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Month: November 2022

Good Thing: “Make America Great…” by Cosmik (ft. Rhubarb the Bear)

Published by Buddy on November 4, 2022

“Make America Great…” made me wanna trip up the apples, open a box, break open the piggy rattle, and throw some bees at Cosmik. If any of that made sense to you, just click the download link now.

This single takes the tradition of Cockney music-hall shanties and brings it to the modern day with clever lyrics and a fun conceit. It was even featured on Dr. Demento! Brief content warning for some explicit language.

Cosmik is a Florida furry musician who plays multiple instruments, sings, composes, and plays live at a number of venues including the Winter Park Playhouse and Walt Disney World. His music is classic with a modern twist, clever in the mold of Tom Lehrer and Cole Porter.

Cosmik and Rhubarb will be performing at Nordic Fuzz Con in February 2023 and Mephit Fur Meet over Labor Day. Check out Cosmik’s Patreon and Bandcamp in the links below.

https://therealcosmik.bandcamp.com/track/make-america-great

https://www.patreon.com/Cosmik

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Good Thing: Ramen Wolf & Curry Tiger

Published by Buddy on November 1, 2022

Ramen Wolf & Curry Tiger, vol. 1, by Emboss. 

This is a slice of life manga set in a Japan where anthropomorphic animals and human beings live side by side without serious issue. Gourmand wolf Mita Jiro (Ramen Wolf) embodies Robert A. Heinlein’s proverb “Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.” Contrariwise, Yanagi Kagetora (Curry Tiger, or “Currytora”) is hesitant around people and ascetic, mostly preferring solitude and bland, prepackaged meals. But they spend their days off together exploring Japan’s various ramen establishments and enjoying food in company. Their friends notice how close they’ve gotten and try to figure out what they see in each other.

This only the first volume, so the story can be a tad episodic and shallow until they get to the centerpiece and reveal how Jiro and Kagetora met. It’s disarmingly light in tone, but promises to delve into character backgrounds and motivation as more volumes release. The book also teases a romantic relationship between Jiro and Kagetora, but doesn’t make it explicit. I’d appreciate more explicit LGBTQ+ content in future volumes, and certainly hope Emboss is allowed to explore it in depth. As it stands, Volume 1 certainly worked up my appetite for more.

The art is the main course. Emboss shows solid fundamentals in anatomy, backgrounds, and layout, and throws in male eye candy without it getting in the way of story. The presence of anthropomorphic animals makes Beastars immediately spring to mind, but the art is closer in style and tone to Kiyohiko Azuma’s Yotsuba&! It’s charming and cartoonishly expressive while feeling grounded in, if not exactly realism, verisimilitude. That Emboss can make Kagetora so adorable and identifiable in a childhood flashback speaks well to their skills.

Looking forward to the next volume. If it sounds good, buy from my affiliated link below!

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