Turning Back Time

Okay, so I have been thinking of cosplaying or dressing up for an actual picture of myself for this blog, but last night when I attacked my friend's Facebook page, I found a wonderful photo of myself at the 2011 Melbourne Zombie Shuffle. I didn't even know my friend took posted this awesome photo of me and I thought that I just had to use it, so here it is:

In case you couldn't guess, me and friends went with the oh so cliche`d 'schoolgirl zombie apocalypse' theme. I also found a good one from 2010 zombie shuffle where a friend and I went as 'dide and doom' which resulted in a lot of pictures ending up on FlickR:

 

Looking through my pictures, I realize that thanks to photographs, there are moments that I am less proud of because I look like a twat, but hey, it was always a lot of fun. Moving on....

Anyways, I have read (there are only two chapters translated so far) the manga series Gekka Mugentan and I have to say it is surprisingly similar to Black Bird. The differences between this and Black Bird are very minimal, for example, instead of tengus, it is werewolves, the werewolves have a village secluded in the mountains, and the leadership of the village is decided by who can 'copulate' (word they use) with the 'golden rule' who is a girl with a crescent moon birth mark on her chest. Also, in order to be with the golden rule, it has already been established that these werewolves will kill each other. The main difference is that the heroine kicks ass. I mean, she isn't some wimpy little girl who starts crying every 3 panels, words cannot describe my desire to smash my head in whenever she starts crying, you could almost make a game out of it. Anyways, it is just as smutty, if not more smutty than black bird, so if you are sensitive to those kind of scenes, then please, do not read, you have been warned!! Also, although I have said only two chapters have been released in English so far, it is quite a lengthy series, with 7 volumes and ongoing!

I have also been reading Hotaru no Hikari. This series is a Josei series, and good Josei series are rather hard to find (mainly because they are all oneshots or manga adaption of harlequin romance novels-how I hate onseshots) but this one is a real gem. 7 volumes have been scanlated thus far, the series quite lengthy at 15 volumes complete. I quite like the analogy of the 'dried fish' or 'himono onna' for the lead character, who is lazy, messy and has not been in a relationship for 5 years, in other words, chronically single.  It deals with issues such as the older woman-younger man relationship (hotaru is 3 years older than her boyfriend, that is, when she gets a boyfriend) as well as living with another man who is not your husband/de facto partner, which used to be looked down on upon society. Although I haven't found any reliable sources, I just know Hotaru's boyfriend Makoto is going to find out about her living arrangements with Takano bachou and then they will break up and in the end she will end up with bachou. I expect an appearance by Bachou's estranged wife (they are separated but there is nothing said about them being divorced) but in the end, they will end up together perhaps, because, due to dramatic irony, they don't realize that they already find it hard to live their lives separately anymore (as shown in chapters 27ish-36ish). 

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

At last...

I had a very peaceful day today ^_^ For the first time in a good couple of months I had a day which required me to do absolutely nothing, and let me say, it was glorious. Although, in all seriously, come Monday I will be hitting the books for the next few weeks in order to pass my exams, but fear not! I will make time to update my blog as it helps me relax at times.

So my team, the Sydney Swans played today. Although they played in Melbourne this weekend, I did not venture to the game, as after my last experience left me freezing cold. Good thing I didn't go, as I would have been bitterly disappointed as they once again, lost in Melbourne. It seems that they can't win here. Also, I am trying to save my money for the moment, so going to the AFL will just have to wait!

I have had the chance to read a few more manhwa series as well recently. I read Daddy Long Legs, and no it is not about the spider kind. It is a tragedy, and if you don't pay attention, you may get a bit lost, so to explain, I will most likely reveal spoilers. Sorry in advance. The story starts with Cha Young-Mi's employment at a radio station as a script writer, which just so happens to be her dream job. Turns out ever since her parents died in an accident, an anonymous person has been sponsoring the young girl so she can achieve her dream, their only contact being through snail mail. As the story progresses Young-Mi receives emails from a girl who's house she currently lives in, except the messages were sent a year ago with the intention of being received the following year (She assumes it is a girl for there is a massive portrait of her hanging in the main room). These emails serve as a journal for the girl and details of her unrequited love, who went oversees for medical reasons, in case she lost her memory as a result of the disease she has. The emails reveal also that the girl may only have a year to live. In the meanwhile, Young-Mi falls in love with a fellow colleague, Kim Joon-Hoo while also looking for her mysterious daddy long legs, who seems to be closer than he lets on. After a particular incident where a letter was answered (daddy long legs responded) but was never sent (because she never wrote an address) it is discovered that the director is her daddy long legs. After confronting the director, he admits that he is only a 'stand in' for the real daddy long legs, and that the real sponsor was originally Kim Joon-Hoo. The audience is then taken on a trip through Kim Joon-Hoo's memories and we find that he is owner of the house Young-Mi lives in, the sender of the emails, thus the person with the disease. At this point, Young-Mi and Joon-Hoo, who can't remember that he previosuly loved Young-Mi before his illness, reconcile at Young-Mi's favourite place (a park overlooking the town) only for Joon-Hoo to die next to her. After Joon-Hoo's death, Young-Mi finds the key to the attic, which turns out to be an office filled with sketches and notes about Young-Mi. At this point a ghost of Joon-Hoo appears (Young-Mi can't see it, but can feel his precence) that says he likes the smiling Young Mi the best. The story ends with Young-Mi saying that she is happy, but can't wait for the day when the two of them meet again. So yeah, that is about it, a bit long, but very confusing, I had to read the last few chapters twice to understand, but given that it is only two volumes in length, it is a nice, very well put together story and an enjoyable read. Everyone should get on it even if it isn't your cup of tea because this is such an amazing story.

I also read I Accept You, another Manhwa series, but this one is 6 volumes long. As far as Manhwa goes, this one is pretty standard. You have the two main characters, You have your gangs, your crazy stalker girl, the other guy who loves the stalker girl, another, totally unrelated girl, the dark hidden pasts etc. In short, there was simple, unlike Daddy Long Legs, which i felt had that depth. I Accept You definitely had it's moments, and  I still found it enjoyable, it's just that in comparison, for me it is no contest. However you like the works of great Manhwa artists such as Hwang Mi-Ri and Han Yu-Rang, then I feel that you will find that you will enjoy this series. 

For the record, I love Hwang Mi-Ri's and Han Yu-Rang's work, just a lot of their work has the whole gang/bad boy thing written into the plot. Also, I do read manga as well (a lot more than manhwa) but I have been reading a lot of manhwa lately because of my list. Basically, I have a list of the series that I wish to read, and to select the next series I will read, I number each series and then use a random number generator. I then match the random number generator with the number corresponding on the list and voila! It just so happens that a lot of Manwha numbers have come up recently :)

Anyway, a rather lengthy update I must say, but that is pretty much it for now, so until next time :)

A Profound Analagy

After some profound thought, I have come to the conclusion that my phone service provider is no better than a needy girlfriend, you know, those ones who post the vague, attention seeking statuses on Facebook. And here is why:

1. My service provider is more than happy to extend my contract before it expires, but there is no chance of doing so before the expiry date. It is considered 'cheating' in the phone service world if I do this. To be completely reasonable though, I don't even get mobile reception at my house so why would I a) want to renew my contract to begin with, and b) there are better deals out there for me

2. It takes you for all you are worth, adding interest and GST to its already high maintenance costs

3. Like a clingy girlfriend, they constantly call you, asking for you to commit to a lifestyle that most cannot afford

Hence, as of the beginning of next month, my current service provider can consider itself dumped in favour of a more economical service.

Also, like everyone else, I am going to have a whinge about the weather. It's cold and it's wet and quite frankly I'd much rather stay in bed today, but unfortunately that is not going to happen.

Also, I have read Neck and Neck. Not a lot to say about it. Essentially it is 8 volumes of waiting for the lead chick to get with the other guy, which happens at the very end of the very last chapter. It was kind of all over the place. When someone was plotting against the heroine, all of a sudden the story line would jump to another tangent and jump back again 2 volumes later. The overall plot was decent, however the inconsistency of the story lost it for me :(

Anyways, that about it for now, hopefully next time, I won't be freezing when I update :)

Links!!

Just a quick update!! I have added a 'Links' tab on the menu bar at the top. I will post links to various texts that I have talked about in the blog. The links will be mainly for manga and manhwa, but I will try to post links to other texts that I have mentioned. For example, If you check it out, I have posted a link for the Disney animation Beauty and the Beast. Anyways, enjoy!!

Tragedy

After discussing tragedy stories in other forums, I thought I might start my own here. So this will be just a quick update.

So, when I read or watch something, one of my favourite genres is tragedy because it evokes that emotion, but what makes a good tragedy? Thinking about it, tragedy covers such a broad range of topics. When we say tragic, do we mean something emotionally tragic, where the majority of the story is spent developing the characters within the story to a point where we grow attached to them? Of course the best ones for me are also intertwined with romance, because the ending always leave you hoping for a miracle that will never come. The best example of this would be Koizora, as not only does it spend the time developing the characters and such, but it is also a manga version of a semi-biographical work. That sense of reality makes it all the more tragic once we reach the climax of the story. A few other fictional series I can think of with similar elements include Mucha Kucha Daisuki, Wasurerarenai and Socrates in Love. There are also ones with the promise of tragedy but despite all the hardships, a miracle occurs and no-one dies. The most supreme example of this, and one of my personal favourites is Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu. In terms of tragedy, there are also the sports novels where one becomes incapable of pursuing there dream, but through hard work and determination (and a montage) are able to overcome their obstacles to rise to the top. Unfortunately, I have no such examples, but I hope you understand what I am talking about. Another type of tragedy I have become fond of include battle/war type series. Ayashi no Ceres, and to a lesser extent Immortal Rain although I didn't find the latter all that tragic, where it shows the emotional and physical loss of a world gone power and science mad. Yes, I am a sci-fi nerd, what of it?

If you have no idea what I am talking about, because you know jack all about manga and the like, more relevant versions of what I am talking about include Romeo and Juliet and Titanic.

So what I want to ask is what is tragedy to you? I would like to know if you have read/watched anything that would be defined as a tragedy and what you thought of it. Please leave any comments in the message board to the right or the comment section below, I would love to hear what everyone thinks!

Also, the links go to hosting sites of the respective manga series mentioned. No download required for any of the links. Being fair to scanlators and the like, I have tried to use Botato Comics where possible.

Why, oh Why?

Hey! So, where to start. Last week of university for the semester (yay!). I was meant to go to a revision lecture yesterday, but dad seemed to have other plans. He told me before he left that I could drive my car to uni (at the moment we share the car) but when it came to going, I couldn't find the keys. Searching like a mad woman, i couldn't find them inside or outside the house. Calling my mother, we both assumed that dad had taken the keys with him. After half an hour with no word, in a last ditch effort to find my keys, I went to look in the car. And were the keys? IN THE F******* CAR!! When I told my dad that I couldn't find the keys, he remained adamant that he told me the location of the keys, but still, what would possess someone to leave the keys in the ignition of the car. He might as well stick a sign on the window that says 'Steal Me'. Needless to say, I missed my all important lecture, so I was fairly annoyed.

Another of my lectures provided a memorable experience. We had our lecturer and tutor do a little mock of Titanic to theme song 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of videos of said incident, but I can confirm that I was crying from laughter :D.

I nearly had a car accident as well today. Some idiot in a 4WD thought because his car is bigger than mine that I would automatically move for him, getting hit by cars in the oncoming direction. I hate people who drive 4WD because they all have this mentally that they are bigger than every one else. Inferiority complex much! A ridiculous amount of people who drive this idiot machines don't even use it for its intended purpose, because lets be honest, some people just can't go a couple of hours without their skinny caramel latte's. In case I haven't made my point, I don't own or drive, nor do I intend to own or drive a 4WD.

In other news, I watched Beauty and the Beast today. Although I have the Disney classic on DVD, I haven't watched it recently and I have definitely been missing out. The art is still fantastic and I really wish I could draw and paint like that. If any of you remember, It is the last Disney animation to be completely drawn my hand, none of this 3D animation crap that kids today are subjected to. I feel sorry for them.

I have also been reading Goong recently. Firstly, it is a Korean Manhwa and I really don't know what to say about this one. Apparently the last of the chapters were uploaded in English yesterday, and if that is in fact the case, I am severely disappointed. The plot itself is amazing, It is set in current times, although in an alternate reality where the history of the world is altered slightly so Korea is not only united, but ruled by a monarchy. It focuses of the customs of the monarchy and life inside the palace (translated to be 'Goong' hence the title) and the constant power struggle within the monarchy for status. The plot of the story is amazing, quite different from your standard series. The characters are very intricate and well thought out, the relationships between the characters are extremely complex and part of the series is based on the journey to understanding these characters and relationships. The art is fantastic, especially the SD components of the series. However, the ending absolutely ruins it for me. To read 27 volumes only to be left with that kind of vague ending without the plot even being resolved of who will ultimately be king is nothing short of disappointment. I am sincerely hoping that the information about it being the end is a lie, and that the series is only on hiatus (has not been published since mid 2011) or there will be a sequal or even spin-off (as much as I hate spin-offs) series of some form. So if you are not one who is annoyed by the ending and reads only for the journey, then get on it people, but if crap endings annoy you like me, then please, for the love of pocky, please do not read, you will be disappointed.

On a side note, i attempted to read Kirakira 100% but gave up after 2 chapters because I already figured out how it was gonna go down and there was nothing to hook me into the plot, so I figured why bother

Anyways, that is about it for now! I'll be sure to update you all soon

Overload

On Everything! Seriously. I am having a serious rant about everything at the moment because I can. So lets start from the beginning. On Friday Morning, I was given the task of driving my mum to the airport. I was up at 4am we had plenty of time to drive there, because you know, it's the airport, so security take forever. Anyway, being 5am at the time, you wouldn't think there would be that much traffic on the road, so I decided to drive through the city. Boy was I wrong. Literally, minutes before we drove through the route I wanted to go, there was a massive car accident which caused the cars involve to catch fire, so the road was immediately closed. Forced to do a u-turn and time running out to get to the airport, I made the executive decision to try another route, alas, ended up completely lost. Just when we lost all hope that mum would not make it to the airport in time, we found the landmark which would lead us to our destination, thus we followed the aforementioned landmark until we arrived, arriving with no less than 3 minutes till the cut off time for the flight. And this is all before 6am.

Luckily, my luck changed after this point, I was fortunate enough to complete and submit my final assessment for the semester, so I have my free time back !! However, I was lacking sleep at this point, so I don't remember much of the remainder of the day's happenings. Saturday was also an up-down day. Thinking it was my day off, I was ready to chill the day away, when I got a call last minute to work Dreamtime at the G, One of the biggest AFL games of the year. Three hours later, I am at the MCG working, and let me tell you, one of the most amazing experiences of my life, despite the fact that I was working. It was invaluable experience and I hope I get to work there again through my agency. For the record, I work in the members area, not one of the fast food stalls. It might sound weird if I was speaking so highly of hot chips and hot dogs. On a sidenote, yay for Sydney demolishing Melbourne, always good when my team gets up. Continuing on, getting home after working was a hassle. I hopped on a train which would take me home. I don't like trains as it is, so imagine my fear when the train kept stuttering along the tracks. It got to the point where I couldn't handle the jumping and had to get off, so I sat at a train station for 30 minutes waiting for the next train in what seemed like arctic weather. Although, upon reflection, I was probably more scared the 30 seconds it took me to walk to my car when I got off the train the second time in the fear of getting jumped.

Moving on, after working today, I can confirm I have absolutely no ambition to pursue a career in childcare. Enough said!

I have recently been reading 'Boy of the female wolf'. I don't know what to think of it, because there is no real plot. I mean, it's just a girl pretending to be a guy because she feels like, a bunch of people belting the crap out one another, and the jealous love rival trying to reek havoc. I know a lot of manga/manhwa are like this and are very cliched, but at least there was some plot. The characters have very little back story and as I mentioned, other than the love triangle/square etc. there is very relatively little story. Such as, even though it is categorized as 'school life', although majority of it is set in a campus setting, very little emphasis is placed on the school, and more so on the fighting happening in school. It's like the school is just a setting rather than a plot. I guess I would recommend if anyone is after a simple read, but I definitely don't think I will be reading it again.

Anyhoo, that's it for now, hope to write again soon! :)