catching up with FMA – ch. 80-85
February 27, 2009 at 4|51|am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: fullmetal alchemist, manga
Spoiler warning!
Oh my GOD. So much stuff’s been happening lately that it isn’t even funny. First there’s Al and Hoho (er, Hohenheim…) meeting up again, which was a bit weird. Especially because the brothers have totally different ways of responding to their dad.
Then there’s the Greed 2.0 subplot. Oh my god I was speechless through this entire thing, except for a whole lot of squeeing when I noticed Martel in one of the flashback panels. I love that girl. 
And his fight with Bradley was pretty awesome. KUNG FU TIME! And of course, Selim’s being his usual sneaky self.
On a more shallow note, Ed looks really good with his hair down. Actually, Ed always looks good.
And there was no shortage of moments for my favorite pairings, either. Ed and Winry are adorable and obvious no matter what situation you put them in (and it’s even better if it’s awkward and – well, just read the chapter where Winry comes back home. It’s awesome) and of course, there were a few nice little moments with Roy and Hawkeye as well. I’ll just say that Riza always pays attention to the man behind the curtain. 
Ed/Winry is pretty much canon by now, but you have to look for hints of Roy/Riza every chance you get. (Did you notice that when Rebecca was groaning about how all men were jerks, she said that she wanted Riza to set her up with a nice man, not that they should both find nice men? Hmm.) Damn it, if these two don’t reveal that they’ve been hooking up all along get together by the end of the series, I know one cow-loving manga-ka who is getting a piece of my mind.
There was a pretty great moment with Roy and Olivier, too. He brought her a bouquet of hyacinths (with an encoded message, of course) and then told her:
Do you know what the word “hyacinth” means? Feminine grace and beauty.
To which Olivier replied:
…I DON’T NEED YOUR STINKIN’ FLOWERS!
Good times, good times.
This series is… yeah, it’s beyond awesome. I thought that the plot started sucking around chapter 65 or so, but it’s getting awesomer and awesomer lately. Maybe I’m biased, considering how emotionally attatched I am to the characters, but this is one of my favorite manga. Ever.
Also, Selim Bradley is a BADASS.
Cy-believers volume 1
February 16, 2009 at 2|36|am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: go! comi, manga, review, shojo
Cy-Believers, volume 1
Shioko Mizuki
Go! Comi
Rated 16+
No, this isn’t a cool cyberpunk adventure manga. Damn. It’s actually a very weird mix of Miki Aihara-type shojo (now with more assholes!) and random humor, with a bit of “are-they-gay-maybe!” posturing. In the hands of a more competent writer, this could’ve been cool. Instead, it’s a bit of standard-shojo-fare that tries a little too hard to be edgy and offbeat.
Rui is a teenaged girl who’s just transferred to this school, Domus Somethingorother; I don’t remember the school’s full name, except that it’s Latin and very, very annoying and really pointless. She’s there to meet her fiance, some guy who’s name starts with N (I forgot it already; that says something about this manga). She’d thought he’d be a total sweetheart, based on his emails – but he’s actually a semi-rapist-ish, pigheaded jerk who delights in disbanding all other school clubs.
There’s also two guys who may or may not be gay. One of them may or may not be a robot. It’s effing weird.
In short: a very weird, forgettable manga with some nice art moments and an all-over-the-place plot that’s too faux-weird for it’s own good. Try it out yourself and form your own opinion.
Your and My Secret volumes 1-3
January 22, 2009 at 10|36|pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: review, shojo, tokyopop titles that don't suck
Akira is a rather good-looking sixteen-year-old boy, but girls don’t like him because he has little to no personality whatsoever (he’d fit in well in Hana-Kimi. Sorry, that was rude). Momoi is a brash, rude sixteen-year-old girl who’s incredibly pretty until she opens her mouth. Yet despite her personality, Akira has a crush on her. Then, due to an accident with one of Momoi’s grandfather’s experiments, the two end up switching bodies; that is to say, Akira’s soul is now in the body of the girl he likes.
This could be just normal shojo (if told from Momoi’s P.O.V.) or a particularly fan-service-filled seinen manga (seriously, think about it), but somehow, this series takes all the cliches, keeps half, and proceeds to screw the othe 50% up so much that it’s just WRONG. And yet… I loved it. I’m a cynic at heart, so seeing shojo tropes turned on their head was awesome for me.
An example of the series’ half-offending, half-completely-hysterical humor: after the body switch, Momoi proceeds to lock herself in the bathroom and, um, examine her new body, as I would have expected the male character to do. This causes un-ending embarassment for Akira, who can’t bear to think of what she must be doing in there – the role a girl would have taken, if this were any normal shojo.
Then there’s Sebongi, Akira’s pre-swap best guy friend, who now has feelings for Akira-in-Momoi’s-body. Even after the swap is revealed to him, he still keeps trying, knowing that it’s his old best friend, which I found completely hilarious. Better yet, Sebongi’s ‘hit on everything that moves’ attitude and Momoi’s possible feelings for Akira lead to some very, very weird situations… including one in Volume Three that’s just too funny to spoil here (one word: doujinshi!)
All in all, I’d have to say this is the best antishojo (although it ran in a shojo magazine) I’ve read in 2009. There’s a bit of Ouran (although more offensive to some), a bit of Hot Gimmick (from what I know of it), and a healthy dose of subverting gender stereotypes. Not for those who still believe there’s good in everyone, but if you’re sick of cookie-cutter shojo manga, why not give it a try?
Art – 6/10. It’s really not all that great, but hey, I didn’t read it for the flower backgrounds and hot guys.
Story – 8/10. FUNNY AS HELL, enough said.
Extras – Had nothing to do with the story. Actually they were all about creator Ai Moringawa’s cats. A little boring, really.
Overall – Cynics who believe that the shojo genre is just recycling ideas, come one, come all. Here’s a slightly screwy shojo that will either make you laugh your brains out, or offend you so much you’ll start a campaign to ban it from your local library. Myself? I’ll go with the former.
Nana volume 5
January 6, 2009 at 12|15|am | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: biased reviews, nana, review, shojo, shojo beat
…Whew. I’m kind of exhausted from all that! I spent last night unable to sleep, reading Nana, and I came to this realization:
Holy mother of cupcakes, I’m Hachi!
Er… right. Onto the review then.
This series just keeps getting better and better with every volume! I’m not exaggerating! I’m just using exclamation points because it is THAT AWESOME!
First of all, maybe it’s just me and my slash-goggles, but is Yazawa-san hinting at some sort of… unrequited Hachi/Nana… thing?! I mean, it’s kind of obvious with a few of the Hachi monologues at the end of a few chapters. These are some sixteen-ton-weight size hints she’s giving us here. (And I’m not even a yuri fangirl. Sigh.)
The romance plotlines are getting more and more twisted, as well. Hachi’s hooking up with Takumi, the bassist from Nana O’s rival band; Ren and Nana O reunite after two years; and Nobu is totally pining over Hachi. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Fortunately, all this romantic confusion adds up to some completely amazing scenes, such as when Shin and Nobu (from Nana O’s band Blast) go out drinking after a concert with Ren, Takumi, and Reira from their rival band Trapnest. This is a day or so after Takumi and Hachi slept together, and Takumi offends poor love-struck Nobu by comparing Hachi to a tail-wagging dog. (Um, note to Takumi: you probably shouldn’t call the girl you’re screwing a dog. It’s a bad idea.)
I don’t think I have to mention the art. If you’ve even read a PANEL of this manga you know that it’s gorgeous. ‘Nough said.
Art – 10/10
Story – 9/10
Extras – Quite cute, though there isn’t much. Creator commentary would have rocked my world, but ah well.
Overall – If you’re over the age of 15 and are looking for a manga that will rock your world, this is it.
I love you all~!
January 5, 2009 at 11|55|pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: ed can has a long name, love for the readers
To Read, 1/3/09
January 3, 2009 at 9|03|pm | Posted in To Read | 2 Comments-My friend Julia (she doesn’t have a blog yet, but look out for it) has been reccomending quite a few Shonen Jump series such as Claymore. I don’t have a very good history with the SJ line (Bleach just got weird after about volume 20 and I don’t mean this in a good way. And what was up with the whole Near arc in Death Note? It wasn’t half as good as the beginning) but everyone’s been saying how Claymore is more like seinen with female protagonists and less harem antics, so I guess you can count me in here.
- Three words: Genshiken. Fan. Book. Maybe I’ll finally get the ending I waited for? (Nah. I doubt it.) Even if there isn’t that ending, oh well- at least there might be some more excerpts from Project G? (Oh, god, I hope.)
- I’ve been meaning to get my hands on X/1999 for a while now, because my library is STUPID and LAME and NEVER HAS VOLUME ONE… (Librarians at CLP, I apologize. I didn’t mean it like that…)
- On the shojo-y side of things, most of you bloggers out there really liked Otomen (which sounds hysterical) and Gaba Kawa (I like the chibis! Chibis are good!) so when I’m looking to fulfill my ~big sparkly eyes omg~ quotient for the week, I’ll keep an eye out for one of those.
- Erika over at Okazu really enjoyed the Read or Dream (R.O.D. spin-off) manga, so I’m going to make sure to look for that as well. Sure, yuri isn’t my thing (most of the time,) but seriously. It’s Read or freakin’ Die. What’s not to love? (And Maggie is totally adorable!)
Some Links
January 1, 2009 at 1|38|am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: links, the interwebs
At Teen Book Review, Jocelyn thoroughly enjoys Love Is Hell, but finds Sister Wife too much of an “issue book” for her taste. The 3 Evil cousins call The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks “epic,” which is the highest compliment coming from them. Violeta posts a hysterically funny book meme. The Manga Life crew talks about their favorites of 2008, Erika Friedman goes all Yuri on our asses and we LIKE IT, and Billy starts off his review of St Dragon Girl with the line: Every good town has to have a teenage demon removal service. Amen, brother.
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