Otome Plays: Cat Named John (YH Route)

Hey everybody. It's almost the end of 2014 so I decided to pump out a new video of my Nameless plays as parting gift for the new year. 

Otome Plays: Banjul (YH Route)

Another Nameless play of Yeonho's route which I started 5 months ago but never finished got around to continuing. My hardrive broke so I had a bad taste left in my mouth because of recording this game.
Not much to say but enjoy this episode and the next installment will come out soon though it depends on how many people like/comment :D

Update: R.I.P QSMR, Kieuana is born

Hey everybody? Had a nice Christmas?
I've been gaming and manga-ing so I more or less have dropped the ball for the nth time due to laziness/work commitments. Anywho, I've decided, after a lot of thought, that my clumsily made url of quickshoujomangareviews.blogspot.com was more a less me being un-creative as hell.

So I chose a a shorter name that represents me. I am worried about the whole broken links debackle but then again, I'd like a fresh start at this blogging thing.

I will post a otome plays post really soon as I haven't done so in about 5 months.

Bye all :D

Latest Fix: Henyoku no Labyrinth

Name: Henyoku no Labyrinth
Author & Artist: KUMAGAI Kyoko
Chapters: 21 (ongoing)
Genres: Romance , School Life, Shoujo, Supernatural
Plot:
The story follows a love struck girl who is unfortunately in love with her sister's boyfriend, Hiroto. After her feelings are found out by the couple, she thinks her life is over... That is until she receives a magical key that allows her to travel back in time. Miyako is determined to use this second chance to confess to Hiroto before he develops feelings for her sister. Will this be second encounter be fruitful or will she discover that there are some things that simply can't be changed?

Overview:
Oh boy, I had to write the plot for you guys since the sypnosis on most sites is either non-existent or simply vague. Anyway, I don't make it a habit of picking up manga that is under 20 chapters since waiting for chapters is antagonizing (having the same problem with Rokka Melt by Toma Rei).

I'm currently addicted to this and though it seemed like it was going to be a short and typical story of: girl meets boy, falls in love, angst/complications, big confession scene and then happily ever after, it actually has a fairly compelling story.

Shoujo Manga Cliches: HNR Love Triangle

Time to revive my Shoujo Manga Cliches segment to just sit down and talk about the craziness of Hirunaka no Ryuusei since it's finally ended. Unlike most love triangles, HNR was actually fairly balanced and had some sort of uncertainty regarding who would get the girl. In other words, no one felt alpha or beta in the love triangle. Most mangakas make it very clear who the canon pairing is but HNR made it feel a lot more ambiguous in my opinion.  Though not all of these theories prevail standalone, if there are 3 or more, you can best bet the dude who fulfills all of them will 99% of the time be together with the girl. Let this pseudo-analysis begin!

Update: I'm on social media y'all

Hey, just an update on my further expanse of the interwebs. I've always been pretty crappy at micromanaging social media accounts and this blog in itself is no exception. Nonetheless since blogger isn't all that community orientated and I feel like I'm more or less on an isolated island, I've decided to expand and make some social media accounts so you guys can follow or interact with me as you please.

Please support and like, I feel like I need to start regularly blogging again. I've also started drawing but since I'm not good enough for deviantart, I'm going to post a lot of my doodles on instagram so remember to follow me there.

So I haven't drawn consistently for 5 years but I have improved a lot from the last few months I started drawing again. #bishoujo #anime #manga #art #drawing #istillsuck #ionno

A photo posted by Anneko (@ann_eko) on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:43am PST

I've also started admining this fb page about shoujo manga so I'll see who that pans out. Until next time ^^

Otaku Wrap Up: Short people problems

I've done posts like this before where I basically summarise what I've been doing for the past couple of months, whether it was reading a slew of manga, otome gaming and just doing anything otaku related (which you can find here and here). So I'm officially making this segment official and it will have a fairly arbitrary update frequencies.
I've done a fair bit of otome gaming (mostly voltage mobile games cos it's in English son) so I will save that for a completely separate post (I'll link it here once it's posted).

Without further ado here's a list of interesting mangas that I've been reading:

Finished: 

Color (2011) by MIMORI Ao

Short people problems

Same mangaka as B.O.D.Y (if you need a point of reference) about a couple of neighbours and childhood friends. The girl is in some unrequited love yada yada, spoiler alert, they end up dating. Really nothing new of groundbreaking but it was executed fairly well and was just short and sweet (about 7 chapters long).

Manga Cap: Ana Satsujin

I'm making a info dump/ master post of all the notable mangas I've read for the past few months I've been on hiatus so stay tuned. This was one of the few shounen manga I started reading. Some messed up shit right here so proceed with caution.

Manga Review: Tsuki no Shippo

Name: Tsuki no Shippo 
Author & Artist: Ueda Rinko
Chapters: 42
Genres:  Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Harem, Historical, Martial Arts, Romance, Shoujo 

Plot:

Usagi is the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village, but she's such a klutz that she's never made it out of the lower class. Frustrated with Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry Lord Hanzo with an order to breed many ninja children. But the lord has no interest in her or her childbearing potential!

Review:
Ueda Rinko is probably not the most original artist around but she probably has my favourite art and the most entertaining/addicting stories. More or less, she embodies what stereotypical shoujo plot lines are all about: bishies and dumb but lovable heroines.

Usagi, despite her lack of talent in shinboi law and possessing any common sense, is your average 15 year old who is a little selfish, demanding and boy crazy. I usually hate characters like this but given her age and sudden betrothal I can forgive her for feeling this way. Plus she's the type of annoying that isn't grating or hate-able.

Where is the Shoujo community?

Nanahoshi Kiyoharu from
True Love, Sweet Lies.
What's this got to do with the post?
Nothing, just stare at the bishie,
It will cheer you up.

Shall get to a review soon since I recently finished reading a few mangas like Ueda Rinko's Tsuki no Shippo and Toma Rei's Reimei no Arcana. It's been a long time coming but I was more or less hesitant to pick up something that reminded me of Fushugi Yugi (which I shat on in another post eons ago).

Anyways, one of the things that I've come to consciously realise today is that the shoujo and josei demographic don't have much of a community. I mean sure there are forums but nothing mainstream enough unless it's a specific series. With the market being dominated by predominately shounen and seinen titles and anime following suite, it's no wonder such a niche genre is often overlooked in mainstream discussion.

Latest Fix: P to JK

Name: P to JK
Author & Artist: MIYOSHI Maki
Chapters: 15 - ongoing
Genres: Comedy,  Romance, Shoujo, School Life
Plot:

From ANN:

Female high-schooler Kako met Kouta at a party for adults. Although she gets into a good mood with him, she finds out he's actually a policeman.

Overview:
Hey readers, it's been awhile. Sorry for my disappearance yet again. I'll make a post about the happenings for the past 2 months and mangas and otome games I've been playing.

Anywho I actually haven't picked up much new manga but this is one of the few I've been following that has left some sort of impression on me.

Initially it's a fairly interesting premise with the policeman but soon it kind of devolves into some really unrealistic shoujo plot that requires you to suspend disbelief all up on another level. If you are able to get past this short coming, it's actually quite a solid series. The mangaka somehow blends in the shoujo universe logic, romance, friendships, some character development, some great side characters and a good foothold on darker themes like abuse.

Maybe the way the story is set up lowered my expectations and allowed me to enjoy the story for what it was. So give this series a go if you're looking for a light-hearted romance that isn't stalled with a fairly good plot and likable characters.

How to buy online smut manga

As someone who uses Renta as a means to legally obtain manga, having your money slowly deplete as you binge read everything has become a problem. More or less, especially with smut, you have to break the age old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" and actually start doing it. I have made the mistake of impulse buying and as a poor, jobless, university student, savings are everything. So by making plently of mistakes, I've come up with some rules I follow to ensure I don't buy shitty smut manga.

Ao Haru Ride getting a Japanese film adaptation

Kou looks pretty hot, I'll know
I'll need a bucket to catch my drool

As all of you may know, Ao Haru Ride has already got an anime (withholding comments until at least the 5th episode) and now it's getting a live action adaptation to go with it.

I hope people understand that what makes a good adaptation of any manga into a live action film or drama is that they consider their purpose of the film and try and re-image it to a more realistic interpretation. Copying the manga exactly and turning it into a movie makes it dull. If I want something exactly the same, I can just go read the manga or watch the anime.

FMK: Lost Island

SLICE AND DICE BITCHES

After finishing playing this phone otome game recently, I decided to make a fuck, marry and kill post because I needa talk about these bishounen here. I might make a review of this after I get all the other endings but my impression of it is pretty damn great so wait till that post comes but I ain't making any promises. And whoops, profanity is here so be warned though I don't know why'd you be on the internet in the first place.

So to quickly summarise what Shall We Date: Lost Island is all about, you are some scientist gal who comes on this island to research some vague thing in some shady ass mountain where deaths with an "unknown cause" have occurred. Blah blah blah, shit happens, ZOMBIES ERYWHERE 3 hot bishies, who are you gon' choose to give your kokoro to/ protect you/ potentially make babies with? 

Now time to bring in the FMK scenario into this because why not tbh?

Here we go, I'd:

Manga Review: Kyou, Koi o Hajimemasu

Name: Kyou, Koi o Hajimemasu
Author & Artist: MINAMI Kanan
Chapters: 99
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice Of Life, Smut
Plot:

Tsubaki is a girl who loves making her younger sister's hair pretty every morning, but she doesn't think that kind of style suits herself! The day of her High School Beginning Ceremony, after she failed in being the top student (who usually makes the ceremony speech), she finds herself sitting next to the actual top student of the first years, the worst rude guy ever, Kyouta. She ends up cutting his hair on purpose because of the bad things he says to her. Kyouta demands that Tsubaki pay him back with her body, but Tsubaki fixes his hair instead--making it even shorter! After that, Kyouta unexpectedly kisses Tsubaki and swears that he'll make her his woman.

Review:
I dropped and picked up this manga several times already and I've only finished all 99 chapters recently so I will give you my personal thoughts on it.

It's basically your typical shoujo, teen wangst romance. Not that I have a problem but it took itself way too seriously and the main character, Tsubaki, was wangsting the whole way through about her feels (whining + angsting).

Reading list for June/July

Sorry for lack of activity in the review department and otome gaming but I've mainly been busy and burnt out from life in general.
Anyway since I'm not sure what to review at the moment, I'll give a short list of relevant series that I've finished reading this past month along with a summary.

I'm excluding oneshots and other odd series because they're too boring to be mentioned or ongoing series that haven't really picked up yet. So in chronological order we have:

80s and 90s

Shiroi Mado no Mukougawa by HIKAWA Kyouko (1980)
Your typical childhood friends school life story that builds up to the confession scene and ends. It's quite charming though and has a bit of the late 70s manga art in terms of style without the galaxy eyes. Being a fan of Hikawa's works, it's nice to see her art evolving compared to Kanata Kara which is one of my favs.

Tokyo no Casanova by KURAMOCHI Fusako (1983)
It's a story of false incest where the main gal finds out her bro ain't her bro and she starts having feels for him basically. It's quite dated with hair styles and clothing but I like it for that. It has some idol/actor industry themes to it to if you like that kind of stuff.

Manga Review: Miriam

Name: Miriam
Author & Artist: HIKAWA Kyouko
Chapters: 28 approx.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Shoujo

Plot:

This is a cowboy shoujo manga set in the Wild West. Miriam is an orphan. Her father was a drunken gambler; she only had one dress and they moved from place to place, until one day her father died and Grace took her in. The series follows Miriam's life, growing up, and falling in love with her life-long friend, the skillful sharpshooter Douglas.

Review:

Sorry this was a draft for ages but I forgot to queue it since I've been swamped by finals and my likelihood of failure is still 50/50. Anyway, from the same author as Kanata Kara, it's another adventure story with a cowboy twist. I thoroughly enjoyed read it despite it being a western set shoujo.

Otome Plays: Ice Princess? (Lance Route)

Yes, here is probably the best chapter in this whole route. It's ridden with cuteness, jealously and Lance being a total tease. I also included the bad ending as well, if you chose the other choices. I'll have a manga review up tomorrow, sorry if you're sick of seeing updates on this game ><

Otome Plays: Grandpa and Lance (Lance Route)

Sorry for the late upload, got busy with university again since I have an upcoming Korean speaking exam to deal with. There are 3 more episodes to go so keep in mind who you want next (either Yeonho or Yuri).

As I always say, enjoy.

Otome Plays: Lance's Note (Lance Route)

Short but cute episode this time. Not much to say other than enjoy :)
I will have a review of a manga soon, haven't been reading them as much as I have wanted to ><

Otome Plays: Are You Replacable? (Lance Route)

Episode 7 is out now and this is one heck of an episode and there are some surprising twists around the corner. This is the first time I've allowed for viewers to make a decision, mainly because it greatly effects what happens next.
Watch it first, don't look at the comment thread on this post (spoilers be everywhere) and remember to enable annotations.

Manga Review: Ojou-sama no Untenshu

Name: Ojou-sama no Untenshu
Author & Artist: SHIHARA Keiko
Chapters: 9 - completed
Genres: Drama, Historical, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

From Omari's Sister: "It is the Taisho Era at a certain girl's school. There one young lady embodies the ambition and is the envy of every girl. The crimson ribbon adorning her marks her as the top student. She is none other than Yoshimura Sayaka. Always at her side is the chauffeur her family employs, Narutaki Shinobu. Are the two in love as rumored amongst the female student body!?" Note: Untranslated one-shot from the first volume—"Ruka to Touzoku (Ruka and the Thief)"

Review:
It's been awhile since my last manga review. I'll try to do more when I can since I hate those sites that post things that are irrelevant and don't stick to their core goals (hope you don't mind my Otome Plays.). I have less and less time, thanks to university and coupled with procrastination (yup even with things I enjoy doing), I've been reading less but expecting more.

This manga, for example, has beautiful artwork, a nice, basic storyline sprinkled with just the right amount of angst which doesn't get old too fast.
The characters are sweet, normal people who just want to be together.

Otome Plays: Memories That You Cherish (Lance Route)

Alrighty, next episode is up now and this is a fairly cute chapter and things are finally starting to pick up. His tsundere/kuudere tendencies make me love him so much. Plus there's quite a pretty cutscene.

Otome Plays: Ice Prince & Department Store + Whoop procrastination

Yeah I know it's crappy photoshop but hey
I'm lazzzzzy. -tries not to drool at bishie-

Do I even need to say why I haven't been posting lately. Same old, same old "I'm busy with university" etc. Sorry for the delays and since the other episode was quite short, I'm going to go ahead and upload the other episode today because why not?

4 Mangas for Shoujo Newbs

Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime,
first volume

Do you have a friend who's new to shoujo manga or has shunned the genre because of some really bad titles? Then I will be showing you an extremely short list as a starter point for you guys.  I mean if I gave you my current reading list (about more than 100 mangas) you would be overwhelmed.

I really wished someone had given me a good starting manga. Not that classics such as Hana Kimi  or Fruits Basket are bad but there are some crazy premises that would deter the average person away.

Otome Plays: Nameless - A Cat Named John (Lance Route)

So here's the next episode of Nameless gameplay. This will be the last of the common route and we'll finally be getting to the main story (when things get juicy). Replaying this for me reminded me how tsundere/kuudere he is and it's totally cute. I personally think he's 60% tsundere and 30% kuudere.

Manga Review: Toukyou Lastochika

Name: Toukyou Lastochika
Author & Artist: MIYOSHI Furumachi
Chapters: 12 (approx.)  - Completed
Genres: Comedy, Historical, Romance, Shoujo, Slice Of Life, Tragedy
Plot:

In 1910, Hana Tsumura is hired to work as a servant for the Arima estate, throwing her into a turbulent whirlpool produced by the changing times and her meeting with Mitsuyuki, the young master of the household.

Review:
Recently, I bought this on Renta, a paid, online manga service in English since when I saw this, I had to buy it. I read this awhile ago but was hopelessly waiting for scanalations to pull through. Though I'm really happy to legally obtain it since it was such a good manga. It cost me about $8.64 USD so not too bad for 2 volumes of manga and I might make a post about my experience with Renta if anyone is interested.

I love historical manga, this being set in the Meiji era, had me intrigued from start to finish. It's a battle of social classes and the inevitability of how the two main characters were never meant to be. 

Otome Plays: Nameless - Banjul (Lance Route)

Next chapter of the common route, aiming for Lance, is here. Things will get more interesting soon. 

Manga Review: Help!!

Name: Help!!
Author & Artist: Fujiwara Kiyo
Chapters: 7 - Complete
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

Kousaka Shin's ultimate dream is to become a doctor. So despite the facts that she is a cry baby, a coward, has a baby face, and only has an A cup--she is much more passionate about persuing her goals than others. One day her teacher, Abe-sensei, tells her she is not fit to be a doctor. From then on, a battle between them begins. There's an added twist! Abe-sensei and Shin are neighbors! Now, her journey to becoming a doctor will be even more difficult than imagined!

Review:
I have a week off from university so I will probably be posting a little more this week.  Anyways, the plot doesn't sound too contrived but I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the story actually is.

The main character, Kousaka is your typical babbling klutz who somehow wants to become a doctor (I think the description makes her sound more annoying than she actually is). Despite all this, she actually pulls through and whenever a situation arises, she steps up and earnestly tries to do her best. This is why her character is tolerable and I grew to really like her towards the end.

Otome Plays: Nameless - New Routine (Lance Route)

So from keeping this blog from becoming too redundant, I'll post updates as whole chapters finish. I recently finished the first chapter of the common route in which I aimed to get Lance, enjoy the videos ^^

"Shoujo Sucks"

Kako from Mishounen Produce
understands my feels.

Here we go, the common thing you hear from people who don't like shoujo, it's because it "sucks". I have to admit there are a lot of bad shoujo mangas but the same thing could be said about shounen, yaoi or anime in all honesty. I know I love to bag shoujo a whole lot but it's more or less a love-hate relationship.

When I see people say the whole genre sucks, it's usually for the following reasons:

• Art sucks/ eyes are way too big
  I get if art sucks if things aren't too in proportion or positioning of their features are weird. Though it's quite a contradiction to say their "eyes are too big" as anime and manga eyes are considered big to outsiders. Art is subjective and just because you've seen a few eighties-esque eyes doesn't mean all shoujo mangakas draw saucer plate eyes. If you judge a manga/anime based whether it's a 10 or not, you're are missing out. Though I do have my favourite mangakas in terms of art so check out that post.

• Bishies, men don't act like this in real life
  I think I can write a whole individual post on bishounens alone and in fact, I'll make it a future post. Bishies represent a teen's ideals in the most hyperbolic way in much the same way as moe girls in shounen or even some men's ideals on bust size in H mangas/anime. We don't expect men or teenage boys to act like this, look like this or be like this in real life. They don't have to be the definition of perfection but can you let a girl fantasize?

• Romance/Characters/Storyline is dumb and unrealistic
  I've said this before and I'll say it again, when your manga is being post in something like LaLa magazine, do you really think there is going to be anything too deep and meaningful? The demographic  puts many potential story ideas out the window (you got editors) and shoujo is such a niche market already.
  
  If you're reading a psychological manga you take the story quite seriously, that's a given. So if the story doesn't live up to you expectations, like having a ridiculous story line then that's a valid complaint.
  If you read a horror, fantasy or even a comedic manga the author expects you to "suspend disbelief" and go along with the premise instead of proclaiming their work to be an unrealistic portrayal of romance/people. It's not meant to be taken that seriously.
  
  The same principles apply to shoujo. If you come in with the expectation for it to be a masterpiece you will be disappointed. Realise the intention and target audience and appreciate it for what it is. You're allowed to hate some manga series but don't let it stop you from enjoying some silly titles every now and then.

All in all, shoujo is a pretty ridiculous genre full of exaggerated caricatures and ideals, not meant to be taken seriously but for fun. Not to say that there aren't some amazing titles out there. My top 5 list has some of my favs plus I will be posting another Top list of some mangas for non-shoujo lovers to try out so stay tuned.

So do you like a lover, hater, neutral to shoujo? Or are you just like me, it's a love-hate thing.

Otome Plays: Seifuku no ojisama, Games with old men?

Name: Seifuku no ojisama
Developer: Poppyseed Otome

Overview:
Alright, I know this really deviates from manga reviews and I'm not actually playing this since it's all still in Japanese. So while I was browsing through the Google Play Store, I found this otome game unlike any other. The reverse harem consisted of middle aged to old men. Well, mature to be exact.

To be honest, as odd as it really is, I shouldn't be judging. Anime and manga do cater for some weird fetishes and niches. One of the first mangas I really got into had weird brother complexes and pervy hot guys but I got through it and accepted manga for it's wackiness.

Though I get the demographic is supposedly Josei, the girl looks like a fetus next to one of the old men, seriously. This makes me feel really uncomfortable, age gaps are alright but the man shouldn't be old enough to be your father. Ionno what he's saying but it's probably like "well you coulds be duh ages of my daughter but ohhh wells".

There's one character who look older than the main character but not old enough to be her father. It reminds me of a manga called Lip Smoke where a high school girl falls in love with a middle aged man. Even though this sort of rubs me the wrong way, I'm curious and intrigued and I want to play it.  Yeah I know I'm rambling and being weird but I wanted to see if anyone else feels the same way. 

Anyway I'll leave you with a video and you can be the judge.

Yeah idk.

Jiji, old man otaku, from Kuragehime approves

Otome Plays: Nameless Prologue [6/6]

Here's the last part of the prologue. I only intend on doing more if there's enough interest so vote for either Lance, Yuri or Yeonho for the next couple of videos. Thanks for watching, it's been fun.

Manga Review: Yoru Café. - My Sweet Knights

Name: Yoru Café. - My Sweet Knights
Author & Artist: ENJOUJI Maki
Chapters: 15
Genres:  Comedy, Harem, Josei, Romance, Smut

Plot:

At 23 years old, Hina Takato inherited a café and the workers in it from her deceased husband. Although he was much older than her, she loved him a great deal and has vowed to never fall in love again... only, she does.

Review:
A series I've finished reading the second time round recently was Yoru Café. I loved Enjouji's other manga Hapi Mari, despite it's flaws, but I honestly didn't love this one as much. Though it's always good to try something twice to make sure you don't like it.

I think the reason why it didn't resonate with me was because it was about a young widowed wife finding love after her old husband died.

Otome Plays: Nameless Prologue [5/6]

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of reviews (I think I've said this already). Been quite busy with University but I should have a review up by the end of this week. In the meantime, watch my next installment of the Nameless Game prologue. Seriously the good part starts here.

Otome Plays: Nameless Prologue [4/6]

More gameplay of Nameless otome game by Cheritz. Enjoy!

Latest Fix: Mairunovich

Name: Mairunovich
Author & Artist: SATO Zakuri
Chapters: 32 - ongoing
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo
Plot:

Kinoshita Mairu has a cute name and she's apologetic for it, because she's ugly. In fact, she's apologetic for her very existence because she's not cute. Classmates call her "Poison Mushroom" behind her back and even her own brother treats her with disdain. However, all of that is about to change with the help of her transvestite mentor/neighbor, Fuwari-chan, and the "school king," Kumada Tenyuu!

Review:
So I mentioned this manga in a post awhile ago as I picked it up as holiday/vacation reading and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

It's a dramatic, school life manga and although the author puts a lot of weight into the heroine's love life which gets really annoying at times and is almost ridiculous, whether intentional or not, it sends a strong message.

Mairu effectively gets the typical nerd to cute girl makeover, no glasses, a bit of makeup and hair styling and she turns out to be not-so-ugly after all. Her appearence has changed for the better, her socially awkwardness and her immature personality still shine through however.

Otome Plays: Nameless Character Intros [2/6] & [3/6)

Bishies, bishies everywhere.

Sorry for the lack of reviews, I've been busy lately since I just started university. Here are some gameplay vids to make it up to you guys.

Official Google Plus Page + Manga Cap

Kind of... my life
from Onnanoko wa Koi wo Suru to Mousou
Shichaun desu

So I'm not a really savvy social networker but I sort of made a Google+ Page as a start. I'd really like to talk to people about shoujo manga and bishies since I don't have friends that like manga as much as I do.

Otome Plays: Nameless - Prologue, Intro [1/6]

Name: Nameless - The one thing you must recall
Developer: Cheritz
Length: 40 hours of gameplay
Genres: Drama, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Fantasy, Mystery, Shoujo, Comedy

Plot:
Eri (Hanuel, re-nameable) is a plain Jane with an interesting hobby. She collects ball jointed dolls. Finding solace in them after her granpa's death and her parent's perpetual absence from their overseas work, she suddenly wakes up to find them coming to life. What is she supposed to do now?

Notes:
So I finished playing this game a week ago and I absolutely love it. I'll do a review on it later but essentially the art and story and gorgeous and you have to pick it up. I made a game-play video on it so check it out. Enjoy.

Manga Review: Puzzle (MORIE Satoshi)

Name: Puzzle
Author & Artist: MORIE Satoshi
Chapters: 1 - completed
Genres: Mature, One Shot, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo
Plot: 
Miyabi is looking for someone to complete her.

Review:
The plot is a bit brief so the basic premise is about the downfall of the most popular couple in the school.The characters go under a metamorphosis from perfect, beautiful, straight-laced students to tragic pariahs at school and at home.

I love me a good psychological story and this really delivers. The thing about Morie's works is they have an almost foreboding atmosphere as it shows the psyche of the character's mind. Though it humanises their plight rather then highlighting anything two twisted.

The fact that it has smut in it actually adds another layer of intensity that I haven't seen in her previous mangas. The smut isn't too much in this story so it's alright for younger audiences, it as much as an American tv show.

Try this out and you'll be surprised. Quite a solid one shot full of dimension and intrigue.

Manhwa Review: Antique Romance

Name: Antique Romance
Author & Artist: KIM Mi Jung
Chapters: 27 - finished
Genres: Drama, Historical, Mature, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

From Esthétique: "I am a human, but a doll... Feelings are not needed. Physically alive, but not mentally. I am a painting trapped inside a rusted frame. The cold skin of a statue. Like a stuffed bird-- Killed and set for display. I wonder... I wonder, on whose display I will be placed..." Includes extra story, The Dancing Marionette (Vol 3).

Review:
It seems like most of the manhwas that I end up and enjoy reading are the ones set in with darker mature themes which are inevitably coupled with tragic elements.
This has all the drama in a European ambient setting.

Some warnings before picking this up would include themes of prostitution and rape which are basically red flags that indicate that this ain't some fluffy shoujo.

There's also a certain scene that is horribly cryptic. It's not horror in a supernatural sense but the monstrosity of what humans can do to each other. It parallels closely with reality despite cliches and plot devices.

Weeaboos and Hanyu Yuzuru

On tumblr for the past few days, there has been an increasing obsession with Olympic figure skater, HANYU Yuzuru. Hanyu, a 19 talented year old athlete, was being compared to the likes to k-pop artists and anime characters.

Let that sink in for a bit.
A young athlete that qualified for the Olympics, a world class sportsman, is being compared to a couple 2d characters and some Korean idol singers. The only thing he has in common with any of them is that they are Asian pop culture icons.

Many dismiss his immense talent at entering the Olympics, winning the short figure skating event for his overwhelmingly "kawaii-ness". The fact that these girls are likening him to things that have little relation to him proves how Asians in popular culture are a fetish and how Asians are caricatures rather than individuals.

I enjoy watching figure skating since Kim Yuna became popular. I'm not particularly interested in the technicalities of ice-skating but I appreciate the work, the talent and the overall performance given by these professional athletes.

And that is where we discuss weeabos (or Koreaboos). Weeabos do know the Japanese culture and show an invested interest through manga, music and dramas. Though they see Japan through a limited, skewered scope which means they lack true understanding. Instead they throw around words like "Kawaii" in mid sentence (while speaking English), add honorifics like "-chan" or "-kun" or freak out when they meet a Japanese person while proceeding to ask if they've watched the latest Anime purely on the basis of being Japanese rather than knowing whether they share that common interest. It's the same as someone approaching an American and assuming they are sexually promiscuous and fetish-izing them for the fictional behavior they see on tv.

Many weeabos may even claim they're part Japanese and have fetishes for anyone who happens to be Japanese without looking at them as normal individuals. Not every Japanese guy is a bishounen and not every Japanese girl is a submissive, chipmunk sounding Anime girl.

 I guess I'd hate to say this but a delusional love/fetish for Asian cultures really puts you at the spectrum of, well... being racist. You see you have two extremes of being a racist, number 1 is absolute disdain for another culture while putting your own up on a pedestal and the other is an obsessive adoration which leads to you putting the another culture on a pedestal while believing others are less superior.
Let free dictionary explain it:

rac·ism  (rā′sĭz′əm)

n.

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

-freedictionary.com

So there you have it, my take and opinion weeabos. What's your opinion of weeabos? Are you sometimes guilty of these behaviour? And hey, if you know a weeabo, give them a hint and send them this post ;)
All comments are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: This is my perspective of people fetish-izing Asian culture. Though I am not Japanese, being Asian, I've had similar experiences and share my personal view on things. Though it's just an opinion, I fully acknowledge I'm responsible everything I say and an opinion is not an excuse. Instead let's have an intelligent discussion for a better understanding of things :)

The Best Shoujo Artists

Manga isn't always about the art but it's a huge plus for any savvy manga fan. Here are a few of my personal favourite mangakas. I am purely looking as art and the storytelling.  So in no particular order we have:




Kisara from Dear by Fujiwara Cocoa,
I swear I only like the art

• Peach-Pit - Lolita Loving Duo

Comprised of Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, they probably have the most detailed character design and fashion I've ever seen, making use of lots of full body shots to showcase this. Their female characters such as Hinamori Amu, has a an infinitely extensive wardrobe of Punk/Goth Lolita whereas Amu's sister wears Sweet lolita clothes. To add to this, they have a good measure of bishies to oggle over coughTsukuyomiIkutocough.

• Ichinose Kaoru - Elegant character design

I like her for pretty similar reasons to Peach-Pit. Her characters have a dainty, delicate feel and look to them. It's hard to explain but I was blown away at how pretty 2d characters look when I started reading Mishounen Produce.

Shoujo Manga Caps Tumblr

Hey guys. I recently made a shoujo manga caps tumblr and I know I need to increase my online presence. I'm no twitter user and my fb profile isn't all that interesting. I also think I'll be posting more bishie ogling and general fangirling of manga that I don't really do here.

Manga Review: Magic

Name: Magic
Author & Artist: SHIMIZU Reiko
Status: Complete - 2 chapters
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Romance, Sci-fi, Shoujo
Plot:

From MangaArt:

There are 2 manga series in the book. In the first series, Magic, the background is set in the futuristic 2200's in the edge of the galaxy. Super model Kana has died in a space ship accident when she traveled to a planet on the edge of the galaxy. Her daughter was found 3 years after the magnetic storm has rested. A distant related cousin of Kana adopted the young child (he was also an old boyfriend of Kana!). Years later, Kana's child has grown up to be a teenage girl...

Review:
Here's some more 90s shoujo for y'all. This is a really interesting read since it's sci-fi and a breath of fresh air for shoujo lovers. I am not a big sci-fi fan but this had me intrigued from start to finish and if you're someone that avoids this genre I do recommend to give this a shot.

Every frame and dialogue bubble was utilised effectively and there wasn't too much to wrap your head around. It has a sort of... dark-ish ambiance about it (as expected from psychological stories) and the plot twists add even more layers to this story. Additionally, it made me question the morals of the characters, sets new boundaries of what is socially taboo or not. 

Manga Review: Viehmannin wa Utau

Name: Viehmannin wa Utau
Author & Artist: YAMAGUCHI Miyuki
Chapters: 26 - Complete
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

From Wingtip Cafe:
Rina is always busy studying and working to support herself. After the depressing news that she again lost first place in the school rankings to Julius, an expressionless guy who is her arch rival, Rina finds Milch, a little fairy girl. Later, she meets Sylvie, a Fairyland knight who has come to rescue Milch.

Review:
I'm a fan of a good mahou shoujo and stories with fairytale elements so it's probably why I enjoyed the story so much. It's more toned down and slower paced compared to a modern day manga since it was made in 1990 but it's a merit more than anything.

Older 90s manga is a hit and miss for a lot of people but if you enjoy fantasy I think this is pretty good. It has enough mystery and intrigue so that it doesn't feel like I'm trudging my way a long while reading it.

Cheese in the Trap is getting a k-drama? + Official English Translations

On random note, CITT has finally got official English translations though they are still only up to chapter 5 right now. Now on to the big news. According to the webtoon live, it seems that CITT is getting picked up to be a Korean drama.

Before I make a really judgmental, biased opinion on this I have to say that I personally found Boys Over Flowers, the Korean adaptation of Hana Yori Dango, to be atrocious and over the top. Hana Yori Dango was definitely no master piece but I felt like they really butchered the premise. I have the same sentiment with To The Beautiful You (Hana Kimi) but on a lesser degree.

The great points about this webcomic was that it wasn't molded or sculpted by the hands of an editor of a magazine who perpetually force feeds the mass audience with cliches and stereotypes. It was written by an artist by the pen name, Soonkki, who had her own ideas of what a story should be and isn't over ridden with puppy love of melodrama.  This is something I touched on in an earlier post before.

 It's set in college instead of high school, it deals with money/family problems and touches more on the psychological pressures, love, friendship and confronting your demons.
If it was in a magazine, it'd be set in a high school and the focus would be on romance.

Manga through the eras + Sorry I've been MIA

Hello readers, I haven't been posting since I've been on two 1 week long trips (sorry I didn't cue anything) and I've been playing otome games like a mofo.
I also fell into a personal slump so I didn't want to force out crappy posts for no good reason. This blog is more of a hobby than anything.

I still have been reading manga so I'll short list some of the new manga series I've picked up below.

1. 1985 - Cipher by NARITA Minako
2. 1987 - Boku no Chikyuu o Mamotte (Please Save My Earth) by HIWATARI Saki
3. 1990 - Viehmannin wa Utau by YAMAGUCHI Miyuki
4. Hadashi no Aitsuby TAKADA Rie
5. 1999 - My Sweet Dragon by SAKAKI Yuuka
6. 2005 - Tenkuu Seiryuu by YAMAGUCHI Miyuki
7. 2007 - Ten no Ryuu Chi no Sakura by SUMOMO MOMO
8. 2010 - Scarlet Palace by YI Huan
9. 2010 - Mairunovich by SATO Zakuri

I felt like it was appropriate to put them in chronological order since the 80s manga were definitely interesting but really draggy at times though after reading a review of Cipher, it all made sense. It was written for 80s teens (and Japanese teens at that) where time traveled slower and people actually went outside to have fun. I really enjoyed 80s manga like Miriam (1983) by Hikawa Kyoko if you're into investigative cowboy adventures.