This episode begins with the princes finding out that Ichigo has never made pudding before, and Kashino shudders at the possibility of having to team up with Miya. Well, there’s nothing to be done other than Ichigo taking a crash course in pudding making from Vanilla, and the other sweets spirits, Ichigo vows to do her best over the next two days.

      Well, Ichigo’s first batch turns out in typical Ichigo fashion, a complete failure. The sweets spirits and the princes offer Ichigo encouragement and good advice for her next try. While Ichigo is practicing, we see someone taking a hidden cell phone picture and sending it to Miya who mocks Ichigo for being a beginner.

      Then we see that Miya only uses the finest ingredients available to make her pudding, and she even has a high school oven installed in her practice area. We also get the names of Miya’s henchboys, Satou and Shiotani; they are there to serve their Lady. Then Shiotani asks Miya why go through so much trouble for Kashino, she tells them it’s none of their business and leaves.

       Then we see a flashback of the welcoming ceremony for first year students where Kashino told her that her pudding was terrible and he was surprised they let her in the school. Miya says that was the first time anyone told the rich girl what her cooking really tasted like, everyone else just showered her with false praise. Miya says that’s all in the past because she really trained hard and improved her skill and she wants to show Kashino that she’s changed.

       The next morning, the princes go to the kitchen to check on Ichigo and they find her and Vanilla sleeping on the floor. When Ichigo wakes up she tells them she spent the whole night making an incredible amount of pudding, and she even used up all the pots and pans in the entire kitchen. When everyone tastes Ichigo’s pudding they’re all pleased with the outcome, but Ichigo isn’t. Ichigo says that there are still flaws in the pudding even though she baked them exactly the same way. The princes tell Ichigo that each oven in the kitchen has its own quirks and you have to figure each one out. When Carmel says she likes a pudding that Ichigo thinks she made too sweet, Ichigo gets an idea and tells the princes that she has to do something tonight.

       Well, the next day, Ichigo and Miya are told they have two hours to make five servings of pudding and the chairman will judge the outcome. As the contest begins it really looks like Miya is cooking like a pro and will easily defeat Ichigo who seems to be making mistakes. Once the puddings are placed in front of the Chairman, he begins with Miya’s pudding, and he can tell that Miya used the best ingredients Next is Ichigo’s turn, when the Chairman tastes Ichigo’s pudding he gets a very surprised look on his face, Ichigo thinks she’s lost, and Kashino thinks that Ichigo’s made her pudding too bitter.

      When President Tennouji announces Ichigo as the winner Miya demands to know why. The Chairman shows Miya that her pudding had cavities while Ichigo’s didn’t, and the chairman tells Miya that her oven must have cooked hot. President Tennouji tells Miya that Ichigo came to the high school kitchen last night and practiced all night in the kitchen. Miya then tells him that Ichigo’s Carmel topping must be bitter, and Ichigo tells her she made it that way after seeing how the Chairman like to take his coffee and what snacks he likes, so she made it bitter.

       Miya says it’s not fair that Ichigo looked into what he likes, but the Chairman tells her that the single most important thing about cooking is understanding what makes people happy. Later, Kashino tastes Miya’s pudding and tells her she’s improved, and Miya gets pissed and tells Ichigo that she’ll defeat her in the Grand Prix and runs off.

       Later, the President comes up to Ichigo and the princes and tells them that she knew they’d be alright because they had sweets spirits with them, and they see that she has her own sweet spirit, Honey. Well, Ichigo is really happy but the princes tell her to not get too cocky, and review her pudding basics before she forgets. Ichigo says she’s OK now and she looks forward to entering the Grand Prix with them and winning. Kashino tells her sorry but at her level they won’t even make it past the first round and the others agree.

         As they walk off, Ichigo is saddened because she wonders why they won’t recognize her? Vanilla tells her that she must understand how they feel and they’re being tough on her for her own good. Ichigo yells at Vanilla that she’s supposed to be her partner and understand her, Vanilla gets mad at Ichigo and says she’s not her partner anymore and leaves. In the next episode preview it looks like Ichigo got so pissed that she left the school and returned home and goes to work with her grandfather, and it also seems that Vanilla and the princes soon follow. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, Ichigo won her first one on one battle and seems to have gotten a long term rival in Miya. I have to say that after episode eight I really didn’t like Miya, but after watching episode nine I like her a lot more, she really did work hard to perfect her skills. I think that Miya’s problem is that she’s just a little too pushy for Kashino, and she needs to let her cooking do her talking.

       While Ichigo experienced the thrill of victory she also experiences the disappointment of not receiving the princes approval, while Ichigo tries hard she’s not up to their level and they let her know it. I really didn’t like how tough they were on my girl Ichigo, at least they could have gave her a little more props for winner her battle with Miya. The sweet princes should understand that Ichigo does bring something to the group that they lack, she has the ability to sense what people really need, and the princes in many ways are too reliant in their skills to think that they’re missing something.

      In many ways Yumeiro is very old fashioned when it comes to boy/girl relationships. In this modern day, I don’t understand why Ichigo and Miya have to base their self-worth on whether or not the boys acknowledge their abilities, I really don’t think that Kashino gives a shit whether or not Ichigo or Miya likes his cooking.

       This episode begins with Ichigo seeing Rumi off for an overnight trip home, and on her way back from the bus stop she runs into Kashino who tries to put a little fear into her because she’ll be spending the night alone. During the night the only thing Ichigo ends up frightened of is a bad dream featuring, guess who, Kashino. The next morning Ichigo runs into some girls from group B who invite her to join them for walnut gathering, Vanilla tells Ichigo to be weary but Ichigo blows her off. Once the girls are deep in the woods they set Ichigo up by leading her to some walnuts then ditching her in the woods.

       Well, Ichigo doesn’t really know her way back, so she and Vanilla try to find their way back and Ichigo grows hungry. As Ichigo grows weaker she hears piano music in the distance, and after several encounters with forest creatures the music leads Ichigo back to the school. As Ichigo makes it to safety she passes out from hunger and exhaustion, and while she’s fading in and out of consciousness she dreams that she’s seeing the queen of the sweets spirits.

       When Ichigo wakes up she finds she’s in bed and that it’s not the queen of the sweets spirits that has rescued her, but none other than the President of St. Marie and Henri-san’s prize student, Tennouji-san. She tells Ichigo to rest, but Ichigo’s too nervous, and also too excited to rest. When Tennouji sees that Ichigo is still weakened by hunger she tells Ichigo that she was in the process of making a Souffle, and would she like to share some with her? As Ichigo watches Tennouji complete her souffle she marvels at her skills. Did I forget to mention that Tennouji has a complete mini kitchen in her room?

       As Ichigo looks around Tennouji’s room she sees that it contains a trophy case loaded with all the prizes that Tennouji has won in cooking competitions. Tennouji tells Ichigo that those are just ornaments, and that she only works hard for the acknowledgement of one person……..Ichigo assumes that it’s Henri. Once the Souffle is done, Ichigo and Tennouji dig in and Ichigo’s special sense of taste kicks in, and she is almost able to discern exactly what the ingredients are. Once Ichigo’s strength has returned she thanks Tennouji for her help and leaves, Tennouji wonders what hidden abilities Ichigo is hiding behind her innocent smile.

       Once Ichigo returns to her room she discovers that Rumi has returned from her trip home, and Rumi has a hard time believing that Ichigo spent time with the President. Rumi tells Ichigo about how Tennouji will be competing in St. Marie’s biggest contest, the cake Grand Prix, the winner gets to go study in Paris. Wow, Ichigo says that she wants to do something like that in high school, and Rumi says she can enter as a middle school student, the princes did last year. Rumi goes on to tell Ichigo that the princes entered the competition with a girl named Ojou-san who Kashino hates.

       As Ichigo is talking with the princes during cooking practice, Kashino is dogging her ass by calling her a fool for falling for the walnut thing, and Ichigo tells him to partner with Ojou-san. Kashino goes into shock over the mention of the name, and Ichigo asks the other princes what happened. Well, they tell her that Ojou-san is actually Koshino Miya-san, a third year middle school student and daughter of a large Japanese industrial cooking company that had the hots for Kashino and managed to get partnered with them for last year’s Grand Prix. She caused such problems for Kashino and them that despite their best efforts they couldn’t succeed, and now Kashino’s hatred for women has grown even larger. Hanabusa tells Ichigo that if they partnered with her they might be able to succeed, but Kashino says that they need to do an exorcism first.

       So, Kashino lead then to the school’s cafe for snacks, they suggest Ichigo try the President’s angel pudding, and Ichigo says since the President’s souffle was so good she’ll try her pudding. Well, the princes are quite shocked to find out that Ichigo got to eat a special creation cooked by the President. Soon, a waiter arrives with pudding for their table, and Ichigo digs right in while the princes wonder why they’ve gotten food even though they haven’t placed their orders yet? Well, Ichigo thinks the pudding tastes great, and Kashino agrees when none other than Koshino Miya-san arrives and asks Kashino what he thinks of her pudding?

       Well, Kashino goes into shock, and Miya tells him that she’s worked hard at improving so they can enter the Grand Prix and win the study trip to Paris. Kashino tells her that he’s sorry but they’ll be partnering with Ichigo this year. 

        Miya insults Ichigo and her skills, Vanilla jumps to her defense, and we see that Miya can somewhat hear Vanilla. The princes offer Miya a sample of their cake and she again insults Ichigo and Henri’s judgement.

       Ichigo can’t take it any longer, and Miya to take it back, and she tells Miya that she’ll make a pudding that tastes even better than her’s. Miya says fine, if Ichigo succeeds she’ll take it back, but if Ichigo loses she gets to partner with princes. Ichigo says, fine, and Kashino and the other princes try to stop her bet.

       Just as all hell breaks loose, President Tennouji shows up and tells them to stop their foolishness, but Miya demands the contest. Tennouji is about to refuse the contest when the Chairman of the school intervenes saying that he likes determination in his students and he’ll judge, so Tennouji tells them that they’ll make a basic custard pudding and be judged using high school standards and have only three days. Miya tells Ichigo that it’s natural she’ll lose, and Ichigo reaffirms her vow to win. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, I was wondering how long it was going to take for Ichigo to get a true rival, and it looks like she’s finally here. While Ichigo has received a little ongoing mean treatment from the girls in group B it hasn’t too serious, but the appearance of Miya heralds Ichigo’s first real test.  What I found really funny about the Ichigo vs Miya challenge is that while they’re fighting for the right to work with the princes this is really a battle over Kashino. So, it seems that in the past Miya had no talent and all she did was fawn over Kashino and screw stuff up, but for some mysterious reason she’s suddenly had a vast jump in talent. While Miya claims that she’s undergone special training with skilled Patissieres I’m not buying it, she’s either having her “boys” doing the baking, or she’s somehow managed to get a sweets spirit of her own, remember she sort of heard Vanilla. 

       I’m really getting the feeling that Kashino’s tsundere behavior towards Ichigo stems from his bad experiences with Miya and sooner or later Kashino will fall victim to Ichigo’s sweetness. I also found President Tennouji to be an interesting character, loaded with tremendous talent but also having a infatuation with Henri. Tennouji seems to understand like Henri that Ichigo is hiding huge future potential. I just hope that she doesn’t view Ichigo as a rival that would make her seem childish, so what I’m hoping for is that Tennouji becomes sort of role model for Ichigo.

Esta noche os traigo otra de las historias cortitas que tanto me gustan: ~17-Sai: Ps I love you (PD: Te quiero).

Es una obra de Mikimoto Rin, y el proyecto de traducción fue llevado a cabo por мσeмσe ғαŋsυв.

La historia comienza cuando Arisu, que trabaja a media jornada en una librería, encuentra una carta entre un libro, que al parecer ha sido desechada.

Resulta que la carta está escrita por Himura Tsubaki, un compañero de clase insoportable para ella.

Al parecer, la carta estaba dirigida a Suzuko, alguien muy importante para Tsubaki, y era una especie de declaración.

Arisu se siente muy mal por Tsubaki, ya que el está esperando una respuesta de la carta que nunca va a llegar. ¿Como acabarán las cosas entre Tsubaki y Arisu? ¿Llegará una respuesta?

Si no puedes esperar para seguir con la historia, podéis descargarla AQUI

         Well, this episode begins with Kurumi (Ume Kurumizawa/AKA the French Doll) talking with some of her school friends about whether or not Sadako is dating Kazehaya. While the other girls find the idea silly, Kurumi asks them why they find it strange that he might have fallen in love? They just laugh it off and tease Kurumi about being in love with Kazehaya since she went to middle school with him.

         Also, at school, Sawako notices that students are no longer avoiding her, and, are in fact, trying to get her attention. Later, Sawako finds out from Hirano and Endo that a new rumor is flying around the school saying that if you can get Sadako to smile you’ll recieve good fortune.

        When Yano and Yoshida arrive at class they tell Sawako that it’s nice that she is good friends with Hirano and Endo, and Sawako is very happy knowing that she has more friends. Yoshida and Yano tells the girls that it’s a pain using full names so they agree to use Chizu, Ayane, Ekko, and Tomo. Well, they have Sawako practice calling them by their first names, and she needs the practice.

        After Tomo and Ekko leave, Ayane and Chizu tells Sawako that part of her problem was she was way too formal and she needs to start calling girls by their first names. When Kazehaya walks in the room, Ayane gets the idea that Sawako needs to practice on Kazehaya. Well, Sawako’s way too nervous to go through with it, but she does add -kun to his last name. Sawako tells herself that she’ll work on this with girls first and continue to address guys the same as always even though she notices that Kazehaya, Ayane, and Chizu have no problem with the issue.

        Later, Pin shows up and tells the class about the upcoming sports festival, Kazehaya gets “volunteered” into helping, and Pin tries to fire up the class. Chizu gets pretty worked up, and Pin suggests that Sawako might want to skip class that day since he assumes she’s not very good at sports. Kazehaya suggests that the class begin practice sessions during lunch and everyone thinks it’s a good idea.

       Later, Kurumi finds out that Kazehaya is on the committee, and her friends suggest that she also join the committee. Well, Kurumi says it’s not like that with her and Kazehaya but she’s not opposed to being on the committee, so they agree to nominate her.

       Once practice begins, we quickly see that Sawako isn’t very good at soccer, and Chizu tries to help Sawako but their lunch break soon runs out. Just then, Sawako notices Kazehaya practicing with the other boys and she becomes mesmerised watching him. Kazehaya looks over and notices that Sawako has her hair in braids, and Sawako’s attraction level grows to monumental proportions. Chizu has to snap Sawako out of her trance, and Sawako wonders what just happened, she wasn’t even close to him, just looking at him caused this happened.

        After class is over, Chizu and Ayane ask Sadako to go shopping and have some ramen with them but she begs off making an excuse, she’s really heading off to practice and doesn’t want to tie them up. Later, Sawako finds herself staring at Kazehaya in the hallway, she tries to look away but she’s still drawn to him. Then Sawako tries to borrow a soccer ball from a teacher but no dice, and she wonders if she needs to buy her own, so much for her practice. While watering the flowers, Sawako thinks back to her first conversation with Kazehaya.

       When Kazehaya walks into the sports committee meeting Kurumi sees him and calls him over, and he takes a seat in front of her. Kurumi tries to make small talk with him about a borrowed CD but she soon notices that he’s watching Sadako practice soccer with a rock from the window in a daze.

        Later, as the school chime sounds, a soccer ball rolls up to Sawako and when she looks over she see that Kazehaya brought the ball for her, long silent stares ensue. Kazehaya says “this way”, and Sawako follows. As Sawako and Kazehaya stand across from each other, not a world is spoken, Sawako kicks the balls to Kazehaya and says she reaches out to him. Then we see that Kurumi is taking in the whole scene from the upstairs classroom window. Well, that’s all for this episode.

        Well, this was a very nice episode that showcased Sawako growing integration into normal school society, while it hasn’t been easy for Sawako her journey has been made easier by Ayane’s and Chizu’s help. Chizu and Ayane, other than being good friends with Sawako also serve as her instructors in how normal social interactions should take place between other kids. For most people the saying “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten” or at least “in elementary school” usually applies, but as we saw in the other episode Sawako separation from normal kid society started at a very early age so she’s lacking in basic social knowledge that most kids take for granted.

       What I thought the best part of the whole episode was when Sawako came to the understanding, at least on a physical level, that her attraction to Kazehaya has moved beyond mere admiration. I think at one time or another we’ve all had the  ”Sawako moment”  where we look at that certain member of the opposite sex and see them differently; it might be the way the sun shines off their hair, or it could be the way you see their smile, or it could be that one day their voice sounds like music to you. Who the hell really knows why this happens, but one day that special person changes in your mind from just another person to an object of sexual attraction, while you might deny this in your head your body doesn’t lie, and Sawako has reached this point with Kazehaya. Sawako’s drawn to Kazehaya like a moth to a flame, and while getting too close can cause burns some burns feel good. I look forward to watching Sawako’s and Kazehaya’s relationship progress, and seeing how Kurumi will try and snatch Kazehaya from her.

Koi ni Ochiru es una bonita historia sobre Chika, una chica pesimista en el amor, que lo descubre a través de Kyohara, un chico que siempre está enfrentándose a los retos propuestos por sus amigos.

Esta historia es un One-Shot, breve pero muy bonita. Se desarrolla durante los días escolares, cuando empiezan las nevadas y kyohara llega al colegio en bicicleta.

“Durante el limitado tiempo, del limitado lugar, en mi limitada vida escolar, la posibilidad de que el amor emergiera de algún lugar….no me lo imaginaba en ese momento”.

Gracias a un dibujo gracioso en la mesa de clase, Chika y Kyohara comienzan a escribirse, sin saber quién anda detrás de los mensajes, pero Chika descubre quién es y empieza a hacerle preguntas un poco más personales al descubrir que Kyohara está saliendo con una chica.

¿Quieres seguir esta historia?

¡No lo dudes!  Yo la recomiendo 100%, y como es cortita es muy facil de leer y adictiva jajaja

Bueno, esa es la esencia de los One Shots, cortos, intensos e interesantes.

A mi siempre me saben a poco, porque a veces dejan la historia abierta o finalizan precipitadamente, pero es lo que toca.

Y es que existen demasiadas series de capítulos kilométricos, así que de vez en cuando es interesante leer una en la que los protagonistas no tardan 27 tomos en declararse :X

Si quieres saber como continúa, puedes descargarla desde ~Aqui.

Y si prefieres leerla online ~pincha aquí

No olvidemos nunca dar las gracias a Hane no Akari, el fansub encargado de editar y traducir la historia. ¡¿Que sería de nosotros sin ellos?!

Autore: Natsuki Takaya
Volumi: 23
Anno: 1998
Voto: 8/10

Non è certo un’impresa semplice misurarsi con una mole di personaggi come quella presente in questo manga: di tutti, ma proprio tutti, l’autrice ha cercato di raccontare il carattere, la storia, di sondare i pensieri, i comportamenti, di tratteggiare una crescita interiore ed esteriore. E, c’è da dire, c’è riuscita. Sorprendentemente ha intrecciato le storie di ognuno le une con le altre senza perdere nessun filo, creando un’opera di tutto rispetto a livello narrativo. E’ anche vero, però, che per far combaciare perfettamente insieme tutti i pezzi del puzzle, di tanto in tanto ha dovuto calcare un po’ la mano su coincidenze che hanno dell’inverosimile. Inoltre, per arrivare a descrivere tutti gli stati d’animo dei personaggi, ne ha dovuto muovere alcuni un po’ troppo per stereotipi. Rimane comunque encomiabile l’evoluzione che presenta di ogni personaggio, sia a livello di disegno che a livello caratteriale, che dimostra l’attenzione con la quale ha cercato di interpretare la psicologia umana nelle sue molteplici sfaccettature. Peccato soltanto che abbia concentrato nel fumetto soltanto persone tormentate da un’esistenza difficile, da problemi più grandi di loro o da storie drammatiche: se questo si può giustificare per la particolare condizione dei componenti della famiglia Soma, fra tutti gli altri personaggi avrebbe potuto inserire individui dalle storie più “normali” che sicuramente avrebbero reso l’insieme più credibile e meno artefatto. Il risultato, infatti, mi sembra un incontro e scontro di “casi umani”, come se le persone normali che vivono la loro vita in tranquillità non fossero degne o in grado di provare certi sentimenti. Come se si dovesse essere sfortunati e aver sofferto enormemente tanto per essere presi in considerazione: un po’ esagerato.

La storia si per sé, comunque, ha un grande valore perché è davvero ben congeniata, e può essere goduta anche da coloro che non amano particolarmente il genere fantastico in quanto è molto più ancorata alla dimensione umana dei sentimenti reali che alle storie fuori dal comune della componente “magica”. E’ ben sceneggiata, ricca di colpi di scena, piena di allusioni che vengono spiegate mano mano, e tiene col fiato sospeso per l’aura di mistero e di “non detto” che circonda ogni protagonista.

Non sono altrettanto all’altezza i dialoghi, che troppe volte si perdono nella predica gratuita, nel discorsone pieno di belle parole e buoni sentimenti, e per questo risultano innaturali, come se i protagonisti stessero recitando un copione scritto con un’interpretazione da neofita. Allo stesso modo i cambi repentini di atteggiamento e di pensiero dovuti ai soli discorsi della protagonista, quasi le sue parole avessero il tocco salvifico di un redentore, risultano piuttosto fastidiosi e poco plausibili. Divertenti invece le scene comiche o i personaggi che appaiono ridicoli di per sé, che riescono a portare una ventata d’allegria e scenette scherzose all’interno di un clima tutt’altro che leggero. Anche qui ci si muove per stereotipi, ma in questo caso non stonano per nulla. L’attenzione anche per i piccoli episodi di vita, le parole e i gesti quotidiani sono infatti gli aspetti più deliziosi e coinvolgenti di questo manga.

Infine, per quanto riguarda i disegni, non si può dire che l’autrice abbia uno stile eccelso: soprattutto all’inizio il tratto è piuttosto grezzo, per poi evolversi man mano fino a delle belle tavole nella parte finale. E’ lodevole il suo intento di far crescere i personaggi anche esteriormente attraverso il tratto del disegno. Tuttavia la sua maniera pressoché univoca di disegnare i volti –tutti identici- e il modo confusionario in cui si sviluppano i dialoghi di alcune scene, dove non si comprende da chi dei presenti siano pronunciate le parole o addirittura se siano soltanto pensate, ostacola un po’ la lettura. Ci sono ovviamente memorabili scene con espressioni del volto tipicamente “da sogno”, ma per il resto non mi sento di esaltarne la bellezza, anche perché ad un certo punto diventano prevedibili ed abusate.

Questo manga, in conclusione, sa emozionare, sa coinvolgere ed è sicuramente un’opera qualitativamente di rispetto, tuttavia non lo consiglio se non siete appassionati del genere. Se invece vi piacciono gli shojo e potete soprassedere tranquillamente alle tante “ingenuità romantiche” che vi si trovano, non dovete lasciarvi sfuggire quest’opera!

4/5 — Heartwarming, but way too fast.

Midori no Hibi
Episode 13: “The Days of Two People”
Wherein the anime draws to a rather rapid close.

So, at the outset, Midori is back home, and Sawamura is back to being Sawamura. Sawamura, as you may recall, has just been confessed to by Ayase. He tells Ayase he’s sorry, and without really meaning to explains that it’s complicated. She puts it together and tells Seiji that the girl left him because what he felt was love, but because he couldn’t see it, the girl didn’t feel like she could stay. This is probably one of the more poignant things said in the series. It’s sentimental and honest. Ayase thanks Sawamura for being direct because now she can give up. As it turns out Midori has no memory of ever being Seiji’s right hand. Kota doesn’t know what to do because he thinks if he tells Midori the truth she’ll go back to being Sawamura’s right hand. Meanwhile, Seiji finds Midori’s diary, and runs into Kota near Midori’s house, asking him to return it to her. Kota explains the situation and Seiji decides it’s best not to give it back to her. Midori realizes Seiji is outside, and Kota tells her to chase after him — of course, Kota inadvertently reveals himself as well, Midori becoming aware of his feelings for her. Regardless, she chases after Seiji for the duration of the day. Throughout the day Midori tells herself how this time she’ll be strong, and Seiji continually encounters things that make him weepy about it all. Seiji gets a visit from his sister, which only serves to make things worse.

In the end, Midori and Sawamura meet up by the water fountain, and with some difficulty, she confesses to him. He says he knows how she feels and he feels the same way. The series pretty much ends there, at the beginning of their relationship.

It’s a good episode, but it does feel as though they crammed way too much into too small a space. The pacing was really good right up until the end, and then it just sorta fell apart. The episode also doesn’t bring closure to a lot of things and creates additional problems — Seiji’s sister is now pissed at him for Midori being gone, the relationship is just starting and we assume we’ll know how it’ll go though we don’t get to really see any of the future togetherness after they’ve asserted their feelings, etc. It doesn’t feel like that much closure, but maybe I just don’t understand shojo anime.

Bueh, ahora les cuento…cosas de la vida, hechas con mi puño y letra xD ojalá se rían y no de enfaden

Komik ini adalah komik yang bercerita mengenai seorang gadis yang tidak memiliki ingatan apapun sebelum ia ditemukan oleh Kuran Kaname. Kaname adalah seorang vampire yang menemukan gadis itu, gadis itu bernama Yuki. Kemudian Kaname menitipkan Yuki kepada Cross Kaien, yang merupakan mantan pemburu vampire. akhirmya Yuki diadopsi oleh nya dan ia menjadi Cross Yuki.

Beberapa tahun setelah itu, Cross Kaien membawa Kiriyu Zero(Seorang anak laki-laki dari keluarga pemburu vampire yang telah dibantai oleh pure blood) dan mengasuhnya. Karena Zero dengan Yuki tinggal dalam satu atap sehingga mereka menjadi akrab. Setelah beberapa tahun setelah itu, Cross Kaien membuat sebuah sekolah yang terdiri dari 2 kelas,yaitu,kelas malam dan kelas siang. Kelas malam merupakan kelas yang dikhusus kan untuk para vampire, kelas ini dipimpin oleh Kaname Kuran. sedangkan kelas diikuti oleh para manusia. Untuk menjaga kerahasiaan hal itu, Yuki dan Zero diutus menjadi Guardian.Mereka memiliki tugas untuk melakukan patroli pada malam hari untuk menjaga dan memastikan keamanan dan kerahasiaan atas keberadaan para vampire.

I chose to read and review Apothecarius Argentum for two reasons: first, I had heard that it was pretty good, and second, that it was a CMX title and I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the shojo titles they import. Unfortunately, this one didn’t really hold up for me.

The story is set in a small country called Beazol, which seems to be culturally based on Western Europe of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  The country is at war, and the King with his troops, leaving his adolescent daughter Princess Primula to oversee the kingdom. Primula is athletic and headstrong, with a strong moral streak that only intensifies as the series goes on. She’s the sort of character I like, but nothing about her really made her stand out from the archetype.

When Primula is poisoned through her food and her usual healer cannot be found, they find the quickest replacement they can, an apothecary named Argent. As a child, Argent had been Primula’s food tester–he comes from a group of people in a different country chosen as infants and slowly fed different poisons until they’ve built up an immunity. Argent cannot be killed by poison…but as a result of this, his touch itself is poison and his hair has turned silver. He had no name when he was first bought–he started his service as a child slave–and it was Primula who named him Argent.

Primula’s father, the King, is a cold and calculating man. He truly loves his daughter (though she is rumored to not be his), and is a more complex character for it, but he also has ambitions for his country.  Now that Argent is back in the picture, the King intends to use him as a weapon rather than a healer, much to Argent’s distress. Argent has reinvented himself as a healer, not a poison tester or a specialized assassin. He cannot touch people, but he can make all sorts of cures.

I can’t tell you why this manga isn’t working for me. Primula and Argent are interesting enough characters and Soda, the boy who elbows his way into becoming Argent’s apprentice, is only vaguely annoying instead of being incredibly annoying. The writer has done her homework when it comes to the sorts of medications that apothecaries would use.  There’s just something missing, though if the development at the end of the second volume doesn’t go the predictable route, perhaps it’s just missing from these two volumes.

The art of this series is technically skilled. The artist’s linework is delicate and soft, and she doesn’t overuse the screentones the way some others do. It’s nothing unique, though–nothing memorable. While this doesn’t bug me, it doesn’t do anything to help my ambivalence.

In the end, I don’t know if I could recommend Apothecarius Argentum. I don’t know if I could tell someone to avoid it, either.  While it doesn’t work for me, it might work for someone else.

Apothecarius Argentum is by Tomomi Yamashita and is published in the US by CMX.

Grade: C+

I squeed all over volume one of Beast Master for Manga Recon’s On the Shojo Beat column this month. It features a confident, likable heroine, a hero who’s a nice mix of sweet and dangerous, and lots and lots of me giggling at what happens. READ THIS MANGA.

Grade: A-

       This episode on Saturday with Sawako cooking a meal for her parents and remembering her experiences with Yano and Yoshida when her mother answers a call from  Sawako’s friends. Yano and Yoshida ask her if she can meet them for further adventures in ramen. When Sawako asks her parents if she can skip out on cooking to meet her friends, and her parents seem so overjoyed at the prospect of Sawako having friends they tell her to go ahead. Sawako’s father wonders if one of her new friends might include a boy?

        When Sawako meets up with Yano and Yoshida they head off to the ramen shop that happens to be owned and operated by Ryuu’s family. After they finish eating they head up to Ryuu’s room where Yano gets a call from her boyfriend, and she tells Sadako that she’ll soon discover the wonderful world of adults. Later, when Ryuu finishes work he joins them, and Sawako asks if Ryuu and Yoshida are lovers? Well, Ryuu just smirks while Yoshida flips out, and after a few minutes Ryuu tells Sadako that they more like brother and sister.

        After hanging for a while, the girls decide that they should call up Kazehaya so Ryuu doesn’t get to enjoy a harem night. Yoshida gets Ryuu to hand over his cell and she tosses it to Sadako saying it’ll be fun to hear Kazehaya’s reaction when he hears a girl calling him from Ryuu’s phone.

         After a bit of indecision on her part, Sawako finally pushes the call button and when he answers the phone Yoshida’s idea has the desired affect, at first he’s confused, and then he’s happy. Sawako tells him that they’re all at Ryuu’s place and having a good time so it’ll be more fun if he stops over, Kazehaya hops on his bike and heads over to Ryuu’s place.

        Before Kazehaya arrives, the four of them look over photos from middle school, and Sawako wishes she could have met the middle school Kazehaya.

         Then Sawako notices a picture of the “French doll” and asks about her, Yano doesn’t say much but you can tell she not pleased by her mention. The girls then shows her picture to Ryuu and asks what he thinks? Not my type. Wow, Yoshida didn’t know he had a type, and then she asks him about Sadako? Casual like, and Sawako tells him she likes him too. Yano and Yoshida asks her about them? Love. Then they ask her about Kazehaya? Well, Sawako manages to stammer out the word, love. As Yoshida is about to really question Sadako about her answer Yano pulls her back a little.

        Well, Kazehaya arrives just as they’re poking fun at him by calling him a pervert or emo. So, when he says he’s not a pervert he notices Sawako looking  at him and they exchange glances and blushes.

       Once Yano notices how Kazehaya is acting with Sadako she calls Sadako over to sit between her and Yoshida, she and Yoshida start hugging Sawako telling Kazehaya how soft and girly Sawako feels. Yano really seems to be enjoying making Kazehaya feel uncomfortable, and it’s all fun and games until Pin who was eating downstairs barges in on the fun.

       Well, it turns out that Kazehaya’s dad was Pin’s little league coach, so he’s known Kazehaya since he was a kid. Well, once all the fun is over, Kazehaya and Sawako walk off together to the girls’ amusement, Pin head off with Yano to her annoyment, and Yoshida and Ryuu are left together where he tells her she didn’t have to go this far to show him that everything is now alright. As Sawako and Kazehaya walk together under the stars she tells him she was glad she came to this school where she met everyone, and he asks if that includes him? Of course. As they walk together Sawako thinks to herself that she’s glad she got a peek at the Kazehaya she never knew and it makes her happy. Well, that’s enough warm and fuzzies for one episode.

        Well, this was a very nice and relaxing episode watching Sawako hanging out with her new friends, and it was a nice no drama change of pace from the previous episodes. Sawako’s parents’ reaction to their finding out she now has friends was priceless, and even though her father seemed overjoyed it was pretty funny watching him wonder if their might be a boy. I really enjoyed watching Sawako discover the simple joys of just hanging out and goofing around with friends. It was really cute watching Yano and Yoshida pull Kazehaya’s chains with their whole Sawako is so soft and girly bit. Yano realised Sawako’s and Kazehaya mutual attraction and her light hearted ribbing reminded me that we did some of the very same things to my friends back in the day.

         Also, Yano’s reaction to Sawako’s mention of the “French doll” was quite susprising because it seems that she had some extra knowledge about her that she chose not to share with Sawako. Oh, it was also very interesting hearing Ryuu tell Yoshida what his type of girl is, and while she thought that he was refering to Sawako he was really saying that his type of girl is her. In future episodes I look forward to meeting Yano’s yet unnamed boyfriend (older guy?), watching Kazehaya’s and Sawako’s relationship progress, and seeing if childhood friends manage to hook up.

       This episode picks up with Rumi and Kana confronting the other group of girls about the theft of the cake design, but this doesn’t lead anywhere. Outside the school, Kana is in tears because her sister Ringo might be upset over the cake theft but Rumi tells her to look at Ichigo and the princes working hard on something.

       Back inside the kitchen, Ichigo tells the princes that she has a even better cake design, but she has no time to explain. So, Ichigo asks the princes to just help her out and she’ll explain as they go along,  the boys are all in. Ichigo says this is a race against time, and everyone helps out, even the sweet spirits. Ichigo thanks everyone for believing her, and Hanabusa says that only Ichigo could have come up with such a strange cake design so it had to have been hers. Once everything is finished, Ichigo asks the spirits for their help and she tells Ringo to hold on.

      Inside Ringo’s classroom we see that she’s very nervous because one of the boys is teasing her about her birthday cake. Back at St. Marie’s we see that the other group is planning a nasty surprise by telling the teacher that group A is OK and they have the school van leave without them. Kana and Rumi both witnessed this nasty bit and Kana runs off to do something. When group A arrives outside the school they see that the bus is missing and there’s no way they’ll make it to the school on time, so Ichigo asks Vanilla if she could use magic to get them to Ringo’s school, but alas, she says it’s impossible.

      A minute later Kana shows up with  a van and we find out that Kana stopped the first van that happened by the school and begged for a ride to Ringo’s school. Well, the man doesn’t know the situation, but felt sorry for Kana because she’s so upset, so he agrees to give them a ride.

       Meanwhile at Ringo’s school, the kids are getting impatient, so the other group presents Ayu’s with her birthday cake. Ringo is starting to get grief from the other kids and she really starting to worry when Ichigo’s group arrives on the scene.  As Ichigo’s group is about to present the cake to Ringo the other girls think that there’s no way they could have made something good in so little time. Well, when Ichigo lifts the lid, Ringo and the whole class is amazed by the creation. The group has created a candy witch house with a little Ringo trapped inside and her class has to rescue her from the witch.

      Once the witch is defeated, Ichigo lifts the house’s lid revealing a little Ringo who has baked a cake for her classmates. Well, in all the excitement over Ringo’s cake, poor Ayu-chan is left sitting alone with her cake. After Ringo thanks her classmates for defeating the witch she asks them if they could move her cake to where Ayu-chan is sitting so they can all play together. When the whole class is sitting together, it looks like Ringo has made friends with Ayu-chan, and the princes comment on how this was Ichigo’s idea from the very beginning.

       As the whole class is devouring the cake, Kana runs over to Ichigo and hugs her saying that this is the first time she’s seen her sister smile since they moved here. Rumi then comes over and tells the girls to quit being so formal now that they’re buddies, and they both agree to stop calling each other by last names and agree to use Kana-chan and Ichigo-chan from now on.

       Later, the princes tell Ichigo that Ringo must really be happy, and a tearful Ichigo tells them that for the first time she’s discovered the joy in bringing happiness to others. Ichigo tells them that she remembers the smile that her grandmother wore as she watched Ichigo enjoy her sweets.

       Later, as the group is walking back to school, Ichigo thanks the sweets spirits and the boys for all their help and rushes off to the kitchen to start the prep work for a group practice session. The boys talk about how Ichigo just experienced the joy of making others happy and they comment on how Ichigo seems to know what other people need. Hanabusa asks Kashino if he’s scared of Ichigo’s nature and rapidly improving skills? No, Kashino says he looks forward to seeing what kind of new sweets Ichigo will create. Well, that’s all the sweets for this episode.

      Well, this was one awesome episode during which Ichigo showcased the best traits of a shoujo heroine. As the old poem goes.

Sugar and spice

And everything nice.

       While Ichigo may be all of that, she’s also has a never up give and work hard attitude. But, I think that Hanabusa might have grasped Ichigo’s best trait, empathy. Ichigo has the ability to use her personal experiences to be able to place herself in the other person’s shoes and understand their emotional distress. Ichigo was able to connect with Andou’s brother’s feelings of being left behind and Ichigo was able to understand the loneliness that Ringo was experiencing at her new school, so this ability of Ichigo enables her to actually fix the situation instead of just feeling sorry for the person. This ability of Ichigo is were she she closely resembles a magic girl. In the magic girl genre, words may lie, and your vision may try to fool you, but the heart is always true and if you follow your heart you can’t go wrong. 

         Also, when are all those jealous girls in shoujo anime and manga gonna realise all that scheming and conniving never wins over the nice boys? Yes, I’m talking to the devious and cruel girls from Kimi ni Todoke, Yumeiro, and all the others of their ilk, NO CAKE FOR YOU.

For a little essay on the diffrences between empathy vs sympathy click here.

Airi Hoshina, high school freshman, is the kind of girl who has her entire future planned out. She wants to find the perfect boyfriend, have the perfect courtship, then the perfect wedding and perfect domestic life afterwards. To be honest, I’ve never quite understood this mindset. When I was her age, what I wanted for my future was to be a writer and live in a converted ICBM silo. If blogging counts as writing, I guess I’ve achieved one of those goals.

In any event, she’s heading to school one morning when she drops her heirloom mirror, a seven-pointed star with a loop of ribbon tied to it. While she’s not looking, a strange little boy named Aram appears out of it. He ends up following her home. While sleeping, thanks to a spell his half-brother has placed on him, his body grows to that of a young adult.

So, basically, it’s a magical Big.

There’s a fantasy realm and princes and politics and Airi is the descendant of a member of the royal family who defected to our reality, hence her having the mirror. Aram turns back into a child when Airi kisses him on the cheek, and both versions of him cause her no small amount of hassle, especially when she’s dealing with Nakaoji, a boy in class who fits her exacting standards for a boyfriend. There’s also Jeile, the brother who placed the spell on Aram. Jiele considers himself to be a ladies man, and I suppose he is–he’s also a moron. A lot of Aram’s naiveté is due to his age and his origins in his world. Jeile…is stupid on top of everything else.

The author’s notes for this series start before the first illustrated page of the manga, and she says that at one point the working title for MeruPuri was “4 Idiots”. I believe it. They’re likable enough, but each of them needs a good smack with a clue-by-four. (In Jeile’s case, he needs to be boxed in by them and rolled down the hill.)

Hino-sensei’s art is always a treat, and this title is no different from her others. The color art on the covers of the volumes has an inviting palette of warm peach and salmon tones, muted forest greens, and silvery blues. The interior art shows a steady hand and a strong sense of who these characters are, as well as the heavy use of screentone that I’ve becoming accustomed to after reading Vampire Knight.

MeruPuri is escapism, pure and simple, but it’s a genuinely fun bit of escapism that makes me want to read more. Between the hijinks of the characters and the lush art, I can’t wait to get my hands on the final two volumes.

MeruPuri is by Matsuri Hino and is published in the US by VIZ Media under the Shojo Beat imprint.

Grade: B-

Alors que Koizumi est une jeune fille qui se trouve trop grande, Otani élève dans la même classe, est un garçon qui a le problème inverse. Ce complexe vis-à-vis de leur taille et les importantes similitudes qu’ils ont en commun leur permettront de devenir ami. Étant donné que chacun d’eux cherche l’amour, ils décident de s’entraider pour que tout les deux trouvent leur âme sœur. Après un premier essai qui se conclut par un échec, ils se lancent le pari de trouver la personne de leur vie avant l’autre. S’en suit alors une course à l’amour où larmes et rires se succéderont à tour de rôle. Même si cette quête leur semble difficile à réussir, il semblerait cependant que ce qu’ils recherchent tant soit plus proche d’eux qu’ils ne le pensent…

En lisant le résumé, on devine une idée originale et des situations comiques en perspective. Néanmoins, la durée de l’animé est une inquiétude car 24 épisodes pour une histoire à priori limitée, celà semblait long.

L’histoire est donc originale pour 2 raisons. D’abord pour de complexe de la taille, de plus en plus présent dans la société nippone. Personnellement, je n’avais jamais de séries traitant de ce problème de société même si dans le fond, c’est une vision caricaturale. Ensuite, ce n’est plus le garcon qui court après sa bien-amée, c’est la bien-aimé. Le chassé devient le chasseur ^^. Là aussi, il y a peu d’animés où la demoiselle doit conquérir le prince charmant. Ces 2 points sont assez originaux pour être soulignés et font que Lovely Complex a pu sortir de la masse. Mais tout n’est pas excellent à l’image d’une fin trop classique et sans relief. Je veux dire que malgré une bonne idée générale, la fin ne colle pas vraiment. Bon, elle ne m’a pas surpris outre mesure mais j’avoue avoir espéré un petit miracle, qui n’a pas eu lieu.

Les personnages ne sont pas extraordinaires. Je veux dire que nos 2 héros sont censés souffrir de leur taille mais j’ai trouvé qu’ils vivaient leurs complexes assez bien finalement. Leur différence n’est jamais le vrai problème puisque Ootani le dit lui-même (“le problème n’est pas sa taille mais je ne la vois que comme une amie”). Le titre et le sujet de l’animé n’ont plus de raison d’être. De plus, notre duo de comiques finit par devenir caricatural et assez plat alors qu’il faisait le charme de la série au début. Les autres personnages auraient pu être vraiment très bons mais leur sous-emploi les empéchent d’exploser vraiment. Je pense à Nobuko ou Seiko par exemple. Nabuko commence à s’affirmer à la fin mais pas suffisamment. Tout le monde est trop gentil alors que l’on s’attend à quelques moqueries (même gentilles). Un point décevant même si certains m’ont fait beaucoup rire.

Lovely Complex ne se prend pas au sérieux et c’est ce qui fait sa force. Dans le role du divertissement amoureux, le contrat est très largement rempli. La preuve est que j’ai terminé la série bien rapidement, ce qui ne m’était pas arrivé depuis longtemps.

This definitely isn’t the Fushigi Yugi I remember.

Don’t get me wrong. I did like the original series, despite my dislike of the heroine and the relentless nature of the primary romance.  It had the sort of epic scope that I love in a story and side characters who were interesting and fun. It’s just that this is so much more than that.

These two volumes involve Takiko searching for more of her Celestial Warriors. With her are Tomite and Hatsui primarily, though they’re often joined by Uruki. There is a growing affection between Takiko and Uruki, which I sort of adore for the gender ambiguity of it all, and yet sort of feel let down due to my inability to see any real chemistry between the two. I often find this with Watase-sensei’s couples, and have come to wonder if it’s just a difference in the way that she and I see relationships.

Each volume introduces a new Celestial Warrior. Volume four’s Hikitsu is familiar to anyone who read or watched the original series–he and Tomite play a role in an arc–but volume three’s Namame is brand new in more ways than one.  In the original series, all of the Celestial Warriors were human. Well, human-ish. Ashitare and Miboshi sort of pushed at that limit, but neither was as inhuman as Namame. Namame is a creature made of rock, a tiny doll-like being in his natural state but able to expand to be an impenetrable wall.  It looks like there may be hinkiness going on with the other Warriors, as well–a child oracle named Anlu tells Takiko where to find the five Celestial Warriors she’s missing. Only, she already has three (this is the storyline where she finds Namame), so wouldn’t that put her one over?

I’m interested to see how that one turns out.

Meanwhile, the political situation seems to be as unstable as ever. Uruki, son of the Emperor, is still dodging assassins sent by his father. For the majority of these volumes, he’s also still working with the assassins from the country to the south who were sent to kill Takiko and her comrades. Though it was obvious who he would eventually choose when forced to decide between them, I found his journey interesting and fun to read.

I only have a few minor quibbles about the story so far. Takiko embracing Namame and accepting him was an awful lot like the way she embraced Hatsui. I also forgot how much this series likes to kill little girls. Both the augur and oracle consulted in volume three are young girls and neither survive. I was reminded of the death of Tamahome’s family in the original–I know, I’m comparing them a lot, but as a prequel this series does invite the comparisons.

Overall, I’m still invested in Takiko’s tale and how she’s getting to where she’s going. This is a prequel story that is definitely worth telling.

Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden is by Yuu Watase and is published in the US by VIZ Media under the Shojo Beat imprint.

Grade: B

Natsuki Takaya

If you are a certified manga addict, then perhaps you would know her.  Natsuki Takaya is the Japanese manga artist of the famous manga Fruits Basket (you probably have seen the anime adaptation) J.  That’s her pen name – she is born as Naka Hatake, on July 7, under the star sign Cancer.

I love her manga really – oh, I also love the 26-episode anime adaptation.  Because of the famous Fruits Basket manga, she received the Kodansha Manga Award for shojo in 2001.

My favorite Fruits Basket character is Kyou, the cat – hmmm, I can’t deny he’s really appealing, and I also like the character of the wacky Shigure-san.

I’m currently reading her manga Boku ga Utau to Kimi wa Warau Kara, though I’m really slow in terms of reading it because the semester is going to be over soon and lots and lots and lots of things are to be done.  whew!

Yuuichi a pour habitude de passer ses vacances chez sa tante Akiko et sa cousine Nayuki. Yuuichi emménage finalement dans cette ville où il n’est pas repassé depuis sept ans. Il va retrouver sa cousine et sa tante. Il va surtout rencontrer Ayu, Mai, Shiori et Makoto.  Des souvenirs d’enfance vont lui revenir en mémoire. Mais pas le genre de souvenirs qui vous rendent heureux. Plutôt ces souvenirs qui vous font regretter tant de choses.

Ce que l’on peut dire, c’est que Kanon ne brille pas esthétiquement. Non, les qualités de l’animé se trouvent ailleurs.

La qualité première est bien évidemment la poésie qui découle de l’histoire, malgré un début pénible par la lenteur des épisodes. très vite, on comprend que quelque chose ne va pas et que ce n’est pas une simple histoire banale de lycéens. Néanmoins, le scénario n’est pas vraiment maitrisé et l’on se perd assez vite dans les multiples histoires, pas forcément intéressantes qui plus est. Malgré tout, on ne peut se décider à abandonner cette série mignonne et légère, pleine de bons sentiments. La fin est à l’image de l’ensemble, même si je la trouve un peu tiré par les cheveux, notamment à cause des explications faciles et pas totalement logiques.

Les personnages, horribles graphiquement parlant, devaient à priori m’énerver par ce coté niais et gentillet mais je me suis laissé prendre au jeu. Nayuki est l’exemple type, nunuche, cruche et plein de truc en “uche”. Je me demande comment le héros, Yuichi réussit à la supporter (le coup du révéil est quand même débile, faut avouer). Heureusement, malgré ce duo raté, les autres protagonistes ne sont pas dénués d’intéret. Comme Mai, jeune fille froide et distante, qui cache un secret que j’ai pas compris dans le détail. Mais j’aime ce genre de personnage énigmatique. D’une manière générale, si les personnages ne m’ont pas dégouté, c’est gràce à leurs histoires tristes mais attachantes. Une chose rare qu’il faut mettre en avant car celà ne m’était jamais arrivé.

La musique colle assez bien à l’univers enneigé et plein d’émotion de l’animé mais je ne l’écouterai pas par plaisir. Disons que dans le contexte, elle remplit bien son role.

Kanon est à double tranchant: soi on est conquis, soit on abandonne dès le début. Je serai plutot dans la 1ère catégorie mais le rythme lent, le design horrible auraient pu avoir raison de moi. Toutefois, ca me pousse à mater la version de 2006 qui semble meilleure.