Currently Reading

Hey there!

Just a heads up about what I am currently reading.

So this week I finished off the second volume of Love Hina, check back next week for the review.

I am about 1/3 through Sand Land, which I am enjoying so far, really love the characters, and I am a sucker for Akira Toriyama's art style. :)

Still trying to finish up King City, it is not a bad book per se, it is just that the story telling isn't that strong so it doesn't really hold my attention very well.

Going to be reading the fifth volume of Sundome soon as well, wicked series, a bit risque but well worth the read, and well worth sticking with it (each volume gets better), I should have reviews of those up sometime in the future as well.

Also, I am looking in to buying Domin-8-Me, technically it is a Hentai manga but I have heard a lot of great things about it. We shall see. ^_^

Anyhow, other than all that I am still reading through the Gears of War: Aspho Fields book, really good stuff, nice background on Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago.

Take care!

Love Hina Vol. 1

Before I get to the actual review I must first explain that Love Hina, in its animated form, holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the very first anime I had ever watched all the way through. From the very first episode I was hooked on Urashima's antics which both annoyed and humoured me while Narusegawa mesmerized me with her strength, intelligence, and at times, gentle nature. I fondly remember trying to get the pronunciation of her name just right, and wishing I had had the good fortune to become curator of a girls dorm...

Suffice to say, I fell in Love with the Hinata house, and those sentiments have not changed since. Do I have a bias? Yes, I suppose I do, but, at least you know about it?

With that having been said, the first volume of Love Hina, is quite similar to the anime, which is usually how things go when a manga gets converted to an anime. The introduction of all the characters is handled quite hilariously with Keitaro unknowingly stepping in to situations that always seem to set him up to be a pervert, or pedophile, or some other such thing, the constant battering of Keitaro abuse can be both overwhelming and annoying at times, and consider the fact that there are 13 other volumes, if this style of storytelling is not your to your taste, then you should probably forget about this series all together.

Fortunately though things never get too out of hand, and Keitaro usually comes out on top *ahem* one way or another.

Taking in to consideration the age of this series and its art style I think it has grown gracefully. I find it as 'readable' as it was watching it many years ago. And surprisingly enough the story seems to be holding up really well so far. Just after the first few pages I felt myself sinking back in to the same childhood mindset I had when watching the anime for the first time, it was a very nice feeling to be sure.

The first volume of the manga sets up the rest of the series quite nicely with subtle romance and hinted at mystery. Who are these girls? Was it just coincidence that they all happened upon each other? Only time will tell!

I am, embarrassingly enough, giddy with excitement to continue reading the rest of the series and rekindle my love for the Hinata house and its inhabitants. The only question is can I find all the volumes?!

Here's to number 2 which is on its way to my greedy open palms. :)

Rating: 10/10

From the back of the book:

When Keitaro Urashima fails his entrance exams to get into Tokyo University for the second time, he's officially an unemployed and uneducated slacker. To make things worse, his parents have kicked him out of his house. Fortunately, his grandmother owns the fabulous Hinata House and Keitaro is going to be the new caretaker. What he doesn't know is the lodge is actually a girls dorm and he's the only guy around! Most guys would kill to live with five cute girls, but if Keitaro's not careful, this job will kill him.

Currently Reading

Right now I am making my way through Chobits and Gears of War: Aspho Fields (real book).

I have to say, that Chobits, the anime, was, to me, a pretty fun and groovy little show, but the manga I am finding hard to take seriously, only because of the translation.

I mean they have references to so many English movies and TV Shows that it is becoming more of a distraction than anything else. For example when Hideki is taking home Chi for the first time he is in a pose very much like that of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings films, and so the translator added in the "My preciousss!" line.

Or how about the reference to the TV show 'I Dream of Jeannie'...

Even the overuse of swears and curses is getting annoying. Though truthfully I am not sure if that was part of the original series or not, but I find it hard to believe that the characters were shouting 'god damnit' and 'shit' all the time, especially for a CLAMP manga.

While I still love the premise, and the art, I am finding it hard to really enjoy the Chobits manga. Ah well.

On another note, the Love Hina Vol. 1 review should be hitting by weeks end, and I can tell you already that it will be good. :)

Kasumi Vol. 1

Clearly, Kasumi certainly has its flaws, but with them brings a certain unrefined charm. The only question is can its charm overcome its apparently mediocrity?

The short answer, not really, no.

The long answer (as you will read), sort of.

You see, Kasumi is about an aspiring young female magician (in the traditional Penn & Teller sense) who happens upon the ability to turn herself invisible, but, of course, this comes at a price. The trade off is that she can only do so when her breath is held. This in turn leads to some fun/funny antics that get her in to all sorts of situations, but, where do we go from there?

Fortunately, for the reader, there is a bit more to it than just that. As Kasumi's transparent abilities were bestowed upon her by an unknown force that she encounters early on in the book. This mysterious force comes in to play later on as well, when we learn of another character that is in a similar situation to her.

The manga does its job well enough that it had left me with a slight yearning to keep reading, which, to let you know, I have actually purchased the second copy, but to how well the story will play out is another matter entirely.

Some of the main issues I have with the book is how hard it tries to be Japanese, when it clearly doesn't need to. There are times when the author chooses to use words like 'Hai' when the English translation, 'Yes', would have sufficed. There are also 2 glaringly obvious grammatical errors on page 162.

Ex1.

Character says "There's no way she'll be able to can stay in Seiran after this" The 'can' most obviously should not be there, unless I am simply not 'getting' the sentence.

Ex2.

Character says "Are you taking about Morioka-San?" Again, obviously it should have been 'talking' not 'taking'.

Just those two mistakes alone tell me things were rushed, which would explain a lot about the manga as a whole.

Don't get me wrong however, as there are several aspects of Kasumi that I quite enjoyed. For one thing, the art is quite lovely, the general idea behind the story is also quite interesting, I just wished the author could handle it better. And then there is Kasumi herself, while she can be weak at times, you really get the sense, when reading, that she is not afraid to really stand up for her friends, and for what she believes in, which is a fantastic quality to have for the lead character. It makes her, and the series, that much more appealing. Lastly there is the ending of volume 1 which totally left me wanting more.

I think Kasumi has had a rough start, but I believe it will really take off in the next issue, unless its foreshadowed depth nothing more than a transparent illusion.

Rating: 6/10

From the back of the book:

Kasumi is a special girl-and not just because she's a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major secret: She can turn invisible when she holds her breath. But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-council president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?