Strangers should just stay that way...Strangers!

Ok, so I am slightly annoyed because people that I don't know say that I 'can't accept people for who they are'. Why? Because I said if given the choice, I would not live in a society which finds the song 'Call Me Maybe' or One Direction are socially acceptable. This stranger claimed that I should be more accepting of people because his girlfriend is a 'fan of 1d'. Firstly, I don't know him, or his girlfriend, and seeing as I don't know either of them, I could not give a shit about their own music preferences. Secondly, I don't believe I ever said I dislike people who are fans of either of the aforementioned things, it's the money used to produce this rubbish to flood the publicsphere that is unacceptable. If that money is to be spent on entertainment production, it should be done so on people who have the talent to warrant such things. I'm just saying that there is no reason why I should have to get pissed by listening to crap music on my way to work. I don't know, I just reckon we should all go back to the 80's when music was good and required actual talent.

Anyway, onto a happier note, I have finished Usagi drop. I was misinformed, there are actually 10 volumes, it's just that the 10th volume is a series of bonus chapters that are related to the main story at different points of time. Due to the content, I would consider it a mature read. Before reading this series, I looked it up on Wikipedia and I was aware of what I was reading but it is still a bit weird. The story is about 30 year old chronic bachelor, Daikichi and how he adopts the illegitimate child of his grandfather, 6 year old Rin, after the death of Daikichi's grandfather (so yes, technically she is his aunt). The first half of the story is about the 6 year old Rin and 30 year old Daikichi adjust to their new circumstances and how they develop bonds with not only each other, but also others (for Rin, she befriend Kouki, for Daikichi he befriends Kouki's mum and other co-workers) as well as Daikachi's research into Rin's birth mother. The second half of the story focuses 10 years down the track, when Rin is 16 and is now a high schooler, and Daikichi is now 40 and still single. This arc focuses on Rin's emotional development as she realises her feelings for Daikichi are romantic other than familiar and Daikichi's internal struggle to accept Rin's feelings, as well as Rin's genetic origins. We see that the bonds created 10 years earlier are still around today, with Kouki and Rin going to school together still and with Daikichi still working for the same company and still consults Kouki's mum. During the second arc, we see what happens in the 10 years between, including the delinquent years of Kouki, and Daikichi's proposal to Kouki's mum (which she declines). By the end, Rin is told, that Souchi (Daikichi's grandfather) is not her biological father and it seems she has a decent relationship with her biological mother despite the fact that she abandoned Rin. Apparently Daikichi knew since the beginning that him and Rin were never blood related through Souichi's will (we do get to see the will at the beginning of the story, but because of language differences, this part was lost in translation, which was unfortunate). The story ends two years further in time, Rin has just graduated high school and now her and Daikichi are discussing their future as Daikichi accepted Rin's feelings because he simply can't refuse her (They plan to marry and possibly have children). It is quite a nice story, it does deal with some complex and dark themes such as abandonment and death, and was quite enjoyable considering it breaks my personal rule of not dating anyone who is old enough to be your father. The only disappointed was Rin rejected Kouki when he confessed, which was a shame, because in the manga world, Kouki grew up fine ;).

Next on the list is Kakan no Madonna by Saito Chiho which is complete in Japanese at 7 volumes and nearly completely scanlated in English with upto chapter 1 of volume 7 being scanlated.

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

Lady GaGa 2012!!

So as previously mentioned, the other night I attended Lady Gaga's first of five Melbourne concerts. I have previously gone to her 2010 concert which I thoroughly enjoyed, and she definitely did not disappoint this time round either. As I predicted, the concert not only consisted of her singing and dancing but also a narrative about her little monsters slowly becoming the dominating species. The beginning was awesome, because I got to see a unicorn even though it wasn't real. My seats weren't the greatest (death by mosh wasn't an option, so i chose to buy seated tickets) but the show was still magnificent.

Anyway, since attending the concert, it as come to my attention that one song she performed was somewhat controversial. At the time, when Gaga was talking about the song, I thought it may have been a setup as some shows (mainly circus performances) use this ploy to gain audience attention. Thinking back, I guess I was slightly stupid seeing as Gaga already draws enough attention to herself as an artist as it is, so there is no need as to why she would need to use such ploys. Anyway, it has been in the news, her song 'Princess Die' which she said may or may not be on her next album, but the song is about death, mainly suicide. Anyways, I actually filmed the performance of the song, so I am one lucky duck that I was a part of the audience for something so unique and apparently controversial, so here it is:

Other than that, I have a few other videos from the concert, these are amateur videos shot on my phone, so they aren't the best of quality, but just a taste of what I experienced:

On another note, Usagi drop is taking a while for me to read, it's not that I haven't had time, it's just that it's once of those series that takes a while to read chapters. With any luck I should be done by tomorrow :)

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

Loosing Sleep

Ok, so I am a bit angry at the moment, but I think it is within reason. I had to spend a whole day renovating a house for someone I don't even know for free. I don't understand why I had to get up at some early hour, travel to this random's house and help them renovate a home so they can live in it, I mean, if I was actually a tradie that was professional and got paid, I wouldn't have an issue, but why couldn't these people do it themselves, especially when it takes up my time and not theirs >_<

On another note, I get to go to Lady GaGa's first Melbourne show tonight, so I am just a bit excited! I went to her last Melbourne show in 2010 and that was amazing. It seems the concerts I go to have a high performance value. I also went to Katy Perry last year and both her and GaGa have shows that have them singing, but also the added narrative in the concert, so it is almost like you get two shows in one, so yeah, looking forward to it.

Moving on, due to my schedule of renovating randoms houses, I haven't had much time to read, but I have read Yumemiru Taiyou by Takano Ichigo. I could tell from the beginning I would like this story, because this is by the same mangaka as Orange! It is complete at around 10 volumes but scans are only done thus far up to chapter 33 (volume 8). The story is about the lead girl, Shimana, who decides she would like to leave home due to recent changes in her family. When she runs away, she runs into a strange man wearing a kimono who offers her a place to live ( a boarding house of sorts). After a few conditions are met, Shimana moves in. As the story progresses, Shimana starts to crush on Asahi (not the beer) only to have her heart broken. After a while, despite a pursuant Zen, she develops feelings for Taiga (weird man in the kimono) and confesses to him. Although Taiga accepts somewhat, he admits that 'he likes her, but doesn't like her in that way' but that he will try, also, we are introduced to Taiga's father, who is hell bent on some plan to bind Taiga to him by removing him from his current surroundings. Up to the scans, it is obvious that Taiga likes Shimana, but hasn't figured it out for himself, which is really cute! I know how it end because bxsweebly translated the back end of the series, although, from my plot summary, I think it is obvious how it would end. Personally, I adore this series, however it seems that others don't agree because they don't like the ending. It is a shoujo series, so don't expect a complicated plot with dark undertones, because if you are, I think you are reading the wrong genre.

Next on the list is Usagi Drop, It is complete at 9 volumes in Japanese and scans and is something for the older readers considering the plot.

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

Getting back to business

Yes, I am finally able to stay up long enough to write a decent update, although given the amount of time between drinks, it will most likely be somewhat abbreviated.

Firstly, I must say, so proud of my swannies, beating Geelong on Friday night, I must say that I take back every bad thing I ever said about Andrejs Everitt, he is now my hero after kicking the match winning goal. So now I have bragging rights over 90% of AFL supporters, as my team sits pretty in second spot. I am content ^.^

Ok, so as I mentioned what seemed like forever ago, I have read Galism, what i didn't realize is that it is by the same mangaka who wrote Bijo Juku and I Love HS, so I must say I was a pretty happy chappy when I found out. I absolutely love the three sister heroines, Ran, Nobara and Yuri, they are a set of siblings that do things their own way. I guess I am glad to see this within shoujo manga, because more often than not, I find the female leads crying every two pages, and I think anyone would agree that it is super annoying. The story is about the sisters who try to unravel the evil plans of the principal of the school which they attend. The principal's son Yuudai is dating Ran, while her step son, Kento, not only wants to stop his step mother from inheriting the school, but also has feelings for Ran. As you can see, the characters are all inter-related and the plot does get a but messy at times. There are a few ongoing gags, such as the grandfather plotting to get his grandsons to get along (even faking his death at one point) and the older two sister's efforts in interrupting Ran's first time with Yuudai (more like stop it from ever happening). The art is good, as one would expect with this mangaka, so overall, rather enjoyable, especially the comedic aspect :)

I have read a couple of manhwa series too, Fallen Angels and Become Habituated to Kiss. Fallen Angels by Han Yu Rang, I must say was a bit of a disappointment. So far, 20 chapters have been scanlated into English, but I definitely won't continue with the series once more chapters are released. Unfortunately, the title is about as interesting as the story gets. I found the plot difficult to follow and rather boring. Kind of a shame considering I tend to love Han Yu Rang series.

Become Habituated to Kiss is by Hwang Mi Ri and has about 17 chapters scanlated thus far into English. I found this one much more entertaining and to my enjoyment. Again, this story has the strong, but somewhat airheaded female lead, which is always entertaining for me. The female lead, Kang Da Yeon, saves a handsome man, Kang Oh Hyuk from being beaten by a group of thugs (yes she beat the thugs up, if that happened in real life how bad ass would that be), and he 'repays' her with a kiss. From this point onwards, Kang Oh Hyuk takes a liking to Kang Da Yeon as he finds her entertaining and relieves him of his boredom, to the point that he at one point tries to blackmail her into living together (the blackmail was rather funny I must say, thing along the lines of Bridget Jones' Diary). True to Hwang Mi Ri's work, the characters also seem to have respective family issues to deal with.

I have also read Sekai de Ichiban Dakarai by Banri Hidaka. It is complete, but I don't know how long it is (at least 10 volumes) but only 2 and a half of which have actually been scanlated. The story is about Kazuha and Maki and the development of their relationship. As for the ending, thanks to them  being minor, re-occuring characters in Hidaka's next series, V.B Rose, we know that they end up together and get married (^o^). Anyway, I tend to think of this as a prequal for V.B Rose, most likely because I read V.B rose first, but it is like an ongoing saga as such. I got annoyed writing this paragraph because I typed it and then accidently deleting it before saving it, so to my frustration, I got to write this last bit twice (-.-;)

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

Searching for the light

Because my sickness has left me in the bottom of a hole which I'm trying to climb out of as quick as possible, which is why I have been MIA recently. Due to me being sick, I have been sleeping much of the last 72 hours. Although I have plenty of stuff to talk about, this is more of an update to say that I am still alive and haven't fallen off the face of the Earth...yet.

Anyway, until next time :)

Sickness should just go away!!

So yeah, I have been kind of sick the last few days, which has been absolutely no fun. It seems to be a combination of stomach virus and migraines, so yeah, I definitely am beginning to miss food...and sleep, the migraines hurt to the point that I can't sleep. Sigh, I have taken many migraine tablets and aside from the fact they make me trip balls they do make me feel better, so I guess I should keep taking them. Also didn't help that there was an earthquake yesterday, which is rare for Australia because we are conveniently geographically situated in terms of tectonic plates, but still, when you are just reading in bed and your house starts to shake, automatic response is that you shit yourself (metaphorically of course)

For starters, still going with NANA, but only 2 episodes left to go. I have tomorrow off, so I have to get on Youtube to check it out seeing as my DVD player has decided it is going to hate me.

Also, I am currently watching the Amazing Race Australia. All I can say is they definitely choose the more eccentric participants to compete in reality format shows.

Moving on, As previously mentioned, I have read Do you Remember, Mogwa? by Han Yu Rang and since I last talked about it, two more chapters have been scanlated and released (Lucky >.<) because when I initially read it, the chapter that it ended on was really suspenseful, so I was really glad to not have to wait too long. I have found this series rather interesting. It is about a girl who is traumatized by an experience when she was 8 years old. Basically what happened was Sun Jong (the main girl) was kidnapped by her mother's friend when she was 8. The woman held her captive while she killed herself, exclaiming that Sun Jong's mother is a murderer and such. This experience leaves Sun Jong unable to communicate and also makes her incapable of looking at her own face. From that day on, Sun Jong has since worn a mask and refuses to talk to anyone except her grandma. Moo Kae is a presumably homeless boy/man (thus far his age has not been disclosed, but I think he is meant to be around 18) who Sun Jong's grandmother takes in on the condition that he befriend her grand-daughter. Moo Kae reveals little about himself, however we do know that he himself has lost his memory. Per Usual, there is also the villainous rich girl, Min Hee, who will do anything to get what she wants, which in this case is Moo Kae, lies in order to befriend the socially awkward Sun Jong and to break up the friendship between Sun Jong and Moo Kae in order to have Moo Kae all to herself. Anyway, I thought that the concept of the mask because she fears her own face was really interesting, I guess it is a more serious approach but at the same time similar to Usotsuki Lily, where En can't look at his own reflection without breaking the reflecting surface. 

I have also read Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu, which is ongoing at 17 volumes in Japanese and scanlated to the beginning of volume 7 in English (chap 37) and for some weird reason, chapters 89-93 are also scanlated (I haven't read these chapters because then I would be missing 50 chapters of valuable story!!). Anyway, I have found it a very interesting series thus far. It is about the sport Kuruta and the friendship the sport has developed between Chihaya, Arata and Taichi. To be honest, I don't really understand how to play the game, mainly because I can't read or speak Japanese, but I understand the concept of how it is played. I guess the easiest way to say it is that is kind of like a more difficult and extreme way of playing a combination Go Fish and chess. I am not suggesting that the two are the same by any means, Go Fish is easy, Kuruta is hard, it involves poetry and extreme strategy. One thing that I particularly like about this series is the prologue. The first 6 chapters of the story introduce the characters at elementary school level and lay the foundations for the main story when they begin high school, which starts at chapter 7. Anyways, I look forward to reading more of this series in the near future as this series is updated quite frequently (Lucky >.<).

For now, I am reading Galism, which is complete in Japanese with 6 volumes and currently 15 chapter scanlated in English.

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

I'm in Hibernation Mode

I spent the entire weekend working, which is a bit of a bummer, but because of my efforts, I got Monday off, hence I spent the entirety of the day hibernating, except for when I had to clean my room, but other than that it has for once, been a relaxing day with nothing much to do. Anyways, as promised before the weekend, which seems like months ago to me for some reason, I am no in a way better mood, hence I am willing now to talk about stuff.

Last Friday, I went to the movies and watched Adam Sandler's new film 'That's my Boy', which also stars Andy Samberg and Leighton Meester with cameo appearances by Vanilla Ice, Ciara and Susan Sarandon. So there is quite a few names in this film, and to be honest, probably one of the better ones featuring Adam Sandler in recent times. It was by no means a 'Billy Madison' or 'Happy Gilmore' but still a good laugh in what is largely slapstick comedy. The humor is also very adult based, so definitely not one for the kiddies. The link provided is for the wikipedia page of the film, which has a comprehensive summary of the plot line of the film for anyone wanted more information.

Just a quick update with NANA, I still haven't watched the last five episodes but plan on doing so tonight, so I'll have my thoughts on that one in my next post.

As for Anatolia Story by Chie Shinohara (also more commonly known as Red River), I have actually finished reading it (yes, all 28 volumes) and because it is so long, there is no way I am summarizing such a storyline! I have to say absolutely loved this series, it is probably up there in my top 5 all time favourites for many reasons. Firstly, I am a massive fan of the old school manga. Red River started in 1995, so around the same time as Sailor Moon ended and just before Ayashi no Ceres began (both great 90's series). I regard the 90's as a great decade for shoujo manga and this one surely didn't disappoint. I also love any story with historical genre, but I loved this one even more so for many of the characters and events in the story were inspired by actual historic figures and events, which is really cool (source: Wikipedia). One thing I will say is that the themes and content is fairly gruesome and graphic with adult themes as well. A few examples of this include when a young servant boy, Tito, is killed and skinned by his murderer and his dead body is shown with his flesh missing, and in a fighting scene we see an enemy soldier actually sliced in half. I won't sugar coat it, a lot of characters die and there is a lot of bloodshed and war. I guess you could also say that there is this psychological element as well with Queen Nakia, the main villain feeling the need to place her son on the thrown at any cost to the point were she 'would even defy the heavens'. She plots numerous murders and schemes to ensure she gets what she wants. I also like how the author used Narration to explain some of the historical context of the story, especially towards the end, we find out that in real history what happened to some of the characters after the completion of the story especially the end, which states that 'around 150 years after the prosperity of Mursili's reign, the Hittite empire vanished into history' and then continues on with possible reasons as to why. It actually makes me want to learn more about ancient times, as I have already studied Ancient Egypt somewhat, so it looks like Wikipedia will be of great use to me in the near future. I will say, that some of the scans are of poorer quality that what some may be used to, in particular volume 25, however, if that puts you off reading it, your loss, you are missing out on one fantastic story. I am kind of disappointed though that I have finished reading Red River, because now I feel that whatever I read next will just lack in comparison.

Speaking of which, next on the list is "Do you remember, Mogwa" by Han Yu Rang. From what I have read, it is complete at 15 volumes Korean/14 and complete in Vietnamese and currently 9 and a half volumes scanlated in English. 

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