1. Fruits Basket: This series is my favorite series of anything that has ever been written and I honestly believe that no other series will ever be as perfectly written as this one was. Fruits Basket is a series that just has so many great characters and relationships and pretty much the entire series is about how those characters and relationships develop over the course of the series. I love that this series is one that starts out light but then gets darker later on but the story ends on happy and hopeful note for the characters. This series is great if you haven't read it you should because it's a wonderful story that will teach you to be a better person.
2. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: This series is one that has the main characters traveling through dimensions which is a concept one does not see often which makes the series stand out from the beginning. This series is one that has great characters that I can't help but to love and really great romance that almost broke the space time continuum so that right there shows you how powerful their love for one another is. The series also has great art since it was created by Clamp.
3. Cardcaptor Sakura: This is another great series by Clamp and this one is about a ten year old girl who has to capture these Clow cards in order to keep her town safe. This series is really sweet and fluffy and at it's core Cardcaptor Sakura is a story about love in all its forms and it's just a series that always makes me happy.
4. Tokyo Babylon: This series is also by Clamp but unlike Cardcaptor Sakura this story is not a happy Story in fact it's a tragic story. This series has young man that has magic powers and uses them to help people who he believes are generally good and kind at heart and through his job he sees what people do at their most cruel and selfish points which starts to chip away at his optimistic outlook on life but nothing hurts him quite as much as falling in love, it doesn't end well.
5. Gakuen Alice: This series is a story about a young girl who runs away and joins her friend at boarding school for gift children and while the story starts off fairly lighthearted things getting darker as the series goes on and more about the school is revealed.
6. Chibi Vampire: This series is a coming of age story for a young girl who is a vampire who is a reverse of what a vampire should be in that she produces too much blood rather than needing to drink blood. The series is delightful and quite a fun read with likable characters and interesting mythology.
7. Shugo Chara: This series is a magical girl series which is my favorite sub-genre of manga/anime and this series deals with a girl who puts on a false cool girl image but is forced to confront her other would be selves by her guardian characters who help her save other kids around age from loosing their dreams, the premise of the series doesn't make a whole lot of sense out of context but I assure you this series is great.
8. Rosario + Vampire: This series is about an extremely average boy that accidently gets sent to a school for monsters and ends up unwittingly winning the hearts of quite a few of his female classmates by simply being nice to them. This series can be a bit out there but it's great fun to read.
9. Pandora Hearts: This series is a very different take on Alice in Wonderland that deals with a young boy being taken to a sort of underworld only to be saved from that world by making a deal with Alice who is someone who lives in that underworld. This series is a bit hard to sum up but the story and it's characters are really great.
10. Magic Knight Rayearth: This series is a magical girl series about three girls who get transported to another world to save it's ruler and become great friends with each other through out the series. This series has great art, good characters, an interesting plot and killer twist at the end of it's first series.
Showing posts with label Gakuen Alice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gakuen Alice. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Manga Review: Gakuen Alice Vol. 2
Gakuen Alice Vol. 2 Review
This volume starts off where the last one ends with Mikan being accepted into Alice Academy while she is happy about it at first she soon begins to learn that things aren't as nice as she thought they where at the academy with her being told she isn't allowed to contact anyone outside the academy for a while and she finds that there are still quite a few classmates that aren't willing to welcome her into the class. Mikan than goes on to earn the no star class ranking which is the lowest possible ranking which is something that is unheard of for students who are not babies to earn which makes her life at the academy difficult but after a brief time of feeling sorry for herself Mikan becomes determine to make the best out her situation and not complain.
Later on Mikan learns that once each week the students of Alice Academy meet in ability type classes that mix the elementary school and the older students together in one according to the type of alice that they posses the types include latent, technical, somatic, special and dangerous, the first three are the most common types. Mikan is the special type class which is the class assigned to those with alices that don't fit into any of the other categories which makes Mikan as well as a lot of the other students at the academy think of the class as the rejects of the school. On her way to her special ability class Mikan runs into Natsume who seems to be running from someone therefore he holds her against a wall with his hand clamped over her mouth this encounter both angers Mikan and makes her a bit curious about who Natsume is hiding from. A group of older students end up taunting the two and Natsume leaves Mikan to be bullied by them but she is soon saved by an older student named Tsubasa Andou who is also a member of the special ability type class so he walks her to the class and it turns out that while the class may be seen as weirdos by the rest of the Academy they see each other as family and this leads to Mikan feeling like she belongs for the first time since she's arrived at the academy.
After talking with Tsubasa about how her class is out of control and he suggests finding away to channel the class's frustration at the academy into something less destructive than bullying Mikan organizes at dodge ball game where alices can't be used. Most everyone wants to be on the same team as Natsume which means pretty much everyone is against Mikan which makes the match difficult for her but in the end the match ends in a tie and the class is in much better spirits. Expect for Natsume who was forced into doing a job that no one else knows about shortly after the game.
Throughout the volume Mikan is told that the teachers at the academy can't be trusted and that she is being watched by the school in much the same way that Natsume is being watched but Mikan refuses to give up trusts in the academy until she learns that Narumi isn't sending her letters to her grandfather but rather burning them instead. Mikan briefly becomes distrustful of Narumi and tries to break free of the academy in order to tell her grandfather that she's alright but she is almost kidnapped outside of the Academy but she is saved by Narumi who is hurt in the confrontation. Mikan ends the volume deciding not to give up on trusting people quite yet despite the academy showing it less to be quite untrustworthy.
This volume did a good job of introducing new aspects of the academy both light and dark ones but not too dark so far and it did a good job of showing us how Mikan adjusts to the sudden changes in her life. The artwork is good throughout and overall I just really enjoyed this volume. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.
Later on Mikan learns that once each week the students of Alice Academy meet in ability type classes that mix the elementary school and the older students together in one according to the type of alice that they posses the types include latent, technical, somatic, special and dangerous, the first three are the most common types. Mikan is the special type class which is the class assigned to those with alices that don't fit into any of the other categories which makes Mikan as well as a lot of the other students at the academy think of the class as the rejects of the school. On her way to her special ability class Mikan runs into Natsume who seems to be running from someone therefore he holds her against a wall with his hand clamped over her mouth this encounter both angers Mikan and makes her a bit curious about who Natsume is hiding from. A group of older students end up taunting the two and Natsume leaves Mikan to be bullied by them but she is soon saved by an older student named Tsubasa Andou who is also a member of the special ability type class so he walks her to the class and it turns out that while the class may be seen as weirdos by the rest of the Academy they see each other as family and this leads to Mikan feeling like she belongs for the first time since she's arrived at the academy.
After talking with Tsubasa about how her class is out of control and he suggests finding away to channel the class's frustration at the academy into something less destructive than bullying Mikan organizes at dodge ball game where alices can't be used. Most everyone wants to be on the same team as Natsume which means pretty much everyone is against Mikan which makes the match difficult for her but in the end the match ends in a tie and the class is in much better spirits. Expect for Natsume who was forced into doing a job that no one else knows about shortly after the game.
Throughout the volume Mikan is told that the teachers at the academy can't be trusted and that she is being watched by the school in much the same way that Natsume is being watched but Mikan refuses to give up trusts in the academy until she learns that Narumi isn't sending her letters to her grandfather but rather burning them instead. Mikan briefly becomes distrustful of Narumi and tries to break free of the academy in order to tell her grandfather that she's alright but she is almost kidnapped outside of the Academy but she is saved by Narumi who is hurt in the confrontation. Mikan ends the volume deciding not to give up on trusting people quite yet despite the academy showing it less to be quite untrustworthy.
This volume did a good job of introducing new aspects of the academy both light and dark ones but not too dark so far and it did a good job of showing us how Mikan adjusts to the sudden changes in her life. The artwork is good throughout and overall I just really enjoyed this volume. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Top 10 Books set in Schools
1. Gallagher Girls: I love this fun action series that is set in a boarding school for teenage girl who are training to be spies. I feel that the school makes the books what they are with there assignments being used to further their own off the books investigations and the spy training is something that is very much ingrained in all of the main characters. I love all the books of this series I have read so far it's a series that can be a lot of fun but there are also shocking plot twists and real danger in the series as well.
2. Rosario+ Vampire: This is a series that I love a lot about an extremely average human boy who accidently finds himself going to a school for monsters. This series is one that starts off pretty humorous but as the series goes on it's clear that the series has a lot of heart and it also takes several dark turns at times as well.
3. Looking for Alaska: This is a lovely coming of age story about a boy named Pudge coming out of his shell a bit and making some friends that change his perspective on life. This book also deals with loss quite brilliantly and I really love the way that it is written and I really love the messages that come from this book in the end.
4. Secret Circle: This is a story about witches and high school basically and I really love that this series mixes the mean girls of high school with the fantastical element of magic. I love that magic in this series is used for petty things because that's the type of stuff real teenagers would do if they had magic. There's also some intriguing darker plots that develop as the series goes on that I enjoyed as well.
5. Gakuen Alice: This series is about a boarding school for people who have special abilities called Alices. This series actually has a good plot that can get surprisingly dark considering how old the main characters are. I really love the characters and the relationships in this series as well.
6. Shugo Chara: This series is a magical girl series that is set in high school and is about finding your true self. I love the magical girl genre in general and I especially love the characters in this one.
7. Hex Hall: This is a series about a boarding school for faries, shape shifters and witches, the series is great fun but it's also has a really intriguing plot as well and has more twists to the story then I was expecting. I also really love the friendship between Sophie and Jenna a whole lot.
8. The Lying Game: This is a series that is about an incredible cruel clique and a girl who is impersonating her dead twin while she tries to figure out who murdered her because her twin has a lot of enemies this makes the task very difficult.
9. Fruits Basket: This is my favorite series of all time and there's quite a bit of time spent in school in the series but a lot of time is spent in other places as well which is why the series is so low.
10. Cardcaptor Sakura: This is my favorite magical girl series lots of time spent in school but also other places but it's a great series either way.
2. Rosario+ Vampire: This is a series that I love a lot about an extremely average human boy who accidently finds himself going to a school for monsters. This series is one that starts off pretty humorous but as the series goes on it's clear that the series has a lot of heart and it also takes several dark turns at times as well.
3. Looking for Alaska: This is a lovely coming of age story about a boy named Pudge coming out of his shell a bit and making some friends that change his perspective on life. This book also deals with loss quite brilliantly and I really love the way that it is written and I really love the messages that come from this book in the end.
4. Secret Circle: This is a story about witches and high school basically and I really love that this series mixes the mean girls of high school with the fantastical element of magic. I love that magic in this series is used for petty things because that's the type of stuff real teenagers would do if they had magic. There's also some intriguing darker plots that develop as the series goes on that I enjoyed as well.
5. Gakuen Alice: This series is about a boarding school for people who have special abilities called Alices. This series actually has a good plot that can get surprisingly dark considering how old the main characters are. I really love the characters and the relationships in this series as well.
6. Shugo Chara: This series is a magical girl series that is set in high school and is about finding your true self. I love the magical girl genre in general and I especially love the characters in this one.
7. Hex Hall: This is a series about a boarding school for faries, shape shifters and witches, the series is great fun but it's also has a really intriguing plot as well and has more twists to the story then I was expecting. I also really love the friendship between Sophie and Jenna a whole lot.
8. The Lying Game: This is a series that is about an incredible cruel clique and a girl who is impersonating her dead twin while she tries to figure out who murdered her because her twin has a lot of enemies this makes the task very difficult.
9. Fruits Basket: This is my favorite series of all time and there's quite a bit of time spent in school in the series but a lot of time is spent in other places as well which is why the series is so low.
10. Cardcaptor Sakura: This is my favorite magical girl series lots of time spent in school but also other places but it's a great series either way.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Top 10 Authors that Deserve more Recognition
1. Natsuki Takaya: She wrote my favorite series of all time which is Fruits Basket, I think that the writing in that series is perfect. The characters are developed so well and they grow up so much over the course of the series and even though the character change a lot of the course of the series it never feels sudden and it always feels earned. I loved that even though there was so many characters they all had backstories and they all had depth to them. I loved the way that the relationships develop over the course of the series in fact something I really love about the series is that while people who haven't read it assumes that it's a love triangle series a little over half way through the series it's revealed that one of the boys couldn't never see the main character in a romantic way and trying to force those feelings would just feel empty. I also really loved that she never rushed any of the romantic relationships in the series and instead made sure that the characters were emotionally prepared to be in a relationship rather than having them assume that being with someone would fix them, I overall really like that characters had to fix themselves in the series. I always really love the foreshadowing through out the series which something you can't really appreciate until at least your second reading of the series and I really love the intention to detail that she has since she once talked about how she worried about getting something as insignificant as finger nail length right.
2. Sara Shepard: I think that she's really good at creating suspense and mystery in her series The Lying Game because there are so many twist and turns in that series and she always does a good job of making me suspect someone as Sutton's killer but then is able to prove that it couldn't have been them and there's quite a few other mysteries in the series that I wasn't expecting as well. I feel like Sara Shepard probably doesn't get the credit she deserves for this series because she's writing about teenage girls and teenage girls and murder mysteries rarely mix but I think she does a really good job of combining the two.
3. Ellen Hopkins: I think Ellen Hopkins is fairly well known do to her unique style of writing her novels in verse and while I think that her writing style does make her writing beautiful I don't think that's the only thing that she should be recognized for. Her characters are always so well developed and even when you don't like the characters you understand who the characters are and I feel like all of her characters always have depth which isn't true for most novels unfortunately. I also think she handles the controversial issues in a very emotional honest way which is something that I appreciate a lot.
4. Frank Beddor: I really love his series The Looking Glass Wars because it's an extremely creative retelling of Alice in Wonderland not to mention my favorite. I really love how he changed the original Alice in Wonderland characters to fit his version of wonderland and loved the new characters he created as well and I also loved the world of Wonderland because it's just such a magical place but also a dangerous place as well. I never really hear about Frank Beddor and since I think he did such a great job with The Looking Glass Wars I wish more people recognized his talent.
5. Ally Carter: I think that Ally Carter does get a pretty good amount of recognition but I think she still does deserve more because she writes really entertaining series about teen girls being spies and con artists, she also has written great female friendships which are rarer than they should be and she also writes sweet romances that never over take the plot. I love both her series Gallagher Girls and Heist Society and look forward to any other books she may write.
6. Clamp: Clamp is extremely well known in the manga/anime community because they have created so many series but sadly it seems like the majority of the community doesn't actually respect their writing. Clamp has written 150 volumes of manga and are still creating new volumes now while I haven't read all of their series and I'll admit that there are some series I love a lot more than others I still think it's impress that they have written so many volumes. Their series that I think are completely brilliant are Tokyo Babylon and Cardcaptor Sakura they are two very different series. In that Tokyo Babylon is a series that is mostly about the issues facing the people of Tokyo in the 1990s being told through a supernatural perspective and the main theme of the series is that no can judge someone else's pain because they haven't felt it which I think is a brilliant theme, also the ending of Tokyo Babylon is downright depressing. Cardcaptor Sakura on the other hand is a far happier series about a magical girl who must collect Clow cards and it's also a series about how love comes in all different forms and explores all different kinds of love not just the romantic kinds although that is included in several different ways as well, the end of this series is also one of my favorite but it's a very happy ending.
7. Tachibana Higuchi: I really loved both Gakuen Alice and M&N and I don't hear the name mentioned too often even though both of those series are great. I think the characters are well written and the world of Gakuen Alice is pretty creative as well.
3 Writers who don't write books:
1. Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen: These two have written some of the best episodes of Dollhouse which is a series that absolutely love but it's over all a pretty underrated series therefore their writing is over all pretty underrated as well. These two wrote my favorite episode Belonging(2.04) which is one of my favorite episodes of all time and is something that I think everyone should watch even if you don't usually watch tv. Belonging is an episode that does so much is such a short amount of time, it gives the backstory of one character well also developing another and it also does quite a bit for the show's main romance and it also advances the overall plot of the series a bit in a subplot. The episode also as main ethical dilemmas present in it as well and the episode is actually quite disturbing too. Other episodes they wrote that I love are Epitaph One and The Attic.
2. Marina and the Diamonds: I think that Marina is a brilliant songwriter because she has so much meaning behind all of her songs and the lyrics are so memorable as well. I especially loved her concept behind her second album Electra Heart in which she takes on the personas of primadonna, Su-Barbie-A, the teen idle and the homewrecker, I also like how the album was the dark side of the whole American dream concept and I really loved how she had such a well thought out concept for her album because it's not something that see often.
Buy the Stars- I really love this song because to me at least it seems to be about the whole concept that I see in fiction a lot about how some guy with a dark past is saved when falls in love with a good girl but the relationship can't actually work because he just sees her as the light in his life the solution to his problems rather than her own person and someone who can't be owned. Therefore the relationship between the two can never work since he doesn't even really know her.You bought a star in the sky tonight/Because your life is dark and it needs some light/You named it after me, but I’m not yours to keep/Because you’ll never see, that the stars are free.
Teen Idle- This song is actually my favorite song of hers I've heard that it's both about how someone is looking back on her teen years and regretting not being more apart of the whole teenage experience because they were too busy being cynical and I've also heard that it's about how teen idols are kind of trapped in this phase were they are expected to be innocent but at the same time they are growing up and becoming teenagers and are likely to rebel. Either way the song is really brilliant in my opinion and the lyrics paints a story. I also really like that at points the song can be pretty contradicting with this part I wanna be a virgin pure/A 21st century whore and I also really love how self the destructive the lyrics can sound at points I wanna drink until I ache/I wanna make a big mistake/I want blood, guts and angel cake/I’m gonna puke it anyway. I also really enjoyed the part in this song in which the girl is a bit narcissistic but hates herself for it with I wish I wasn’t such a narcissist/I wish I didn’t really kiss the mirror when I’m on my own. Another part of the song that I see a lot on tumblr is The wasted years, the wasted youth/The pretty lies, the ugly truth.Starring Role- This song is about a girl who's in a relationship with a guy that really isn't putting her first and she resents that but stays with the guy because she cares for him too much to let him go and is a bit obsessed with him I believe at least that's what I heard it took me quite a while to pick up on that part. You're hard to hug, tough to talk to/And I never fall asleep, when you're in my bed/All you give me is a heartbeat/I've turned into a statue/And it makes me feel depressed/Cause the only time you open up is when we get undressed. The next part I really love of the song makes me think that she really does desire to the relationship at times You know I'd rather walk alone, than play a supporting role/If I can't get the starring role.How To Be A Heartbreaker- This song is probably her best known song and it's in the persona of the homewrecker and I do really love the song as well although I think I may love Homewrecker a bit more that song also deals with the whole girls who don't let themselves get attach don't get themselves hurt theme of the homewrecker persona.
Oh No!- Is a song from her first episode that I love because it just really speaks to me for some reason. Some of my favorite lyrics from the song are: Don't do love, don't do friends/I'm only after success/Don't need a relationship. Also this part: One track mind, one track heart/If I fail, I'll fall apart/Maybe it is all a test/Cause I feel like I'm the worst/So I always act like I'm the best
/If you are not very careful/Your possessions will possess you/TV taught me how to feel/Now real life has no appeal/It has no appeal.
I love pretty much all of her song but since this section is already really long I'm just going to list them rather than explain why I love them, Are You Satisfied?, I'm Not a Robot, Hermit the Frog, Seventeen, Bubblegum Bitch, Power and Control, Fear and Loathing, and Scab and Plaster.
3. Hideaki Anno: He created the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion which is one of the most well known animes around. The reason why I think he should get more recognition is because he created a series in which the characters were all deep and well developed but that didn't necessarily mean that the characters where all strong or brave because realistically they usually wouldn't be. I really loved the way he wrote the main character Shinji as someone who didn't jump right into the hero but rather as a boy who had been abandon by his father for years and when his father finally acknowledges his existence again it's for him to fight against a creature that very well may kill him and I liked that Shinji always had to tell himself he mustn't run away. I over all just really enjoyed how deep this series could get.
2. Sara Shepard: I think that she's really good at creating suspense and mystery in her series The Lying Game because there are so many twist and turns in that series and she always does a good job of making me suspect someone as Sutton's killer but then is able to prove that it couldn't have been them and there's quite a few other mysteries in the series that I wasn't expecting as well. I feel like Sara Shepard probably doesn't get the credit she deserves for this series because she's writing about teenage girls and teenage girls and murder mysteries rarely mix but I think she does a really good job of combining the two.
3. Ellen Hopkins: I think Ellen Hopkins is fairly well known do to her unique style of writing her novels in verse and while I think that her writing style does make her writing beautiful I don't think that's the only thing that she should be recognized for. Her characters are always so well developed and even when you don't like the characters you understand who the characters are and I feel like all of her characters always have depth which isn't true for most novels unfortunately. I also think she handles the controversial issues in a very emotional honest way which is something that I appreciate a lot.
4. Frank Beddor: I really love his series The Looking Glass Wars because it's an extremely creative retelling of Alice in Wonderland not to mention my favorite. I really love how he changed the original Alice in Wonderland characters to fit his version of wonderland and loved the new characters he created as well and I also loved the world of Wonderland because it's just such a magical place but also a dangerous place as well. I never really hear about Frank Beddor and since I think he did such a great job with The Looking Glass Wars I wish more people recognized his talent.
5. Ally Carter: I think that Ally Carter does get a pretty good amount of recognition but I think she still does deserve more because she writes really entertaining series about teen girls being spies and con artists, she also has written great female friendships which are rarer than they should be and she also writes sweet romances that never over take the plot. I love both her series Gallagher Girls and Heist Society and look forward to any other books she may write.
6. Clamp: Clamp is extremely well known in the manga/anime community because they have created so many series but sadly it seems like the majority of the community doesn't actually respect their writing. Clamp has written 150 volumes of manga and are still creating new volumes now while I haven't read all of their series and I'll admit that there are some series I love a lot more than others I still think it's impress that they have written so many volumes. Their series that I think are completely brilliant are Tokyo Babylon and Cardcaptor Sakura they are two very different series. In that Tokyo Babylon is a series that is mostly about the issues facing the people of Tokyo in the 1990s being told through a supernatural perspective and the main theme of the series is that no can judge someone else's pain because they haven't felt it which I think is a brilliant theme, also the ending of Tokyo Babylon is downright depressing. Cardcaptor Sakura on the other hand is a far happier series about a magical girl who must collect Clow cards and it's also a series about how love comes in all different forms and explores all different kinds of love not just the romantic kinds although that is included in several different ways as well, the end of this series is also one of my favorite but it's a very happy ending.
7. Tachibana Higuchi: I really loved both Gakuen Alice and M&N and I don't hear the name mentioned too often even though both of those series are great. I think the characters are well written and the world of Gakuen Alice is pretty creative as well.
3 Writers who don't write books:
1. Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen: These two have written some of the best episodes of Dollhouse which is a series that absolutely love but it's over all a pretty underrated series therefore their writing is over all pretty underrated as well. These two wrote my favorite episode Belonging(2.04) which is one of my favorite episodes of all time and is something that I think everyone should watch even if you don't usually watch tv. Belonging is an episode that does so much is such a short amount of time, it gives the backstory of one character well also developing another and it also does quite a bit for the show's main romance and it also advances the overall plot of the series a bit in a subplot. The episode also as main ethical dilemmas present in it as well and the episode is actually quite disturbing too. Other episodes they wrote that I love are Epitaph One and The Attic.
2. Marina and the Diamonds: I think that Marina is a brilliant songwriter because she has so much meaning behind all of her songs and the lyrics are so memorable as well. I especially loved her concept behind her second album Electra Heart in which she takes on the personas of primadonna, Su-Barbie-A, the teen idle and the homewrecker, I also like how the album was the dark side of the whole American dream concept and I really loved how she had such a well thought out concept for her album because it's not something that see often.
Buy the Stars- I really love this song because to me at least it seems to be about the whole concept that I see in fiction a lot about how some guy with a dark past is saved when falls in love with a good girl but the relationship can't actually work because he just sees her as the light in his life the solution to his problems rather than her own person and someone who can't be owned. Therefore the relationship between the two can never work since he doesn't even really know her.You bought a star in the sky tonight/Because your life is dark and it needs some light/You named it after me, but I’m not yours to keep/Because you’ll never see, that the stars are free.
Teen Idle- This song is actually my favorite song of hers I've heard that it's both about how someone is looking back on her teen years and regretting not being more apart of the whole teenage experience because they were too busy being cynical and I've also heard that it's about how teen idols are kind of trapped in this phase were they are expected to be innocent but at the same time they are growing up and becoming teenagers and are likely to rebel. Either way the song is really brilliant in my opinion and the lyrics paints a story. I also really like that at points the song can be pretty contradicting with this part I wanna be a virgin pure/A 21st century whore and I also really love how self the destructive the lyrics can sound at points I wanna drink until I ache/I wanna make a big mistake/I want blood, guts and angel cake/I’m gonna puke it anyway. I also really enjoyed the part in this song in which the girl is a bit narcissistic but hates herself for it with I wish I wasn’t such a narcissist/I wish I didn’t really kiss the mirror when I’m on my own. Another part of the song that I see a lot on tumblr is The wasted years, the wasted youth/The pretty lies, the ugly truth.Starring Role- This song is about a girl who's in a relationship with a guy that really isn't putting her first and she resents that but stays with the guy because she cares for him too much to let him go and is a bit obsessed with him I believe at least that's what I heard it took me quite a while to pick up on that part. You're hard to hug, tough to talk to/And I never fall asleep, when you're in my bed/All you give me is a heartbeat/I've turned into a statue/And it makes me feel depressed/Cause the only time you open up is when we get undressed. The next part I really love of the song makes me think that she really does desire to the relationship at times You know I'd rather walk alone, than play a supporting role/If I can't get the starring role.How To Be A Heartbreaker- This song is probably her best known song and it's in the persona of the homewrecker and I do really love the song as well although I think I may love Homewrecker a bit more that song also deals with the whole girls who don't let themselves get attach don't get themselves hurt theme of the homewrecker persona.
Oh No!- Is a song from her first episode that I love because it just really speaks to me for some reason. Some of my favorite lyrics from the song are: Don't do love, don't do friends/I'm only after success/Don't need a relationship. Also this part: One track mind, one track heart/If I fail, I'll fall apart/Maybe it is all a test/Cause I feel like I'm the worst/So I always act like I'm the best
/If you are not very careful/Your possessions will possess you/TV taught me how to feel/Now real life has no appeal/It has no appeal.
I love pretty much all of her song but since this section is already really long I'm just going to list them rather than explain why I love them, Are You Satisfied?, I'm Not a Robot, Hermit the Frog, Seventeen, Bubblegum Bitch, Power and Control, Fear and Loathing, and Scab and Plaster.
3. Hideaki Anno: He created the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion which is one of the most well known animes around. The reason why I think he should get more recognition is because he created a series in which the characters were all deep and well developed but that didn't necessarily mean that the characters where all strong or brave because realistically they usually wouldn't be. I really loved the way he wrote the main character Shinji as someone who didn't jump right into the hero but rather as a boy who had been abandon by his father for years and when his father finally acknowledges his existence again it's for him to fight against a creature that very well may kill him and I liked that Shinji always had to tell himself he mustn't run away. I over all just really enjoyed how deep this series could get.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Manga Review: Gakuen Alice Vol. 1
Gakuen Alice Vol. 1 Review
The story of Gakeun Alice starts off with Mikan Sakura learning that her best friend Hotaru is leaving to go to Alice Academy a boarding school for gift students. After months of not hearing from Hotaru Mikan receives a very impersonal letter from Hotaru, Mikan decides that she needs to see Hotaru again so she goes to Alice Academy. Mikan is brought into Alice Academy by a teacher named Narumi who saw Mikan as a potential Alice candidate at first Mikan is very happy about getting a chance to see Hotaru but she is somewhat worried by what kind of place Alice Academy is when she see Narumi stop a student by the name of Natsume from escaping the academy.
After entering the academy Mikan is told about what kind of place Alice Academy is which is a school for children who have a supernatural ability that is known as an Alice and Narumi thinks that Alice is one of those people. Mikan as a rather frightening encounter with Natsume after he wakes up where he tries to set her hair on fire but for some reason his Alice doesn't work so he instead is somehow able to steal her underwear although he doesn't keep them. Mikan is of course very upset by this but is cheered up when Narumi tells her she will be staying at Alice Academy for at least a week in a trial period, she'll be able to stay if she can get her classmates to accept her. Mikan is led to class by two of her new classmates one of them is Hotaru who Mikan is very excited to see but Hotaru thinks Mikan is an idiot for coming to place like this and the other is the class president Yuu.
Soon after arriving in class Mikan starts to notice how strange Alice abilities are with seeing that one kid is floating and that another can read minds. Mikan isn't very good at make the class like her either because she says she doesn't think Alices are so great and when she see Natsume is in the class she calls him a pervert which because Natsume is quite popular in the class leads to people disliking her even worse. Eventually since it's pretty clear to everyone that people aren't really going to accept Mikan into the class so Natsume challenges her to go through the northern woods since that area is dangerous enough that someone without an Alice probably wouldn't make it through.
So Mikan along with Hotaru and Yuu goes through the woods. On their journey through the woods they encounter a violent bear which one of Hotaru's inventions is able to defeat and Mikan learns that Hotaru has an invention Alice and later on when the path is blocked by a giant baby chick Yuu uses her Alice which is an illusion Alice to get Luca to come who has an animal pheromone Alice and is Natsume's best friend. In the scenes where Luca interacts with animals he's really adorable and happy which makes Mikan question why he's friend with a jerk like Natsume. Luca tells her not to judge Natsume when she doesn't know anything about him, it's also shown to the reads that Luca and Natsume have a very close friendship with how Luca vowed to not smile until Natsume did. After Natsume finds out that Mikan used Luca he gets really ticked off and heads to where the group is in the northern woods and starts using his Alice which is fire in order to trap her friends until she revealed her Alice in the end it's discovered that Mikan has a nullification Alice which means she can stop others Alice abilities and Narumi who had been watching all of Mikan's journey in the Northern woods tells her she can stay.
I overall really enjoyed this volume and I think it was a great introduction to the series with both the mystery of what kind of school Alice Academy really is while still keeping the story overall fairly light. I also think it was a god introduction for the characters and the relationships they have. I enjoy the art in this series as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.
After entering the academy Mikan is told about what kind of place Alice Academy is which is a school for children who have a supernatural ability that is known as an Alice and Narumi thinks that Alice is one of those people. Mikan as a rather frightening encounter with Natsume after he wakes up where he tries to set her hair on fire but for some reason his Alice doesn't work so he instead is somehow able to steal her underwear although he doesn't keep them. Mikan is of course very upset by this but is cheered up when Narumi tells her she will be staying at Alice Academy for at least a week in a trial period, she'll be able to stay if she can get her classmates to accept her. Mikan is led to class by two of her new classmates one of them is Hotaru who Mikan is very excited to see but Hotaru thinks Mikan is an idiot for coming to place like this and the other is the class president Yuu.
Soon after arriving in class Mikan starts to notice how strange Alice abilities are with seeing that one kid is floating and that another can read minds. Mikan isn't very good at make the class like her either because she says she doesn't think Alices are so great and when she see Natsume is in the class she calls him a pervert which because Natsume is quite popular in the class leads to people disliking her even worse. Eventually since it's pretty clear to everyone that people aren't really going to accept Mikan into the class so Natsume challenges her to go through the northern woods since that area is dangerous enough that someone without an Alice probably wouldn't make it through.
So Mikan along with Hotaru and Yuu goes through the woods. On their journey through the woods they encounter a violent bear which one of Hotaru's inventions is able to defeat and Mikan learns that Hotaru has an invention Alice and later on when the path is blocked by a giant baby chick Yuu uses her Alice which is an illusion Alice to get Luca to come who has an animal pheromone Alice and is Natsume's best friend. In the scenes where Luca interacts with animals he's really adorable and happy which makes Mikan question why he's friend with a jerk like Natsume. Luca tells her not to judge Natsume when she doesn't know anything about him, it's also shown to the reads that Luca and Natsume have a very close friendship with how Luca vowed to not smile until Natsume did. After Natsume finds out that Mikan used Luca he gets really ticked off and heads to where the group is in the northern woods and starts using his Alice which is fire in order to trap her friends until she revealed her Alice in the end it's discovered that Mikan has a nullification Alice which means she can stop others Alice abilities and Narumi who had been watching all of Mikan's journey in the Northern woods tells her she can stay.
I overall really enjoyed this volume and I think it was a great introduction to the series with both the mystery of what kind of school Alice Academy really is while still keeping the story overall fairly light. I also think it was a god introduction for the characters and the relationships they have. I enjoy the art in this series as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.
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