Ristorante Paradiso, X-Day, A Distant Neighborhood, Bound Beauty, and Hawksong
32. 5 episodes of Ristorante Paradiso (リストランテ・パラディーゾ, Risutorante Paradīzo).
from Wiki
from ANN
Crunchyroll
- It's a slice of life story.
- Bespectacled graceful old men - there is a camaraderie between them.
- ep 1: intro characters
- ep 2: Nicoletta in love ?
- ep 3: a bit more about characters
- ep 4: history of Casetta dell'Orso
- ep 5: About Gigi.
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96b. 2 volumes of X-Day (彼女たちのエクス・デイ, Kanojo-tachi no X-Day).
wiki
manga updates
Written and illustrated by Setona Mizushiro
from TokyoPop
Vol 1: Rika Saginuma's a disenchanted teen - dumped by her boyfriend, off the track team due to an injury - who finds her way into a chat room peopled by 4 similarly disgruntled souls. They meet up at school, exhange contact info, and agree to stay in touch ... The 4 kids are all beset by problems that seem to overwhelm them ... yet are united by a common fascination: blowing up their school on X-Day ...
Vol 2: X-Day is fast approaching and all 4 students are looking forward to it with a passion. Rica begins to suspect that all is not right with Kin when she begins noticing bruises, and when she sees his mother abusing Kin, she steps in to protect him and a new love starts to blossom.
Some points:
- I've been curious about this series after reading After School Nightmare, so when I saw these 2 volumes at a local used bookstore, I grabbed them right away.
- This series is older than After School Nightmare.
- It's a fast read. I'm not sure what to say about them. Melancholy - the characters are quite unhappy at school due to certain things happen to them, breaking up with boyfriend, being stalked, being abused by a parent at home, being ignored by classmates.
- They want to blow up the school the source of their unhappiness so they come together and plan and get to know one another and care for one another.
- There is a side story at the end of vol 2 - the last supper is a very sad fable of friendship.
Bottom line, I'm glad I got a chance to read it. Reread? Maybe if I'm in for a Setona Mizushiro kick or something.
96c. 1 volume of A Distant Neighborhood (遥かな町へ, Harukana Machi-E).
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manga updates
Written and illustrated by Jiro Taniguchi
from Ponent Mon
Who hasn't thought about reliving their past, correcting perceived mistakes or changing crucial decisions? Would this better your life or the lives of those closest to you? Or would your altered actions prove even more harmful? One man gets the chance to find out...
Middle-aged Hiroshi Nakahara is on his way home from a business trip when he finds himself on the wrong train heading for his childhood hometown. His footsteps take him to his mother's grave and it's there that he is catapulted back into his life as an 8th grader - but with all his adult memories and knowledge intact. As he struggles to make sense of his predicament his adult memories of his childhood return but are somehow subtly changed. The questions start to form ... would his father still disappear without explanation? would he still marry his wife?
Some points:
- This is a low key story.
- It's very good. I also like the crisp line drawing.
- Cliff hanger!! Gah.
- It seems strange that the main character time travel to his past but he is still conscious about his present. It's like a retrospect kind of experience. He also plans to change events in his past, too.
- Would I want to go back to junior high? Sure. But my favorite year was 11th grade, though.
Bottom line, a gem for sure.
97. 3 volumes of Bound Beauty (縛り屋小町, Shibariya Komachi).
wiki
manga updates
Written and illustrated by Mick Takeuchi
from GoComi!
Vol 1: All lovers are bound by threads of fate…and guess who's pulling the strings!
Legend says that fated lovers are bound together by an invisible red thread. Most people think it's superstition, but seventeen-year-old Chiyako knows better -- she can see them! Yearning to be an independent adult, she's struggling to earn enough money to move out of her parents' house. Her path is clear, until a chance encounter with a mysterious group of hot guys known as the Tyers shows her that she has the power to pull all of fate's strings...though doing so binds her into the form of a child!
Vol 2: A grisly murder leads to shocking discoveries about her fellow Tyers as Chiko learns exactly what Aya sacrificed for his powers. Things get even more complicated when another spinner arrives. Isora is beautiful, competent -- and might be Akeo's destined love! As if Chiko doesn't have enough problems, she uses her powers once again to save a little girl from torment...only to have her own thread turn against her!
Vol 3: After facing the horror of re-living her cruel childhood, Chiyako fights against Isora's binds so that she can save the young spirit she's bonded with. But greater challenges than easing the pain of a poltergeist lay ahead when Chiyako and her companions are summoned to see the Head of the Family, someone whose hatred for Chiyako and for her precious sensei run so deep that their visit could turn into something far more dangerous...
Some points:
- I enjoy reading this title way too much ^^
- The cover of vol1 and vol2 are switched - probably for marketing purposes. I wish they had been unchanged. French covers are switched between vol 1 and vol 3, so the 1st page in vol2 makes sense.
- #4 was supposed to be out aug 09. I hope that it was delayed and will be released soon. Like Ultimate Venus 5.
- I like the heroine Chiyako way too much - she seems to get angry easily.
- There is an element of Fruits basket, as in Chiyako becomes 16 herself hence naked when she invokes . I hope Akeo turned out not to be a bad guy! He does seem to care about Chiyako. Aya, on the other hand, is quite cold. If there were a love triangle, Tsuna would be the other one.
Bottom line, funny series, I'm glad I checked it out.
98. Hawksong: The Kiesha'ra: Volume One. First sentence: "They say the first of my kind was a woman named Alasdair, a human raised by hawks."
wiki
Written by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Some points:
- I learnt about this book from whatwasthatbook and thought it was interesting and my public library has it, so I checked it out. Something about the description here and the comments made me curious and wanted to read the book.
- The premise is almost like Romeo&Juliet except the setting is in fantasy. Both are from royal families of life long feud.
- There are certain elements in the story that bother me a bit:
1) He was able to sneak into her bedroom even though it was heavily guarded! Twice, 1st time with intention to kill, 2nd more peaceful. Even though he had told her about the first time, she still didn't lock her bedroom door (?!) To his defense, it wasn't for stalking purposes a la twilight!
2) What was the point of Adelina wanted to talk to Danica in private - beside the fact that it gave Zane a heart-attack later to show how much he cared about her (!?)
- I feel sorry for Rei and Adelina.
- This is the first of 5. I'll reserve #2 and put a request buy for #3, even though the library already has 4 and 5.
Bottom line, reread? Maybe. It's a fast read. I'd go with Crown Duel, though.
- Continuing series: Manga
- Baby & Me 11- 12
- Tsubasa 23
- Kitchen Princess 2