One-Shot for the Weekend – Apple

Apple

Manga-ka: Komi Naoshi

Genre: Shounen, Comedy, Sci-fi, Supernatural

Besides having plants growing out of him at times, Aramiya Satoshi has the special ability to shape-shift into animals . He’s a pretty easygoing guy who just wants to be left alone to enjoy his solitary life in the middle of a junkyard, but the army is constantly after him because of his ability.

Published as a one-shot in Weekly Shounen Jump 2008.

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Ahhh!!! I really won’t have time to write that many posts the next few weeks since I have to prepare for my examinations already… Anyway, due to that constraint I couldn’t go looking around for any new one-shots, so I decided to dig up one I read quite some time back by Komi Naoshi – Apple.

So, it’s about a guy who’s super laid back despite the fact that the balance of the world would pretty much rest on his shoulders and a genius kid who tries to help him out. Yep, the typical shounen plot (In fact, it really reminds me of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s one-shot, Meteor Strike). There’s this simplicity about it being the usual shounen that makes it a nice ‘nothing new’ read if you’d like.

Truth is I couldn’t think of any other one-shot for the weekend and this was what I could come up with in short notice when I remembered it was my turn. I wish I could be like the protagonist right now – all relaxed, all powerful, all in no need for education…. Oh well. That’s why it’s all reserved to stay in manga.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Extra: Music for the Weekend!

When I was taking the bus back from London, I ended up listening to a single song from my playlist 1/3 throughout the journey. Always loved it – so here’s some nice relaxing music for the weekend! XD

-arawr >=3

One-Shot for the Weekend – Mamono wa Utawanai

Mamono wa Utawanai (魔物は歌わない) / Smargs Won’t Sing

Manga-ka: Yamamoto Kumiko

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Shounen

Around three years ago, a village was destroyed by an evil Smarg. The sole survivors of the massacre, sisters Chloe and Iria, fled to a nearby village. The younger sister, Chloe, doesn’t speak, but is a friendly and diligent worker who is loved by all. The older sister, Iria, is disruptive, rude, and cruel, especially towards the unfailingly loyal Chloe. But how did two young girls manage to escape such a powerful creature in the first place?

Published as a one-shot in Jump SQ 2010.

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Watching The Epic of ZetBach a couple of days back sort of revived my thirst for some old-school fantasy, so I chose Mamono wa Utawanai – or Smargs Won’t Sing – for this week’s one-shot.

In terms of the structure of the one-shot, I have to say this is one of the really good ones. Despite having to cram everything in about 55 pages or so, the storyline isn’t rushed and the ending was brought to a proper closure. Which, I feel, is really what a one-shot should be all about – if it leaves you with a “SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT!” sort of feeling, but it all just ends there (it being a one-shot and all) then that is just unethical. Utterly barbaric.

Anyway despite the whole nature of the storyline that we’ve probably read in one manga or book or the other, Mamono was Utawanai still retains its own sense of originality. The characters aren’t over dramatised, which is a really nice change from the tortured individuals that would usually be portrayed in this sort of story. It may start off pretty depressing and edgy, but it’s got a pretty relaxing, sweet ending that would be a nice way to spend your time during your sweet, relaxing weekend after it started all depressing and edgy =D

Rating: 4.0/5.0

-arawr >=3

One-Shot for the Weekend – Furou Kyoudai (不老 姉弟)

Furou Kyoudai (不老 姉弟)

Manga-ka: Shiwasu Yuki

Genre: Comedy, Shoujo, Supernatural, School Life

In the bathtub together, in the restroom together…what is the reason these twins can’t be separated even for a moment…?

Published as a one-shot in Hana to Yume October 2009, where it won the 34^th Annual Hakusensha Athena Newcomer Award. It started serializing in Hana to Yume on March 2011.

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First of all, there’s a short version and a long version. It’s basically the same story, but I preferred the long version since it allowed more time for the story to develop.

I also found it a lot more funny =D

It all sounds very incest-y, so if you’re thinking of avoiding this just because you aren’t a fan of that genre… don’t. Don’t avoid it, and don’t run away from it. It’s pretty platonic, actually. If you are a fan of incest, just read this anyway. There’s a lot of sibling love going on to keep you pumped >=)

I’ve been wondering what it was that seemed different about this little twin one-shot, and I think I figured it out – they’re gloomy. As in, both are gloomy. I find that manga that usually have twins in them have them either ultra hyper (i.e. Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High), or have opposite personalities (i.e. Rin and Yukio from Ao no Exorcist) or just be there as a sort of background dual-sound system. Gloomy characters are less common as protagonists – gloomy twins even less so. It’s a nice, different take on it. Come to think of it, both of them are kind of like Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke (may chungky smite me).

The supernatural take in Furou Kyoudai isn’t unused, but the sort of angle it takes is quite sweet. And funny. I really liked the humorous lines in this one-shot; it didn’t make me cackle hysterically, but it did give me an enjoyable laugh. A nice sort of laugh to experience after the whole week just devoured your energy like a Zubat spamming leech life.

steamiest bathroom scene eva XD

 

Extra: Best typo of the week!

chungky: it should be better this way right?

arawr: uh…  I dunno

chungky: oh just die and say yes

 

-arawr >=3

One-Shot of the Weekend: Love-Stalking – End of Summer

*WARNING MATURE CONTENT*

Title: Love Stalking: End of Summer

Author: Hazuki Kanae

Artist: Hazuki Kanae

Genres: Josei, Mature, One Shot, Romance, Smut

Yuki feels stifled in her own home because her parents nag her to study, study, study. When she finally goes off the deep end and sees her parent’s faces as textbooks, you know she just has to get away, right? So at the beginning of summer she leaves a note promising she’ll be back by the next school term, and ends up living with one of her classmates and his older brother for a couple of weeks.

Collected in a tankōbon entitled Love Stalking! The one-shots were serialised in Muteki Renai S*girl magazine.

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Arawr was suppose to post this weekend’s one-shot but the task was inevitably handed to me since she was caught up in some sort of mid-life crisis.

Anyway, let me establish this one-shot contains smut.

There are graphic scenes.

If you’re under 18 please been warned, if you’re scared of graphic nature you’ve been warned too. Please do not skip the mature rating if you know you’re uncomfortable with it.

If you can tolerate mature content but you’ve had bad experiences with them I suggest you read Kazuki Hanae-sensei’s work, she executes her stories really well. Smut manga can have awesome stories too. I don’t think this particular one-shot is ground-breaking but I think it’s still a good one.

I actually went through a couple of opinions about this particular one-shot and it appears it isn’t exactly the favourite among the 4 short stories collected in the tankoubon. Let me tell you why I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed how the storyline isn’t all that predictable(a very subjective word but I’ll still use it^^) and it strayed away from the more mainstream plotlines; I really liked this barely there love triangle. The reader is actually left with some nice ambiguity in the end and I welcome that at all times if it’s done properly and it was.

The heroine went through some obscene acts with a not so likable male character which I didn’t find very appealing. What I did like though, was that she didn’t regret her actions and she stayed true to herself. This isn’t exactly the type of story where you would enjoy having your children aspiring to but I guess that’s smut for you. I personally wouldn’t like the thought of my children getting it on with some random stranger they’ve just met.

I hate to be a little party pooper but I have to add that under-age s** is quite prevalent in our society and as much as I try to avoid that fact I know it’s true and because it’s true it strengthens the manga’s realism. Smut manga always requires a great deal of realism in the story to be a success in my opinion and I think this piece of work achieves that. This is josei and if you do not know what josei is, it’s a genre targeted towards more mature women hence less innocence. I’m not that interested in smut for the sake of fan service.

Last comment:

If you haven’t been following her current ongoing work Suki tte Ii Na Yo/Say “I love you,”(which is also contains smut) you have frankly been missing out! I’d be willing to call it a perfect example of a high school romance manga, it really is that good; you can read more about my opinions here if you’re interested^^.

Rating: 3.7/5

*if there are any errors i’ll fix them later. i need some sleep.