Monthly Lala 10/2011~

Hello everyone. Greetings from the Host Club and I. I took a long time to prep up this post since I’m back and university and there’s just so much going on…missed our one-shot last week. The December issue of Lala will be out in a few days and I haven’t even got to scanning Lala 11 & Lala DX 11 yet. I’ve got Kuro(black) Lala with me as well so if anyone wants to have a round-up of that please leave a comment below!

I want to take this opportunity to THANK EVERYONE for supporting our first run of the Weekend Ani-Manga Mail!!! The feedback from you guys was AWESOME and I simply can’t thank you all enough! Thank you to Justin too for being our first participant. If your manga/anime list is going dry or you just want more(who doesn’t?), I hope you can give the Weekend Ani-Manga Mail a go! Please click here if you’re interested in participating or check back Manga Weekend to give your recommendations!

My scanner was giving me these weird things so I apologise in advance for any blunders. Let’s start with all the extras from this issue!

Monthly Lala 09/2011~

Been wanting to blog all week but my brain just keeps farting and I just come up with noob drafts. Anyway, behold, my mouth-watering friends – Takashi sparkles on the cover of Lala 9! It’s a very nice wispy cover! Kudos to Midorikawa Yuki! I’ve pierced together Lala 8 and Lala 9 together in the image below to show you lot that they’re actually connected!

Monthly Lala 07/2011~

Right. Let’s get up to speed. Here is the Monthly Lala July Issue with Kaichou wa Maid-sama! taking the spotlight with a very summery outlook.

And with every issue comes the every bit of news surrounding the magazine’s past, present and future serialisations. The biggest news for Lala currently is no doubt Bisco Hatori’s  Ouran High School Host Club live adaption. Playing Tamaki will be Yūsuke Yamamoto & starring Haruhi will be Haruna Kawaguchi. I recognise the dude but other than that I’m pretty clueless.  Not sure what to say about the casting but TV dramas never got me hyped up anyway. The only thing I’m currently obsessed with on TV is the U.K’s version of “The Apprentice.”

Manga & Anime: Medium of Freedom

Library Wars|Toshokan Sensō

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These few days I struggled to think how I would write a full length essay. The situation is getting out of hand since my writing skills have not awoken even with my exam approaching. So, as I tried to escape from my exam induced stress, I decided to take a short-term solution by watching Anime. I beg all of you not to follow my example.

Having no idea with what to watch, I settled for Library Wars since I wanted to catch up with the Love and War manga adaptation by Kiiro Yumi. Oh, just a note, the Library Wars Anime isn’t licensed and it should very well should be. It’s fantastic! But what really triggered me to write this post was initiated by the concept of Library Wars by Hiro Arikawa.

What may that be you ask?

The plot is derived from Japan’s statement of intellectual freedom for libraries – which basically means that libraries have the freedom to offer and collect any material, as well as disregarding censorship. The freedom of expression.

The conflict starts here; in the story, the government passes the Media Betterment Act which gives the committee the power to remove and censor any type of media that could pose a threat on Japanese Society. It’s almost like the Gestapo of Hitler Germany. Pretty deep stuff. Joining the side of free expression is no other than the Library Defence Agency, set up by local governments who oppose the Media Betterment Act.

Library Wars|Toshokan Sensō

Lala Issue 03/2011~

*Spoilers Alert*

Good day! Hope y’all had a good week-end. I know I did. In fact, I don’t even have classes on Mondays anymore so I have an extra-long weekend. Who’s J-worded? Here are some photos of Lala 3. Highly anticipated for it’s special Ouran chapter! Also, if you’re an avid fan of Mishounen Produce, it’s final chapter is in this issue. Also, I made the photos clickable now, so you can view these pics in higher resolution, just a little bigger.

This was the freebie/furoku of Lala 3, very cute no?

The M.Weekend Shopper: Valentine’s Day Gifts – Part 1

Tis’ the season of spring – that is coming. Season of the new beginnings, renewal, and the welcoming of the bright sun(If you live in the upper hemisphere that is).

Perhaps you want to rejuvenate your love? Going steady recently have you? Chasing that potential partner? M.Weekend is here to help you!

For Him:

Struggling? A dilemma?

FINAL FANTASY VII – Silver Pendant CLOUD

“Silver pendant with a motif of “FINAL FANTSY VII” Cloud’s arm bangles. It is stylishly decorated with black carbon.”

Material:Silver925,/Carbon
Size:H / 0.51 inches × W / 0.56 inches, Chain Length / 17.72 inches

–Via Square-Enix website

M.W: Final Fantasy VII is widely perceived to be the masterpiece of the Final Fantasy compilation. Get this ultra stylish pendant for that special person, it’ll easily match any wardrobe & make a fashion statement. Even one of the characters from Final Fantasy VII is called Valentine(Val entine’s Day get it? hehe). May Cloud be with you.

Retails at £ 138.00 on the Square-Enix website.

One Shot for the Weekend – Love Egoist story 3: “Please Please Me”

Title: Love Egoist story 3: “Please Please Me”

Author: Bisco Hatori

Artist: Bisco Hatori

Genres: Drama, Romance, Shoujo, School Life

Summary: A girl enraptured by her popular cold-blooded, male teacher who hides under facade of a caring personality.

Found in Volume 7 of Ouran High School Host Club. Part of a collection of stories under the ‘Love Egoist’ series.

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I went through my m.w’s posts so far and I think I’ve been mentioning her quite a lot! This week’s one-shot (actually I’m not even sure whether I’m able to call it a one shot since it’s part of an on-going series of individual plots, the term omake might be more appropriate) is also by Bisco Hatori.

I really admire and love Bisco Hatori’s ability to inject deeper/important values into her work. This story features the relationship between a student and teacher, but it can easily be applied to many other types of relationships involving jealousy. The teacher smokes in the story, giving a more mature touch to the story since it is uncommon to behold this sight in shoujo manga. The re-occuring characters throughout this Love Egoist series are two sisters who interact with the characters of the story freely, if you haven’t read any of the previous Love Egoist chapters you don’t need to. The sisters are like little keepers/guardians of the series telling the morale of the plot at the end of the story. It’s about adapting with change and the people around you, and to find happiness in these conditions.

Rating: 3.9/5

-chungky

Some Starry Sky~ *Updated*

the lazy bug has gotten me. i’ve postponed many things til this weekend. anyways i was going through my dashboard then suddenly somebody posted a link to an otome game – starry sky in spring. i’ve always been darn curious about otome games, its one of those things u must do in life. LOL. its 3.31am atm and i’m going to bed soon but here’s some screenies. kanata is basically the stubborn one, suzuya is the mature grown up and yoh is tat quiet/loner acid mouth.

kanata u so mean~!

with the responses i used in the game i kept ending up with suzuya.

Mangaka of the Month~ Hatori Bisco

Bisco Hatori

(葉鳥ビスコ Hatori Bisuko)

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(Bisco Hatori is a pseudonym)

Place & Date of Birth: August 30, 1975, Saitama, Japan.

Gender: Female

Blood type: AB

Horoscope: Virgo

Bisco Hatori’s website

Bio: Bisco Hatori made her manga debut with Isshun kan no Romance (A Moment of Romance) in LaLa DX magazine. The comedy Ouran High School Host Club is her breakout hit. When she’s stuck picking characters’ names, she gets inspired by loud, upbeat music (her radio is set to NACK5 FM). She enjoys reading all kinds of manga, but she‘s especially fond of the sci-fi drama Please Save My Earth and Slam Dunk, a basketball classic. -Shojo Beat

Lala Special Issue 12/2010~

I just got the December 2010 issue of Lala Special. So happy! I bought it from the Japan Centre in Regent Street, London which costed me £11.70. I couldn’t get it on the Japan Centre website since it wasn’t the normal Lala monthly magazine and the shipping fee from Amazon.jp was just crazy! The Lala Special issue differs from the parent by releasing Lala monthly’s side stories as well as a variety of one-shots from mangakas.This issue contains Ouran’s special chapter as well as a selection of previous chapters, there’s also a announcement that there will be a special one-shot sequel at the beginning of next year!(there are many other series as well, vampire knight etc. not just ouran if you’re wondering)

There’s also a set of Ouran bookmarks!!! There are 8 bookmarks as you can see:

Now I have an extra reason to look forward to reading my books.

I mainly bought this month’s special issue because of the Ouran commemoration, it’s so sad to say good-bye after  7  wonderful years. I’ll definitely cherish Ouran forever(T_T), thank you Bisco Hatori.

-chungky