April 2016

I went to Japan this Spring, I arrived in early April.
I've been to Japan before two years previous, in January. This time was completely different.
Japan was in full bloom, the sakura petals were beginning to fall and line the edges of the streets with beautiful pink and white trails.

I met my cousin from California at the airport, I had to wait for 10 hours. Thank goodness Japan airports are clean and convenient!
While checking out the arrivals board I was pulled aside by a Japanese film crew. They told me they were interviewing foreigners visiting Japan. They asked me why I'd decided to travel to Japan, what I was hoping to do and anything I knew about their country.
It was interesting and kind of embarrassing. I was supporting my large travel bag on my back, I live in Northern Ireland, I'm not used to the heat, especially not in Spring; 'The rainy season' basically, I was beginning to sweat profusely.
I made a comment about this, couldn't help it, thats my kind of humour- humiliate myself....They laughed and the english speaker said I was very charming. They gave me suggestions of places to visit. Weird but worthwhile experience.

On our first night in Japan Tokyo, we stayed in an AirBnB. I'd set up an account a few weeks before my travels, and I'm glad I did.  It took us a while to find our place after we go to the directed station. We wondered around the area looking at the pictures we had of the outside, hoping to win the game of 'eye spy'. Eventually we did after a very helpful policeman.
The next morning we fully realised where we were in the city when we looked up and saw the gigantic 'Sky Tree'.

Now I would definitely suggest AirBnB to anyone. It's exciting, authentic, good value for money and comfortable. You have to go through a process until you can actually sign up, to make it safer for both hosts and guests. You wanna make sure your guest/host ain't crazy right? 

The first few nights in Japan were everything I wanted them to be for my cousin. My cousin had never left America before and I wanted to make sure our trip was unforgettable for all the right reasons.

Our first night was spent in a traditional Japanese Apartment. It has everything a manga lover could ever want. But also helped me really experience what life in Japan might be like. 

Ueno Park

I'd already visited Ueno Park in early Jnauary back in 2014, but what I always really wanted was to experience the season of the Sakura, and it's festivals. 

Ueno Park is the most popular place in Tokyo for the flower viewing festivcal festivities. It was beautiful. 

I also saw a shrine Maiden! But I didn't get a picture, I figured it'd be rude to ask.... >.>

Akihabara 

It's where every manga and anime lover dreams of going. As we should. It's incredible!

Tall buildings surrounding you, young high school girls every ten steps in maid , sexy ninja and cosplay costumes, handing out fliers. Delicious sweet crepes sold at every corner and an insane amount of arcade centres with crane games that are winnable!

But still, are not easy.

I could talk about Japan for much loner, however when I tried to plan it out I realised it'd be way too long and also I can no longer add more pictures :(

But i'll give you highlights for the rest of the trip and post pictures when I remember the best moments. 

- Rented Kimonos in Kyoto- you can't put them on alone, you NEED help. I felt beautiful, especially when all the Japanese came up to take pictures with us. 

- Tempura Prawns and Miso Soup.  I had the best lunch/ meal i've ever had in this small restaurants in an alleyway in Kyoto.

- Karaoke! We went a few times, it was fun, easy and the environment was great! Some better then others but it's Japan, the standards are pretty high to begin with! 

- Cat Cafe in Shibuya. So much fun to actually say i've been to one, however most cats you weren't actually allowed to even touch. Still nice to be in a room with animals. 

- Maid Cafe in Shibuya. Crazy cute! She had us making heart with our hand and chanting cute phrases. I even got adorable bunny ears and was called princess for an hour! 

- Evangelion Train from Hiroshima. I was incredibly sick on the day we planned to get the train, and it left at 7am, but my cousin wanted it so much so I became a zombie and made it to the train. It took a lot of candy to bring me back. But it was worth the struggle. It was SO FUCKING COOL!

- Universal Studios. Attack on Titan Exhibit. Enough said. 

- Irish Pub. We met 3 Mitchell and Star chiefs. One English, French and Mexican- madness. 

- Mount Fuji Flower Festival. The flowers were only 30% in bloom, it took 4 hours on 5 trains to get there, when we arrived it began to pour like Irish skies, and cost us around £45 each. Still we ate some authentic festival food and saw crafts stalls. We also discovered what a rain storm in Japan was like. Fuji was hiding behind thick rolling clouds so we didn't even get to see her. Then. 

- Pokemon Centers; Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. I'd forgotten how much I loved Pokemon until we hit our first centre and I remembered how cool I was. 

- Sailor Moon Sky Exhibit. This exhibit was how I got my Tokyo view pictures for peeps back home. Instead of spending £40 to go up the Sky tree, we spent £15 to get into the new Sailor moon exhibit. It was 52 floors up and had everything related to Sailor moon. Sailor moon exhibit was- fucking amazing and nostalgic! The view made me spoon. I was horrible hung over from our heavy night drinking the night before. Looking down from that height made my head fuzz and my stomach to flip flop. Thanks for nothing alcohol.  

So yeah, thats the breakdown of my trip to Japan. 

Japan is a wonderful county that I think everyone could benefit from visiting and learning about the culture. 

Japan! 

2018?

Getsuyoubi Kara Kataomi

As usual it's been awhile since I've written.
Maybe that'll be my new year resolution, seeing as how I haven't bothered to choose anything else....>.>

So I just finished reading a short manga with only 5 chapters, it was so lovely that I had to release my thoughts! And this is my way, because no one else is cool enough around here to read manga yet.

You know those mangas, movies, stories even songs that are so sweet and romantic and pure that it melts your heart? Well this is one of those.
At first I thought it was just like every other shoujo manga, that i'd enjoy, but that wouldn't have much of an impact on me once it's done- but with this one there was something new right off the bat!

IT'S THE GUY WHO'S THE NARRATOR!
AND HE'S THE ONE WITH THE UNREQUITED LOVE!

Ninomiya-Kun.
He's talented, rich and of course incredibly handsome. All the girls love him and he knows it.
But then one day he crashes into the tiny, cute girl named Emma.
Her reactions shock him as she doesn't seem to sway over him like all the other girls, turns out she has someone else she likes.
This catches his attention, he begins to watch her constantly. Tries to get her attention and gets pissed when she's with another guy. He's not some stupid dense guy that can't understand what he's feeling, he recognises his attraction towards her, in particular, her smile.

Which he tries hard to protect, even causing himself heart break to make sure she can continue to smile.

I really enjoyed reading the guys inner thoughts. He thinks about her all the time, but how he does is what gets me. He never thinks anything bad about her, just craves her attention.
He knows her.

It takes awhile but he starts to change her tune towards him. Sparks begin to fly but OH! She's a decent girl with real emotions and sincerity so when she realises her feeling are changing she feels terrible. She hates herself for her changing feelings  and believes herself to be insincere because of it. She cares about others and how she makes them feel.
Eventually, the two come together like in every great love story.
And i've never been so convinced of the love and romance between a manga couple.
The way he looks at her....

So needless to say the art is fantastic. The emotion really comes through and the characters are pleasing to look at and noticeable! Sometimes you'll read a manga where too many of the characters look alike and it can become confusing.

I loved the story with it's heart throbbing romance.
I loved the way it was written showing the guys thoughts and feelings over the typical girl's narration.
I loved the art.
I loved the personalities of the characters.

Great manga, it's short but wonderful!

Artist/ Author: Kyoumachi Hisa

Released: 2015

Status: Completed

Genres: Romance, Shoujo, School Life

MANGAFOX RANK; 995TH

Akatsuki No Yona

This is one of my top 5 manga, I adore this storyline and the characters.

It's adventurous, funny, heart breaking and inspiring! 

Never before have I had the pleasure of being so enchanted by such an amazing female character. 

I love a strong female lead, as i'm sure i've mentioned before, which just makes reading Akatsuki no Yona that much more enjoyable for me. I won't discount manga that lacks the type of character I enjoy, however if there is no admirable female character, the story is missing something. For me. 

Her name is Yona. 

Yona wasn't always the cool, strong, brave badass she currently is, her origin is dark. 

She was the sole daughter of the late King. Spoiled by her father she lived in luxury, she had everything including a trusted bodyguard and childhood friend, Son Hak and a beautiful man who cared for her and whom she loved deeply, Soo- Won, her cousin. 

Her life is perfect until her love Soo- Won murders her father in front of her and steals his crown. 

Her life is also in danger but her and Son Hak escape and go into hiding.

Yona struggles for weeks, crying, heartbroken and useless.

A girl who's never had to do anything for herself, now forced to sleep in the dirt and scavenge for food. 

 

Son Hak does everything in his power to protect her, however during a battle he's wounded shielding the princess.

Yona realises she's about to lose him too so she fights, cuts her hair and makes a stand. 

 

It's a big moment, the moment Yona decides whats important to her and what she'll do to protect it. 

After they survive the battle, Yona discovers something about herself from a priest. Her natural red hair is a sign of the great God Dragon's reincarnation. 

The priest tells her to seek out the warrior dragon reincarnations, four men gifted with dragon power, their duty to protect, love and serve their King. 

Yona doesn't believe she's truly the king reincarnated, but she needs their help to save her kingdom from war an corruption. She doesn't wish to seek revenge, at least not with the dragons.

As Yona and Son Hak begin their journey they face danger, Yona requests Hak's help with the bow then later the sword, he's hesitant but can't refuse her, the girl he's secretly always loved and his princess. 

Yona becomes stronger both physically and mentally. She comes to understand the people and their suffering, her aim is to help whomever she can on her journey. 

She tracks down all each dragon, some come willingly and eagerly, others take some convincing but none can refuse the bond that lives between them.

Yona is a leader, an inspiration and a carer. She protects those who need her and she never gives up. Throughout the manga you watch as she becomes stronger, you get to see just how far she's come through all the heartbreak, anger, abuse and how brave, hard working and noble she turns out to be. 

The manga is still ongoing and with every chapter you discover something new about her and each of the characters, which I realise I kind of neglected to mention in this description, but I feel hearing her story will help develop the other characters too, as they are all connected with a strong bond, Yona. 

Plus Yona's my favourite and she's irresistible to the other characters! Capturing hearts and respect, plus she's go that fire in her eyes. 

Artist/ Author; Kusanagi Mizuho

Released; 2011

Status; Ongoing

Genres; Action, Adventure, Historical, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural 

Just look at all those genres! A little bit of everything makes for an interesting story! 

MANGAFOX RANK; 40TH

  

Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume

DAMN!

That's a whole bunch of drama crammed into 57 chapters!
Seriously, every chapter had some new crisis, nothing ever went right and someone was always stabbed in the back! Can't trust anyone, so exciting!

Lets get started!
A girl named Sumi is taken from a poverty ridden life to live in luxury. Nice right? No.
She sold herself and her right to love, to save her family. Her older brother is a useless gambler that only causes problems, plus he has a tendency to take in children who've been abandoned. Sumi looks after 3 young children, scavenging for food and medicine. Tough life.

One day Sumi's landlord threatens to evict them, in an act of desperation Sumi runs to the red light district to try and sell her virginity to cover the rent. A rich and handsome man says he'll buy her love and life. He needs a wide and if she agrees to marry him he'll look after her family.

Of course she agrees and is then quickly swept off to a church and married.
He gains a company from his grandfather for getting married by the agreed date. For awhile everything is okay. Sumi is learning how to be a lady of high society but she misses her family, her new husband, Souichirou, is quite mean to her, but she bares and tries to get along with him.
A lot goes down but the jest is, Sumi gets a stalker, Souichirou gets thrown out of his own company, the loyal butler betrays them, people try to kill Sumi and the stalker forces Sumi to make a decision.
Intense stuff.

After a lot of struggle it has a happy ending and some crazy twists! It's incredibly entertaining and beautifully drawn with insane details! I really enjoy when you get so caught up in the drama you read 60 chapters in one go! It's a weird adrenaline rush! Definitely worth the read if you enjoy drama and passion!

Author/ Artist: Ueda Rinko
Released: 2008
Status: Complete
Genres: Drama, Romance, Tradgey, Historical, Shoujo

MANGAFOX RANK; 1360TH

Black Bird

I spent my weekend furiously reading this manga, I couldn't put it down.

The story revolves around a young girl named Harada Misao. 

Every since she was young she has been able to 'see things' that others cannot. They cause problems for her, tripping her up, pulling her hair and just causing havoc, making her appear clumsy. 

She's jealous of her friends who have boyfriends and she has hazy memories of her first love who she met as a child and who could also see 'things' but he left with the promise he'd return. 

Her life suddenly changes when she turns 16, the 'things' that used to just play pranks on her are now becoming violent. It turns out Misao is a food for Goblins. Every 100 years a human like her is born, one who can see demons but is also like cat nip to them. By drinking her blood they can be healed and become stronger, by eating their flesh they gain eternal youth and by marring them prosperity will come to their family. Most just get eaten, obviously she's terrified, then her childhood friend and first love Kyo comes back to protect her. 

At first she's happy to see him thinking their love can progress and he'll protect her, but it's not long before she discovers that Kyo is also a demon, but unlike the others he wishes to Marry her.

She's stubborn for a long time, never trusting him and pushing him away, however without his protection she won't make it far so she stays by his side thought there are many heated exchanges, especially when Kyo tries to get a little too familiar. 

Kyo is an amazing character, he's strong, handsome, smart and caring. He loves Misao. Everything he's ever done was so that he could be with her. His older brother who was to be head of the family and marry Misao is a cruel man who enjoys the sight of blood. In order to protect her Kyo fights to become head and succeeds. 

Kyo's actions have caused splits of loyalty between the family and brothers, which sets up for many interesting and exciting adventures. 

As head of the family Kyo also has a number of retainers, strong warriors that fight by his side and help to protect Misao, each has they're own issues to overcome though out the manga which helps you to get to know and understand their motivations.

As for Misao, she's strange to me because I tend to like strong female characters, which is a way she is but at the same time, she's cries all the time. Over EVERYTHING. Basically she's never not crying. At the start I felt this made her weak but as the manga progresses you realise though she cries, she is a strong willed person who loves very deeply.  

She'll never roll over and give up though they are times she thinks about it. She's passionate and daring. I enjoyed her character more as they manga went on and the romance between her and Kyo is beautiful. Never have I read a manga that showed more love and passion between the characters. 

Kyo loves her just as much as she does him, they fight quite often but always come back stronger. They're love is something that makes you pity your own. 

The manga can be quite sexual at times, which I enjoy ;)

Over all an exciting read with in dept analysis of characters and story. I never felt lost or confused and I enjoyed every moment of this love story!

Author/ Artist; Sakurakoji Kanoko

Released; 2008

Status; Complete

Genres; Action, Comedy, Romance, Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural, Smut, Shoujo, Mystery, Harmen

MANGAFOX RANK; 462TH

Crunchyroll, i've missed you!

I've been a little lacking on my reviews....
Had a busy few weeks starting a new job and social activities, it is Summer after all.
But mostly i've been captivated by CRUCHYROLL!
I've been catching up on anime and manga but also i've really been enjoying using the forums section of the website to hear other anime lover's opinions and just joining in on discussions on my favourite subject!

If you haven't already check it out and sign up for the free trail, worth it! ><

http://www.crunchyroll.com/forum

Hoshi Wa Utau

Any manga fan has probably read the news about author and Artist of manga 'Fruits Basket' has decided to write a mini series called, 'Fruits Basket another'
Unfortunately it's only to help promote the launch of the collectors edition of Fruits Basket and therefore Tohru, Kyo and Yuki will not be featured in the series.

Still it got me really excited and I immediately started re-watching the anime and then read the manga. I'd forgotten how absolutely beautiful it is! Tohru, you angel!
But once i'd finished reading the manga I thought i'd cry, I was so excited about it and here i'd just read and watched everything in less than two days....yikes.
So I began reading another of her works;

Hoshi Wa Utau

Another beautiful manga, though i'd say even darker than Fruits Basket. 

Everyone has such a tragic backstory.

It begins with a young, small girl in her first year of High School, Sakuya Shiina. She is smiling now but for a long time she never did, abandoned by her mother, neglected by her father and abused by her step mother she was sent to live with her cousin when her father grew tired of keeping her around. She would look to the stars for help and comfort, watching them twinkle and listening to the songs they sing. 

Her cousin, Kanade Murakami, worked hard to try and live up to his parents standards but the stress overwhelmed him and could never preform to their standards. He was cast aside by his parents and lived a solitary life indoors. After they began to live together he still locked himself away, changing his schedules in order to avoid meeting Saku, he lived for nothing. Until Saku-can came and showed him her light, she made friends and began to smile, it became clear to him that she just wanted someone to care for her and she'd care for them. They grew closer and Kanade-san began to mature and look for a job both helping eachother stay stable.

Saku-can's best friend is a strange, rich and beautiful girl who is loved by her parents and who wants nothing more than to protect Saku from crying. She uses people to get what she wants and has no regrets over her actions, she ruthless and cunning.

Yuri Murakami is another of her friends, he's energetic and popular. He lost both of his parents in an accident and lives with his brother and grandmother. He's never let himself feel down, he worked hard and made sure he was happy, but when he first saw Saku she was an empty shell. Never smiling, it was like she was drifting in the wind. He called out to her, made fun of her, but soon he realised the pain he caused and apologised. This was a changing point for both of them, Saku opened up to another person and Yuuri began to realise others pain. 

The story really begin on Saku's birthday when a young man, Saku's age, arrived at her house on her birthday. He carried a box with a sakura coloured dress. 

His name was Chihiro Aoi.

He complimented Saku on her character, and her strength to keep on smiling. From that moment Saku was captivated by Chihiro, she loved him. 

After the party he left and then Saku and Kanade realised neither of them knew who he was but each thought the other did. He was a stranger and both were confused, Kanade more angry though. 

Chihiro Aoi, it turns out is the new transfer student. Saku is overjoyed to see him again but he's different from before. Angry. He doesn't like Saku for a long time, always complaining about her and telling her to stay away. Neither the reader or Saku can understand this strange transition. 

She however doesn't give up, she keeps coming back to him, hoping that they can become friends. 

He gets roped into joining their 'Star viewing appreciation' club by Hijiri Honjo who everyone is too scared to say no too. 

Chihiro lets go of whatever grudge he's holding and begins to let Saku in. They become close and Saku falls deeper in love.

Chihiro has a dark past too. 

He ran away from Tokyo. His mother only ever loved him when she didn't have a man, as soon as she had one she'd send him out and tell him not to return. He was lonely. After he joined middle school he met a girl named Sakura. She was bullied by her classmates and he saw in her the same emptiness and hate he felt. They grew close, relying on each other to make it though the hard times, they were 'in love', until they went to separate high schools. Chihiro thought everything was okay because she never said anything to the contrary. Then Sakura was discovered hanging from a Sakura tree in her old middle school. Her life was saved but she lived in a coma. Chihiro wallowed in self pity, grief and hatred for a long time before his uncle came and brought him to live with him, away from Tokyo.  Which is how he came to meet Saku and the other.

This manga is heart- wrenching and painful. I cried at the end and had a lump in my throat for most of it. It was beautiful but horribly sad, what I think made it so sad is how real it was. Life can be cruel, this manga really tried to highlight that, but you can make it through the pain with the right help and guidance. 

I felt hopeful after finishing this manga. 

Her stories are amazing, they show the good and bad in the world in such a direct way that you can't ignore the pain or love. It's confusing sometimes to read and see how someone who's been treated so badly can somehow manage to open up, this counts for real life too. 

It's amazing how much I feel I've learned from reading a manga. 

Author/ Artist: Takaya Natsuki

Released: 2008

Status: Completed

Genre: Comedy, Drama, School Life, Romance, Tragedy, Shoujo

MANGAFOX RANK; 3328TH