Overall Rating: A+
Summary: Written by Cecil Castellucci with art by Jim Rugg, The Plain Janes follows Jane Beckles, a teenage girl from Metro City who is injured during a terrorist attack. After Jane recovers, her mother is too freaked out by the attack to continue living in the city, and so the family moves to the suburbs. Of course, Jane thinks her life is over in the boring town until she finds some true friends; three other girls named Jane.
Adopting the moniker Main Jane, Jane partners up with Brain Jane, Theatre Jane and Polly Jane to form a secret art gang named P.L.A.I.N. (or People Loving Art In Neighborhoods) to make the suburbs less boring and bring art into everyone's lives.
With the police trying to lock them up, some of the community outraged, and others supporting the group, can art attacks help save th girls from high school and the suburbs, or will the land themselves in jail?
I'm not really sure why I haven't reviewed The Plain Janes before now, because I absolutely adore this book. It makes me nostalgic for the days when I was a teenage girl artist, which is weird since I've never been very artistic (or a girl for that matter). I guess that's what really makes me love this book. It drew me in early on. All of the characters, and particularly the Janes, are extremely well-developed and interesting, and I quickly fell in love with it. I highly recommend checking this one out.
Download a sneak peek here
If you don't care about role-playing games, then you probably aren't interested in this post. That being said, I have been running ongoing Live Action Role-Playing Games (or LARP) for years now, and have never been completely happy with the mechanics. I think this boils down to the fact that on the one hand, LARPing is a lot like acting, and you want to stay in character as much as possible. On the other hand, there are times when you have to rely on your character sheet to resolve conflict. In table top role-playing there isn't as much emphasis on being in character, and so it's easier when you have to break out the dice. An additional complication in LARPing is that your actions may be interfering with 10-50 other people's enjoyment of the evening. In table top, you are usually acting as a group, and so everyone is involved, but in LARPs it's usually on a few individuals. Then there's the problem of bringing new players in. If they have experience in table top, then they usually have a pretty good understanding of what they're doing when they look at a character sheet, but if LARPing is their first (or one of a few rare) rpg experience(s), then they may be at a loss for even getting started creating a character. I think most of my friends would agree with me when I claim to be a geek, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I think a lot about how to fix these issues with the game I love to play (Vampire: The Requiem LARP to be specific). So, I decided to try my hand at creating a one-shot LARP that was easier for new players to understand, players with experience in other LARPs would still enjoy, and had mechanics that would not disrupt game play as much. What I came up with was Netherfield, a Victorian Vampire Murder Mystery.
Creating Netherfield
This was not something I did alone. A good chunk of the inspiration for this came from Jared's the League of the Uncanny games he used to run. I enjoyed those a lot, and people didn't need any role-playing experience to play. I wanted to build on that concept to add mechanics and adapt it into the Vampire: The Requiem game. I also had a lot of really excellent help from Leah, Will and Alison on working out the details, and helping me make sure that the game wasn't too complicated and that game terms were explained or reworded to be more easily understandable. We made sure that all of the characters had connections to the others, tried to figure out what abilities would be most useful for the setting, and of course that there was an interesting plot.
The end result was 14 characters that all had relationships to each other, secrets, and goals they wanted to accomplish. Each character also got Skills, Disciplines (vampiric powers), and a special ability that only they had. To help reduce confusion, the abilities each character had automatically worked, unless the other character had an ability that could counter it, but a finite number of uses. While working on the game, Will came up with the brilliant idea of creating a wiki for the game here. Right now, the page has the cast of characters, with general descriptions and full write ups, so that others can play the game or we can rerun it. .
The Plot
We wanted to make the plot pretty straight-forward, while incorporating the vampire setting. The game takes place in late 1800's London, and the Prince of London (vampire leader of the city for those who aren't as familiar with the vampire rpg), Sebastian Bell, is a man that many love, many hate, and pretty much everyone has a reason to want dead. Once a year, Prince Bell calls his court together for Judgement at his Netherfield estate. On this day, all of the attendees bring a gift for the Prince, then he passes down his decrees for the coming year, and punishes anyone who has acted against him. However, shortly after the night begins, Prince Bell will be killed. The night will turn into a "Who Done It?" with vampires, and many people have given the Prince booby-trapped gifts. When everyone has a reason to kill, and the room where the murder took place is littered with death traps, how do you figure out who the killer is? It could be you!
To resolve the night's events, the Prince's twin brother, Gideon Bell, is predicted to arrive by the Spiritualist and the Mad Aristocrat with his guards to listen to the stories of the attendees and help facilitate the choosing of a new Prince.
Play-Testing
About two hours before the game started, the four of us finished all of the preparations. We ran a quick crash-course in the setting and mechanics since five of the 14 people involved had little to no background in Vampire: The Requiem, and the more experienced players weren't familiar with the changes we had made. Then we got into costume and got started.
All-in-all, I was extremely happy with how the game went. There are definitely some tweaks I want to make though:
- The Aristocrats need a strong candidate for Prince with more support.
- We need to have clearer actions for people at the beginning of the night (before the Prince dies).
- We need to streamline the questioning that Gideon Bell does at the end of the night so people aren't waiting around and bored
- I need to look at randomizing characters beyond their core personality and information. This would allow the game to be played multiple times by the same group with different relationships, goals, etc. for characters every time.
- I need to update the wiki with clues, plot, etc.
- There's probably other stuff I'm forgetting right now.
Overall Rating: B+
Summary: A Drama/Alternate History series featuring mecha, the anime is set in the near future. In 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia has conquered more than one third of the world, and sets its sights on Japan. They defeat the Japanese forces easily with the help of their Knightmare Frames (bad ass mecha), and rename Japan Area 11.
The Japanese people, now referred to only as 11's, are forced to live in ghettos in the still destroyed areas of Japan while the citizens of Brittania live in the reconstructed areas. However, there are small groups of rebels still fighting against the Empire.
The series itself focuses on Lelouch, the son of the Emperor of Britannia. After the assassination of his mother, and his sister was left blind and crippled, Lelouch swore vengence on the Empire, and has been looking for ways to accomplish that goal. Seven years after the invasion of Japan, he becomes accidentally involved with a group of rebels and runs into a strange green-haired girl named C.C. who gives him the power of Geass. With it, Lelouch can control the minds of others, and he has the power to seek revenge for the death of his mother and to destroy Britannia and rebuild the world into his idea of utopia.
I heard a lot about this series leading up to its debut on Adult Swim, but I kept missing episodes, and so I wasn't able to watch it when it came out. Now it's out on DVD, and so I ordered it from Netflix. I have to say, it's really good, especially when compared to some of the other space opera-esque/mecha series that have recently come out (Aquarion, I'm looking at you). The only issue I had with it was that it's a pretty involved series, so if you zone out, you're likely to miss something important, but it also drags in a couple of places, so it's easy to zone out. However, for the most part I was interested in the characters, and enjoyed the alternate history, and plot intrigues. I definitely recommend checking this one out.
Overall Rating: B+
Summary: A Romance/Fantasy/Comedy shōjo series created by Matsuri Hino, which follows average high school girl Airi Hoshina. Airi wants only three things in life - to meet a nice boy, get married at 20, and have an ordinary, loving family. Unfortunately for Airi, her life is about to become a lot more complicated when she drops the strange hand mirror that has been in her family for generations.
When Airi goes back to find the mirror, a 7-year-old boy named Aram is waiting for her with it. The boy acts like nobility, which is to say kind of like an ass, but that might be because he is...in another dimension. Oh snap! Aram's uncle (or something, I think it was his uncle) is trying to take his magic powers away from him and age him prematurely. To escape, Aram has travelled to our dimension, but if he stays in the dark too long he will rapidly age about ten years. The only way to restore his youth is the kiss of his true love, and Aram decides his true love is Airi! Hijinks ensue as Airi tries to help Aram while still going to school and trying to find the normal boy she wants to marry, but what if Aram (17-year-old!) is who she really wants?
MeruPuri is another Shōjo series by Matsuri Hino, who also created Vampire Knight and Wanted. I picked this one up, because I enjoy her other work (and love Shōjo). This one didn't disappoint. It's only four volumes long, but it's a fun story. I particularly enjoy when Aram ages ten years in appearance, but acts like a seven-year-old. I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys Shōjo series and particularly Matsuri Hino's work.
Check out an online preview of the manga here.
Overall Rating: D+
Summary: Created by Lay Mutsuki, this fantasy/supernatural seinen series is set "in the near future, and online gaming is all the rage!" Apparently, that's an important distinction, since no one plays online games these days. In the "near future" the same company that produces the most popular online game also produces the most popular OS and the two are shipped together. Luckily for Koki Tachibana, his father works for the company! Koki has been doing testing for his dad since the game started, and now he has two characters. One who is a pretty standard character and one that's the most powerful character in the game. Unfortunately for Koki, someone has hacked his account and is playing with the god-like character.
Now Koki's has to find out who's been logging into his account before they cause any major problems.
"Yggdrasil" sounded kind of interesting, so I gave it a shot, but I was pretty disappointed. The plot is pretty interesting, but so far none of the characters have much depth. Also, it was billed as being supernatural/fantasy, but so far the only aspects of the story that has been along those lines have been in the online game. Hopefully the series will improve in later volumes.
Overall Rating: B
Summary: A one-shot Shōjo manga created by Matsuri Hino, which follows a young orphan girl named Armeria. The story is set in the 17th-century, and Armeria belongs to a music group that sings for work. While singing for the Governer-General at his mansion, she meets Luce Lanceman, the Governor-General's nephew, and falls in love with him after he gives her an Armeria flower. The same night, Luce is kidnapped by the crew of the notorious pirate, Skulls.
Armeria vows to find Luce and rescue him from Skulls.
Eight years later, we find Armeria disguised as a young man, and she has managed to join Skulls' crew. However, joining a pirate crew isn't all she bargained for, and she quickly ends up over her head. Now she has to figure out what happened to her beloved Luce, and make sure she survives the experience.
Matusuri Hino is also the creator of Vampire Knight, a series I love, so I was excited to see something new from her. On top of that, the story was a vampire romance! What more could a boy ask for? The story is pretty solid, but it's also kind of derivative. It reminded me of a manga version of Princess Bride, which isn't actually that bad a thing. Overall, I enjoyed the characters, and I would have rated it higher if it weren't for the fact that I felt like I had already read parts of the book before. It was still a lot of fun though, and I definitely recommend it to fellow Shōjo lovers.
Overall Rating: C+
Summary: a Shōnen comedy created by Jirō Suzuki, which follows Sota, your average highschool guy. He's pretty popular, and has an attractive girlfriend, but Sota has a secret life as an otaku. Particularly, he is obsessed with a character called Papico, and he will cancel all of his plans for the chance to buy new collector's items for the character.
This leads to the bulk of the plot when one day he can't find the latest Papico release, the Ultra Limited Edition Wonder Digital Dokidoki Doggy Papico figure. As a result, Sota ends up in a store called Otakudo, where the owner (Mano Takuro) has the hard-to-find item. However, in order to buy the item he has to admit that he is an otaku. Somehow, Sato's girlfriend, Eri, has shown up at the store after following Sota, and Sota ends up confessing his obsession to her. Hilarity ensues.
I picked this one up, because I saw some of myself in it. When I was in high school, I wasn't that popular, hadn't even kissed a girl, and hadn't figure out A) my hair, B) black is a good color on me and B) women like men in eyeliner. I looked like a preppy kid who was trying too hard. I was also hiding my geekiness in the desperate hope that I could become popular. By hiding it, I meant I only played Magic: the Gathering before school in the science classroom and in front of the band room (I wasn't in band, but I was a geek). All of this is to say I really wanted to like this manga. The series seems to focus more on being a parody of otaku than on the trials of being a closet geek. I still enjoyed it, but the characters aren't very deep, and the plot mostly focuses on the small group of otaku and their hijinks. If you're looking for a fun, light read, then this is worth checking out, but if you want a plot and interesting characters, then I recommend you pass.
Check out a preview here.
Overall Rating: B
Summary: A supernatural seinen (18+) written by Saki Okuse with art by Sankichi Meguro, which follows Misaki Saiki, a normal 19-year-old woman who is holding down two jobs to make ends meet. However, her jobs are a bit...odd. Misaki works as a dominatrix and as a necromancer. Working for the Livlihood Protection Agency, she uses her ability to see and speak with spirits to help them find peace and move on.
Misaki works with Souichiro Kadotake, an agent for the LPA, who is a martial artist and afraid of ghosts. To add more zany hijinks to the series, Misaki is an albino and a virgin. Crazy!
I liked the sound of this manga from the blurb, so I decided to pick it up. Honestly, it was about what I expected. It's going for the same kind of dark humor that Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service does so well, and adds a bit of sex appeal. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, Ghost Talker's Daydream doesn't quite pull it off. For me, it's the sex appeal, which is used too often in unnecessary crotch shots and bad jokes. I think if the series went with less fan service and more dark humor, it could be as good as Kurosagi. As is, it's just okay. If you're 18+ and in the mood for a mature supernatural manga, then check it out, but be prepared. Check out a preview here: http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/Previews/1
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
naiadkittyMy current list is:
Tamaki from Ouran Host Club
Zero from Vampire Knight
Dr. Horrible from Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog
Someone from X-Men Misfits (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5
Joker from Dark Knight
There may be more, and there are some costumes I have done that need more work (Steampunk Flash), and a couple I can repeat pretty easily (Ichigo, Vash, Draco).
I would also love to hear suggestions if anyone has them. :)
Warning: This movie is incredibly violent
Overall Rating: B
Summary: An action/horror film directed by Noboru Iguchi about a young Japanese schoolgirl named Ami Hyūga. Ami was an average high school girl whose mother and father commited suicide after allegations that they murdered someone(s). Now, all she has left is her brother. So, when her brother and his friend are killed by bullies, she swears revenge!
Ami begins tracking down and killing the bullies involved in her brother's death, but discovers the ringleader is the son of a ninja yakuza family. Despite being an amazing fighter, Ami is captured and the family tortures her, eventually cutting off her left arm. Managing to escape, but barely hanging on to life, Ami seeks shelter from the parents of her brother's friend. The mechanics take pity on her (after she beats the mom in an arm-wrestling match) and the father constructs a machine-gun arm for Ami. They then set out to seek revenge for their dead family members.
"The Machine Girl" is a hilarious gore-fest. Defintiely not for the faint-of-heart (I was squirming depsite how fake the gore is), but I definitely recommend it for a laugh. I would have rated it higher, but the movie leaves a lot of loose ends. For example, they never explain her parent's deaths outside of the fact that they were accused of murder. There are a couple of other parts where the scene doesn't really have much context, and they never explain why Ami is such a bad ass. Still, it's a lot of fun, and I recommend it.
Overall Rating: B+
Summary: Set on the planet Daikūriku, which is populated by a humanoid race who are all born female. At the age of 17, everyone is expected to choose a permanent gender and then live their lives that way. The focus of the anime is on two warring nations, the Simulacrum and the Argentum.
The Simulacrum seems more technologically advanced, and is cleaner, while the Argentum has technology similar to that of industrialized nations of the 20's and 30's. This includes zepplins and biplane fighter aircraft. The Argentum's economy has been failing, and pollution is on the rise, so as the series begins, Argentum is preparing to launch an attack on Simulacrum, who are the only ones with helical motor technology. The Argentum believe this technology will help them improve their economy and clear their skies.
The main defense of the Simulacrum is the Simoun, which are aircraft that can seat two and is powered by two helical motors. The helical motor is technology from an ancient civilization, and not even the Simulacrum fully understand it. The Simulacrum's theocracy is centered around these aircraft and their pilots.
In the past, the Simulacrum found the ships during an excavation, and according to their religion, two priestesses descended from heaven and explained to them how to operate the Simouns. Both the ship's power and the Simulacrum's religion center around the Tempus Spatium. They beleive it is this power that allows young women to change their genders at 17 and powers the Simoun.
The Simoun are crewed by priestesses called Sibyllae. The Sibylla (the plural of Sibyllae) have not yet chosen a gender, and doing so disqualifies them as Sibylla. In fact, because of the war some Sybylla have been given permission to delay their choice of gender past the age of 17 to defend the country.
The main weapon of the Simoun is a large glowing green gem, positioned between the cockpits, which produces an effect known as Ri Mājon when the Simoun is flown in the correct pattern. The Simoun Gem is activated before takeoff when the two Sibyllae kiss it after kissing each other (which isn't really explained at all). The Ri Mājon are incredibly powerful and can destroy all the ships in an area if successfully done.
Sibyllae are organized into chors of twelve priestesses. A choir at full strength operates six Simoun, which is sufficient to allow them to inscribe the most complex known Ri Mājon patterns in the sky. The series focuses on one particular Simoun choir, Chor Tempest, which has a reputation as an elite unit.
I decided to check this anime out at Gen Con Indy last week, because it sounded interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I love watching anime at cons. Unfortunately, the crowd there was made up of immature boys who high-fived and giggled nervously every time the girls kissed. I admit to being confused by why they needed to kiss to activate the Simoun, but the behavior of the boys made the anime a lot less enjoyable. Regardless, what I saw of it was really good, and I ended up interested in seeing what happens next, so I will definitely be checking more of it out. Just a warning that you should go into it knowing there are girls kissing and some ennuendo, but it really didn't come off as all that sexual to me. More like when you're in elementry school or junior high/middle school, and you know that you like someone, but you have no idea what to do about it. Check out more manga and anime reviews at Hobotaku!
Overall Rating: A
Summary: A romantic comedy manga with a splash of science fiction created by Yuu Watase. Absolute Boyfriend is six volumes long and is the story of Riiko Izawa. Riiko is a high school girl with an addiction to buying things online, and has never had a boyfriend. In fact, she is rejected by every boy she asks out. The manga begins with Riiko asking out her current crush, and being immediately rejected.
After the rejection, she is wandering in the park, and finds a ringing cellphone. After answering the call, she returns the phone to an oddly dressed (kind of steampunk actually) man named Gaku. Gaku is a salesman for a strange website called Kronos Heaven, and offers Riiko anything she wants on the site for returning the phone. Riiko responds that all she wants is a boyfriend, and to her surprise Gaku says he can help.
When Riiko visits the site, she learns she can create her ideal lover. Still not believing Gaku, she customizes her lover with options like loyal, intelligent, attractive, etc. and orders him for a three-day trial.
The next day, men wearing outfits as strange as Gaku's deliver a large box to her door, and inside is a life-like figure...who is completely naked (don't worry, there's no nudity). Following the instruction manual, Riiko kisses him to wake him up, which also makes him to be in love with her. Unable to think of anything else, Riiko names him "Night".
Now Riiko has to deal with a man living with her (she lives alone) who wants to have sex all the time, a next-door neighbor named Soshi who may be more than a friend, a best friend who may be hiding things from her and who she is now hiding things from, and how to explain all of this without anyone finding out who "Night" really is.
I'm two volumes into this one, and I am hooked. This is another one Rachel recommended to me, and after "Life" I needed something lighter. "Absolute Boyfriend" definitely did the trick. This one is fun, has some great plot, and the characters are interesting. I also loved the progression of Night's personality. When the manga starts he's basically a robot and a bit silly (and very pretty). As it progresses, he develops feelings, and his rivalry with the serious Soshi provides a lot of humor and depth to the story. If you're looking for something light, then this one is a great choice.
Overall Rating: A+, but in a kind of disturbing way
Summary: In the drama Shōjo manga created by Keiko Suenobu, we meet Ayumu Shiiba, a middle school student who is intelligent, but struggles with her studies. Ayumu is getting ready for her high school entrance exams, and relies heavily on help from her best friend Shii.
Shii's dream is to get into Nishidate High School, and Ayumu resolves to get in to. Shii always does well in class, and with her help, Ayumu continually improves in her studies. After raising her grades and doing well on the exams, Ayumu makes it into Nishidate, but surprisingly Shii doesn't make it. Apparently, helping Ayumu brought Shii's grades down, and Shii blames her failure on Ayumu.
As Ayumu starts high school, she has started cutting herself to understand her friend's pain and feel completely alone. Fortunately, she meets Manami who befriends her and the two start hanging out.
All of the above happens in the first volume of the series, and gets darker as the volume progresses. After volume 1, apparently Borders starts shrink-wrapping the volumes, and after Volume 6, the volumes go from Older Teen to Mature, so this stuff definitely isn't for kids. In fact, I had to take a break from reading, and then read something light after I got done, because even volume 1 is intense. However, it's also amazingly compelling, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Just go into knowing it's pretty brutal, and realistic in terms of portraying depression, and bullying in Japanese high schools (though it is certainly sensationalized to a degree).
Overall Rating: A
Summary: In this fantasy shōjo manga written by Surt Lim with art by Hirofumi Sugimoto we're introduced to Kasumi, a normal high-school girl. Well, almost normal anyway. Kasumi and her father move away from the city when he gets a new job, and Kasumi gets enrolled in an elite private school. Fairly typical manga plot so far, but Kasumi isn't a normal girl. On the way to their new home, Kasumi and her father stop in some woods so her father can look at some plants (I think I remember correctly that her father is a Botanist), and Kasumi falls out of a tree she has been climbing. The tree is high enough that the fall should kill her, but she is saved by mysterious lights.
After recovering, she discovers she can turn invisible, but only for as long as she can hold her breath. This power comes in handy when she inadvertently pisses off the fan club of the class president Ryuuki (this is very similar to the fan club in Fruits Basket for Yuki). Led by the Vice President, Reina, the club makes Kasumi's life hell, and tries to get her to leave the school. Fortunately, Kasumi makes friends with Yuuta, whose nickname is Otaku-Ken because he is such a nerd and tries to help her. Kasumi also meets Maiko, a fellow student who seems to have a connection to the mysterious lights, and what is the enigmatic Ryuuki up to?
I actually enjoyed this one a lot, even though some of the plot was very familiar. The plot and characters were different enough from Fruits Basket that I really enjoyed it, and the art is very cute (though the lack of noses on some characters distracted me occasionally). Overall though it's a good start to a shōjo series, and I will definitely be checking out the next volume.
Overall Rating: A
Summary: A three volume fantasy shōjo created by Kaori Yuki, which follows high school boy Ian Hasumi. Ian was born with wing marks on his back and the ability to see fairies and the world they live in. Unfortunately for Ian, no one believes him, and have taken to calling him "Ian the Liar". Ian also has a spirit twin named Tokage who hates him and an abusive father who burned the fairy marks off his back when Ian's mother left to prevent Ian from "flying away". Not so great actually.
Recently, there have been a series of murders in the city. The victims have had their backs slit open and the blood spurting out has formed the shape of wings. As a result, the crimes have been dubbed "the fairy murders".
Ian's childhood friend Rin Ishinagi is the only one that ever seemed to beleive Ian's stories of fairies. In fact, he was once able to show her the fairy world. Now she has returned to the city, and Ian's feelings for her are returning as well. Unfortunately, they may cause him even more trouble!
Okay, I picked this one up on a whim in Borders the other day (I thought the title sounded funny), and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The characters and plot drew me in and has me wanting to read volume 2 as soon as possible (it's already out but I haven't had a chance to get back over to Borders. I definitely recommend this one to fantasy and shōjo lovers. Check it out the first 22 pages online here
Overall Rating: B
Summary: Created by Koge-Donbo, this dark comedy series is a parody of a Japanese mystery novel, "The Inugami Clan". The series follows Yoki, Koto, and Kiku Nekogami - three triplets who love each other, their older brother Sukekiyo, and his fiancee Tamayo. However, the patriarch of the Nekogami family dies and leaves the family fortune to his eldest grandson, Sukekiyo, who is off at war. If Sukekiyo does not return within six months, one of the triplets or Sukekiyo's fiancee, Tamayo, will inherit the fortune.
That's when the trouble begins! The triplets plot to take out Tamayo and each other so that they will be the one to inherit the fortune. Each of the triplets has a dream for what they want to do with the money, and a weapon of choice. Tamayo tries to play the peacemaker and is apparently an expert at avoiding weapons and fights in general.
I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It's very dark humor with the triplets seemingly killing each other and constantly plotting each other's and Tamayo's deaths. The only thing I didn't like about this one was that it was sometimes hard to follow. For example, early on the triplets kill each other, but then they keep showing up. Whether they are dead and shinigami, or never really died wasn't entirely clear to me. I think this is part of the parody aspect of the manga, but the confusion led to me rating it lower. Regardless, I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys dark humor.
Check out more manga and anime reviews at Hobotaku!Overall Rating: C-
Summary: An anime series by Ryoichi Koga, Ninja Nonsense follows Shinobu a kind, hardworking, dedicated, but naive and somewhat clumsy ninja apprentice. The anime is reminiscent of Excel Saga or Nerima Daikon Brothers, and similarly does not have much of a story-arc, or even much plot in a single episode.
In the first episode Shinobu is attempting to pass her ninja exams which include staking panties from specific high school girls. One of these girls is Kaede, who is studying for her own completely normal school exams. Shinobu performs her invisibility spell, and sneaks into Kaede's room to steal her panties. Only one problem, Shinobu isn't a very good ninja, her spell doesn't work, and Kaede can see her while she "sneaks" in. Of course, things don't go as planned, and Shinobu ends up explaining the whole thing. Despite the fact that Shinobu is trying to steal her panties, Kaede takes pity on Shinobu, and the two become close friends for little to no reason.
Yeeeaahhhhh...this was a really weird one. Something I didn't cover in the summary is Shinobu's instructor, Onsokumaru. This thing is freaky. It's a shape-changing creature usually portrayed as a large yellow ball with a face, arms, and a loud deep voice. He's also extremely perverted (he's the one who wanted the panties). He took this from being a weird, over-the-top anime, and took it to another level. An extremely weird level.
Recommended To: People who really like anime like "Excel Saga" or "Nerima Daikon Brothers".
Check out more manga and anime reviews at Hobotaku!
Overall Rating: B-Summary: Charley, a cyborg vampire who does the
Vatican's dirty work, is the thrall of the local vampire playboy Johnny
Rayflo. As the two of them fight crime--and each other--hilarity,
violence and sacrilege ensue! But can Charley resist his own desperate
cravings for blood? Find out as the devilish duo go up against a
childlike vampire princess, a mysterious branch of the Unitarian
Church...and each other.
The above summary is the actual summary on the back of the manga. I am using it here, because it's why I bought the book. "Cyborg vampire who does the Vatican's dirty work"? That's sounds like three manga clichés I love! I was hoping for something so bad it was amazing, but Vassalord is actually decent. Not amazing, and it certainly falls into clichés, but it's pretty interesting, and it's got some good shounen ai action in there for my friends who are into that. My main gripe is that that there is obviously a lot of history between the two main characters, but it's only really hinted at. I think that as the characters become a little more developed this will be the perfect guilty read.
For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.
( Read on for more ABCD )
- 15:01 iPhone 3G releasing on July 11th. 8GB $199. 16GB $299. #
- 15:41 @skeleskirt That is totally endearing. #