So, my first big post in a while ^^.....
So, it's been a while since I've last done a big post ^^! Well, anyway, here's what I've been getting up to:
- I read Seven Days this week. I just loved it. Never has any shonen-ai manga got me so involved and rooting for the couple. I loved the main characters, and the manga had such as lovely, peaceful feel to it. The art was lovely, the storyline was well carried out, and it really was a lovely, sweet love story. It's definitely my favourite shonen-ai manga to date, and it's up there with my favourite mangas ^^. Definitely recommend it!
- I've been reading quite a bit of BL lately. I also read Kyuuso Ha Cheese Yume Omiru, by Setona Mizushiro (author of After School Nightmare). The manga has a lot of depth to it, like all of Mizushiro's works, but there was a certain.....coldness to it that I didn't like. It was a very clever work, and is one of the better (and deeper) BL mangas out there, and I did like it, but I wouldn't exactly regard it as one of my favourites. I prefered the sequal.
- I also read No Touching At All. Now this was another BL manga that I really liked! This is a manga that isn't just good by BL standards; it stands out as a brilliant manga in it's own right. It has a very 'real' feel to it, and it has an awful lot of poignance. You do feel for the characters, and there is a lot of depth to this manga, but it doesn't feel depressing or pessimistic like it did in Kyuuso ha Cheese Yume Omiru. I really would recommend this manga to BL readers! It is certainly among the best BL mangas out there.
- I've also read the first couple of chapters of Kimi to Boku. I still don't know what to make of it, but I think I'll read some more and see. I don't exactly find it funny, but I do like the characters, so I'll read some more and see how I go. I've been reading a lot of manga over the last few weeks, but now I have revision, I don't have a lot of time to read. I did receive my copy of the English edition of Hourou Musuko vol 2 yesterday though, so I hope to read that this evening. I really look foward to it ^^. I've forgotten so much from the start of the series, it will be nice to re-aqquaint myself with the earlier chapters. I also noticed that this volume, instead of having a volume description (like the last volume), instead had qoutes from reviewers. Was that a last minute edit in response to controversy over the original book description 0.0? Who knows. It does seem odd, though.
- I began to read some of the new Legal Drug chapters. I'd put it off as I wasn't expecting much at all (and I hate the removal of the adult edge the series had before - it's still Legal Drug, but it's lost it's feel), but they were't actually too bad. I feel disapointed that CLAMP felt the need to make Watanuki make a cameo though. Watanuki's cameos (even within the less-than-a-year XXXHolic's been over) feel tired and overused, and, quite simply, I just wish CLAMP would stop dragging up XXXHolic's corpse *~*. Seeing Watanuki again didn't even make me feel happy :(. As Kazahaya said, he just seemed lonely. I'll probably continue to read this series, but it's not exactly on my priority list. And by the way, does anyone else think that the abandoned fhouse eatured in the last chapter seems.....familiar?
- I finished watching K-On. It's not the best or exactly the deepest anime I have ever watched, but it was a nice bit of lighthearted, easygoing shojo-relief. The animation is nice (I'm a sucker for visuals), I did grow to like the characters (eventually XD), and while not exactly having the most complex of plots, and has your usualanti-climatic, melodramatic shojo ending, but it was enjoyable and easygoing, and was nice thing to relax and watch. It would probably be best recommened to shojo fans,One question though - the final episode (episode 14) - it's not in the first series D:?! I'm confused >.<.
- I'm still reading Loveless, but.....it's got kind of boring lately :(. Even with all the revelations we've been having lately (and as the Seimei business becomes ever increasingly disturbing) it just feels...flat. I'm hoping it will pick up again soon, but I've been waiting for that to happen for over 10 chapters now.
- As for the non-manga front, I finished Professor Layton and the Spectres Flute. My verdict? Disapointing. Particuarly when you take in to account that I've waited about 2 years to have this game released in the UK. The plot didn't hook me, the puzzles are beginning to wear thin, and the step-in character for Luke, Remy, was irritating. And the 'big scene' where we saw Luke ask to become Layton's apprentice (which I think we'd all been intrigued by) was a massive anti-climax. There were also none of the impressive animated sequences present in the other games (like the 'walking city' scene in The Lost Future). But most importantly, the lack of presence of Layton and Luke's professor/apprentice dynamic played a massive role in how lackluster this game felt. It really is missed. So many different elements go in to a great thing, and if you take some of those elements out, it collapses. This game is evidence of that fact. Even with Luke still present in the game, you really miss that dynamic sorely.
However, although it was a let down, the game was still good, and I'm glad I brought it. It just isn't nearly as good as the previous games. It did feel like a nice closure to the franchise however. For me, anyway (since I don't think I'm going to be buying a 3DS ^^;).
I've also been watching some more movies lately. I saw Troll Hunter, which was brilliant. I love foreign language movies, I love horror movies, and I love 'found-footage' movies, so an Norwegian 'found footage' horror movie is basically my ultimate movie sandwich (XD). And deep down I still harbor that childlike love of the 'monster movie', so that was an added bonus. I didn't know what to expect from it, but it was really good, and I loved it! What could have potentially have been a bizarre and stupid plot and is handled very well (and actually quite believably), the CGI is incredibly impressive, and while it wasn't exactly scary, it was still very entertaining. It's probably one of the best among the 'found-footage horror' genre as well. I'm currently considering whether or not to watch paranormal activity ^^;. I'm the type who get's really freaked out by paranormal horror movies, so I don't know whether to brave it or not. But it looks really good!
But mostly my time is taken up by revision lately ^^;. I have an A2 exam next week, so I've been busy revising in my evenings. Anyone else currently revising for their exams right now, I share your pain ^^;! And I wish good luck to anyone else who has exams soon ^^!
- I read Seven Days this week. I just loved it. Never has any shonen-ai manga got me so involved and rooting for the couple. I loved the main characters, and the manga had such as lovely, peaceful feel to it. The art was lovely, the storyline was well carried out, and it really was a lovely, sweet love story. It's definitely my favourite shonen-ai manga to date, and it's up there with my favourite mangas ^^. Definitely recommend it!
- I've been reading quite a bit of BL lately. I also read Kyuuso Ha Cheese Yume Omiru, by Setona Mizushiro (author of After School Nightmare). The manga has a lot of depth to it, like all of Mizushiro's works, but there was a certain.....coldness to it that I didn't like. It was a very clever work, and is one of the better (and deeper) BL mangas out there, and I did like it, but I wouldn't exactly regard it as one of my favourites. I prefered the sequal.
- I also read No Touching At All. Now this was another BL manga that I really liked! This is a manga that isn't just good by BL standards; it stands out as a brilliant manga in it's own right. It has a very 'real' feel to it, and it has an awful lot of poignance. You do feel for the characters, and there is a lot of depth to this manga, but it doesn't feel depressing or pessimistic like it did in Kyuuso ha Cheese Yume Omiru. I really would recommend this manga to BL readers! It is certainly among the best BL mangas out there.
- I've also read the first couple of chapters of Kimi to Boku. I still don't know what to make of it, but I think I'll read some more and see. I don't exactly find it funny, but I do like the characters, so I'll read some more and see how I go. I've been reading a lot of manga over the last few weeks, but now I have revision, I don't have a lot of time to read. I did receive my copy of the English edition of Hourou Musuko vol 2 yesterday though, so I hope to read that this evening. I really look foward to it ^^. I've forgotten so much from the start of the series, it will be nice to re-aqquaint myself with the earlier chapters. I also noticed that this volume, instead of having a volume description (like the last volume), instead had qoutes from reviewers. Was that a last minute edit in response to controversy over the original book description 0.0? Who knows. It does seem odd, though.
- I began to read some of the new Legal Drug chapters. I'd put it off as I wasn't expecting much at all (and I hate the removal of the adult edge the series had before - it's still Legal Drug, but it's lost it's feel), but they were't actually too bad. I feel disapointed that CLAMP felt the need to make Watanuki make a cameo though. Watanuki's cameos (even within the less-than-a-year XXXHolic's been over) feel tired and overused, and, quite simply, I just wish CLAMP would stop dragging up XXXHolic's corpse *~*. Seeing Watanuki again didn't even make me feel happy :(. As Kazahaya said, he just seemed lonely. I'll probably continue to read this series, but it's not exactly on my priority list. And by the way, does anyone else think that the abandoned fhouse eatured in the last chapter seems.....familiar?
- I finished watching K-On. It's not the best or exactly the deepest anime I have ever watched, but it was a nice bit of lighthearted, easygoing shojo-relief. The animation is nice (I'm a sucker for visuals), I did grow to like the characters (eventually XD), and while not exactly having the most complex of plots, and has your usualanti-climatic, melodramatic shojo ending, but it was enjoyable and easygoing, and was nice thing to relax and watch. It would probably be best recommened to shojo fans,One question though - the final episode (episode 14) - it's not in the first series D:?! I'm confused >.<.
- I'm still reading Loveless, but.....it's got kind of boring lately :(. Even with all the revelations we've been having lately (and as the Seimei business becomes ever increasingly disturbing) it just feels...flat. I'm hoping it will pick up again soon, but I've been waiting for that to happen for over 10 chapters now.
- As for the non-manga front, I finished Professor Layton and the Spectres Flute. My verdict? Disapointing. Particuarly when you take in to account that I've waited about 2 years to have this game released in the UK. The plot didn't hook me, the puzzles are beginning to wear thin, and the step-in character for Luke, Remy, was irritating. And the 'big scene' where we saw Luke ask to become Layton's apprentice (which I think we'd all been intrigued by) was a massive anti-climax. There were also none of the impressive animated sequences present in the other games (like the 'walking city' scene in The Lost Future). But most importantly, the lack of presence of Layton and Luke's professor/apprentice dynamic played a massive role in how lackluster this game felt. It really is missed. So many different elements go in to a great thing, and if you take some of those elements out, it collapses. This game is evidence of that fact. Even with Luke still present in the game, you really miss that dynamic sorely.
However, although it was a let down, the game was still good, and I'm glad I brought it. It just isn't nearly as good as the previous games. It did feel like a nice closure to the franchise however. For me, anyway (since I don't think I'm going to be buying a 3DS ^^;).
I've also been watching some more movies lately. I saw Troll Hunter, which was brilliant. I love foreign language movies, I love horror movies, and I love 'found-footage' movies, so an Norwegian 'found footage' horror movie is basically my ultimate movie sandwich (XD). And deep down I still harbor that childlike love of the 'monster movie', so that was an added bonus. I didn't know what to expect from it, but it was really good, and I loved it! What could have potentially have been a bizarre and stupid plot and is handled very well (and actually quite believably), the CGI is incredibly impressive, and while it wasn't exactly scary, it was still very entertaining. It's probably one of the best among the 'found-footage horror' genre as well. I'm currently considering whether or not to watch paranormal activity ^^;. I'm the type who get's really freaked out by paranormal horror movies, so I don't know whether to brave it or not. But it looks really good!
But mostly my time is taken up by revision lately ^^;. I have an A2 exam next week, so I've been busy revising in my evenings. Anyone else currently revising for their exams right now, I share your pain ^^;! And I wish good luck to anyone else who has exams soon ^^!