For the Sake of Dulcinea etc.

Sigh, such a  horrible day, I think I seriously pissed someone off in my former life. Other than the fact that I had to work, not only was it rediculously busy, but on the way there, there was some major cycling event (like a fundraising ride or something) which route was my exact route to work, and it's like 30kms to work, so for 30kms I had to drive at a leisurely pace as there was not much opportunity to take over these cyclists...I mean really though, what unbelievable bad luck that it went from my house to past my work.

So, moving on, I have read For the Sake of Dulcinea, by Hwang Mi-Ri, it is completely scanlated with 6 volumes, so rather short for the kkotnim company. The story is about Soon-Ae, who is a girl who has been with her boyfriend for just a little under 3 years, but she feels that she is no longer in love with him. Enter Wook-Hwan, a handsome guy who boards at Soon-Ae's house. Soon-Ae soons develops feelings for Wook-Hwan and as a result breaks up with Dong-Hwa. Wook-Hwan and Soon-Ae soon start dating, Wook-Hwan says he is from the future but Soon-Ae doesn't believe him. it is revealed that Wook-Hwan travelled to the past to find the composer of a song that has gone missing from a museum of the future found with with some fossils of two people. It is revealed that the composer is Dong-Hwa and he had composed that song for Soon-Ae. After Soon-Ae realizes that she does love Dong-Hwa and Wook-Hwan realises that Soon-Ae and Dong-hwa need to be together for the song to be written, Soon-Ae and Wook-Hwan try to get Soon-Ae and Dong-hwa back together. Eventually, they are successful and Wook-Hwan gets his song. After this Wook-Hwan decides it is best to kill Dong-Hwa so he can have Soon-Ae again. He does this by sending Dong-hwa to a building he knows will collapse under the pretense of meeting Soon-Ae there. Dong-hwa dies, and Soon-Ae soon finds out that Wook-Hwan was the cause of it. Wook Hwan says that even though he murdered Dong-hwa, he as well Soon-Ae would have died 8 days later (or it says "today" in the story) due to the meteor shower that would kill them. Wook-Hwan gives Soon-Ae his time watch so she can travel to an alternate universe where the meteor shower wouldn't happen and her and Song-hwa could continue their relationship. She takes the watch and goes to an alternative world, but also 3 years in the past to when she first met Dong-hwa. Meanwhile Wook-Hwan stays in the present and sacrifices himself to make sure the song made it to the future. So, I thought Wook-Hwan was a bit extreme, killing someone so he could get the girl, when she only rejected him anyway, so I can't really feel too sad that he sacrificed himself in the end.

Anyway, I will leave it there for now, next time I'll talk about Hoshi no Furu Machi and Sad Love Story. Until next time :)

Bride of the Water God

Okay, so other than studying and working and the usual, I have been reading Bride of the Water God by Yoon Mi-Kyung. It is a manhwa series, and it is 18 volumes ongoing, with 16th volume currently being scanlated, so it is rather up to date.

So, the story is about Soah, who is sacrificed to the Water God in the hopes that her village would end the drought that it slowly killing them. After being told by everyone that the Water God is a monster, she is surprised to learn that the Water God is a small child name Habaek. It turns out Habaek is cursed and can only appear in his true form during the night as Mui. 

The first part of the story is just about Soah meeting the people of the Water Country such as Hoo-ye, Mura, Yo-hee etc. and revelations such as how Soah was not meant to be the sacrifice and Habaek only ever loved his first wife, Nakbin. Soah is led to believe that Habaek and Mui are two different people, and the story begins to deal with how Soah feels for Mui romantically and yet feels like she is betraying Habaek as she does not know they are one and the same. 

As others start to realize what is going on, Habaek sends Soah back to her village, where she is shunned, before being sold off again by her father. Mui takes her back to the water country the day before she was to get married. Back in Water Country, Soah and Hoo-ye seem to be getting rather close, but it turns out to be more than unrequited love on Hoo-ye's side. Mui also formally proposes to Soah (she still doesn't know that him and Habaek are the same). Before Soah can respond, a second sacrifice is sent to Water Country, with Soah requesting that Mui saves the sacrifice. 

The sacrifice bears a striking resemblence to Nakbin. Yeo-wa (the sacrifice who looks like Nakbin) plots to becomes Habaek's true wife. It is later revealed that she is in fact a pawn of the Emporor of the Imperial Country in his schemes against Habaek, and is only made to look like Nakbin, to the point she actually believes she is Nakbin. Yeo-wo then drugs Habaek with a love potion which makes him fall for Yeo-wo but forget Soah, although it was only meant to be a love potion. This allows Hoo-ye to take Soah to the Emperor at the Imperial Court while Habaek takes Yeo wa as his 'wife'.  

It is also revealed that Hoo-ye and Nakbin were siblings, with their father being the Emporor. In a brief flashback arc, we are shown how Nakbin and Mui met, although it is still unclear how Nakbin died. At the Imperial court, it turns out Mui was playing everyone, and actually didn't forget anything, but pretended to do so to protect Soah. This is conveniantly revealed when Mura (who is the witch of Chung Yo mountains) pushes Soah into a lake which will trap her forever (Mura as an unrequited love for Habaek and does this out of jealousy). 

At the Gathering at the Imperial country, it is revealed that Nakbin is somehow alive! And Soah is finally told the truth about Habaek/Mui being the one and the same. Ju-dong and Bu Ryeom in their rebel attack try to kill the emperor but are unsuccessful. They 'kidnap' Soah and take her to the Lunar Palace. There, Soah meets a man who looks like Mui, who is later revealed to be his father. In the Meanwhile, Mura, who is obsessively in love with Habaek/Mui, burns the rare tree which bears a fruit that blooms once every 3000 years and allows a human who eats its fruits to live for 18000 years. 

Back on the Moon, Mui requests to see Shin Nong, but he would only be allowed to do so if he formally marries Soah (vow to the marriage god, and I am disappointed that this was done so hastily!!). Mui and Soah leave to go to Chung Wo mountains where Mura is with the bando (apparently thats what the fruit is called). Mura requests that Mui kills him in order to obtain the fruit. He refuses and Bi Ryeom kills Mura then himself. Then Soah refuses to eat the fruit and tells Mui to become human for her. 

Through Mura's friend, Mui is able to become human, however he can only be in his adult form if he is away Soah. Back in the human world, Dong Young (the man Soah was sold of to the second time) reveals that he knows that Mui is Habaek. In the meanwhile Woo Hui, Dong Young's younger sister tries to make Mui fall in love with her. Mui's mother hears of her son's troubles and intends to kill Soah, instead injuring Mui, and basically that is where it ends in the English, with Mui on the brink of life and death in his mortal form.

So thoughts? Well, I thought Mui felt something from the first time he met Soah. Whether he actually loved her straight away or just thought she was interesting. He revealed the fact that they were the same person, I think that was perhaps because he was embarassed of his childish daytime form. But also, Mui tells Soah his given name (Gods have 3 names, Mui is the one given by his parents), which only a few people may call him. Everyone else calls him Habaek. 

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

Shanimuni GO

So, as previously mentioned I have read Shanimuni GO by Ragawa Marimo, well what's released of it. I found out that it was 32 volumes long and completed but only 7 volumes have been scanlated and released in English. So Shanimuni GO is about Ide Nobuhisa (who will now be just Ide) and Takita Ruui, both 1st year high school students who joined their school's tennis team. 

Ide was a track star in middle school, but after an encounter with high schooler Hinako, he attends her school in the hopes of learning tennis from her. Ruui is a junior ranked tennis player who had previously given up on tennis, only to start again in high school. So Ide starts high school, but can't find Hinako, mainly because he read her name wrong (kanji), but anyway he joins the tennis club. Ide, who has never played tennis before quickly develops his skills on certain aspects (such as the ground strokes) but struggling in others (serve and netplay). Anyway, Ide and Ruui are paired together in the first tournament of the school year with success (I think they won the first tournament they were in). Ruui also takes out the singles tournament quite easily. 

The boys continued to practice and at the next tournament they are knocked out in the second round by the national champions, but only lose in a tiebreak. Ruui again has individual success, I think he gets to the quarter finals before losing (?) To be honest I can't really remember because there was quite  a few tournaments and I can't remember what happened when. 

Anyway, at the next tournament, Ruui was knocked out in the first round, shocking Ide, but the two decide to continue to work hard in order to do better next year in singles and doubles. In the meanwhile Ide receives tips from Hinako, who is now is in his class as Hinako was held back a year due to a car accident which has left her with a paralyzed leg. The team also gets a new coach, but I can't remember what his name was, and wikipedia does not have a page on this. So I will say that I am I am quite enjoying this series and it will be a while until I reach the end.  

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

Sigh!

Sigh, I thought I should post a quick update seeing as if I don't do one now, it is unlikely I will be able to do another before Tuesday...Yes, I have been busy, unfortunately, it is that time of the year where I must endure the pain and suffering that comes with being a uni student and actually study.

What's there to talk about? Well, Shanimuni GO! (I'm not bothered enough right now to see if that is spelt right) and my thoughts on that, just the usual general ramblings...

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

Thoughts on Snow Drop etc...

So as previously mentioned, I have read Snow Drop, which is a manhwa series done by Choi Kyung-ah. It is kind of old, from the late 90's onwards, but it is a great read. Firstly, although it says 'shoujo' I would definately say that it is more suited to an older audiences, it can be at times pretty brutal. One thing I will say, for those of you who are picky about the qaulity of scans, don't be put of (like i was at first), but if you cant accept it, your loss. So it is about So Na and Hae Gi, two teenagers from "different sides of the tracks", So Na is the rich politicians daughter, Hae-Gi is required to work as his mother is in a coma and father MIA (cant remember if the father is dead of just not there). The two meet and fall in love through their simularities, for instance, they have both lost someone important (SoNa her mother, HaeGi his brother) and their own personal issues (SoNa being kidnapped at age 12, Hae-Gi mother is in a coma) and both their names are from the book SoNa's mother wrote. Anyway, after a failed attempted arranged marriage for SoNa because of her relationship with Hae Gi,  it is later revealed that SoNa is kidnapped by Hae-Gi's older brother, and that the brother was in turn murdered by a mob affiliated with SoNa's father (who is Ha Da's family business, Ha Da is So Na's best friend and by the end of the series has a relationship with Ko Mo, Hae-Gi's younger brother, so there is some shounen ai in there too). As a result they are told to seperate. On the run from her father's security team, SoNa and HaeGi get in a motorcycle accident, with SoNa choosing to save him in exchange for never seeing him again. Hae Gi and his family is sent to America as a result. Two years pass, and So Na decides she wants to see Hae Gi from afar one last time to make sure he is ok. Her former fiance (forgot his name) takes her to the US, where Hae Gi and So Na reunite and recommence their relationship. Basically, all the same stuff happens again, until So Na's father shoots So Na in his attempt to kill KoMo while Hae Gi gets stabbed. Due to this, everyone decides to let go of the past and move on and Everyone lives happily ever after. There is also an epilogue to this in regards to what happens to side characters with some reference to the main ones, but its not worth going into too much detail about.

Also, I have finished watching the main Fushigi Yuugi anime. I say main because there is OVA collection which is like 13 episodes split into 3 different arcs which I am yet to watch. I am really glad that it stuck to the manga for the most part, one thing I have noticed about 90s anime is that it tends to go off the main tangent for some reason (i.e.Sailor Moon). I particularly liked the last few episodes, I liked the last scene during the end credits, where is showed the best bits from all the characters involved before showing the scene where Miaka and the reincarnated Tamahome reunite. I thought it was well done. okies

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

Armageddon 2012 Part Two

Ok, so more Armageddon!! Well, so first off, I should just say that yes I did cosplay, but there are no photos, which isn't a bad thing. All I will say is that I got to put my nekomimi to good use...

So, obviously it was a lot of fun, I got to look at heaps of different displays to do with anime and manga and to lesser extent, sci-fi. So, i managed to get my hands on some manga for a decent price. I got the first two volumes of Sakura-hime, which I haven't had the chance to read yet, and the 1st volume of Sailor Moon (for old time sakes), Some miniature pokemon figurines, a Vampire Knight post (photo to be uploaded soon) and some other stuff. It sure makes a difference when I have money, usually I don't have money to spare to really get anything from these conventions, so it was nice.

There were a lot of fellow cosplayers, the best of which was a Jesus with a light saber, I will say that it was possibly the highlight of the day! Overall it was was a good day.

I have finished reading the 'Snow Drop' manhwa, so I will probably talk about that later. Anyways, that's about it for now, until next time :)

Armageddon 2012 Part 1

Ohmigod! I was lucky enough to be able to go to Armageddon today, which is a convention for anime and sci-fi plus other popular culture, and can I just say it was AMAZING!! Although I don't have much time right now, so unfortunately this is all I will say now, but I will try to talk about it in more detail in the next day (hopefully) but at the latest, Tuesday! So Watch this space

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