Ceres and Fruits Basket
Number 1 reason why I love Ayashi No Ceres:
Yup, I am a Toya fangirl. (I only have one volume left and I am sort of postponing because I don't want it to be over).
Let me tell you, reading a volume with a cover like this on crowded public transit results in people giving you som really interesting looks.
I have finished volume 1 of Fruits Basket and all I can say is KYO!!! I still adore Yuki like whoa, but I think I am going to be a Kyo girl all the way (it's interesting because in RL I am all about the reserved guys, but here, as in Hanadan, I am all about the loud one :D I really have no consistency with what type of manga/anime character I prefer. E.g. Toya is a hell of a lot closer to Yuki, type-wise, than he is to Kyo.)
I adore Tohru. She is going to be one of my fave manga heroines, I can tell. She isn't bratty or whiny or saintly or anything. And she is cheerful without being annoying about it.
OMG, I loved the bit where Kyo came to meet Tohru at night because she was walking through the forest alone, for her safety. And OMG, it's adorable how he is trying so hard to learn how to behave and not blurt out first, defensive things that come into his mouth. And I love that Tohru realizes then and there that yes, he is trying to apologize, he just has no idea how, and that he is a good guy, just with no social skills at all (What kind of life did he have before anyway? Seriously. When Hot Cousin talks to him about some girl who will eventually tell him ILY, Kyo says he would ask her if she is crazy. Bwah?) Just as she basically sums it all up later in her head by thinking that beneath his scowl there is an awkward smile. Heee.
You know what really strikes me? How taken aback and delighted both Yuki and Kyo seem to be that Tohru is actually interested in them, as people, in their likes and dislikes (gardening for Yuki, the martial arts for Kyo). It's like they have to get used to the concept that they are worthwhile. That they matter. Because Yuki, in his quiet way, is just as anti-social as Kyo: he seems to be totally afraid of people rejecting him so he never lets them in. Whatever screwed them both up (I am assuming the curse), it's kinda like the Domyouji-Shin dichotomy I discussed with kitsune714 a while back, of the extravert-introvert reaction to the same fubar situation: it made Yuki a perfectionist introvert who is reserved because he doesn't want people to let him in and be hurt, and because if he is 'perfect' everything will be all right, and it made Kyo sort of lash out in not knowing how to behave and act out and push people away that way. Hmmm.
How much did I love the scene where Kyo and Yuki came to get Tohru from the house of evil relatives? I LOVED IT. Because they both miss having her in the house. I love it! I am not getting a romantic vibe here at all yet (though, because of personal preferences, I am Kyo/Tohru if I have to pick, though I am not rabid yet) but more like they want people who care about them around. And I love the bit where Kyo tells her it's OK to be unhappy and she should be able to express it. Because she is sunny (probably because she's tried so hard not to be a burden on people who had to take her in) but she's had a hard life. GUUUH. Kyo love.
I feel really bad about no hugging because a hug, while not the sexiest or most romantic, is perhaps the most comforting of all emotions: it makes you feel cared for.
Oh, and I really like the Boar Girl (blanking on the name) who wants to marry Kyo. LOL. She reminds me a bit of Chidori from Ceres and a lot of a grown-up version of Merle from Escaflowne (which makes sense as Kyo is rather Van-like). Heeeee. If they hooked up, it would be non-stop fireworks. :D
Yup, I am a Toya fangirl. (I only have one volume left and I am sort of postponing because I don't want it to be over).
Let me tell you, reading a volume with a cover like this on crowded public transit results in people giving you som really interesting looks.
I have finished volume 1 of Fruits Basket and all I can say is KYO!!! I still adore Yuki like whoa, but I think I am going to be a Kyo girl all the way (it's interesting because in RL I am all about the reserved guys, but here, as in Hanadan, I am all about the loud one :D I really have no consistency with what type of manga/anime character I prefer. E.g. Toya is a hell of a lot closer to Yuki, type-wise, than he is to Kyo.)
I adore Tohru. She is going to be one of my fave manga heroines, I can tell. She isn't bratty or whiny or saintly or anything. And she is cheerful without being annoying about it.
OMG, I loved the bit where Kyo came to meet Tohru at night because she was walking through the forest alone, for her safety. And OMG, it's adorable how he is trying so hard to learn how to behave and not blurt out first, defensive things that come into his mouth. And I love that Tohru realizes then and there that yes, he is trying to apologize, he just has no idea how, and that he is a good guy, just with no social skills at all (What kind of life did he have before anyway? Seriously. When Hot Cousin talks to him about some girl who will eventually tell him ILY, Kyo says he would ask her if she is crazy. Bwah?) Just as she basically sums it all up later in her head by thinking that beneath his scowl there is an awkward smile. Heee.
You know what really strikes me? How taken aback and delighted both Yuki and Kyo seem to be that Tohru is actually interested in them, as people, in their likes and dislikes (gardening for Yuki, the martial arts for Kyo). It's like they have to get used to the concept that they are worthwhile. That they matter. Because Yuki, in his quiet way, is just as anti-social as Kyo: he seems to be totally afraid of people rejecting him so he never lets them in. Whatever screwed them both up (I am assuming the curse), it's kinda like the Domyouji-Shin dichotomy I discussed with kitsune714 a while back, of the extravert-introvert reaction to the same fubar situation: it made Yuki a perfectionist introvert who is reserved because he doesn't want people to let him in and be hurt, and because if he is 'perfect' everything will be all right, and it made Kyo sort of lash out in not knowing how to behave and act out and push people away that way. Hmmm.
How much did I love the scene where Kyo and Yuki came to get Tohru from the house of evil relatives? I LOVED IT. Because they both miss having her in the house. I love it! I am not getting a romantic vibe here at all yet (though, because of personal preferences, I am Kyo/Tohru if I have to pick, though I am not rabid yet) but more like they want people who care about them around. And I love the bit where Kyo tells her it's OK to be unhappy and she should be able to express it. Because she is sunny (probably because she's tried so hard not to be a burden on people who had to take her in) but she's had a hard life. GUUUH. Kyo love.
I feel really bad about no hugging because a hug, while not the sexiest or most romantic, is perhaps the most comforting of all emotions: it makes you feel cared for.
Oh, and I really like the Boar Girl (blanking on the name) who wants to marry Kyo. LOL. She reminds me a bit of Chidori from Ceres and a lot of a grown-up version of Merle from Escaflowne (which makes sense as Kyo is rather Van-like). Heeeee. If they hooked up, it would be non-stop fireworks. :D