meganbmoore | manga manga manga (Reply)

Yes, even more manga.(scary thing is,even after this, there'll still be stuff this week I haven't talked about yet...I'll get to that tomorrow)

Gonna be focusing on reading the first(and onward) volumes of some "new to me" manga--a lot of them because book 2 just came out.

Anyway...

"KageTora" is one of those "cute" books. Basically take one of the more serious, by-the-books young guys from about any period-ish samurai or ninja series, dump him in a high school in modern day Tokyo, and tell me he has to train the hopelessly clumsy(but well intentioned) daughter of an elite martial arts clan. Naturally he's going "guh" after about 2 seconds. It's rather cute, and reminds me of a more martial arts/shojo take on what little bit of Full Metal Panic I read a couple years ago(need to see those animes...) I'm not QUITE sold on it for the long run just yet(even I need a little more than "aww...cute") but I'll at least be getting the next book or two, to see where it goes. If more solidity develops, it'll probably be a keeper.

I initially passed on "D.Gray Man" because, while it sounded interesting, the designs as depicted on the covers(largely the Millenium Earl and the picture of Lee on the back) were less than appealingm even more me(and I have a high tolerance for quetionable designs) but

tjfox finally wore me down. For what ever reason,they just chosethe worst possible pictures to put on the front and back cover. It's a "fictional 19th century England" which translates as "based on for design and general setting." Which is fine, unlike, say, "Godchild," which claimed to be Victorian England but I kept clutching it and growling and going "Victorian ENGLAND, not Japan! WRONG SOCIETY!"(Hem. Would have loved that one were it not for that. But a 19 year old british nobleman given full control of a vast estate, his young sister and endless monies and telling his legal guardian to beat it? Not even a consideration.) The storyline is interesting and I like the characters, and the setting works surprisingly well, so I'll be getting more. Plus, it has an overly serious, slightly angsty guy with a sword. And long hair as a bonus. Most of you know my ability to resist such things...

I freely confess that I got "Ark Angels" purely for Sang Sun Park's art. Yes, I am occassionally that shallow. Fortunately, the story was pretty good. Pretty much "what if Noah's arc was a shojo magical girls manga" with 3 sisters going through time to save the last members of endangered species just beforethey become extinct. If too many species die, humanity gets wiped out. For some reason, they're also going to high school(because it's manga and all teens MUST regularly go to high school, and if they end up in another time or world, they must spend all their time studying and worrying about their grades...) and one of the sisters has been raised as a boy, but we don't know why. And the animals are like the animals in "Petshop of Horrors" where most people see thm as animals, but the main characters are able to see them as their souls, which looks like humans...Parts of it were a little wild, even for me(the ark, for example, is a giant wheel thing with tiny wheels...) but I definately like.

Picked up "Skip Beat" on a whim a while back during one of Waldenbooks's 4-for-3 sales and I needed a fourth. It's creepy how fun this was. Kyoko's anger and bitterness puts almost every fictional depiction of anger and bitterness I've seen to shame. Which is scary. Basically, a girl runs away from home with her childhood crush who wants to be a celebrity. She think it's so they can be together, but once he makes it big, she learns that he really just brought her along to to be his servant and pay for his apartment. It...does not go well. She gets a hairvut, dies her hair, and sets out to get revenge by beating him at his own game. She has no traditional talents, but is lucky enough to have learned the talents of a master chef in Sho's(the scumbag) family home. Kyoko gets by largely on pure, passionate rage and hatred, but it works quite well for her. Definately one of my better impulse buys.

Yes, yes, I finally caved in to various sources of pressure and read "MeruPuri"(actually, I had meant to check it out when it was first released, but never got around to it) This was...aburdly giddily fun. Aram and Jeile are both extremely cuddly-cute, and Airi...Airi makes my standards seem extremely lenient(I don't think I have overly strict standards, but others seem to think I do...) Rather liked Hoshina and Lei, too. And...uhm...that's reallythe main thing...fantasy/giddy/cute/fun. I want an Aram, size changing version. And a Jeile on a leash.

Meanwhile, "Yahiko no Sakabato" has me considering mixing some "Rurouni Kenshin" in with "Remington Steele." Haven't decided whether or notto do so, yet.