You know how Manga Rock always tries to recommend you series? A lot of times I'll look through those trying to find some gems in the rough. I think this was one of the gems.
{Spoilers}
Honestly this manga is super short so there's not a lot of room to really flesh out the characters, but within the eight chapters that this manga series encompasses, it's a pretty well executed story. Perhaps if it was longer it would go more into the two pairs that it features as well as maybe some more depth to each other their backstories. But you know with sports anime it boils down a lot to "I love this sport and I want to be the best at it." And this is understandable.
And I think you get this traditional kind of story from what I initially thought was the "main" story when this timid girl named Nika sees her classmate Nanao on the ice and gets absolutely swept away in the beauty of the sport. Then we've got the usual kind of thing where she almost quits, but finds it within her the love of the sport and the fuel to keep going.
Listening to this standard story you might be thinking to yourself like "how could this be any good when it just seems like all the things we've seen before?" And to answer that I would point you to the second half of the series. Kiwako. She's kind of gap moe haha. In the best way. She has this on-ice persona of being haughty and overconfident, when in reality she's kind of an airhead with nothing going for her except her ice skating. And according to herself, she has the face of a villain. And with all of this in mind, she becomes easily the star of the manga. Perhaps from outside influence she became the star of the manga, or perhaps the mangaka also realized Kiwako's potential, but it turned into a manga focusing around this gap moe character and her short, but sweet journey through love. And it's a bit clumsy and comical at times, but it was overall endearing in a way that I didn't expect from such a short manga.
I definitely recommend you try this manga out. At first you might find it a bit cliche and overdone, but I think the second half might surprise you. And it's so short that you wouldn't lose out much even if you didn't find it very enjoyable. Just try it and maybe you might be surprised as well.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Manga Match 50 Venus Capriccio
I thought I'd just start this off with a little reminder to myself what the title of the series that I'm doing "Manga Match" really means. I mean first of all I really like when a title is comprised of words that all start with the same letter. Really satisfies me, you know. But also I wanted it to be like a catalog that you can look through for your manga after you finish the one you're currently reading. It's kind of like blind dating I guess for manga, or just like having a smaller sieve to sift through rather than just searching shoujo on the Manga Rock app.
{Spoilers}
I think a running theme with a lot of musicians is abusive/traumatizing childhoods. This is no exception. Think "Your Lie in April" but toned down. And not the main premise of the manga either.
So this manga focuses around the dichotomy between two piano players. One is Takami who is more of a tomboyish girl and the other is Akira, a boy who is more doll-like and traditionally pretty. With this as the beginning premise, Akira is definitely the prodigy between the two, with the hard-driving mother as the motivation to the beginning of his career as a piano player. (That's why I brought up the traumatizing upbringing of musicians.) And Takami is just in love with the piano. Honestly I'm not too clear on the main motivation behind the creation of this manga. It was definitely upon the idea of a boyish girl and a girlish boy, but beyond that it's just a fun little rom-com drama manga about a boy trying to prove to the girl that he's a man now and should be taken seriously and all of the drama that ensues because of it. Throw in a splash of the guy's dark family past and you've got yourself a pretty well-rounded manga.
I won't say that this is awe-inspiring and that you have to read it. But if you're looking for that kind of shoujo with a princely kind of guy then there you go? If my younger self were to read this I think I would be a lot more impressed and moved, but because of the saturation in the genre of shoujo as well as the moving feeling I felt with "Your Lie in April" which rocked my boat a little more in terms of illustrating the pressure a parent puts on their child to succeed, it just wasn't up there in comparison with other series I've read. But if you're looking for more of this dichotomy between some polar opposites or you want some musically inspired manga then this is a pretty good one to read through. It's only around 30 ish chapters too so it's a pretty quick read if you're just perusing the selection.
{Spoilers}
I think a running theme with a lot of musicians is abusive/traumatizing childhoods. This is no exception. Think "Your Lie in April" but toned down. And not the main premise of the manga either.
So this manga focuses around the dichotomy between two piano players. One is Takami who is more of a tomboyish girl and the other is Akira, a boy who is more doll-like and traditionally pretty. With this as the beginning premise, Akira is definitely the prodigy between the two, with the hard-driving mother as the motivation to the beginning of his career as a piano player. (That's why I brought up the traumatizing upbringing of musicians.) And Takami is just in love with the piano. Honestly I'm not too clear on the main motivation behind the creation of this manga. It was definitely upon the idea of a boyish girl and a girlish boy, but beyond that it's just a fun little rom-com drama manga about a boy trying to prove to the girl that he's a man now and should be taken seriously and all of the drama that ensues because of it. Throw in a splash of the guy's dark family past and you've got yourself a pretty well-rounded manga.
I won't say that this is awe-inspiring and that you have to read it. But if you're looking for that kind of shoujo with a princely kind of guy then there you go? If my younger self were to read this I think I would be a lot more impressed and moved, but because of the saturation in the genre of shoujo as well as the moving feeling I felt with "Your Lie in April" which rocked my boat a little more in terms of illustrating the pressure a parent puts on their child to succeed, it just wasn't up there in comparison with other series I've read. But if you're looking for more of this dichotomy between some polar opposites or you want some musically inspired manga then this is a pretty good one to read through. It's only around 30 ish chapters too so it's a pretty quick read if you're just perusing the selection.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Manga Match 49 Tonari no Atashi
So yesterday I felt like I was on my death bed because I was sick in bed with the flu. That's probably a gross over exaggeration of the reality of the situation, but nevertheless it made me thankful that I was at home for the holidays for my family to take care of me. Honestly every time I come home I feel absolutely spoiled. And it's not like they're doing anything super duper extravagant, but they don't have to. The life I live at home is one of absolute luxury where I can eat all the good food and drink water without fear of diarrhea within the next couple of hours. :) yeah this actually happened once. Maybe the pipes just had stale water inside over the summer? Whatever the case, it wasn't a fun experience.
{Spoilers}
So, as we all know, I'm always on the hunt for my next spicy as heck shoujo manga. And I think we might have a serious contender here folks. Here we have the "love triangle where the guy I usually root for actually ends up with the girl because she actually recognizes the value of the nice guy, but I still feel torn because the other guy ended up pretty nice too because he's from my favorite childhood friend trope oh no I'm so torn and in distress" scenario. We probably all know that feels. But this puts a little twist on the whole love triangle scenario and who she was "meant" to end up with versus who she actually did. Lowkey I got Scum's Wish vibes form the thing with the side girl trying to get with Kyousuke and stuff. But I don't really want to get into that because Scum's Wish really just scarred me to the ends of this earth. Ewh I don't even want to think about it.
Anyways, so the story revolves kind of around the main girl Nina and her discovery of what romance and love really is. There are a few nuances and foreshadowing stuff that happens in the beginning that really didn't make sense until I had finished it all the way through which made it all the more satisfying to read and complete...while I was in bed sick with the flu. (Perhaps because I was in such a delicate state and was slightly nauseated while reading it, this was a really nice read to get my mind off of how badly my body hurt. What can I say? I'm weak when sick.) So she has her childhood friend and neighbor Kyousuke who she's had this fantasy romance with in her head for the longest time. She really thinks she loves him, the operative word here is thinks by the way. And her dream is to get into the same high school he goes to. She kind of gets a taste for what love with Kyousuke would be like when she confesses to him and he almost kisses her, but stops because although her mind seems like she wants it, something deep down inside of her is rejecting it. And so this boy here, instead of waiting patiently for her or whatever or doing anything other than starting more drama, ends up with Asou (the girl who gives me Scum's Wish protag vibes) who furthers the drama to the nth degree. While Nina is busy dealing with her jealousy and abandonment issues and while Kyousuke is trying to convince himself he actually isn't in love with Nina, Nina ends up going out with the sweetest boy on the planet, Miyake. This boy has been watching his classmate Nina fawn over Kyousuke throughout middle school. Literally such a sweet boy and just wanting her to be happy. And he was happy just seeing her be happy until he actually got to hang out with her some more (shoutout to his bomb af wingman friend group) during the fireworks festival and promptly confessed his pure boy feelings to her. And then comes the drama of Nina and Kyousuke both being in different relationships with different people, but still being drawn together like two sides of a pair of magnets. And it's a mess. And you can't help but wonder who Nina's going to end up with and who's going to be hurt.
But then it's revealed that Kyousuke's actually loved Nina all this time. He's loved her for so long, but in loving her he's realized that her love for him, while she thinks it's romantic, is actually more of a siblings love. And that's a big ooof. And it's a really hard pill to swallow. That all this time he's really loved her, and to see her end up with Miyake must've really hurt. And the author does such a good job of weaving all of these interlocking pieces together, especially with all of the nuances that each character brings to the table, that make it not just another cheesy love triangle that you've seen over and over again in shoujo manga that's just there for the sake of being there. Instead you get this intense, albeit maybe improbable, love triangle in which there's tangible misunderstandings and feelings and the transience of feelings with love and what you think is love and what might be jealousy for the loss of a loved one or actually just growing pains as we all grow older. And it's hard seeing how the reality of these situations seen to be at odds with our favorite ships, but all through it, you just can't help but root for your favorites.
This definitely was not a comprehensive review. They turn more into summaries than anything. But it was just really shocking to me to see Nina actually end up with Miyake instead of Kyousuke. Sure Kyousuke was a jerk. Like he didn't need to go out with Asou, though it was likely to move on from Nina, nice try. But he did. And that allowed all of them to grow as individuals. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a smidgen of physical pain when I saw this panel, but I really did. It hit me in just the right way to bring me to the brink of tears, though I did not really cry.
{Spoilers}
So, as we all know, I'm always on the hunt for my next spicy as heck shoujo manga. And I think we might have a serious contender here folks. Here we have the "love triangle where the guy I usually root for actually ends up with the girl because she actually recognizes the value of the nice guy, but I still feel torn because the other guy ended up pretty nice too because he's from my favorite childhood friend trope oh no I'm so torn and in distress" scenario. We probably all know that feels. But this puts a little twist on the whole love triangle scenario and who she was "meant" to end up with versus who she actually did. Lowkey I got Scum's Wish vibes form the thing with the side girl trying to get with Kyousuke and stuff. But I don't really want to get into that because Scum's Wish really just scarred me to the ends of this earth. Ewh I don't even want to think about it.
Anyways, so the story revolves kind of around the main girl Nina and her discovery of what romance and love really is. There are a few nuances and foreshadowing stuff that happens in the beginning that really didn't make sense until I had finished it all the way through which made it all the more satisfying to read and complete...while I was in bed sick with the flu. (Perhaps because I was in such a delicate state and was slightly nauseated while reading it, this was a really nice read to get my mind off of how badly my body hurt. What can I say? I'm weak when sick.) So she has her childhood friend and neighbor Kyousuke who she's had this fantasy romance with in her head for the longest time. She really thinks she loves him, the operative word here is thinks by the way. And her dream is to get into the same high school he goes to. She kind of gets a taste for what love with Kyousuke would be like when she confesses to him and he almost kisses her, but stops because although her mind seems like she wants it, something deep down inside of her is rejecting it. And so this boy here, instead of waiting patiently for her or whatever or doing anything other than starting more drama, ends up with Asou (the girl who gives me Scum's Wish protag vibes) who furthers the drama to the nth degree. While Nina is busy dealing with her jealousy and abandonment issues and while Kyousuke is trying to convince himself he actually isn't in love with Nina, Nina ends up going out with the sweetest boy on the planet, Miyake. This boy has been watching his classmate Nina fawn over Kyousuke throughout middle school. Literally such a sweet boy and just wanting her to be happy. And he was happy just seeing her be happy until he actually got to hang out with her some more (shoutout to his bomb af wingman friend group) during the fireworks festival and promptly confessed his pure boy feelings to her. And then comes the drama of Nina and Kyousuke both being in different relationships with different people, but still being drawn together like two sides of a pair of magnets. And it's a mess. And you can't help but wonder who Nina's going to end up with and who's going to be hurt.
But then it's revealed that Kyousuke's actually loved Nina all this time. He's loved her for so long, but in loving her he's realized that her love for him, while she thinks it's romantic, is actually more of a siblings love. And that's a big ooof. And it's a really hard pill to swallow. That all this time he's really loved her, and to see her end up with Miyake must've really hurt. And the author does such a good job of weaving all of these interlocking pieces together, especially with all of the nuances that each character brings to the table, that make it not just another cheesy love triangle that you've seen over and over again in shoujo manga that's just there for the sake of being there. Instead you get this intense, albeit maybe improbable, love triangle in which there's tangible misunderstandings and feelings and the transience of feelings with love and what you think is love and what might be jealousy for the loss of a loved one or actually just growing pains as we all grow older. And it's hard seeing how the reality of these situations seen to be at odds with our favorite ships, but all through it, you just can't help but root for your favorites.
This definitely was not a comprehensive review. They turn more into summaries than anything. But it was just really shocking to me to see Nina actually end up with Miyake instead of Kyousuke. Sure Kyousuke was a jerk. Like he didn't need to go out with Asou, though it was likely to move on from Nina, nice try. But he did. And that allowed all of them to grow as individuals. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a smidgen of physical pain when I saw this panel, but I really did. It hit me in just the right way to bring me to the brink of tears, though I did not really cry.
Because Kyousuke let go of his long-time love. He even confessed to her. "I love you" he says. And she replies "I loved you." It hit too hard.
And then here's some Miyake screenshots. Because he's a sweet sweet boy and I'm happy that they ended up together. It was definitely a bittersweet ending, but a great one anyways.
I think if you're like me and you're looking for a shoujo that isn't super clear=cut as your traditional shoujo where the girl goes through some bullying and ends up with the main love interest, no shade if you do because sometimes yeah those hit the spot, but you're looking for something that's a bit more twisted and has some different kinds of plotlines and relationships portrayed I think that this would be a good one to read. It's not the best one that I've read out there, but it's definitely up there. I really appreciate the mangaka for all of their hard work and for giving us a story that I don't think I've seen before. It was definitely a wild ride.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Anime ATM 90 Akkun to Kanojo
So I haven't been watching much anime recently. I guess that's probably due to the fact that I just study all day and then in my free time I usually do whatever. But because I seldom have huge chunks of time to binge all at once, I usually find myself turning towards Youtube videos for that 15 minutes of standalone entertainment than watching a compartment of a series.
That's why to get back into the swing of things I watched this anime. Each episode is suuuuuper short, at like 3 minutes long, with an OP but no ED (an OP you can skip though because I wasn't a huge fan) so it's easy to watch all in one sitting.
{Spoilers: Jokes on you there's no spoilers because there's exactly no plot}
So this anime centers around this couple: Nontan and Akkun. Akkun is a clear tsundere. He acts really mean to Nontan, while secretly wishing he could be nicer to her because she's his angel. In any other circumstance his stalker tendencies would be super creepy, but because this is such a slice of life anime he gets away with it. Bur if this were real life and your boyfriend/girlfriend/S.O. puts a secret mic on you and listens to you hum while trying to sleep and has pictures of you all over their wall please call 911. That's not healthy.
And then Nontan is kind of just your run of the mill airhead but strong-willed and super kind anime girl protagonist. You've seen her before and you'll see her again so there's nothing much to say besides that she's a very sweet girl and she and Akkun make a good couple.
Besides the main two, there are two other couples that the show kind of revolve around for some jokes that we've all seen before with the pairings of like the "otaku ikemen boy" and then Akkun's younger sister or the "cat girl" and then she falls in love with her teacher for honestly no real reason.
This is definitely a show you shouldn't take too seriously. It's super short. It's super fluffy. There's really not a whole lot going on, so if you have the time...I suggest honestly that you watch something else besides this anime. There's definitely many better and more fleshed out versions of this anime. Sure, it's kind of sweet and it's short, but I think your time would be better invested in watching something more fleshed out and hopefully fulfilling.
That's why to get back into the swing of things I watched this anime. Each episode is suuuuuper short, at like 3 minutes long, with an OP but no ED (an OP you can skip though because I wasn't a huge fan) so it's easy to watch all in one sitting.
{Spoilers: Jokes on you there's no spoilers because there's exactly no plot}
So this anime centers around this couple: Nontan and Akkun. Akkun is a clear tsundere. He acts really mean to Nontan, while secretly wishing he could be nicer to her because she's his angel. In any other circumstance his stalker tendencies would be super creepy, but because this is such a slice of life anime he gets away with it. Bur if this were real life and your boyfriend/girlfriend/S.O. puts a secret mic on you and listens to you hum while trying to sleep and has pictures of you all over their wall please call 911. That's not healthy.
I choked because this scene was funny, but seriously peep all those Nontan pictures on the wall. Yikes.
And then Nontan is kind of just your run of the mill airhead but strong-willed and super kind anime girl protagonist. You've seen her before and you'll see her again so there's nothing much to say besides that she's a very sweet girl and she and Akkun make a good couple.
Besides the main two, there are two other couples that the show kind of revolve around for some jokes that we've all seen before with the pairings of like the "otaku ikemen boy" and then Akkun's younger sister or the "cat girl" and then she falls in love with her teacher for honestly no real reason.
Ah this part was also funny. Above is Irie (cat-esque girl) after Sensei praises her
This is definitely a show you shouldn't take too seriously. It's super short. It's super fluffy. There's really not a whole lot going on, so if you have the time...I suggest honestly that you watch something else besides this anime. There's definitely many better and more fleshed out versions of this anime. Sure, it's kind of sweet and it's short, but I think your time would be better invested in watching something more fleshed out and hopefully fulfilling.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Manga Match 48 Love Deficiency
Fun fact, I actually started reading this on Tapas, but Tapas gets kind of annoying to keep earning those coins, so I stopped and here I am again, having finished it, to give my mediocre review. Woo hoo!
{Spoilers}
Honestly, I say I read it before, but I remember very little from it in actuality. So the premise behind this story is that there's this love deficiency disease. If you stay single for too long, you start turning invisible until you just disappear.
So basically, this guy and this girl are in the same boat. They've both recently become single and so under various circumstances end up dating and finding out what true love is. Ah, when I put it like that it doesn't seem very interesting. Neither is it when I add in manipulative exes. Ah. Sorry folks, that is all.
There is a kind of twist when it comes to why exactly the two of them find it hard to fall in love, having to do with childhood trauma. I'll leave that to you to read for yourself, which makes the story a bit more unique without the weird twist of them both having this disease.
Mostly I bring this manga up because...right now it's cuffing season. And if you've been anywhere near Subtle Asian Dating, you know what's up. That and all of my friends are seriously looking for boyfriends/girlfriends. Not gonna lie, sometimes that loneliness just creeps up on you, but oof really hits in the feels when you see imaginary webtoon characters with a fuego love life you know what I mean?
Sorry for the kinda lackluster review, I think I'm crashing from the espresso I had earlier today so I wouldn't die during my final. :)))))))
{Spoilers}
Honestly, I say I read it before, but I remember very little from it in actuality. So the premise behind this story is that there's this love deficiency disease. If you stay single for too long, you start turning invisible until you just disappear.
So basically, this guy and this girl are in the same boat. They've both recently become single and so under various circumstances end up dating and finding out what true love is. Ah, when I put it like that it doesn't seem very interesting. Neither is it when I add in manipulative exes. Ah. Sorry folks, that is all.
There is a kind of twist when it comes to why exactly the two of them find it hard to fall in love, having to do with childhood trauma. I'll leave that to you to read for yourself, which makes the story a bit more unique without the weird twist of them both having this disease.
Mostly I bring this manga up because...right now it's cuffing season. And if you've been anywhere near Subtle Asian Dating, you know what's up. That and all of my friends are seriously looking for boyfriends/girlfriends. Not gonna lie, sometimes that loneliness just creeps up on you, but oof really hits in the feels when you see imaginary webtoon characters with a fuego love life you know what I mean?
Sorry for the kinda lackluster review, I think I'm crashing from the espresso I had earlier today so I wouldn't die during my final. :)))))))
uwu
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