I was replying to a post in the Crystal Skies forums. I didn't intend the reply to be comprehensive, but when I finished writing it, I looked it over... and decided to post it here, as well.

This time last year, I was watching Victorian Romance Emma, Ouran High School Host Club, and The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, among others. I was also a new employee in my company. The months went by, and more and more I got sucked into the lovely thing called WORK. My time for anything else was lessened, and... yeah. I won't get into any more details lest I begin to rant.

Anyway, I'm still a workaholic, but I'm proud to say that I've been slipping my hobbies back into my schedule. Hobbies, that is, that don't involve web design. I've been writing again, I've been playing the piano again, and I've been reading again. Wheeeee~ Right now, my stories have been getting good feedbacks, I've remastered three (going four) piano pieces, and my reading list is getting long.

Among the things I'm reading now is manga. Before, I was more into anime than the original manga, but somewhere in between, I saw the light. Read full post...

So, going back to my first sentence: I was replying to a post in a manga recommendation forum in Clear Skies. So here's my top 5 manga at the moment. Most of 'em are light romantic comedies, but they're all hilarious. Yey for comedy! Hehe.

I've been planning to write reviews for these five titles, but I never really got to. Meh. I already blogged about HanaKimi. It's more on the TV series, I suppose, but...anyway.

Here's my Top 5 ultimate favorite manga as of October 2007.

Hanazakiri no Kimitachi E
(For You in Full Blossom)
Summary: A girl begins to admire a high jumper, so she transfers to the high school he attends so that she could meet him. The catch, though, is that it's an all-boys' school. Does she fool everyone? Hell, yeah! ...right? (Mehehehehe.)
Genre: [shoujo] high school romantic comedy (it's got sports in it, too, but it's not a sports manga)
Status: Finished
What I love about it: The comedy! Oh my goodness the comedy. I love how insane things get while still amazingly staying within the boundaries of realism. Another thing is the dialogue and plot flow: Punch lines are delivered effortlessly, and serious points, when they do surface, always hit home. And the art? This is the perfect example of how comic books are so awesome because they convey emotions, be it inner turmoil or bubbling laughter, in a single frame.



Hagane no Renkenjutsushi
(Fullmetal Alchemist)
Summary: In a world where alchemy is a significant part of of life, a child prodigy attaches his dying brother's soul onto a suit of armor in order to save the younger boy's life. Guilt-ridden, he sets out with fierce determination to make things right and return his brother to his body. And he could do that with the Philosopher's Stone.

I initially wanted to type out "If you haven't read (or, at the very least, heard of) Fullmetal Alchemist, then you must be living under a rock." But that might be a little too harsh. HagaRen is extremely popular --and has full rights of being so-- but I discovered that a lot of anime and manga enthusiasts haven't ventured into the world of Edward Elric.
Genre: [shounen] action/adventure, fantasy (alchemy)
Status: Ongoing
What I love about it: Awesome action, surprising twists, superb art, incredibly hilarious ROFL comedy. Read the manga. It's far, far, FAR more awesome than the anime.


Nodame Cantabile
Summary: Extremely talented pianist and naturally gifted conductor. Another extremely talented pianist and your all-around weird girl. Put them together and what do you get? An impossibly addicting manga on classical music, love, and the love of music. And, yes, it's hilarious, too.
Genre: [josei] music, romantic comedy
Status: ongoing
What I love about it: If I'm to be totally blunt, I'd say that I wasn't really impressed with the art when I first started reading this. But since Miii recommended it to me (and since Miii is one of the girls I've been watching anime with since high school) I decided to give it a chance. Ha. I'm so very glad I did, because once the melody started floating a few pages into the series, I was hooked. (And I realized that the art is nice, after all.)

Musical types will appreciate this manga, lovers of comedy will enjoy the chemistry between the characters, romantics will love the hilarious scenes, and everyone's going to have a sudden renaissance and be interested in classical music. That's what I think, anyway.


Koukou Debut
(High School Debut)
Summary: Haruna had dedicated her life up until junior high to softball (and she's pretty good at it, too). So, upon stepping into high school, she sets out to get a boyfriend. Grow out the hair, put on the make-up, revamp the wardrobe. Easy, right? NOT!

Salvation comes, however, in the form of school heartthrob Yoh, whom Haruna believes can teach her what guys want. At first Yoh refuses because he hates women, but eventually agrees, on one condition: Haruna must never fall in love with him.
Genre: [shoujo] high school romantic comedy. COMEDY! Lol!
Status: ongoing
What I love about it: If you don't laugh at least once while reading this manga, I'd be surprised. What I love about this series (apart from the seamless movement from insanity to normalcy to seriousness to romance and back again) is its ability to make you all giddy or warm and fuzzy even without the usual things that make you giddy or warm and fuzzy. Heh. A breath of fresh air, really. Wonderful characters, awesome plotlines. Love it!



Saiunkoku Monogatari
(Tales of Saiunkoku)
Summary: Shuurei, a profit-conscious heiress of a noble (but very bankrupt) family is asked to be join the royal court in order to make the emperor more responsible. But in order to make someone more responsible, that said someone must be responsible to some degree. But, to Shuurei's dismay, it appears that the Emperor of the realm is a lazy slacker with the enthusiasm and cluelessness of a child, and with no interest in politics whatsoever. And, by the way, he's extremely handsome. How unfortunate. *sarcasm*

A manga dealing with politics and intrigue abounding in comedy... plus a whole lot of bishounen. *giggle*
Genre: [josei] politics, comedy, romance
Status: ongoing
What I love about it: This series is actually pretty serious, although it definitely doesn't feel like it. I love how surprises keep popping out: people aren't what they seem, plot twists spring out of nowhere, the character developments are addicting... The more you read, the more you'd be impatient for the next chapter. Haha!


Yahoo~ So those are my Top 5 manga, and 5 of the many volumes I'm reading now. Heh. I hope you saw something that sparked your interest, so you can laugh along with me. ^_^

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

HanaKimi TV

Last week, I found out that the last episode of the Jdrama (Japanese drama) of Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e, a live action TV series based on the manga of the same title, was out. It started in Japan in June this year, and ended just a few days ago.

The manga Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e ("For You In Full Blossom", also known as "HanaKimi") was written by Hisaya Nakajo way back in 1996, and ended in 2004... right about the time I first started reading it.

The story revolves around Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who grew up in the States. One day when watching a track and field competition, she sees Izumi Sano competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize him for the way he jumps, and also for the way he lives. Eventually she transfers to Japan in order to attend the same school that Sano attends. It's not just any school, though: it's an all-boys high school!

Even though I absolutely love the manga series, I tried not to watch the J-drama first... Partly because I was never a "manga turned live action" fan -- I've got nothing against it, though -- and partly because I wanted to marathon it. Harhar. (And also partly because I was too busy to bother with it.)

So, this weekend, I decided to marathon all 12 episodes.

And, suprisingly... Read full post...

I was slightly disappointed.

*sigh*

"But why?!" you ask. "Isn't the acting good?"

It was, actually.

"Isn't the casting good?"

Argh. Near perfect. I think everyone fit their characters well! Tomo Ikuta (playing Nakatsu) is, like, a scene stealer. Haha! But still everyone did an awesome job.

"Isn't the story good?"

Hmm... Well... Er...

*ahem*

The story is , I suppose. That is, if you completely forget the manga. True, the J-drama followed the original general plot, and they kept the characters as they were (that is, if you ignore the additional characters inserted here and there), but the events in the story were too different.

I also felt kind of rushed... The development of chemistry between Mizuki and the Dorm 2 boys was a bit sudden, the whole "Sano going back to high jump" issue wasn't simmered, and the Sano+Mizuki build-up was a bit off in the beginning... Argh. And I missed Umeda-sensei's bishieness (and ecchiness. LOL!)

Of course, this is all me.

And, I suppose if I DID forget the manga, maybe I'd be thinking differently.

And so, after watching for 12 hours (not continuous, though, as I had to eat and have a life) and finished a bit disappointed, I was driven into checking out the 2006 Taiwanese version.

That made Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu the first Taiwanese drama I ever watched. Whoopee. (No. Unlike the rest of the Philippine female population, I did NOT watch Meteor Garden.)

At first I was raising my eyebrows because of Ella, the girl acting as Rui Xi (the Taiwanese counterpart of Mizuki). I mean, hey, no offense to Ella or anything, but Mizuki had to look like a pretty girl and a cute boy. At the same time. Now, Ella's actually pretty and all, but when Rui Xi was acting like a boy, she looked too... tomboyish. They seemed to forget that, even though Mizuki had the whole school fooled, she was still supposed to fail at acting like a boy, and she was supposed to look immensely girly that a lot of guys thought she was a girly boy, and it should be a wonder why everyone else didn't become seriously suspicious of her.

As the series progressed, though, I began to warm up to her. But still I maintain that the haircut could've been better, and the acting might have been more fitting... Horikita Maki did an awesome job in the Japanese version, so... Yeah. I'm comparing. Heh.

The rest of the cast was okay. Quan (TW counter of Sano) was a bit too smiley too early for me, though. Hm. Then again, Shun Oguri's Sano was a bit too... frowny.

The best part about the Taiwanese series, though, is how faithful it was to the manga. Sure, a lot of the original events were omitted (unavoidable, unless we want a LONG series), but still, it was as faithful as they can make it. And they even gave some scenes nice twists of their own.

I'm just annoyed that Rui Xi didn't look (and, sometimes, act) like Mizuki. If Rui Xi was another girl who is NOT Mizuki, it'd be fine. But no. She's supposed to be Mizuki, just with another name. Rawr. Quan got an awesome Wu Chun, though. *insert fangirl screech here* Heeheehee.

So, in summary....

HanaKimi J-drama: awesome casting, awesome acting, but diverges from the manga.

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu: okay adaptation, but a bit overacted Rui Xi >_<>