Latest booktore visit

Went to the bookstore to look for Ichigo Jikan (草莓时间) which I remember seeing before (now wondering if I saw wrongly as baka updates says there are zero volumes out?? But really thot I saw it cos I remember thinking the girl looks like a elementary schoolgirl...sidetracking) and ended up with Watashi no + Okusuri (baka updates link) (我的爱情魔药) because the cover was somewhat cuter than the rest of the limited stuff there. I didn't even know the Japanese title and had to google for it. Cos the Chinese title is just "My love potion". I was wondering where the other volumes are, but came to realise it's complete at one volume. I'll write a review once I complete it. Hopefully the impulse buy will prove to be interesting, but I should really stop buying on impulse!

Finished

Just finished VK Guilty and feeling...well, a bit disappointed. The ending seemed rushed although I wanted some action instead of draggy flashbacks. On who she finally chose, I did ask my friend earlier if it was ambiguous and she said no, but in the end I did feel it wasn't quite resolved and I also felt really really sad for the one that she left. The ending didn't seem like an ending but seemed open to a part 2 of sorts although perhaps on the other hand, one is supposed to imagine what comes next.

A lot of tormented souls (do vampires have souls?)...


A lot a lot of unanswered questions...



Spoilers ahead...Highlight to see.










- like how Kaname is not her real brother, that part was really fuzzy
- the whole association plus elder council collaboration thing was a bit weak on motives and objectives
- the reason Rido wanted just Yuuki's blood, couldn't it have been Kaname's? Another pureblood's? There seems to be some relationship there that isn't quite clearly spelt out.
- kept thinking why Zero didn't make his brother a vampire to save him

Reassessing this and thinking about it, it really is a very sad tragic story. The saddest parts are when the parents died, and Zero's twin died, and when Yuuki takes blood from Zero and realises he loves her when all that's going through his mind is her name.

VK Guilty

Well, guilty of one thing - starting VK Guilty at the insistence of my fellow manga/anime loving friend. The art and all is great, as per expected. I realise that I've been so reluctant to watch it probably because of a few factors, like that I wanted to wait for the manga to finish and get the entire set and enjoy from the beginning (maybe?) or perhaps it is really cos I don't want to find out who Yuuki ends up with cos I want her to have both of them!!! (more likely?). So I started watching the last season's epi 13 to recap, but the only version on hand was the French subbed. And oh boy did I struggle cos I'm just not used to it and read French oh so sloooooow....But thankfully, it is surprisingingly easy dialogue - hmmm...they don't say much of complexity, do they? ;p

Ok, still wrangling time to watch the rest...

And some negatives - I'm finding the plot painfully slow, with some "emotional" bits a bit too drawn out and then some. The dialogue sometimes goes in circles and some parts I could have done without. The drawing of hands were also really weird, with those scenes of Zero and Yuuki a bit ruined when her hands were the same size as his. The proportions were just a bit too much off.

In the poster on top I also find Yuuki a bit less attractive/sweet/cute than she is in the anime. It's somehow as if she's a bit too gaunt or something. I do like her with longer hair but in this she just looks strange.

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Ongoing Manga

Brief Summary: A girl comes to look for the help of a detective when her friend falls into a coma after a "test of courage" in which she meets a ghost.

He actually looks a bit girly in this cover, no? ;p But somehow I liked it quite a lot for a while, plus the story is all right. The drawing is nice and pretty and the two protags have a lot of chemistry though they are not romantically involved as yet in the first volume.

The guy takes the lead in the mystery solving but the girl is sharp and an able side kick (most of the time). At first, the girl is skeptical but later realises that the guy knows more than meets the eye as he is able to preceive and communicate with spirits/ghosts, including the female protag's dead twin sister.

My Rating:
Art: B
Story: B
Recommended? The storyline is quite engaging so far although it isn't really exceptional.

Absolute Witch and Ban Hon Sa

Brief Summary: In a land of magic in which all the powerful witches have disappeared for hundreds of years, four men find and raise an abandoned baby girl who happens mysteriously to be one. Her adventures follow...

Another Korean manhwa that may turn out to be quite long. That, to me, is the only drawback, as I'm not keen on stories that are too slow or convoluted (though I know not everyone is like me, as evidenced by the votes on the right :)).

The pace so far is quite good, and the characters are interesting and drawn very pretty. But I'm not quite a fan of the back and forth timeline either, although it is not as confusing as some. The heroine seems quite headstrong and smart, quick witted, and I hope she will develop even more in that direction.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B+
Recommended? So far so good. Interesting storyline.




Ban Hon Sa

Another one from the same author. Interesting and different. The description says "fairy tales" but some of it probably I would classify as horror and supernatural rather than fairy type of tale. Most of the supernatural creatures/spirits seem to come from Korean roots.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B+
Recommended? Was somehow draggy and disjoint at first, but seems to be getting better.

Pet Shop of Horrors and Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors

Completed manga
Ongoing follow up Tokyo series

Brief Summary: In a pet shop in Chinatown the owner, Count D, will be able to recommend you the perfect pet, with some conditions, some of which you may not be able to live up to...

Ok, this may seem like a different addition to the site (it is not shojo romance obviously), but this actually has a rather "special" (for want of a better word) place in my manga "journey" (for want of a better word) as it's the first manga I searched for and read myself and bought. Ok, those of you who know should know why (and those of you who read my below reviews can chance a guess since I hint at being partial to some things ;p).

Perhaps in my rush now it's not the best time to review this, but I've been wanting to add this for ages. This manga is probably the widest read of those I've tried to introduce to friends. :) Seemed the most acceptable to both guys and gals, though some thought it was a bit too weird-ish. We've had debates on Count D, the main character, and whether he's ultimately good or evil. There seems to be some morals somewhere but you get a bit lost on whether it's kangeroo court or real justice.

The episodic nature of this series makes it easy to start just about any volume, as long as you get the basic of that Count D sells strange pets that have special/strange/eerie/supernatural/dangerous qualities. These pets may also take on human form in some people's perceptions as well.

The first stories are actually a different format from the latter stories, especially when it gets to the new "Tokyo" series. The stories range from "huh? What was that about?" to "oh, that was cool". Some are quite intriguing and the pets' qualities are usually surprising or horrifying. There are some stories which seem to have some morals as well, or lessons to be learnt. The underlying story of Count D and his dad, and grandad and where they come from, who/what they are (and their motivations), is given an ending too as the story wraps up in the original series, but somehow it wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping it would be.

Anime and Tokyo Series

Four of the original stories were made into an anime, which weren't bad overall. And after the first 14 volumes were completed, the artist started another set based on the same Count D but set in Tokyo instead of Chinatown, USA. I guess it was just so popular so she decided to go back to the same formula.

My Rating:
Story: B (it ranges actually)
Art: C, the art is not that great and "clean" and there are no bishis. :)
Recommended? Interesting premise and some stories are better than others. Easy to pick up at any volume and perhaps reading a few volumes would give a better idea of the series than jus one or two stories.

From Far Away

Manga completed at 14 Volumes

Brief Summary: A girl gets drawn into another world where she is the key to awakening a monster.

This topic isn’t new, just think of Escaflowne, Anatolia, Queen’s Knight, Kyo Kara Meoh and even Amatsuki (I’m sure you could name many others), where someone is sucked into another realm/world and, somehow despite being rather plain and nondescript in the normal world, is now a special person of some consequence there.

And then there is the romance, though this isn’t exactly your typical hearts and flowers shojo. In fact, I was wondering all the time whether this was written for males or females. There is a deep romance element but a large part of the story is centered on the royal politics. The fight scenes are also spectacular, going on for quite a few pages a time. So it did seem more for guys, but then again, I know some girls like their fight scenes too, and the romance part didn’t seem like something the guys would be that interested in (I could be wrong).

The characters have good chemistry, especially the two protagonists. Of course the guy’s got issues (and the girl is sweet and nice) but they are settled later on. The drawing isn’t bad but the characterization seems more towards the older 90s style, which you can see from the girl’s hairstyle. The guy also isn’t your typical bishonen, though he seems cool enough.

The story is rather typical with bad guys galore, but there wasn’t really adequate explanation on the whole concept of how she became so special - some similar stories would have had her ancestor or something coming from this world into ours sometime in the past, and having a lineage in the fantasy world to begin with (e.g. Meripuri). With this one, it wasn’t really touched on at all (or did I miss it?).

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? There are so many titles with the same topic so if you’ve read a few you may be weary already, but if you haven’t this isn’t a bad start I guess.

Dazzle

Manga ongoing.
Anime 10 episodes complete.

I started watching this one after someone mentioned the clothes or them looking good I think it was. The anime is actually somewhat confusing and distorted so it may not be good to be too interested in the details, cos everything is rather abrupt. I kept thinking I had missed an epi when one guy suddenly joins the group (I’m still wondering if I did…).

I think the girl is drawn very pretty in the anime but lacks oomph in the manga. Maybe it’s cos her startling blue eyes aren’t portrayed in manga. The guy looks younger and better in the manga though. The manga is more comprehensive and easier to understand and the story sequence is rather different from the anime, which I read someone opinioning as very messy and mixed up (and I thought I was the only one). Someone also said the effects and execution weren’t good but to me it was ok.

This doesn’t seem to be a very popular manga and I’m not sure why. Perhaps the stories are disjointed (but then so are many others) and the motivations of the characters aren’t quite apparent. The storyline does get a whole lot complicated, with cloning, possible murder, etc. etc. It's like a murder/thriller/sci-fi/goth/angst all mixed up in one ball. Just wondering where all this is going when I read in vol 9 (I think it was) that the mangaka said this would be around for a long long time....oh dear, I don't think I've the patience for it already!!

My Rating:
Story: C - strange, convoluted, difficult dialogue, boring bits
Art: C+
Recommended? Not too sure. It's not really that interesting at some parts. Very oddly put together.

Descendents of Darkness

Manga:
Anime: Finished

Well, it's not all shoujo and hearts and flowers. :) This one sure isn't at least. Preoccupation with death and the afterlife is more like it, added to a cops and robbers and detective series kind of feel.

Apparently, as a friend says, this series is very popular amongst women. :)