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.

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. 

My Latest Fix: Stalker

Name:  Stalker
Author & Artist: Dan Woo
Chapters: 37 - Completed
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Seinen
Plot:

A reclusive, disfigured man stalks a pretty, good-natured housewife. One day, he witnesses this woman's daughter being kidnapped.

Overview:
The synopsis really doesn't give this Korean web comic much justice since it's obviously an unexplored perspective. The author was careful not to make this a total creep fest and actually made the stalker in question "relatable".

The protagonist is a misunderstood, reclusive guy who is a total outcast because of his looks. It shows the incidents where he gets judged for his appearance like questioning from the local police or bullying because he doesn't have the right to talk to the girl he likes. Anyone can identify with this one way or another which allows the whole stalking thing to be a byproduct of his life.

Manga Review: Akumu no Elevator

Name: Akumu no Elevator
Author & Artist: Kinoshita Hanta & Roppongi Aya
Chapters: 1 (148 pages)
Genres: Mystery, One Shot, Psychological, Seinen
Plot:
Jun receives a phone call from his wife Manami telling him that she's about to give birth, while he's at the apartment of his mistress Yoko. He promptly breaks up with his mistress and runs out the door to rush his wife to the hospital.

Unfortunately, the elevator becomes stuck on the way down, and he's trapped with three strangers. To pass the time, they decide to share their deepest, darkest secrets. Jun can't help but be horrified by the criminal acts these seemingly normal people are capable of committing... and getting away with. Will a rescuer ever come, or will they be stuck in this nightmare elevator until they all die?

Review:
I know this ain't shoujo or even aimed at the female demographic but this was an intriguing story and hey, it's Friday the 13th (I know I'm a bit early for you North Americans).

In a nutshell, it starts off as a dark atmosphere with black humor and really takes a casual light on their given situations. It's amazing how the offset humor enhances the overall dark and creepy effect of this manga. It really needs to be read rather than explained.

If you love mystery and don't mind thrillers I recommend this, also there are a lot of abrupt plot twists that are sure to surprise you

Manga Review: Mars

Name: Mars
Author & Artist: SOURYO Fuyumi
Chapters:
Genres: Drama, Mature, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Tragedy
Plot:
Kira believes that Rei and all other men in the world are dirty. She stays away from her classmates, hiding in her art. What happens when the delinquent motorcyclist and playboy, Rei, gets ahold of one of her drawings, and actually wants to keep it?

Review:
Now I perpetually avoid tragedy cos I'm a crybaby but seeing as I was in the mood of some psychological romance I thought, why not?

At first glance it's typical bad boy and anti-social, man-phobia girl but there seems to be such an inevitability on how it all unfolds. It's the dark side of human nature. It explores our natural instinct of violence and atrocities of man.

Manga Review: Hitsuji no Namida

Name: Hitsuji no Namida
Author & Artist: Hidaka Banri
Status: Complete
Chapters: 42
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo

Plot: High school student Hasumi Kei has only one goal in life--that is to visit her classmate Kanzaki Kyosuke's apartment! Seeing how the two do not know each other, Kyosuke refuses to allow her to be anywhere near his apartment... But Kei is relentless, demanding to get her way...but why?

Review:
Read this on the holidays to kill time and it was fairly good. What kept me reading was the whole mystery element going on, you wanted to know more about the character's situation and whatnot.
Though after letting it simmer in my mind for a week or so, it's not very memorable. The characters are likable, the main lead isn't all that bad and the guy is cute but nothing more then that. If you're looking for romance, this really isn't the manga for you, even categorising it as romance is a stretch. So give it a go if you got time, it's a cute read.

Manga Review: Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Name: Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan
Author & Artist: SAHARA Mizu
Status: Completed
Chapters: 8
Genres: Drama, Psychological, Romance, Slice of Life, Tragedy
Plot:A pianist who attempted suicide 3 times, Juri, is taken to help her aunt at a prison where murderers who killed indiscriminately are sentenced to death. There, she meets a man named Yuu who took the lives of 3 people. A mother's antagonism--a brother's death... Together they embrace the violent rebellion in their hearts caused by the large, deep scars they carry. However, before long, they both embrace an earnest hope in their hearts. "I want to live"...
Review:
I'm the type to avoid tragedies because I don't like crying XD
But I really recommend this to everyone, even people who avoid tragic endings. The title roughly translates to "Our Happy Hours" which is quite contrary to the overall sad and depressing undertones of the story.  Everything about this story is so meaningful and heart-wrenching. The characters have a lot of depth and darkness but they somehow retain childlike innocence especially in the romance department. It has a feeling of realism rather then your typical shoujo, fluffy romance (and if your look for that kind of story then I wouldn't recommend this). There's not much else I can say about this, it just left me thinking about it for awhile and left a deep impression on me. Just read it to get what I mean :D

It was based on a novel by Gong Ji-young and there's even a korean movie adaption of it which I have yet to watch. Take a look at the Maundy Thursday Trailer below:

Manga Review: Heaven's Door (Hongou Ranko)

Name: Heaven's Door 
Author & Artist: Hongou Ranko
Status: Completed
Chapters: 4
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Psychological, Romance, Shoujo, Tragedy
Plot: 
 [Summary by: Love_Blossom]
Harumi has been in the hospital practically her whole life because she has cancer. She finds out she only has a few months to live and wants to do dangerous thing. Masato just got hospitalized today. He meets Harumi and they talk about how life is so short. Then he holds out his hand and says, "Lets go to the sea!" And so, for the few days they have to live, they enjoy it to their fullest...
Review:
This story revolves around Harumi and Masato who are going to inevitably die before they should. The things that happen in this manga are pretty crazy and a bit unrealistic although it makes the story better. What stops this from being those typical shoujo is that the characters have some deph. Despite their tough exterior, all they want to do is live; unlike most people they've got days to live out a lifetime. I guess even though they're both young, they have to grow up quickly and face the concept of death but the characters handle it well.
It's really touching and teaches us that we shouldn't waste our time because life is short. If you avoid tragedy, just give it a go anyways, you won't regret it.

Manga Review: Othello (Shoujo)

Name: Othello
Author & Artist: Ikezawa Satomi
Status: Completed
Chapters: 28
Genres: Comedy, Psychological, Romance, School Life, Shoujo

Plot: Yaya’s high school friends haven’t been very nice.
They call her “Yaya the cry-ya! Yaya the misfi-ya!”
But no matter how badly they act, Yaya is just too naïve and trusting to believe the worst of her friends.

Hard-rocking, butt-kicking Nana is just the girl tograb hold of Yaya’s timid demeanor and turn it upside down. Nana exposes Yaya’s “friends” as slime bags, doles out punishment, and does it all with style.
Can there be anything that terminally shy Yaya and hyper-confident Nana have in common? Well, for one thing, they’re the same person. - Manga Updates

Review: 
Yaya is basically your average shoujo heroine who is pretty much a crybaby (with a split personality). Although she does have an excuse for being one due to her childhood. If you can get passed her crybaby antics she does grow as a character.

Nana on the other hand is outrageously confident and a bit cruel but definitely funny. Although one of her biggest flaws is that she can get slightly annoying and her character lacks realism (much like Yaya) but it's just a manga.

Moriyama is the male lead who tries to help Yaya and figure out why her personality changes.
He gives Yaya more emotional support rather then going up and standing up for her when the situation calls for it...

The story seems to drag out a fair bit but it's definitely worth the read.