Iru's Anime Reviews & Co

Pandora Hearts

iruvienne — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:19:37 +0000

Genre: Action – Adventure – Comedy – Drama – Fantasy – Historical – Mystery – Psychological – Supernatural

Length: 25 episodes

Year: 2009

Studio: Xebec

Director: Kato Takao

Script/Writer: Sekijima Mayori

Character Design: Kobayashi Chizuru, Yamaoka Shinichi

Music: Kajiura Yuki

Animation: (…) Kobayashi Chizuru, Yamaoka Shinichi, Hori Taeko (…)

Licensed by: NIS America

Site: TBS

Based on: Pandora Hearts manga – June 2006 (ongoing) – Author: Mochizuki Jun Illustrator: Mochizuki Jun – serialization: GFantasy

Characters: Oz Vessalius (Minagawa Junko), Gilbert/”Raven” Nightray (Sakamoto Azuma/Toriumi Kousuke), Alice “B-Rabbit” (Kawasumi Ayako), Xerxes Break (Ishida Akira), Sharon Rainsworth (Hanazawa Kana), Oscar Vessalius (Umezu Hideyuki), Ada Vessalius (Fukuhara Kaori), Jack Vessalius (Ono Daisuke), Zai Vessalius (Ohkawa Toru), Vincent Nightray (Oura Fuyuka-young/Fukuyama Jun-adult), Echo (Hirohashi Ryou), Elliot Nightray (Nojima Hirofumi), Leo/Reo (Watanabe Akeno), Cheshire Cat (Yamaguchi Kappei), Rufus Barma (Uchida Yuya), Liam/Reim Lunettes (Suwabe Junichi), Glen Baskerville (Taniyama Kishou), Charlotte “Lotti” (Toyoguchi Megumi), Zwei (Hirohashi Ryou), Fang (Kondou Takayuki), Doug (Shirokuma Hiroshi), Rabbit (Yuzuki Ryoka), Mrs. Kate (Hisakawa Aya), Phillip West (Higa Kumiko), Phillip’s father (Okiayu Ryotaro), Flower Vendor Girl (Nazuka Kaori).

Synopsis: Oz Vessalius is the heir of one of the four dukedoms: Vessalius, Nightray, Rainsworth and Barma. Oz, his little sister and the family servant, Gilbert, have fun at the mansion where they arrived earlier, the place where Oz’s coming-of-age ceremony is going to be held. As the youth prepares to continue with the mansion’s investigation, Oscar, Oz’s uncle warns Oz he better not to mess up the party or he would call out the Emissary of the “Abyss”, an emissary that will snatch those who committed heinous crimes and take them to a terrifying place where they are said to never come back from. Oz chuckles and replies that those threats no longer work on him.

Outside, the group finds a hidden garden and a grave, but the name is too faded to read. On the cross a clock is hung. As Oz reaches the clock, a mysterious feeling invades him and in a blink of an eye he finds himself in a room filled with creepy dolls that welcome his arrival and a young girl appears also welcoming his return. However, when Oz, confused, asks her who is she, the girl wickedly says “I’m you” and tries to kill him. Oz returns to himself and calms Gilbert and his little sister worries over the momentary lack of consciousness.

At this point of the coming-of-age ceremony, Oz sighs with relief with its imminent end. But as he swears an oath at the silent clock tower, the clock moves. Oz attack by a mysterious group in black cloaks, who also controlled Gilbert, who grabs Oz while the Baskerville make a kind of ritual. However they are repelled by him and the mysterious girl from Oz’s dream appears and transforms into Bloody Black Rabbit, or B-Rabbit, claiming that Oz is her key and that she will fight them. She is begoned by one of the group members and Oz consciousness too is engulfed in darkness.

Lost in the “Abyss” he is helped by Alice but when Oz thanks her for saving him again, Alice gives him a puzzled look since she says it’s the first time they meet. As they chat, Alice confesses Oz that her wish is to get out of the “Abyss” and persuades Oz to make a “contract” with her that will enable her power enough to be capable of making an exit in the “way”, a distortion between the two worlds. Eventually, Oz makes the contract and Alice takes control of his body and fulfills her words.

Oz wakes up at a strange bedroom and discovers later that he is at Pandora’s headquarters, an organisation formed by the 4 dukedoms that focus in research concerning the Abyss, where he encounters Sharon Rainsworth and Xerxes Break from the Rainsworth dukedom and Raven from Nightray. After Xerxes having expelled Alice from Oz’s body and learning about her wish of recover her memories, the group invites them to join.

Now members, Oz and Alice, along with the others, depart in search of memories and answers lurking in the darkness.

Openings:

Parallel Hearts – FictionJunction [HQ]

Endings:

1. Maze – savage genius [HQ]
2. Watashi wo Mitsukete – savage genius [HQ]

Notes: The anime follows the manga, even though some very minor changes were done, which I presume solely with the purpose of enhancing.
[Iru Edit: Bugger, I forgot of historical genre in the header... not that it would fit though...all good, it's the most obvious genre after all. Still tagged.]

Appreciation: This review will be majorly considering the anime as I haven’t keep up with the manga.

The first thing I wanna say is: I’ve missed a show like this. I’ve come in contact with the manga first, so when it was adapted to anime I was curious about it. However, when I started watching the first episode there was something about the character design which kept bugging me, and, for another than this reason, I didn’t finish the episode (sweatdrop). After some absence of contact with Pandora Hearts, I was remembered of the anime adaptation again and decided to give it a go. My aversion was gone and my curiosity gained.

The primary thing you should know about Pandora Hearts is that it uses an unraveling system as plot development. The story is a bit complex, but I actually never had a hard time following it (one thing I noticed is that they recapitulate things or give you info at some point of the ep. in the anime), and the comedy is very welcomed. From this peculiar psychological-thriller manga, the development was surprisingly smooth and easily understood.

I really like the plot and how the characters are presented and developed in Pandora Hearts and gladly the anime adaptation didn’t disappoint it. This was especially aided by the voice acting; I must say the seiyuu befitted the characters very well and brought the character’s personality out. An initial exception to this was Break (I have no idea why but Jun Fukuyama for Grell is at fault). He sounded a bit too melancholic, but that was a character’s personality trait flaw from me, which I couldn’t grasp before the plot’s development, and so, the exception disappeared.

As I mentioned above, the character’s design is overall very good (lame chains aside), though there were some minor things that fortunately were subtly worked on (I found the hair’s shading interesting). The animation was also good, however, I think some parts could have been enhanced to give the anime more of the thriller that you see in the manga. That’s where majorly lies my dissatisfaction.
The anime leaves too many things left to explain so hopefully a 2nd season will be created, otherwise it would be a shame.

If you fancy riddling plots and will of good-will advance when things get «curiouser and curiouser», you’ll have a good time watching the historical setting and mysterious plot of Pandora Hearts.

Rate: Very Good

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…Seishunchuu!

iruvienne — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:18:52 +0000

Presenting one surprising shoujo finding I recently made.

aka: …青春中！

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Life.

Author: Kurihara Mamoru

Illustrator: Kurihara Mamoru

Year: 1998 (2 vol. ongoing/dropped?)

Serialized in: Dessert

Licensed by: -

Site: -

Read Online: Mangafox

Notes: It has 2 volumes but seems the last one was dropped by the scanlation group.

Summary: Terada Kiriko has always admired her beautiful older sister, Eiko. Going to S Private High School, she decided to become the top student, just like her sister. But, in the opening ceremony, Kiriko discovers Eiko will be teaching in there and ends up already labelled as the teacher’s younger sister.
Tired of always being outshadowed in spite of her efforts, Kiriko decides to no longer aspire being like her sister and cuts her hair.

She continues her school life being herself, with her new friend Ketsuka and her stalker Takeshi, what does the future hold?

×××

I was searching for something new to read and I accidently clicked this title: I’m glad I did so. Definitely one of the most positive shoujo findings I discovered while iddling in a while. I was quite surprised I haven’t heard of it before… I guess being from the last millenium and 2 volumes far doesn’t help much but, even so, it’s hard to get info (went searching).

The thing I liked the most was how this manga combined an expected shoujo plot with a shounen-oriented comedy, mostly visual. This makes the averageness lift up a bit but it’s still the human character’s personality which naturally motivates the reading.

A good shoujo for a fast read, that breaks from clichés. Not brilliant, but certainly under-rated.

Reasons to read it:

younger sister breakthrough plot;
realistic protagonist;
warm characters;
attractive shoujo-seriousness/slapstick shonen-comedy dual art style;
good-hearted sex fiend virgin after protagonist.

Previews (None atm):

MATSUZUKI Kou

iruvienne — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:50:39 +0000

Finally, bringing you info about one mangaka that never fails to amuse me.

Name: 松月滉

Gender: Female

Birth Date&Place: October 3, – in Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Blood Type: A

Height: 169cm

Official site: N/A

Works:

Mangas:
- Ahiru Kakumei (Comedy, Shoujo – 2004 oneshot)
- Aisatsu no Tobira (Shoujo -2001 oneshot)
- Gokujou Sweet (Shoujo – 2003 oneshot)
- Happy Honey (Shoujo – 2003 oneshot)
- Orenji Tenshi (Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural – 2009 oneshot)
- Ouji to Majou to Himegimi to (Comedy, Fantasy, Gender Bender, Harem, Romance, School Life, Shoujo – 2009)
- Ramune Bannouyaku (Shoujo – 2004 oneshot)
- Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume (Comedy, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life – 2004)
- Suitei Seinen Shoujo (2001 oneshot debut)

Notes: Info taken from Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume, Matsuzuki’s Encyclopedia.
Features – natural perm, whole body is covered with thick fat, easily moved to tears, when told something harsh depressed forever, shadow below her eyes is spreading to the eyelids, not many friends, only the eyesight is good.
Family – father, mother, one elder sister and 2 younger ones (one in heaven).
Personality – gutless/coward, chicken bastard, grows when praised, opens up to people who are kind to her, extreme in-door type, extremely shy in front of strangers, dreads the call from the editor.
Favourite phrase – Mendoukusai (How annoying, ref. to things, only, you have to do).
|S.K.S. volume 2| Updated 23/02
You may already know this, but I’m really bad at colouring. I’ve hated coloring since elementary school, [it] was so sloopy that I was sometimes asked to do it over.
|S.K.S. volume 4|
Things I like to do: to play games; to read mangas; to space out.
Things I like: pear, fish eggs, any meat except the liver; tea; Studio Ghibli works (Miyazaki Producer).
Artists I like: Orange Range; Pornografitti; Mr. Children; Bump of Chicken.
Things I dislike: spiders, cockroaches, bugs in general; to live alone; english tea in general; plum; hot food and drinks; house-cleaning in general; study, exercise; naming (here: manga)

Great Effort Award in 303rd Hana to Yume Mangaka Course (HMC) for her work, Aisatsu no Tobira.

xxx

Appreciation: Must say, this mangaka’s good humour turned me into a loyal fan. I think Matsuzuki Kou is an example of «quality does not equal quantity». Her work, art and plot, are not brilliant but outstand because she puts her heart into it. And I think causing such effect with such simple things is commendable.

The thing I like the most about her is her charismatic ability. Her style makes smiles and/or lols come out often and naturally, enhancing the smooth story lines.
It’s a shame, I can’t keep track of her oneshots, but I’m looking forward to Ouji to Majou to Himegimi to and am truly thankful for Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume.

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Death Note – Volume 1 Review

iruvienne — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:18:45 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

Click here for the manga synopsis with series’ info. This article will feature a summary of each volume chapter and appreciation in the bottom. It will obviously contain spoilers. The japanese manga cover was taken from the DeathGod, a Death Note fansite.

VOLUME 1 – Boredom

CHAPTER 1 – Boredom

We see both Ryuk, a shinigami, and Light, a prodigy student, bored. Ryuk decides to drop his Death Note into the human world and Light happens to be the one who catches it, incredulous of the notebook’s claimed power as the instructions say «The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die».
Light is surprised five days later by no other than the Shinigami. This time for the Shinigami’s surprise, the notebook is already filled with a fair amount of names. Ryuk explains a scared Light he won’t do nothing to him besides being by his side; the notebook belongs him now. Light is apprehensive of the fact of being no price for using the notebook and Ryuk replies with the torment of killing people and adds, even though he will be the one to write Light’s name in the notebook, he won’t be able to go to Heaven or Hell.
Light questions why was he chosen and Ryuk reveals him the truth, he did it randomly and because he was bored. To this, Light confesses the shinigami he felt the same way.

Afterwards, we have an analepsis back to the moment we were left before the flashforward to the shinigami’s appearance. In this flashback we see how Light got aware of the notebook’s power by testing its power in a kidnapper and molester, how he realized he had killed them and struggles, confused between moral and justice ideals. He ends up convincing himself his actions were righteous and after all the world is better without them. It isn’t easy, but the world needs to be cleaned up and he is the (only) man to do it.

We go back again, and Light talks about his grandiose plans to the entertained shinigami. However, seems his plans won’t go so smoothly; the police is also exalted, and L is particularly interested in this case.

HOW TO USE IT I

The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name it will happen.
If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

CHAPTER 2 – L

A quick 2 pages intro and we’re off again to the Interpol meeting where a heated discussion is taking place. A man with moustache gives his opinion in having L, the worldwide famous detective as he explains to his subordinate, in the case. But Watari, L’s spokesman whose identity also remains unknown, reveals us he’s already in it and positions a laptop from where L will speak. L states his opinion about the mass murdurer and requests the cooperation of the police worldwide in order to solve it.

Meanwhile, Light is arriving from school with two colleagues who discuss the recent uprising of criminals’ death. Light, although laughing, joins the fun by atoning the frivolity with an observation but after answers Ryuk he’s not enjoying it at all since he is constantly agitated with keeping the notebook at home.
In his room, Light shows Ryuk the proliferation of websites about «Kira», the saviour and a messenger from Hell who will pass righteous judgement. Despite disliking the name, Light’s eyes sparkle with his new status within the society and he tells Ryuk people have to be hypocrite in public but truthfully that was what they thought. With his actions supported and guilty people in fear, Light couldn’t be more pleased.

However, his attention is caught when a TV program his interrupted. A man, labeled as Lind L. Taylor, announces he’s bringing a worldwide broadcast from Interpol and introduces himself as the great detective L leaving Light perplexed aswell as the people from the Special Investigation Headquarters for Criminal Victim Mass Murder Case, where we see our moustache. There’s once more analepsis and we go back to the police meeting where L states support from the japanese police will be helpful since the criminal is japanese or atleast in Japan, saying he’ll show them soon in a direct confrontation with the murderer. People in the HQ are puzzled with this.
Back to the announcement, L states the mass murder of criminals as vicious and assures Kira will be caught. Light laughs at this but darkens at hearing L saying his actions are evil and gives another speech. Light writes his name and cracks up when the man’s head hits the table.

However, this was only an experiment done with a undivulged criminal as the real L informs, appearing in the screen with his characteristic letter. He provokes Kira to kill him, which Light obviously cannot, as L states. He informs he discovered Kira’s location (Japan) by revealing the crescendo process they were doing, not worldwide as announced, and also Kira’s first kill. War is declared by both and Ryuk is eager to see this match until the end.

HOW TO USE IT II

This note shall become the property of the human world, once it touches the ground of (arrives in) the human world.
The owner of the note can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, i.e a god of death.
The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell.

CHAPTER 3 – Family

This chapter starts in the shinigami realm, where several of them wonder about the whereabouts of Ryuuk and rumours say it has 2 notebooks… Back at the human’s world, Light is chilling at the window. Kira needs a rest of all the media uproar «Kira vs. L», as he tells Ryuk. The shinigami alerts him the police is all over him and Light replies he was conscious of that or wouldn’t have taken the decision he did and he holds an advantage. Before Ryuk knows what it is, Light attention is taken when his little sister asks him help with her homework, and he isn’t very happy when the shinigami tells him he will be visible to her if she touches the notebook. Ryuk meditates if becoming the chief in NPA, which Light had replied to Sayu saying he was looking at the Kira’s articles and not dirty things as she mentioned to justify the closed door, is Light’s advantage.

Meanwhile, on the other side, L also meditates about the reason Kira couldn’t kill him but he is interrupted by Watari announcing the meeting of the taskforce. At the headquarters the police make their reports. With them finished, L requests more detailed information about how the criminals were reported publicly. Afterwards, the taskforce chief heads home, without being interrupted first by Matsuda’s pertinency doubts, and Light greets his dad that arrived, after explaning math to Sayu. They chat at dinner and Light’s father mentions the person in charge suspects Kira to be a student estimated in the time of death. The wife is not very pleased by bringing the topic while having dinner, the husband disagrees as Light helped in various cases. Light remind once more his mom for not to clean his room, as he has been doing since highschool, before leaving.
In Light’s room, Ryuk comments the police’s progress but Light smiles, telling him he was acting so deliberately so he could use the notebook in another way, and tells Ryuk he would enjoy what was going to happen next.

Three days later, the taskforce is perplexed with the drastic change of patterns, which L points out that it’s to show Kira can set the time as he pleases and learns of Kira’s tie with the police by the provocative use of undivulged information.
At an abandoned building, Ryuk is already aware of it. However, Light confesses he’s not very relaxed at all. Since Ryuk told him he as been carrying the notebook, but, even though an excuse can be made for the notebook, Kira may have to kill his own family.

HOW TO USE IT III

If the time of death is written within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated, and the time can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name.
The human who touches the DEATH NOTE can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, a god of death, even if the human is not the owner of the note.
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name it will happen.
If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

CHAPTER 4 – Current

At the site, Ryuk questions Light, who lies on the floor with some items, about the place and he mentions again the fact of the shinigami’s visibility to the one who touches the notebook and lights fire.
On the next page, L is practicing yoga while analysing and questioning Kira’s behaviour with his change of patterns and by exposing his connection with the police. He then orders Watari to get in contact with the director of FBI without the police knowing.

In the mean time, Light goes shopping some materials to hide the notebook in his room and comments about L suspecting people involved in the investigation at that point, who will have to either get a confession or get the notebook to arrest him, so as he’s doing it he may also do it well. Intrigued with his pleased look, Ryuuk questions Light about his deliberate exposure when it was his advantage. Light replies to the shinigami he wants to find and eliminate L and he won’t be able if he only hides the notebook. Light explains Ryuk his action’s consequences will lead L to investigate NPA and NPA disbelief of L’s ghost identity. To overcome the distrust, if they are working together, Light doesn’t need to worry as the police will take care of finding L. At the headquarters of the taskforce, 3 members hand a letter of resignation leaving the team in ruckus and L not so concerned.
At his room, Light explains Ryuk how the way he strategically hid the notebook in his drawer, using a false bottom in his locked drawer and putting a circuit with a rubber between and gasoline, which the only way to open is by putting an ink cartridge through a hole in the bottom of the drawer or else it will catch fire. The shinigami compliments him for getting rid of the notebook owner’s top headache, though comments the danger of playing with fire to which Light replies he has been doing from the start and it was thanks to them that he is safer.

At the FBI headquarters, L manages to get the director conduct the top-secret NPA search.

HOW TO USE IT IV

The person in possession of the DEATH NOTE is possessed by a god of death, its original owner, until they die.
If a human uses the note, a god of death usually appears in front of him/her within 39 days after he/she uses the note.
Gods of death, the original owners of the DEATH NOTE, do not do, in principle, anything which will help or prevent the deaths in the note.
A god of death has no obligation to completely explain how to use the note or rules which will apply to the human who owns it.

CHAPTER 5 – Eyeballs

L receives the requested documents and as he looks to Light Yagami he is certain he is Kira.

Christmas is in the air and Light Yagami attends to the Prep Academy. As he is leaving and making his way home, Ryuk asks for his attention and Light consents, curious about the shinigami’s eagerness. After Ryuk gives Light no news, telling him about not being an ally and not commenting the rightfulness of his actions, the shinigami , as roomate, delates he is being bothered by a guy who has been following Light. Light agrees, saying he’ll get rid of the guy for him and goes to his room, analysing throughly the situation he’s in. Before finding a way to know his name without raising suspicions and discover who L is using, Light is interrupted by Ryuk that brings more info about the notebook. Ryuk states that the first big difference between a human and shinigami with a Death Note is that shinigami use it in order to get extra life from the remaining life a human has. Unless they are lazy, they won’t die, but Ryuk says a way to kill a shinigami does exist, even though he doesn’t know. He comments shinigami are indifferent to humans and those days shinigami’s existence was meaningless, which Light denies with a megalomaniac spirit.

With Light visibly interested, Ryuk continues. The shinigami questions the now uptight Light how they, who chose radomly, know the human’s name. The biggest difference between human and shinigami who possess the notebook is Shinigami’s eyes can see a human’s name and lifespan over his head.
However, a deal can be made between the shinigami and the human who holds the notebook: the shinigami’s eyes for that human’s remaining life time. Obviously Ryuk won’t tell him which it is but he says the contract was made to aid the human owners, he can increase his lifespan with anyone after all. Light ponders with a smug smile.

HOW TO USE IT V

A god of death can extend his life by putting human names on the note, but humans cannot.
A person can shorten his or her own life by using the note.
The human who becomes the owner of the DEATH NOTE can, in exchange of half of his/her remaining life, get the eyeballs of the god of death which will enable him/her to see a human’s name and remaining lifetime when looking through them.
A god of death cannot be killed even if stabbed in his heart or shot in his head with a gun. however, there are ways to kill a god of death, which are not generally known to the gods of death.

CHAPTER 6 – Manipulation

Light’s smug smile still lingers. However, a moment after, Light refuses the deal and explains he is creating a utopia which he is planning to rule for a long time and such contract is obviously out of the question. Ryuk tells him he wanted to carry on with it so he won’t have to hear complaints about not knowing later, only to end up scolded by Light. When the shinigami confirms it’s all, Light is a bit disappointed, saying with enthusiasm he might had considered it seriously if it were wings, only to be brilliantly turned down with Ryuk’s observation of being caught if seen. Light says he was merely joking, but adds it would still be interesting to do such deals and be a shinigami himself. Ryuk assures he’s already a fine one, which visibly angers Light, who dispatches such idea, saying he is using the notebook as a human for humans. Suddenly he discovers a way to find out the identity of his spy. Light starts the computer, check the hours and gives a smile. He answers Ryuk, telling him he’s going to test out how far he can manipulate deaths with a reserved stock of criminals for such occasions and is decided in taking advantaged while he is in the shadows.

At the taskforce’s headquarters, chief Yagami is surprised when, on the other side of the line, they tell him 3 victims of Kira done something utterly bizarre before dying: one cut his finger and drew a circle with a 5 pointed start within, another left a suicide note and the other managed to get away from prison and die in a public toilet 30 meters from it. Watari reports it to L, who immediately suspects of Kira being able to control the victim’s actions too. He asks the taskforce to hide the circumstances from the media and wonders what’s Light’s aim with using them as guinea pigs.

Meanwhile, Light and his hacker skills enter in his dad’s computer, with the expected results confirmed. Light tells them to Ryuk and reveals he also tested another 3 in which he deliberately wrote impossible details, such as dying in the other side of the globe in 30 minutes, drawing a perfect portrait of L’s face in the prison wall and writing «I know L suspects the japanese police». With the important info of actions who aren’t unnatural to the person will take effect, Light stills carries out another test he says it will be the decisive, in which neither the police nor L will be able to grasp his intentions as they are too busy figuring out the meaningless photo and note.
L reflects upon the happening, with a reasoning similar to Light’s, and while he analyzes the hypothesis of Kira’s using the deaths not to tests, L seems to discover something on the note.

Early, in saturday morning, Light returns to the room with the newspaper and the result he expected. It is, however, time for the real action. He picks up a criminal, the phone and whoever answers. Indeed, Ryuk, Light’s a popular chap.

HOW TO USE IT VI

The conditions for death will not be realized unless it is physically possible for that human or it is reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human.
The specific scope of the condition for death is not know to the gods of death, either. So, you must examine and find out.

CHAPTER 7 – Target

At the bus station, a girl waves enthusiastically at Light. Ryuk’s intrigued about the date and, as the shinigami didn’t want to spoil the fun, Light tells him to simply watch and enjoy. The girl seems happy about going to the spaceland, Light not particularly excited. While Light talks about scoring #1 nationwide in the practice exams, his private stalker takes the bait and decides it will be the last day. They enter the bus and on the next stop the criminal enters and hijacks the bus.

As the hijacker contacts the spaceland, Light shows a note to Yuri (his date), saying he’ll try to take away the gun and control the guy, to which the FBI agent volunteers. Light writes another note, crumples and hides it in his pocket. After, he questions his accents, and the agent confesses he’s half american, half japanese. Next, Light asks if he has something that will prove he’s not the hijacker’s accomplice, it’s pretty common to have one on the back to secure, as he tells his date, and Raye Penber shows his ID case to Light. Light returns it and says he’ll leave it to him, though Raye will just use his gun as last resort. Light seems confident and the scrumbled note falls out of his pocket. The hijacker picks it up and Raye is ready to pull out his gun, however, the note is not the same he saw before. Light smirks and as the criminal turns around he yells not at the tense agent but at the shinigami. While the passengers get down and the hijacker shoots ineffectively at him, Ryuk understands Light’s trick and praises his perspicacity. Out of bullets, the criminal orders the driver to stop, falls in his rush and is struck by a vehicle. Light checks his watch: right on time.

HOW TO USE IT VII

One page taken for the DEATH NOTE, or even a fragment of the page, contains the full effects of the note.
The instruments to write can be anything, (e.g. cosmetics, blood, etc) as long as it can write directly onto the note and remains as legible letters.
Even the original owner of the DEATH NOTE, gods of death, do not know much about the note.

×××

Appreciation: Phew, at last, done. I wasn’t planning to write as detailed as I did, but I’m satisfied with it. So, let’s start. From the first volume, Death Note is engaging. Actually, from the very beginning, when a supernatural notebook is picked up by a prodigy. It gets even more when the protagonist decides to use it to build a utopia but it scales fully when L appears.
The volume is very nice paced and the reader looks forward to see more of the sly fox’s tricks and how the dodges his enemies. Another thing that’s good about Death Note is that it’s a manga you can be expectant of from the way it raises standards in the first volume, it wouldn’t make sense otherwise, and this will make one gladly follow it.

The art is another important point and I don’t think it could be better. The design is delightful, I’m glad there was a slight change on it starting in page 38 (Light had a too childish face), detailed (backgrounds weren’t neglected) and excellently balanced expressions. Thumbs up for Takeshi Obata.
I like the goofiness about Ryuk’s face that contrasts with Light; It’s good to see some comical relief as Light scolding Ryuk and the shinigami commenting when Light’s megalomania shows up:

- If you sprouted your wings and started flying around, people would notice you… the cops would catch you just for that…
- I was only joking, Ryuk. (you big fat liar)

Death Note has, without a doubt, a good kick off.

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CardCaptor Sakura

iruvienne — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:18:58 +0000

"It will be ok. Definitely."

Genre: Action – Adventure – Comedy – Fantasy – Romance – Supernatural

Length: 70 episodes

Year: 1998

Studio: Madhouse

Director: Asaka Morio

Script/Writer: Ohkawa Nanase

Character Design: Takahashi Kumiko

Music: Negishi Takayuki

Animation: (…) Fujita Mariko, Koga Makoto, Kimizuka Katsunori (…)

Licensed by: Geneon Entertainment

Site: NHK

Based on: Cardcaptor Sakura manga 12 vols. – May 1995 to July 2000 – Author: CLAMP Illustrator: CLAMP – serialization: Nakayoshi

Characters: Kinomoto Sakura (Tange Sakura), Daidouji Tomoyo (Iwao Junko), Li Syaoran (Kumai Motoko), Kinomoto Touya (Seki Tomokazu), Kinomoto Fujitaka (Tanaka Hideyuki), Kinomoto Nadeshiko (Minaguchi Yuko), Kerberos (Hisakawa Aya-mini/Onozaka Masaya-big), Yue (Ogata Megumi), Yukito (Ogata Megumi), Hiiragizawa Eriol (Sasaki Nozomu), Clow Read (Hayashi Kazuo), Akizuki Nakuru (Yuzuki Ryoka), Ruby Moon (Yuzuki Ryoka), Spinel Sun (Touma Yumi-mini/Konishi Katsuyuki-big), Sasaki Rika (Kawakami Tomoko), Yanagisawa Naoko (Motoi Emi), Mihara Chiharu (Matsumoto Miwa), Yamazaki Takashi (Miyazaki Issei), Li Meiling (Nogami Yukana), Mizuki Kaho (Shinobara Emi), Terada Yoshiyuki (Tohru Furusawa), Kimura Yukie (Saeki Tomo), Matsumoto Maki (Mitsuishi Kotono), Sonomi Daidouji (Itou Miki) and Wang Wei (Kiyokawa Motomu).

Synopsis: Clow cards. When unleashed, they will bring chaos to the world. They are special cards created by a magician named Clow Reed. Each one is alive and has its own special powers. They do as they please, and on top of that, ordinary people can’t control them. That was what the plushie-like winged orange mouse Kerberos told Sakura Kinomoto when she freed them and him when she opened a strange book she had picked up in the basement.

Now Sakura is in charge of catching them?! Will it go smoothly… or will more serious problems lay ahead? In the world of magic, expect the unexpected.

Openings:

1. Catch You Catch Me – Gumi (eps 1-35)
2. Tobira wo Akete – ANZA (eps 36-46)
3. Platinum – Maaya Sakamoto (eps 47-70)

Endings:

1. Groovy! – Koumi Hirose (eps 1-35) [HQ]
2. Honey – Chihiro (eps 36-46)
3. Fruits Candy – Megumi Kojima (eps 47-69)
4. Platinum” by Maaya Sakamoto (ep 70)

Appreciation: This review will be solely considering the anime.
The epitome of shoujo, Card Captor Sakura will be the eternal mahou shoujo of my memories and I really love CLAMP for this work.

The best thing about CCS is most likely the fantastic plot, which is certainly more than catching cards. It has a bit of it all, comedy, fantasy, action, some drama too. And the harmony of these elements that makes it a smooth and engaging watch is a proof of being well-made. The characters get your sympathy easily and I think there’s not one I didn’t like in this series (Sakura is an adorable protagonist). This series is suitable for kids, nonetheless adults are able to enjoy it too, in a deeper, clearer way.

Concerning graphics, it’s not top-notch obviously, but the animation is fluid, boosted by the sound effects and ambience (which I personally fancy a lot), and the character design is adorable. I really can’t comment about the seiyuus since I watched it dubbed (I better not comment that) but I’ve checked some episodes and I have no complaints so far.

The only cons I may point out besides the one I mentioned above is the fact of being a long series, it doesn’t make it perfect to rewatch, and of course despising the fact that you know episodes will always end up with Clow card’s capture.

A classic shoujo must watch if you don’t mind 70 episodes of magic and cosplay/designed outfits. I recommend watching in Japanese because I read in the Cardcaptors version they censor?! alter some things as, for example, the relationship between the infamous Yamazaki and Chihiru is a cousins one instead and other things (people who know the story, you have an idea what else will be changed), and that’s not fun at all is it. Go for subbed in this one.

Rate: Excellent

« Back to Synopsis

Repercussion

iruvienne — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:59:46 +0000

Target online manga. Attack in motion.

Yup, it’s with unsettlement that we see this in Onemanga:

“There is an end to everything, to good things as well.”

It pains me to announce that this is the last week of manga reading on One Manga (!!). Manga publishers have recently changed their stance on manga scanlations and made it clear that they no longer approve of it. We have decided to abide by their wishes, and remove all manga content (regardless of licensing status) from the site. The removal of content will happen gradually (so you can at least finish some of the outstanding reading you have), but we expect all content to be gone by early next week (RIP OM July 2010).

So what next? We’re not really sure at this point, but we have some ideas we would like to try out. Until then, the One Manga forums will remain active and we encourage all of you to continue using them. OMF has developed into a great community and it would be a shame to see that disappear.

You can also show us some love in this moment of sadness by ‘liking’ our brand new Facebook page. It would be nice to see just how many of you came to enjoy our ‘better than peanut butter and jelly’ invention.

Regardless of whether you stay with us or not, on behalf of the One Manga team, I would like to thank you all for your unwavering support over the years. Through the ups and downs you have stuck with us, and that is what kept us going.

As a certain Porky was fond of saying… That’s all folks!

Time for me to go lay down and let this all sink in.

- Zabi

I can say that I’m feeling rather uncomfortable with this, but I’m more upset by the fact they are destroying something of importance in the worldwide manga nowadays, the online community. Even though it won’t cease, it’s always difficult to see a part of it being disgraced, people’s good will forsaken. I start to dare to wonder if freedom is a sin.
Anyway, I’m not really fond of where, especially how this is going but enough QQ, I won’t discuss it any further, my opinion can be found here. Let us hope all publishers adopt and put efforts in online manga (as Tokyopop did *thumb up*).

But let’s get updated with some news shall we?

Ouji to Majou to Himegimi to is Matsuzuki Kou’s, creator of Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume (aka Happy Cafe), new series. The first volume has been released in July 16th and managed to top 25 in Oricon’s 3rd week (12-18) of July chart. The project is labeled as Active in Intercross’s scanlation group website (yay). Read online here (jap preview), page here.
Squeal away because Supernatural is getting an anime adaptation. The website announced the premiere in January 2001 and the protagonist’s character sheets have been spread in this LJ community. Official anime website here.
The third DVD of Kuroshitsuji II, scheduled to be released in 2010/11/24, will contain an OVA besides the 4th TV episode called “Welcome to the Phantomhive Family”, which will be seen from the viewer’s perspective, similar to romance visual novels.
Another already announced OVA called “Ciel in Wonderland (part 1)”, also contained in the second DVD of the series which is scheduled to be released in 2010/10/27, is going to feature the series characters in a recreation of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland:

[...] Ciel (as Alice) is bored reading a report in his room one day when he spies his butler Sebastian wearing rabbit ears. Ciel follows The White Rabbit (who is muttering “I’m late, I’m late”) down a hole into Wonderland. The rest of the cast appears as The Mouse (Elizabeth), The Dodo (Paula), The Fish-Footman (Bardroy), The Frog-Footman (Finnian), The Flamingo (Maylene), The Hedgehog (Tanaka), The Mock Turtle (Viscount of Druitt), The Duchess (Soma Asman Kadar), The Cook (Agni), The Cheshire Cat (Grell Sutcliffe), and others. [..]
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-31/black-butler/kuroshitsuji-ii-3rd-dvd-to-add-new-ova

Weekly Shonen Magazine’s 33rd 2010 issue announced the special edition of Air Gear manga will contain an original animation dvd (OAD) called “Air Gear: Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori -Break on the Sky-” and it will feature the Ikki vs. Ringo confront contained in the 16th volume of the manga. However, this OAD’s cast and staff are different from the 2006′s anime version.

Thanks ANN and Anime News.biz for the information.

Skip Beat!

iruvienne — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:11:29 +0000

With the anime review done, it’s time for its origin, the showbiz manga hit. More info incoming:

Aka: スキップ・ビート!

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo.

Author: Nakamura Yoshiki

Illustrator: Nakamura Yoshiki

Year: 2002 (ongoing)

Serialized in: Hana to Yume

Licensed by: Viz Media

Site: Hana to Yume, @Baka-Updates

Read Online: Onemanga, Mangahelpers, Manga2u

Notes: 2008 anime adaptation

Summary: Kyouko is a cheerful and lively 16-year-old girl living in Tokyo, as proposed by her childhood love with whom she is living, Shotaro, who didn’t want to take over the family’s inn and so suggested Kyouko to move to Tokyo, in pursuit of a career in showbiz. Even though Sho is everything but kind to her, Kyouko self devotes entirely to the likes of the spoiled rising star.

But this relationship is about to change. One day, as Kyouko is bringing him lunch, she overhears him saying that she is a boring and plain girl with no sex appeal that he’d like to get rid of, considering her his maid, and then begins to flirt with his manager, which contrasts with his cold attitude towards Kyouko. Feeling used and betrayed, her “Pandora’s box” opens and the berserk Kyouko vows revenge but before she has the chance to physically punish him, she’s stopped by security. Sho mockingly says she would have to become a bigger star than him for that.
Angered, Kyouko with unstoppable fighting spirit and thirsty for revenge gets a makeover and tries to enter into the rival company L.M.E.
After some overwhelming torment by Kyouko’s amazing skills, she manages to convince the manager Sawara-san to let her enter into a casting and she discovers Ren Tsuruga, Sho’s rival who he hated, also is in L.M.E.

Will Kyouko succeed in her quest for revenge or will someone be able to make her turn her number one motive into her love for acting?

Characters

NEW 15/07/10

Note: The characters info was based on the story and Skip Beat character profiles. Highlight the blank parts to read minor spoilers.

LME

Kyoko Mogami is our fierce protagonist to whom revenge couldn’t be sweeter. Never underestimate the wrath of the betrayed.

Kyouko was despised by her crush and former childhood mate, Sho Fuwa. She was practically raised within Sho Fuwa’s family due to her mother’s coldness, passing most of the time there. She moved to Tokyo with him when he proposed it and lived a life of devotion to her charming prince’s well-being, having several jobs. However, the spoils of the prince soon are over when she overhears his talk with the manager about her, and Kyoko swears him revenge from being ditched.
To become a bigger star in showbiz, she enrolls in LME and manages to get in by using some interesting techniques. Kyoko catches the eye of the president who opens a new section to rise potential stars who are lacking something, Love Me, where she takes part with Kanae Kotonami, her new, first and claimed best girl friend. She also meets Ren Tsuruga, initially hostile but ends up by developing a profound admiration when seeing is true gentleman side, establishing a senpai-kouhai relationship…so far.

Kyouko is an old-school girl. She is modest and humble and has a polite and honest personality. Kyoko seems to have an affinity with dark arts, being able to intensely fire up and being very sharp in detecting evil auras. In spite of this, Kyoko is sorrowful and affected, possessing a very docile character with a great sense of honour, and she always holds the magic stone she was given by Corn, who she calls a fairy who was actually Ren, when in distress. Kyoko is propense to expressive monologues, inner thoughts, and fantasizing. She is enthusiastic, especially when it comes to fairytales and Sho Fuwa. A bike monster rider and, with a very traditional education, able to do all type of domestic shores. Expert in making replic dolls. Even though possessing no experience, Kyoko studies with dedication and follows Ren’s advises to get into and become the character with success, resulting in a great and intense performance.

Japan’s highly popular actor, aka Emperor of the Night.

Ren has a mysterious and enigmatic character. He holds the gentleman persona to the society, but revealed his sarcastic and merciless attitude to the unfooled Kyoko. However, later Ren show us the gentle and kind side of himself when he discovers Kyoko’s previous connection with him, gradually starting to care about her, and we start to understand more about him as we move forward.

Indeed, as the story goes, there are glimpses of the absolute mystery that is Ren’s past in America that leave us hints of something sinister happening and made Ren into a lonewolf, which is known solely by the president.

Ren’s life is dedicated to acting. Ren takes it very seriously and excused is to say he excels brilliantly. He has a very strong presence and composed figure. Ren values honesty and is very prudent, never allowing his emotions and desires to show or letting his guard down, and he only shows (a bit of) his true self to his manager Yashiro, Kyoko and the president, being the first two able to see the wrath behind his shiny smile.
Because of his controlling nature, he hates not knowing things, be it for his pride as professional or due to his hidden affection towards Kyoko, which normally makes him give another fake shiny smile, leaving Kyoko in terror when she doesn’t tell him the truth (often with good intentions). He’s very protective of her, always in alert when it comes to her and he carefully preserves his senpai-kouhai relationship. Beware, Sho Fuwa.

Akatoki Agency

Shotaro Fuwa = taboo.

Sho is a rising singer who came to Tokyo to follow his dream in pursuing a musical career and brought Kyoko with him. He acts cool, but the truth is that Sho has a very self-centered personality. In spite of this, Sho is a talented musician, whose original songs (and looks) attracted many fangirls; he is determined and gives his best at it.
Be it for vanity or for his fans, he does anything to keep his persona and boost his popularity, which includes lying about watching variety shows and hiding his true name.

His relationship with Kyouko is very close, both the previous tyrannical and to the current cat and dog one, but it’s far from being clear. Sho states they are a «perfect couple», who understand each other the best, but also states Kyoko belongs to him and he has the exclusive right to do what he pleases to her. Other evidence, such as Kyoko making him lose all senses when she cries, thinking the fortunate him had the right to console her, lead us to think that Sho is actually a sensible person, and may have feelings for Kyoko that he’s not aware of before and yet. This is supported by his immature, selfish playboy behaviour, which means Sho has truly never been in love.

However, the possessive attitude of the brat won’t go unnoticed by his top rival, Ren Tsuruga.

×××

One thing I was enlightened yet again with this manga is «never judge a book by its cover». The shoujo prejudice is one of the reasons why I don’t like to label with demographics, and even if the shoujo’s paradigm tends to attract the sceptic attitude towards the typical and common model, you mustn’t forget they are all different and exceptions exist. And guess what, you could miss a thing you truly enjoy. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Skip Beat! just might be the case. Afterall, that happened with me.

I watched the anime first, but it is 100% loyal to the manga, even though it doesn’t cover it all (just one season) and I read the summary. I’ve said it in the anime review, I wasn’t very keen on watching it from what I’ve read, so I went to watch something else. But the second time I saw it, I decided to give it a go. And it was a huge surprise, I never expected it to be such a nice watch.
Having a good impression of the anime, I decided to read the manga and it’s just as engaging as the anime. I devoured it easily and got up to date with the scanlations.

Reasons to read it:

showbiz centered story;
charismatic characters;
wicked strong female lead;
unraveling development;
very well detailed art.

A must read shoujo without any doubt.

Previews

Links
Fanlist series – Mogami Kyoko – Tsuruga Ren – Fuwa Sho – Kotonami Kanae – Kyoko & Ren – Kyoko & vs. Sho

« Back to Synopsis

YUKI Kaori

iruvienne — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:24:00 +0000

Putting the spotlight in this (in)famous gothic mangaka. Info from Baka Manga Updates.

Name: 由貴香織里

Gender: Female

Birth Date&Place: December 18, in Tokyo, Japan

Blood Type: B

Official site: Here

Works:

Mangas:
- 0 no Soukoushi (Drama, Mystery, Shoujo – 2004)
- Bloodhound (Comedy, Mystery, Shoujo, Supernatural – 2003)
- Camelot Garden (Fantasy, Gender Bender, Mystery, Psychological, Shoujo, Tragedy – 2008)
- Die (Drama, Horror, Psychological, Romance, Shoujo, Tragedy)
- Fairy Cube (Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural – 2005)
- God Child/GodChild – Count Cain (Drama, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy – 2001)
- Hakushaku Cain Series (Drama, Historical, Horror, Mature, Mystery, Psychological, Shoujo, Tragedy – 1992)
- Iiki no Oni (2010)
- Kaine (Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Shoujo, Shounen Ai – 1998)
- Ludwig Kakumei (Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Harem, Horror, Romance, Shoujo – 2004)
- Meine Liebe (Drama, Harem, Romance, School Life, Shoujo – 2005)
- Neji (Action, Mature, Sci-fi, Shoujo, Supernatural – 1992)
- Ningyou Kyuutei Gakudan (Drama, Gender Bender, Horror, Mystery, Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy – 2008)
- Psycho Knocker (Drama, Horror, School Life, Shoujo, Supernatural -2005)
- Sareki Oukoku (Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy – 1993)
- Shounen Zanzou (Drama, Horror, Mature, Mystery, Psychological, Shoujo, Shounen Ai, Tragedy – 1998)
- Tenshi Kinryouku/Angel Sanctuary (Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Gender Bender, Psychological, Romance, Shoujo, Tragedy – 1995)
- Tenshi Kinryouku Angel Cage/Angel Sanctuary: Angel Cage (Gender Bender, Shoujo – 1997)
- Zankoku na Douwatachi (Drama, Horror, Mystery, Shoujo, Tragedy – 1993)

Doujinshi:
- Prince of Tennis dj – Hime Hajime (Doujinshi, Yaoi)

Notes: Kaori is her real name. She supposedly lives as a hermit with her cat but very little is actually known about her.
In 1987 she became a professional mangaka after participating in one of the many contests Hana to Yume holds.
Her doujinshika name is MoonClock.

xxx

Appreciation: Her gothic style is indeed great. From the character design to the story, everything seems to suit it. I also think she has an effective way of portraying, not only for the art but also for the organisation she gives to them (the works).

What characterizes her works is that they are always macabre: murder, betrayal, revenge, pride, greed, filth, tragedy, supernatural, etc are often depicted in her stories. But there’s someone, the protagonist most certainly, that functions as reference playing the role of just that seeks and exposes the hidden truth. Her plots are mysterious and there’s always something hiding.

An elegant mangaka that makes macabre even more alluring.

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Doubt

iruvienne — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:19:10 +0000

If you like mystery and don’t mind some gore you probably won’t dislike this. Let’s get along with the info:

aka: Rabbit Doubt

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller.

Author: Tonogai Yoshiki

Illustrator: Tonogai Yoshiki

Year: December 2007 to February 2009 (4 vol.)

Serialized in: Shonen GanGan

Licensed by: -

Read Online: Onemanga, Mangahelpers

Notes: There’s another series of the same mangaka with the exact same plot development called Judge and is labelled as sequel.

Summary: Find the wolf. That’s the objective of Rabbit Doubt, a mobile game, wherein the rabbits have to find the disguised wolf among them and kill it. However, if you fail, the wolf will kill the rabbits.

Yuu is waiting for a Rabbit Doubt meeting, but he is surprised by his childhood friend, Mitsuki. The two join the other players who have appeared and they decide to go off for some karaoke. However, next thing they know they are in what seems to be an abandoned building. They soon realise they will be playing Rabbit Doubt… themselves.

Who is the lying wolf ?

×××

A nice put what-you-read-is-what-you-get murder mystery. Maybe that is what makes it a pleasant read. Warning: Doubt is quite mature, mild horror and gore are present, as expected. Just so you are not caught by surprise.

Reasons to read it:

defined ending;
mystery murder;
coercive game plot;
spiral development;
purehearted protagonist.

Recommend if you are looking for a mystery murder that is a fast & easy read.

Previews (Doubt, taken from Onemanga and may contain what I’ve said in the warning above):

« Back to Synopsis

Oresama Teacher

iruvienne — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:05:51 +0000

I present you, this time, with another manga where I bet you’ll just helplessly burst in laughter. But first, let’s get some info:

Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance, School Life.

Author: Tsubaki Izumi

Illustrator: Tsubaki Izumi

Year: 2008 (ongoing)

Serialized in: Hana to Yume

Licensed by: Viz Media

Read Online: Onemanga, Mangahelpers

Notes: Will be release by Viz in March 2011

Summary: Mafuyu Kurosaki, a powerful yankee who got expelled and moved to a new highschool, is determined in being the perfect, girly student example in this brand new given opportunity to be a normal highschool girl. She is excited about it but her goal is now compromised by her teacher and childhood discipliner acquaintance, Takaomi Saeki, and by her also deliquent classmate & buddy, Hayasaka-kun.

Will she be able to keep her mask?

×××

I remember I found this manga through Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume’s recommendation threads and I’m glad I did. If you appreciate SKS’s humour, you’ll most certainly like this, since it’s similar. But don’t mistake me, anyone who enjoys comedy will like this.

Where to start. You have this casanova yankee, this spartan teacher and this tsundere delinquent. How could it be not comical. Let’s not forget all gets boosted with the mangaka’s faithful style: the random events, the extremely expressive reactions, the reversed situations, etc make it even absurdly funnier.
Even though the plot is very loose, it suits and it’s quite refreshing to read. I wonder if there’s some kind of deeper plot, as the fact of Takaomi being a teacher is questionable (sadist?).

Reasons to read it:

ludicrous comedy;
strong female protagonist;
it has gangsters;
effective art.

Definitely recommend giving it a check.

Previews (Oresama Teacher, taken from Onemanga):