First Impressions of Winter 2011 Anime Series

First, the loving spoonful:

• I will definitely watch:
• "Yumekui Merry"
• "Beelzebub"
• "Kore wa Zombie desu ka"
• "Level E"
• I will give it another episode
• "Gosick"
• "Puelle Magi Madoka Magica"
• "Infinite Stratos"
• "Dragon Crisis"
• Crap
• "Freezing"
• "Rio Rainbow Gate"
More Details about the series:

• "Gosick" ("Gothic") -- A really nice and normal Japanese boy transfers to a boarding school in a fictional European country in the Alps.  For reasons I didn't quite understand the students nickname him "The Dark Reaper".  He joins up with mysterious doll-like Goth-Loli named Victorique to solve crimes for a buffoon police detective.  The girl is a typical spoiled-ojou type and the boy, Kujo, is sucked along into the madness by his own curiosity.  It's not a particularly original series, but the first episode was well done and piqued my interest.  First Impression: 3/5
• "Rio Rainbow Gate" -- This series is about the adventures of the dealer Rio (aka "The Goddess of Victory") as she spreads luck and fan service through the fictional Howard Casino.  This show is 100% fan service -- Boo!  First Impression: 1/5 (by the way, Rio would be fired instantly for losing too much money for the house...stoopid...)
• "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" -- There was a glass school, chanting cotton balls with teeth and mustaches, butterflies, rave music, and tween girls running around with a cat-rabbit creature.  Message to the animators: STOP TAKING DRUGS! THEY ARE BAD FOR YOU! I don't know what the heck was going on in that anime and I'm not sure I want to.  The main character looks freaky to me because she has the face and hairstyle of a 4-year old on the body of a 12-year old. First Impression: 1/5, BUT, worth a second look because the first episode may have been super messed up for shock value.  Hopefully some sort of story will be revealed in the second episode.
• "Yumekui Merry" --  A boy who can predict other people's dreams has the same dream every night -- He's being chased by an army of cats.  One day a mysterious girl lands on him and later she appears in a waking dream he's having.  In the dream she defeats the cat boss and demands that the cat boss take her back to the dream world.  I love the Cat Boss and my interest is definitely piqued.  First Impression: 4/5
• "Infinite Stratos" -- By some miracle a boy is able to pilot a gundam that only girls can pilot.  He ends up going to an all girls boarding school to learn to master this gundam only to become roommates with his shy and violent childhood friend.  In general this show looks stupid, but I do want to see the boy kick this obnoxious British girl's behind in the gundam battle that is promised for episode 2, so I'll stick around for that.  First Impression: 2/5
• "Beelzebub" -- Delinquents and an angry infant who's the son of Satan.  Need I say more?  First Impression:  5/5
• "Kore wa Zombie Desuka?" -- Some poor smuck of a boy is murdered, resurrected by a cute necromancer, and then runs into a magical girl with a chainsaw in the town cemetery.  Stuff happens and in the end he's a zombie and a magical girl cross dresser.  You had me at "zombie".  First Impression: 5/5   
• "Level E" -- A kid on a baseball scholarship moves to a new city, only to find himself rooming with a freeloading Bishonen alien.  The interactions between the kid and the alien are priceless and the story has hints of a world like the one in "Men in Black".  First Impression: 5/5
• "Freezing" -- I couldn't pay any attention to the first episode, so I don't know what happened and apparently my brain rejected it within 30-seconds.   First Impression: 0/5
• "Dragon Crisis" -- Meek boy, Ryuji,  and his well-endowed treasure hunting second cousin steal a dragon from some criminals.  The "dragon" is a fire breathing 'tween girl who is extremely attached to Ryuji, AND, Ryuji may know this girl because she's appeared in his dreams.  First Impression: 2/5 -- Lame, but the promise of a kooky scientist father earns this series a second look.
Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Purchase: December 7th - 31st

• Dengeki Daisy Volume 3 -- Kurosaki Delight!  Love him!!!  5/5
• Kamisama Kiss Volume 1 -- The first chapter is pretty weak, but it gets better. 3/5
• Arisa Volume 1 -- This starts off pretty innocently as a story of twin sisters separated by divorce.  Then one day the rebellious sister goes to visit the good sister and spends a day at school in her shoes.  Things go off the tracks from there beginning with the good sister's attempted suicide.  This got surprising intriguing towards the end of the first volume.  4/5.  Note of caution:  The English licensing isn't stable and as if now only volume 2 out of a 6 total available volumes out now are scheduled to release in 2011. 
• Eensy Weensy Monster Volume 1 -- See my earlier review of this charming series. 5/5
• Gakuen Alice Volume 14
• VB Rose Volume 11 -- Flashbacks to when Yukari and Mitsuya first met that tease the edges of BL.  Part of me wishes it was something a little complicated like that...but...that's not the story.  Still, it feels a little like a cop out.  It looks like the translator and English adaptation writer were trying to use "hipper" language.  I think it was overall successful, though, a few phrases read a little weird.  4/5
• Skyblue Shore Volume 1 -- See my earlier review of this boring first volume. FAIL. (No link to purchase.  Save your money for something better.) I hope this series doesn't influence whether the author's other series "Orange Chocolate" gets licensed.
• Ghost Hunt Volume 11
If you are interested in owning any of these series, please consider purchasing from Omari's Sister's Amazon store.  Thanks to the people who last month made purchases from the Ouran section I created.  I hope you are enjoying your merch :).Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: "Skyblue Shore"

"Skyblue Shore" by Nanpei Yamada and published in English by TokyoPop has to be the most boring manga I've ever read.  I struggled through the entire first volume because I love "Orange Chocolate" so much.  But, alas, this first volume is a lifeless turd.  Basically, it's a beach themed slice-of-life drama.  There's a pointless love triangle between two 16-year olds and 25-year old man and boring bit-- plays the useless 4th wheel.  I'd like to thank TokyoPop for leaving most of the effects untranslated and for a translation that includes the phrase, "back in the day" coming from the mouth of an uber-innocent 15-year old girl.  FAIL.  I weep for Yamada-sensei...Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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New Manga Purchase: Week of June 6, 2010

• "My Girlfriend is a Geek" -- 1/5
  
  
  Ugh..., this manga had a promising title, but then shot itself in the foot.  The running gag in this series is that the main character's girlfriend is into Shounen Ai manga and pushes her manga fantasies onto her boyfriend.  My brain simply screams out that no man with an ounce of self-respect would get wrangled into the situations the main character does and any sensible onnaotaku who wants to have a productive and mature relationship with a man knows to keep manga and anime SEPARATE from real life.   With that in mind, the whole situation seems forced for the purpose of being at the edge of titillation without actually being Shounen Ai.  Putting that aside, I have the sneaking suspicion the English version is heavily censored and watered down.  It read like something for a 13-year old as it tip-toed through the matters of being a Fujoshi.  I can't even pretend I understand the "Fujoshi" thing, but I get the feeling this manga series doesn't do this particular group of geeks justice.  Regardless, I couldn't get through the entire first volume.  1/5 for being LAME. Stay away from this steaming turd.  (Also, this version put out by Yen Press has typos...sigh...)
Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Reviews: "Alice in the Country of Hearts" Vol. 1 and "Portrait of M and N"

"Alice in the Country of Hearts" Volume 1 story by Quinrose and art by Soumei Hoshino: 3.5/5

This manga series should be call "Alice in Country of Bishies."  So far, in volume 1, Alice, the Red Queen, and Alice's sister are the only female characters in the story and the Red Queen and Alice's sister have negligible presence in the story so far.  The rest of the characters are all idealized pretty boys. Here's a list of them:


• Peter - the white rabbit who appears to be simply mad
• Hatter - the flirtatious and dashing mafioso
• The March Hare - a dandy
• Julius - a sensible fellow with some secrets
• Ace - a bad-ass knight who hides his murderous nature behind a kind smile, inability to navigate, and slack-stick behavior.  However, his dead eyes when he smiles indicate his true nature.  He works for both the Red Queen and Julius.  He, of course, is the character I'm most curious about.
• Gowland - a poorly named hot head who murders people's ears with his violin playing
• The Cheshire Cat - a slightly punk ne'er-do-well in a skimpy cat suit -- nothing says "hotness" more than a guy with an exposed pierced belly button,  wearing a cat collar, ear collars, a furry boa, and a kilt.  It's all about "attitude" I tell you!
• Nightmare - a black-haired demon who has lungitus and poor constitution
• The Twins (Deedum is one of them) -- token shouta-types who want to play with Alice
Anyhow...Alice is a world she somehow "dreamed" of, though it's not necessarily a dream.  Peter, the white rabbit tells her eventually everyone in this world will come to love her.  Alice, believing this is a dream, starts to question her subconscious desire to be loved and some issues around her ex-boyfriend, who the Hatter appears to resemble.  To get out this world, Alice must play a game, the nature of which she doesn't understand.

What I like about this series so far is that Alice appears to be in her late teens so there's no icky loli-ness to taint the whole story.  I also like the Bishies.  They all have very distinct personalities and the interactions amongst them is interesting and humorous.  I'm curious about how they are all related and what they are all truly want from Alice.  Alice is interesting in that she's a very normal girl and she's handling the situation she's been tossed into with a level headed manner.  Still this first volume doesn't knock it out of the park for me. I think this is mainly because the characters are still just caricatures to me and I don't feel any attachment or affinity for any of them yet.

My husband hated this first volume.  As for me, I think it's a good start to series and I'm looking forward to learning more about the Bishies and the world they inhabit.  3.5/5



"Portrait of M and N" Volume 1 by Tachibana Higuchi 5/5

This is a masterly written story from the author of "Gakuen Alice."  This is one of those series that I don't want to spoil by saying too much about it, so I'll be brief.  "Portrait of M and N" is the story of the encounter between two very troubled teenagers.  The two become close and share a bond through the terrible secret each one holds.  This manga has a carefully measured and balanced amount of humor, sweetness, romance, psychology, and heartbreak.  Both characters are complex and likeable and after the first chapter I was hooked and cheering the two of them on as they delt with their troubles.  I highly recommend this manga series and I'm looking forward to the next volume. 5/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Pandora Hearts, Volume 1

"Pandora Hearts" by Jun Mochizuki is yet another variation on the "Alice in Wonderland" story.  This time "Alice" is teen boy named Oz who has just turned 15 (though, he's drawn to look all of 10).  Just before his birthday he stumbles down a hole and finds a pocket watch, which upon touching leads him into a dream about a giant Black Rabbit who is disguised as a very insane girl.  Later at his coming of age ceremony he is formally sucked into the surreal abyss where B-rabbit saves him from some twisted entities called "chains."   And then some stuff happens and the two of them end up at some mysterious mansion where they are invited to join a society called "Pandora."  Pandora happens to be an organization that researches "chains."  Does that sound familiar? Yep...blah, blah, blah ... meh.

I suppose if I had not read other similar but much better manga series than this, I would have liked it more.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but this series seemed very flat to me.  The chains, though trying, didn't seem all that threatening, nor did they push the edge of looking twisted.  The main character, Oz, has no personality and B-Rabbit is just another crazy brassy girl whose true power can only be unlocked by the main adolescent boy character.  It's all very commonplace.

This series falls along the lines of "DN Angel" and "Jing, King of Bandits."  However, both of these series are far superior to "Pandora Hearts" and I highly recommend them -- although "Jing, King of Bandits" can be a bit esoteric at times.  In terms of "Alice and Wonderland" variations, there is a new series running now called "Are you Alice?" which is far more interesting.  I give "Pandora Hearts" volume 1 2/5 because I did get through 90% of the volume before giving up.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Monkey High! (Saru Yama) by Shouko Akira

I finished the last volume of "Monkey High" a few weeks ago.  I wish I had written a review sooner, because I've forgotten most of the details.  Anyhow "Monkey High" by Shouko Akira follows the high school relationship between Haruna, the daughter of a fallen politician, and Macharu, the happy-go-lucky son of a vegetable store owner.  Haruna, in a word, is "priviledged" and suffers culture shock when, after her father's fall from grace, she has to go to a public school.  She compares the culture there to a "monkey mountain" in which the different factions contest each other to sit on top.  Within this society, she meets Macharu who seems to her, in actions and physical appearance, to resemble a baby monkey.  He is the polar opposite of the too-young-to-be-jaded Haruna, and, it turns out to be just what Haruna needs.  Mixed into the story is Macharu's "frienemy," Atsushi, who can't deal with the fact that Haruna picked Macharu over him. 

The story never has any highs and lows and seems to be as low-key as both of the main characters.  I did enjoy how Macharu subtly reminds Haruna that she's still a kid and I, also, enjoyed watching Macharu slowly progress to manhood.  Haruna, also, has a nice intelligent pluck about her.  She's practical and she deals with issues head on.  What I didn't enjoy was the character "Atsushi."  He's a real prick and I didn't think his attempts at interfering with the happy couple added anything to the story. (I was really hoping that Macharu would kick Atsushi's a$$ in a fist fight to put him into place -- but, alas, Macharu is a baby monkey and both he and Haruna handle the matter in a civilized fashion.)

A word of caution to younger readers and parents, Macharu and Haruna do "consummate" their relationship and it is illustrated.  I think the chapter is well done and is a great "teachable" moment.  However, if you, as a parent, don't think this is appropriate for your child, then you may want to consider another manga series for your child.  Here are some suggestions for younger readers:

"Beauty Pop"
"Sugar Sugar Rune"

Rating 3/5 -- It's is too low-key (almost to the point of being forgettable) to be really compelling and the Atsushi character really rubs me wrong.  However, Haruna and Macharu are likeable characters and observing their romance bloom is quite nice.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: The Palette of 12 Secret Colors

The "Palette of 12 Secret Colors" by Nari Kusakawa is a wonderful low key manga series.  It's the story of Cello, a color magician, or "Palette, who bumbles through the years as a Palette student on a warm tropical island.  Cello is lousy as a standard Palette, but excels when she uses her powers in her own way.  As per many Shoujo manga series, there's a romance with an older male member of the faculty, in this case, the school doctor, Dr. Guell.  For the most part, the romance is dealt with in a manner that doesn't sugar coat the difficulties and at one point questions whether the relationship is proper.  However, at the same time, these difficulties aren't shoved down the reader's throat and, in this sense this sense, the romance is pleasant and ties in nicely with the story as Cello matures as a person and a Palette student.

There are some very cute and, at times, hilarious bird side-kicks.  The birds are the palette's companions and in a way serve as the "chorus."  They have their own role in the story, sometimes acting as obstacles the budding romance.  Ultimately, though, the birds love their companions and, in the end, cheer the couple on.

This series runs 27 chapters, compiled into 6 volumes.  There are also some one shots to pad each volume.  I really like that story was tightly limited, though, the end felt a little rushed.  I highly recommend this story for its imagination, likable low-key characters, adorable bird side-kicks, and it's general tropically laid-back feel.  5/5

Buy "The Palette of 12 Secret Colors" from Amazon
Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Beauty Pop

I just finishing re-reading "Beauty Pop" because it came to mind that it was similar to Ouran High School Host Club -- and, indeed it is. but without the twins. Kiri is =_= like Haruhi, Naru is the clueless crown prince with a mischievous father like Tamaki, Ochiai is the seemingly heartless megane shadow king like Kyouya, Kei is very child-like and loves sweets like Hani, and there's also that big silent guy, Ken, who is like Mori.

Anyhow "Beauty Pop" is about a group of student who call themselves the Scissor Project (SP). SP is composed of two hair stylists (Kiri and Naru); Kei, who does nails; Ochiai, who does make-up; Iori, who does fragrances, and Ken who is a massage expert. They hold styling sessions at school to beautify girls so they can gain the confidence to confess to the boys they like. AUGH ... if this was the crux of it, I would have stopped at volume one. However, what kept me reading were the engaging characters and the interactions between these characters inside of and outside of SP. The beautifying part is just a backdrop or an excuse to get these characters together. At some point most of the male characters (except for Kei) and even one female characters, have some sort of crush on Kiri at one time or another. But the real tension comes at the end between just to truly viable suitors.

I like this series, even though it runs a little long at 10-volumes. It's very much like Ouran-lite -- same basic set-up and characters, but with less drama, less complicated drama, and the humor isn't as sophisicated. It's basically something you could read to a 6 - 8-year old as a bed time story, if you are so inclined to read manga as a bed time story (I think it's a good idea!). It follows, then, that I think this manga is appropriate for 8-11-year 'tweens and older, and, for those adults who are still kids at heart (jaded, martini sipping adults, go find something else ...).

This gets me back to Ouran ... we're all dying to know how it will end and what's up with Kyouya, and for some reason I thought maybe I could get some clues from reading this "lite" version. Haha!!! I think we all know how Ouran will end. It's just a matter of how we will get to the end and if we take Beauty Pop as a archetype, then the final obstacle in the road between Tamaki x Haruhi will be Kyouya. Hahaha!!! Personally, that's what I'd like to see because I'm tired of Kyouya being treated as a souless money grubbing control freak. I want a reason for his control freakiness and I wanna see him blush!!!

Okay, back to Beauty Pop -- in conclusion is a very cute story with engaging characters and a very non-threatening story line. For the 13 and under crowd, "'tween-Kuroneko003" says, 4/5 because Kiri, Naru, and Occhi are so cute and sweet. Adult Kuroneko003 says 3/5 because in the end, it is rather mediocre and runs 6-volumes too long (the real story happens in the first and the last 3-volumes. The rest of it is filler).

Ratings: 4/5 and 3/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Otomen vol 1 - 3

Volumes 1 - 3 of "Otomen" are out in English from Viz. I read through these volumes and I still think this manga is very sweet. After the first three volumes, though, I don't know if the sweetness hold up. Looking at Bessatsu Hana to Yume I know the series takes a long detour in which it appears that Asuka and his fellow Otomen become roadies for a rock band. The whole rock band detour turned me off so much that I haven't bothered to even look at the Japanese text. The other thing I noticed, even after reading the first 3 volumes, there is no tension in the story that is driving me find the next chapter. I think the series has a great premise, but ultimately Asuka is so wonderful, there is no dramatic tension despite his Otomen ways. In conclusion, I recommend this manga if you are looking for something really cute and laid-back. If you are looking for drama, humor, romance, and gay or straight tension then skip this and read "VB Rose" instead.

Here's a link to some more of what I've written about Otomen

Link

Rating 3/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Anime Review: Vampire Knight Ep. 1 - 13

I finished watching the first season of "Vampire Knight" a little over a week ago. I think that the series is a nice companion to the manga, but it is definitely not a substitute. The anime follows the manga pretty faithfully -- a few things are omitted or the order in which they come in the story has changed, but it's nothing too upsetting. The anime also has more slapstick humor than the manga. Sometimes that annoyed me because I feel the story is at it's best when it is dark. So what's keeping me from strongly recommending this anime? Well, the anime lacks the "loveliness" of the manga. The characters are drawn sorta like those in the manga, but they lack the curly-flair and the detail of Hino's drawings. Hino draws very appealing looking males and the animators just don't have that talent. I realize that it would be very expensive to recreate the details of Hino's drawings, still, in that sense, I feel the anime is a bit soulless. One of the strongest moments in the manga is the scene in which Zero bites Kaname. In the manga, the build up to the event is violent, tense, and intense and the spread devoted to the bite was red-hot in all it's glory. The drawing is, well, "lovely" and over-the-top. The anime took a different approach and I think, in comparison to the manga, the scene fell flat.

I was hoping for a little variation in the story from the manga. From reading the forums, basically fans fall into the Kaname camp or the Zero camp. I am, of course, in the Kaname because I like bratty slightly evil characters and emo-characters like Zero cheese me off. I was hoping that in the anime, Zero would be less emo and more fierce. Rather, they've made him powerless and pitiful. Kaname is robotic in the anime. I imagine him to be seething under a calm exterior -- one of those guys with a beautifully biting tone. (forgive the bad pun) Oh well ...

As a good companion to the manga, I give the first season of the"Vampire Knight" anime 3/5. I highly recommend the manga, though, for its lovely drawings and dark and detailed story. The story comes on slowly but when a secret is revealed, it sheds light on all the past events and, for me, I felt the impact of the build-up greatly in retrospect. It's like magic. When it happened I would go back and reread the previous chapters and marvel at the little cues Hino left. The subtlety is amazing in when read in retrospect.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Anime Review: Heaven!!

My assessment after reading the first volume of this manga series holds. 4/5. The series is 3 volumes long and I'm glad that the mangaka didn't try to make the gag last any longer than this.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Anime Review: Dragonaut -- The Resonance

This anime started out promising and then went to heck and never came back out of it. The anime starts with a shuttle accident in which our hapless hero, Jin, loses his entire family. Fast forward to the future and Jin, who is lonely and emo, meets Toa who tells him that he is not alone. Yippee, Jin has a girlfriend. In the background of this sweetness are Jin's friend Kazuki, who is a member of the Dragonauts, a squad of warriors who ride dragons to defend Earth against Thanatos. The dragons the Dragonauts have are a friendly bunch with human forms when they aren't dragons. Their human forms are determined by their human partner's desire at the time of "resonance," when a human a dragon bond. Stuff happens and Kazuki's resonance doesn't hold with the Dragon, Gio. Instead Gio insists he must protect Toa and so Jin, Toa, and Gio live together as a happy trio. This causes Kazuki to go inexplicably insane with jealousy -- it's revealed at the end that it's some sort of "man crush." Anyh0w ... Thanatos makes its way to Earth and then Jin and the Dragonauts fight to save humanity. There's some Star Trek-like babble said that sounds like it was lifted directly from The Borg episodes during this battle. It's of little consequence, though, because by the time it comes you won't care. You'll just want the misery to end.

To summarize my thoughts on this show:

• The story is unnecessarily convoluted
• Jin's insane friend, Kazuki, was so annoying that I wished for his death in every episode. I then became livid and wished even more for his death when he suddenly confessed his man crush to Jin and then turned his insane hatred into insane love -- of the "man crush" sort (Kazuki just wanted to be the one that protected Jin, and was upset that Jin was strong in his own right and also had other beings that cared for him too).
  
• The other characters outside of Jin and Kazuki had the potential to be interesting, but they didn't spend enough time developing them
• I like the intro theme song
• The female characters either have ridiculously enormous gravity defying breasts or little tiny ones. There is no in between. Garnet's outfit is particularly interesting if you like fetish garments -- ow, no part of her outfit can be comfortable.
  
All-in-all this was an alright anime. I did finish it even though by about episode 18 or so I began to care less for it. 2.5/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: King of Cards

Main character, Minami, by extreme luck obtains a super rare card, Sahgan, for the card game "Chaos." People from all over challenge her to take the card away. At night, Sahgan visits her in dreams to give her card playing tips. This manga is basically a lame attempt at combining Yugi-oh, or whatever card battle card is popular now, with Shoujo. I flipped through most of it because it was boring card battle crap. 1/5 for a pointless manga series.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Anime Review: Gundam Seed

This is 52-episodes of Gundam soap-opera goodness. In the future, humans created super humans and then became afraid of them. Accidentally a war was started and hatred upon hatred built leading to Armageddon. Friend against friend, in gundams, fight with their princesses cheering them on. Ah, yes, then there's the tainted love of the deliciously irritating Filay. It was addicting. Watch it if you haven't already. 5/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Ion

"Ion" is a 6 chapter (1 volume) manga by Arina Tanemura. She wrote this manga early in her career and it shows. The drawing style is hers but primitive and the characters and story are nowhere near as rich as "Fullmoon o Sagashite", "Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne", or "Shinshi Doumei Cross" ("The Gentleman's Alliance" in the US). As with her other stories, the main character, Ion, draws her strength by defying sadness that is rooted in the pain of missing parents. However, doesn't really deal with Ion's pain or her weakness. As for the male rivals, neither of them come close Tanemura's other male leads. Get this manga if you must complete your collection, otherwise read it at the library (I'm sure many of you will just read it at your local bookstore.) I'm sorta peeved that this manga cost $9 -- not much bang for the buck. I actually had a hard time reading the whole thing because it was it was so formulaic and, in general, overly cheerful. 2.5/5 for a mediocre manga series. Thank goodness they let her continue to publish after this one.

Tanemura's other series, "Fullmoon o Sagashite", "Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne", or "Shinshi Doumei Cross" (currently running in Ribon magazine) are EXCELLENT. So please support these manga, so we can see more from this wonderful artist.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Nightmares for Sale

Wow! Another stinker here! This manga is a series of short stories about a pawn shop that deals in cursed artifacts. The cursed artifacts are created by human hatred and desire ... sigh ... I only read two of the stories before giving up and deciding not to waste anymore of my precious life and neurons on this crap. The first story involves a girl who was bullied, who thinks that she can buy her way out of being bullied. She buys her friends rings as symbols of their friendship. Things go bad and the girl's hatred builds until she snaps and decides to bite off the ring fingers of her tormentors. Yes, it sounds cool, but it really isn't. The next short story plays like a "lite" version of the "Twilight Zone." A fashion model consumed by vanity wishes to look good in photographs. Her wish is granted and she looks good in photographs at the expense of her youth in real life. She dies after being photographed too many times. Again, it sounds cool, but it really isn't. That's as far as I got.

I would call this a horror manga series fit for 'tween girl except the manga is rife is foul language. I'm not sure what the editor was thinking. Perhaps, they were trying to get 'tweens attention by getting themselves slapped with an OT rating. Sigh ... I'm sure those 'tweens won't be disappointed. Anybody else over the age of 13, though, will be sorely disappointed. 0/5 because this manga really sucked.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Lots of New Manga -- Quick Reviews of Volume 1

Bad:
"Love Master A" -- Girl of 1000 broken hearts is made class president by a male harem that what looking for a mistress. It feels like a shabby wannabe "Ouran Host Club" I couldn't get through the entire first volume -- 1/5

"Shiki Tsukai" -- A boy is born with unknown powers that are influenced by the seasons. A beautiful maiden of spring, who happens to be the daughter of some big corporation owner, comes to protect the boy. It's not very interesting. 2/5 but I did read the entire first volume.

"Suppli" -- Whiny working women in her late 20's breaks up with her boyfriend of 7-years, now worries about growing old alone. "Kimi wa Petto" (Tramps Like Us) and "Hataraki Man" are much, much better. I got through the first chapter only before I became bored with the main character's self indulgent whining -- 1/5

"My Dearest Devil Princess" -- short and unathletic Keita buys a box from his friend who promises the box will grant him wishes. Keita opens the box and a sexy devil appears who promises him three wishes in exchange for his soul. This manga is basically a bunch of fan service -- low on story development, character development, and originality. The only saving grace of this story is the gay track captain who's in love with Keita and the vice class president who is crushing on the track captain. She thinks the track captain is after the devil. 1.5/5

"Puri Puri" -- Masato, who dreams of being a priest, enters an all girl's divinity school. Apparently at this school all the girls wear dangerously short skirts and don't know the first thing about Catholicism. This is fan service at its worse. 1/5 because I did get through the entire volume. It was funny, but there's no reason to set this story in a "divinity school."

Okay:
"Short Sunzen" -- A violent girl, violent boy love story. The drawings are really bad and the stories are forgettable. "Cheeky Angel" is better. 2.5/5

"Enchanter" -- A demon finds a boy, Haruhiko, with the same smell of her former master, Fulcanelli. The demon looks like the teacher Haruhiko is crushing on. Together with Fulcanelli's, Haruhiko and the demon, Eukanaria, fight off demons who are attacking the teacher. There is some humor, but overall the story lacks originality. 3/5 for an average manga.


Good:
"Love Attack" -- A violent girl, violent boy love story done right. This first volume had lots of sincerity and humor. 5/5

"Monkey High" -- The jaded uppity daughter of a disgraced politician transfers to a public school. There she meets a boy who reminds her of a baby monkey. His innocence charm melts her heart. This manga so far is very sweet. 5/5

"To Terra" (Terra e) -- The manga the anime is based upon. Like the anime, it is excellent! I highly recommend reading it. 5/5

"Pretty Face" -- A karate macho gets into a accident and awakens a year later with the face of the girl he's love with. Mistaken for dead, his parents move away in sorrow and he is mistaken on the street to be the twin sister of the girl he's in love with. To make her happy, he decides to live as her big sister until her real sister is found. The manga series starts off sweet and sincere with sprinklings of raunchy boy fantasy. 4/5 -- because I feel the main conceit is going to get old quickly.

"Shinshoku Kiss" --16-year old Kotoko admires the reknown doll maker Fool. While out scouting for beautiful people, Kotoko is kidnapped by Fool and told that she has to be his assistant or die. And so begins Kotoko's bizarre relationship with Fool. I like the drawing style of this manga a lot and I also like how I'm not really sure what Fool's intentions are. 5/5 for a creepy manga.

"Walking Butterfly" -- This is the story of Michiko, a 6-foot tall girl who hates her body. Consumed by anger and self loathing she lives on the fringes of society doing odd jobs and petty crime. While delivering pizzas, she is mistaken for a model and dressed to go out on the runway. The clothing designer, Mihara, recognizes right away that she's no model and tells Michiko that she couldn't handle one second out on the runway. He's right and Michiko runs out, but at the same time has a breakthrough, realizing that modeling is something she can do and feeling all fired up by Mihara's challenge. 4/5 -- for a good start with a deduction for some self indulgent whining on Michiko's part.

"Heaven!!" -- This light confection of a manga is about Rinnie, who can send ghosts to heaven with her harisen; Uzaki, a yankee punk with bad taste; and a lecherous God in search of a body. Uzaki gets run over by a bus while trying to save Rinnie and end up in a coma. The God takes over Uzaki's body and condemns Uzaki's soul to a stuffed pink monkey. It turns out that the God has a much better personality and fashion sense than Uzaki, so once he gets Uzaki's body cleaned up, the new and improved Uzaki is a handsome lady killer. Oh, what's a poor pink monkey plushie to do? 4/5 -- for a promising premise, but there does seem like there's anywhere to go with the story.

"VB Rose" -- I didn't expect to like this manga about a high school girl who assists a pair of guys who run a wedding dress boutique. Surprisingly, it's a sweet story about a Ageha who idolized sister has just revealed to her family that she's pregnant and is marrying the father of her child, a man Ageha considers less than worthy. Ageha designs handbags and has a local following, that includes Yukari and Mitsuya of VB Rose. While workig through her emotions about her sister, Ageha volunteers to help make her sister's dress ... and so begins VB Rose. 5/5 for great character development and an examination of a sibling relationship that is universally common.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: Tramps Like Us (Kimi wa Petto)

"Tramps Like Us" finally wrapped up. The last volume covers Sumire's introduction to Takeshi's family, an event Takeshi dreads. The rest of the volume wraps up the Hasumi side story, wraps up the Rumi sidestory, does a flashback of the friendship between Sumire and Yuri, and finally covers the last few hours before Sumire's and Takeshi wedding. It's all very sweet. Sumire finally experiences "love" as she and Takeshi become a family.

This manga series is most definitely for adults. I really don't recommend it to anyone under 16, not because of the nudity and sex scenes, but because it takes some life experience to truly appreciate this manga. At the beginning of this series, Sumire is truly in a bad state and in a word, "crazy." Takeshi isn't all together himself, either. It really takes some "special" thinking to take a man in, literally, as a pet. But you have to understand, that Sumire is so broken, that this is the level of emotional attachment she can handle. This is also reflected in her strained relationship with Hatsumi. She seems to admire him, but she never opens up to him to show her real self and she is never able to gain intimacy as a result of having sex with him. Also Hatsumi has some problems too. He created an idealistic vision of Sumire rather than make the effort to get to know her.

Overall, this is an excellent drama with some very comedic moments. I highly recommend it. There is also a 10-episode live action version of this manga out there in the ether called "Kimi wa Petto." Check them both out! 5/5Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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Manga Review: King of the Lamp

I was anticipating this manga because I enjoyed "Tenshi ja Nai". I was sorely disappointed. This is the second worst manga I have read behind "Fall in Love Like Comic." Basically this manga is a series of very bad short stories that center around a lecherous king who, after taking 1000 of his countries most beautiful women into his harem, was enslaved in a magic lamp. To gain his freedom he must help 1000 women improve their love lives. The basic story pattern is as follows: girl loves hot guy from afar. Girl makes a stupid wish to be with that guy. In a case of mistaken identity or intention, the sought after guy tries to rape the girl. The girl makes a second wish and possibly a third and the guy realizes he "loves" the girl and then they have sex. Sigh ... I would have been pissed at this great offense to women-kind, except the stories are so poorly written that I was laughing hysterically while reading this manga. UGH, it was bad! There are some extra stories after the 3 cases of "King of the Lamp". "I'll Kill you with a Kiss" was half-way okay. I give this 1/5 because I did read through it all, laughing the entire time, though.Source URL: http://aminefairy.blogspot.com/search/label/review
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