122EF99AF212B, http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwazKLaN7rLiU2F9BXr3Hn2YEe74hxwtM, http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC30883D1D7F83A7B)

Shiki

http://xly15.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/shiki-22-finale/#jp-carousel-7155

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/shiki/images/24189361/title/sunako-kirishiki-screencap?ir=true

(Shiki: http://www.animeonhand.com/iam/shiki)

Both of these series present the moral dilemma of killing humans. If killing is required for survival, then how can you justify condemning another sentient higher life form for killing members of your species in order to avoid death themselves? After all, we kill many animals daily in order to keep ourselves alive.

Manga really has become part of Japanese culture much more than comic books have become to American culture. I presume this is because manga/anime have plot lines that are much, much more dynamic and nonlinear than American comics. It's not odd in Japan to see a high school kid or even a young adult reading manga in public; reading manga is not considered childish at all because of the serious stories and themes that they contain. Manga and anime have also more or less integrated all the elements of everyday life into them as well, albeit in a more exciting and interesting way.

Hahaha. That's a laugh.
http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/superman-vs-goku-deathbattle-742049/#