IYADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! CUTENESS UNDEFINED!
Have you ever laughed so hard that no sound comes out and you sit there clapping your hands like a retarted seal?
It happens to me very frequently.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Baby It’s Cold Outside~ Glee Cast Version, sung by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer.
It is just too cute :) I would make my other half sing this during Christmas ;)
Shinobi Life @ シノビライフ by Konami Shouko
Shinobi Life - a shoujo manga written and illustrated by Konami Shouko - is so beautiful that I would cry and my heart would churn.
A quick glance at Shinobi Life (overall theme):
The story for Shinobi Life is pretty simple but there is this “depth” within its simplicity. Everything connects; not even a hint of awkwardness or abruptness in the story flow up until now. I like how Konami Sensei plots the whole story - event, characters, their pasts and most of all - their emotions. She has a knack for emotions. I will get to that later.
Shinobi Life is about our male lead, Kagetora (real name unknown YET), who serves as a ninja protecting Benihime (Princess Beni) and in one of his mission, they are assaulted and both of them fall into the pond below the cliff.
However… it is not a simple fall. Kagetora time-slips and finds himself in the future where the descendant of Benihime is currently being “kidnapped”! The descendant looks exactly like Benihime and what more could readers have asked for (a cliche here) when the main female lead is named after her own grandmother - Benihime too? Haha! I like that though :) It must have been fate.
So here is Kagetora:
Fucking sexy bitch. I could devour embrace him in my arms and make him mine forever. He is so fuckingTMGS (Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side) material. GAD!
And Benihime:
Pretty. And she is not some weak old female character that waits for the lead male character to come to her rescue. She has her own attractive ways to be rebellious and independent to protect those around her, especially Kagetora. However, her weakness is inevitably Kagetora himself… as well as her emotions surrounding him.
Both of them make quite a good couple together too:
Another male character worth mentioning is probably Gangaku Rihito.Seriously, what kind of a fucking name is that? Jk. I like Rihito. But Gangaku? Konami Sensei was probably trying to make us feel old Edo-ish by using this as Rihito’s family name haha :D
Yup. Bishie Gangaku Rihito. Read the manga to find out how he can eventually express himself, taking off that cold, dark mask of his :) OH GOD. WHY? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BISHIES HERE?! And there are a few suggestive scenes between Rihito and his “ninja” servant (Hitaki@Heikirou) who slipped through time just like Kagetora did:
Oh no no no. Bishies bishies bishies. Omnomnom *Drools* Whenever Hitaki starts touching Rihito, I squeal because… seriously… the skinship between them looks so much like sexual molestation an extreme case of love touch between two healthy male characters.
NO. I promised myself. I will not go back to the darkness. MUST. NOT. GO. TO. YAOI. SIDE. OKAY! It is just some kind of overly friendly… or brotherly love. Okay :)
Hitaki gets annoying in the beginning but when he slowly turns mild and you get to see how he was when he was a kid through Benihime’s eyes, everything just fucking flopped itself and I start to find him loveable because there is a reason to his annoying future behaviour!
Everyone carries a heavy past or burden with them and this manga is equally lovely and adorable as it is sad and tragic.
To take them all out at once (excluding old yummy drool-able bishies), here they are:
From left, Benihime, followed by Kagetora (I need his real name!), Hitaki@Heikurou (a ninja forsakes his real name. Hitaki’s real name is Heikurou), Gangaku Rihito and a side character (who might time slip with them in the future): Renkaku (who has a burnt right eye hence, the cover-up fringe).
One of the elements of this manga is that it is so eloquently EXPRESSIVE it makes you feel what the characters feel! Here are some manga shots that I took as per examples (warning: might contain spoilers):
God… does it not HURT you? I have never seen such a deeply drawn emotion… This is… I MUST BE GOING CRAZY? I felt my heart gripping itself when I saw her face like that :( Poor Benihime!
Soft expressions, relief and gladness. He looks so puppy here that I just wanna gobble hug him!
Alright, fine! I will not spoil any further. Go download it and read it >_>
I highly recommend this manga because it is just so good! The chapter now currently resides on what I call the “Trapped in the Past and Stuck in the Future” Arc. It is getting very, very gripping. I suggest you wait for the complete Volume 9 (the last Volume) before downloading.
I am going crazy here because I am hanging halfway. I did not sleep much “today” because I was chasing this manga! Rizelly approved and Rizelly recommended!
Otogi Matsuri - おとぎ奉り
Otogi Matsuri by Inoue Junya is as brilliant as it could be. Even though it might not be as in depth and detailed as Kekkaishi, it still poses as a good read above anything else. To be honest, I would read this rather than any repetitive shoujo mangas out there XD
The story is situated in the prefecture of Miyakono and it focuses much on the main male lead - Suruga Yousuke’s - life as he receives a power from one of the Four Gods - Suzaku - by sheer mistake and offers his most important factor in his life - his future - to Suzaku in return for the power.
While making that soon-to-be big blunder of his life, he also meets the main female lead - Inaba Yomogi- a Priestess (probably in-training) who controls a group of 5 impish but kind and reliable fox spirits (Kitsune). That moment is when everything began to change.
Kenzoku (supposedly materialised Youkai @ Monsters/Spirits) begins to appear in Miyakono Prefecture and it is up to the wielder of the Jingi- Sacred Weapons used to counteract against the existence of Kenzoku - to fight against the rising evil.
There are four which signify the Four Gods that protect the corners of Miyakono - Suzaku of the South, Seiryuu of the East, Genbu of the North and Byakko of the West. God, this is like Fushigi Yuugi all over again XD But who cares! It has nothing to do with women being sucked into books and reliving/altering literature!
All four wielders have so far, been introduced in the translated volumes (it took only 4 volumes to reveal all wooohoo!).
Introducing the four Jingi wielders to you! From the left - Suruga Yousuke who is both macho and manly and everything a heroic hero could be! Except he has not really grasp his power yet… he still fails most of the time (except when it comes to emotions hehe). He is not a really attractive main male character, to be honest. There is just something missing from his overall personality/character. Maybe he will eventually mature out as the story progresses?
He wields the Suzaku Jingi which, when materialised, serves as a bow and arrow. The arrows from Suzaku never misses but Yousuke sucks so he misses for the most parts at the beginning of the manga until he figures out how to actually use it. The price of having that power is his “future”, which he has given up to Suzaku. In other words, he does not have much longer to live :)
Mikawa Irori is a cute elementary school student and well… nobody is perfect. She has some sort of speech impediment and it really annoys me sometimes having to read “Thish ish imposhible” - those “sh” add-ons on every sentence is… frustrating. But that is inevitably one of her cute points :) Her second cute point being her role to satisfy the needs of those men who love little female Moe characters. Pedobear would love her to death.
Irori wields the Genbu Jingi which serves as a shield, a transport item (like… sliding or flying across a street with a sliding or flying turtle shell… cowa-bunga? :D) and basically, like a ricochet that shoots out at high speed and push everything of any weight up or down or left or right or anywhere at all. I do not really get it but yeah, that is how Genbu works. Not… really an attractive power HAHA.
The price of Irori’s Genbu Jingi is inevitably, her “mother” who passed away giving birth to her. When Genbu asked her who or what was most important, she answered her “mother” whom she has never met before and hence, Genbu becomes her mother as she gave her mother up to it.
Kai Kenji is actually the last of the Jingi wielders to appear… and at a lame way too. Tch… flaws. This manga has too many flaws that I overlooked when I was reading it. Only when I am reviewing it now that I notice such flaws!
He is a delinquent and he seems to know Yousuke. Their past is not mentioned though. He just asks Yousuke to stop acting like an “older brother”. Maybe when it is his time to act again, their past would be recapped. Hopefully.
Kenji gains his power while he is attacked by a Kappa-like Kenzoku which has possessed the flesh of his friend, going amok, digging out human eyes to eat while killing his friends off one by one as per revenge (read it to know why).
Idiotic Kenzoku accidentally releases Byakko’s seal and Byakko, seeing Kenji as a… damsel in distress (HAHA), possesses him and asks him again, what the most important things in his life is. Kenji gives up his friends and gains the power of Byakko, which materialises into Claws. Kenji fights in speed as he tears his opponent apart.
There is generally not much known yet for Kenji as he is a newly introduced character by far. Maybe by his next 出番 (deban @ important main appearance), he will uncover himself :) I am a big Byakko fan by the way :D I hope he does not let me down!
The last of the wielder is Ezo Ryouichi, Yomogi and Yousuke’s teacher @ Folklore Club Advisor, Irori’s “teammate” and Kenji’s… uh… well :D Not related in anyways except for the fact that they are both Jingi wielders.
Ryouichi wields the Seiryuu Jingi which materialises into the form of a spear. He can stretch it anyhow and anyway he wanted his spear to (like Son Goku’s staff HAHA) and well, his spear is pretty flexible, if you know what I mean.
The Seiryuu Jingi is pretty much useless compared to Suzaku Jingi. Actually, all the other 3 Jingi including Seiryuu are pretty useless. Suzaku Jingi is the most all-rounded weapon ever made in this manga. Biased much? But… well. Ryouichi is useful in his own way. I have a fetish for 2D glasses men and he just made my day by appearing in this manga as one of the main leads :)
What Ryouichi has given up for his Seiryuu Jingi is generally unknown yet. The characters which are shrouded in mystery, still, are Ryouichi and Kenji both. I would love to know more about them and how the relationship of the four Jingi wielders will progress as the story makes it way to the end (a total of 12 volumes).
A look at their weapons? Sure:
And another surprise… MUTATED MASKED RIDER ATTACKS!!! Jk.
I have told you much about every summarised detail so read it or not, it will depend on you :)
Otogi Matsuri is a good casual read, really. Do not take the flaws that I have mentioned into your heart. There are more (oops) but I just let them slide because hey! This is a manga :D
Mangas are supposed to be enjoyed despite of its flaws!
