Top Anime Moments We Can Relate To Part 2 – Our Second Choice~

Greetings, this is Chungky, and welcome to part 2 of our Top 3 Anime Moments – presenting our second  choices. Our first foray was unexpected entitled “Nah’ mean Nah’ mean” by arawr if y’all haven’t noticed. Check that out, it had our 3rd choices in it.

Please find my 2nd choice below:

Tonari no Kaibutsukun – Episode 2 | When Shizuku questions Asako’s life on the internet.

Okay, this is a bit of a personal kind of a relation but I think many people have kind-of experienced this sometime in their lives, especially when we’re all caught up with the internet. Of all the characters in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, I associate myself with Natsume Asako the most, mainly because of the fact that she loves her internet life just as much as I love mine. It’s really like those times where I’m like, really, really enjoying myself online and like, someone just doesn’t get it.

One-Shot for the Weekend – Tsuki to Himawari

月とひまわり | Tsuki to Himawari | Moon & Sunflower

Manga-ka: Tanaka Meca

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Asahi-kun is a carefree junior-high student, never attaching to girls even though he enjoys going with them. But when the school’s number 1 honor student Mitsuki “cyborg” Konno asked him to a 1-month date, in exchange for the front row ticket to his favorite singer’s concert, he was forced to accept. He only has to show her what it feels like to date, right? He is ready for that…however, what he’s not prepared for was his heart’s reaction…

Published as a one-shot in Lala magazine in 2007 and later collected in Volume 1 of Faster Than A Kiss. There is some sexual context used in a more humourous manner but I thought I’d highlight this element.

——-

There is something that talent cannot give you and that is experience. It arms you with a good grip of things – how to approach story-telling, art-style, polishing your work and pretty much gives you an identity. In shoujo manga, the usage of cliches are endless, after-all its more or less based around romance and slice of life, and its really up to the manga artists to renew over and over the distinguishable themes that is in shoujo manga. This one-shot illustrates such ability that is uses both skill and experience. Reading the blurb sounds like nothing new is put on the table, but the way it is executed by Tanaka Meca, proves she is an industry veteran who delivers a good story.

This one-shot reminds me very much about Natsu no Kakera by Amano Shinobu because of the cheery theme of sunflowers. This is the type of story you’d expect Haha and Haha til the end but yet it changes its gear in a direction that brought so much greater depth and intention. It is somehow so familiar, that weird initial shoujo manga setup that eventually opens a box of surprises that makes you think – hey, this is why I read shoujo manga. Its not all about frivolous love triangles, the unstoppable occurrence of school life, its often about life(albeit the less than RL circumstances) and very much with the real surprises we often discover when we least expect it.

This one-shot is set in the same universe as Faster than a Kiss. So, if you’re a Faster than a Kiss fan, read this, for this is in fact the story that invented FtaK’s universe for it was the predecessor.

Have a good weekend.

Rating: 4.3/5

One-Shot for Last Weekend – X-Tai Shinsho

X-Tai Shinsho 

Mangaka: Ezawa

Genre: Action, Comedy, Historical, Shounen, Supernatural

Sugita Genpaku made a contract with a demon in exchange for the ability to cure any disease.
But if he doesn’t find someone to treat within the time limit, his soul will be taken!

Published online on Gangan Online in 2011 by Square Enix.

—

Okay, I admit, it’s kind of odd that I’m writing a one-shot post for last week considering the coming weekend is just around the corner. But, still, I don’t like leaving an odd bob of a weekend out while we’re active. The one-shot I’m bringing you to attention is X-Tai Shinsho, it’s really similar to another manga series I’ve written about before in a mushroom-manga post called Kaitai Shinsho Zero. It’s whole concept is almost identical in a way, a super-doctor which cures people of extra-ordinary illnesses. I had wanted this one-shot’s story to be more in lined with a Black Jack kind of doctor story. Like a doctor who is curing the weak and sick in a more humane manner than a ball-busting, demon killing-fest like Kaitai Shinsho Zero; but that was not to be, since the protagonist in X-Tai Shinsho also kinda went that route.

The thing that really caught my interest was the fact that the protagonist would die if he doesn’t cure a person with a deadly illness within a time-limit, it was like, wow Shounen manga really hates their protagonists don’t they. I always find that they always have some seriously depressing past but I suppose that’s how you build a extremely epic story? The manga-ka’s drawing style is also extremely pleasing on the eye, really similar to works from Comic Zero-Sum/Avarus/Gene(I’d fit GanGan Online into this group really). The one-shot was written in the way in which most Shounen manga one-shots are written – to allow a continuation to another extremely long serialisation. I don’t think this one-shot was extremely mind-blowing but I still really like the concept and the fact that the manga-ka chose to set it in a historical era; and having a light-hearted/little haughty protagonist is always a plus(keeps things less serious).

Rating: 3/5

Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin – The Primal State of Being

Indeed.

This post contains spoilers.

A few weeks ago, if you had asked me what Attack on Titan was, I’d be like – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHATEVER. MOVING ON.

Ahem, that would’ve been an extremely annoying response. But who cares now!? Few weeks in, I’m following the anime religiously and even re-watching it like a cow regurgitating grass. Horrible imaginary, true; but very much like the grotesque portrayal of the Titans themselves no(ok, I suppose that imagery was more gross than grotesque.)? I’m not sure about depiction of titans is in the manga, (arawr does though, so ask her what she thinks) but I nearly fainted when I saw it animated. The whole nature of the anime is quite unforgiving.

A little bit like this:

And showing how a titan chomps down the protagonist’s mother.

So hey, what was my initial response? Well, dear reader, you shouldn’t need to ask since I’m about to tell you anyway!

Chungky’s Mini Fall/Winter Anime Rant – Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun | Kamisama Hajimemashita | Suki-tte Ii Na Yo

Welcome to my short winter anime rant post! Why a mini and not a thorough cover of winter anime? Because first of all, I’ve always been a more manga-oriented person. Second, I don’t watch anime as extensively even though I love it(kind of overlaps with point one but oh well…). Third, I only watch what I like, as in, I don’t really bother to check up on things that I don’t normally venture into(which is kind of hypocritical, unless people HIGHLY recommend it). Fourth point is unnecessary, but watching everything is a bit insane.

【企画】ポフィンをどうぞ【ぴくトレ】 by patty

If you found the top part of this post pointless(which probably is) please read on!

The one thing in common between these three anime(besides being romance & shoujo) is that I followed all three of the manga series right from when they were serialised. When it was announced that all three were getting an anime this winter season, I had this hipster moment and obviously I couldn’t help but cry out to people that “I TOLD YOU SO.” It’s quite satisfying to know that manga that I’ve followed from the beginning(back when no one even heard of them) managed to receive anime adaptations. I guess in that sense it kind of tells us avid manga readers that they’ve made the cut(shallow comment).

Now to the anime. Only one was impressive. The other two were pretty disappointing and I’m kind of holding back a nasty word to describe them. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun exceeded my expectations. Kamisama Hajimemashita was average though it did have it’s little bright moments(nevertheless disappointing). As for Suki-tte Ii Na Yo, don’t even get me started. Pardon my French, but I thought this was absolutely horrid to put quite bluntly. At one point I saw a glimmer of light at the middle but boo…

I initially written a more comprehensive post but I decided to give each of these series an individual post since I was going way over the limit of a rant.

I’ll start from my absolutely favourite to the the absolute hated.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun | The Monster Seated Next to Me

So let’s start with Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun.

One-Shot for the Weekend – Natsu Yasumi Zero Zero Nichime

Natsu Yasumi Zero Zero Nichime (夏休みゼロゼロ日目) | 00 Day of Summer Holiday

Mang-aka: Akizuki Sorata

Genre: Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Sometimes love visits you in the most simple yet unexpected moments in our daily lives. Where love can come in even a form of a pop of a bubble, to give us the courage we need to take our relationships.

Originally published in Aoi Lala by Hakusensha.

——

You’d think that because it’s winter, we’d toss out a winter themed recommendation. Or perhaps choosing a summer one-shot for the winter is way predictable? After a few weeks of adjusting my life in the States again, I hope to start blogging more consistently. Akizuki Sorata has been one of my favourite manga artists of all time, it’s strange that I’ve never really pushed her work as strong as I may have done but I do have my own reasons and frankly, she doesn’t need that extra publicity anyway. Her work can pretty much do all the talking and I hope to cover her most popular work in the near future. I chose a summer one-shot because I really need a bit of warming up, like literally. The temperature just plummeted 20 degrees and my sister has been sending me photos of London being thrashed by snow. I dislike snow unfortunately. I’ve also been suffering silently in my room freezing and I’ve just bought a portable heater to make myself feel like a normal human being.

But weather-y rants aside. This is a breath of fresh air for those who need some escape from the wintry months both physically and emotionally. In some ways summer is about being carefree – do whatever you want and be adventurous and in this instance, in love. Summer love is a strange little thing, it’s always associated with pain and everything seems to fall apart after the sweaty season. But yet, most of us are willing to go through it again, whether we be hurt or not. I believe in taking the plunge. This one-shot is fresh, the scenario is new, but with the nostalgic summer spirit of bubbles cascading in the air. The characters are normal, familiar, they aren’t blown up just like slice of life is suppose to be. And with Akizuki Sorata at the helm, she never fails to add her poetic touch and remind us that reality is often just as sweet as the imagination. So here’s my current winter manifesto, take the harsh winter with a summer heart. Or for some, embrace winter with a mind full of snow(quoting Wallace Stevens).

Rating: 4.5/5

One-Shot for the New Week/Year – Adolte and Adarte

Adolte and Adarte (アードルテとアーダルテ)

Manga-ka: Nakamura Asumiko

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Seinen

A one-shot about twins both living opposite lives. Will they ever find something in common with each other apart from their physical appearance? And how different will they be if they ever trade places?

Originally published in Poco Poco by Ohta Shuppan.

—

One-shot reviews/recommendations has always been a very Manga Weekend thing, so before we leave New Year too soon here is a one-shot post. The one-shot I picked isn’t exactly mind-blowing or exceedingly impressive but in any case, one that I want to wish you all a good year with.

It’s simple, straightforward and predictable. We find twins separated by birth who eventually find their way in life, that we can always start fresh even though we remember our roots and past misgivings. It’s about breaking the status-quo in a way and off to start a new adventure. That itself is common, cliche and straightforward, but what comes after this story, we don’t know but it’s hopeful and that is what I want to wish all of you. There were nasty themes in this one-shot, like greed and regret but in the end, we watch people move forward. Let our lives be a constant testament that there will be a brighter tomorrow no matter what has happened. If 2012 was good to you, I hope 2013 will be even better.

Rating: 2.7/5

Nostalgia : Reminiscing – The Last Unicorn

I was chatting to arawr earlier and she happened to be lurking on our own blog. That what a good time we had blogging and how we should just change our blog name to M.W.W.W. Manga whenever we want. I Loled so hard.

But save that for later. Allow me to reminisce about The Last Unicorn. Or more like fake reminiscing since I never watched or heard of it until last week. Isn’t the Renaissance style picture of The Last Unicorn so befitting for M.W? Since we’re almost non-existent.

I came across The Last Unicorn when I bought a shirt with the poem from the novel embroidered on it. It was thought provoking deep and also plain depressing. But, I was never a bunch of sunflowers anyway. On the shirt contained part of the poem called Eli’s Song and here it is below:

What is plucked will grow again,
What is slain lives on,
What is stolen will remain—
What is gone is gone.

What is sea-born dies on land,
Soft is trod upon.
What is given burns the hand—
What is gone is gone.

Here is there, and high is low;
All may be undone.
What is true no two men know—
What is gone is gone.

Who has choices need not choose.
We must, who have none.
We can love but what we lose—
What is gone is gone.

If this isn’t the epitome of beauty and sadness merged into one, I have no idea what is.

I knew this poem had to be from somewhere, so I researched and found out it was from The Last Unicorn. There’s something extraordinarily dangerous about the topic of unicorns. From my experience, the idea of unicorns always induces jokes or other ‘nasty’ connotations. Say the word unicorn and I think of this large teenage boy attempting to fly screaming “I’m a unicorn,” as a joke between his friends. But basically, I was a bit taken back. When I first saw the poster picture of The Last Unicorn, it felt incredibly nostalgic, it was the same feeling I got when I re-watched Fern Gully except I never even heard let alone watched The Last Unicorn before. This was the type of movie we all watch as kids and hold onto because we grew up with them. Forget the Disney movies, these movies were more in lined with the Ghibli films because of one thing, they don’t exactly have a happy ending which I believe contributes hugely to their epic-ness-ness.

Music: Blue Rain & Do You Remember by Moumoon

眠気が飛ぶほど楽しませてよ by いもたろう＠プロフ on pixiv.net

So, look who’s back and dishing out a post. I had actually prepared this post earlier in March, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to go ninja and poof off once again. I’ll take this opportunity to thank you all for the lovely welcome back on Twitter when I did come out from the depths of my hiding. In this post, I’m going to share about music! A kind of a first proper post regarding the subject, but anyway.

So when it comes to music, I’m usually quite open to all genres but I’m pretty hard to please so I usually end up to just one song from each category and beat them to death. I stumbled upon Moumoon a few years ago when I received a small bottle of Anessa sunscreen.

One-Shot on an Impulse – Pinocchio Dreams

Pinocchio Dreams (ピノッキオは夢を見る)

Manga-ka: Fujitsuka Yuki

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Sci-fi,  Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy

Fubuki’s dog, Chloe, gets hit by a car. Kio spots her and tells her to come with him to save Chloe. After Toba Daisuke, who is famous to weirdo, saves Chloe, Fubuki finds out Kio is a robot! She is shocked and creeped out but they eventually become friends. 

The final one-shot in the Kara no Shounen(Empty Boy) anthology by Fujitsuka Yuki, published by Hakusensha. 

———-

It’s been a long while since we’ve posted anything, but I won’t go into details about our MIA-ness until I feel like blabbing so. Allow me to release upon anyone of you, a post I wrote on impulse, as well as a homage to our most frequent and fun posts – the one-shot recommendations. So how did I get inspired to write about this one-shot? It has to do with a game that some of you might heard of and that is, the League of Legends(which I have been quite obsessed with, although I’m totally into Diablo 3 at the moment). My favourite ‘champion’ or character, to make things simpler, is called Orianna – the lady of clockwerk. So each ‘champion’ or character has a lore and Orianna has a very sad story in which she is a product of her creator’s effort to replace his real daughter called Orianna. It’s a tragic story, but how does Pinocchio Dreams compare?

Well, the only relation is that both stories feature a character that is created through advanced technology. I’ve always been enthralled by the idea of robots learning and attempting to be more like humans, its melancholic yet so soft and gentle(not Orianna though, she’s a killing machine). It’s about a conscience that grows from childhood innocence into a character with much stature and care though they risk being insensitive which often leads to confusion. But, sometimes, the mere act of thought, the act of thinking, is enough to touch one’s heart. Pinocchio Dreams really unleashes a wave of emotions within me. Emotions that I would compare to ‘sympathy’ or ‘pity,’ but really not the words to describe so. It’s positive, full of heart and love. It is hopeful and sweet, melancholic. Like life, its fleeting, yet it is timeless, because those feelings that are experienced, will be remembered for a lifetime.

“It’s the thought that counts right?” – Kio, from Pinocchio Dreams

Fujitsuka Yuki is a great mang-aka, her art is unique and distinguishable, girly and manga-y(not sure myself what that means), yet they convey all the character’s emotions, and her story-telling beautiful. I have written about another one-shot from the same anthology before – Sunny Spots Typhoon, and I highly recommend the entire anthology. This one-shot is one of the best I’ve read and I love re-visiting it, over and over again. This one-shot was first published in Lala DX in 2006 and after being compiled in the Kara no Shounen anthology, Fujitsuka Yuki included a short little continuation which is just bliss.

A rather lengthy rant for a one-shot. Have a good week, and perhaps, we will meet again soon.

Overall Rating: 5/5

-chungky