Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! I can’t believe it is already March! I mean it feels like it should still be February to me. But I suppose that it may just be me who feels that way. Anyway, I’ve been reading quite a bit this past week; most of it from my manga collection, but it still totally counts and it got me thinking. I’ve done a lot of blogs about anime, and I’ve mentioned manga a few times but I’ve never really gone into any detail, so I thought that today I would share with you some excellent manga to read. I’ve been reading mostly shojo manga and while I certainly do like other kinds, I thought I’d stick with this genre for this particular blog. I guess maybe this blog should be Shojo Manga You Ought To Read. Off we go!

Hana Kimi

Hana Kimi, or known originally as Hanazakri no Kimitachi (For You In Full Blossom) in Japan, is a shojo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo. Hana Kimi was serialized in Japan in Hakusensha’s semi-monthly shojo magazine, Hana to Yume. The manga series comes to a close with 23 volumes, and has spawned a whopping 4 live-action television shows. It is published by Hakusensha originally, and by Viz Media in English.

Hana Kimi centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl from America. One day she sees a track and field competition on television and begins to idolize one of the high jump competitors, Izumi Sano. As her attachment to him grows, she comes up with the idea to transfer to Japan to attend the same school as he does. The only snag with her plan; Sano attends an all-bows high school and Mizuki must disguise herself as a boy to enter!

Hana Kimi is a really adorable manga. I haven’t finished the series yet, I’m on Chapter 62 so far, but what I have read of it I absolutely love. Mizuki is such a ditzy sweetheart that it would be impossible not to adore her. Sano, while cold at first, begins to warm and eventually you come to love him too. It’s a pretty girly read; but then it is a shojo manga, so you what else do you expect?

Absolute Boyfriend

Absolute Boyfriend, or Zettai Kareshi, is a shojo manga series by Yuu Watase. It was first serialized in Shojo Comic, however it was also serialized in the Viz Media magazine Shojo Beat. This manga series is absolutely tiny, coming to a close with only 6 books. However it also spawned 2 live-action television shows with plans for a third. It was published by Shogakukan originally, and by Viz Media, Chuang Yi, and Madman Entertainment in English.

Absolute Boyfriend centers on Riiko Izawa, a young girl who is very unlucky in love. One day a strangely dressed salesman gives her a business card for a website that sells ‘love figures’, or android lovers that not only look real, but act and feel real as well. On the spur of the moment and because she doesn’t really understand the implications, Riiko orders one for a 3-day free trial. When she doesn’t return him before the deadline she has to find a way to pay the one million dollar debt she now owes, while dealing with her new feelings and emotions for her robotic boyfriend.

Absolute Boyfriend is a cute manga. I definitely wouldn’t let kids read it, but it is still cute. Riiko is so ditzy, but she grows up throughout the very-short manga. Night, her android boyfriend, is so heartbreakingly sweet; and his rival (her best friend) Soshi is really sweet too. For such a short manga, it is really heart breaking. The end is totally wrenching. I have no idea how they packed that much emotion into only 6 volumes, but they did.

Wild Ones

Wild Ones, or Arakura, is a shojo manga series by Kiyo Fujiwara. It was serialized in Hana to Yume, and later serialized in Shojo Beat in America. It is fairly short, having only 10 volumes in the series. It was first published by Hakusensha, and then later by Viz Media in English.

Wild Ones centers on young Sachie Wakamura, who just lost her mother. Her estranged grandfather has shown up to take care of her. The only problem is that Grandpa is the head of a yakuza gang. Sachie tries to continue living her normal life; but she can’t run far since Rakuto, a handsome and popular boy from school, is part of her grandfather’s gang and her new protector! Soon, Sachie finds herself falling for her bodyguard. But she’s the granddaughter of Rakuto’s boss, so he can never show his feelings. Sachie must find a way to fit her new family into her life while keeping them secret from everyone at school; all while attempting to size her chance at love.

Wild Ones is one of my favorite shojo manga series. The characters in this manga are just crazy. All of the yakuza gang members are ridiculous. They add so much humor to any scene they are in. Rakuto and Sachie are a great pairing, and the way the manga ends is really sweet.

 

Well, there we have it; some of my favorite shojo manga. I really like all three of these manga series; I guess I can’t be about gore and zombies all the time, right? I was going to do another manga; ‘Ai Ore!’ because I’ve been reading it recently and it is freakin’ adorable, but since I’ve only read the first 2 volumes (mind, they are like twice the size of most manga books, but still) I figured I’d save it for when I’ve read some more of it. So maybe I’ll do a Shojo Manga 2 post sometime later!

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all, Caelrona here with your Wednesday dose of geek. Since there really isn’t too much going on right now, and it has been a while since I wrote about anime, I thought that I would share with you some anime that I recently watched. I got to watch all of these anime series while I had control of my friend’s Netflix account, so they’re readily available if you feel like giving them a go. These anime are for a more mature audience – they all feature a lot of violence, blood and fan-service. If that is your type of anime, then keep on reading!

Murder Princess

 

Murder Princess is a pretty kick-ass anime. I honestly didn’t think it would be too great, judging by the description that Netflix gave it, but I gave it a shot anyway and I’m glad I did. While it won’t be winning any awards or going down in anime history like Cowboy Bebop or Dragon Ball Z, it isn’t terrible. The storyline has some unexpected twists that keep things fairly interesting, and the dialogue has its witty moments, so you won’t be bored silly with only the fan-service to keep you awake.

Murder Princess is a 6 episode long OVA based on the 2 volume manga of the same name. It was released in 2007 by Marvelous Entertainment in conjunction with Bee Train. Each episode has a runtime of 30 minutes.

Murder Princess is pretty much summed up by the title. The princess kills people; lots and lots of people. After an assassination attempt on the King of Forland succeeds, the princess, Alita, must run for her life from the castle. Unfortunately the castle is surrounded by a dangerous forest, and her entourage of guards is quickly dispatched by the Forest Guardian. While now safe from the assassins, Alita must still run for her life. It is during her tumultuous escape that she bumps into Falis, a bounty hunter. The two plummet off of a steep cliff and against all odds they survive, however due to the near death experience their souls have switched bodies! Falis, hindered with the weaker body of the pristine princess, still fights and defeats the Forest Guardian. Seeing Falis’s strength and courage Alita begs the bounty hunter to put her sword to the defense of Forland. But can Falis protect the country from a betrayal so deep that even Alita does not see its depth?

Queens Blade

Queens Blade is an anime geeks wet dream – literally. This thing is so packed full of fan service I don’t think I can even properly describe it. If a character is wearing any armor or clothes (note the if, it’s important) then even the slightest scuffle or fight has them being ripped, torn, or broken off. Not to mention one character has boobs the size of two yoga balls. I can’t even make that up – imagine someone stuffing two exercise balls in their shirt and it’s close to what this woman’s boobs look like; still too small though. Other than the ridiculously skimpy armor and outfits, the outrageous boobs (I think the entire world has DD’s, at least) and crazy amounts of fan-service then this is a pretty good anime. The storyline isn’t bad, a young girl struggling to get away from an oppressive father and incestuously perverted sister ends up competing in an amazon warrior-esque competition known as the Queen’s Blade, which is a competition held every four years to crown the most beautiful and deadly warrior queen. Did I forget to mention that the Queen’s Blade is broadcast around the world by angels? Yeah, freakin’ angels follow these boobalicious amazon warrior babes around as they travel to the Queen’s Capitol, Gainos, fighting each other whenever they meet up, all for the honor and privilege of fighting the current queen. Not to mention one of them is anthromorphic and shoots acid out of her tits. Nifty huh?

Queens Blade is 12 episode anime based off of a series of Visual Combat Books which eventually spawned a media franchise spanning 4 different manga adaptations, 3 different anime adaptations, 3 light novel adaptations and a video game. Queen’s Blade: The Exiled Virgin was released in 2009 by ARMS and licensed by Media Blasters.

Queens Blade: The Exiled Virgin follows a young warrior named Leina during her journey to the Queen’s Capitol to fight in the Queen’s Blade. Initially Leina is only attempting to escape her duties as the next countess of the regal Vance family, but ends up embroiled in the competition. She quickly decides to compete, but is met with much resistance. Not only is her family trying to get her back, but the evil Swamp Witch and her minions are attempting to put a stop to the competition. Can Leina and her friends make it to the Queen’s Capitol, or will the Swamp Witch succeed with her attempt to foil the tournament?

Master of Martial Hearts

 

The Master of Martial Hearts is a pretty decent anime. The storyline seems fairly straight forward when you start watching. A young girl, who happens to be a martial arts master ends up competing in a dangerous competition to win a mysterious gem, the ‘Martial Heart’, that supposedly grants your greatest wish. It packs in plenty of fan service (although not nearly as much as Queens Blade does) and even a few cute moments here and there. The ending has a twist so crazy that I was completely shocked at how extremely fucked up (excuse my language) it was. Seriously, I was not expecting that kind of ending. That is some messed up shit at the end.

The Master of Martial Hearts is a 5 episode OVA. There is also a 3 volume manga series of the same name, but no records of which came first. The anime was released in 2008 by Arms Corporation and licensed by Funimation Entertainment in the USA and Manga Entertainment in the UK.

The Master of Martial Hearts is a very short anime that follows a young girl named Aya who competes in a martial arts competition in order to win a mysterious jewel, the Platonic Heart, which is said to grant a wish to the winner of the competition. Aya, a martial arts prodigy child, is embroiled in the mysterious competition after saving another young girl, whom she befriends. The girl admits to Aya that she is competing in order to wish for friends, for she had never had any. Aya offers to be her friend, and the girl drops out of the competition. Soon after she disappears, and Aya is offered the empty spot in the competition. Can Aya survive the battles she must fight in order to save her friend, and who is behind this mysterious competition anyway?

Well, there you go! A few fan-service filled anime series for you to watch. None of them are very long, so they won’t take up too much of your time (I watched them all in only 3 days) and they are pretty entertaining, despite all of the fan-service they offer. Anyway, I will see you same time next week for your Wednesday dose of geekiness!

Until next time;

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Awesome Anime You Ought To Watch!

By Caelrona

Hi ya’ll! Caelrona here, and I am guest writing for All Geek to Me, mainly because GeekyGems is letting me. I thought about things to discuss, and eventually came back to Anime. Mainly because I love it, but also because GeekyGems mentioned she’d like to hear about some since she sticks mostly to Studio Ghibli. While Ghibli is a great animation studio, and Hayao Miyazaki should be revered like a god for his work, sometimes we want to watch something a little more kick-ass than a G-rated anime, no matter how amazing that G-rated anime may be. I am going to try and hit on some ass-kicking anime series that might not be too popular, but are definitely worth watching if you ever get the chance.

　

Claymore

 Claymore is an awesome anime, and an even better Manga. Awesome fighting chicks in Roman-esque armor, wielding gigantic broad swords (Hence the name ‘Claymore’) there isn’t much more you could ask for, except maybe man-eating monsters. Oh wait, it has that too! Also, tentacles. Sadly for fanboys, there is more ass-kicking than ass showing. That’s right, no fan service for you. So you won’t be getting tons of ridiculous panty shots, or cleavage (because oddly enough, these female warriors actually wear armor that might protect something!) but there will be plenty of gore, severed limbs, blood and bits.

It is based on a Manga by the same name, and follows the manga fairly closely as to the story line. The manga is currently at 22 Volumes, and the Anime at 26 episodes based on the first 11 volumes of Manga. The plot centers around a girl named Claire who is a member of the mysterious ‘Organization’ which created a fighting force known as Claymores. Claymores are half-human hybrids developed to fight man-eating shape shifting demons known as Yoma. The storyline follows Clare on her journey to avenge her mentor, Teresa who was killed by another Claymore for breaking one of the Claymore laws.

Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied is another amazing anime, but in a completely different way. This anime is nothing BUT fan service, carries an R rating and should not be watched around children for multiple reasons including horrible gore, death, dismemberment and lots of nakedness.

Elfen Lied is an anime based on a Manga of the same name. The manga is 12 Volumes long, and the Anime barely manages to top that with a total of 13 episodes.

It follows the story of a girl named Lucy. She is a Diclonius, a mutation with the only physical difference of small horn-like protrusions on their head. Oh, also they have wicked cool, totally invisible ‘psychic’ extra limbs (known as Vectors) that can move faster than sound and vibrate so quickly that they can slice through humans, doors, buildings and even deflect bullets. Not to mention, all known Diclonius are murdering rampaging crazies that tear random people limb from limb, even if they themselves are barely old enough to walk. Anyway, back to the storyline. The anime begins when Lucy breaks out of a containment facility and is found by a local boy named Kohta. However she is no longer Lucy, but Nyu; a split personality developed when she is hit in the head by a .50 BMG round during her escape. The storyline follows Lucy (now known as Nyu) and Kohta, revealing that they have a past that is not really all that pleasant. Blood and gore make screen time when the containment facility sends in other Diclonius to bring Lucy in. Do you think that Lucy goes quietly? Ha!

　

High School of the Dead

 High School of the Dead manages to make me a happier geek than any of the other Animes I have listed (or will) for one simple reason. It is about ZOMBIES. I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’ve had a thing for Zombies ever since I was a little girl, and an anime about zombies? My happiness level? It’s over 9000! Also, fanboys rejoice because there is so much fan service packed into these 12 episodes that it sometimes gets a bit ridiculous.

High School of the Dead is an anime based on a Manga by the same name (sensing a trend here?) The Manga has a total of 7 Volumes and is currently on Hiatus while the Anime has a total of 12 Episodes.

It follows the story of a group of typical high school kids in Japan, who happen to be at school when the zombie outbreak begins. Our hero of the story is Takashi Komuro, who haphazardly leads a group of fellow students (and the school nurse) out of the school and onto the city streets in hopes of finding their families. Of course, their main focus is surviving the waves of zombies who want to eat them all alive.

Kaze no Stigma

Kaze no Stigma isn’t nearly as kick-ass as any of the previous animes; but it certainly earns its place on the list with plenty of fights and some awesome elemental based magic. In fact, that is the main thing that makes this anime so much better than other similar anime out there. Wish you could wield fire, earth or air magic? Well this anime has all that, and some other seriously wicked magic as well, no ‘bending’ required.

Kaze no Stigma, also known as Stigma of the Wind, is an Anime based on a light novel by the same name and it being adapted to Manga. The light novel has 12 Volumes; the ongoing Manga currently has 2 Volumes while the Anime is 26 Episodes long.

Kaze no Stigma follows the life of Kazuma Yagami, a young punk of a Wind Magic user after he returns home after being banished. Why was he banished, you ask? Because his family, the highly elite Kannagi clan, are Fire Magic users, and he lost the duel to wield the highly sought after, super powerful Enraiha, a magical sword wielded by the clan heir. After his banishment he made a pact with the Wind Spirit King, becoming what is known as a Contractor – not just a mere Magic User, but a super powerful Magic User able to tap into all the Magic Spirits of their pact with the powers of that elemental Spirit King. His return is not all happy heartfelt family mush, however, as it turns out members of his family are being killed… by wind magic. Gee, who could possibly be their biggest suspect?

 

 Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, more commonly known as Real Bout, is a kicking-ass-and-taking- names kind of anime, with a healthy (or maybe unhealthy?) dosage of fan service thrown in. Plenty of boobs, butts and panty shots here! It centers on a school where you don’t get suspended for fighting – you get graded for it!

Real Bout is an Anime, based on a light novel of the same name, and was adapted for Manga but sadly never finished. The light novel is 19 Volumes long, while the Manga only ran to 6 Volumes and the Anime tops out at 13 Episodes.

Real Bout follows the daily high school life of the vivacious red-head Ryoko Mitsurugi. However, Ryoko doesn’t go to your average high school. She attends Daimon High, and is the current K-fight champion. What’s a K-fight you ask? A K-fight is the school’s approach to settling disputes. Any dispute can be settled by an organized martial arts match known as the K-fight. Ryoko, the Samurai Girl, must contend with a stalker of a friend, crazy people who want to take her down for her title, an arch rival for their shared love interest, a hated nemesis, and.. Monsters. That’s right, monsters. Because a high school that organizes and grades martial arts matches isn’t awesome enough, it also has magic. Our heroine, Ryoko, finds a magical locket that transports her to an alternate universe where she battles crazy, powerful monsters in order to save a world known as Solvania.

　

Well, that’s all for today folks. Hope you liked my article, but if you didn’t then I hope you at least found an awesome, ass-kicking anime to watch when you get bored. Maybe if GeekyGems doesn’t disown me after this, I’ll do a follow-up with amazing Anime Movies, because sometimes you just want your daily anime dosage in the form of a movie instead of a series.

Caelrona, signing out!

Fullmetal Alchemist

By Geeky Gem

As some of you may know I read comics, which I enjoy very much, but I also read Manga. Manga is a Japanese graphic novel that can go on for a number of volumes. I have read a few different ones but again thanks to a few friends I got pointed in the direction of one they thought I might like.

 

Fullmetal Alchemist is written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa, the world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled on the European industrial revolution. It is set in the fictional universe where alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques known to man, the story follows the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who want to restore their bodies after a disastrous failed attempt to bring their mother back to life through alchemy.

 

 

 

The manga was released in August 2001 and ran until June 2010 in that time 27 volumes were published. It also spawned two anime shows, one that loosely follows the tale set out in manga and the other that follows the story very closely. Fullmetal Alchemist (from here on in shall be refered to as FMA), has also had a movie, to bridge the story from the first anime and tie it up nicely, there are video games, a soundtrack and even a collectible card game.

 

 I havent finished reading them all just yet, but what I have read so far I really enjoyed. The story is fast paced and never gives up, the fight scenes are fantastic and yes they can run over 5 or 6 pages but they are brilliantly drawn and I never feel like I am reading a manga. To be honest I can read a whole volume in one go, that’s how much I can get lost in the story. The characters are rich and you really are backing Ed and Al all the time. The supporting cast of characters must not be forgotten. Winry Rockbell and her Granny are the only people that keep Ed and Al grounded thought the story as they search for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone in order to restore what was taking from them.

 

 

 

I just can’t put the manga’s down and I cant wait to get to the end of story, the anime is brilliant as well but I will leave that untill another time I don’t want to spoil you with that now. If you have never read a manga before but are willing to give it a try then I suggest you try this one. It is fantastic.