Posted in anime

Top 5 Shoujo Manga Recommendations

Sakisaka Io’s Strobe Edge ❤

Let me first off say, this is a post that I really thought of. This is based solely on my opinion and it’s up to you, my fellow readers, if you would give it a try at some point. Well, nevertheless here it goes! (My preferences are always changing 24/7,  but I guess I’ll stick to this for some time)

#5  ‘Nisekoi’  by Naoshi Komi

NISEKOI’s first volume cover illustration

Boy….The whole manga is gold. I guess it doesn’t really fit in the ‘shoujo’ genre because it’s literally published in Weekly Shounen JUMP! but if you’re in for a good laugh and a heartbreaking romance, you’re in for some fakeu love~! It has an anime too and it’s totally worth watching!

Synopsis:

The story revolves around Raku Ichijou, a heir to a yakuza family, made a promise 10 years ago to his childhood friend, yet he doesn’t recall who. 
Now, years later, Raku has grown into a typical teenager, and all he wants is to remain as uninvolved in his yakuza background as possible while spending his school days alongside his middle school crush, Kosaki Onodera.

However, when the American Bee Hive Gang invades his family’s turf, Raku’s idyllic romantic dreams are sent for a toss as he is dragged into a frustrating conflict: Raku is to pretend that he is in a romantic relationship with Chitoge Kirisaki, the beautiful daughter of the Bee Hive’s chief, so as to reduce the friction between the two groups. Unfortunately, reality could not be farther from this whopping lie—Raku and Chitoge fall in hate at first sight, as the girl is convinced he is a pathetic pushover, and in Raku’s eyes, Chitoge is about as attractive as a savage gorilla.

But is it really hate at first sight? Here you’ll get to meet many characters who long for Raku’s affection and many side stories you’ll absolutely love along the way!

#4 ‘Boku no Hana ni Melancholy’ by Komori Miko

From ShoujoHearts:

When Hana was a child visiting her mother’s grave, she got to know a young boy named Yuzuru. He was Hana’s first love. When she heard that he ended up moving away, she thought that it wouldn’t be possible to see him anymore, but…?

Y’all would think it’s just your typical shoujo manga, but in this one, you can totally see the maturity of the characters and the art style is amazing. I wished the mangaka ended it where it should’ve been the last chapter because it gets draggy when they try to make so many filler chapters just to satisfy the wants of the public.

#3 ‘Koi Wazurai no Ellie’ 

Eriko Ichimura spends her high school days in complete obscurity. Her sole hobby is staring at handsome, smooth-spoken Akira “Omi-kun” Omi, and tweeting her daily fantasies under the screenname “Lovesick Ellie”. One fateful day, she accidentally bears witness to Omi-kun’s true self — and if that weren’t enough, he sees her mortifying Twitter, too! Follow along with a plain, perverted girl, a two-faced boy, and their curious romance! [Kodansha]

GAAAAAH! If this ain’t me?! Just kidding. The story is 10/10 the definition of a rom-com! The story is not too rushed and the heartwarming scenes between the characters show their sincerity, could it actually happen in real life?… anyways, the art style is good and the characters all have their interesting points! It’s not too late to start reading!

HAHAAHAHAHA

#2 Love So Life!

Shiharu is a high-school student who loves kids, lives in an orphanage, and works at a daycare… Until the handsome uncle of two-year-old twins offers her a raise if she’ll be their babysitter. Often relying on memories of her mother’s actions for guidance, Shiharu quickly finds herself falling in love with her new makeshift family. [Witch Scans]

This is the type of story where one can imagine our selves in the shoes of the characters. Or relate to what they do or why they did it. It is well written, each character is alive in the manga. All the emotions. And especially the twins, how they grow up, its like we are also raising them too LOL, and the growing relationship between Shiharu and Seiji. At any rate, I think it took me a year to finally finish this series, and I am a little sad that it is finally over, but I am so glad the author decided to have a sequel! The art is amazing, and captured wonderfully. At any rate I am glad I read this and finished it.

#1 ‘Hana to Akuma’ by Oto Hisamu

Fourteen years ago Vivi, the demon, decided to leave the demon realm and come to the human world. There he found an abandoned baby and on a whim decided to keep it. Since then he lives together with Hana… but having a 14 year-old girl around you, is it really that simple?

(Source: Osuwari Team)

This is my #1 manga for a reason, and I would like to point out that the title is befitting for this manga (The Devil and his Flower). I guess my review will never give justice to this masterpiece. Ever. That’s how good it is– the plot, the characters and how Oto-sensei writes with such simplicity, yet full of emotion. My heart literally clenched every time I read this (I’ve read it 5 times lol).
Hana to Akuma tells the tale of Vivi and Hana, a demon and a human. Vivi finds Hana alone in the snow as a baby and decides to take care of her “to pass the time”. What Vivi didn’t plan to do was become so attached to her. Throughout the entire manga you see their love for each other grow. They face obstacles in their journey, some trivial and simple, and other serious and life changing. And boy when I mean life changing, I couldn’t move on from this manga for weeks!!!

All you gotta prepare is an all-nighter and some tissues, baby!

ARGHHHH

Posted in Movie Reviews

‘Dangerous Minds’ a movie review

If you’ve never watched John N. Smith’s Dangerous Minds (1995), you’d probably envision this to be an action-thriller genre of movie—well, this is partially true. Adapted from the book “My Posse Don’t Do Homework” by LouAnne Johnson, Dangerous Minds talks about a former Marine turned teacher, LouAnne Johnson played by Michelle Pfieffer, who tries unorthodox methods of teaching to help a bunch of notorious teenage students in an inner-city high school surrounded by gangs and drugs, to understand poetry and to graduate at all costs. The ones who made the movie more enjoyable to watch were the students with their dirty humor—the supporting characters, Callie played by Idina Harris, Raul played by Renoly Santiago and Emilio played by Wade Dominguez.

LouAnne teaches the students in unorthodox manner

One thing that Dangerous Minds lacked was understanding the complexity of their situation—LouAnne doesn’t attempt to reach out to her students from their point of view or realistically confront the unfortunate truths they face. Instead, she tainted the image of poetry into making them think it was a metaphor for drug dealing. She bribes them as if they were kids, with candies and buys them all tickets for a trip to the amusement park. Pfieffer’s acting was exceptionally great for a role that portrays a teacher’s passion, yet this did not dismiss the fact it was all style but no substance. She displays exactly how an actor would act as a teacher but fails to understand that in some scenes you got to look like you’re not hitting on your student. She failed to notice her character’s pretentiousness in the way she’s dealing with her students. Santiago on theother hand, was refreshing to watch and it seemed natural for him to portray a role of a tough kid in a small body. Emilio’s tragic demise was too rushed, andtheir small talk with Ms. Johnson felt awkward.

The film in totality has an interesting plot, but that’s just for show. The over-all quality was mediocre besides the exception of the students’ humor which made it quite enjoyable to watch. The movie doesn’t show consistency and the ending was too rushed. It would have been better if they had more in-depth talks about certain topics in discussion so we could understand what the characters are trying to say. I would gladly recommend this movie for the fans of Michelle Pffeifer and for those who are inquisitive about how the film turned out.  

The film in totality has an interesting plot, but that’s just for show. The over-all quality was mediocre besides the exception of the students’ humor which made it quite enjoyable to watch. The moviedoesn’t show consistency and the ending was too rushed. It would have been better if they had more in-depth talks about certain topics in discussion so wecould understand what the characters are trying to say. I would gladly recommend this movie for the fans of Michelle Pffeifer and for those who are inquisitive about how the film turned out.

Posted in Uncategorized

BLACKPINK announces the first half of their tour!

Recently, the K-pop sensation BLACKPINK released their first tour dates mostly in Asia, but perhaps might unexpectedly hold concerts in some parts of the US where the fanbase is quite large.

The thought of BLACKPINK coming to the Philippines for a concert is pure joy! I have already prepared my hammerbong and I’m ready to go all out! Christmas is truly the perfect season to save up some money for the ticket and the flight. But don’t worry for those who couldn’t attend, BLACKPINK might be releasing their full album soon, after the solos of Rose, Lisa and Jisoo!

Posted in anime

‘Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai’ New School Rom-Com for Fall 2018

So apparently I wanted to make a review of this new anime I have watched, and I have to be honest because these are one of the many anime I refused to watch due to the series’ cover. But boy, was I wrong. This anime is the gem of the season. I hope I don’t sound too overdramatic but as far as the plot goes, each episode is filled with context. I haven’t finished watching it, but I assure you, you got to check this anime out. 

Puberty syndrome – abnormal experiences rumored on the internet to be caused by sensitivity and instability during adolescence.
This year, Sakuta Azusagawa, a second-year student at a high school near Enoshima, meets several girls that are experiencing this “puberty syndrome.” For instance, he meets a wild bunny girl in the library. She turns out to be an actress on hiatus, Mai Sakurajima, who is also his senior at the school. For some reason, no one else can see this enchanting girl. How did she become invisible…? As Sakuta searches for answers to help Mai, they spend more time together, and he eventually learns of her hidden feelings…

This is an unusual story that takes place in a town of bright skies and glistening seas, where Sakuta encounters various intriguing girls.

Don’t get me wrong, these two are probably one of the most wholesome characters you will encounter in the series. Sakuta brings life to the series with his x-rated jokes and their relationship has to be one of the realest yet.

Posted in Uncategorized

Extra-terrestrials

As I eventually sunk in the deep parts of the web, I came across a picture of some so-called alien life… well that brings back memories. When I was in my 2nd year of high school, I remember being so into aliens and other extra-terrestrial life. I remember them being mysterious and powerful, and that made me interested in their grandeur and the enigma behind those creatures. space-wallpaper-16

Buzz Aldrin once said,

“There may be aliens in our Milky Way galaxy, and there are billions of other galaxies. The probability is almost certain that there is life somewhere in space.”

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There isn’t any certainty as to what the creature truly looks like, yet that’s what it makes it more interesting. This mystery surrounding them makes us want to know more, dig deeper and spend thousands just to find the smallest piece of evidence to make us believe in their existence. That my friends, is the first thought I thought of today.