Yeah, a new comic! Because I have time! It doesn’t look very good, though!

But yeah, on the subject of not very good things, Eva Q wasn’t very good. You can read my review from several months ago here.

I want to update more, but don’t hold your breath. All my internet stuff is happening on Twitter and my blog, so read those! This comic won’t die, though. Not yet, anyway.

As far as the artwork goes, it ain’t prefect, but I did kind of what I wanted to do.

As far as the writing goes, between this comic and the last one I’ve been trying to talk about some kind of personal stuff. I like to say that Rets isn’t a stand-in for me, but instead of trying to just make another bad porno joke (don’t worry, I still got a ton of those…) I wanted to put a sharp-edged spin on some epiphanies I had several months ago regarding being a nerd, and how you really shouldn’t let that fuck up your Real Life. Heck, part of the reason why this comic is updated so rarely is because I’ve been finally trying to enjoy my “real life.” Though, I think I’ve enjoyed it a bit too much, which is why I spent my evening finishing off this comic instead of having dinner with someone.

I think I’ve almost got a good grip on my free time. I can’t guarantee regular updates, but I’ll try to get stuff up more frequently than once every couple of months.

For the one person who is starved for updates from me, please take a look at my somewhat updated blog Analog Housou, or my more frequently updated Twitter account.

See you whenever!

Between the last comic and this one I’ve done a bunch of living, and I kind of wanted to represent that experience in this comic. What I’m trying to illustrate in this comic is two extremes, one which I think is easy to fall into if you’re a nerd like me, and another which is the sort of life we should shoot for–not just in Japan–but wherever we may be. I’d like to think my life right now is closer to the ideal that Tina lays out, but my Japanese still isn’t that great, I still can’t find a nice girl, and I do beg my parents for money on occasion. That said I do have a decent social life, am able to make a living, and I keep myself pretty busy with stuff. So basically my life falls between these two extremes, but I’d like to think it’s closer to Tina’s side than Rets’.

Rets’ situation is probably closer to mine when I studied over here. Again, it wasn’t quite as bad as illustrated in this comic, but it wasn’t as good as my life in Japan now. I don’t know for sure, but I think a lot of nerds who come to Japan end up like Rets and well… that’s not a good thing.

I can’t say when the next comic will be, but I hope it’ll be sooner rather than later.

Completely unrelated, but OLH’s new album is out in Japan now! I’m not there at the moment so I can’t go out and physically buy it, but I’ve been tempering my hunger by listening to the mp3 samples on Amazon Japan. Don’t delay, buy it today!

Anyway, here’s a comic about creepy stores in Akiba.

Anyway, I’ve never entered the Mandarake in Ikebukuro, mostly because my friend told me going in there “makes you gay.” I have wandered through the josei-muke floor at Mandarake Akiba with people before, and it’s really not as bad or as in-your-face as the dansei-muke floor, but it is quite… emasculating. I would like to try fujoshi nanpa there, but I don’t really have the nads to do something like that. Also, they’re probably more interested in the dudes featured in the books they’re buying.

But it is based on something real: One time on Twitter I remarked that I liked slutty Mugi doujinshi, and out of nowhere some dude made it clear to me that I was BLOCKED.

Not as good as what happens in this comic, but the same sort of thing.

I actually have a few ideas for future comics, it’s just a matter of drawing them… I want to try for at least two a month… that look good. A perfect world would be weekly, but I just can’t work that fast yet. I really should practice drawing…

Speaking of crappy, this comic doesn’t look too hot either. I think I tried to take characters’ positions into account by drawing one bigger than the other but it just looks weird. I probably could have resized things a bit but… I forgot.

Anyway, Rets is a horrible person.

And just for the record, I have sung this at karaoke. It wasn’t my idea, though!

(I was gonna put this up tomorrow, but I couldn’t resist updating on 11/11/11…)

Anyway, this comic takes place in front of a very specific shop in Akihabara. If you know it, you’ll appreciate the reference, if not, it’s not really worth explaining. But if you go there, you will know. There’s also a smaller reference hidden in the background of the first panel which is obvious if you read Japanese and know my taste in music.

I’m thinking of taking a short break from comic making just to focus on practicing drawing and putting illustrations out, as well as thinking up ideas for future comics. Rather than constantly put out crap, I’d like to put some effort into thinking up stuff that’s actually funny and looks good, so I think I may skip a few fortnights worth of updates. But I haven’t really decided yet. If there’s no comic in two weeks, you’ll know!

Hopefully I’ll have a comic ready for the next update! I’m still getting used to my new schedule!