Saturday, January 1, 2011

Hello new year!
To respond to the last post, the reason why is part philosophy, partly financial. I'm saving big for college. But also, I kinda have a thing where I don't believe I really need gifts, it's much more important to give to someone whose less fortunate. I like the traditional idea of just having a great time with family, but the western world just seems to spiral into materialistic commercialism.

This year is kinda different since I'm getting a few gifts before I head to college, just art supplies and music. I'm getting a recording system for my guitar and mic, so I'll be able to record some tracks and try to start an independent solo album :) I don't know exactly how it'll be done or what I want, but I've written a lot of stuff down and it's going to be an exciting process.

In other news, not much, watched TV for over 60 hours not counting the times I slept and ate. Haven't watched the tube in almost 2 years, I can see how it can get addicting.

Hm.. I also want to talk about some manga stuff, that never gets discussed often here, and many of us probably fell out of love with it and for me it is more of an off an on thing. I was never too much into it in the beginning, but after a few years I really got into it then my interest just trickled down and now I from time to time I may read or watch an anime. This week I rented some of manga from the library. Our school only has limited volumes so the stories are incomplete. Hopefully they'll get more. Now here are some short 'n sweet manga reviews I recommend to read!

Cromartie High School is a really funny comedy about the daily mishaps of juvenile deliquents in a special school for deliquents. Takashi Kamiyama is an above average student that transfers to the school with his friend Shinjiro Hayashida, a bunch of dummies, including a robot, a dude named Freddie that doesn't speak and is probably a foreigner (who looks like Freddie Mercury, srsly) and a gorilla (who, ironically, is the smartest of all the group). It's kinda like Azumanga Daioh, just a bunch of deliquents going through daily insanity of life. It's hilarious and makes a lot of 80's references. I've only read 2 volumes, but it's something I'd definitely buy. You can find some episodes on Youtube.

Another one I read was Vampire Kisses, Blood Relative. Now if you're like me, the title itself makes me a little bit squeamish and I'm already critical of it, but the reason why I decided to pick it up was the art that caught my eye. The story is by an American, and I'm not too fond of a lot ot OELs, mostly since the stories are often painfully cliché and the art is somewhat subpar to it's Japanese counterpart on terms on trying to draw Japanese style manga. Not that I don't appreciate Western style art, but it looks weird to see manga made by Western artists, and there's a few gems out there. But this manga looks like it is genuinely made shoujo from Japan. The artist is rem, check out her stuff here, she's quite a talented artist. It's published by Tokyopop so you can check it out on their site too. Otherwise, the story is just about a girl who meets and falls in love with a vampire who then runs into trouble with other vampires. Eh, story for me was about a 3/10, but it was the art that kept me reading, 8.5/10. So if you're into vampire romances or just some good art, look into it.

From Far Away is a manga about a girl Noriko who, when she gets caught in an explosion, gets transported to a fantasy far away land where she meets a man named Izark, and travels in this unknown world full of bandits and killers that try to get her for she is known as the "awakening" which has some significant power of some sort for these strangers. She has a troubling time adjusting to this world and it's language. I've only read one volume, but it is promising and I'd like to read more. This shoujo is adorable and full of action, I give it a 7/10.

So there you have it, some manga that might peak your interest if you'd like! I'll try to do these reviews more often. Have a good one!

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