june livejournal post
Whoops, I never finished writing about TCAF. And this'll be my first (so probably only) post for the month of June, too... good thing I didn't let the month slip away entirely.
Today, as it happened, was The Perfect Beach Day, and so I spent it at Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan with my family :) (and many many other people who came to the same conclusion about what Day it was) It was sunny, but not too hot or windy. The water was pretty chilly (52ºF) so I only waded in up to my knees, but it was enough to cool off after sitting in the sun for a while. I enjoyed the sight of bright, colourful beach umbrellas sprawling across the sand. And of course I had my reading material, in the form of shoujo manga :D (the best thing for beach reading, I've determined.) Today's choice was Hirunaka no Ryuusei (thank you badtzphoto!!) and I'm currently on volume 3. Going in, I knew that one of the potential love-interests (for the highschool protagonist) is a teacher (urg...) but I also got the sense (from trying to read reviews with my brain half-activated so as not to entirely spoil myself) that the teacher might not be the only (or winning) love interest. So we'll see, I've got hope. Of course, as soon as I started reading, the first guy to show up was totally cute (glasses!! and a happy attitude!!) and yet I knew he'd end up being the teacher so I was all grrr, how dare you be so likable?! And then boy #2 showed up and he was a silent-sullen kid and I was like oh noooooo, I can't root for you! But THEN!!! the silent-sullen kid turned out to actually be an adorably-awkward kid and I went phew!! (actually it was more like きゅん！heh...) and now I like him pretty well. Plus the teacher smokes, ugh. (like all the time, in front of his student, at school!!) Shape up, dude.
Anyway, the series seems like it's moving along fast for being only 1/4 of the way through so I expect all kinds of drama and emotions to come. But it's got that Margaret art I love and cute moments aplenty (and adorably-awkward kid!) so I'll follow it along :)
I also recently read a couple short stories from another book Badtz sent me, Yajuu Kanojo (+ followup Ookami Kareshi). It was also cute and featured an adorably-awkward narcissist hero :D (sense a pattern here for lys' personal moe-points, hahah...) A couple days before I read it, one of the junior high girls from my church (this past year I've been helping out with the junior high youth group) had posted a few manga pages on facebook (she reads scans, sigh...) that I found a little concerning. They weren't outright inappropriate, but I didn't think they were the best depiction of a healthy romantic relationship (you know, the usual cool, possessive, kinda-grabby shoujo hero type), so I was wondering what I might/should say to her... and then I read these two stories, and they were cute and funny and also offered what seemed like a good and respectful message about how to treat the other person in a relationship without being too "moral-of-the-story-is..." So I weighed my options (do I just say nothing, or recommend a series she can only read via illegal means? (I could've brainstormed another manga with a similar message too, but the timing seemed perfect, and I liked that it wasn't a whole long series to commit to since I don't know much about her manga reading habits)) and decided to recommend it to her. I hope she takes it well (she thanked me for the suggestion on fb). I should ask if she's read the Kingdom Hearts manga, too, since I know she is a fan of the games :)
I've gone through (sometimes long) periods where I wonder if it's good or right for me as a Christian to be so immersed in the world of manga, and where the right place for me in it is, what's okay to read or not, how much of my time to devote to it, etc. It's been a growing/learning process and these days I feel like I know my boundaries and have my life and interests and responsibilities balanced enough that I'm not single-mindedly obsessing over fictional manga worlds 24-7. But when I see younger people at my church drawn into manga/anime fandom (it seems more and more common these days...), I wonder about how to encourage that passion (which I share, and consider a vibrant and happy part of my life) in healthy directions. Ultimately we're each responsible for our own choices and my hope is that they will grow through their experiences (like I have and still do), but I also like to think that maybe my experience (wisdom??? ha) as an adult fan of manga is maybe a bit unique (at least in my church congregation) and can be shared with them in helpful ways... So these days, that's something on my mind as I strive to balance fangirl and role-model(?) and sister in Christ with these kids.
...and with that, I'm off!! Got another busy work week ahead of me! (I'm starting a new series! I mean I hinted at/mentioned it earlier, but now I'll finally be working on it.)
Today, as it happened, was The Perfect Beach Day, and so I spent it at Tunnel Park on Lake Michigan with my family :) (and many many other people who came to the same conclusion about what Day it was) It was sunny, but not too hot or windy. The water was pretty chilly (52ºF) so I only waded in up to my knees, but it was enough to cool off after sitting in the sun for a while. I enjoyed the sight of bright, colourful beach umbrellas sprawling across the sand. And of course I had my reading material, in the form of shoujo manga :D (the best thing for beach reading, I've determined.) Today's choice was Hirunaka no Ryuusei (thank you badtzphoto!!) and I'm currently on volume 3. Going in, I knew that one of the potential love-interests (for the highschool protagonist) is a teacher (urg...) but I also got the sense (from trying to read reviews with my brain half-activated so as not to entirely spoil myself) that the teacher might not be the only (or winning) love interest. So we'll see, I've got hope. Of course, as soon as I started reading, the first guy to show up was totally cute (glasses!! and a happy attitude!!) and yet I knew he'd end up being the teacher so I was all grrr, how dare you be so likable?! And then boy #2 showed up and he was a silent-sullen kid and I was like oh noooooo, I can't root for you! But THEN!!! the silent-sullen kid turned out to actually be an adorably-awkward kid and I went phew!! (actually it was more like きゅん！heh...) and now I like him pretty well. Plus the teacher smokes, ugh. (like all the time, in front of his student, at school!!) Shape up, dude.
Anyway, the series seems like it's moving along fast for being only 1/4 of the way through so I expect all kinds of drama and emotions to come. But it's got that Margaret art I love and cute moments aplenty (and adorably-awkward kid!) so I'll follow it along :)
I also recently read a couple short stories from another book Badtz sent me, Yajuu Kanojo (+ followup Ookami Kareshi). It was also cute and featured an adorably-awkward narcissist hero :D (sense a pattern here for lys' personal moe-points, hahah...) A couple days before I read it, one of the junior high girls from my church (this past year I've been helping out with the junior high youth group) had posted a few manga pages on facebook (she reads scans, sigh...) that I found a little concerning. They weren't outright inappropriate, but I didn't think they were the best depiction of a healthy romantic relationship (you know, the usual cool, possessive, kinda-grabby shoujo hero type), so I was wondering what I might/should say to her... and then I read these two stories, and they were cute and funny and also offered what seemed like a good and respectful message about how to treat the other person in a relationship without being too "moral-of-the-story-is..." So I weighed my options (do I just say nothing, or recommend a series she can only read via illegal means? (I could've brainstormed another manga with a similar message too, but the timing seemed perfect, and I liked that it wasn't a whole long series to commit to since I don't know much about her manga reading habits)) and decided to recommend it to her. I hope she takes it well (she thanked me for the suggestion on fb). I should ask if she's read the Kingdom Hearts manga, too, since I know she is a fan of the games :)
I've gone through (sometimes long) periods where I wonder if it's good or right for me as a Christian to be so immersed in the world of manga, and where the right place for me in it is, what's okay to read or not, how much of my time to devote to it, etc. It's been a growing/learning process and these days I feel like I know my boundaries and have my life and interests and responsibilities balanced enough that I'm not single-mindedly obsessing over fictional manga worlds 24-7. But when I see younger people at my church drawn into manga/anime fandom (it seems more and more common these days...), I wonder about how to encourage that passion (which I share, and consider a vibrant and happy part of my life) in healthy directions. Ultimately we're each responsible for our own choices and my hope is that they will grow through their experiences (like I have and still do), but I also like to think that maybe my experience (wisdom??? ha) as an adult fan of manga is maybe a bit unique (at least in my church congregation) and can be shared with them in helpful ways... So these days, that's something on my mind as I strive to balance fangirl and role-model(?) and sister in Christ with these kids.
...and with that, I'm off!! Got another busy work week ahead of me! (I'm starting a new series! I mean I hinted at/mentioned it earlier, but now I'll finally be working on it.)