Finally Doing It Right!

It is great to see that Australia is finally winning some gold medals! Congratulations all round! I was kind of concerned that New Zealand was above us on the medal tally, but now that that is no longer the case!

I'm finally back at uni, which is why I have been kind of MIA over the last few days, the first week is always hectic getting ready and starting that first week each semester.

I have managed to finish reading Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa. It is complete at 5 volumes, and is also the sequel to Gokinjo Monogatari. The story follows Yukari (Caroline), a high school student who takes her studies seriously in order to please her parents. She is shown to lead a plain life, her only pleasure coming from interacting with her crush Hiroyuki. One day she is "escorted" by a group of  students from Yazawa arts school (lol) and try to coerce her to be their model for their upcoming competition. At first, Caroline declines, but she soon accepts when she discovers that these students have goals and dreams that they are trying to achieve, something that Caroline finds she lacks. Once she gets to know this group of people, she befriends them all, especially Miwako (the younger sister of Mikako from the original) and George, who she develops romantic feelings for. It is revealed that Miwako and Arashi, who were childhood friends, now dating, and Hiroyuki were all neighbours and childhood friends, but stopped talking some time ago when Arashi became jealous. As the series progresses, the three rebuild their friendship. Eventually, Caroline and George act on their feelings, beginning a relationship of sorts. Meanwhile, Caroline realizes that she has a passion for modelling. She decides she will pursue it as a career and fights with her mother as a result, causing Caroline to run away from home. Caroline finally gets her mother's consent to pursue modelling on the condition she finishes high school. Over this time, Hiroyuki and Caroline become good friends, with Hiroyuki developing feelings for Caroline. After the competition is over, George and co try to sell their clothes, but with little success due to the clothes 'avant garde' style. After some persuasive talks with his friends and father, George decides to go to Paris to work in a couture house. Caroline is given the choice to go with him, but she declines, saying she will start modelling in Japan with making it to Paris as her goal. They ultimately break up. The story ends with a monologue from Caroline who is now 28 (so 10 years have passed), who talks about how she enjoyed a successful local modelling career, but was never good enough to reach Paris or reach George, with her stating that them meeting again 'became nothing more than a pipe dream'. The story ends with Caroline getting picked up by her fiance, who is none other than Hiroyuki, who has since become a doctor. The End.

I found this story quite amazing. It is classified as a tragedy, and I am blown by how sad the story is without a tragic event occuring (death etc). I feel this is a very realistic look on love in life, because although Caroline and George did nothing wrong, they couldn't end up together, instead both choosing to go after their dreams. It shows how not every ending can be happy, although I did find it bittersweet, because there is nothing wrong with Hiroyuki either. I actually wouldn't mind seeing more stories like this. I admit, I was on the verge of tears at the end because it does show how one of two choices can have an adverse affect on our lives and how the choices show their results over time. I would deffinately read this one again some time.

Next on the list is Basara, so this one could take a while 

Anyway, that's about it for now, until next time :)

Nothing to Say

Umm...I wish I had more to talk about...but there really is nothing...

On to the Olympics. Have to say that I am rather disappointed in Australia at the moment, only 1 gold medal. We are crazy good at getting silver, we have 9 of those, if there was no such thing as gold we would be nailing it! In all honesty though, the fun has gone out of the Olympics because its America and China, then a huge gap to the rest of the world. I think those two countries should have their own version of the Olympics, just to make it fair on us other countries, who, if we lose, 90% of the time is to competitors from these two countries. On the flip side, Australia will nail it in Rio, a lot of up and coming athletes which should be ready to go come four years time.

I have also read recently the first 4 and a half volumes of Rasetsu no Hana (because that is all that is scanlated). I was kind of hesitant at first, because it didn't look that great, but looks were deceiving. I found the story quite refreshing to a typical shoujo manga. It is somewhat dark as it does deal with death and the afterlife but it's not sad as such.  The story is about Rasetsu, an 18 year old woman who is cursed to be taken by the demon on her 20th birthday due to his mad obsessive love of her. There is a way to stop the demon from claiming Rasetsu and that is if she finds someone who mutually loves her before this same deadline (typical shoujo ploy lol). We are introduced to two male leads to form the love triangle, Kuryuu and Yakou. The story focuses on these three as they work together, all of whom have spiritual powers to help exorcise rogue spirits. The format is set out so it is one spirit per chapter sort of thing, but some spirits (the really bad ones, get two/three) while all in the meanwhile Rasetsu tries to figure out her feelings, as Kuryuu likes her but she likes Yakou more, Yakou is um....how do you say...DENSE!! Anyway, it is a good story, depending on which character you like, it may be considered a tragedy (I know the ending, one of the main three characters die!)

At the moment I am slowly making my way through Paradise Kiss, which is the sequal to Gokinjo Monogatari, so it should be an excellent read!

Anyway, that's about it for now, until next time :)

I Nearly have my Free time back!

YES! Another exam is over and done with and now I only have one more to go! Words can not describe my happiness that by next week, I will no longer have to do accounting. So what am I doing to celebrate? Working! But enough of the boring stuff.

I have finished reading quicker than anticipated, which is another bonus!! I have finished Arata Kangatari by Yuu Watase and as I said previously, despite it being a shounen series, I absolutely love it! I had kind of given up reading shounen series, but now I might be willing to start reading them again. For the record, the only other Shounen series that I am currently reading is Magico. I guess I liked Arata Kangatari because it does hold resemblance to many of Yuu Watase's other works despite being aimed at a different demographic. I like the sci-fi and supernatural themes as well as the art, although different from shoujo style, which usually has a lot more toning and definition in the features of the characters and such, it is still very eye catching. I guess because the style is something that I enjoy, it even attracts the female audiences. I also like the action scenes when there is all out fighting, which sounds violent, but the way it is done is suspenseful. It also addresses many issues that are relevant in today's society, the most obvious being bullying, which is highlighted particularly in the first ten chapter. Anyways, I plan to read this series now whenever it is updates  (added to my favourites >.<) and look forward to reading more of it in the future. It's just so good!

I have also finished reading Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa, and it was so good! I like how the main characters from "I'm not an angel" made a little cameo appearance and I am looking forward to reading the sort of sequel 'Paradise Kiss'. Oh I loved the fashion context of the series, I do quite like my fashion, so I absolutely worshiped all the cute outfits the characters wore (I wish I had those outfits). I like how it was nicely summed up. The initial story is left quite open ending with an image of Tsutomu and Haruhiko at the airport, but the extra chapter was a nice summary of how the characters ended up in their journey through life. Oh my, the only negative I have about it is that I wish it were longer, although in saying that, i felt that the story was thoroughly planned from page one and it didn't rattle on or fall into the trap of cliche`s like other series which have exceeded the best before date. Anyway, I could just go on and on about how awesome the series was. Just a warning, anyone who hasn't read it and is planning to, you may find the female lead Mikako a bit annoying, she is very dependent and can do little on her own when making life choices. Thankfully though, this is addressed towards the latter half of the series. So yeah, get on it guys.


Anyway that is about it for now, until next time :)

Winter Nights

Are damn cold!! I am in a state of torment as to whether or not it would be socially acceptable if I took my blankets with me just so I can say warm. What can I say, I am not made for the cold. Oh well, the hot chilli sauce in my cupboard keeps me warm through its sheer spiciness.

Anyway, I went bowling with a couple of friends tonight. Unfortunately, I didn't win either game, came second in both games :( but it was a memorable night for many reasons. Firstly, when I got there, my friend kind of broke the window of my car and now it wont wind up. My solution to this was to use my umbrella cover the open window so people don't break into the car and to keep out the cold and tie the umbrella handle to the steering wheel using headphones so no-one stole my umbrella because it was my good umbrella. Anyway, I took a photo of the situation because this could only happen to me:

not the best photo but it was night time so what do you expect? As I previously said, I came second in both games. I took a photo of the scoreboard for one of the games and edited it slightly for privacy purposes

   I only lost by four points! And yes, the score is correct 'Friend 1' really only did get 13, and we cheered whenever they hit the pins.

At the moment, along with watching NANA, I am simultaneously reading two series: Arata Kangatari by Yuu Watase, which is ongoing at 15 volumes and Gokinjo Monogatari by Ai Yazawa, which is complete at 6 volumes. So two series by two very well known and respected Mangakas and thus far I am enjoying them both. I am actually surprised how much I am enjoying Arata Kangatari because it is a shounen series, which I rarely read, but that is never a bad thing I must say. I hope to have finished both series within the week if my schedule allows it.

Anyway that is about it for now, until next time :)