spotlight: Seiko-chin to Seishiro-kun

Due to my obviously likely nature at slacking off, the spotlight for November has been randomly chosen by way of "Hey this sounds pretty neat to share with the public!" Yea, I'm lazy, but I haven't even really had time to sit and make sure my feet are intact before getting up again.

Anyway, in all honesty, this particular post is really more about the latest chapter of Lovely Complex that I have been able to view as a fan.


Volume 15, chapter 56 is a special chapter of Lovely Complex dedicated to a short side story about Kotobuki Seishirou, otherwise known as Seiko-chan, and his cute little love story. Now, no Lovely Complex plot device is without some shocking, lulz-inducing twist by the ending. For those who haven't gotten that far yet, I will not give out the twist, but I assure you, by the end of the chapter, you will either be guffawing with laughter, or you will simply drop your jaws, too amused to even make a sound-- much like me.

As a brief cap, chapter 56 of Lovely Complex begins with cute little Seiko-chan looking extra sparkly and who "seems to be in love at the moment." We all remember that when Seiko expressed interest in poor A-chan long ago, it was quite difficult for the little midget not to succumb to Seiko-chan's "pheremones." After all, even though Seiko is really a boy named Seishiro, dressed as a girl and acting like a girl, he is definitely cuter than a lot of other girls.

This time around, Seiko has set his sights on another boy who stepped up and helped him out at the train station when he was being harrassed. Completely prepared to confess this new love, Seiko had even bought all new clothes and a thank you gift. Unfortunately, as biology dictates, it seems that Seishiro has finally become more male when his voice changes to a deeper tone. Because of this, Seiko believes he is disgusting and so has lost all confidence in confessing his love.


The plot of the story, of course has an interesting twist in the end in which we learn that the voice change had nothing to do with puberty, but in fact was really just because Seiko had had a cold. The surprising twist in the end is much more fun when found.

I really had a good laugh for this particular chapter, and it made me think of just how much I really admire and enjoy the presence of Seiko-chan in the storyline of Lovely Complex. Since the beginning, while my own ideals aren't quite that open yet, Seiko has proven to be a very courageous and beautiful person. After all, in today's society, there are still so many taboos and social restrictions and whatnot that make it hard for people to openly express their own likes and dislikes when they stray from what is believed to be the set "norm."

Kotobuki Seishiro is a boy, but he has always felt like he should have been born a girl. He loves to dress in cute clothes, wear his hair in pretty styles, and when placed within a group of girls, there is no telling that he is a boy at all. Seiko falls for those of the same gender, and his initial appearance in Lovely Complex was the means for Risa to realize that she was in love with Otani as well and that she shouldn't let trivial issues misguide her own feelings.

Seiko is very open and honest about himself. Even when made fun of, he can still smile and act cute like the best of them.

But when the "voice change" incident occurs in chapter 56, Seiko feels disgusted. He decides that he has no choice but to be a man now and forces himself to become Kotobuki Seishiro. Unfortunately, this plight is still overcome by the fact that Seiko loves cute things no matter what and cannot stand to be uncute at all.

So who is Kotobuki Seishiro, really anyway? Within this particular chapter, we get to see the male version of Seiko-chan-- which I bet fans have always wondered about. He is loud, obnoxious, and he's extremely depressing. Because as Seishiro, he just isn't the same Seiko-chan we've all come to know. He's unhappy with this transition and it isn't until Risa convinces him that Seiko-chan should never change.

***

As of the posting of this monthly spotlight, I am a little shamed to admit that next month will be extremely slow or even non-existent in the anicabyss blogging unit. My attention has not only been drawn away by other things, but my work hours seem to be never-ending and with the holidays coming up, there are way too many things to focus on.

In December, I will try what I can to post about certain anime and manga, but I make absolutely no promises. It will be a skimpy month, but my focus will be on at least one spotlight, and hopefully a featurette or editorial to finish off the year.

Due to all the above reasons, this was probably one of the worse spotlights I will ever create-- but don't hold your breath on that claim. For those who care, thanks for enduring my skimpy blog up to this date.

I will continue to improve, but I also plan on cutting down my blogging for a while.

first impression: Kuroshitsuji (anime)

So my first impression of this anime after seeing the opening theme was: "Is this a bit... shounen-ai?" And for those of you who don't know what that means, don't ask, because it just means you haven't been exposed to anime and manga enough.

But I really think that the opening is simply misleading. Were this strictly a romance genre and were the two main characters romantically involved somehow-- despite the boy love ideals that I haven't been able to truly open up to yet-- the opening theme and sequence would have been perfect and very... well, "pretty."

Anyway, the premise to this series is about the Phantomhive family and the butler-- who is basically "super butler max". The story currently centers around Ciel Phantomhive, a young twelve year old master of his home and his business, and his butler Sebastian Michaelis.

The episode begins in a rather dramatic, morbid and twisted way. But as it progresses, the comedic antics and the incredible actions of the butler and the staff of the Phantomhive villa come into play. The story just centers around the devotion of Sebastian to his job as Ciel's butler and bodyguard. Everything Sebastian does, he does with ease and can probably do anything and everything ever tasked to him.

The first episode centers around a business contract and financial issues that need to be resolved by Ciel in order for a company to continue running. The staff, in an attempt to one-up Sebastian, take things into their own hands, but screw up immensely before the guest arrives at the mansion. Sebastian, with his demonic skills, fixes everything with ease and prepares the appearance of the villa, dinner, as well as all service for the guest's arrival.

During this time, Ciel receives the guest but seems to only be interested in playing games with him. As dinner progresses and their negotiations seem to be going nowhere, the guest is found talking about how he hasn't been able to procure the money he needs from the Phantomhive child and we learn that he is trying to cheat Ciel by running away from the factory after getting the money. But little does he realize that Ciel already knew of his betrayal and thus, the little boardgame they'd been playing ends up being reality when the guest loses his legs and is given a fiery demise in the end.

The whole concept of the series is supposed to have a creepy, horror-ish feel to it. And it is successful-- or rather it would have been successful if there weren't so many comedic antics thrown in. This is like an Addam's Family alternative, but without a family and simply a master and his staff.

But I have to admit that I enjoyed every bit of what I watched, even some of the lame attempts at hilarity. Maaya Sakamoto does wonders as a twelve year old child's voice actor-- her monotone and her boy's voice is excellent and as expected of such a versatile voice actor.

All in all, I think I may enjoy Kuroshitsuji, even if it doesn't become one of the best anime of the season. This is sort of like a secret delight for me. Kind of like Wagaya no Oinari-sama was, because even though the anime wasn't all that great, I still enjoyed it immensely.

I look forward to slowly easing through this series, because though good, it doesn't really have me hooked. Not just yet.

thoughts: Special A

This is slightly overdue only because I had wanted to post it first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, last thing at night will have to do because of all the work hours I've been getting. And because of all the work hours to come, posting this month may be postponed.

Oh well...



It was a long and hard decision as to what I wanted to do with this anime. When I first set eyes on it, I was gleeful. I'm a hopeless romantic after all and the series was clearly labled as "romance" and "comedy" and also had the word "shoujo" following it. Granted this was before I really understood what "shoujo" truly meant in terms of anime and manga, I wanted to watch S. A. anyway.

The beginning of the series was quite the fun ride. There was humor, there were bishounen, and Hikari-chan was pretty adorable. Akira was absolutely wonderful with her violent tendencies, her high-class behavior and her creepy doting on Hikari. Tadashi wasn't bad. The twins were a little odd and Ryuu was kind of hot. Sadly, Takishima Kei was rather arrogant and that sort of annoyed me. I don't care that he's rich, talented, and good-looking. He was arrogant and he was annoying.

All-in-all, I'd enjoyed those first few episodes of Special A.

But as the series progressed -- and I scouted out the manga to get a second view of the series -- I began to become irritated with it.

Why did I come close to dropping the series altogether? It was quite simple. I had never, ever been so irritated with the two main leads of a romantic comedy like I was with Hikari and Kei. (We shall make no mention of Peach Girl at the moment since I prefer to think I never watched it, though since Suzuken was cast in it, I may make mention of the series some other time.)

Basically, it was sufferable to watch as each episode, Kei shows absolute obviousness on just how much in love he is with Hikari, and the stupid girl just assumes that he's trying to pick a fight or challenge her or look down on her. And as for Kei, maybe if he understood just how thick-headed Hikari was, he should have just come straight out about his feelings for her instead of waiting for her to figure it out on his own. I'm quite certain that everyone and their mothers and uncles and distant cousins are quite aware that Hikari is not going to figure anything out on her own about Kei's feelings or even her own.


As far as the storyline goes, it had quite a bit of potential. But sadly, it would have had more potential had it been shortened into maybe a four OVA series. Or maybe if the episodic feature were more interesting. Instead, each episode only added onto the stupidity that was Hanazono Hikari -- only God knows how she managed to get into S.A. with that missing brain of hers -- and the arrogance that was Takishima Kei.

Needless to say, I got bored of it very easily.

The series is simply just a story of the everyday lives and few not so dramatic events surrounding the seven members of S.A.

The members compete with jealous students in their high school. The members compete with each other to decide on where to go for a vacation. The members go on a vacation in Hawaii. The members work on the school festival. Hikari gets recruited as a tutor for Kei's little brother Sui.

The members meet and play "family" with Yahiro's little brother Chitose-- and I must say, this episode was actually quite fun. There was the all too rare fan service shot that shoujo manga usually doesn't have, but in anime, it's a must. Observe this when watching the part where Hikari must pick an Hibiscus flower for Chitose and Kei comes to her aid.

Other plots include Hikari dressing up to attend Yahiro's birthday party as Kei partner. Hikari has gotten a cold and must be taken care of by her S.A. friends because Mama and Papa are off on a trip. In the same episode was crammed the Megami and Yahiro dating episode where Megami speaks for the first time and even sings for Yahiro.

If this scene weren't preceded by Hikari-chan making a moron of herself, pyon. It'd actually look cute... pyon.
Basically, lots and lots of things occur with no definite destination like any typical episodic storyline. The only thing that the series plays off of is the idea of an excellent group of students called the S.A. and their daily lives, and Takishima Kei's undying love for Hikari as well as their eternal rivalry.

All else are just inclusive factors in the storyline that could be done without if necessary, but add to all the fun that should have been a decent shoujo manga to anime adaptation.

So why did I pick up this series again?

It's hard to say. For one, even after wanting to drop the anime, I continued to follow the manga and some of the details pertaining to future plot devices were rather satisfying for my hopeless romantic, shoujo manga obsessive mind. No matter what, S.A. is a shoujo manga romance first and foremost. I've probably sat through worse series/movies/etc...

And the manga boasted a very interesting "passionate kiss" scene between Hikari and Kei that made the fangirl moe-ness in me squeal with pleasure. I was curious to see just how much of the manga that the anime would adapt.

So with that in mind, I picked up Special A once again after getting ahold of every episode up to the end, and then watched it without prior biases and some things to look forward to.

As expected, the personalities of those in S.A. continued to annoy me. When the series changed themesongs, it did nothing for its own welfare and I was starting to have my doubts. But I persevered.

I think of the four couples advertised in this series, Tadashi and Akira have the best story, even though it's quite short. I love them the most.
I must say that I rather enjoyed the relationship development between Akira and Tadashi. Between the two of them, they probably have the loveliest romance in the whole anime series. A few things were altered in comparison to the manga and I feel like I like the anime version quite well. This is not to say that I don't like the manga version, because either way, Akira and Tadashi make a rather adoring, if not lovable, romantic couple.

Boy twin, Jun-kun was given a pairing with Hikari's personality twin Ushikubo Sakura who had to go through pains to win the young prince's heart. Megami was paired up with Saiga Yahiro -- an odd combination that was brought about due to Megami's need to protect Akira and Tadashi by giving Yahiro something else to focus on, like a girlfriend. They were quite cute and I liked how Megami could bring out a different, kinder side to Yahiro and saw Yahiro for the good person he was. Ryuu, of course, as hot and mature as he is, has those rare bestial-doting tendencies and so was left with his animals and without a love interest.

Left for the ending was the final pairing of Hikari and Kei -- who were both together from the start. With a little twist of manga plot around anime plot and we give Hikari a reason as to why she needs Kei in her life. And thus she realizes that she needs to be more honest with herself. So, using the Grandpa Takishima wants to take Kei away from Japan plot device, our remaining six S.A. heroes fly to England to find their Number One and bring him back to school with them.

For every hopeless romantic fangirl in the world, this is the Special A moment we all await.
Surprisingly, I am quite pleased with the ending. Even though it took twenty-four painstaking episodes to arrive at that point, I like what I saw and I saw what I liked. While there was no "passionate manga kiss" placed into the anime, there were various endearing moments between Hikari and Kei towards the ending few episodes that make up for the stupidity, arrogance, and annoyance from the first half of the series. There were enough "huggles" moments to make the shoujo fangirl in me grin whole heartedly, and I still stand that Ryuu is quite hot and needs to find himself a girl.


All in all, I was very pleased with what came of picking up S.A. once again. To tell the truth, I rather enjoyed those last few episodes of S.A. and when Hikari finally realized her feelings for Kei, it was a weight off of my shoulders -- and probably off of every other fan/viewer's shoulders. It's a little unnerving watching the clueless Hikari go through life only thinking of challenging Takishima Kei until she could catch up to his undeniably impossible level.

I will admit. Hanazono Hikari has heart. At least she's not one to give up just because things look too difficult and she's a hard worker and does everything with the utmost fullest of her extent. She's a very idealistic girl. Sadly, she's also a very stupid girl as well who probably only gets to her high academic level through sheer luck and determination.

I can't help but to think that maybe Kei could give slack just a little and lose to Hikari for once. But then again, doing that would just be an insult to Hikari's willpower and he probably knows that as well which is why he never lets up on his skills.

"You're special," is what Hikari tells Kei, and for the first time in the entire series, I actually thought she was extremely cute.

The ending is good. I liked it. Even if the beginning was beyond rocky, the ending is quite worth the arduous journey-- that is if one can be patient enough to withstand the entire journey to get to the ending. And so there is little good to say about Special A because all that is good about it would be the bishies, the romances, sometimes the comedy, and the final good ending.

Although, I have to point out that this series boasted some of the most eerie set of people within a group of seven. Between the inhuman physical abilities, beyond high intelligence, and strange personalities, its hard to say that people like this truly exist in real life. Hikari, Sakura, and Akira alone could team up and beat the living snot out of a war-trained muscle man. Ryuu could easily be the smartest person in the entire series without all his obstacles. And Takishima Kei is just impossible in existence.

Special A... watch it or leave it. I would say, leave it for a rainy day and watch it while you're waiting for something better to come along.

thoughts: Spicy Pink (manga)

As a treat to my readers (population: 2?) I've decided to do a multiple posting of a few selected Kurahashi Erika-sensei manga as well as one Yoshizumi Wataru manga.

Basically this is my apology for being "gone" for the first two weeks of November even though I promised a lot of posts. As life plays it, I have work, work, and more work, and then I have homework. In the coming year, I will also be quite busy as more school work comes to me in the form of a new degree program.

And since I have no pressing readership duties, I figure that I can put off this blog if necessary. After all, this is basically something for me to do while I'm bored anyway. Right?

Aside from that, while I have at least two items I would like to post during December, I know that I may have to stall for a while. And so depending on my status, there may be no posting in December, and if so, there will only be two items... three at the most. I will try my hardest to create a spotlight for December as well, but I promise nothing.

Thank you for all you support up to now... for anyone who actually reads this blog. This week will be full of thoughts and first impressions. And the November spotlight may be scooted to the last week of the month, as has been the issue.

***

Creator: Yoshizumi Wataru
Genre: josei, romance, shoujo, comedy
Volumes/Chapters: 2 volumes (12 chapters)



Endou Sakura is a twenty-six year old shoujo mangaka who, after a serious relationship ended with her high school sweetheart, never bothered with another boyfriend. But then one night, her friend, Misono asks her to help fill a seat at a goukon and she agrees. It is there where she meets Koreeda Iku, a plastic surgeon who gives her a bad first impression by telling her what she should do with her face to look prettier.

Determined that she would happily never see him again after that night, she is surprised to find him surprising her with a visit as she sits at a local cafe planning her next manga. He tells her that he fell for her and that he would like her to be his girlfriend. Wanting a little bit of romance in her life in order to aid her in writing shoujo manga, Sakura agrees. She later learns that he too had had a reason for wanting a girlfriend, and on top of that, other complications arise as the two go through the relationship.

This particular manga was fun to read through because it was more down to earth than a lot of the other shoujo manga I've read (as oneshots or short stories); and this one is also filed under the genre of josei, which is a demographic aimed at older women and their love lives.

Yoshizumi-sensei not only draws her characters and settings to detail, but also creates characters and situations that are a little easier to grasp. Character's feelings are conveyed in a clearer, more precise manner.

In Spicy Pink, our two main characters are always at each other's throats when they aren't being lovey-dovey, and that's because Sakura is depicted as a stubborn yet carefree girl who has accomplished her dream of becoming a mangaka. Koreeda Iku is a plastic surgeon, and whether or not he likes this profession is in question since he had inherited his family's business. He is rather condescending in his tone when speaking with Sakura, and he's also rather aloof when it comes to their relationship.

It's a fun little combination, and the whole story basically follows the two as they learn to fall in love, learn more about each other, and go through the happy times and the complications together. Even though this is labeled as shoujo manga, and all shoujo romances are entitled to a happily ever after with the main characters, it was a little hard to predict how the end would come out when a third party joined for romantic interference.

But alas, happily ever after did happen and I'm grateful for that.

On the side, Koreeda Iku's younger sister, Risa, meets Sakura with glee as she is an eternal fan of Sakura's shoujo manga. Through Risa, Sakura learns about Koreeda's ex-girlfriend who passed away, Natsuko, and because of this incident, one of their obstacles forms. Also through Risa, Sakura meets her ex from highschool, Akira who is interested in dating Risa.

Another side story involves Sakura's mangaka friend, Misono and her relationship with Sugioka who had lied to her about being a doctor. The reasons that Misono always wants a rich boyfriend is because she has expensive taste as a mangaka, and whenever a man realizes this, even though Misono can afford everything she wants, they don't want to bother paying for it. So they leave her. Sugioka turns out to be a bookstore clerk and afraid that he'll leave her one day after learning about her expensive living, Misono leaves him first.

The story of Spicy Pink is full of twists and turns and makes for good drama if it would ever be adapted into live action. On top of the complicated romances, we also get a sneak peek into a "manga" version of mangaka lifestyle from brainstorming ideas, getting ideas rejected, receiving inspiration, and finally meeting deadlines at the last minute.

I, for one, have always enjoyed Yoshizumi Wataru's work due to the stories, the artwork, and how cute some of the characters can be. Much like many others, Yoshizumi-sensei is an excellent bishoujo/bishounen artist.

As of present, I am still waiting for some of her other works to be translated in order to be able to read them. I would suggest Spicy Pink to anyone who is interested in a cute love story.

thoughts: Love Love Shock (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: romance, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 1 volume (5 chapters)



Two years ago, Natsukawa Mei confessed to a boy she liked whom she met at a summer institution. Due to her appearance and having a cold at the time, she was mistaken as a boy and crushed when the boy tells her "I'm not interested in dating guys... sorry."

But in the present day, Mei has vowed to work harder to win the heart of this boy the next time she sees him. To her surprise, Miura Azusa, that very crush of hers from two years ago, appears on television and is currently known as the vocalist of the rising band Sonic Boom. Because of this, Mei is determined to enter the next singing contest in order to get close to Miura and confess to him once again.

Unfortunately, during the competition, Mei is told by Miura that she won't be able to win if she is simply a fan trying to get close to him. He didn't recognize her at all and so Mei is even more determined to win and show him up. But just as he predicts Mei does not win and is even taunted by Miura about it. With anger and determination, she rushes up to the stage and announces that she will definitely be a singer and makes the challenge to surpass Sonic Boom one day. Because of this, one of the members of Sonic Boom is impressed and pleads to the judges to let Mei pass into the next stage and become a singer for the company.

The road is bumpy for Mei when she meets the winner of the competition, Sakuragi Riko who dislikes her immediately. But the two are thrown together into a duet to make their debut and life goes on from there. The members of Sonic Boom become close to both her and Riko and when the girls debut, they hit it big.

As the time goes by, Mei is determined to make her confession once again after she's become famous enough. But obstacles pile up, one after another, and it almost seems like Mei will never be able to get together with Miura.

This is another short and sweet story by Kurahashi Erika. Again, cute characters and character designs. Kurahashi-sensei seems to have a love for the artist industry, as many of her stories revolve around celebrities, singers, and the like.

These, I have to admit, are pretty interesting as there are so many possibilities when it comes to telling a story about people in the entertainment industry-- a la Skip Beat! Of course, this may also have to do with the fact that many Asian communities can easily scout new and young talent-- I know Hong Kong does it regularly-- and then debut them. Everyone can become a star... it's just a matter of whether or not they remain a star.

I enjoyed this story a lot and thought it was really cute. Which seems to be Kurahashi-sensei's style. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to read something short and sweet, much like Charisma Doll or even her oneshot collection, Miss Prince.

thoughts: Miss Prince (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: romance, shoujo, drama
Volumes/Chapters: 3 oneshot stories



Story 1: Miss Prince
Hisahara Koto started dating Kagawa Tatsumi for two weeks after meeting him at her workplace as a babysitter for his younger siblings. Her main concern about dating Tatsumi is that he is extremely too perfect, and compared to him, she feels like she can't keep up with him. Although she really likes him, she can't help but to wonder if he's okay with having an ordinary and plain girlfriend. Tatsumi-kun is a good guy, representative of the class, and simply great at everything he does. All of the girls admire him and unanimously decide that Koto doesn't deserve to be with Tatsumi.

Complications arise because of Koto's insecurities and interference between the "fan girls" at school. The relationship between Koto and Tatsumi seems to be hanging very loosely, not mattering that Tatsumi has never seen a problem in dating Koto in the first place. When Koto loses the ring that Tatsumi gives her, she decides that she isn't good enough for Tatsumi after all and tells him that she wants to break up.


Story 2: Strawberry Kiss
Izumi Makino spends her days looking pretty and dating a variety of boys. Because of an incident last summer involving Minato Shiraishi who kissed her while she was asleep in class, rumors spread about the two of them and Makino seems unable to ever forgive Shiraishi for this. But in the present, Minato approaches her and tells her that he was in love with her then and is still in love with her now. Though he is the last person she ever wants to see, she knows that she'll never be able to forget who stole her first kiss.

Due to a school committie event involving a tour for dating spots, Makino learns that she has been paired up with Shiraishi. She ends up having a pretty good time with him and accepts that he likes her. Deciding to give him a chance, she agrees to go on a date with him and eventually ends up falling for him slowly before their first official date when he helps her out of a tough situation. But her various boyfriends keep coming to bother her and realizing that Shiraishi must think she plays around, she promises herself that she will go on the date and confess that she has fallen for him. Unfortunately, the two are already getting off on the wrong foot and there is no telling what Shiraishi feels for her anymore because of her dating so many guys.

On the day of their date, Makino trips and falls and makes her late for her date with Shiraishi. Afraid that Shiraishi may have stopped liking her, she forces herself to hurry to the meeting place, even on her bad ankle.


Story 3: White Calendar
Yukimi Kataoka and Junya Fukino met back in elementary school only to learn that Yukimi is a whole year ahead of Junya in school. The fact, however, is that Yukimi is really only ten days older than Junya, but because of the date that he was born, he couldn't attend the same grade as Yukimi. Since their meeting, they've been inseparable and as they live next door to each other, they go to school together every morning and head home together every evening. Everyone comments that Junya and Yukimi are like brother and sister, but the two like to stress that they are the same age, even though they treat each other like kids.

At school, Yukimi is dragged into the cooking club by her friend where all the girls go to in order to find a boyfriend. After all, the cooking club classroom looks right out into the sports field and the aroma of food attracts all the boys to the window to meet the girls. Yukimi is immediately asked out by one of the boys, even though her goal in the cooking club was to show up Junya in cooking skills. On Junya's side, he has a girl attached to him claiming to be his girlfriend and badmouthing Yukimi because she is a rival as well as in the cooking club.

Jealousy unfolds when Yukimi realizes she likes Junya romantically and Junya sees Yukimi being confessed to. Of course, the two can no longer see each other as just kids again.

***

The stories in Kurahashi Erika's manga are usually sweet and cute and this collection of oneshots is no exception. Miss Prince, like any other shoujo romances is a fun read up to the end because of the simplicity of the stories and the adorable factor in the characters and their designs.

I enjoyed these stories a lot, and of the three, my favorite was White Calendar, though it is quite hard to imagine love blossoming at such a young age. It's still cute and sweet and that's what makes these oneshots such good doses of "Chicken Soup for the Hopeless Romantic's Soul."

For short stories with a good cuteness factor, I highly recommend Miss Prince to anyone.

thoughts: Charisma Doll (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: gender bender, romance, school life, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 2 volume (9 chapters) + extra chapter



Mizuki Sara has a secret that she's keeping from all of her classmates, her friends, and even her rival in the music industry Shidou Hayase. She is actually the currently top and going music artist Sala whom everyone is raging about because nobody knows exactly what gender Sala really is.

The idea came about when Sara was young and wanted to go into the music industry. In order for her to attract attention, her mother created a ploy wherein Sala was introduced to the public without any background information. Because of the way she dressed and the way she spoke, there was no telling whether Sala was a guy or a girl. This brought a lot of attention and now Sala is one of the rising music idols among her peers.

Sara is more than capable of securing her status with just her singing and her onstage charisma, but her mother insists that she continue to act out the persona of Sala because she lacks charisma. Without a choice in the matter, Sala remains and Sara must now juggle her worklife with her school life.

But things become complicated for her when she is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend who had dated her because she looked like Sala in the first place. Because of this little comment, Hayase, another rising star in the music industry, takes pity on Sara and makes a fool of her boyfriend by telling the public in an interview that he plays around with girls and then dumps them.

After this incident, Hayase and Sara become friends within school and Sara realizes that she's become interested in Hayase. Even before they began talking to each other, however, Sara had already been a fan of Hayase who is the main vocalist for a band called The Rise. She even shows him her fan member card, "entry number 07777."

The two get along very well as Hayase and Sara, and Hayase comments that he likes Sala's music and thinks that Sala's voice is great. Sara comments that she thinks Hayase's music is way cooler and they end up striking a really close friendship.

But as the rising star Sala, Hayase is in every way, shape and form her rival. When Hayase meets Sala for the first time, his immediate impression is that Sala is very much like a girl. And later on, he even realizes that Sala really is a girl.

The story progresses from there with Sara trying to juggle her even more complicated lifestyle as Sala and Sara, who are both friends with Hayase, without telling him the truth. The series is short and sweet, and of course, the truths are revealed in the end and the main couple end up together. There is no drama, and there is no astounding complexities to this story. Basically, this is a teenage romance filled with trivial complications easily resolved.

Charisma Doll makes a good read because it is cute and sweet.

Kurahashi Erika draws simple, but she draws pretty as well. The transitions between scenes are sometimes a little jumbled.

But Charisma Doll was one of the first shoujo manga I'd read and so I treasure it as one that I will always like. This is a very enjoyable story for those who want a short and sweet piece of work, but something longer and with a little more depth than a simple oneshot.

news: this month and my attempt at self-exhaustion

As one can see from the coming soon area in my side bar, I plan on doing a lot of posting this month. And yes, the coming soon area has now transformed into a more of a "coming soon this month" type of deal. It's really there just to keep me on track so that I don't slack off; in other words, I kind of give my word to post those specific things and I shall go through with it all if I have to.

But onto the explanation of this month's planning:


In terms of anime, I've found that there are few catching my attention for this fall season. To begin with, the only ones I'm actually following closely are Skip Beat! and Michiko to Hatchin. I gave Kuroshitsuji a view and enjoyed it, so I will probably be watching that one as well.




Wagaya no Oinari-sama came to a close just recently and I have finished watching it as well. Even though I don't have it planned for this month, I will be writing a brief thoughts post on that series, as I admit that I enjoyed it enough to watch it until the very end, and keep up with it as each episode came out.

I plan on finishing up World Destruction so that I can be free of guilt in starting a new anime based on an RPG game, Tales of the Abyss. I'm also looking forward to the fourth Kara no Kyoukai movie which should be available sometime soon next month.

Naisho no Tsubomi seems to be at a standstill on the first episode of the three episode OVA, and I have yet to come across more episodes of Chocolate Underground. So these two anime are on hold as of now. The other anime that are on hold due to personal reasons may be revived soon as I intend to get back into watching Allison to Lillia as well as Hikaru no Go. Amatsuki is a different case altogether, and for some twisted reason, I can't seem to get myself to watch it.

Anyway, on to manga news, I have quite a few manga that I am planning on blogging about this month, as you can see, and these include many from the same mangaka as well as a few short stories.

My current obsession in manga is the pursuit of various oneshot collections and continuing to follow along with Lovely Complex, Ouran High School Host Club, Beauty Pop, etc, etc...

I may or may not begin reading Rurouni Kenshin and the few adventure shoujo manga I'd mentioned earlier. I've gotten a hold of Fushigi Yuugi and am considering putting that one on my reading list. As for those manga I have sitting on my actual side bar list, they are either ones I will read as soon as the next chapter comes out, or they are ones in which I've been thinking of reading but haven't bothered to lay a finger on yet.

Finally, once again, I am at a loss as to what to do about the monthly spotlight. There is the biggest possibility that I may post about another Yoshihara Yuki adult-themed work, but then again, I may just pull something completely random out of my head and go with it.

In the very distant future of anime viewing, I do plan on working up some hype on Natsume Yuujinchou's second season that I am very much looking forward to after overly enjoying the first season so much.

Some future posts not listed will include a few anime series I've already watched and plan to post about, even it is just a simple, short and brief summary and thoughts post. These include Tokyo Marble Chocolate, FLCL, Blood+, and even Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bepop.

My love for Cardcaptor Sakura has not waned even as it has been months since I last watched it. Thus I will be writing a few posts over it as well as rambling about why Cardcaptor Sakura was one of my favorite anime series despite it being targetted at younger girls, and why Sakura and Shaoran are my utmost favorite couple to date.

In tune with the above, I may even plan a few "My Favorite Anime... Bishies/Couples/Elements/Themes/..." etc. post. These are things that I want to do, but it's a little more complicated to actually have it written and sounding good, so I will not ask anyone to look forward to these things as I have no idea when I will even have them written.

For the next year (plans are all subject to change) I plan on trying to begin my "Ouran Marathon" and "Hana Kimi Special" posts in which I will detail each episode/chapter of the two stories each week, and even mention specifics within both such as characters, couples, possibilities, etc, etc...

And now I'm just rambling on too much and trying too hard. So before I make promises I know that I may not be able to keep, let's end it here and just look forward to whatever manga thoughts that are coming soon.

Thanks for sticking with me... (population: 2?).

news: pre-planning randomness

So Halloween is over and the layout of the page has changed. Granted, it probably won't be remembered, not even by me, but I still have the banner and might modify it to use for a different occasion. Then again, while I enjoyed Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, I didn't really care for it too much.

I wanted to use the Skip Beat! banner again, but didn't really feel like it, so I put up a different one, more in tune with the autumn season.

With business picking up at work, my posting and anime viewing has been limited recently, and so most of the things I post about will be over manga or anime I've already finished... probably a few months ago or whatnot. My current playlist is still in effect and I really did want to start watching some anime that give off a more "old school" feeling such as Rurouni Kenshin and Fushigi Yugi.

But anyway, this is no place to mention much since I have yet to officially make plans for this month's posting itinerary -- which changes often.

And so with little said in this post except for "I've changed the banner and colors!" let's enjoy November together.

Also, I've been informed by my blogger dashboard that I currently have one follower of this blog. This would be the first known reader of my blog and somehow, that makes me extremely ecstatic. I'm a little shocked, but I'm glad that someone out there is actually reading the things that I post.

Thank you very much! And I myself will keep up the posting goodness.