first impression: Strange+ (anime)

I have absolutely no idea what the heck this anime is about, but I just... I can't... not look at it.  I'm even going to throw-in a #strange+ even though I'm pretty sure I'm not using the hash tag properly (and I still don't understand the concept anyway) and I don't have a twitter...

But hey, this series got me to actually publish a blog post on this long abandoned anime and manga blog.  I just... needed to express my opinion, because somehow, I'm just... well, I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to talk about... except that the character with the blue hair is the big brother...

Take a second to let that sink in.

Yea.  I thought so, too.

Anyway...

Now that my consciousness has returned...

This series wasn't what I was expecting and everything just kind of, "came out of left field" for the lack of a better description.  I watched the first episode as a tester just to see what the series was like.  After it sped by with the strangest rapid-fire dialogue, I realized it was only a 3 minute short and that nothing was really making sense.

I went on to watch the second episode out of some sort of morbid, twisted curiosity.  And it's not like I didn't have 3 minutes to spare, right?

And then:  "In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

Yeah.  THAT happened; a dude said it (the tall dark dude on the left in the poster above).  It came out of nowhere completely.  I burst out in laughter.

And now I'm stuck.  Even though I have no idea what the heck is going on, I'm going to keep watching out of some twisted need to fulfill my morbid curiosity at what else will come flying out of nowhere... besides a bunch of shiny pink butts.

news: Hana Kimi @ the drama zone

Having recently been more interested in watching live action drama, I know that I've left this blog fairly unattended. It can't be helped since my interests change often from one area to another pretty sporadically. There is still hope that I'll return to the anime and manga blogging scene as there have been few anime series and manga series I have left unfinished. But while I continue on my new quest to enjoying live action drama, the animanga zone will definitely continue it's extended hiatus.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about it completely. Because in the coming future, I have my own plans to post certain articles in the drama zone in which will include some elements of anime or manga.

With that said, here are two live action drama series based off of ever popular cross-dressing reverse harem shoujo manga, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e by Nakajo Hisaya:


Hanazarkarino Kimitachie also known as Hua Yang Xiao Nian Xiao Nu (花樣少年少女) -- a 2006 production in the Taiwanese Idol Drama genre.
The story line to Hana Kimi is a perfect match for Taiwan's hit television series arena wherein Idol Drama's rule the entertainment industry, showcasing the hottest new artists and stars who are capable of singing, dancing and acting as well as simply looking pretty or handsome. Lead by S.H.E. girl group member Ella Chen alongside Fahrenheit boy group members Wu Chun and Jiro Wang, this series became vastly popular throughout Asia with it's sweet and fun story base as well as rising star cast. While probably not the best drama series production in Asian media, Hana Kimi truly was a hit among young girls all over the world. This series boasts musical numbers from S.H.E., Fahrenheit and Tank.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen Paradise -- a 2007 production from Japan, it is also referred to endearingly as IkePara.
As with any popular Japanese manga, it is only a matter of time before the country takes it's own productions to create a live action series for the people to enjoy. While not truly following the original manga story line, it takes elements and plot devices from the manga and incorporates them into a separate story altogether. Packed with hilarious Japanese humor and excellent comedic timing, this series boasts some wonderful entertainment as well as elements of slice-of-life philosophy about being young and following dreams. Among the cast are Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, and rising star Ikuta Toma who pretty much steals the spotlight from the ever beloved main couple. With this series, Ikuta Toma received his biggest break, capturing hearts of young girls all over the Asian region and catapulting him into main leading roles in his own drama series as well as movies.


Both of these above mentioned series have been analyzed to death by this weblog fangirl. There has never been a doubt that Hana Kimi will forever be one of my most favorite shoujo manga ever created as I can easily reread chapters upon chapters without feeling bored about them. As a warning, the articles posted above are fairly in depth and may contain spoilers. But as they were broadcasted more than four years ago as well as are based off of a well-known manga anyway, it probably doesn't hurt for me to spoil just a little bit of the story line. After all, for the most part, romantic comedies typically yield the same predictable formulas regularly.

thoughts: Seishun no Tamago (manga)

Creator: Nakahara Aya
Genre: comedy, drama, romance, slice of life, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 5 oneshot stories


Story 1: Spring Egg
Chika-chan's mother owns a lodging house for college students. The first to come live with them was a boy named Fujimori Tomohiro and since then, it has been love for Chika-chan. Unfortunately, Chika had to learn early on that Tomohiro had no interest in her at all when her mother makes him sign a contract saying that he'll never go after Chika. Not only did he sign the contract, but he also commented that it would never happen.

It has been a year since Tomohiro moved in and three other college students also are lodging with Chika's family. While their relationship is quite close, Tomohiro consistently treats Chika like she's just a little child; even though he knows that she has feelings for him, he openly rejects her time and time again, always calling her "just the lodging house's little brat," in front of others.

After openly offering herself to Tomohiro one night when they are alone at home, he doesn't even show any sign of being moved. Chika is finally set on giving up this one-sided relationship.


Story2: Sunflower Girl
Misaki has a crush on Kurita Kenji and in order to see him all the time, she purposefully eats sweets and junk food to give herself cavities. Kuri's family owns a dental office and upon going in, Kuri is always there hitting on the young girls jokingly or teasing Misaki. Due to summer break approaching, all the girls have the same idea of confessing to the guy they like before they separate and Misaki is encouraged to do the same by writing a letter. Unfortunately, a junior student is also interested in Kuri and has the same idea, beating Misaki to her confession.

In a fit of frustration, Misaki exclaims that she does not like Kuri and even refuses to go to his dental office even though her tooth aches. Realizing that she has been cowardly, the next time she sees Kuri, she breaks down into tears because of her toothache only to learn that Kuri has also liked her as well.


Story 3: Happiness Faces South!
Bon-chan is the type of guy who everyone adores because of a "magic" he creates when socializing. Bon-chan wears untrendy clothes and is extremely cheerful almost all of the time. And Bon-chan fell in love with Sakura at first sight after watching her hit an outstanding homerun even though she was dizzy with sickness from a cold. He later learns that Sakura is the younger sister of a renown beauty at his college.

Sakura had been in love with her sensei from softball and had recently learned that he got himself a girlfriend. Because of this, she got sick and while nursing herself back to health learns that her sister had just gotten a boyfriend. And then Bon-chan shows up and immediately attaches himself to Sakura, claiming that he likes Sakura the most.

But as Sakura begins to fall for Bon-chan's charms after his efforts to chase after her, she knows that she is no beauty compared to her sister. She overhears a few of their mutual friends gossiping that Bon-chan couldn't possible like Sakura and that he might be using her to get to the older sister instead. This occurs not too long after Sakura learns that her sensei and her sister were dating and she is not surprised because in the end, everyone falls for her sister anyway.

But Bon-chan gave his word that he would only look at Sakura and that it was Sakura whom he liked.


Story 4: Prince and I
Mari-chan's neighbor is a boy named Kaoru who is a year younger than her and he does not know how to ride a bike. Ever since she'd met him, she has liked him, and the two are always together, but not as a dating couple. Feeling depressed because even the elementary school kid has a girlfriend, Mari is ecstatic when Kaoru asks her to go to the planetarium with him after she mentions wanting to see it.

But when Kawase-senpai tells Mari that he likes her and wants to go out with her, jealousy takes over and Kaoru tells Mari to go with Kawase instead. After all, Mari had just twisted her ankle and Kaoru wouldn't be able to transport her home on a bike, so it was only right, right? But because of this, Mari has lost hope that Kaoru might care about her.


Story 5: 2 Block Honey
Satoshi and Micchan have been dating for at least a year, but back then, the two matched like such a nice couple. A year into the present, Micchan towers over her boyfriend by at least six centimeters and when she puts on another six centimeters worth of high heels, she is twelve centimeters much taller. And sadly, this affects Satoshi's thinking because he doesn't like that he's so much shorter than his "use to be cute" girlfriend.

Because of this, Satoshi has become irritated to the point that he wants to break up with her if she ever goes out with him in high heels again. But during the date to determine their status, all of the fates are against them when Micchan shows up in the only pair of shoes she can find, the six centimeter heels. They go on their date anyway, but when someone mistakens them for older sister and younger brother, Satoshi decides to end their relationship because of his pride.


Story 6: Spring, Air, Sunday
Sumito died not shortly after getting an agreement from his crush Risa to go on a date with him. At his funeral, his ghost sees Risa who is crying. And then he sees Haruno, his friend who can see him for some reason. Uncaring and cold, Haruno tells Sumito to leave and quit bothering her so he leaves just to find Risa; in doing so, he learns that Risa never really liked him and found it bothersome for him to chase after her. She only agreed to go on a date with him to shut him up.

Depressed, Sumito returns to Haruno's only to find out that she had been in love with him since the beginning even though she acted so cold about his death. And now, Haruno is on the roof ready to join Sumito as a ghost.

***

I really like oneshots, and even though I write a lot for the summaries, I really hope I don't give too much away.

Seishun no Tamago encompasses the greatness that is Nakahara Aya with her interesting characters, her wit and humor, and fun plot devices. This is a collection I enjoyed a lot, though I must say that nothing quite compares to Lovely Complex, not even the fifth story which was almost a direct knock off of Lovely Complex's idea, but with different types of characters and a different storyline.

Of the six stories, I enjoyed the first, third, and fourth ones the most. The third one, Happiness Faces South had one of the most interesting characters in the form of Bon-chan. I enjoyed his presence a lot and wouldn't have minded if the story was a little longer.

Again, Nakahara-sensei's witticisms do not cease to amaze me.

thoughts: Himitsu Kichi (manga)

Creator: Nakahara Aya
Genre: comedy, drama, romance, school life, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 4 oneshot stories



File 1: Boyfriend's Secret
Ikeuchi Kana is a first year high school student who can't stand childish boys. At a coffee shop near her house, she met the mature and good-looking Kaneda Kyouichi who, according to her investigations from the shop owner, is a twenty year old college student. She confesses to him not soon afterwards and he unhesitatingly agrees to go out with her.

Of course, after learning that Kana is a high school student, Kyouichi displays strange behavior, expressing that he thought she was the same age as him. The matter is, there is a secret about Kyouichi that the shop owner lied about, and when Kana finds out, it is a matter of whether or not she still wants to date him and if so, whether or not she wants her friends to find out. Also, Kyouichi has the nickname of Kanegon?


File 2: My Own Secret
Haruka Hiroko was walking home one day and by chance saves a boy being bullied. "I want to be a strong guy like you!" the boy exclaims, and by doing so, Hiro-chan angrily tells him that she's a girl-- although she has always been mistaken for a guy since young. Even though she dislikes that, at school it seems she has a reputation to keep as a cool judo club member and so keeps a secret about having a crush on the school idol, Yoshinaga-kun.

At school, she meets the weak boy she saved earlier, learning that his name is Kotake Jun and that he's in the handicrafts club-- he is quite girly as well. Meeting him afterschool at a convenience store, Jun unexpectedly learns that Hiro-chan has a crush on Yoshinaga and agrees to help her become girlier so that she can confess her feelings. In return, Hiro agrees to train Jun in judo so that he can become stronger.

An unexpected twist in the end has Hiro reevaluating her crush for Yoshinaga and her relationship with Jun.


File 3: Girlfriend's Secret
Seiji is the main vocalist to a local band and he is also in love with Eri, the girlfriend of one of his band members, Katagiri. But when he fell for her, it was because she told him she was moved by his singing. He had no idea that she was the girlfriend of Katagiri. By chance, Seiji learns something about Eri-chan and ends up in a complicated mess of secrets in order to help Eri-chan stay with her boyfriend.

But as time goes by with Seiji being the only person who knows this secret, it seems to draw the two closer, causing Seiji to become more and more jealous of Katagiri and his relationship with Eri-chan. In the process, Seiji is also told something revealingly shocking about himself.


File 4: My Secret
Afro Kawashima is thirty-four years old, has twelve years of experience as a performer, and is stuck on doing uninteresting and stupid gags and so he is not a famous actor. He is also the father of Kawashima Emi who is tired of being the lame actor's son. As this is the situation, Emi keeps his relation with the well-known Afro Kawashima a secret, and no matter how dotingly his father acts towards him, Emi can only return indifference.

And then one day, Afro Kawashima shows up to school revealing all the lies Emi had been telling about his family background. Not only that, but now everyone knows that the two are father and son.

***

There's something unique about the way Nakahara-sensei details her stories, even in oneshots. Each oneshot in this collection details a particular secret that each of the main characters has. As the readers, we learn about these secrets pretty early on, but the secret is still kept going up to the end of the short story.

The unexpected twists, especially in the first three oneshots are fun when found out. The second story may not seem to have a secret other than Hiro-chan's obsession with the school idol, but the surprise at the very end will have you rolling in your seat with laughter.

Between her witticisms, her surprises, and the facial expressions and whatnot, Nakahara Aya does not cease to amaze in her delivery of storytelling.

I like her work a lot for these reasons, as there has not been a story in which some part did not make me want to laugh out loud. These are especially found throughout Lovely Complex, but that will be for a different post in the future.

Himitsu Kichi is a fun and cute oneshot collection full of laughs, if not romance. Nakahara-sensei displays her awesomeness yet again.

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: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (anime)

otherwise known as The Wallflower or Perfect Girl Evolution
Episodes: 25
Genre: comedy, romance, shoujo, reverse harem


With the number of reverse harem shoujo manga out there, I become quite pleased when I find one that has been adapted into anime format. Ever since I discovered Ouran High School Host Club, I squeal in delight at the idea of watching any form of romantic comedy, shoujo manga adaptation, specifically reverse harem genre. Those are fun because unlike usual harem anime, the female protagonists don't give away fan service boob shots every five seconds and their chests aren't made out of synthetic materials the size of Mount Everest.

Does every female really have to have ginormous breasts in order to be in anime? Really now. That's why I like shoujo manga and anime. The chest is usually not the main focus of the screen.

Backing off of my soap box now...

And reverse harems are usually classified shoujo demographic while harems are classified as shounen or ecchi. To be given the choice, I will always choose shoujo reverse harems over ecchi harems. Less headache, less fan service... and occassionally a bit more tasteful in comedy and storytelling.

To date, this is the third reverse harem shoujo anime I've watched since anime became a regular diet on my viewing list. The first being Ouran High School Host Club and the second being Fruits Basket.

Of course, we make no mention that I've been gorging myself on shoujo reverse harem manga for the past six months as well -- Hana Kimi is god's gift to all shoujo fans out there!

hehe It's so amusing...
What better series to make mention of during this holiday season than one dealing in the dark arts and covered in skeletons, anatomical figures, and guts and gory.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge is a mouthful. But luckily it also has two other titles that it goes by: The Wallflower and Perfect Girl Evolution. From here on out, I shall be using whatever name pops up in my mind and whatever is easiest to type.

This series is mainly very straight forward about one girl and four guys living under the same roof with a given mission. Basically, to make a long synopsis short, these four men have been given the task of turning Nakahara Sunako (our heroine) into a proper and glamorous "Lady". This task proves to be rather arduous as Sunako-chan isn't simply a girl with low self-esteem and bad skin care habits.

It's the religion for followers of the 'Anatomical Figure' way. Or just morbid.
Her beauty is actually kind of creepy as well. I prefer the SD Sunako. Cause I'm weird like that.
Nakahara Sunako is morbid, twisted, and she's interested in everything that has to do with horror, dark arts, and the darkness of life itself. She hides her face under her hair, she hides herself in her dark room, and she probably wears the same comfortable looking track suit in every single episode. Her favorite holiday is Halloween and her best friend is a science anatomical figure named Hiroshi-kun whose guts are showing on one half of his body. Her other friends include Akira-kun and Josephine, another anatomical figure and a skeleton, respectively.

Within the twenty-five episodes, Sunako-chan is in her SD form at least 90% of the time. Only whenever she become very passionate about something having to do with her beliefs or with Kyouhei does she actually turn back into her original form as a young girl. Her heckcare emotions define the SD form and her emotional ups and downs define her normal look.

It can only be imagined how hard it would be for four young men, unexperienced as fashion consultants, to teach this girl how to become a proper lady for the sake of their rent. It also doesn't help that the girl nosebleeds every single time she comes in contact with anything overly "beautiful" or "dazzling" as she calls them.

In essence, the series is simply that straight forward. Hilarious antics ensue, interesting monologues, plot devices, and twists incur which sum up to the entire episodic series of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge.

Our four male protagonists thankfully each have a personality of their own (as usual reverse harem men do).


Takano Kyouhei is probably the main male protagonist as the storyline boasts a bit of a relationship between Sunako-chan and him. Kyouhei is rough and rude and impatient, but even as he claims that all he cares about is free rent, he readily understands Sunako's circumstances and takes care of her as well as his friends living within the mansion. He is proclaimed as "the prettiest of them all", which is kind of disturbing, but his demeanor and personality could contradict his own looks. As contrasted to the other three, at least he tries to fight his own "prettiness" and acknowledges it as some sort of issue...

All in all, I feel like this guy probably has the most depth than the rest of his co-male characters.


Oda Takenaga is a rather quiet, smart, and refined young man with the personality and background of a young master. Toyama Yuki looks like a girl, acts like a girl, and could probably be a girl as he is the most gentle and caring of the bunch-- I feel little sympathy for him being mistaken as a girl regularly and forced to dress like one. And Morii Ranmaru is simply a playboy with no personality-- I don't like him in the slightest.

The other regular supporting character is Kasahara Noi who is depicted as the "Lady" who worked hard to look and be the way she is at present. She is in love with Takenaga, admires Sunako-chan, fights regularly with Kyouhei, and gets along with the rest quite well.


I have little to say about this series but giving such a recap of the characters and the storyline. The series itself does not leave an impression. And while I am quite amused with the horror and dark arts themes circulating this series, the plot devices become quite old after a while.

Everything is usually quite funny the first time around. And then the ideas are reused, recycled, and repeated so many times that it loses its appeal.

I liked the dark arts theme. I enjoyed the "talking" anatomical figures, and Sunako-chan's SD form was actually very, very adorable. But her nose bleeding, her constant hiding in her room, her continous moping about being "ugly"... it all just ended up becoming quite annoying. Her fascination with anything dark and twisted always piqued my interest, but got old real fast.

It was a good thing that Sunako-chan proved to at least be efficient in some areas where many shoujo manga girls are not. She can cook, she can clean, she's not academically stupid, and she has her set of common senses despite being morbid and twisted. Sunako-chan is not an idiot; she just simply sees the world in a very, very twisted way.

Did I mention that she's very dark and twisted?

The guys annoyed me too. I mean, are there truly men out there who look as beautiful as women... and even more so when they actually dress up as women? I feel a little down just thinking about the fact that a man could possibly be prettier than me when he puts some effort into it-- though it takes little effort to get to that point.

But still... I guess this is just a typical Japanese manga thing to have men be able to look just as beautiful as a woman.

Men who look "pretty" are kind of creepy in my own personal opinion.
As far as the series goes, it was all good entertainment. I like anime and manga aimed at the shoujo demographic. It's as simple as that. If the series had ended with a good romantic wrap-up between Sunako and Kyouhei, I would have been happier, but there was only a hinting and Sunako still nosebled all over Kyouhei. So even as the anime series is over, I hold no hope for any progress in their relationhip any time soon in the manga which is still ongoing.

Nonetheless, the relationship between them is quite heartwarming. Of course, this is setting aside the fact that Sunako tried to kill Kyouhei on many different occasions, can't seem to look him in the eye without having a nosebleed, and calls him "dazzling creature" in a rather resenting tone. Otherwise, they seem to like each other and can get along fine.

Side characters in the series were nothing but background noise and quite annoying. The episodic plots were some you would have to take with a pinch of salt and a spoon of sugar.


The landlady who is also Sunako's aunt, affectionately addressed as "Oba-chan" by the boys, is an interesting lady what with her constant changing of boyfriends and her outrageous entrances and exits. All-in-all, she's not a bad person and I can see how Sunako would enjoy her presence so much despite her being such a beautiful woman.

I enjoyed the series up to a certain point. I liked the theme music. And Sunako's seiyuu Takaguchi Yukiko did an excellent job, especially with all the voice changing between Sunako's human form and SD form.

As far as the must see factor on this series, I'd simply say this is something I wouldn't mind watching simply to pass the time. If you're looking for something wonderful to tell your friends about, this series probably isn't it. But it was fun, it was funny, and it was entertaining. I will admit that I really enjoyed the anime a lot. It's just not something I would become hooked on such as the likes of Ouran High School Host Club or Lovely Complex.

I've seeked out the manga version and plan on viewing it soon. It is still ongoing and so there is still much development to be seen. Hopefully it will satsify my fangirl desires where the anime could not.

I found that I quite enjoyed the relationship between Kyouhei and Sunako and I liked to see them together like this, with Sunako in her SD form. It's rather cute.

first impression: Nanaco Robin (manga)

So I worship the ground that Nakahara Aya-sensei walks on because I love her works and all. In fact, I even did a whole spotlight on her as the very first for this blog. Ever since, I've gotten my hands on all of the manga by her that I could, and while I haven't really written my thoughts on the ones I've read, I will in the near future.

Here today, however, is a current series by Nakahara-sensei which has one volume out so far (two chapters available to me in English) and hopefully more to come soon.

The story sets up the first chapter with Nako crashing a wedding and taking away the groom. It's quite the exciting opening for any story and we later find out that she has crashed this wedding not for her sake, but for her sister's sake. Because the marriage was arranged and her sister and the groom are in love, she helps them elope. Unfortunately, the younger, delinquent brother of the groom seems to have lost a place to live, she realizes that she is responsible for this and so her family takes him in wholeheartedly.

The premise of the story is a very good one with lots of potential. Seeing as how it's a romantic shoujo comedy, there are so, so many possibilities at hand with the male protagonist moving in with the female protagonists.

Also a part of the already known plot is that the little brother, Konatsu, is quite the "misunderstood" delinquent -- another one of those "bad boys with a heart of plate gold" types who can be nice sometimes even though he seems really rought. We find out as well that Nako had been in love with the man she helped to bring her sister together with and is currently recovering from that lost love.

The first chapter alone ends with the entire series' set up. Konatsu moves in with Nako's family, we meet all of the younger siblings within her family, we meet Nako's friends, and we also establish a first impression based relationship between Konatsu and Nako which is close to the classic "I don't even want to be in the same room as him/her" type.

Much has occurred within the second chapter including meeting Konatsu-kun's "best friend", and there is still more to come, I'm sure.

The personalities are still a little hard to distinguish, but Nako-chan is quite the strong-type female character as she can easily punch the living daylights out of Konatsu-kun. Konatsu is being an extreme brat, but he has his reasons, though that does no mean I will keep my self from throttling him. I love Nako's best friends, especially Bu-chan. Her siblings are interesting creatures too and I look forward to seeing all the comedic antics they provide.

This will definitely be a good series and wouldn't be surprised if it becomes popular in the future as it progresses. There are so many characters to work off of and the relations between the family and others (the customers who frequent Nako-chan's family store) seem to have good dynamics.

As far as my interest is concerned, I am completely looking forward to reading more of this series as it comes out by chapter. I love Nakahara-sensei's work and wouldn't miss any of it.

thoughts: Skip Beat! (anime) -- the audition and the significant failure

Hehe, I like this picture of her.

Episode 2: Banquet of Shivering
Episode 3: Missing Feelings; An Emotion She Lacks

I'm not fond of blogging anime by episode just because I'm a lazy person. I like reading others blog about anime by episode, but only after I've already seen that particular episode because blogs always give away a basic summary of the episode's direction. That, and I like to be able to have my own first hand impressions from watching the anime itself rather than reading a rough summary about it and then being ready for possible surprises, sad scenes, comedic scenes, and stuff like that.

Here right now, however, I wanted to mention my thoughts on these two episodes of Skip Beat!, though more notably episode 3 because of how symbolic it is for the rest of the storyline. In truth, episode 2 was nothing special because it felt more like a transition stage where Kyoko goes from ordinary girl to "some girl doing what she can to get into showbiz for the sake of revenge."

SA-WA-RA-san... don't look directly into her eyes...
Episode 2 was really just a place for dear Kyoko-sama to display her demonic side to the fullest. Yea, this is the one where she literally haunts poor Sawara-san and his family until he gives her a chance in the entertainment industry. It's an episode full of lolz and one must give props to Sawara-san for enduring as long as he did and for caving in and letting Kyoko do as she pleased rather than calling the cops and having her arrested for disturbing the peace-- in which case the girl would probably still find a way to come back and haunt him.

Ready for action!
Probably not the best impression to be giving... or demonic aura.
Episode 3 begins with the infamous newcomer auditions wherein Kyoko will try to hit it off in the entertainment world and where Kyoko gains a good impression towards the president of LME. As many of us who read the Skip Beat! manga already know, Kyoko's talent presentation is out of the ordinary and her shortcomings earn her no spot in the further audition as she is booted out almost too quickly.

It is because of this audition, however, that Kyoko finally finds herself realizing that she is pathetic for revolving so much around Shotaro, and yet even then she cannot help it. Kyoko had spent her entire life living for the sake of Shotaro to the point where no matter what she did, it was always for Shotaro and no one else, not even herself or for others who might care.

To make a long point shorter, Kyoko realizes that because of her past with Shotaro as well as her history with her mother, she has lost the will and the ability to love-- period. It isn't a romantic love that she has lost because of Shotaro, but it is the ability to care for or let other care for her at all.

Because of her mother leaving her when she was young, Kyoko has placed all of her time and energy in Shotaro because she whole-heartedly believed that Sho would be her prince for life and lover her forever. And then not long ago (refer to episode one) Shotaro broke her heart without remorse. And to this day, even though he is not around her, he still manages to taunt her in her reveries.

It's a sad, sad situation to realize something so depressing and so pathetic about oneself.

Kyoko failed the auditions because she lacked the ability to love. And because she lacked the ability to love, she feels as if she's lost the ability to do anything else anymore. And thus she's given up on her pursuit of the entertainment industry, which would mean that she's given up on her revenge for Sho, no matter how much she still resents the bastard.


I'm happy to learn that I'm not the only person who was moved by Kyoko's scene in which she realizes how pathetic she is, how she had lost her important human feeling of love, and how she'd wasted her entire life being Shotaro's slave girl. While in the manga I hadn't been too moved as I was this time seeing the scene in animation and hearing the devestating sobs coming from Kyoko, I still recognized it as a significant turning point in Kyoko's journey.

This was an extremely effecting scene and while not moved to cry right alongside Kyoko, I could almost feel her sadness even by simply watching her cry like that.
Because now that she's realized what is wrong with her, Kyoko, with enough willpower and determination, which she has, will be able to pinpoint it over and over again and learn how to overcome this hurdle.

In following episodes, assuming they continue to follow closely to the manga as they have done so far, we get to see this new and revived Kyoko breaking down all those walls one after another. Each time a situation presents itself to brutally assault her and her emotions, she will fall, but she will also rise back to the occasion and take on the challenge once again without fail.

This is what makes Mogami Kyoko such an idealistic girl and such a counter heroine for all those weepy romance shoujo manga heroine who's lives depend on whether or not their designated hero will fall in love with them too. Don't get me wrong; I like a good cheesy romance oneshot as well as the next shoujo manga fangirl. I just also like to read or view some stories with depth and substance sometimes as well.

Skip Beat! is definitely a unique manga in the class of shoujo demographic. While I too feel like the romance in the manga is devloping rather slowly like others, I also feel like I wouldn't change the pacing and the storyline for any reason.

Getting back on topic, episode 3 was a rather significant plot device which will later on be emphasized due to Kyoko's undying determination for the things that she does. What makes Kyoko such a unique person is her ability to continue standing right back up everytime she happens to fall, and no matter how hard and how far she falls. That and her innocent, yet tainted nature-- a unlikely combination in one person, but not impossible as seen by Kyoko's existence in the fictional world.

Anyway, as per usual, I look forward to seeing more of the anime adaptation. I look forward to continuing to read the manga. These first three episodes have so far covered the entirety of Volume One of the manga and so at this rate I hope that my favorite parts of the manga will be able to reach the animation.

first impression: Skip Beat! (anime)

Oh, Kyoko-sama how I had yearned for thee...

I honestly thought that someone out there was horribly pissed at me and wanted to make me miserable. It took a good long while for me to find my beloved first episode of the Skip Beat anime adaptation of which I'd been looking forwad to since I first heard about there being an adaptation. When everyone else was blogging about the first and second episodes, I was still clinging to the edge of my seat in wait.

But, all of my waiting has come to a good result. I finally got my hands on the first episode and thoroughly enjoyed the heck out of watching Kyoko lose her sanity and unleash her silently brewing Kyoko-demons when Sho finally unveils his scheming, moronic, asshole of a personality of which could have only held Kyoko at his beck and call. Any other girl would have already dumped the jerk a long time ago rather than waiting for him to openly admit that he only really asked Kyoko to be with him so that she could do the cooking, cleaning, and worshipping and working her butt off to make sure he had a place to stay while he rose to stardom.

As any other person known to follow the Skip Beat manga religiously, I hate Shotaro's spoiled brat ass.

But anyway, it seems that the first episode of Skip Beat does well to cover the first act of the manga. We get to see how Kyoko slaves away to make her Sho-chan happy and be able to live royally. We get to see how anything and everything she does is for Shotaro (that bastard) and as much as I hate to admit it, the manga shows this aspect a little better than the anime does. We get to see everything that had to do with the old Kyoko and how she was such a kind, sweet, and caring person.


And then Pandora's box -- as the first episode title implies -- is opened and all hell is unleashed in the fury that is Kyoko's grudge demons. When Kyoko finds Sho telling his manager how he isn't the least bit happy with Kyoko's praises, how he only asked her to come with him to Tokyo to support as a live-in maid and not as a girlfriend, and how he was more interested in women such as his manager Shoko-san, Kyoko snaps.


For those who have digest the manga again and again, we all know that Kyoko doesn't cry and plead with Sho like a weak little girl. Instead, she rages with anger and declares that she wants revenge for everything that Sho has said and done to her. She's through with being a little underappreciated slave girl and she vows to make Shotaro grovel at her feet for forgiveness by beating him down at his own game. And when Sho invites her to join the industry so that she can do such a thing, as far as the manga goes, Kyoko takes up his offer with open arms.

But up to now we are only shown Kyoko's spirit and determination. After all, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and Kyoko has had a horribly hard life even as a child -- all of this revealed in the manga and hopefully soon to be revealed in coming episodes. For those of you who haven't even glanced at the Skip Beat manga, Kyoko-sama has a long road ahead of her to travel if she wants to reach a height much further than that ass of a man Shotaro.

Kyoko-sama has probably always been quite creepy... she's just a lot cooler when she realizes her "demonic" potential.

As far as the anime goes, it is very fast paced and very accurate compared to the manga. I have a feeling that the anime will continue to follow exactly as the manga, but hopefully it won't loiter around privy details so that we can make it up to the filming of Dark Moon (or maybe that will be part of a sequel to Skip Beat's anime which would be fine by me as well).

I can't seem to grasp the voice that is Tsuruga Ren. Konishi Katsuyuki is a good strong male voice. But somehow, it doesn't seem to give off that same vibe that Ren has always given me. But due to the very few scenes that Ren appears in for this first episode, I may be jumping the gun by commenting on him.

As for Miyano Mamoru, he is doing exemplary excellent as Sho. I like it. He can pull off the moody, coolness that is Sho as well as the moronic secretive character that only Kyoko has ever seen. He sounds good as an asshole and I praise him well. Knowing that he can sing is a good thing too as Sho is supposedly a rising star in the singing industry and extremely popular and talented as well.

Inoue Marina is doing fine as Kyoko. Although I think I'll appreciate her more when she retains her "evil Kyoko" tone which she will have to have for a good few episodes to appease Kyoko's anger until her innocent and naive side comes back out.


All in all, the anime adaptation was not what I had been expecting. The animation isn't all that great and the character designs are carbon copies of the manga. The music is passably good, and as the anime is sticking with the original storyline, there is little to question about it.


I look forward to seeing the rest of the cast soon. As far as spoilers go, the next episode will be the infamous casting auditions and Kyoko meets Kotonami Kanae for the first time. I can't wait to see the interaction between Kyoko and her good friend Moko-san, and I definitely can't wait until Kyoko meets with Maria.

As a fan of shoujo manga, romances, and fun anime such as Skip Beat, even if the results are not what I expected, I know I will sure continue to watch it. After all, I followed Special A all the way to the end, there is no reason to pass up Skip Beat at all -- ugh... bad comparison, but you get the point.

thoughts: Caramel Milk Tea (manga)

When I go, I end up rolling right through without stop. Hopefully this pace keeps up, but I do have a test coming up and a lot of application work to do. That and business at my part-time is picking up so hopefully I'll at least have time to finish up a few review thoughts on some anime as well as all the manga I've been digesting lately.

Just as well, I'm dying to write about my top ten bishounen and the fact that I've been obsessed with bishies in glasses lately.

But anyway, onto the second manga thoughts post... that is if you don't count this month's spotlight for Sheet no Sukima.

***


Creator: Maki Usami
Genre: drama, romance, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 1 volume/ 4 oneshot stories


Story 1: Caramel Milk Tea
Okada Miki falls in love at first sight with Sasaki Ryuuji, a waiter at a small coffee shop when he looks directly at her one day. However, upon bravely asking him out, she is immediately rejected with a simple "The exit is in that direction." Unexpectedly, Miki is now a part-time worker at the same coffee shop and on her first day, Sasaki shows her the same kind of coldness he'd done so before, which irritates her immensely. "That kind of guy thinks so highly of himself just because he's passably hot," had been the words of one of Miki's friends. Because of this incident, Miki realizes that she must have been crazy to have fallen for a guy like this.

Now Miki is determined to work hard in order to prove that her being at the coffee shop has nothing to do with Sasaki. As the time goes by, both Miki and Sasaki begin to see a new side of each other. Sasaki accepts that Miki is there at the coffee shop to work and Miki learns why Sasaki had been so rude to her when she'd confessed to him. But as time goes by and the two become closer, Miki realizes that she is still in love with Sasaki.

Story 2: Our Time
Eri and Shirou have been friends since childhood, but were separated for four years when Shirou's family moved away. At present, reunited barely a month ago, Eri is less than ecstatic to learn that "quiet and cute" Shirou from the past is now "somewhat of a smart ass."

In a desparate attempt to make her ex-boyfriend leave her alone, Eri carelessly asks Shirou to be her boyfriend-- although knowing her motivation, Shirou willingly agrees. Somewhat taken aback both by her brutish request and his quick response, Eri questions Shirou to learn that he's been in love with her ever since they were kids. Because of this, Eri feels extremely guilty for what she's making him do and finds herself slowly falling for him.

On top of that, Eri has a secret she's keeping from Shirou, which she absolutely does not want him to know. The present-day Eri is not so much the same Eri that Shirou had fallen in love with years ago.

Story 3: A Sparkling Mood
Narumi has a crush on the school's top student Miyamoto, but unfortunately she and her family will be moving away from the city as soon as the end of the semester rolls around on December 25th. In order to do something to convey her feelings, Narumi is set on knitting a scarf for Miyamoto as a good-bye present, but is found out by Miyamoto's friend Kanzaki. While at first seeming unapproachable, Kanzaki turns out to be a kinder person than Narumi expected when he helps her choose a ready-made scarf for Miyamoto. As an added plus, he even takes her to see beautiful, sparkling Christmas lights when she admits to liking the feel that they give her and that she'll be moving away soon.

Because of this short meeting, the two become closer as they work together to decorate the school's trees and bushes with lights for the holiday. Little by little, Narumi realizes that she has grown more attracted to Kanzaki and has completely set aside her unadvanced feelings for Miyamoto to the point that she has even forgotten to buy the scarf she'd intended to give to her previous crush.

But the fact still stands that Narumi will be moving away soon and Kanzaki is still under the impression that she is in love with Miyamoto.

Story 4: No. 1 Girl
At the age of seventeen, Saiko is a popular model who is in the middle of forwarding her career. Unfortunately, amidst this decision is also the conflict of what will happen to her relationship with her boyfriend Hajime. Because of this, Saiko hadn't been able to bring up the courage to discuss this ordeal with Hajime and the two end up growing tense with their relationhip.

While it seems that Hajime can be understanding of her decision, Saiko is still conflicted. After all, she must either move away to further her career at this point, but lose her boyfriend. Or she can remain where she is right now, stay with her loving boyfriend, but lose out on an opportunity to climb the ladder higher to her goal.

Maybe it's not as complicated as Saiko thinks it is.


Thoughts:
I'm a guppy when it comes to oneshots. I get giddy and excited because oneshots are short and sweet, and present to you an entire romance story nicely packaged within a few pages. There is no long, drawn out-development, and there is no room for overly complicated issues to take form. We pick one simple issue and expand on it into a short oneshot manga story.

Basically, one shot stories make for really good doses of crack for the romance lover's soul. They're satisfying and their sweet and they're conclusive too so you're not sitting on the edge of your seat wondering when the conclusion will come around and why it hasn't already. One shots have their charm like longer series have their charm like ongoing series have their charm.

Caramel Milk Tea is actually a rather sweet title for this series, taking it from the first short story of the collection. I personally really enjoyed these four stories, and my favorite of the bunch was the first, Caramel Milk Tea.

The build up of the romance between Sasaki and Miki was a given, but the sudden declaration by Miki that "I must have been crazy to fall for a guy like you" was a little unexpected it. I had expected her to be a bit of a cockroach and continue on her pursuit instead of announcing that she doesn't like him anymore so quickly. Most shoujo manga females are quite cockroach like and it gets on my nerves so I was delighted to see Miki stand up for herself and say, "Screw him." After all, a lot of men are the type who don't bother with girls who are persistent and will become intrigued by girls who become hostile towards them. Men are men after all... greedy pigs.

But I digress... and almost climbed on top of my soap box. Whoops!

Anyway, Caramel Milk Tea was a cute little collection of one shots.
My preferences were the first and third stories. The second one was good too, and I really didn't care much for the last. I enjoyed it through, and anyone else who likes short story romances will probably enjoy them too. Usami Maki's artwork is quite pretty, but very simple and plain. I wouldn't really classify her males as bishounen, but the girls are drawn quite bishie-like so it's still good.

Overall, though short and sweet, it was exactly that. Very sweet (no pun actually intended). And for one, as a hopeless romantic, Caramel Milk Tea's first oneshot is one that I don't mind reading over and over again.

spotlight: Sheet no Sukima (manga - mature)

A little late, but here it is, the spotlight for this month that I'd been putting off because I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to write about it.


Warning: Even though this post does not contain anything fairly explicit in terms of adult themes, the manga mentioned is indeed filed as smut mature. Also, this post even makes mention of such things as sex and may offend those who do not take kindly to open mention of mature themes. Please proceed if you are okay with reading about smut.


Ahem... First of all... yes, I do read manga that is a little adult in nature. I indulge because I can.

But aside from being a little smutty, showing some nudity as well as some intense X-rated sex love scenes, the artwork, story, and complete feel of this particular manga by Yoshihara Yuki is actually very beautiful and cute. First and foremost, the work by Yoshihara Yuki, I've noticed is romantic comedy. The smut is just an added bonus to us obsessed fangirls...



Sheet no Sukima is a collection of six short stories that contain romance, comedy, intimacy, and even some angst and drama. But I make no mistake when I mention that the manga doesn't go out of its way to display sex, sex, and more sex as the main part of the stories. In fact, the way the stories flow, love scenes are weaved in as if they were just another part of a couple's intimate life. Because, after all, even though I'm a one hundred percent virgin in RL, I understand that sexual intercourse is a fairly natural part of life.

But my take on the subject is really better off left for some other post not related to anime and more for some unrelated, controversial website.

Within this little gem of a oneshots collection I was graced with three romantic comedies and three not so comedic romances.

First off, Sheherazade and the title oneshot Sheet no Sukima are my personal favorites of the entire collection. Yoru no Bannin is also a cute little story, but different from the rest of the oneshots, it does not contain an ounce of smut at all. Kizuato, and Izayoi are both much shorter one shots that each have quite a surprising twist in the ending two pages that you would have never guessed. Blanc is a bit more twisted in nature with no actual surprise plot or endearing romance, and is probably just a filler with smut on another controversial topic. Of the latter three, Kizuato has a rather sad ending that moves your heart-- even if only for a second.

So why is this particular manga the spotlight of this month? I had so many spotlights planned, but all-in-all, I could not resist making Sheet no Sukima the gem of September.

Basically, I just loved the romance and the comedy within the first three oneshot stories to death. They were funny at the right moments, romantic at the right moments, and Yoshihara-sensei doesn't go overboard trying to cover the panels with nudity or explicit material.

Altogether, the collection is a wonderful, beautiful read. I simply just enjoyed it so much that I just had to give it a special post. And a spotlight seemed perfect.

I plan on writing an actual thoughts with short summaries over this manga, so I won't try to give too much away.

But if I wanted to point out one scene within the manga that I thought was absolutely breath-taking, it would surprisingly have to be a certain love scene in the first oneshot, Sheherazade. As I am trying to keep this blog a little more or less not above X-rated, I can't post this particular scene as a picture and I mention it so that others may see for themselves if you happen to be little offended by mature content.

But after reading over the manga for the second time mainly for the story itself, I sat and stared in some sort of entranced way at one particular scene of the main couple sitting together nude about to slip into another night of passion. The background is completely black and the flower effect is drawn around them to add onto the beauty. Even for a love scene it was quite beautiful and I couldn't help but to just "look" at it and think: "Wow! This is gorgeous!"

In a weird way, it totally overshadowed the fact that the main couple would soon end up making love in the next few panels and that the manga itself included smut. The scene was just plain and simply beautiful.

In the end, the more I think about the manga, the more I felt that it deserved a good mention. Because it contains explicit material, and because Yoshihara-sensei is mainly a mangaka of the adult genre of romantic comedies, anyone who isn't open to such types of manga would probably miss out on this collection of oneshots, and thus miss out on the first two commendable stories, Sheherazade and Sheet no Sukima.

The characters are created uniquely, and Yoshihara-sensei has a good eye for handsome manga men and beautiful manga women. Most importantly, amidst all the shoujo manga that focus always on high school students and their loves and such as well as the taboo on "sex as high school kids", Yoshihara-sensei focuses more on those men and women who have already stepped into society as adults with careers and don't make such a big scene about sex being taboo.

Aside from being enraptured by Sheet no Sukima, Yoshihara-sensei has become one of the few liked mangaka I've found. Aside from her pretty character designs, her comedic timing and the way in which she artfully portrays the humor is very enjoyable. Although unfortunately, like all shoujo manga, Yoshihara-sensei's stories also base themselves around the nice, calm and level-headed male and a rather crazy and hormone driven, ditzy female.

But I digress.

Sheet no Sukima is absolutely a wonderful experience. Forget the fact that it is labeled as smut or mature! Forget the fact that some taboo themes occur in two of the six oneshots in this manga collection. Even if the first three were the only oneshots of the collection that I read, I would be completely satisfied because they are, as mentioned already, first and foremost romantic comedies.

I highly recommend this collection of oneshots to anyone who doesn't mind a little nudity and a little bit of adult material. And sooner or later, I also plan on writing a thoughts post on this manga.

But here you finally have September's gem spotlight.

thoughts: Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (anime)

I have to say, if there is something that I like about this guy, it's his very handsome glasses wearing look.
Creator: Shirodaira Kyou
Genre: mystery, drama, comedy
Episodes: 25

The premise of Spiral is based around Narumi Ayumu's search for his older brother Kiyotaka through those known as the Blade Children. Narumi Kiyotaka disappears without a trace two years ago and left only "Blade Children" as a clue to his little brother over the phone. Just as well, Kiyotaka also left behind his newly wed wife Madoka who ends up taking on the role of older sister to Ayumu.

In the present, murders occur that surround both Ayumu wherein he learns the first clues he's had about the Blade Children since his last contact with Kiyotaka. Because of this, Ayumu reluctantly walks into the schemes of these Blade Children time and time again, whether to help his newest partner in crime, Yuizaki Hiyono, or because of sheer interest in finding his brother's whereabouts through these Blade Children.

Cryptic much...

- credits to Spiral @ wikipedia

He's not the best looking bishie, but he gets brownie points for having a good sense of fashion and nice hair.
Narumi Ayumu -- voiced by Suzumura Kenichi
As the main protagonist of Spiral, Ayumu is a highly intelligent, though fairly uncaring high school boy in his first year. His daily routine involves skipping classes to sleep on the roof, then going home to cook dinner for his sister-in-law turned elder sister, Madoka.


Ayumu shows very little care for anything going on around him, but his interest is always piqued when anything that may have to do with his elder brother is mentioned. For two years, both he and Madoka have struggled in the search for Kiyotaka and with the appearance of the Blade Children, both become obsessed with searching for the truth behind the murders involved.

As a person, I feel like I can overpower Ayumu simply by punching him in the face, which is what I am tempted to do a lot throughout the series. Ayumu is not, by any means, a horrible person, nor is he an arrogant ass either, but the extent of his wallowing can get very annoying after a while. After all, this boy is highly intelligent, can solve all the murder cases in the blink of an eye, and can figure out problems without sweating. He's a great cook, apparently, and everyone else around him has the utmost faith that he can do anything he puts his mind to doing.

Men who can cook get +10 points in my book. Anime males voiced by Suzuken-sama get +100 more. And bishies with the cool look get another +10. Sadly, it's also -50 for unnecessary melancholy...
But in practically every episode, he is constantly comparing himself to Kiyotaka and claiming that he just can't do what everyone expects of him. What he doesn't seem to be able to grasp is the fact that, for an average human being, he has already surpassed normal expectation and needs to learn how to believe in himself every so often. But instead, he just compares himself to his older brother and then sulks.

It's fairly annoying. And then the way he treats Hiyono is also unforgivable, even if he has his redeeming moments where he actually considers her a friend.

In the end, however, I actually like this guy quite a bit. Poor kid simply has an overwhelming brother complex and was probably constantly compared to Kiyotaka during their childhood. Even if one were to tell him not to aim for Kiyotaka's level and simply aim as high as he can, he wouldn't be able to do it. In short, the way he can warm up to Hiyono finally and accept his potential and at least try and do what he can is commendable.

Ayumu, no matter what the situation, will come around eventually and come through for us and solve the problems without a sweat.

Being voiced by my favorite seiyu, Suzuken gives him bonus points for personality. Kenichi Suzumura does excellently in these calm, cool guy roles and it shows. He portray's Ayumu's boredom, his struggle, and his heck-care attitude smoothly.


In the end, Ayumu, I believe, just needs that little pick-me-up (though consistently) to realize that he isn't a loser. Which is where his partner, the infamous school journalist comes into play.


Splash screens make for good Hiyono-chin introductory scenes.
Yuizaki Hiyono -- voiced by Asano Masumi
Hiyono is probably one of the most lovable female characters in anime history. Though her antics and actions may come off as annoying and over the top for anyone else, she manages to pull them off wonderfully because of her cheery personality and her redeeming optimistic views on life. As the school journalist, Hiyono's network of information is extremely expanse which proves very useful in helping Ayumu with his investigations. Hiyono herself is very admirable for the way in which she is able to obtain information that any average high school student wouldn't be able to get.

Throughout the series, Hiyono is a very happy-go-lucky, intelligent, and optimistic girl. Her faith in Ayumu's ability is her winning trait, and ever since she meets him from episode one, her loyalty and faith in him is unwavering, not even for a second. When near the end it seems she has lost faith in him, she unexpectedly turns around and says to him, "Seems like the Narumi-san I once knew is gone. It can't be helped. I will wait until he comes back. If you meet Narumi-san somewhere, please tell him... 'Have the fighting spirit!'" And then she walks off with all the confidence that she has woken Ayumu back up and that he will return to doing what he can to help the Blade Children rather than brooding.
Fight-o! Fight-o!
Yay!
Another day in the life of Hiyono-chin meets Narumi-tan... wait, isn't this a mystery and drama anime?
Hiyono's character is very cute, by anime standards. Her cheerfulness is addicting and annoying at the same time, and some may want to know where to find the off switch for some peace and quiet. But when she's not jumping around and singing her strange song, you tend to miss her presence.

I would never want to see a sad Hiyono, because then would be proof that the world has come to an end.

The seiyu of Hiyono is unfamiliar to me, and so I can't judge the performance as compared to others, but she does quite the job bringing out the cheery attitude of Hiyono without fault. Her voice acting remains consistent throughout the series and never goes over the top, even for Hiyono's over-zealous personality.


Other characters in this series of significance include the Blade Children, who each have their own mysteriousness about them. As mentioned in the series, the Blade Children are seen as a blemish on human life, and those who will, see them as creatures born to die because they are evil and cursed.

Takeuchi Rio is a small girl with the intelligence of a physicist as she is the first to openly challenge Ayumu in the battle of wits. Though small, she displays immense courage and will-power, sacrificing her own life for the sake of the Blade Children's plans. She is straight-forward and still tends to act like a child outside of being part of the Blade Children.

Eyes Rutherford is the first of the Blade Children to challenge Ayumu with a bomb. He is supposedly cold-hearted, but he cares dearly for his friends, especially Rio. His belief in Kiyotaka's promise that Ayumu would be able to save the Blade Children is at first unwavering, but seems to falter towards the end. Nonetheless, he has hope and feels that one day the Blade Children will no longer have to hide from their hunters.

Asazuki Kousuke is an arrogant part of the Blade Children who is also hot-headed and not hesitant to carry out any immoral act necessary to protect his friends. He doesn't really trust anyone, but takes on the role of guarding Rio when she is in the hospital, and is the closest in relationship to Ryoko.

Takamachi Ryoko is the most down-to-earth member of the Blade Children. Clever and athletic, she is able to keep Kousuke in line whenever he goes overboard with his threats and his actions. She despises killing and when first introduced, wants nothing to do with the Blade Children now that she has been living a rather peaceful, normal life.

Kanone Hilbert is a older friend of the Blade Children, also a Blade Children himself. He is revealed to have grown up with Eyes, but their friendship had fallen apart due to conflict of interests. He is also known as the one who had helped the aforementioned Blade Children learn how to survive.

Other Blade Children have also been proven to exist, but few have actually been mentioned in the series.



Overall, the storyline is very intriguing and manages to grasp your attention at every turn. Ayumu's intelligence and wit is tested time and time again, and each time he manages to overcome all of the life-threatening obstacles placed before him. The series ends in a very open-ended way, because despite Ayumu becoming more confident of himself, the issue surrounding Kiyotaka's disappearance and the Blade Children's problems haven't exactly been resolved.

The art is very well done, and the characters are created clear and beautifully. The music composition of piano playing is good and I really enjoyed Hiyono's strange song. The opening theme is a little annoying and doesn't seem to fit the image of the series very well, but the ending theme is quite enjoyable to listen to.

Be mellow and lax for now... your life is about to get more interesting.