I've only read the first book of this series, but it was pretty darn terrible. Basically, the story is about a boy who secretly loves "feminine" things, but feels he has to hide that side of himself and instead be overly masculine. Inexplicably, his friend is a secret manga artist drawing a manga based on the main character.
I'm all about breaking gender roles and stereotypes, trust me, but this just felt like it actually *enforced* those stereotypes more than anything. It still felt very binary and only marginally progressive, in spite of the opportunity for this to be so much
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Oct 7, 2010
Yunagi no Machi Sakura no Kuni
(Manga)
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This manga is an historical piece about the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. Obviously, it's not completely uplifting, but it has its moments. Overall, however, I found a lot of it fairly predictable and not all that eye-opening, in terms of giving me some additional historical competence. I was hoping to feel like I'd been to post-war Hiroshima after reading this, but I just felt like I'd read a comic book. Bummer.
Nevertheless, it's not a complete waste of time. It's cute in parts, touching in parts, and if you're into historical drama, it's worth picking up. 
Sep 28, 2010
Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo
(Anime)
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I'd give this all 10s, but I reserve those for the truly amazing. This wasn't quite there, but it was close. I think my favorite part about this movie is the premise - a girl finds herself able to leap through time, as the title so cleverly reveals ;)
The movie is a little bit Run, Lola, Run-esque, but I found this one far more entertaining, even with the absence of a certain eastern European redhead, ha ha. All of the main characters were cute, but the main girl was my favorite. She's got an adorable personality, but overall the movie wasn't ... 
Sep 28, 2010
Not Simple
(Manga)
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10s across the board! The art is awesome in this - very different from other manga. The eyes all are very expressive and sad, which fits the tone of the book. The characters are very well-developed and I was sucked into the story from the first page all the way to the end.
This isn't a happy story, which the reader learns in the very beginning, but it's a great slice-of-life. It's a little confusing because it jumps around from present to past, and after I'd finished the book I went back and read a couple of parts over again to ... 
Sep 28, 2010
Naichaisou yo.
(Manga)
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This is a selection of many different short stories that are all about two young boys falling in love. Every premise is essentially the same, with a few changes here and there: one boy is very submissive and feminine, almost a pet to the other boy. Not my bag. I suppose if I was into that, I might have enjoyed this more, but basically I just wanted it to be over. All of the characters were irritating and unlikable and I really didn't care if any of them were happy in the end or not. Blechhhh.
Sep 24, 2010
This manga was a letdown. I was hoping for a cute romance, but instead I found the story very irritating. It's about a love triangle between three boys, but none of them were particularly likable. After the "twist" in the end of the second chapter, I thought things would pick up, but I found myself skimming chapters 3 and 4 just to get to the end to see who ended up with who (not that it was hard to figure out.) Skip this one.
Sep 22, 2010
Kanshakudama no Yuutsu
(Manga)
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This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it wasn't great either. The stories were all cute, I guess, especially the first two ("Short-Tempered Melancholic" and "This Love is Nonfiction"), but the second two were pretty boring. Honestly, "The Style of the Second Love" was downright annoying. All of the characters were pretty stupid and I was glad it was short and over quickly!
If you're bored and this book is sitting around, it's worth picking up to read the first half, but I wouldn't go out of your way to read it otherwise. 
Sep 14, 2010
Aisubeki Musumetachi
(Manga)
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This book was awesome! I found it at the library and figured it would be some kind of sappy romance, but it's actually quite interesting. It weaves together the stories of several women all centered around one particular family. Each chapter focuses on a different relationship, either mother-daughter or someone's love life. We see how behaviors get passed from generation to generation and how peoples' pasts affect their presents. The character development is fantastic, especially for only being one volume. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone that likes to read slice-of-life stories with drama and humor with a definite
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Sep 13, 2010
Utsumuku Shisen
(Manga)
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I loved this! If you're looking for a cute, romantic, cheesy yaoi manga, this is the one for you! The story goes back and forth between current times (they've been together for quite awhile) and when Kaoru and Yoshiyuki were courting. Precious!
What I enjoyed most about this is that although Kaoru and Yoshiyuki aren't exactly the same age, they're close (29 and 35), so there is a lot less of the annoying age difference stuff that happens in a lot of yaoi. I like my guys to act like guys, not 13-year-old girls :) |
